On Saturday April 25th, 2026, The Congress for the New Urbanism Mid-Atlantic Chapter is convening a panel of local & national experts for a Symposium on Expressway Removal and the Future of the Jones Falls.

Right now, public interest around the Jones Falls Valley — its condition, its potential, and its future — is at the highest level we’ve seen in recent memory:

An unusual number of controversies menacing the health of the Jones Falls — ranging from sewage overflows, lead paint flakes, and a proposal to relocate a waste transfer station within the floodplain of the river — have sprung up in the last year. Initiatives like the Jones Falls Watershed Strategic Plan and Jones Falls 2076 are engaging local community members and stakeholders to plan and imagine the future of the watershed. The Jones Falls Gateway project promises to render the entrance to the Jones Falls Trail from Midtown Baltimore more accessible, safe, and legible.

But the elephant in the room remains the elevated interstate highway (I-83) that runs directly on top of the river. Removing lower portions of the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX) has been the object of study in the not-so-distant past, but real organized momentum has remained elusive.

Now is the time for Baltimore City to face the issue of expressway removal head-on, and begin planning ahead.

How have local designers conceived of a liberated Jones Falls in the past? How have other cities succeeded in removing urban expressways? What elements are required in a successful expressway removal coalition? How do supporters make effective arguments in favor of removal?

These questions (and more) will be addressed in a series of presentations by the following panel of experts:
-Al Barry (Semi-retired transportation planner; Chair of the Jones Falls Watershed Steering Committee)
-Pavlina Ilieva (Principal at PI.KL; Baltimore City UDAAP Chair; former Morgan State SAP faculty)
-Gabriel Kroiz – (Associate Professor of Architecture at Morgan State SAP)
-Marc Wouters – (Principal at Marc Wouters Studios; expressway removal expert)

We will be joined by State Senator Antonio Hayes for some introductory remarks.

Be sure to save the date and be on look out for further communications about this momentum-building event.