Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning: Reverend Jessica Abell

This episode of Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning introduces the groundbreaking Disruption Occurrence Index, a tool designed to quantify and predict the community impacts of infrastructure maintenance, utility work, and street improvements. Co-hosts Divya Gandhi and Em Hall spoke with Reverend Jessica Abell of Living Waters Community Church in Denver at the 2025 National Planning Conference to explore the innovative concept of street disruption indices and the intersection of faith-based community organizing with transportation planning. Rev. Abell discusses how her unique background combining ministry with city and regional planning provides insights into the multilayered effects of transportation projects on neighborhoods, businesses, and quality of life. The conversation examines how houses of worship serve as anchor institutions and neutral meeting grounds for community planning discussions, while exploring the potential for utility corridors and coordinated infrastructure planning to minimize disruptive impacts. Drawing from successful community organizing examples, including a Denver neighborhood plan that survived political opposition through deep relational work, this episode challenges planners to think beyond traditional transportation metrics and consider the intersectional impacts of infrastructure decisions on community resilience and social justice. This episode was sponsored by Caltrans Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/critical-conversations-in-transportation-planning-reverend-jessica-abell/