America is built around the automobile. Big cities may have decent transit systems, but most of us spend a lot of time slogging through traffic on a highway. Say what you will, but the National Highway System is a crucial part of our transportation infrastructure. Trouble is, it wasn't built with city dwellers in mind.
Hulking expressways and overpasses too often bisect our cities, dividing neighborhoods, blocking access to waterfronts and promoting blight. Many were built decades ago, and as they fall into disrepair, some activists say they should be razed entirely. Replacing them with neighborhood-friendly boulevards would, they say, foster revitalization, restore communities and save taxpayers billions in construction costs.
"There's a whole generation of elevated highways in cities that are at the end of their design life," says John Norquist, head of the Congress for the New Urbanism. "Instead of rebuilding them at enormous expense, cities have an opportunity to undo what proved to be major urban-planning blunder."
It's a novel idea that's worked in cities like San Francisco, Portland and Milwaukee. Norquist has a list of other cities that oughtta fire up the wrecking ball and take down a highway.
"Freeways Without Futures" outlines 10 urban highways that have long since outlived their usefulness. It was compiled by the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and it focuses on those areas with the best chance of removing a freeway and replacing it with a boulevard. "The Federal Highway Fund just received a short-term bailout," Norquist says. "The money that does exist can be invested much more efficiently in surface streets and transit."
This is not an abstract idea for Norquist. He was mayor of Milwaukee when the city replaced the Park East Freeway with McKinley Boulevard six years ago. CNU says averaged assessed land values in the area climbed 180 percent between 2001 and 2006. San Francisco saw similar gains after razing the Embarcadero and Central freeways.
"Fifty years ago, when there was flight from cities, industrialized waterfronts seemed like a convenient place to run freeways," Norquist says. "The result for the neighborhoods has been blight. Cities like San Francisco that have removed freeways and reclaimed waterfronts have turned them into magnets for people and investment."
CNU says the following cities could enjoy similar benefits if they'd raze these 10 highways:
- Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle, WA – (pictured) Built in 1953, this north-south route along Seattle's Elliot Bay stands between the city and an open Seattle waterfront.
- Sheridan Expressway, Bronx, NY – Known as I-895 and built in
1963, it was designed to connect the Bruckner Expressway with the New England Thruway in the Bronx, but local opposition limited it to a one-mile road that mars the Bronx River waterfront. - S____kyway and Route 5, Buffalo, NY – Built in 1953, this 1.4-mile long, 110-foot tall bridge begins at the Inner Harbor downtown, crosses the Buffalo River and touches down as Route 5 in the
Outer Harbor. It blocks access to the waterfront, and there is no pedestrian access between downtown and the Outer Harbor. - Route 34 - New Haven, CT – This highway begins at the junction of Interstates 95 and 91 and extends on columns into downtown
New Haven for 1.1 miles, but plans to extend the road another 10 miles were never realized. Six hundred families were displaced to make room for this project, which was built in 1959. - __Claiborne Expressway, New Orleans, LA __– In the 1950s, this highway rolled over one of New Orleans' thriving African-American communities. With construction of the more direct I-610 in the
1970s, calls for the removal of the Claiborne have been increasing. - Interstate 81, Syracuse NY – When Interstate 81 was finished in the late 1950s it destroyed an African-American community, and today is an eyesore that does little to promote growth in downtown Syracuse.
- Interstate 64, Louisville, KY – This six-lane highway separates downtown Louisville from its waterfront. In 2003, the Federal
Highway Administration proposed a $4.1 billion expansion of I-64, which has been loudly opposed by area activists. - __Route 29, Trenton, NJ __– This four-lane road runs along the
Delaware River and has a higher-than-average rate of collisions. Its removal would pave the way for a mixed-use waterfront development. - Gardiner Expressway, Toronto, ON – Finished in 1966, this eight-lane highway separates downtown Toronto from its waterfront and costs $10 million a year to maintain.
- 11th Street Bridges and the Southeast Freeway, Washington, D.C. – The Southeast Freeway is a 1.39-mile stretch of freeway running through Washington, D.C., built in the late 1960s. It connects Interstate
395 to Interstate 295 at the 11th Street Bridges and was prevented from continuing west due to local opposition at the time.
That's the list. What's yours? Use the Reddit widget below to tell us which highways you would tear down, why you'd raze it and what you'd put in its place.
Photo: Slightlynorth/Flickr
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