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Burying and Removing Urban Freeways

 
 
 
lpetrich

lpetrich

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 Freeway lid (freeway burying) and  Freeway removal - the latest trend in urban design.

Roads and bridges have been around for centuries, but freeways started being built around a century ago -  Controlled-access highway - so that engine-powered flat-road vehicles could travel fast without obstruction. The US had a big boom in freeway construction in the 1950's and 1960's and 1970's, as did several other industrialized countries, and this provoked numerous  Highway revolt against the construction of urban freeways in several countries.

Over the last few decades, freeway revolts have gone further, leading to the burial and removal of several urban freeways.

The  Big Dig of Boston MA lived up to its name, burying not only downtown I-93 - the  Central Artery - but also building a new bridge to the west and also a tunnel for I-90 to the east. It took some 15 years to build, twice as long as expected, and it cost three times as much as expected. It also had a lot of controversy from design flaws and substandard materials and leaks.

Downtown I-93 was earlier elevated, on a viaduct, and when it was buried as a tunnel, the Big Dig's builders replaced the former freeway with a park - the  Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway and Home - The Rose Kennedy Greenway

In Seattle WA, after the  Alaskan Way Viaduct was damaged by an earthquake, and it risked collapsing, like a West Oakland freeway viaduct did in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. So the Seattle politicians decided to bury it in a tunnel, the  State Route 99 tunnel

There are similar urban freeway tunnels elsewhere in the world, like in Tokyo Japan, Prague Czechia, Dublin Ireland, Sydney Australia, Victoria Hong Kong, Haifa Israel
 
On a lesser scale is building decks or lids or caps atop freeways in trenches. They have been built in Seattle WA, New York CIty, Kansas City MO, Dallas TX, Washington DC, and Tokyo Japan.

There are several plans to build new ones and extend existing ones, and some of them are under construction.

Turning to outright removal of freeways, some removals are essentially demotions into boulevards, big surface streets. That has been done, at least partially, in New York City, Rochester NY, San Francisco CA, Sacramento CA, Oklahoma City OK, Montreal Canada.

Outright removal involves replacing a freeway with parks and urban development, like in Portland OR, Milwaukee WI, Niagara Falls NY, Utrecht Netherlands, Seoul South Korea.

 Cheonggyecheon - a stream in Seoul.

It was covered up with concrete in 1958, and an elevated highway was built on top of it in 1976. It was removed in 2005 and the stream restored.
 
lpetrich said:
That has been done, at least partially, in ... Rochester NY ,..
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Repurposing Is not new in Rochester. They paved over the part of the ERIE Canal that ran through downtown. The canal bed was below street level. So they put a subway there, connected to the trolly system. The subway/trolly closed in the 50's. When the interstate came in they built the 'inner loop' highway surrounding downtown. Recently, as you noticed, 1/4 of the inner loop has been filled in. (It was open pit, below street level.) A lot of the old canal bed in the city limits, now has factories on it.
 
Politesse said:
Latest trend? The Big Dig was completed seventeen years ago. I'd say the latest trend in urban design is the 15 Minute City.
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I concede that calling freeway removal "the latest" trend is likely an overstatement, but it is a relatively recent trend.
 
 Road diet - a.k.a. lane reduction, road rechannelization or road conversion. Road Diets (Roadway Reconfiguration) | FHWA
A classic Road Diet typically involves converting an existing four-lane, undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two through lanes and a center, two-way left-turn lane.

The resulting benefits include a crash reduction of 19 to 47 percent, reduced vehicle speed differential, improved mobility and access by all road users, and integration of the roadway into surrounding uses that results in an enhanced quality of life. A key feature of a Road Diet is that it allows reclaimed space to be allocated for other uses, such as turn lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, bike lanes, sidewalks, bus shelters, parking or landscaping.
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 Bike lane - a lane intended for cyclists, usually in the outermost part of a street. Many cities in the US and elsewhere have marked out these lanes.

The 20 Most Bike-Friendly Cities on the Planet | WIRED - Copenhagen Denmark, Amsterdam Netherlands, Utrecht Netherlands, Antwerp Belgium, Strasbourg France, Bordeaux France, Oslo Norway, Paris France, Vienna Austria, Helsinki Finland, Bremen Germany, Bogotá Colombia, Barcelona Spain, Ljubljana Slovenia, Berlin Germany, Tokyo Japan, Taipei Taiwan, Vancouver Canada, Montreal Canada, Hamburg Germany.

Here are some rankings of US cities:

The Most Bike-Friendly Cities in the U.S. (2022 Data)
Portland OR, San Francisco CA, San Jose CA, Minneapolis MN, Sacramento CA, Denver CO, Washington DC, Boston MA, Salt Lake City UT, Seattle WA, New York NY, New Orleans LA, Chicago IL, San Diego CA, Tampa FL, Austin TX, Philadelphia PA, Orlando FL, Milwaukee WI, Los Angeles CA, Richmond VA, Buffalo NY, Providence RI, Hartford CT, Raleigh NC, Jacksonville FL, Pittsburgh PA, Miami FL, Houston TX, San Antonio TX, Baltimore MD, Columbus OH, Phoenix AZ, Cleveland OH, Louisville KY, Cincinnati OH, Charlotte NC, Indianapolis IN, Kansas City MO, Virginia Beach VA, St. Louis MO, Detroit MI, Las Vegas NV, Riverside CA, Oklahoma City OK, Memphis TN, Nashville TN, Atlanta GA, Birmingham AL, Dallas TX.

50 Best Cities for Biking in the US - Explore
Portland OR, Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, Boston MA, San Francisco CA, Minneapolis MN, Fort Collins CO, Jersey City NJ, Seattle WA, Chicago IL, New York City NY, San Diego CA, Denver CO, Albuquerque NM, San Jose CA, Milwaukee WI, Los Angeles CA, Anaheim CA, Oakland CA, Orlando FL, Buffalo NY Columbus OH, Detroit Ml, Sacramento CA, Austin TX, Tampa FL, Fresno CA, Indianapolis IN, Colorado Springs CO, Houston TX, New Orleans LA, Durham NC, Louisville KY, Tucson AZ, Charlotte NC, Virginia Beach VA, Miami FL, Fort Worth TX, Stockton CA, Wichita KS, San Antonio TX, Phoenix AZ, Riverside CA, Memphis TN, Mesa AZ, Bakersfield CA, North Las Vegas NV, Oklahoma City OK, Jacksonville FL, Las Vegas NV.
 
Rochester added some bike lanes. Some are between the through lane and the right turn lane?? looks dangerous to me, middle of traffic.

On downtown Main st. they widened the sidewalks. going from 4 lanes to 2.
On some residential streets they added choke points at the corners, making the outer lanes new parking lanes.
 
City planners in Barcelona, Spain has a related idea: superblocks.
Each superblock is a group of typically 3*3 city blocks with most automotive traffic banished from the streets in them - the are made one-way and slow (10 to 20 km/h).

Superblocks: Conquering European Cities| CityChangers.org - planners at some other European cities are planning on developing superblocks for their cities.
 
 Vision Zero - "Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a roadway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic." - Vision Zero Network

TA: Vision Zero Demands Bolder Street Designs From City Hall and DOT - Streetsblog New York City
What Is Vision Zero? It’s About a Complete Change of Mindset

Rather short on specifics, however. But there is one simple safety measure that can be effective:  Curb extension a.k.a. neckdown, kerb extension, bulb-out, bump-out, kerb build-out, nib, elephant ear, curb bulge, curb bulb, or blister.

Curb Extensions
Do Curb Bumpouts Really Keep Pedestrians Safe? - Safe Roads USA

For a street with parking lanes, one places these extensions at intersections with other streets. They keep cars from being parked near intersections, thus giving a good view for drivers. They also reduce the length that a pedestrian has to walk to get across the street.

That's not a universal solution, of course, and one can do other things, like make pedestrian islands in the middle of crosswaks. At each end of each island ought to be a bollard for protecting the pedestrians. Bollards are good in general, and I've seen a sort of poor person's bollard: big rocks.
 
 15-minute city
The 15-minute city (FMC[2] or 15mC[3]) is an urban planning concept in which most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit ride from any point in the city.[4] This approach aims to reduce car dependency, promote healthy and sustainable living, and improve wellbeing and quality of life for city dwellers.[5]
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The article has a section on "Conspiracy Theories" like how this urban-planning concept means that people will be confined to 15-minute neighborhoods.

But in practice, it means zoning for increased density and mixed use, like apartment/condo buildings and shops on the first floor and apartments above that floor.
 
Turning to rail lines, freeway-like infrastructure goes back to the middle of the 19th cy.:  Elevated railway and  Rapid transit

How much is built continues to be rather spotty, with only some kinds of rail lines consistently having  Grade separation Mainly rapid-transit systems and  High-speed rail lines.

But some construction of such infrastructure continues:  Alameda Corridor - it extends from downtown Los Angeles to the port at Long Beach, and it's mainly trench. It's currently being extended eastward: Project Area | Alameda Corridor-East Project

Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program - CREATE Program is a similar project in that city, with numerous over/underpasses, though without the trenches.

In Reno, Nevada,
Photos: Reno train trench - before, during, after
FHWA - Center for Innovative Finance Support - Project Profiles - "Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor (ReTRAC)"

Plan for a similar trench in Salt Lake City: PowerPoint Presentation - The-Rio-Grande-Plan-1.pdf
 
Green infrastructure was the last trend and didn't really manage what it promised. Temporary impounding stormwater in new green areas that is either dilapidated housing or old industry. Couldn't really manage useful volumes. These days, golf courses are going back to nature, roads are being put on a diet, bike paths have been sprouting up all over the place. Highways are a bit tricky. Need to buy and then rebuild. Road diets hope the road traffic will drop with the reduced capacity and the two lane was over designed. That requires testing.

Funny thing in Akron they picked what would be the worst part of the unfinished innerbelt to close off. It is on a large fill which buries a whole lot of things, so building new stuff is going to be tricky. The at grade part of the innerbelt could connect back up to the city but apparently that part of the innerbept was too ussful.
 
CAP: Central Access Philadelphia - 95Revive
with
The Park at Penn’s Landing » Delaware River Waterfront Corporation
and
Penn's Landing: Updated Park Design » The Park at Penn’s Landing

They plan to have a park over both I-95 and Columbus Boulevard, between Chestnut and Walnut Sts., roughly where the old one was, but extending across the boulevard to the waterfront.


What they've done so far: February 2024 CAP Demolition Timelapse Videos - 95Revive - they've demolished the existing park.
 
unapologetic said:
On some residential streets they added choke points at the corners, making the outer lanes new parking lanes.
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Since posting that I have learned they are called 'curb extensions'.
The city bus stops are at corners. The busses used to pull over to the curb. Now they block traffic when they stop. :confused:
 
When was Christopher Columbus Boulevard renamed to Delaware Avenue?

I checked Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Mapquest, and all three sites have it as CC Boulevard.

Point me to some official press release about the renaming.
 
lpetrich said:
When was Christopher Columbus Boulevard renamed to Delaware Avenue?

I checked Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Mapquest, and all three sites have it as CC Boulevard.

Point me to some official press release about the renaming.
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It was always Delaware Avenue (and still is to old timers and/or people who objected to the change on moral grounds); what changed was the renaming of a portion of it to Christopher Columbus Boulevard in the early 90s.

https://www.phillymag.com/city/2016/10/13/delaware-avenue-columbus-boulevard-name/
 
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | The rain didn’t stop us yesterday! 🌧️ … | Instagram
The rain didn’t stop us yesterday! 🌧️ What do freeways have to do with asthma, and what can we do about it? Let’s talk about one of the reasons why the Bronx has some of the highest childhood rates in America: the Cross Bronx Expressway - and let’s talk about our hope for changing that story, too.
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Then describing a park and showing that sunken freeway. She noted plans to cap that freeway, to build a linear park on top of it.

Loving The Bronx | Special thank you to Congresswoman @aoc and her staff … | Instagram
Special thank you to Congresswoman @aoc and her staff for taking the time to walk a portion of the Cross Bronx Expressway, in the pouring rain, to discuss the @nys_dot Reimagine The Cross Bronx study - a direct result our campaign to #CapTheCrossBronx

Photo credit: Daisy Nunez
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Politesse said:
lpetrich said:
When was Christopher Columbus Boulevard renamed to Delaware Avenue?

I checked Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Mapquest, and all three sites have it as CC Boulevard.

Point me to some official press release about the renaming.
Click to expand...
It was always Delaware Avenue (and still is to old timers and/or people who objected to the change on moral grounds); what changed was the renaming of a portion of it to Christopher Columbus Boulevard in the early 90s.

https://www.phillymag.com/city/2016/10/13/delaware-avenue-columbus-boulevard-name/
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Hey, LP and @Politesse - I went to the protests when they renamed Delaware Avenue after that colonizer! I was there!! right before my accident, but then there were protests afterward, too.

I would never call it anything but Delaware Avenue. I am not Italian and I am not a denier of that part of this country's horrible history. OH WAIT. NOT this country, right? The Lenni Lenape were here first.

It's still a sore subject for some people, but, not to all. Time lets them get away with it, under the "oh it's always been this way, this is TRADITION!" banner. yeah and the "tradition" is 100 years old. Please! Shut up, short-timers!~
 
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