freeway removal
{{Short description|Replacement of motorways with pedestrian-friendly and urbanist land uses}}
{{Globalize|1=article|2=the United States|date=November 2019}}
File:Waterfront Park, Portland.jpg in the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, created with the removal of the Harbor Drive in Portland, Oregon.]]
Freeway removal is a public policy of urban planning to demolish freeways and create mixed-use urban areas, parks, residential, commercial, or other land uses. Such highway removal is often part of a policy to promote smart growth, transit-oriented development, and pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly cities. In addition to outright removals, some freeways are reconstituted as boulevards, rebuilt below grade via tunnelling or caps and stitches, or are relocated through less densely-developed areas.
Background
File:Korea-Seoul-Cheonggyecheon-01.jpg in Seoul, South Korea was formerly the route for a major elevated highway; It was completed in 1976 and removed in 2005.]]
Freeway removals most often occur in cities where highways were built through dense neighborhoods - a practice common in the 20th Century, particularly in U.S. cities following the 1956 enactment of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act.{{Cite news|url=http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/12/60yrsmidwest/|title=60 Years of Urban Change: Midwest|date=2014-12-12|work=The Institute for Quality Communities|access-date=2017-09-12|language=en-US}} These highways often created blight that minimized use of land space and reduced the quality of life for city residents. In the United States, the routes for interstate highways were often built through minority neighborhoods in urban centers,{{cite news |last1 = Stromberg |first1 = Joseph |title = Highways Gutted American Cities. So Why Did They Build Them? |url = https://www.vox.com/2015/5/14/8605917/highways-interstate-cities-history |work = Vox |date = May 11, 2016 |access-date = May 10, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190425175726/https://www.vox.com/2015/5/14/8605917/highways-interstate-cities-history |archive-date = April 25, 2019 |url-status = live }} which often led to increasing racial segregation by creating physical barriers between neighborhoods.{{Cite news |last = Miller |first = Johnny |date = February 21, 2018 |title = Roads to Nowhere: How Infrastructure Built on American Inequality |url = http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/21/roads-nowhere-infrastructure-american-inequality |access-date = April 3, 2021 |website = The Guardian |location = London |language = en |archive-date = April 4, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210404202301/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/21/roads-nowhere-infrastructure-american-inequality |url-status = live }}
Beginning in the late 20th century, as many highways reached the end of their lifespans, urban planners and activists began proposing demolishing or transforming highways in lieu of repairing them in an effort to alleviate the symptoms of displacement and lack of neighborhood connectivity.{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/highway-closing-city-transformation-2018-5 |title=American highways are so expensive that cities are tearing them down — here's what they're turning into |author=Garfield, Leanna |work=Business Insider |date=May 6, 2018 |access-date=September 29, 2022}}{{Cite news|url=http://carfreeamerica.net/2017/09/11/reconnecting-cities-through-urban-highway-removals/|title=Reconnecting Cities through Urban Highway Removals - Car Free America|date=2017-09-11|work=Car Free America|access-date=2017-09-12|language=en-US}} In many cases, there are political battles between citizens' groups who are proponents of freeway removal proposals and suburban drivers that want to keep the freeways.{{cite web |url= http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/FreewaysPlansProposals.html |title= Freeway Removal Plans and Proposals |author= Staff |publisher= Preservation Institute |year= 2007 |access-date= November 22, 2010}}
In early 2021, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer proposed legislation that would offer cities federal money to remove urban highways. The pilot program includes $10 billion to cover the inspection of existing infrastructure and possibly cover costs involved in removal and redevelopment planning.{{Cite news|date=2021-02-01|title=How the Federal Government Could Help Kill the Highways It Built|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-01/urban-highway-removals-could-get-federal-help|access-date=2021-03-24}}
Techniques
=Freeway-to-boulevard conversion=
File:San Francisco-Embarcadero Freeway demolition.jpg in San Francisco, California during demolition (May 1991)]]
File:Looking SE on The Embarcadero and Broadway (May 2011).jpg
A freeway-to-boulevard conversion involves demolishing a controlled-access highway with an at-grade boulevard. Land formerly devoted to highway lanes and exit ramps are often repurposed into wide sidewalks, bike lanes, green space, or sold for urban development.{{cite web |url=https://www.cnu.org/our-projects/highways-boulevards |title=Highways to Boulevards |work=The Congress for New Urbanism |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=September 29, 2022}}
One of the earliest examples of a freeway-to-boulevard conversion was the transformation of the West Side Elevated Highway into an urban boulevard in New York City. In 1971, the Urban Development Corporation proposed replacing the aging elevated highway with a new interstate highway in Manhattan.{{cite web |last1=Amateau |first1=Albert |title=Why Westway sleeps with the fishes |url=http://thevillager.com/villager_59/whywestwaysleepswith.html |website=thevillager.com |publisher=The Villager |access-date=2 June 2015 |date=June 16, 2004 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122348/http://thevillager.com/villager_59/whywestwaysleepswith.html |url-status=dead }} After fierce local opposition, New York City officially gave up on the proposed interstate project in 1985,{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Sam |title=After 20 Years of Delays, a River Park Takes Shape |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/nyregion/16westway.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=30 March 2015 |date=May 16, 2006}} and allocated 60 percent of its interstate highway funds to mass transit and setting aside $811 million for the "West Side Highway Replacement Project". In 1987, the commission unanimously agreed to build the highway as a six-lane urban boulevard with a parkway-style median and decorative lightposts, along with a {{Convert|60|acre|ha}} $100 million park on the highway's western periphery.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/09/nyregion/panel-urges-west-side-road-cuomo-faults-esplanade-plan.html|title=Panel Urges West Side Road; Cuomo Faults Esplanade Plan|last=Boorstin|first=Robert O.|date=1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-11-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|page=B1}}
Another early freeway-to-boulevard conversion involved San Francisco's double-decked Embarcadero Freeway and Central Freeway, which were damaged during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Timeline-A-look-back-at-the-Embarcadero-2642356.php |title=Timeline / A look back at the Embarcadero |website=www.sfgate.com |date= 17 October 2004|access-date=July 19, 2013}} The Central Freeway was replaced by the multi-modal, landscaped surface-level Octavia Boulevard, and the Embarcadero Freeway was replaced by a boulevard with streetcar and light rail operations in the median, flanked by the restored Beaux-Arts style Ferry Building.{{cite web |url=http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Embarcadero+Freeway+Removal |title= Streetswiki - Embarcadero Freeway Removal|website=streetswiki.wikispaces.com |access-date=July 19, 2013 |archive-date=August 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805065344/http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Embarcadero+Freeway+Removal |url-status=dead }}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}
Other early freeway removal projects occurred in Portland, Oregon and Milwaukee, Wisconsin that ultimately reduced traffic, spurred economic development, and allowed for the creation of new neighborhoods and commercial districts. The Harbor Drive Freeway in Portland was replaced by Tom McCall Waterfront Park, while the Park East Freeway in Milwaukee recovered prime land for development in the urban core. In Toronto, Ontario, the easternmost portion of the Gardiner Expressway, which was located between Don Road and Leslie Street, was demolished in 2000 and replaced with an at-grade urban boulevard with traffic lights, railroad crossings and a bike trail.
=Underground relocation=
In situations where removing an urban freeway is believed to exacerbate traffic problems within a city, urban planners may resort to relocating the freeway underground and building freeway lids to reclaim the space previously occupied by the surface highway.{{cite news |last=Pyati |first=Archana |date=April 7, 2017 |title=Freeway Lids: Reconnecting Communities and Creating New Land for Development |url=https://urbanland.uli.org/industry-sectors/infrastructure-transit/freeway-lids-reconnecting-communities-creating-new-land-development/ |publisher=Urban Land Institute |accessdate=March 18, 2018 |archive-date=March 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319151210/https://urbanland.uli.org/industry-sectors/infrastructure-transit/freeway-lids-reconnecting-communities-creating-new-land-development/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last=Berger |first=Knute |date=July 16, 2017 |title=One simple idea to open up Downtown Seattle |url=https://crosscut.com/2017/07/lidding-i-5-seattle |work=Crosscut.com |accessdate=March 18, 2018}}
In Boston, Massachusetts, the Central Artery (Interstate 93) ran through the center of the city on an elevated green viaduct from its opening in the 1950s until 2005. The freeway divided historic neighborhoods and business districts in downtown Boston, and it was referred to as Boston's "other Green Monster." During the 1990s and early 2000s, a $15 billion project known as the Big Dig relocated the Central Artery into tunnels underneath downtown Boston; the old viaduct was demolished, and its path was reclaimed for a surface boulevard and park space.
The Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, Washington, was replaced with the tunnel that carries the SR-99 freeway underneath the city.
Notable freeway removals
{{incomplete list|date=December 2014}}
=Completed=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;" |
| Highway
! Location ! Year ! Description |
|---|
| Alaskan Way Viaduct
| Seattle, United States | 2019 | Replaced with State Route 99 Tunnel |
| Autopista de Circunvalación M-30
| Madrid, Spain | 2008 | Partial removal: Southern segment relocated underground as part of the Madrid Río project |
| Bonaventure Expressway
| Montreal, Canada | 2016 | Elevated highway demolished and replaced with an urban boulevard and parkland https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/bonaventure-expressway-to-be-reconfigured-into-urban-boulevard |
| Ville-Marie Expressway and Décarie Road
| Montreal, Canada | 2018 | Partial demolition only, some ramps reduced along the Turcot Interchange |
| Catharijnebaan
| Utrecht, Netherlands | 2010 | Highway demolished and replaced with canal and green space |
| Central Artery
| Boston, United States | 2003 | Relocated underground as part of the Big Dig project |
| Central Freeway and Embarcadero Freeway
| San Francisco, United States | 1993 | Replaced by at-grade boulevards following 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake |
| Cheonggye Elevated Highway
| Seoul, South Korea | 2003 | Replaced with artificial stream and green space |
| Cogswell Interchange (Harbour Drive)
| Halifax, Canada | 2021 | Freeway-to-boulevard conversion |
| Gardiner Expressway
| Toronto, Canada | 2001 | Partial demolition; exit ramps replaced with parkland |
| Harbor Drive
| Portland, United States | 1974 | Demolished and replaced with Tom McCall Waterfront Park |
| Innerbelt
| Akron, United States | 2017 | Highway closed and redeveloped into parkland and urban development{{cite web |url=https://www.cnu.org/highways-boulevards/campaign-cities/akron-route-59#:~:text=In%20early%202017%2C%20the%20Ohio,Park%20neighborhood%20to%20Downtown%20Akron. |title=Akron Innerbelt / Route 59 |work=The Congress for New Urbanism |date=25 November 2019 |access-date=September 30, 2022}} |
| Inner Loop
| Rochester, United States | 2014 | Replaced with surface streets and urban development |
| Interstate 30
| Fort Worth, United States | 2001 | Highway rerouted farther from downtown; elevated highway demolished and replaced with parkland and urban development |
| Interstate 70
| Denver, United States | 2022 | CDOT replaced a {{convert|1.8|mi|km|adj=on}} viaduct with a below-grade highway with a {{convert|4|acre|ha|adj=on|spell=in}} park being built over it |
| Interstate 170
| Baltimore, United States | 2010 | Western stub removed for expansion of the West Baltimore station's parking lot and possible Red Line project |
| Interstate 195
| Providence, United States | 2011 | Highway relocated as part of the Iway project; former highway right-of-way repurposed into urban development |
| NY 895 (Sheridan Expressway)
| The Bronx, New York City, United States | 2017 | Freeway-to-boulevard conversion{{cite web | last=Rivoli | first=Dan | title=Feds pave way to transform the Bronx's Sheridan Expressway | website=nydailynews.com | date=September 19, 2018 | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-sheridan-expressway-boulevard-20180919-story.html | access-date=September 20, 2018}} |
| Oak Street Connector
| New Haven, United States | 2013 | Highway demolished and replaced with surface streets and urban development; portion of original highway repurposed as entrance to underground parking garage |
| Oklahoma City Crosstown Expressway
| Oklahoma City, United States | 2002 | Partial highway-to-boulevard conversion |
| Park East Freeway
| Milwaukee, United States | 2002 | Demolished and repurposed into urban development |
| Niagara Scenic Parkway
| Niagara Falls, United States | 2019 | Highway removed and replaced with surface streets and waterfront parkland |
| Southeast Freeway
| Washington, D.C., United States | 2016 | Partial freeway-to-boulevard conversion |
| Voie Georges-Pompidou
| Paris, France | 2016 | Highway removed and replaced with public beaches and urban development |
| West Sacramento Freeway
| Sacramento, United States | 2014 | Highway removed and replaced with surface streets and urban development |
| West Side Elevated Highway
| New York City, United States | 1977 | Elevated highway demolished and replaced with urban boulevard |
| Düsseldorf Roadway
| Düsseldorf, Germany | 1993 | Surface parkway replaced with tunnel |
| Zhongxiao Elevated Highway
| Taipei, Taiwan | 2016 | Elevated highway repurposed from roadway into elevated park. Section next to the North Gate demolished to give an unimpeded view of the gate. |
=Planned=
=Proposed=
See also
- Highway revolts
- Road diet
- Cyclability
- {{Annotated link|Transit mall}}
- {{Annotated link|Unused highway}}
- Urban vitality
- 8664
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite news|first1=Nadja|last1=Popovich|first2=Josh|last2=Williams|first3=Denise|last3=Lu|title=Can Removing Highways Fix America's Cities?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/27/climate/us-cities-highway-removal.html|work=The New York Times|date=May 27, 2021|access-date=May 30, 2021}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101127122852/http://preservenet.com/freeways/index.html Preservenet]
- [http://www.cnu.org/highways/ Congress for the New Urbanism]
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629100833/http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/docs/ump/06%20SEATTLE%20Case%20studies%20in%20urban%20freeway%20removal.pdf Six Case Studies in Urban Freeway Removal]}}
- [http://www.planetizen.com/node/23300 Removing Urban Freeway]