Freeways Without Futures 2019

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 1 Table of Contents

P4 / Introduction P8 / Freeways Without Futures P10 / Claiborne Expressway (I-10), New Orleans, Louisiana P12 / I-275, Tampa, Florida P14 / I-345, Dallas, Texas P16 / I-35, Austin, Texas P18 / I-5, Portland, Oregon P20 / I-64, Louisville, Kentucky P22 / I-70, Denver, Colorado P24 / I-81, Syracuse, New York P26 / I-980, Oakland, California P28 / Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways, Buffalo, New York P30 / Graduated Campaigns Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle, Washington Inner Loop, Rochester, New York

I-375, Detroit, Michigan P32 / Conclusion P34 / Further Reading

2 Acknowledgments

National Advisory Committee

Norman Garrick, University of Connecticut Ian Lockwood, Toole Design Group Elizabeth Macdonald, University of California, Berkeley Peter Park, Peter J. Park, LLC Julia Schlau, Bedrock Detroit Gary Toth, Project for Public Spaces

CNU Staff

Lynn Richards, President & CEO Benjamin Crowther, Program Fellow Rob Steuteville, Senior Communications Advisor Lisa Schamess, Communications Manager

Cover Photo: The removal of the Inner Loop, Rochester, New York. Credit / Stantec

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 3 Introduction

Freeway construction was a disaster for city neighborhoods in the 20th Century. Many neighborhoods were divided in two—their main streets demolished and businesses closed, disproportionately in minority communities. The African-American Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans is a good example, as the elevated Claiborne Expressway was built in the 1960s over Claiborne Avenue, a boulevard with a central green space that served as the commercial heart of Tremé. Claiborne Avenue was never the same.

Many freeways built through cities must decide whether to rebuild. Rochester, and Seattle—have are unnecessary. After San Francisco’s Replacement with a boulevard or begun to dismantle their freeways 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, for a grid of surface streets is usually since 2017, the year of the previous example, the Embarcadero and cheaper and may offer significant edition of Freeways Without Futures. Central freeways were damaged social and economic benefits. So far, This acceleration reflects widening beyond safe use. Traffic disasters were 15 North American cities have either acceptance that the great age of predicted when they were closed, but removed or committed to remove or in-city highway construction failed to occur. Boulevards replaced mitigate their freeways. A national is effectively over (the Federal the freeways instead, opening movement to replace unnecessary Highway Administration declared up the waterfront and uniting sections of freeways with surface the Interstate system complete in neighborhoods in the City by the Bay. streets has taken hold among city 1992), and an increasing support for leaders, citizens, and transportation highway transformation among local After 2000, a few cities voluntarily planners. and state governments. In selecting tore down sections of freeway—and projects for this report, we noted the found their economies and tax bases Freeways Without Futures 2019 is strong presence of city council people rising and the urban fabric healing. the tale of ten freeways in cities and mayors who are engaged in or Planners and citizens relearned the coast to coast where this movement formally endorsing highway removal power of the street grid to support has spawned active campaigns campaigns. Some candidates for office multi-modal traffic, economic for transformation. Here are the are even campaigning on the issue. development, and city living. The fundamental questions that these first CNU biennialFreeways Without campaigns raise: Do we continue to The diversity of cities undertaking Futures, published in 2008, charted funnel billions of taxpayer dollars into these projects is also noteworthy. This these early restoration efforts, with an aging system that pollutes cities, is not a movement confined to any subsequent reports in 2010, 2012, divides neighborhoods, and occupies one geographic region, nor limited 2014, and 2017. valuable land that could instead only to larger cities or those that be used for homes and businesses? are experiencing immense growth. As this decade comes to an end, Or is there an alternative solution Small and mid-sized cities like cities and their freeways are at a that creates stronger cities and Milwaukee, Somerville, Niagara Falls, crossroads. Limited-access highways communities? Chattanooga, Detroit, and Rochester that were built through cities in the have opted to measure community 1950s through 1970s are now at the The pace of urban freeway removal progress and quality of life by a set end of their useful life, and cities is accelerating. Three cities—Detroit, of metrics other than travel time:

4 Historic image of North Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans before the Claiborne Expressway. Credit / New Orleans Public Library

economic reinvestment and increased occasion to revitalize downtowns, A Healthy tax revenue; the creation of walkable neighborhoods, and waterfronts and Environment. streets and new public space for strengthen local economies. the community; and gains in public Choosing city streets over freeways health, air quality, water quality, and A Vibrant Public means leaving behind the hazards climate resilience. Realm. of highly concentrated vehicle Economic Gains. exhaust near residences, businesses, Highways fall flat in this metric, and schools. Many urban highway with negative rather than positive segments run through the densest When the Interstate system and outcomes. Few people enjoy walking parts of their cities, exponentially other state highways first encroached underneath a highway, let alone increasing the number of people on cities, they converted valuable land spending time around it. On the exposed to toxic fumes and in the heart of downtowns and along opposite end of the spectrum, streets particulates from cars and truck waterfronts into clogged arteries of and public spaces dedicated to traffic. Known health risks from traffic that produced virtually no people, not cars, offer members of the proximity to highways include direct income for local economies. community places to relax, shop, and increased rates of respiratory Cities that choose to remove urban enjoy each other’s company in public. ailments and cardiovascular illnesses. freeways have an opportunity to Places like these were destroyed to Extensively overbuilt highway reclaim this real estate to help fulfill make way for freeways. Now, the infrastructure encourages even the increased demand for walkable, opportunity presents itself to create more driving and perpetuates these urban living. Reclaiming the land a new, vibrant public realm for the conditions. This brief overview does underneath highways can boost and communities that bore the brunt of not even take into account noise or stabilize city populations, providing highway construction. A city’s public the impact of being stuck in traffic, direct local control of land that can realm exists in its public spaces, the both of which are health hazards. be dedicated to a range of housing streets and squares that integrate choices for individuals and families, individual buildings into a coherent The removal of a highway is not from affordable housing below urban unit. When properly designed, a silver bullet for every urban market to workforce housing and the space between buildings promotes issue, but it is more than a simple flexible choices for young renters a strong public life and contributes to transportation or infrastructure and older “empty nesters.” Highway the civic character of the city. problem. It intersects with removal is a once-in-a-generation community health, fiscal

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 5 Ditch the Ditch rally against the Central 70 highway expansion in Denver. Credit / Brad Evans

responsibility, and equitable urban unopposed. The many minority development. Cities that choose communities that now live in the alternatives to highways have decided shadow of highways originally fought to prioritize people over vehicles bitterly and bravely against them; and to address needs that have the descendants of those protesters been underdeveloped in favor of continue to fight to protect and automotive mobility. strengthen what remains of their community design and opportunities. This preference for automotive The benefits of highway removal must mobility almost always came at a acknowledge the profound need to cost to the communities in its path; make reparations in communities that African American and other minority were so disrupted—many of which communities were especially hard have persisted nonetheless. Cities hit. Yet even during the Great Age need to ensure that both the social of the Highway, several highway and economic value unlocked by construction projects stalled and were dismantling a freeway is channeled to never completed due to community serve its long-standing members of opposition. Famous examples include the community. the opposition of Sammie Abbott and Reginald H. Booker to the As cities consider what to do with construction of a highway through their aging in-city highways, they Washington D.C.’s mostly minority should recognize the opportunities neighborhoods at that time, and the for freeway removal and confrontation between Jane Jacobs transformation. As the ten projects and Robert Moses over the proposed in this report demonstrate, cities Lower Manhattan Expressway, which can save money while boosting their would have cut a swathe through economies and improving the lives of modest-income and ethnically diverse citizens by not repeating the mistakes Greenwich Village. of the 20th Century.

This does not mean successful highway construction went forward

6 Inside This Report After extensive discussion, the committee identified ten freeways This report identifies the ten greatest that represent the greatest opportunities in North America opportunity for a beneficial to revitalize urban neighborhoods conversion to a human-scale through the removal of the limited- alternative. Local advocacy groups access highways that disrupt them. and experts were contacted to provide background and information on the At the outset of this report process, existing campaigns. CNU sent out a national call to nominate urban freeways for Additionally, this report contains consideration. Thirty-one different an update on projects, known as highways in twenty-eight cities across Graduated Campaigns, that are North America were nominated. moving forward with removing all or a section of a highway—in two of the CNU convened a national advisory three cases, the city has already begun committee of transportation and the process of dismantling. urban design experts with urban highway removal experience. The panel reviewed each submission based on a number of criteria: the age and state of the highway, the quality of alternative boulevard or street design, the feasibility of removal, community support for removal, existing political momentum, redevelopment opportunities, potential cost savings, and potential to improve access to opportunity for underserved communities.

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 7 Freeways Without Futures

Communities across North America are facing a watershed moment in the history of our transportation infrastructure. With cities, citizens, and transportation officials all looking for alternatives to costly highway repair and expansion, these ten campaigns offer a roadmap to better health, equity, opportunity, and connectivity in every neighborhood, while reversing decades of decline and disinvestment.

8 I-5PORTLAND, OR

Kensington and Scajaquada I-81 Expressways SYRACUSE, NY BUFFALO, NY I-980OAKLAND, CA

I-70DENVER, CO

I-64LOUISVILLE, KY

I-345DALLAS, TX Claiborne Expressway (I-10) I-35AUSTIN, TX NEW ORLEANS, LA

I-275TAMPA, FL

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 9 I-10. Credit / The Advocate

Claiborne Expressway In 1966, French Quarter residents (Interstate 10) averted the proposed construction of NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA an elevated expressway through their

HIGHWAY TYPE neighborhood. The primarily African- Elevated Interstate American Tremé neighborhood was YEAR BUILT not so privileged. Despite staunch 1966-1968 opposition from the community, the STAGE OF REMOVAL Claiborne Expressway was built over Advocates are actively building support for removal and several studies have been undertaken. Claiborne Avenue, the much-beloved

KEY CHARACTERISTICS main boulevard and commercial Longtime Tremé residents want to see backbone for Tremé. Now, those who Claiborne Avenue restored to its former character. came of age during the highway’s Studies have shown removal of the expressway would have a negligible effect construction continue the fight to on local traffic. restore Claiborne Avenue and repair the damage caused to their neighborhood.

10 Rendering of a restored Claiborne Avenue without the expressway. Credit / Congress for the New Urbanism and Mac Ball

Today, Claiborne Avenue has been traffic would be negligible, while reclaimed from the highway’s shadow. reduced to a frontage road for the through-traffic would experience an The Claiborne Avenue Alliance expressway, but it had a significantly increase in travel time of only two advocates that the city devote a large different character prior to 1966. Its to six minutes. In 2014, then-Mayor portion of this reclaimed land to the wide, green median was the central Mitch Landrieu explored removal as creation of affordable housing and public space for the African-American an option, but eventually backed away commercial spaces. This would address neighborhood and a gathering place from this alternative. Discussions significant community concerns: While for the community, with activities that stalled. The mayor then proposed many Tremé residents want to see ranged from pickup ball games to Mardi building a marketplace underneath the Claiborne Avenue restored, they fear Gras parades. Claiborne Avenue was polluting highway, which received a that such an improvement could price a source of community pride and the less-than-enthusiastic reception from them out of the neighborhood. premier destination for shopping, leisure, neighborhood residents. and socializing. However, when plans Political traction for the expressway’s for the Claiborne Expressway were Since 2017, the Claiborne Avenue removal is again on the rise. Recently, revealed, the Tremé community did not Alliance—a coalition of residents, Mayor LaToya Cantrell sent her staff to have advocates in the city government to property owners, and business leaders tour the former site of the Embarcadero defend it. dedicated to the thoughtful development Freeway in San Francisco, one of the of the Claiborne corridor—has led a first elevated freeways in the United Many community members whose renewed effort to remove the expressway States to be converted into a boulevard. friends and families opposed the and rebuild the avenue. The group has City Council president Jason Williams original construction of the Claiborne set about to document the negative also joined them. Expressway still seek to return effects the freeway has on adjacent Claiborne Avenue to the vibrant street neighborhoods, from severe pollution Longtime Tremé residents have made it once was. This includes removing to the creation of a food desert. The sure to perpetuate conversations the elevated expressway to restore the group has also emphasized the positive around the highway’s removal and the 100-foot median, the traffic circle at the potential outcomes of removing the restoration of Claiborne Avenue. Their intersection with St. Bernard Avenue, freeway. A restored Claiborne Avenue persistence stems from memories of and connections to the neighborhood’s would attract new businesses and jobs to a great avenue, once an economic and street grid. Deliberations have long this once-vibrant commercial corridor, cultural asset for the community, and centered on the expressway’s removal, as many of the vacant lots adjacent to a vision for the future that provides a and studies have demonstrated that the highway become redeveloped. All similar place for generations to come. the effect on New Orleans’ local told, nearly 50 acres of land would be FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 11 Historic image of the intersection of I-275 and I-4. Credit / State Archives of Florida

The 11-mile stretch of I-275 that runs InterstateTAMPA, FLORIDA 275 through Tampa touches every one of its downtown neighborhoods. Many HIGHWAY TYPE Hybrid elevated and at-grade Interstate of these neighborhoods have still

YEAR BUILT not recovered from the damage done 1962-1964 by I-275 when it opened in the early STAGE OF REMOVAL 1960s. Now there is a remarkable Removal is being studied as a possible alternative in official studies. opportunity to reclaim this corridor KEY CHARACTERISTICS for public transportation in one of the #blvdtampa proposal incorporates extensive public transit into its plan to replace I-275. most underserved transit markets in Majority of trips on I-275 have both local origins and destinations, which a boulevard is the United States. well-suited to handle. Emphasis on transit also aims to reduce the number of automobile trips along the corridor.

12 Below: Design for Central Avenue Transit Center at boulevard’s southern terminus. Credit / Josh Frank

At right: Design for boulevard with lanes for light rail. Credit / Josh Frank

I-275 was built on top of Tampa’s The transformation of I-275 into a wide, service on the boulevard would remove former Central Avenue and split landscaped boulevard, featuring bike polluting vehicles from the road and the entire city in half. Incalculable and pedestrian paths and either light offer alternatives to driving for residents damage was done to Tampa’s rich commuter rail, bus rapid transit, or a who currently have few other options. ethnic and historic neighborhoods, modern streetcar would give Tampa an including Ybor City, the former cigar urban spine around which to grow. The Although the proposed 11-mile removal manufacturing capital of the world; and boulevard could include slow-moving of I-275 is ambitious, local organizations Central Park, the African-American local lanes protected from the main such as Sunshine Citizens, Heights neighborhood that some called the traffic, on-street parking, cycling access, Urban Core Chamber, and the Tampa “Harlem of the South”—a one-time pedestrian refuges that reduce crossing Heights Neighborhood Association, home to Ray Charles and often visited distances, and bus shelters. as well as several members of the by top musicians of the era like Chubby Hillsborough County commission Checker and Ella Fitzgerald. The economic benefits of this proposal and candidates for Mayor of Tampa, are substantial. Estimates to rebuild support transformation of the highway. Recent proposals by the FDOT to the highway range from $3-9 billion, The strong community support for reconstruct the aging freeway with much of which could be saved with the the #blvdtampa proposal has led the an expanded footprint and variable boulevard option. The removal of the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning toll lanes have catalyzed community oversized highway would immediately Organization,Tampa’s regional planning opposition to the project. One concerned open up more than 35 acres for agency, to include it as an option in citizen, Josh Frank, has started a development, boosting the City’s tax its long-range transportation plan. movement, #blvdtampa, that envisions a base. Coupled with investment in public Currently the campaign has begun to future for Tampa without I-275. transit along the corridor, depressed advocate its plan at the state level, as property values in the neighborhoods organizers have met twice with local Armed with extensive traffic data, Frank around the highway would be expected District 7 FDOT officials, who now has demonstrated that Tampa is ill- to rise. recognize the multi-modal transit served by a limited-access highway—as corridor as an alternative option. the majority of vehicles that travel I-275 Moreover, the boulevard option has the have both local origins and destinations potential to significantly improve the within the city. Instead of rebuilding the quality of life for people who live nearby. highway, #blvdtampa proposes replacing Thousands of homes lie within 1,000 it with a boulevard more suited to local feet of the highway, where air pollutants traffic. are most concentrated. Increased transit

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 13 I-345. Credit / Coalition for a New Dallas

Since 2013, local advocacy group

InterstateDALLAS, TEXAS 345 A New Dallas has captured public attention and made a strong case to HIGHWAY TYPE Elevated Interstate remove I-345, an imposing concrete YEAR BUILT barrier that divides the city’s historic 1973 Deep Ellum neighborhood from STAGE OF REMOVAL Removal is being studied as a possible downtown and has spawned vacant lots alternative in official studies. and disinvestment along its 1.4-mile KEY CHARACTERISTICS Local advocacy group A New Dallas has path. As a result of A New Dallas’s shown the immense amount of economic development the removal of I-345 could research showing that uniting Deep generate. Ellum and downtown would generate TxDOT’s CityMAP study agrees with this assessment. significant economic development, The CityMAP study also shows the removal of TxDOT is considering removing the the highway would have little negative impact on traffic. elevated interstate.

14 Aerial view of I-345. Potential development along I-345 corridor. Credit / Google Earth Credit / A New Dallas

I-345 in Dallas is nearing the end of I-345’s transformation: One replaces grade modification. This extra revenue its lifespan. When it was built more the elevated highway with a tunnel and could be leveraged to boost housing than 40 years ago, I-345 separated the surface boulevard, the other with only a affordability and quality of life along predominantly African-American Deep surface boulevard. the I-345 corridor. Moreover, the land Ellum neighborhood from downtown. reclaimed from the highway’s right-of- In its mid-20th Century heyday, Deep A New Dallas deems the tunnel an way will return to the city, putting the Ellum was a mecca of jazz and blues unnecessary expense, as the existing public in the driver’s seat of planning in the Southwest, and was one of first street network adjacent to the highway and implementation for redevelopment. commercial districts in the city for has a capacity of 178,000 cars a day, far African-Americans and European exceeding the current traffic of 105,000 These powerful economic arguments immigrants. The construction of I-345 cars a day. The group estimates that have made it possible for A New Dallas obliterated the 2400 block of Elm burying the highway would cost between to build a coalition of community Street, which had been the heart of $900 million and $1.2 billion, while members, urban planners, developers, the neighborhood. By the end of the replacing it with a boulevard will cost and civic leaders from across the political 1970s, few of the community’s original only approximately $65 million. spectrum in support of full removal businesses survived. While Deep Ellum of I-345. The common threads among now enjoys new life as a music and The economic benefits of removal also all these supporters are that they value arts district, the presence of I-345 still surpass those of burial. The removal metrics and consider a broad range inhibits its full integration into the city. of the elevated highway will open up of criteria in determining the success 245 acres of urban land for potential of public infrastructure. As Dallas Residents Patrick Kennedy and Brandon development—envisioned as walkable continues to experience rapid urban Hancock view the deteriorated state urban blocks, with squares and growth and increased demand for of I-345 as an opportunity to consider neighborhood public spaces within housing, the removal of I-345 offers one alternatives to the highway. Together, a short distance of each building. way forward to keep the city livable. they founded A New Dallas to advocate According to TxDOT’s CityMAP study, for creating a better city through the the complete removal would generate removal of I-345. The organization has $2.5 billion in new property value, while commissioned studies that demonstrate the burial would generate $1 billion less, the social, economic, and environmental as it still requires more than 30 acres of benefits for a Dallas without the the public right-of-way. Similarly, the highway. When TxDOT released its city would receive $80 million each year CityMAP assessment of Dallas’ urban in tax revenue with complete removal, highways, it included two options for but only $50 million with the below-

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 15 I-35. Credit / Heyden Black Walker

Since 2012, grassroots coalition InterstateAUSTIN, TEXAS 35 Reconnect Austin has advanced an alternative, human-scaled vision for the HIGHWAY TYPE Hybrid elevated and at-grade Interstate I-35 corridor. The north-south section

YEAR BUILT of I-35 that cuts through downtown 1962 Austin carries a high amount of STAGE OF REMOVAL traffic—more than 200,000 vehicles TxDOT is about to undertake a second environmental review process on rebuilding a day—but inhibits travel between I-35 in this corridor. East and West Austin. Given the level KEY CHARACTERISTICS Long-standing support exists for burying and of interregional traffic, the complete capping the portion of the highway between Downtown and East Austin. removal of the highway is infeasible,

The Austin City Council has asked TxDOT but Reconnect Austin has proposed a to study the cut-and-cap vision as part of its environmental review. solution that can repair Austin’s urban fabric while maintaining a similar level of service for automobiles.

16 View of I-35 from E. 5th Street, looking east. Credit / Reconnect Austin

Rendering of E. 5th Street without I-35. Credit / Reconnect Austin

Perspective rendering of East Avenue Parkway. Credit / Reconnect Austin

The I-35 corridor redesign proposed the middle of the street would make for—minority communities that are in by Reconnect Austin seeks to take pedestrian travel between East and West some ways being negatively affected by TxDOT’s implementation of depressed Austin far easier and more pleasant. the economic realities of a booming city freeway lanes in Austin one step further. with an increasingly popular core. At Reconnect Austin endorses a four-step By capping I-35, the 30 acres of land the same time, the reclaiming of access plan to restore the city’s urban grid currently under its frontage roads roads as developable land — which and reunify East and West Austin: (1) could be opened up for mixed-use would increase residential supply closer Remove the elevated highway between development as part of a tax increment to downtown — could, in the long run, Cesar Chavez Street and Martin Luther financing (TIF) district. The potential help to meet the demand for affordable King Jr. Boulevard; (2) Remove existing valuation from this land is an estimated housing. highway frontage roads to reclaim 30 $10 billion, which would increase the tax acres of downtown land; (3) Bury this base for local jurisdictions by millions TxDOT is about to undertake an section of I-35 below ground; and (4) of dollars. If handled with care, this $8.1-billion renovation of a 66-mile Cover these depressed lanes with a could lead to the creation of up to 4,500 stretch of I-35 in and around Austin, new, narrower, pedestrian- and bicycle- market-rate and affordable housing units the cost of which would likely not vary friendly boulevard. in a walkable location, ideal for people significantly if the downtown portion seeking or currently holding low- and were depressed instead of simply rebuilt. Reconnect Austin envisions a new moderate-income jobs downtown. TxDOT’s estimates for the cost of boulevard that recaptures the dynamic capping these depressed lanes comes urban space of the former East Avenue Reconnect Austin acknowledges to $300 million. Local support— the highway replaced. Its design for a that the removal of I-35 also has the from neighborhood groups, civic new East Avenue Parkway would be potential to accelerate gentrification and organizations, boards and commissions, consistent with Austin’s Great Streets displacement, as the area becomes more city council, the Chamber of Commerce, Master Plan and include more-than- economically robust and aesthetically and the Downtown Austin Alliance—in adequate space for pedestrians, cyclists, attractive, potentially leading to soaring conjunction with TxDOT’s planned and dedicated transit lanes. The land values. Having a plan in place to renovation, makes for an ideal, once- reconnected grid would create as many protect against displacement is a high in-a-generation opportunity to reshape as 11 cross streets, “providing better priority. New public spaces along the downtown Austin by capping I-35. traffic dispersion and more connections boulevard, designed with sensitivity to for cycling and walking.” The narrower the dynamic cultures of East Austin, right-of-way with new buildings past and present, could become to define it and the large median in monuments to—and gathering places FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 17 I-5. Credit / Riverfront for People

Interstate 5 Portland is a tale of two PORTLAND, OREGON waterfronts. On the west

HIGHWAY TYPE bank of the Willamette Hybrid elevated and at-grade Interstate River, Waterfront Park offers YEAR BUILT Portland’s residents direct 1966 access to the river in place of the STAGE OF REMOVAL A long-standing conversation exists around former route of Harbor Drive, the removal of the highway. The Portland City Council has previously voted to include studies a freeway removed by the city of the concept in Portland’s Central City Plan Update. in 1974. On the river’s east

KEY CHARACTERISTICS bank, I-5 deprives the growing Portland has once before removed a waterfront freeway, Harbor Drive. Central Eastside neighborhood Citizen groups like Riverfront for People have of similar access, but offers long advocated for the removal of I-5 through the Central Eastside. Portland a chance to repeat ODOT has encountered community resistance to its plans to expand I-5 in Portland’s Rose history. Quarter, and transformation of the highway would make an expansion unnecessary.

18 Rendering of the Central Eastside without I-5. Credit / Riverfront for People and Crandall Arambula

Ironically, the construction of I-5 2035, Central Eastside is expected to are within a 30-minute walk from the facilitated the removal of Harbor grow by 7,000 households and 8,000 location. Drive. Once the new Interstate was jobs. Such strong growth will put a built in 1966, Harbor Drive was premium on housing and likely will Many ideas for transformation of I-5 viewed as redundant, and a citizen- lead to rising costs, unless preventative at this location have been explored. based campaign, Riverfront for measures are taken. At the same time, Most recently, then-Mayor Sam People, advocated for and successfully the neighborhood’s density will increase. Adams released a plan for a tunnel in championed its removal and replacement More residents can live closer to their 2012. However, a tunnel might add with Waterfront Park. jobs, which lessens the city’s need for unnecessary expense—a combination extensive highway infrastructure. of other routes in the city have the When I-5 was constructed, Portland’s potential to support the traffic capacity Central Eastside was primarily an Central Eastside’s rapid growth makes of I-5. Interstate through-traffic could industrial area. But in recent decades, this an opportune time to consider be rerouted to I-405, a short highway many of the larger industrial businesses the removal of I-5, to be replaced by west of downtown that runs parallel to, have decamped to other regional surface streets. The 43 acres gained and connects with, I-5 at both ends. locations, and the area has transitioned through highway removal would increase into a wider mix of uses that combine business and housing opportunities, Groups like Riverfront for People have offices and housing with small-scale which in turn would help accommodate long campaigned for the removal of industrial businesses and manufacturers. the area’s growth. Removing the freeway the elevated I-5 and current political would enable the Central Eastside momentum in the city is gathering The neighborhood has become a neighborhood to take better advantage against overbuilt highway infrastructure. destination for locals and visitors alike of its existing transportation options. The citizen group No More Freeway because of its high concentration Expansions Coalition is working to of breweries and distilleries. This Removing the highway would also create block the ODOT’s expansion of I-5 transformation has been constrained an opportunity to enhance the existing in Portland’s Rose Quarter, just to the by the freeway, leaving a major Eastbank Esplanade into a signature north of the Central Eastside. This is an gap in activity and preventing the park in the heart of the city where opportunity to reconsider whether other neighborhood from reaching its people could enjoy the Willamette’s parts of the highway are necessary. A potential along the river. new accessibility via transit, through redesigned Central Eastside riverfront, the regional bike network, and from the made possible by highway removal, is The challenges for this neighborhood many residences and hotels that not hard to imagine. Portlanders need are only increasing with time. By only look across the river.

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 19 I-64. Credit / Will Clardy

Three Interstate highways and two InterstateLOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 64 Interstate beltways crisscross the urban core of Louisville, the 29th HIGHWAY TYPE Elevated Interstate largest city in the United States. This YEAR BUILT level of infrastructure far surpasses 1976 Louisville’s needs, but still Kentucky STAGE OF REMOVAL Advocates are pursuing a dialogue about the and Indiana continue to pour money highway’s removal. into local highway projects, most KEY CHARACTERISTICS recently the $2.6 billion Ohio River 8664 movement gathered 11,000 signatures to support the removal of I-64 from Louisville’s waterfront. Bridges Project. One citizen group,

The movement draws inspiration from other 8664, has advocated for a return to cities that have removed a waterfront highway, like Chattanooga, San Francisco, Portland, infrastructure on a human scale, and Seattle. namely the replacement of an elevated Louisville’s highway infrastructure is vastly oversized for a mid-sized American city. section of I-64 along the Ohio River with a street-level boulevard.

20 Rendering of Louisville waterfront with I-64. Credit / 8664

I-64 runs the length of Louisville’s around many of Louisville’s landmark 8664 was formed in response to the downtown waterfront, in many parts civic features, including the Muhammad Ohio River Bridges project, a joint directly along the river’s edge. For Ali Center and the Louisville Slugger venture by the States of Kentucky and decades, the highway has created a Museum & Factory. Much of this land Indiana that proposed the expansion formidable barrier between the city and could be devoted to parklands and of the Kennedy Memorial Bridge arguably its most significant amenity, pedestrian access to the river, which downtown and the construction of a its waterfront. While other parts of would further strengthen the city’s second bridge eight miles upstream. Louisville have enjoyed a revitalized cultural assets. 8664 opposed the expansion of the waterfront, the same cannot be said for bridge downtown and saw this as an area between 22nd Street and the Clark Private property owners would see opportunity to re-envision the city’s Memorial Bridge. Here, the highway benefits too. Where waterfronts have waterfront as a place for people, not cars. occupies the land directly adjacent to the been carefully saved or reclaimed as Although 8864’s alternative fell within water, with only a narrow riverwalk as public space, a zone of enhanced value the bounds of the Ohio River Bridges’ greenspace. radiates out from the waterfront for environmental impact assessment distances of a quarter to a half mile. For and the group gathered the support Starting in 2005, citizen group 8664 Louisville, this means an area of roughly of 11,000 petitioners, the $2.6 billion campaigned to reclaim this land for the 60 to 120 city blocks would rise in construction of the bridges proceeded city. In place of I-64, Louisville would property value. unaltered. gain an expanded waterfront park with a parallel parkway. The four-lane parkway Furthermore, with a combination of Since its re-opening in 2016, traffic would be designed with pedestrians in tweaks to existing traffic patterns, the on Kennedy Memorial Bridge has mind, with frequent crossings, street 8664 proposal meets demands for decreased 49 percent, as drivers are trees on both sides, and a green median projected traffic volumes. Through- hesitant to pay tolls up to $4 and along its center. Although able to handle traffic along I-64 would be re-routed instead have opted for free routes. vehicle traffic, its primary goal would to I-265, Louisville’s outer beltway, There is, however, a silver lining to be to facilitate access to the waterfront which increases travel distances by only this underuse and overexpenditure on to those who live, work, and visit five miles. The combination of the new highway infrastructure: The same basic downtown. four-lane parkway and existing east-west urban conditions that spurred the 8664 streets along the riverfront corridor can movement are still in place, and I-64 The transformation of this two-mile handily accommodate the remaining remains a prime candidate for removal stretch along the river between I-65 and 80,000 cars per day that use I-64 for in order to downsize infrastructure to a I-264 would free over 60 acres of land local destinations. level appropriate for a mid-size city. FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 21 I-70. Credit / CDOT

Highways are known sources of InterstateDENVER, COLORADO 70 pollution. Air quality decreases significantly for residents who live HIGHWAY TYPE Elevated Interstate within 1,000 feet of a highway. Yet YEAR BUILT in Denver’s Elyria, Swansea, and 1961-1964 Globeville neighborhoods, CDOT is STAGE OF REMOVAL Despite widespread community opposition, about to undertake an expansion of CDOT has committed to sinking and widening the highway. I-70 that threatens to displace 5 percent KEY CHARACTERISTICS of the neighborhood’s population and Significant environmental justice concerns surround the Central 70 expansion. bring even more of its residents into Three neighborhoods and an elementary 1,000-foot pollution threshold where school will be exposed to a high volume of vehicle emissions from the proposed depressed vehicle emissions cause increased rates highway.

Current political climate in Colorado is of asthma, heart attack, stroke, lung opposed to freeway expansion. cancer and pre-term birth.

22 Rendering of I-70 corridor as boulevard. Credit / Unite North Metro Denver

When I-70 was completed in 1964, Elementary School’s playground and the With the support of the Sierra the elevated highway diminished the school building itself would be directly Club, several local organizations and value and changed the character of the adjacent to the 14-lane highway. neighborhood associations filed an primarily Latino neighborhoods along injunction against the project on the its course. Fifty-five years later, the aged When CDOT’s plan was revealed, grounds that it had not adequately viaduct is in need of significant repairs. a second community group, Ditch addressed the environmental concerns Community organization Unite North the Ditch, responded and raised for the community. As of December Metro Denver proposed an alternative environmental justice concerns. In 2018, CDOT chose to settle the lawsuit in place of the elevated highway. A addition to air quality issues, lowering and agreed to contribute $550,000 to tree-lined boulevard, with roundabouts I-70 below grade has the potential to an independent health study that will instead of interchanges, would re- contaminate groundwater sources, a fact provide a greater understanding of establish the community grid, free up that CDOT itself readily admitted when public health and environmental hazards land for development, and raise property it shelved proposals to reconstruct I-70 in the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea values. as a tunnel. neighborhoods.

Instead, CDOT has so far opted to In particular, Ditch the Ditch CDOT first proposed the reconstruction replace and expand the highway. In supporters took issue with CDOT’s of I-70 in 2004. Fifteen years later, it August 2018, it broke ground on the proposed concession to the Swansea runs contrary to recent transportation $1.2 billion Central 70 project, one neighborhood. As a replacement for developments in Colorado. On the of the most expensive projects ever the demolished playground, CDOT November 2018 ballot, voters turned undertaken by the agency. Over the proposed to cap a 4-acre area over I-70 down two proposals (Propositions 109 next fifty to sixty months, CDOT and build a park above the highway. and 110) to allocate billions of dollars will remove I-70’s elevated viaduct But with the rest of the road still of funding to highway widening and and replace it with a sunken freeway uncovered, the children and others who expansion across the state. The state nearly three times as wide. The project used this greenspace would be exposed also elected Jared Polis as governor, who has serious repercussions for the to the emissions from traffic below. campaigned on the dual issues of cutting neighborhoods around it. To expand The residents of the Elyria, Swansea, vehicle emissions and increased mass the highway, the state must seize and Globeville neighborhoods, which transit. In light of these developments, and demolish 56 residences and 17 all already belong to the most polluted the Central 70 project appears to be businesses, including one of the few ZIP code in the United States, would behind the times—and proposals such as groceries in the area. The plan also be subject to even more environmental those by Unite North Metro Denver are includes the demolition of Swansea hazards from the highway expansion. more in line with current demands.

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 23 I-81 over E. Washington Street. Credit / Oliver Hine

A boulevard is not the only type of street InterstateSYRACUSE, NEW YORK 81 that can replace an in-city freeway. In Syracuse, a coalition has rallied around HIGHWAY TYPE Elevated Interstate the removal of the elevated portion of

YEAR BUILT I-81 that enters downtown from the 1957 south. In its place, members of the STAGE OF REMOVAL coalition support reconnecting the street NYSDOT is considering the replacement of the elevated freeway with a community grid network that the highway damaged as one of two options. Mayor Ben Walsh fully supports the community grid option. several decades ago. This option, KEY CHARACTERISTICS officially known as the ‘community grid,’ NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called the highway a “classic planning blunder.” favors relatively small streets that enable Advocates favor the replacement of the highway with a network of streets rather than a walkability and fine-grained urban single boulevard. development.

24 Rendering of Washington Street without I-81, looking south. Credit / ReThink 81

For over five decades, the elevated by on-street parking. In this scenario, the elevated viaduct “a classic planning 1.4-mile stretch of I-81 known as ‘The Interstate traffic would be rerouted blunder.” Viaduct’ has split downtown Syracuse around the city via I-481, which would in half. The urban neighborhoods be renamed I-81. With the viaduct gone, The community grid option also has around the highway have suffered from local traffic would be dispersed through social and economic upsides for the its construction: It destroyed a historic an enhanced street grid system. city. The removal of the highway has African-American community, disrupted the potential to return up to 18 acres the flow of city streets, and paved over These common-sense designs have of developable land to the city. The countless historic homes and sites. The won over many supporters. Hundreds American Institute of Architects I-81 disparity it has created between those have attended rallies in support Task Force estimates that redevelopment who could afford to move to the suburbs of the community grid. Nearly 20 of this land could result in the creation and those who remained contributes to local organizations and associations of $1.5 billion in property value and $3.6 Syracuse’s high poverty rate. have joined the Moving People million annually in tax revenue. Transportation Coalition, to increase But like many in-city highways, I-81 awareness of the advantages of the This redevelopment is an opportunity to in Syracuse has reached the end of community grid. Syracuse’s primary local create more inclusive opportunities for its lifespan. Now NYSDOT and city newspaper, The Post-Standard, published the members of Syracuse’s community residents must decide its fate. a front page editorial last July—its first historically left out of the system. The in 37 years—titled “Let’s unite Syracuse: Syracuse Housing Authority, which Grassroots movement ReThink81 has Replace I-81 with a community grid.” already owns land along the I-81 advocated that when the aged viaduct corridor, foresees being able to add is taken down, it stays down. The The idea has also gained traction at the another 600 below-market-rate units. movement offers an alternative for the political level. Recently elected Syracuse city and has created images showing Mayor Ben Walsh campaigned with the Because of the identifiable benefits and what the current viaduct corridor could community grid as part of his platform. extensive support for the community look like without the highway. These But he was far from alone; three of the grid option, NYSDOT is considering visions emphasize streets on a pedestrian four mayoral candidates last election it as one of two options for the scale, rather than a boulevard with six came out in favor of the grid—as a replacement of the I-81 viaduct. A or more lanes. None of the streets has group they garnered well over 90 percent decision ten years in the making is more than four travel lanes; all include of the vote—and Common Council is imminent, as is the opportunity to revive ample sidewalks, with at least one bike also on board. Even New York Governor the bustling streets of Syracuse’s past. lane separated from fast-moving traffic Andrew Cuomo has weighed in, calling

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 25 I-980. Credit / ConnectOAKLAND

I-980 remains a testament to the InterstateOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 980 intense disapproval for freeway construction at the end of the highway- HIGHWAY TYPE Depressed Interstate building era. Public opposition to its

YEAR BUILT construction was so strong that the 1985 project was abandoned in 1971, only to STAGE OF REMOVAL be resurrected and finally completed Advocates are actively building a coalition for removal and have the support of Oakland over a decade later. Now, the excessively Mayor Libby Schaaf. Removal is included as an option in the Downtown Oakland wide highway prevents West Oakland Preliminary Draft Plan (2019). from enjoying the revival experienced KEY CHARACTERISTICS Highway is severely underused and occupies a by Uptown Oakland, the neighborhood 560-foot right-of-way. on the opposite side of I-980 and its The removal of the highway creates an opportunity to better integrate Oakland into regional transit networks. parallel frontage roads.

26 Oakland’s restored street network with the removal of I-980. Credit / ConnectOAKLAND

Section of boulevard to replace I-980, with 560’ right-of-way for scale. Credit / ConnectOAKLAND

The economic benefits promised as part grid along the route of I-980 would have 17 acres in total of publicly controlled of this highway’s construction failed to the capacity to handle the traffic in a urban land. This new land could be materialize. Instead, the West Oakland more suitable fashion. developed for any type, use, or intensity neighborhoods adjacent to I-980 that will best serve the interests of experience some of the highest asthma The citizen group ConnectOAKLAND Oakland’s residents, including affordable rates in the state of California (in the calls for replacing I-980 with a housing and community services. 99th and 100th percentile) and have boulevard that has capacity for transit notably poor access to healthy foods. and bike facilities. The I-980 footprint With this proposal in hand, Meanwhile, less than a quarter mile has the potential to build a strong ConnectOAKLAND has engaged away across I-980, Uptown Oakland is foundation for regional mobility, private, public, and professional undergoing a renaissance. West Oakland especially if connected to existing stakeholders. Many local leaders and residents should be able to walk to public transit networks like BART and community activists in West Oakland Uptown’s services and amenities, but are Caltrain. ConnectOAKLAND’s vision support the plan and Mayor Libby effectively cut off by a daunting route includes taking advantage of I-980’s Schaaf has championed the removal of that consists not only of the Interstate depressed lanes to create multi-level this underutilized section of highway. highway, but also a pair of frontage transit infrastructure and avoid costly The City of Oakland is now exploring roads that serve fast-moving traffic. The tunneling or seizure of private property. the replacement of I-980 with surface right-of-way for all of this asphalt is an The right-of-way for the proposed streets as part of its Downtown Oakland enormous 560 feet wide. boulevard would be 75 percent narrower Plan. Although much work remains to than the highway, making pedestrian be done, the removal of I-980 would Caltrans acknowledges that the crossing easier. advance many community goals while current number of lanes is excessive opening up opportunities for equitable to accommodate the 92,000 cars per The transformation of I-980 offers development. day that travel the road, a volume that other important benefits for the city. accounts for only 53 percent of possible The creation of a boulevard will stitch capacity. Most of these vehicles are the former street network back together local traffic, with both origins and with as many as 15 cross streets and, destinations along the northern part of in the process, create new real estate the corridor. Most trucks that prefer adjacent to downtown. The boulevard wide lanes to service Oakland’s port solution reclaims seven western blocks already opt for I-880 over I-980. A that I-980 encroached upon, and creates surface boulevard integrated into a street 14 new city blocks to the east—around FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 27 photo: D Magazine

Kensington Expressway. Credit / Bradley Bethel Jr.

Kensington Expressway Before the age of highways, celebrated Scajaquada Expressway landscape architect Frederick Law BUFFALO, NEW YORK Olmsted designed the city’s Delaware

HIGHWAY TYPE and Humboldt Parks, linked by Hybrid depressed and at-grade state routes the tree-lined boulevard of the YEAR BUILT Humboldt Parkway. The construction 1957 (Kensington Expressway), 1962 (Scajaquada Expressway) of the Kensington and Scajaquada STAGE OF REMOVAL Expressways in the 1960s marred this Studies are complete and community organizations have preferred alternatives to masterful plan and separated parks and current expressways. neighborhoods. A half-century later, KEY CHARACTERISTICS Highways bisect famous Olmsted-designed community leaders recognize that the parks, which advocates seek to restore. restoration of Olmsted’s original plan Because of strong community support, NYSDOT is considering alternatives to the will create a stronger Buffalo. expressways in official studies.

28 Current Scajaquada Expressway through Delaware Park. Proposed Scajaquada Boulevard designed to mitigate Credit / Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy automobile traffic. Credit / Buffalo Olmsted Parks

Not only did this pair of expressways Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, and the neighborhoods’ access to the park. The deprive Buffalo of quality parklands, Olmsted Parks Conservancy are working vision pays homage to Olmsted’s original but it also severely damaged the together to restore the original Olmsted plan and would consolidate the cultural neighborhoods along these corridors. parks system through context-sensitive assets, now separated by the highway, The demolition of thousands of homes solutions. that border the park. These assets include and businesses in Buffalo’s East Side the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the to make way for the Kensington These groups support a NYSDOT Buffalo History Museum, which would Expressway displaced city residents, proposal to cover a one-mile stretch be within walking distance of each while NYSDOT seized parts of of the Kensington Expressway to other—if not for the four-lane barrier. Delaware Park on the justification that reconstruct the former Humboldt it was “vacant land.” Property values in Parkway. This proposal re-connects the Thanks to the combined efforts of the Hamlin Park neighborhood, situated neighborhoods divided by the depressed Buffalo’s community organizations, where these two highways connect, highway and creates a pedestrian- NYSDOT withdrew their proposal plummeted and remain among of the friendly environment by relegating fast- last January to rebuild the Scajaquada lowest in the city. Many local businesses moving traffic to the underground lanes. corridor using highway-like design with in the nearby Jefferson and Fillmore limited traffic calming measures. Instead, The parkway would return 14 acres of business districts were shuttered as it will reconsider community-based land to the community and generate residents moved away. designs. Stephanie Crockatt, Executive opportunities for infill development and Director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Fortunately, many of the assets near the affordable housing. In turn, reinvestment Conservancy, hailed the decision as a expressway corridors remain relatively to the Jefferson and Fillmore business benefit to Buffalonians now and in the intact. Humboldt Park (renamed Martin districts could create up to $2.8 million future: “Today we can say clearly that Luther King Jr. Park) endures as the in new property tax revenue for the the community has been heard. Thanks home of the Buffalo Museum of Science. City of Buffalo over a 30-year period, in to the effort of so many concerned The present-day park reflects the city’s addition to $76.7 million in household citizens who worked so hard over these African-American heritage and hosts its wealth. past several months, we now have an annual Juneteenth Festival. The now- opportunity to restore the jewel of Community members also advocate bisected Delaware Park is still a popular Olmsted’s system.” for a transformation of the Scajaquada destination within the city. Expressway into a tree-lined boulevard/ Many local organizations, including the parkway to reduce noise and pollution, Restore Our Community Coalition, the increase safety, and reconnect adjacent

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 29 Graduated Campaigns

These campaigns represent the next stage of the highways to boulevards transformation: projects where authorities have committed to removal. Two of these three projects are already underway and dismantling has begun, with tangible results.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Inner Loop Interstate 375 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ROCHESTER, NEW YORK DETROIT, MICHIGAN

On Friday, January 11, 2019, the In December 2017, the dust began to The Michigan Department of City of Seattle began the process of settle from Rochester’s Inner Loop Transportation (MDOT) has dismantling the elevated Alaskan East project, the decommissioning formally committed to the removal Way Viaduct. This freeway had long and infill of a portion of the freeway of I-375 through downtown separated much of downtown Seattle that ringed downtown. Since its Detroit. The project probably from its waterfront. By the turn of the completion, Rochester has witnessed will not commence until around millennium, it had reached the end the benefits of the freeway’s removal. 2022, as MDOT explores design of its lifespan. Seattle had committed Three major mixed-use developments alternatives. Currently, it has settled to its replacement with a boulevard that include below-market-rate on two options, both variations as early as 2007, but in 2009 the apartments have already broken on a boulevard design. However, State of Washington decided to ground and another two projects both designs still cater excessively add a costly highway tunnel with are already in the pipeline. One of to automobiles and very much an initial price tag of $3.1 billion. these includes a partnership with resemble the freeway they will In the month between the closure local healthcare provider Trillium replace. Each features a total of eight of the viaduct and the opening of Health, with plans to dedicate 20 travel lanes (four northbound and the tunnel in February 2019, the units to supportive housing programs four southbound), which exceeds predicted ‘carmageddon’ caused by the that aid its formerly homeless the number on the current highway. highway’s removal failed to manifest, clients. Rochester is seeking to MDOT needs to consider more which suggests that the tunnel was an capitalize on this momentum and is pedestrian-oriented designs, if unnecessary expense. currently studying the removal of the Detroit is to reap the full benefits of remaining parts of the Inner Loop. highway removal.

30 AlaskanSEATTLE, WA Way Viaduct InnerROCHESTER, Loop NY

I-375DETROIT, MI

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 31 Conclusion

It is no longer an article of faith that in-city highways are forever: As these behemoth structures and routes age, many cities are treating removal not as an “if,” but as a “when and how.” Even with such a commitment, the dismantling of a highway is no small undertaking. The ten cities featured in this report have years of work ahead, and much planning to do before they can restore wholeness and opportunity to the neighborhoods and business districts these routes disrupted.

When realized, each of the ten Design for People. more medians that create a desirable projects profiled in this edition and walkable avenue. of Freeways Without Futures will Cities must strive to create walkable transform their cityscapes, returning places out of former highway Offer Alternative acres of land back to local control corridors, designed on a scale suitable Options to Driving. for parks, business districts, and for pedestrians. If the street or new housing. With opportunity boulevard that replaces the highway The street or boulevard should comes responsibility: Well before still caters to a high volume of vehicle provide an alternative to automobile demolition day, cities will have to traffic moving at a fast pace, then travel in the form of public work out complex design and policy many of the benefits of highway transportation, connected to a considerations to restore integrity removal will fail to manifest. The transit network that serves the to the corridors disrupted by these boulevard will still be an effective region. The removal of a highway public works, including making it a barrier for pedestrians, businesses that is a divestment from expensive priority to prevent displacement and are supposed to rely on foot traffic automobile infrastructure. It assure that current residents enjoy the will flounder, and property values will presents an opportunity to capture benefits of redevelopment. Without remain stagnant. Eight uninterrupted and convert trips taken by private careful attention to this core value of lanes of at-grade traffic mimics the automobile into ridership for public maintaining and building on what is effects of a highway, including its dire transit, which lessens the need already strong in a community, the public health consequences for nearby to design a street with excessive removal of the highway could simply residents. traffic lanes. Furthermore, the new exert a new generation of inequity for street or boulevard can incorporate communities that have seen enough. A street design that includes cars but does not make them the highest relatively inexpensive forms of public What are the core principles that new priority is key: the test of time has transportation into its design, such as plans for former highway corridors shown that a road of four to six bus rapid transit with dedicated lanes. should observe? lanes is adequate for auto traffic but Many of the communities around can still be designed for people and highway corridors lack effective bicycles, with well-proportioned public transit; highway removal is an sidewalks, frequent and well-signed opportunity to remedy this. crossings, street trees, and one or

32 Riverfront Parkway in Chattanooga, a former riverfront highway that was converted in 2005. Credit / Congress for the New Urbanism

Understand Who Some of this land should be dedicated use urbanism for the future. The ten Should Benefit—and to the creation of housing options projects examined in this report—and at many price points from below the approximately twenty worldwide Follow Through. market rate to market rate, to ensure that have preceded them—offer hope choices for the most vulnerable renters for a different path that does not have The removal of a highway will and prospective homeowners in the to end in an exit ramp. increase the attractiveness of nearby community. In the case of current and neighborhoods, and that means future homeowners, programs that property values will also rise. Several mitigate the cost of ownership—such projects in the nation, including as abatements on property taxes—can the 11th Street Bridge project in make it easier for legacy residents to Washington, DC, put programs in stay in their homes through periods of place years ahead of construction significantly rising real estate values. that encouraged and supported home This pair of strategies is by no means ownership by current residents, as well exhaustive, but a starting point. as created protections for renters. Many of the same community The gentrification that comes with members who opposed the initial rapid redevelopment is hard to avoid construction of freeways through their but is not inevitable; with planning, neighborhoods and their descendants attention, outreach, and strong fiscal still live in the neighborhoods that will tools, long-standing members of a benefit from highway removal. To see community need not be displaced this reparation in their lifetime can be when a freeway comes down and the gratifying and even deeply moving— market responds. From the beginning, provided they will take part in the cities need to develop active strategies renaissance that results. Removal to combat potential displacement. of an in-city freeway represents an Fortunately, much of the land currently opportunity to right a past injustice, occupied by freeways will revert to the while at the same time creating strong control of cities upon their removal. and resilient mixed-income, mixed-

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 33 Further Reading

P10 / Claiborne #blvdtampa Website. P18 / I-5, Portland Expressway (I-10), New Bonner, Ernie. History of Riverfront Orleans P14 / for People and Harbor Drive. Portland I-345, Dallas State University College of Urban & Kaplan-Levenson, Laine. ‘The Public Affairs. Crain, Zac. Why We Must Tear Monster’: Claiborne Avenue Before Down I-345. D Magazine. May 2014. And After The Interstate. WWNO Maus, Jonathan. Imagine the Central Eastside, minus that pesky freeway. 89.9. 5 May, 2016. Macon, Alex. How to Imagine Dallas BikePortland.org. 16 November, 2006. Without I-345. D Magazine. 2 Stelly, Amy. Plan for blighted November, 2017. Claiborne Avenue: ill-conceived, Central City 2035. City of Portland. 9 July, 2018. exclusionary, lacks due diligence. The A New Dallas Website. Lens. 20 December 2017. No More Freeway Expansions Coalition for a New Dallas Website. Claiborne Avenue Alliance Website. Website. Dallas City Center CityMAP. Texas Riverfront for People Website. Restoring Claiborne Avenue: Department of Transportation. 27 Alternatives for the Future of September, 2016. Claiborne Avenue. Claiborne Corridor Improvement Coalition and Congress P20 / I-64, Louisville for the New Urbanism. 15 July, 2010. P16 / I-35, Austin Kulash, Walter. Feasibility Review: Tour: New Orleans’ Tremé 8664 Plan, Louisville, Kentucky. 28 Neighborhood and the Claiborne Barnes, Michael. Recalling Austin’s November, 2007. Expressway. Nola.com. 17 September, ample East Avenue. The Austin- 2018. American Statesman. 29 August, Roberts, David. Louisville’s “Spaghetti 2015. Junction” is a testament to how cars Modeling Environmental Health degrade cities. Vox. 5 January, 2017. Impacts of I-10 to Engage Residents Diaz, Joy and Wells Dunbar. A and Decision Makers. Thriving Earth Deeper Look at Austin Plans to Bury Schmitt, Angie. Kentucky Spent $1.3 Exchange Project. I-35. KUT 90.5. 2 August, 2013. Billion on a Highway No One Wants. Streetsblog USA. 28 November, 2018. Ross, Robyn. Reconnect Austin: Part One. The Austin Chronicle. 17 8664 Facebook Page. P12 / I-275, Tampa January, 2014. 8664 Website. Dovey, Rachel. Tampa Residents Ross, Robyn. Reconnect Austin: Look for Alternatives to State DOT’s Part Two. The Austin Chronicle. 31 Highway Plan. Next City. 26 April, January, 2014. 2017. P22 / I-70, Denver Reconnect Austin Website Frank, Josh. From Bifurcation to Bliss, Laura. In Divided Denver, a Boulevard: Tampa’s Future Without Urban Land Institute Austin 2018 Highway Promises Reconnection. I-275. Next Big Idea Award: Reconnect CityLab. 12 January, 2017. Austin. 30 August, 2018. Mullane Estrada, Sheila. Demolish Minor, Nathaniel. CDOT Settles I-275? One expert offers a ‘dream’ $500,000+ I-70 Lawsuit With alternative. Tampa Bay Times. 23 Neighborhoods, Environmental April, 2017. Groups. Colorado Public Radio. 20, December, 2018.

34 Further Reading (continued)

Colorado Sierra Club Webpage: Downtown Oakland Specific Plan. Gutman, David. ‘The cars just Central I-70 (North Denver) City of Oakland. 01 March, 2016. disappeared’: What happened to the 90,000 cars a day the viaduct carried Ditch the Ditch Website. before it closed? The Seattle Times. 24 January, 2019. Unite Denver North Metro Website. P28 / Kensington and Loh, Carolyn. Opinion: I-375 Scajaquada Expressways, was a mistake. Here’s what we can P24 / Buffalo learn from it. Detroit Free Press. 11 I-81, Syracuse December, 2017. Bethel, Bradley, Jr. Kensington Lohmann, Patrick. Supporters of Expressway: Cap It or Fill It? Rise Moon, Cary. A Bad Case of Tunnel ‘community grid’ for I-81 rally Collaborative. 23 November, 2016. Vision. The Stranger. 9 December, downtown in push against viaduct, 2004. tunnel. The Post-Standard. 10 October Kurutz, Steve. Once So Chic and 2017. Swooshy, Freeways Are Falling Out Orr, Steve. Inner Loop land to feature of Favor. The New York Times. 21 more apartments, city officials decide. Lohmann, Patrick. Syracuse Housing October, 2017. Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. 28 Authority plan uses I-81 project to June, 2018. resurrect city center, combat poverty. Morrison, Angelica. Expressway seen The Post-Standard. 27 December as symbol of racial inequity, health Sharp, Brian. City eyes $1M study to 2016. problems. WFBO 88.7. 15 January, remove remainder of the Inner Loop. 2018. Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. 5 Moriarty, Rick. Cuomo: I-81 in July, 2018. Syracuse a ‘classic planning blunder’. Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy The Post-Standard. 11 August 2016. Website. Schmitt, Angie. A New Neighborhood Will Replace a Sunken AIA CNY I-81 Task Force Website. Humboldt Parkway Deck Economic Rochester Highway. Streetsblog USA. Impact Study. New York State 01 March 2018. Let’s unite Syracuse: Replace I-81 Department of Transportation. 2015. with a community grid (Editorial). Schmitt, Angie. Seattle’s Viadoom: The Post-Standard Editorial Board. 29 The Scajaquada Corridor Coalition The ‘Carmageddon’ That Wasn’t. July, 2018. Website. Streetsblog USA. 24 January, 2019. ReThink81 Website. Restore Our Community Coalition Inner Loop East Project. City of Website. Rochester. P26 / I-980, Oakland P30 / King, John. Oakland moving in Graduated right direction with idea to replace Campaigns I-980. San Francisco Chronicle. 19 November, 2015. Black, Lester. The Tunnel Is Worse Than We Thought. The Stranger. 30 King, John. Time to rethink I-980, January, 2019. spur that cuts through heart of Oakland. San Francisco Chronicle. 24 Gallagher, John. MDOT moving November, 2015. ahead with plan to rip out I-375 freeway, restore surface street. Detroit Connect Oakland Website. Free Press. 5 December, 2017.

FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 35 Other Nominated Freeways

South Mall Arterial, Kendall Parkway (SR 836 Albany, NY Extension), Miami, FL I-75/85, Atlanta, GA I-91, New Haven, CT Jones Falls Expressway I-95, Richmond, VA (I-83), Baltimore, MD I-35, San Antonio, TX I-90 Allston Interchange, I-64, St. Louis, MO Boston, MA I-705, Tacoma, WA U.S. Route 35, Dayton, OH Gardiner Expressway, Toronto, ON I-475, Flint, MI Potomac River Freeway I-65/70, Indianapolis, IN and Whitehurst Freeway, I-49, Lafayette, LA Washington, DC I-195, Miami, FL

36 About CNU

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) helps create vibrant and walkable cities, towns, and neighborhoods where people have diverse choices for how they live, work, shop, and get around. People want to live in well-designed places that are unique and authentic. CNU’s mission is to help build those places.

With nineteen local and state CNU works to unite that movement chapters and national headquarters as a connector, convener, alliance in Washington, DC, CNU works to builder, and teaching platform. Our unite the New Urbanist movement. staff, members, partners, and allies are Our projects and campaigns serve the international thought leaders on to empower our members’ efforts, building better places, and CNU helps identify policy opportunities, spread bring them together. great ideas and innovative work to a national audience, and catalyze new Learn more about our Highway to strategies for implementing policy Boulevards program at cnu.org/our- through design approaches. projects/highways-boulevards.

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FREEWAYS WITHOUT FUTURES 2019 / 37 38