More Cities Are Banishing Highways Underground — And Building Parks on Top

The Pew Charitable Trusts ^ | April 2, 2018 | Martha T. Moore

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Pictures in original.

[BenLurkin]

Must increase the cost of the projects, surely.

[BBell]

It’s not like we are not in enough debt already

[zeestephen]

I can remember when Vera Katz, the flamboyant female mayor of Portland, Oregon, tried to get funding to cover I-405 with park land back in the 1990s.

[Cowboy Bob]

Similarly, in Pittsburgh, a $26 million cap park over I-579 will rejoin the Hill District, a primarily African-American part of the city that was cut off by the highway construction, to downtown.

Sort of like extending bus routes from the inner city to the suburban malls. How did that work out?

[wizwor]

"The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, created during Boston’s “Big Dig” to bury its Central Artery, cost $40 million"

That's a lot of money for a vacant lot with a carousel. No one has ever reported the carbon footprint of the depressed highway and maintenance of the 'green space' (never mind ongoing costs). For the most part, the space is used exactly as it was before the highway was covered.

[Ken H]

I’ll just bet that instead of sensible intersections and stop lights, they’ll have those #*@&# traffic circles.

[zeestephen]

I think if they made these areas into real parks - trees, green grass, flowers, pedestrian pathways (no bikes, skateboards, etc.) quiet shaded benches, no boom boxes - it might be worth the cost.

But if they plan to convert them into “community centers,” only the derelicts, the jobless, and mobs of juveniles are going to show up.

[RightGeek]

Cover the roads with giant homeless camps - call them wildlife parks

[Moonman62]

Dallas began building deck parks when local officials realized that its paucity of green space was hurting the city’s competitiveness with businesses, Abtahi said. Klyde Warren Park, now run by a foundation, includes a performance space, a children’s park, a restaurant and a dog run.

Property values around the park have shot up, bringing higher property tax revenue for the city. Office rents in nearby towers have risen by a third since the park opened. New development brought 7,000 more workers to downtown and 1,500 new apartments.

...

Wiki says about half the cost of the park was paid by private donations.

[Moonman62]

I think if they made these areas into real parks - trees, green grass, flowers, pedestrian pathways (no bikes, skateboards, etc.) quiet shaded benches, no boom boxes - it might be worth the cost.

But if they plan to convert them into “community centers,” only the derelicts, the jobless, and mobs of juveniles are going to show up.

...

Look at the park in Dallas on Google. It’s nice and it closes at night.

[PIF]

The Pew Charitable Trusts funds ultra left projects, issues false reports on serious subjects, distorts where it can and leaves out much as possible in order to make the world a better place for socialism.

[Nateman]

Here in Phoenix the park built over I-10 became a good place to buy drugs and a nice spot for bums to sleep.

[jalisco555]

Syracuse, NY is considering this as well. The I-81 overpass which cuts the city in two is crumbling and will need to be taken down. There are three alternatives under consideration- replacing the overpass with a new one that will require the destruction of numerous offices and other buildings near the highway to create shoulders that the current highway lacks, not replacing it at all and diverting traffic to an existing beltway around the city or going underground. Since the third alternative is by far the most expensive I suspect it will be chosen.

[CodeToad]

“Here in Phoenix the park built over I-10 became a good place to buy drugs and a nice spot for bums to sleep.”

In Denver, the same will happen. The area isn’t known for any good parks to begin with.

[Uncle Miltie]

Limiting forever the ability to expand.

[Gay State Conservative]

We did that in Boston a few years ago.It was called "The Big Dig".It was claimed at the outset that it would cost a few billion.IIRC it came to something like 5 times the original claim.

In connection with the "The Big Dig" Barney Fag...sorry,Barney Frank...uttered the only words with which I've ever agreed.He said,in connection with the cost,"it would be cheaper to raise the city than to lower the highway".

[P.O.E.]

Why doesn’t everyone just switch jobs with the people going the other way on the highway.

[wally_bert]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

A sensible statement from the banking queen, who could have guessed?

[foreverfree]

I vacationed in Boston via Amtrak in 2006 and the Greenway was under construction (I-93 had already been moved underneath and the Central Artery dismantled). I crossed the site while walking the Freedom Trail.

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