Highway Engineering Madness: 10 Waterfront Freeways That Need to Go (North America Edition)
Another one for all you Cities Skylines players! From a highway engineering perspective, siting freeways along waterfronts and riverfronts just makes sense: shorelines are typically flat, requiring no structures or tunnels, and the natural barriers of a river, lake or ocean means fewer intersecting conflicts. It’s a highway engineer’s dream.
But traffic engineering doesn’t always (or usually) take account of competing objectives we might have for waterfronts, like active and recreational uses or dense mixed-use development.
So today we’re going to look at the ten most egregious examples of misguided freeway siting and waterfront dereliction in North America, with MANY dishonorable mentions along the way. ANd, if you’re like me, you’re going to want to rinse your eyes out with bleach after this one. I apologize/you’re welcome.
Featured freeways (in no particular order)
Gardiner Expressway (Toronto)
I-278/Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) (Brooklyn Heights)
I-5 (Portland)
Storrow Drive (Boston)
I-5 (Sacramento)
I-787 (Albany)
I-64 (Louisville)
I-76 (Philadelphia)
I-95 (Philly)
I-5 (San Diego)
I-705 (Tacoma)
FDR Drive (New York)
I-190 (Buffalo)
I-580 (Berkeley / East Bay)
I-376 (Pittsburgh)
Lake Shore Drive (Chicago)
I-91 (Hartford)
I-293 (Manchester)
I-25 (Denver)
Hwy 315 (Columbus)
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Twitter: @nerd4cities
Instagram: @nerd4cities
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Other CityNerd Videos referenced:
– Freeway Lids 1: https://youtu.be/Bp0faVOdf2c
– Freeway Lids 2: https://youtu.be/K6xyOCEpAVU
– Freeway-Lite Cities: https://youtu.be/5F3lZwG-BWk
– Freeway-Heavy Downtowns: https://youtu.be/WYsJx1urS3Y
– Ginormous Interchanges: https://youtu.be/4rgH0MUaHx8
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Resources:
– https://www.zillow.com/home-values/10920/columbus-oh/
– https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/fewer-drivers-in-seattles-highway-99-tunnel-could-create-need-for-bailout/
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Image Credits:
– Seine Video by Caelan Kelley from Pixabay
– London Eye Video by Elizabeth Mavor from Pixabay
– Ipanema Beach Video by Jose Roberto de Lima Kililla from Pixabay
– Barcelona Video by MARIN ADRIAN from Pixabay
– Colorado River Video by Rémi Orts from Pixabay
– Dublin, Ireland Video by MikeyD from Pixabay
– Venice Beach Video by RODNAE Productions: https://www.pexels.com/video/drone-footage-of-city-at-daytime-8783666/
– Brooklyn Bridge Park By Photograph by D Ramey Logan, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37639910
– Harbor Drive from Portland Archives via https://pamplinmedia.com/images/artimg/00003670479930-0728.jpg
– Eastbank Espanade By User:Cacophony – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=175849
– Big Four Bridge By Zepfanman.com from Louisville, KY, USA – Big Four Bridge, opening weekend, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25422830
– Embarcardero Fwy 1 By Evp – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4788024
– Embarcardero Fwy 2 By USGS – http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/pubs/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57691083
– Embarcadero Fwy 3 By GeraldPHawkins – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5806838
– Alaskan Way Viaduct video by Jonkee — This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alaskan_Way_Viaduct_timelapse.webm
– Alaskan Way Viaduct By Dicklyon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97239027
– Alaskan Way Reconstruction By Sea Cow – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118921038
– East River Video by Sarowar Hussain: https://www.pexels.com/video/time-lapse-video-of-a-city-4954316/
– Westside Elevated Highway Chambers St Ramps By Steven Zane – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID hhh.ny0443
– Westside Elevated Highway 1973 By Chester Higgins – The National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37292872
– Westside Elevated Highway at Canal St By Steven Zane – Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Historic American Engineering Record: HAERNY,31-NEYO,88-10, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61602
– FDR Drive (thumbnail) By Christopher Down – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68334420
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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)
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Contact: nerd4cities@gmail.com
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