Efforts to tear down the Interstate-10 Claiborne Expressway, a 2.2 mile section of elevated roadway in New Orleans that many locals and activists have blamed for separating neighborhoods. Neal Pierce says teardowns might begin to grow in popularity.
"The New Orleans roadway may be the most poignant of the separate cases that CNU makes for taking down 10 major U.S. downtown freeways. The expressway was constructed to run straight through - and over the wishes - of the heavily African-American Treme neighborhood, where the city's Creole aristocracy had once held sway.
But it's more of a spur than an essential part of the interstate system. And its consequences have been grim. Old Claiborne Avenue, with its generous, oak-shaded median, a walkable neighborhood center with a history of picnics, Mardi Gras parades and black marching bands, literally disappeared under the broad new route that backers claimed would carry traffic and prosperity into downtown New Orleans."
With tight federal budget constraints, the upkeep on these sorts of underused highways and interstates may end up being more expensive than the teardowns.
FULL STORY: Time To Accelerate Freeway Teardowns?
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research