Are freeways doomed?
SalonEveryone freak out: Carmageddon is back. Advocates there hope that by opening the city's "front door," as they call it, for the first time since 1964, they'll set the stage for a renaissance of St. Louis' depopulated downtown. And as New Orleans implements a new master plan for the city following Hurricane Katrina, anything seems possible -- including a pitch to tear down the Claiborne Expressway, the freeway that divided several of the city's historically black neighborhoods when it was erected decades ago. "No one's advocating for putting back" in Milwaukee now that it's gone, says Norquist, and getting rid of it "killed forever the idea of putting a freeway around the downtown." Removing urban freeways could open up whole new business districts, provide space for parks where they're needed most, free up land for affordable housing, and create vast new waterfront tourist meccas.
History of this topic
A New Orleans neighborhood confronts the racist legacy of a toxic stretch of highway
Salon
Shutting a freeway in traffic-clogged L.A. gets attention. But is it effective activism?
LA Times
What the 10 Freeway closure reveals about our reliance on an ‘overused’ system
LA Times
L.A. traffic since 10 Freeway closed is ‘manageable’ with pockets of ‘absolute parking lot’
LA Times
Editorial: The 10 Freeway closure is an opportunity to make public transit shine
LA Times
Cyclists took over the 110 Freeway: Here’s what they had to say about biking in LA
LA Times
This L.A. freeway is the butt of many jokes. Can it have new life as parks and housing?
LA Times
Now is not the time to be scared. It is time to consider an L.A. free of the freeways
LA Times
The ghosts of L.A.’s unbuilt freeways — a wide median here, a stubby endpoint there
LA Times
Column: Imagine if the 2 Freeway ended in a brilliantly colored, eco-smart park
LA Times
Transforming the end of the 2 Freeway could be the beginning of a new L.A.
LA TimesDiscover Related