Tear down the Sheridan Expressway?

[SidS1045]

Apparently it's being considered:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/nyregion/13sheridan.html

[SSOWorld]

There goes John Norquist again - Mr. Anti-Freeway himself

[yanksfan6129]

There goes John Norquist again - Mr. Anti-Freeway himself

Jeez, what's with people named Norquist?! John Norquist, Grover Norquist...they all suck!

[Duke87]

The Sheridan {...} acts as a physical barrier between local residents and the Bronx River.

Uh huh. Know what else acts as a physical barrier between local residents and the Bronx River? The train tracks used by Amtrak's NEC. Removing the freeway won't help that!

Besides... as someone who has been in a canoe in the Bronx River around there, I can firmly say that a physical barrier between it and local residents is only a good thing. It's disgusting.

[Chris]

In terms of barriers, (elevated) railroad lines are suddenly not interesting...  

Railroads emit MUCH more noise than freeways. For example a railroad with regular trains can easily emit around 75 - 80 dB, even at low speeds, while a freeway at 55 mph barely get above 60 - 65 dB at close range (within 100 feet). Since the decibel scale is logarithmic, this is a huge difference. Very quiet railroad infrastructure + trains may be limited to 65 - 70 dB at close range.

No, if they really care about the local residents and noise emissions, fighting railroads is much more effective.

Also, noise emissions of freeways can be mitigated much better, for example quiet pavement. Porous asphalt can reduce as much as 6 - 8 dB compared to concrete slabs. It's also slightly easier to install noise barriers next to a freeway than around an (elevated) railroad, which often runs through dense urban areas where 10 feet high noise barriers are not considered acceptable. (A Berlin wall, if you will).

"We're rolling back the freeway system,"  said John Norquist, president and chief executive of the Congress for a New Urbanism, a group based in Chicago that promotes walkable cities.

So people should walk 20 miles to work? I suggest this guy visits Africa to see how his ideas really work... We're not talking about downtown or midtown, but the Bronx. Nothing would get more "walkable" than it already is by removing expressways. Are these guys really that naive that removing freeways shrinks cities to 4 square miles with sky-high housing prices?

[Revive 755]

Given how badly NYDOT is handling the one expressway in the Buffalo area, I would not be surprised if I-895 is removed.

Too bad there can't be a requirement to upgrade the nearby Bronx River Parkway for an improved truck route if the Sheridan comes down.

One of the railroad viaducts over the Sheridan looks a heck of a lot worse than the freeway:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.827969,-73.885696&spn=0,0.020599&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.827912,-73.885798&panoid=1K4TrZFBd4F-Y3tiOHuW4Q&cbp=12,31.01,,0,-1.7

[Dougtone]

There goes John Norquist again - Mr. Anti-Freeway himself

Anytime anyone wants a freeway torn down, they have to wheel in John Norquist.  It must be a requirement.

[vdeane]

Given how badly NYDOT is handling the one expressway in the Buffalo area, I would not be surprised if I-895 is removed.

Also NY 590 north of Titus Ave.  It's a shame - NY needs more freeways, not less, but the anti-roads crowd is powerful here.

[Duke87]

One of the railroad viaducts over the Sheridan looks a heck of a lot worse than the freeway:

It's called an "el".
Here, have a few actual pictures:




Incidentally, there's work going on around there right now. The Whitlock Avenue station (visible in the second photo) is currently closed for renovation.
As for the structure itself, well, it hasn't been painted in forever. If it's actually structurally deficient, the MTA sure isn't acting like it. The 6 express takes that curve at pretty high speed (the tracks are superelevated considerably).

[Revive 755]

^ Well it is still an ugly barrier between the city and the river; tear it down now and replace it with street running train plus a drawbridge 

Seriously, the former interurban viaduct in St. Louis looks much better:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.650151,-90.189332&spn=0,0.020599&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.650231,-90.18938&panoid=gbhnu25VTMY5WVdkh-KOmw&cbp=12,106.32,,0,-1.8
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.650134,-90.189332&spn=0,0.020599&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.65005,-90.189286&panoid=8g9OFj14wMz2OFIfQ6_bIA&cbp=12,71.91,,0,1.95
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.645408,-90.190587&spn=0,0.020599&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.645486,-90.190634&panoid=mQfd-LptLCEzk2iFoQ6RNg&cbp=12,39.42,,0,-2.5

It looks like there is a loose cross brace in the third picture.

[NJRoadfan]

So.. where are they going to fit in the missing movements at the Bruckner Interchange that I-895 serves? (I-95 N to I-278 S and I-278 N to I-95 S). I gotta laugh at the better river access. Besides the obvious NE Corridor RR tracks blocking the way.... the Bronx River? Serious, who wants to go there? There are already extensive parks at the mouth of the river near the end of the Bronx River Parkway (which has a joke of an interchange with I-95.... some movements are served by the I-895 stub to East 177th St.!)

[Stephane Dumas]

So.. where are they going to fit in the missing movements at the Bruckner Interchange that I-895 serves? (I-95 N to I-278 S and I-278 N to I-95 S). I gotta laugh at the better river access. Besides the obvious NE Corridor RR tracks blocking the way.... the Bronx River? Serious, who wants to go there? There are already extensive parks at the mouth of the river near the end of the Bronx River Parkway (which has a joke of an interchange with I-95.... some movements are served by the I-895 stub to East 177th St.!)

Let's bury instead that path of the Bronx River parkway between I-95 and the Bruckner expwy and reroute it to the northern end of the Sheridian expwy.

[D-Dey65]

Apparently it's being considered:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/nyregion/13sheridan.html

Gahh!! Not this crap again! Screw you, John Norquist!