Freeways/expressways that should be demolished

[roadman65]

Pierce Elevated in Houston (soon!)
Claiborne Expressway in NOLA

Those are the only two I'd clearly support eliminating. I can see the arguments for getting rid of 345 in Dallas, but I still think it's too important as a commuter route to demolish entirely.

I take you want I-10 on I-610  in NOLA lol.

[TXtoNJ]

Pierce Elevated in Houston (soon!)
Claiborne Expressway in NOLA

Those are the only two I'd clearly support eliminating. I can see the arguments for getting rid of 345 in Dallas, but I still think it's too important as a commuter route to demolish entirely.

I take you want I-10 on I-610  in NOLA lol.

Nah, route I-10 on the current I-12 corridor, and renumber the existing I-10 as 155 from Baton Rouge to Laplace, and then 55 to the NOLA CBD. 610 and the current I-10 East would be renumbered either 59 or 81. 310 would become 355, and 510 would be 159 or 181.

[kkt]

um, how do we live then without houses

We'll take turns napping in Kenworth sleepers.

[Duke87]

once the entire planet is paved, the only thing left to do is maintain the lane markings and signs

This is reminding me of that time I used to use SCURK to cover an entire SimCity 2000 map with nothing but streets.

Loading that map in Streets of SimCity and driving around it was fun... for a bit.

[ukfan758]

Still waiting for some clueless soul to pop up with "8664!"

The people who support that may want a nice looking waterfront, but have no clue what that would do traffic-wise. That is a primary artery for east-west commuters and would jam up 265 as a result.

[hm insulators]

When I was in Seattle, I found the Alaskan Way viaduct very useful.  Definitely the quickest way from Downtown to the airport and a lot faster than I-5. 


Depends on time of day.  WA 99 can jam up pretty bad too and there are no carpool lanes, either.

Bruce is right.  Whatever traffic benefits the viaduct brings to Seattle would be more than offset by the non-traffic benefits of removing the viaduct.

Plus, now that they have LRT between the airport and downtown, I've found that it's far more useful to hop that between the two and get a rental car downtown.  A lot cheaper than getting a rental car at the airport, too.

Yes, the light rail is great despite some of its flaws (street-running...never again). Airport travel is a lot easier and there are a few good roadgeek views out the window, especially on the finally approach to Tukwila and the airport.

The viaduct has a tendency to jam up pretty easily. All it takes is one accident, god forbid something like a fish truck toppling over and taking 9 hours to clear, and everything halts.

Sashimi!

[paulthemapguy]

Interstate 180. Not the Wyoming one (this time).  The Illinois one.  A spur interstate to nowhere.

Originally it was built for a steel manufacturing plant in Hennepin, which is an iffy proposition at best in the first place.  Now the steel boom in that town isn't there anymore.  So it's a behemoth of a highway that just dead-ends at a town of 1000.

And the stack interchange at the south end of the highway is a vacant monstrosity, too.

[tradephoric]

Still waiting for some clueless soul to pop up with "8664!"

The people who support that may want a nice looking waterfront, but have no clue what that would do traffic-wise. That is a primary artery for east-west commuters and would jam up 265 as a result.

Will the east end crossing project that is currently under construction help alleviate traffic volumes along the waterfront?  That seems to be a logical bypass for a lot of drivers (especially for drivers  from the west continuing to Cincinnati).  I'm not saying it would make it viable to tear down the waterfront freeway, but it starts to strengthen their argument.

[ChiMilNet]

Interstate 180. Not the Wyoming one (this time).  The Illinois one.  A spur interstate to nowhere.

Originally it was built for a steel manufacturing plant in Hennepin, which is an iffy proposition at best in the first place.  Now the steel boom in that town isn't there anymore.  So it's a behemoth of a highway that just dead-ends at a town of 1000.

And the stack interchange at the south end of the highway is a vacant monstrosity, too.

I-180 could actually serve a good purpose if IDOT were to ever connect it to IL Route 6 in Peoria, although the costs of doing that would probably be quite prohibitive at this point (I'd say toll it, but I think ISTHA has plenty of other projects it should take up as a higher priority).

However, staying in Illinois, the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan should be demolished. It really is an expressway to nowhere, and was actually closed off to film Batman Begins (with hardly an impact to traffic).

[The Ghostbuster]

I can't think of any freeways or expressways that I'd like to see demolished here in Wisconsin. I'm not a proponent of freeway demolition. I suppose if the freeway/expressway is underutilized, it could be eliminated, but other than that, I believe congestion would usually worsen without the freeway.

[paulthemapguy]

Interstate 180. Not the Wyoming one (this time).  The Illinois one.  A spur interstate to nowhere.

Originally it was built for a steel manufacturing plant in Hennepin, which is an iffy proposition at best in the first place.  Now the steel boom in that town isn't there anymore.  So it's a behemoth of a highway that just dead-ends at a town of 1000.

And the stack interchange at the south end of the highway is a vacant monstrosity, too.

I-180 could actually serve a good purpose if IDOT were to ever connect it to IL Route 6 in Peoria, although the costs of doing that would probably be quite prohibitive at this point (I'd say toll it, but I think ISTHA has plenty of other projects it should take up as a higher priority).

However, staying in Illinois, the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan should be demolished. It really is an expressway to nowhere, and was actually closed off to film Batman Begins (with hardly an impact to traffic).

Totally in agreement with everything.  Have you seen the northern end of IL-6?  It's a dead-end expressway with a trumpet interchange you use to get to IL29...as if that expressway was meant to carry on northward along the Illinois River.  If there is a promise to get I-180 extended south to meet IL-6, fine, keep it around.  Otherwise, forget it.  SHUT IT DOWN! *Gordon Ramsay voice*

And the Amstutz is a total waste, agreed.

[coatimundi]

What about good old 3139, the Earhart Expressway? What I call the "Monument to Louisiana Graft".
Except for quickly funneling people through that hellscape east of the refinery, the state could also do very well without Interstate 110. Except if they want to continue killing motorists through left-side ramps and the Governor's Curve. Any suburban boom in the northern part of the parish that warranted this freeway's construction is never going to occur. My mother grew up in Baker, and it has almost the same population now as it did when she was a kid.

May as well get rid of the northern section of Indiana 912 while it's still in the public consciousness after that recent partial demolition. Otherwise, the rest of Indiana may have to be rudely reminded, in the future, once again, that Lake County is part of their state. All it serves now is the middle-aged orange sect from the Indy suburbs going to the casino. The problem is that, once it's gone, what do you do with the land? Maybe this is East Chicago's chance to get in on attracting hipster commuters? Or maybe they too have vision and smell as senses.

And how about Freedom Parkway, in Atlanta? It could be made into such a nice urban boulevard.

And, I know they bring it up every few years, but I would like the Shoreway, in Downtown Cleveland, gone. It was their own fault for building the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on the other side of it (the real "mistake of the lake"), but it's now time to make amends and eliminate that psychological and physical divide.
I think Downtown Cleveland would also be a lot better without the eastern part of its inner beltway, I-90. But that would probably just dump a lot of traffic onto 55th Street due to the I-490 stub.

[RoadWarrior56]

Freedom Parkway in Atlanta WAS built as a nice urban boulevard.  It has a couple of grade separations, but it is primarily a true parkway with at-grade intersections and shared use paths alongside.  It was downgraded before ever being constructed in its original form.