http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/...Proposals.html
Planned Freeway Removals

The following freeway removals are being planned by city and state governments:

  • Rochester, NY, Innerloop: The Inner Loop completely circles downtown Rochester, and the city has planned to remove it since 1990, when it completed its "Vision 2000 Plan" for downtown. In addition to this official city support, there is strong citizen backing to "demote the moat." The city is now studying the impact of this plan on traffic, and then will try to get funding for it.


  • Trenton, NJ, Route 29: The freeway was initially designed to remove trucks from local streets, but truck traffic was banned from it before its completion. In response to complaints from the city, the state Dept. of Transportation is now planning to remove this freeway and replace it with a boulevard and local street grid, freeing up 18 acres of land for development. This plan is one of NJDOT's “smart growth corridor studies.”


  • Akron, OH, Innerbelt: Inspired by the example of Milwaukee, Akron mayor Don Plusquellic has proposed removing the Innerbelt freeway to promote economic development. The city is now conducting a $2 million study of this freeway removal.


  • Washington, DC, Whitehurst Freeway: City officials are discussing plans to remove this three-quarter-mile-ling freeway, which divides Georgetown from its waterfront, and to replace it with a boulevard. There are also preliminary discussions of removing other elevated freeways, including Southeast Freeway near the Capitol and part of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway near the Lincoln Memorial.


So what freeway could Detroit do without? And how about that ugly noisy People Mover that goes nowhere?