Freeway Revolts

[DetroitArmy]

Fells Point is a great historical waterfront district in Baltimore with restaurants, bars, nightlight, and shops. From the description below [[its wikipedia, take it for what its worth), Fells Point might have met its end 45 years ago, similar to paradise valley, hastings street etc.

"In 1965, transit planners proposed to link I-83 and I-95 by building an elevated highway along the north shore of the Baltimore harbor. This project would have entailed extensive demolition within Fell's Point, and the highway would have cut off the remainder of the neighborhood from the waterfront. A freeway revolt against the proposals was raised by local residents and derailed the project. Fell's Point's addition to the National Register of Historic Places prevented the use of federal funds for the road project, and contributed to the project's cancellation.[8] One of the leaders of the revolt was Barbara Mikulski, who would go on to become a U.S. Senator from Maryland."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fells_Point,_Baltimore

Were there any freeway revolts around here or is that just called the 12th street riots?

[j to the jeremy]

San Fransisco successfully ripped out the freeway that ran along their waterfront at one point. Also, it's worth noting that today, MDOT announced they would not go through with the useless I-375 project downtown.

http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2011/04/1...ension-project

[Bham1982]

We had some freeway revolts.

In NW Detroit, notice how the Lodge runs in a trench, along the old James Couzens? It's because the neighborhood [[then upper middle class and heavily white) fought the Lodge for many years, and finally settled upon the current lesser-impact alignment.

I mentioned the sociodemographics because the issue was not only one of urban planning. There was a fear of the "neighborhood changing" due to neighborhoods changed further south along the traditional Lodge alignment.

There was a book written about the neighborhood protests.

I'm pretty sure there were also community protests against the proposed Davison expansion. Notice how the Davison just ends for no reason? The Dexter-Davison neighborhood would have been destroyed if the highway exteneded to meet the Jeffries.

[DetroitHabitater]

http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2011/04/13/mdot-drops-the-i-375-extension-project[/url]

That would of been HORRIBLE. We are so backwards here that we would even consider an expressway with a Uturn.

[gazhekwe]

I-696 from Telegraph to I-94 was held up over 20 years by protests from Pleasant Ridge, Lathrup Village and towns along the route.

[DetroitPlanner]

I-73 is one that went nowhere.

[thatguy123]

I-696 from Telegraph to I-94 was held up over 20 years by protests from Pleasant Ridge, Lathrup Village and towns along the route.

hell they must have put up a pretty good fight considering there is no stretch of 696 that goes from telegraph to 94. Lord only knows why a tiny ass town like Pleasant Ridge would even be involved with that.

[Augustiner]

hell they must have put up a pretty good fight considering there is no stretch of 696 that goes from telegraph to 94.

Um........

[Meddle]

hell they must have put up a pretty good fight considering there is no stretch of 696 that goes from telegraph to 94. Lord only knows why a tiny ass town like Pleasant Ridge would even be involved with that.

It was delayed by the Jewish community that demanded they be able to walk to Temple. Specially landscaped overpasses were eventually constructed for this purpose at massive cost to the taxpayers.

And last time I looked, the I-696 W.P. Reuther freeway DID exist between I-94 and I-96/Northwestern Hwy.

[Hermod]

It was delayed by the Jewish community that demanded they be able to walk to Temple. Specially landscaped overpasses were eventually constructed for this purpose at massive cost to the taxpayers.

And last time I looked, the I-696 W.P. Reuther freeway DID exist between I-94 and I-96/Northwestern Hwy.

They did a little bit of rerouting. The original alignment would have virtually eliminated the City of Pleasant Ridge.

[Vic_doucette]

Meddle, as long as the overpasses don't have signs that say "No Gentiles," what's the issue? The overpasses provide a safe way to walk over the freeway -- and as many folks as there are on this forum who complain about the lack of "walkability" in the area, I'd think they would be welcome.

Granted, I didn't like the sound of the freeway construction taking place only a couple hundred feet from my bedroom window -- especially since I was working midnights at the time and trying to sleep during the day -- but that was more than 20 years ago and I've recovered.

[Toolbox]

I-696 from Telegraph to I-94 was held up over 20 years by protests from Pleasant Ridge, Lathrup Village and towns along the route.

The section between Telegraph and I 75 was held up by the parkland in PR and the negotations with the Jewish communities in OP and Sfld.

I remember for years getting off 696 at the Deq/11 mile exit and taking 11 Mile to Evergreen to reenter 696.

[ferntruth]

Meddle, as long as the overpasses don't have signs that say "No Gentiles," what's the issue? The overpasses provide a safe way to walk over the freeway -- and as many folks as there are on this forum who complain about the lack of "walkability" in the area, I'd think they would be welcome.

Granted, I didn't like the sound of the freeway construction taking place only a couple hundred feet from my bedroom window -- especially since I was working midnights at the time and trying to sleep during the day -- but that was more than 20 years ago and I've recovered.

So I should not put up the "No Goyim allowed" sign either?

[Detroitnerd]

I remember reading that the route I-94 was to take through Harper Woods was fought and successfully altered.

Time and again, the lesson is that wealthy, politically connected and organized neighborhoods don't have to deal with somebody cutting a freeway through their neighborhood.

The poor, of course, love freeways and are happy to move to make way for them.

[Don K]

San Fransisco successfully ripped out the freeway that ran along their waterfront at one point.

Actually, there were two separate revolts regarding the Embarcadero Freeway. As it was first planned, it was intended to connect the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge. but in the mid-60's the connector to the GG Bridge was stopped, so it became a freeway to nowhere. During the 80's there was a movement to tear down the remainder of the freeway. After the Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the structure, it was decided to tear it down and replace it with a boulevard.

One semi-successful stopping of a freeway in the Detroit area was the northern end of I-275. As originally planned, 275 was to go from the intersection at I-696/I-96, through Novi, Commerce, and White Lake, ending up at I-75 somewhere near Clarkston. As I recall, there was a huge to-do about this in Western Oakland county in the late 70's and through the 80's. The route was stopped, and it was decided to build the present M-5 freeway/boulevard from the intersection in Novi to Pontiac Trail.

From the time I moved to the area in 1978, if you drove to Twelve Oaks Mall you could see where MDOT graded the exit ramps that were to carry 275 north from the 96/696 intersection.

So yeah, another example of folks with the money to hire good attorneys could get a freeway stopped [[also see I-95 around Princeton, NJ, for another example. That is, to the best of my knowledge, the only place where a major, two-digit, freeway just stops and then picks up again 20 miles away).

[missn]

Memphis managed to keep I 40 from destroying their Midtown, and a rare tract of virgin forest in their signature park, Overton Park. I 40 took over the north leg of I 240, and what had been completed in East Memphis is now a freeway to nowhere. They recently took rebuilt the section downtown to take away the approaches that were never built.

[DetroitDad]

Freeways were never meant to bisect cities.

Interestingly, during construction, President Eisenhower was said to be surprised when he discovered that the interstates were penetrating the central cities; supposedly, he thought they were simply linking up cities for long-distance travel but not being used to solve the traffic woes of urban areas.*

This really illustrates the disconnect President Eisenhower had. The president operated around basic principals, ideologies, and goals, but tended to delegate a great deal of authority and decision making when it came to many details. Today, we know that this kind of leadership structure leaves the political system vulnerable to corruption and counterproductive lobbying efforts.

*The Interstates and the Cities:Highways, Housing, and the Freeway Revolt, a research report by Raymond A. Mohl of the Department of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Page 21, last paragraph.

[Don K]

Memphis managed to keep I 40 from destroying their Midtown, and a rare tract of virgin forest in their signature park, Overton Park. I 40 took over the north leg of I 240, and what had been completed in East Memphis is now a freeway to nowhere. They recently took rebuilt the section downtown to take away the approaches that were never built.

I had forgotten about that one. I drove through Memphis driving east from Dallas in '95, and was astounded that, to continue east on I-40, traffic had to negotiate a one-lane, 270 degree exit ramp onto 40/240. Caused a bit of a traffic jam even in mid-afternoon when I was driving through.

I often think about what would have been different about the Detroit area had I-94 taken the Southfield Road alignment north [[or maybe Telegraph) to 11/12 Mile, then across to the east side, and had I-75 taken Southfield [[or Telegraph) Road north to the vicinity of Pontiac and Clarkston.

But then I remember that the alignment of what's now I-94 was planned during WWII to connect City Airport, the Packard plant, Dodge Main, the Rouge, and Willow Run [[Metro Airport was a 50's add-on taking advantage of the vacant land in Romulus and the fact that I-94 already was there). And I remember that the Ford plants in Wayne, the GM Tech Center, and various plants in Livonia and Sterling Heights/Utica were built where they were mostly because that was where the car companies could find sufficient land at an affordable price [[can you imagine assembling enough land for the 50's-60's employees at the Tech Center within Detroit, even if the buildings were built to 5-10 floors? How many residents would that have displaced? Or Wayne Assembly or Michigan Truck, or Sterling Heights Assembly, or Utica Trim?).

Okay, Packard should have been torn down and reused, once Packard production stopped. That would have been enough land for a parts plant, although not for a modern assembly plant.

[Hermod]

Washington DC stopped I-95 from going though. I-95 comes north and turns on to the Washington Beltway [[formerly I-495), goes around the south of the city and rejoins the through I-95 to the northeast. The remaining parts of the Beltway are still I-495 [[think of the Beltway from 7 o'clock counterclockwise to 2 o'clock being I-95 and the Beltway from 2 back around to 7 being I-495. The stub of I-95 going into Washington [[Shirley Highway) is now I-395. The result has led to an ungodly interchange in Springfield, Virginia known as the "Mixing Bowl" which is an absolute nightmare. The Beltway has in essence become the "main street" with most of the area development of the last forty years concentrated at the exit ramps from the Beltway. They have been talking for years about going another forty miles out and building an "outer beltway" to get the through traffic around Washington.

[ghettopalmetto]

The remaining parts of the Beltway are still I-495 [[think of the Beltway from 7 o'clock counterclockwise to 2 o'clock being I-95 and the Beltway from 2 back around to 7 being I-495. The stub of I-95 going into Washington [[Shirley Highway) is now I-395. The result has led to an ungodly interchange in Springfield, Virginia known as the "Mixing Bowl" which is an absolute nightmare. The Beltway has in essence become the "main street" with most of the area development of the last forty years concentrated at the exit ramps from the Beltway.

There are so many things wrong with this statement, I don't even know where to begin.

[Hermod]

There are so many things wrong with this statement, I don't even know where to begin.

Which sentence? Is the numbering system for the Beltway [[partially I-95 and partially I-495 not correct? Does the stub of the once-planned I-95 though Washington not go up past the Pentagon as I-395 [[Shirley Highway)? Is the "mixing bowl" at Springfield not a total disaster? I went through it every evening for a number of years. Have not the Beltway exits in MD and VA seen more new building in the past forty years than anywhere else in the area [[e.g. Tyson's Corner)?

Which part of what I have said is untrue?

[ghettopalmetto]

Washington DC stopped I-95 from going though. I-95 comes north and turns on to the Washington Beltway [[formerly I-495), goes around the south of the city and rejoins the through I-95 to the northeast. The remaining parts of the Beltway are still I-495 [[think of the Beltway from 7 o'clock counterclockwise to 2 o'clock being I-95 and the Beltway from 2 back around to 7 being I-495.

Actually, the entirety of the Beltway is I-495, with the segment between the "north" and "south" segments of I-95 also being designated as "I-95". This is a very very minor point, though. Most people just call it "The Beltway".

The stub of I-95 going into Washington [[Shirley Highway) is now I-395. The result has led to an ungodly interchange in Springfield, Virginia known as the "Mixing Bowl" which is an absolute nightmare.

This makes it sound like the nightmarish Mixing Bowl [["fixed" by VDOT for $700 million within the past decade) was caused the failure to run I-95 through the District as originally planned.

The Beltway has in essence become the "main street" with most of the area development of the last forty years concentrated at the exit ramps from the Beltway.

If you consider a "main street" as nothing more than a conduit for moving as many cars as quickly as possible, then yes. Of course, it was once thought that the Beltway would "solve" all of the traffic congestion problems in the DC area, just as the planners are convinced that the InterCounty Connector in Maryland--originally proposed in the 1950s using 1950s logic--will somehow "solve" congestion on the Beltway. Should sounds pretty familiar to Detroiters, who were promised that I-75 would "solve" congestion in Detroit, and I-696 would "solve" congestion in the suburbs.

What happened? Well, they added the roadway capacity and development followed, as you stated. I apologize--make that automobile-oriented development followed. Which is why the Mixing Bowl is such a damned disaster. Which is why traffic got WORSE since I-270 in Maryland was widened from six lanes to twelve. Which is why Arlington, Virginia has remained steadfast in its refusal to allow widening of I-66 within that country. Tysons Corner was a rural crossroads before the Beltway was constructed.

They have been talking for years about going another forty miles out and building an "outer beltway" to get the through traffic around Washington.

Oh, it's happening surreptitiously, and in phases. Virginia has been widening VA-28 by Dulles Airport and building interchanges with intersecting roads. Maryland is building the $3 billion InterCounty Connector, which was determined will NOT relieve traffic congestion [[despite what its proponents have said). It kills me--these idiots are undertaking useless, expensive projects just because some clown 60 years ago drew a line on a map--as if we have no critical thinking skills of our own.

With that said, DC had its own freeway revolt that had threatened U Street [["Black Broadway"). The District instead decided to use its Interstate Highway funds to start building the Metro system. But not before a Congressman from Kentucky decided to withhold those funds until they started building the land-hogging clusterfuck known as the Southwest Freeway [[I-395).

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/DC_Area_Map_XL.jpg

[gazhekwe]

I just remembered two more. One in Metro Detroit, I-96. Before the Jeffries, the John C. Lodge/James Couzens Freeway was I-96. It was intended to continue all the way out Northwestern to Orchard Lake Road, and then beyond Orchard Lake Road to join up out there somewhere with the freeway to Lansing. Lands were acquired on the west side of Orchard Lake Road but I don't know how far. Strong opposition sent the project to sleep for decades, when it would surface from time to time. I believe it is now officially dead.

The second one is I-95 in Philadelphia. The roadway is complete from south of Augusta, Maine to Miami, Florida, but for a gap there from NY to NJ. It is in process now with completion expected in 2018.

From Wikipedia:
As of 2007, I-95 is the only non-cancelled long-distance Interstate in the original plans that has not been completed. A discontinuity exists between two separate sections in New Jersey and Pennsylvania due in part to the freeway revolts of the 1960s and 1970s; thus it is not possible to directly travel the entire length of I-95 without interruption, since the two sections are about 10 miles [[16 km) apart from each other [[though this gap is currently being addressed).

[iheartthed]

Wasn't there a plan to extend the Lodge to 14 Mile and Orchard Lake? I vaguely remember something about this and the major opposition it received from Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield.

[DTWflyer]

Northwest Highway Extension - would've extended US-10 [[now M-10) at the time further northwest through Oakland county, eventually intersecting with a extended I-275 and later US-23 - DEAD

I-275 northern connection to I-75, would've continued I-275 north, reconnecting with I-75 near Clarkston. - DEAD

I-73 - Would've resigned US-127 from Grayling, down through Lansing to Jackson, then cut diagonal across Lenawee / Monroe county toward Toledo.

US-31 Petoksey bypass, plans in the early 2000 to build a 4-lane divided highway around Petoskey, - DEAD