Freeway and expressway revolts

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The Freeway Revolts (sometimes expressway revolts) refer to a phenomenon encountered in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, where planned freeway construction in many U.S. cities was halted due to widespread public opposition; especially of those whose neighborhoods would be disrupted or displaced by the proposed freeways. Such "revolts" occurred in many U.S. cities, such as Boston, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington DC, Cleveland and Baltimore. In many cities, one can find ghost ramps, abruptly-terminating freeway alignments, and short stretches of freeway in the middle of nowhere, all of which are evidence of larger projects which were mothballed.

After World War II, there was a major drive to build a freeway network in the United States; including (but not limited to) the Interstate Highway System. Design and construction began in earnest in the 1950s, and many cities (as well as rural areas) were subjected to the bulldozer. However, many of the proposed freeway routes were drawn up without considering local interest; in many cases the construction of the freeway system was considered a regional (or national) issue which trumped local concerns.

Starting in 1956, in San Francisco, when many neighborhood activists became aware of the effect that freeway construction was having on local neighborhoods, effective city opposition to many freeway routes in many cities was raised; this led to the modification or cancellation of many proposed routes. The freeway revolts continued into the 1970s, further enhanced by concern over the energy crisis and rising fuel costs, as well as a growing environmentalist movement. Responding to massive anti-highway protests in Boston in 1972, the governor of Massachusetts ordered planning and construction of all planned expressways inside the Route 128 loop highway halted, with the exception of the remaining segments of the Central Artery. However, some proposals for controlled-access freeways have debated and finalized as a compromise to build them as at-grade expressways.

Contents 1 California 1.1 San Francisco 1.2 Los Angeles 1.3 South Pasadena 2 Connecticut 2.1 Hartford 2.2 Fairfield County 3 Georgia 4 Illinois 5 Maryland 6 Massachusetts 7 Michigan 7.1 Detroit 7.2 Oakland County 8 New Jersey 9 New York 9.1 New York City 9.2 Long Island 9.3 Hudson Valley 9.4 Albany Triangle 9.5 Buffalo-Niagara Falls 9.6 Other Regions 10 Ohio 11 Oregon 11.1 Portland 11.2 Elsewhere in Oregon 12 Tennessee 13 Washington 14 Washington, DC 15 Wisconsin 16 Sources 16.1 General 16.2 Cleveland 16.3 Milwaukee 16.4 Atlanta 16.5 New Jersey 16.6 New York 16.7 Portland 16.8 San Francisco 16.9 Connecticut 16.10 Maryland

[edit] California

[edit] San Francisco

In San Francisco, California, public opposition to freeways dates to 1955, when the San Francisco Chronicle published a map (see image) of proposed routes; construction of the elevated Embarcadero Freeway along the downtown waterfront also helped to organize the opposition, articulated by the Chronicle's architecture critic Allan Temko. The 1955 San Francisco Trafficways Plan included the following routes that were never completed:

• A portion of the Mission Freeway was built and still exists as the near-freeway portion of San Jose Avenue from Interstate 280 to Randall Street. Northeast of that section, it would have run parallel to Mission Street to meet the Central Freeway above Duboce Avenue.
• The Crosstown Freeway would have run parallel to Bosworth Street and O'Shaughnessy Boulevard from Interstate 280 to the Western Freeway near 7th Avenue. Most of the right of way for this freeway was cleared but it was never built.
• The Western Freeway would have run north from Interstate 280 along the line of Junipero Serra Boulevard, then tunnelling to 7th Avenue to meet the Crosstown Freeway. It would have then continued north to the southern edge of Golden Gate Park and followed an unspecified route (in the 1951 version, a tunnel under the park and then a depressed routing through the Panhandle) northeast to the eastern end of the Panhandle, continuing east from there between Fell and Oak Streets to meet the Central Freeway.
• A portion of the Park Presidio Freeway was built as and still exists as SR 1 (CA) through the Presidio from the Golden Gate Bridge. South of that section the freeway would have continued replacing what is now Park Presidio Boulevard and then tunneled under Golden Gate Park to meet the Western Freeway.
• A portion of the Central Freeway was built and the original section west from the Bayshore Freeway to Mission Street still exists as US 101. The section northwest from Mission to Market Street was reconstructed in 2004. The section north of Market Street to Golden Gate Avenue was demolished and not rebuilt. The remaining distance to the Golden Gate Freeway was never built.
• A portion of the Embarcadero Freeway was built from the Bay Bridge approach to Broadway as Interstate 480. The section north of Broadway to the Golden Gate Freeway was never built. The entire freeway was removed after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
• Most of the Southern Embarcadero Freeway was built and still exists as part of Interstate 280, but the section from Third Street to the Bay Bridge approach was never built. The section between Sixth and Third Streets was removed after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
• The Golden Gate Freeway along the northern edge of the city from the Embarcadero Freeway to the Golden Gate Bridge approach was never built.
• The freeway approach from US 101 and Interstate 280 to the Southern Crossing bridge was never built because the bridge was not built.

The 1960 Trafficways Plan deleted several of these routes but added another:

• The Hunters Point Freeway would have run from US 101 south of the city limits on landfill around Candlestick Point and across Hunters Point to meet Interstate 280 near what is now Cesar Chavez Street.

In 1959, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to cancel seven of ten planned freeways, including an extension of the Central Freeway. In 1964, protests against a freeway through the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park led to its cancellation, and in 1966 the Board of Supervisors rejected an extension of the Embarcadero Freeway to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Opposition to the Embarcadero Freeway continued, and in 1985, the Board of Supervisors voted to demolish it. It was closed after 1989's Loma Prieta earthquake and torn down shortly thereafter. The entire portion of the Central Freeway north of Market Street was demolished over the next decade: the top deck in 1996, and the lower deck in 2003. Two other short freeway segments were demolished in the same time period: the Terminal Separator Structure near Rincon Hill and the Embarcadero Freeway, and the stub end of Interstate 280 near Mission Bay. San Francisco was the only major city in the country that lost freeway miles between 1990 and 2005, and one more elevated structure is proposed for demolition and replacement with a boulevard: the Doyle Drive freeway approach to the Golden Gate Bridge that runs through the city's historic Presidio National Park. In every case, the freeways were or will be replaced with surface-level landscaped boulevards, with the former freeway corridors enhanced with extensions of light rail transit.

[edit] Los Angeles

• The Laurel Canyon Freeway (CA/SR-170) would have sliced across western Hollywood, the Mid-City West area, and western Inglewood en route to its terminus at the San Diego Freeway (I-405) near Los Angeles International Airport. It was scrapped in the face of community opposition from these districts and its namesake Laurel Canyon. Only the portion traversing the Baldwin Hills was finished, later being designated as La Cienega Boulevard.
• The Beverly Hills Freeway (CA/SR-2) would have run from the Hollywood Freeway (US-101) in southern Hollywood to the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Westwood along the alignment of Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. It went through several proposed iterations--including a cut-and-cover tunnel--before its mid-1970s abandonment in the face of opposition from residents of Beverly Hills, the Fairfax District, and Hancock Park.
• The Slauson Freeway (CA/SR-90), originally known as the Richard M. Nixon Freeway and intended to run across southern Los Angeles and northern Orange counties between the Pacific Coast Highway (CA/SR-1) and Riverside (CA/SR-91), was truncated as a result of opposition to its construction through South Central Los Angeles. The only portions completed to freeway level are the short Marina Freeway that runs between Marina del Rey and southern Culver City and the Richard M. Nixon Parkway in Yorba Linda.
• The Glendale Freeway (CA/SR-2) terminates roughly 1.5 miles northeast of its intended terminus at the Hollywood Freeway (US-101), due to opposition from residents of Silver Lake.
• The Pacific Coast Freeway (CA/SR-1) would have upgraded the existing Pacific Coast Highway to freeway standards. Opposition by residents of Malibu, Santa Monica, and the coastal cities of the South Bay region led to the project's abandonment.
• The Redondo Beach Freeway (CA/SR-91) would have linked the Pacific Coast Freeway in Redondo Beach or the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Torrance to the Long Beach Freeway (I-710). Opposition by Redondo Beach and Torrance led to its truncation to its current terminus at the Harbor Freeway (I-110) in Gardena; the California legislature subsequently renamed it the Gardena Freeway.
• The Century Freeway (I-105), itself the subject of an unsuccessful freeway revolt in Hawthorne, South Central Los Angeles, Lynwood, and Downey that lasted nearly two decades, was truncated at the San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) instead of its intended terminus at the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) due to opposition from the city of Norwalk.
• A proposed rehabilitation and widening of the aged Long Beach Freeway (I-710) between the Pomona (CA/SR-60) and San Diego (I-405) freeways, which would have demolished over 2000 residences in five cities and one unincorporated area, created such outrage that Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) abandoned it within days of its unveiling in 2004. Caltrans and MTA have issued a new plan that would use MTA-owned utility right-of-way along the Los Angeles River and require the taking of fewer than ten residences.
• During the 1980s, Caltrans proposed extending the Orange Freeway (CA/SR-57) from its terminus at the "Orange Crush" interchange to the San Diego Freeway (I-405) by means of an elevated alignment along the bed of the Santa Ana River. Pressure from environmental groups led Caltrans and the Orange County Transportation Authority to abandon the plan.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] South Pasadena

Opposition to the building of the 710 extension through South Pasadena has, for some 30 years, resulted in the suspension of plans to build an extension from the 210 freeway through West Pasadena and South Pasadena. The ramps exist and a stub is in place at California Avenue, but much of the land taken for the freeway has been resold by CalTrans to private parties.

[edit] Connecticut

[edit] Hartford

In 1973 enviornmentalists filed lawsuits that effectively killed construction of the planned Interstate 291 beltway west of Interstate 91, and the proposed Interstate 284 expressway between East Hartford and South Windsor. (In 1992 the Route 9 Expressway was extended north from I-91 in New Britain to Interstate 84 in Farmington, completing what would have been the southwest quadrant of the I-291 beltway.

[edit] Fairfield County

Local opposition, particularly in the town of Wilton, convinced a federal judge to halt construction of the U.S. Route 7 Expressway between Norwalk and Danbury. The proposal remained on the books until the Connecticut Department of Transportation cancelled expressway plans in 1999 in lieu of widening the existing Route 7 to 4 lanes. Some in Connecticut have been seeking to revive this proposal, including those who originally opposed it.

[edit] Georgia

Local opposition was responsible for the death knell of a number of freeway projects in Metro Atlanta, including the intown portion of the Stone Mountain Freeway from the existing U.S. 78 freeway to what is now Freedom Parkway in downtown Atlanta, and the intown portion of what would have been Interstate 485. The northern part of that freeway was built as Georgia 400, while the southern portion of the highway exists as Interstate 675. The highways would have intersected in a large stack interchange complex roughly where the Carter Center exists today, east of downtown Atlanta. Interstate 420 would have skirted the city limits of Atlanta to the south, running from Interstate 20 in Decatur to Douglasville. The center portion of what would have become I-420 was constructed, and exists as Langford Parkway.

Additional local protests and legislative action ended planning and construction of the Outer Perimeter and the Northern Arc, which would have surrounded Atlanta about 20 miles outside of the present Perimeter Highway.

[edit] Illinois

Since the 1970s, the Illinois Department of Transportation has sought to extend the freeway ("expressway") portion of Illinois Route 53 in Chicago from its northern terminus at Lake-Cook Road, perhaps meeting the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) somewhere in northern Lake County. The most likely alignment for the route would take it through the wealthy city of Long Grove, the residents of which have fought a thus-far successful legal and political battle against the extension. Many residents of cities such as Mundelein and Lake Zurich still display "BUILD 53" signs and bumper stickers.

[edit] Maryland

Freeways Interstate 95, Interstate 83, and Interstate 70 are not directly connected to each other inside Baltimore city limits because of freeway revolts led by activist and later politician Barbara Mikulski. Mikulski became a U.S. Representative and later a Senator after rising to prominence with freeway revolts. In particular, I-70 was stopped through Leakin Park, and terminates at the Baltimore City line, just inside the I-695 Beltway, rather than connecting to I-95, while I-83 terminates on city streets in Baltimore instead of connecting to I-95. Additional roads that would have formed a more complete freeway network in the city were abandoned or redesigned, leaving some short sections (the former I-170 that was redesignated U.S. Route 40), or rights of way that were built as city streets rather than freeways (Martin Luther King Boulevard).

[edit] Massachusetts

In 1970, Governor Francis W. Sargent ordered the Boston Transportation Planning Review, a review of all freeway plans within the Route 128 beltway around Boston. As a result, several freeways were cancelled in 1971 and 1972:

• The Southwest Expressway (Interstate 95) to Canton was replaced by the MBTA Orange Line. I-95 was rerouted to follow Route 128 around Boston.
• The Northeast Expressway (also I-95) to Peabody was largely eliminated. The southernmost part, which was already built, is U.S. Route 1.
• The Inner Belt (Interstate 695 and 95) around Boston was eliminated. A short section (which would have been the I-95 part of the Inner Belt) was built as a city street.
• The Northwest Expressway (Route 2 and U.S. Route 3) to Burlington was replaced by the MBTA Red Line extension to Alewife. Routes 2 and 3 were left on their old street-level routes.

One notable highway project was not cancelled:

• The Central Artery cut a swath through Downtown Boston neighborhoods, creating one of the greatest eyesores in urban America during the 1950s. Starting in 1991, the Central Artery was rerouted into underground tunnels and the elevated eyesore was demolished and replaced by parks and new buildings during a massive project known as the Big Dig.

[edit] Michigan

[edit] Detroit

In the 1970s, an extension of the Davison Freeway in Detroit was planned on both ends, to connect Interstate 96, the Jeffries Freeway, to Interstate 696, the Reuther Freeway, by way of a freeway aligned along Mound Road. A freeway-to-freeway interchange was constructed at Exit 186 of the Jeffries, and a massive stacked freeway-to-freeway interchange was also constructed on I-696 at Mound Road. However, while the Jeffries was still being constructed, the City of Detroit passed a decree that no further freeways would be constructed. There was a strong desire to preserve the existing neighborhoods, which was a factor in rerouting the planned Jeffries Freeway, even though the neighborhoods themselves were suffering from urban blight. The massive Davison Avenue exit of the Jeffries, as a result, sees much less traffic than it was designed for, as does the Mound Road exit on I-696.

The cancellation also scrubbed plans to connect the Mound Road interchange to the existing M-53 expressway, although further development of Macomb County has revived speculation on at least this portion of highway. The land impact would be minimalized along the Mound Road corridor, as Mound was constructed as a multilane divided highway with a particularly wide median, suggesting that MDOT planned for this stretch to be upgraded to a full freeway at some point in the future.

[edit] Oakland County

In the 1970s, Interstate 275 was planned to bypass Detroit and Pontiac, connecting with its parent route, Interstate 75, near the city of Monroe at the southern end, and Clarkston at the northern end. I-275 was slightly realigned when it was determined that it would be more feasible to align Interstate 96 along Schoolcraft Avenue instead of the more heavily developed Grand River Avenue as originally planned, and part of I-275 would now carry I-96.

As construction progressed on the massive ramps that would connect I-275 to the existing interchange of I-96 and the western terminus of I-696, fierce opposition rose up from residents within several Oakland County communities, including Commerce Township, through where much of I-275 would have run. Environmental concerns were cited, as well as fears of dropping property values. As a result, the construction of I-275 north of I-96/I-696 was cancelled. A ghost ramp from the former eastern leg of I-96, redesignated part of M-102, to what would have been northbound I-275, was left behind, as was a ramp that ran parallel to the westbound I-96 ramp that would've carried northbound I-275 and connected with the ramp from M-102.

The ghost ramps, as well as previously unbuilt bridges and ramps, were opened in 1994 as a freeway extension was built up to 12 Mile Road. This extension was designated as M-5. Between 1994 and 2002, M-5 was extended further northward along the right-of-way that had been reserved for I-275, but as a grade-level expressway with traffic lights at 13 Mile, 14 Mile, and Maple Roads, and a grade-level railroad crossing between Maple Road and M-5's northern terminus at Pontiac Trail. Local residents continue to resist further expansion, even as Commerce Township slowly succumbs to urban sprawl.

In addition to the resistance against I-275, a planned extension from Northwestern Highway to I-275 was shelved in the 1970s as part of the same revolt. Although talks of reviving the Northwestern Extension continued for decades, development of the land along the proposed extension's right-of-way, including a strip mall right at Northwestern's current terminus, has effectively ended any chance of such a freeway being constructed.

[edit] New Jersey

Although planned in the 1960's, the Somerset Freeway, which would have connected Interstate 95 from Trenton to Interstate 287 near Metuchen would have cut through some of the wealthy established properties around Princeton. In addition, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, whose roadway went from the Delaware Memorial Bridge to New York City, feared that the paralleling Somerset Freeway, which had no toll, would have caused the NJTPA to lose revenue south of the I-287 interchange.

In 1982, an act of Congress allowed the Somerset Freeway to be dropped, but stipulated that I-95 would be rerouted, via the Pennsylvania Turnpike into New Jersey. This I-95/PA Turnpike interchange, which was never built in the beginning, will be constructed starting in 2006-07, with completion by 2010.

[edit] New York

[edit] New York City

Several expressways in the New York City, mostly planned by Robert Moses, were cancelled because of public oppositions, including two that would have been built through Midtown and Lower Manhattan.

The Lower Manhattan Expressway was planned to carry Interstate 78 from its current terminus at the end of the Holland Tunnel through Lower Manhattan to the Williamsburg Bridge with a connection to the Manhattan Bridge at Canal St. The Expressway would have been built directly through such neighborhoods as Greenwich Village, SoHo, and the Lower East Side, much of which was rundown by the mid 20th century. After a long battle, the expressway was cancelled in the 1970's by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller due to fears of increase pollution and negative effects on such cultural neighborhoods as Little Italy and Chinatown.

The Mid-Manhattan Expressway was another freeway planned to be built directly through the busy Midtown Manhattan business district just south of 34th Street and would pass very close to the Empire State Building. The Expressway was to carry Interstate 495 from the Lincoln Tunnel (where I-495 was to continue until it meets the New Jersey Turnpike) to the Queens Midtown Tunnel where it would connect to the Long Island Expressway. The expressway was originally very popular among local leaders, and Moses had gone so far as to run the Expressway right through Manhattan skyscrapers. However fears of increased vehicular traffic in the already congested city brought the expressway down and it was cancelled in 1971.

Other expressways in the outer boroughs had been planned, but later cancelled, including the Bushwick Expressway, an extension of Interstate 78 through Brooklyn and Queens that would run from the Williamsburg Bridge (at the end of the Lower Manhattan Expressway) to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Also, the Cross Brooklyn Expressway, a faster commercial route paralleling the Belt Parkway from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The former was cancelled largely due to the cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway.

Other expressway cancellations included the Queens-Interboro Expressway, which would have connected the Queens Midtown Tunnel with southern neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens and the Cross-Harlem Expressway, which would have ran in the vicinity of 125th Street in Harlem from the Triboro Bridge to the Hudson River (plans also included building a bridge at 125th Street to New Jersey over the Hudson).

Some of New York City's expressways were left unfinished due to local opposition. In Queens, the Clearview Expressway abruptly ends in the neighborhood of Hollis. It was slated to continue south to John F. Kennedy International Airport, but was cancelled. In The Bronx, the Sheridan Expressway was to run from the Bruckner Expressway in the South Bronx to the Westchester County Line where it would meet with the New England Thruway, running along what is now Boston Post Road (US-1). However, this extension was cancelled and today the Sheridan Expressway runs a very short route from the Bruckner Expressway to the Cross Bronx Expressway.

Much of the reason for the cancellations was due to local groups protesting the construction of these expressways through their neighborhoods and the seen negative effects in local communities caused by the building of such expressways as the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

[edit] Long Island

New York City was not the only part of New York to face an onslaught of freeway revolts. Long Island, which was almost as heavily populated as New York City, had dozens of roads planned by the New York State Department of Trasnportation, as well as Suffolk and Nassau Counties. On two occasions, Suffolk County built roads and allowed them to be redesignated as state highways, in the hope that the state would upgrade them when the county couldn't. The following is a list of roads throughout New York State that were either cancelled, truncated or stalled.

• A.O. Smith Turnpike
• Atlantic Expressway-Sunrise Highway
• Babylon-Northport Expressway.
• Bethpage State and Caumsett State Parkways
• Broad Hollow Expressway
• Cross River Drive Extension
• Center Drive Spur
• Long Island Expressway Extension
• Long Lane
• Nassau Expressway
• Nicoll's Road
• Northern State Parkway Extension.
• Nesconset-Port Jefferson Highway-North Shore Expressway
• Ocean Parkway Extension
• Patchogue-Mount Sinai Road Extension
• Ponquogue Causeway
• Port Jefferson-Westhampton Highway
• Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway
• Sound Shore Parkway
• Southern State Parkway Extension
• Straight Path Extension
• Veterans Memorial Highway Extension.
• Wantagh State Parkway Extension
• West Babylon-Centerport Highway
• Western Nassau Expressway
• William Floyd Parkway

[edit] Hudson Valley

• Bear Mountain Parkway
• Blue Mountain Parkway
• Briarcliff-Peekskill Parkway
• Catskill Expressway
• Central Corridor Expressway(Included the Bronx-White Plains and White Plains-Mahopac Expressways)
• Cross County Parkway Extensions
• Garden State Parkway Extension
• Hudson River Expressway
• New Jersey Turnpike -- Northern Extension
• Northern Westchester Expressway
• Orange Expressway
• Ossining-South Salem Expressway
• Pearl River-Haverstraw Expressway
• Peekskill-Brewster Expressway
• Pelham-Port Chester Parkway
• Phelps Way
• Pound Ridge-Stamford Expressway
• Spring Valley Bypass

[edit] Albany Triangle

• Mid-Crosstown Arterial (US 9-9W)
• Northern Albany Expressway
• Southern Albany Expressway
• Taconic State Parkway Extension
• Slingerlands Bypass.
• Interstate 88 Extension.

[edit] Buffalo-Niagara Falls

• Lake Ontario State Parkway
• LaSalle Expressway
• Robert Moses State Parkway

[edit] Other Regions

• Watertown-Champlain Expressway

[edit] Ohio

In 1964 and 1965, the State of Ohio proposed three freeways that would dissect Cleveland’s eastern suburbs and parkland including Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and East Cleveland. The Clark Freeway was to connect I-271 with downtown Cleveland via Shaker Blvd, the Shaker Lakes, North Park Blvd and East Cleveland. The Lee Freeway was to run north from an interchange with the Clark Highway at Shaker Lakes over Lee Rd to a third highway that would run east-west approximately where Monticello Blvd and Wilson Mills Rd are today. Local residents blocked all three highways. One of several key actions was the 1966 formation of the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes.

[edit] Oregon

See generally [1] (natural emphasis on Portland)

[edit] Portland

Shortly after World War II, the city leaders of Portland, Oregon commissioned famed transportation planner Robert Moses to design a freeway network for the city. Moses produced a proposal which called for numerous freeways to crisscross the city; of this proposal six freeway routes made it to the planning stage. Four of the six were eventually constructed (in some cases in the face of intense opposition); these are:

• The Banfield Freeway (Interstate 84)
• The Baldock Freeway (Interstate 5)
• The Stadium Freeway (Interstate 405)
• The East Portland Freeway (Interstate 205)

However, two other planned freeways—the Interstate 505 freeway, and the Mt. Hood Freeway, were far more controversial. Each proposed route cut through established city neighborhoods. An intense battle arose over the Mt. Hood Freeway, a proposed routing of U.S. Highway 26 and Interstate 84 (then 80N) that stretched from the Marquam Bridge out to the city Sandy at the base of Mount Hood. One section of the freeway—an expressway stretch between Sandy and Gresham with an uncompleted interchange—was built; but the remainder was controversial.

The 1976 mayoral race, with Neil Goldschmidt representing the anti-freeway side and Frank Ivancie representing the supporters of the freeway, became a de-facto referendum on the proposed route. The election was won by Goldschmidt and the freeway was cancelled. The proposed federal funds for the project were instead made available for a planned light rail line, built in the 1980's to connect Portland with Gresham and now part of the MAX Blue Line. This light-rail network is steadily expanding, including sections along Interstate 205 in room that resulted from the controversy.

Soon after, the Interstate 505 proposal was also cancelled; a shorter freeway "stub" was built instead, and U.S. Highway 30 was routed on a new alignment through an industrial area (and away from the residential neighborhood that its prior alignment—and the I-505 proposal—ran through).

In addition to the cancellation of three proposed freeway routes, Portland saw another milestone in the freeway revolts: the destruction of an already-existing freeway. The first freeway to be built through the city—Harbor Drive (along the western shore of the Willamette River), which was, at the time, the route of Oregon Highway 99W—was demolished and replaced with Tom McCall Waterfront Park. 99W was moved onto nearby Front Avenue (the stretch of 99W through Portland would be later decomissioned), and little evidence remains that there was once a freeway along the waterfront. (It should be noted that the removal of Harbor Drive wasn't all that controversial; the recent construction of I-5 on the river's East Bank, and I-405 through the downtown core, had made Harbor Drive no longer necessary.)

[edit] Elsewhere in Oregon

Other Oregon freeway revolts occurred in Salem and Eugene. In Salem, the Interstate 305 project was shelved and replaced with the Salem Parkway, a highway along the same alignment but with at-grade intersections. In Eugene, the Roosevelt Freeway project was cancelled, and the Belt Line Road was severely curtailed; only the northwestern segment of the proposed beltway was ever built. However, Eugene is now facing an active controversy over the proposed West Eugene Parkway project, which some critics have claimed is little more than a scaled-back version of the original Roosevelt Freeway proposal.

[edit] Tennessee

Interstate 40 was planned to go through the city's Overton Park but public opposition, combined with a court victory by opponents, forced abandonment of the plans. The eastern portion of the road had already been built inside the Interstate 240 loop and this non-interstate highway is now named Sam Cooper Boulevard while the northern portion of the I-240 loop was redesignated as I-40.

[edit] Washington

The R.H. Thomson Expressway, connecting Interstate 90 to State Route 520 through the Central District, Madison Valley, and Washington Park Arboretum, and the Bay Freeway, connecting Interstate 5 to State Route 99 in South Lake Union near Seattle Center, faced mounting protests beginning in 1969. The death of these two highways is generally considered to be the 1972 referendum that withdrew their funding. HistoryLink Essay 3114

[edit] Washington, DC

Plans to build Interstate 270 (Maryland), Interstate 95, and Interstate 66, as well as a proposed Interstate 266 over a new Three Sisters Bridge through Washington, DC and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs were cancelled due to public opposition. This is why Interstate 395 ends at New York Avenue and Interstate 95 goes around the Capital Beltway rather than cutting through the city.

Funds for several of these projects were redirected to the Washington Metro.

[edit] Wisconsin

In Milwaukee, several planned freeways were either never built, partially built, or partially built but subsequently demolished and replaced with an at-grade boulevard.

• The Lake Freeway was designed to be the eastern leg of an inner loop around downtown Milwaukee, to extend along the lakefront south from the Park Freeway to Bay View and southeastern Milwaukee and thence through the southeastern suburbs, with a proposed extension to run much further south, through central Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, continuing further south through Chicago's northeastern lakefront suburbs, where a portion of the proposed freeway was actually constructed and is, today, the Interstate-standard section of Lake Shore Drive. Besides Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, the only portion of this system that is completed to Interstate standards is a 2-mile portion of Interstate 794, although a portion of the route south of the official southern terminus of Interstate 794 continues as 4-lane divided controlled-access freeway, as Highway 794, or the Lake Parkway.

• The northern end of the Lake Freeway turned westward, and this section became known as the Park Freeway. This was the northern leg of the inner loop. The eastern section was known as the Park East Freeway and the western section as the Park West Freeway, with the dividing point at the intersection with I-43. The Park West Freeway was intented to run northwesterly along Fond du Lac Avenue, and then turn westward just north of North Avenue. A major intersection with the Stadium Freeway was planned for the area around 45th and North Avenue. The right-of-way for the entire corridor was cleared. Due to neighborhood opposition, the only section of this freeway completed was from Milwaukee Street to Walnut Street. The above-grade section between Milwaukee Street and 6th Street was removed and replaced by an at-grade boulevard - McKinley Boulevard. Part of this corridor remains vacant, but most of the corridor has been developed or has development plans in place.

• The Stadium Freeway was partially completed. The original plan was for its south end to be at I-894/I-43 near Loomis Road. From that point it would extend northward, intersecting I-94 at the Stadium Interchange and proceeding northward to its intersection with the Park Freeway. From there it would jog northwesterly until heading north, parallelling 60th Street and continuing north to Port Washington where it met with I-43. The only section built was that between National Avenue and Lisbon Avenue, today's US 41.

• Another planned freeway was the Bay Freeway. This was to be the northern bypass around the central city, complementing I-894 which is the built southern bypass. The Bay Freeway eastern point was I-43 at Hampton Road. The freeway was to run over Hampton Road, westward to the intersection with the Stadium Freeway and the Fond du Lac Freeway. From there it continued westward to Pewaukee where it would meet with Wisconsin Highway 16. No section of the Bay Freeway was ever built.

• The Belt Freeway was to be a freeway encircling the metro Milwaukee area on the south, west and north sides. No section of the Belt Freeway was ever built.

[edit] Sources

[edit] General

• "Stop the Road: Freeway Revolts in American Cities", Raymond A. Mohl Journal of Urban History.2004; 30: 674-706
• "EPA's highway to traffic hell?" Taxes Fund Groups Trying To Halt Road Projects, by Daniel J. Murphy(Junkscience.com)Originally published in Investor's Business Daily; April 5, 1999.

[edit] Cleveland

• The Clark, Lee and Heights Freeways
• Cleveland Heights: The Making of an Urban Suburb, by Marian J. Morton, Arcadia Publishing, 2002. (Describes the history of the Clark and Lee Freeway projects and their defeat.)

[edit] Milwaukee

• Milwaukee's Freeways

[edit] Atlanta

• Ga. Highway 414/Interstate 420

[edit] New Jersey

• Unbuilt Roads of New Jersey @ NYCROADS.com

[edit] New York

• Unbuilt Roads in New York City (NYCROADS.com)
• Unbuilt Roads on Long Island (NYCROADS.com)
• Unbuilt Roads in the Hudson Valley (NYCROADS.com)

[edit] Portland

• The Mount Hood Freeway
• Oregon Highways: US Highway 26
• Willamette Week: "Highway to Hell"
• Interview with David Hupp (an advisor to the Multnomah County commission who was instrumental in cancelling the Mt. Hood Freeway).

[edit] San Francisco

• The Freeway Revolt, from bikesummer.org
• The Great Freeway Revolt, from the San Francisco Bay Guardian
• Freeway Revolt from misterSF.com
• San Francisco CITYSCAPE
• The History of San Francisco Bay Area Freeway Development(California Highways.org)

[edit] Connecticut

• Route 7 Coalition
• Committee to Extend Route 7
• Unbuilt Roads in Connecticut @ NYCROADS.com

[edit] Maryland

• Baltimore City Interstates @ Roads to the Future