Under the Freeway

Posted by tomo at 02:30 AM in transportation .

Awhile back there was a Metropolis Magazine article about a proposal to reclaim the areas underneath the elevated Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, which cuts through downtown along the waterfront. These highways that cut through urban centers often serve as a psychological barrier dividing sections of town, sometimes destroying one side. By planting restaurants and artists' lofts and strolling pedestrians there the barrier becomes barely noticeable, but that requires redevelopment capital and planning.

Adding some lawnchairs, portajohns, and a bit of art, the public spaces beneath the New Orleans freeways has been reclaimed in a different way.