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Case Study Inventory

This page collects highway removal and waterfront redevelopment case studies from around the country and the world.

Click on the buttons below to reach a specific section.

Highway Removal
Waterfront Redevelopment

Highway Removal:

  • Stoplight Removal Does NOT Reduce Emissions — StreetsBlog

    A Streetsblog USA story investigating the common belief that removing stoplights reduces air pollution. According to their research, while a car idling at a stoplight does produce more air pollution than a moving car, traffic volume increases on streets where stoplights are removed, generally making air pollution worse for those areas than it was when…

  • US DOT Report about Highway Removal Projects

    A 2013 study hosted at the US Department of Transportation’s Repository and Open Access Portal that discusses the process and outcome of nine highway removal projects from around the world. Cases covered in the study include: San Francisco, Milwaukee, Chattanooga, Portland, New York City, Seoul, Toronto, Boston, Paris.

  • Urban Highway Removal – Lincoln Institute

    A Lincoln Institute of Land Policy article examining the national trend of highway removal with historical background from across the country. Cases covered in more detail include Rochester (removed a segment of the highway) and New Orleans (currently in planning phase).

  • Can Removing Highways Fix America’s Cities? – NY Times

    A fantastic interactive New York Times article (may require a subscription) that explores how many of America’s biggest cities were broken apart by highways built in the 1950s and are now exploring how to reshape or remove those highways to revive their urban communities.

  • Syracuse I-81: Highway Removal

    The Interstate-81 Viaduct Project in Syracuse is one of the largest and most ambitious construction projects ever undertaken by New York State, in partnership with the federal government. Overseen by the State Department of Transportation, the project will create a Community Grid to reconnect downtown neighborhoods severed by the I-81 viaduct’s construction and correct an…

Waterfront Redevelopment:

  • Seattle is Reclaiming its Waterfront — Bloomberg

    Story by Bloomberg’s City Lab about Seattle’s multi-part multi-billion dollar plan to remove a highway viaduct, reclaim its waterfront, and build a large new park system.

  • Reconnecting Cities with Their Waterfronts — Builtworlds

    A Builtworlds story about how several different cities (Chicago, Milwaukee, and Seattle) have successfully reconnected their downtown areas to their waterfront.

  • How Small Cities Reconnect to their Waterfronts — PBS

    A PBS (WHYY) story about how small cities are finding new ways to connect to their waterfronts.

  • Berkeley I-80: Bridge

    Introduction: In Berkeley, California, this pedestrian and bicycle overpass crosses Interstate 80 approximately 0.3 km south of University Avenue. From Bolivar Drive at the north end of Aquatic Park, pedestrians, wheelchair users, and cyclists bridge Interstate 80 and the West Frontage Road to reach the Eastshore State Park and the Bay Trail. One of North…

  • New Britain Rt. 72: Beehive Bridge

    In the 1960s, New Britain CT was one of only a few Connecticut cities of its size to not have a highway running through it, and local leaders wanted to change that. City officials thought that a highway would help the downtown grow and bring more customers into the city. With this as the backdrop,…

  • Chattanooga Waterfront: Highway Removal

    In the highway-building frenzy of the 1960s, Chattanooga, Tennessee, constructed the Riverfront Parkway to serve as vital freight route to move industrial truck traffic along the scenic Tennessee River. However, what was once a solution to facilitate trade and transportation quickly evolved into a physical barrier that isolated the city from its riverfront. The four-lane,…

  • St. Joesph I-229: Waterfront Access

    Interstate 229 starts as an auxiliary highway off of I-29, continues along the eastern bank of the Missouri River, cutting downtown St. Joseph off from its’ riverfront with a two-level, four lane viaduct. The interstate goes 15 miles north until it meets another interchange with I-29 in Andrew County. The highway was constructed throughout the…

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