Replacing Freeways With Boulevards Is Pedestrian-Unfriendly

A recent commentary argues that surface-level boulevards may be bigger barriers to waterfront pedestrian access than the elevated freeways the replace.

1 minute read

July 19, 2006, 11:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera

"The city of Toronto has made major efforts the past couple of decades to revive the waterfront on Lake Ontario and to link it better to the central business district. The revival is generally a success...[but] one thing that doesn't work is the pedestrian connection between the financial districtâ€"the closest part of the central business districtâ€"and the waterfront area. "

"For years it has been conventional wisdom that the problem was the Gardiner Expressway, a 6-lane 1960s elevated that runs east-west between the two, and which looks very like the now-demolished John Fitzgerald Expressway (I-93) in Boston."

Yet, what is increasingly being seen as the barrier to a pedestrian link to the waterfront is not the 1960s elevated expressway but the 1990s Lake Shore Boulevard.

Thanks to ArchNewsNow

FULL STORY: Expressways to Boulevardsâ€”A Bad Idea

Monday, July 10, 2006 in Reason Foundation

Infrastructure Transportation Urban Development North America

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.