What City Observatory did this week The high cost of covering freeways. The latest fashion in highway urbanism is "capping" freeways. In theory, highway builders claim that capping freeways will repair past damage and even create new urban land. They produce gauzy green renderings of what capped freeway might look like. But urban leaders need to look closer: the cost of capping freeways is vastly greater than the value of any land created, and highway departments are, predictably, foisting the costs for these "reparations" off onto their victims, the cities gutted by freeway construction.
The Week Observed: March 22, 2024
The Week Observed: March 22, 2024
The Week Observed: March 22, 2024
What City Observatory did this week The high cost of covering freeways. The latest fashion in highway urbanism is "capping" freeways. In theory, highway builders claim that capping freeways will repair past damage and even create new urban land. They produce gauzy green renderings of what capped freeway might look like. But urban leaders need to look closer: the cost of capping freeways is vastly greater than the value of any land created, and highway departments are, predictably, foisting the costs for these "reparations" off onto their victims, the cities gutted by freeway construction.