[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Actually, highways DO cut off neighborhoods and HAVE caused them to fall into disrepairs, creating ghettos. Anyone who disputes this knows nothing about urban planning and should read "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro which confirms beyond a doubt how cities, suburbs and communities are permanently, often negatively, impacted by highways. I'm sure nobody here will bother to do that, though, preferring instead to read the "news" according to what appears in their iPhone.



Fixing the FFC mess sounds fine until it's your home and your neighborhood at stake. Everyone can always come up with a reason why they want a highway widened until it's YOUR home or YOUR neighborhood being seized or impacted by it. And for those who say they wouldn't object to this if it WAS impacted, I simply don't believe you. Until it happens to you, it's always somebody else's problem.

And let's keep in mind our state's population has been stagnant as companies and people continue to leave. You can expect this to continue, regardless of which party is at the helm in the years to come. So is it really justifiable to pour money into projects like this when MNR and Amtrak ridership continues to climb, our state's population could potentially go down, and even if we did add a lane of highway it would have minimal impact, if any?


Forget about the Merritt Parkway being widened. It's a National Scenic Byway and you'd destroy it by widening it. You don't want the Merritt to end up looking like the Garden State Parkway, believe me.

I'm surprised nobody in this forum is talking about ride-sharing programs or other means to get around. If public transit isn't for people or isn't an option, this may be.

I think the logic in Mr. Caro's book is flawed. Most highways were constructed through areas that were already ghettos to begin with. Planners back in the 50's and 60's weren't stupid. It was a form of urban renewal back then. They knew that if the sliced through middle class areas they would get a lot of push back.

I can point to many areas that have highways through them that are not ghettos. You mention one, the Merritt Parkway. It slices through some of this state's finest neighborhoods and there are no ghettos in them. In Fairfield, the parkway divides Greenfield Hill and yet it is still a desirable well functioning affluent neighborhood. The same is true in Stratford, Trumbull, Westport, Norwalk, Stamford and Greenwich. I-84 slices through a middle class section of West Hartford. Again, it has not turned into a ghetto. I contend that the ghetto neighborhoods would have turned that way whether or not the highway went through them and these areas support that assumption. Jay

[CTartist]

Animation of the the new traffic flow of I95/I91 in New Haven. Sorry if this is posted already.

https://m.reddit.com/r/Connecticut/c...t&compact=true

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The thing is we do not have the money. Remember that highway construction is funded by the gas tax and that has not been increased (it is a fixed amount) in decades. In fact it was reduced several years ago. On top of that, the use of gas has gone down meaning even less taxes coming in. The current state highway trust fund is dropping fast and there is no where near the amount of money in it to maintain our existing highways let alone do major improvements. Even worse, there is even a bigger problem on the Federal level with the current "Do-Nothing" Congress sitting around pointing fingers at each other. I hate tolls more than anyone but the need for the improvements is so great at this point I see no other way. Jay

Give me a break Jay--- we've just dramatically increased the income tax in the past year (going from three brackets topping out at 6% to 7 brackets, all higher, now topping out at 7%). In 2000 our maximum tax bracket was 4.5% (and the budget was balanced)---- stop the insanity. We have the money but can't stop handing it out.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by CTartist

Animation of the the new traffic flow of I95/I91 in New Haven. Sorry if this is posted already.

https://m.reddit.com/r/Connecticut/c...t&compact=true

That looks like a pretty big difference - certainly a lot easier for people driving through NH on 95 North

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I think the logic in Mr. Caro's book is flawed. Most highways were constructed through areas that were already ghettos to begin with.

I've heard this before, and yet nobody can seem to mention one instance where this is true. Caro's work is not flawed, it just doesn't align with your views. If you read his book, which I'm doubting you have, you would know that Brooklyn's Sunset Park and Bronx's East Tremont areas were severely and negatively impacted by the Gowanus and Cross Bronx Expressway, respectively. However effective they were at moving cars and trucks, they created instant slums and divided up the cities by race and income. These are merely two examples. I-84 in Hartford created the same effect when Albany Avenue was cut off from downtown, but I guess as long as people had quicker access to G. Fox back then that's all that mattered. Although not mentioned in this book, the history of the Harbor Freeway (I-110) in Los Angeles had the same effect. Although the area on both sides of the highway now are dangerous and crime ridden, this was not always the case. At one time the city's demographics were very different.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Planners back in the 50's and 60's weren't stupid. It was a form of urban renewal back then. They knew that if the sliced through middle class areas they would get a lot of push back.

Not stupid, just crooked and indifferent to the needs of city residents. Again, if you read The Power Broker, specifically the chapter titled "One Mile" you'll get an idea of the sneaky, surreptitious process tied to getting things done.

Originally Posted by JayCT

I can point to many areas that have highways through them that are not ghettos. You mention one, the Merritt Parkway. It slices through some of this state's finest neighborhoods and there are no ghettos in them. In Fairfield, the parkway divides Greenfield Hill and yet it is still a desirable well functioning affluent neighborhood. The same is true in Stratford, Trumbull, Westport, Norwalk, Stamford and Greenwich. I-84 slices through a middle class section of West Hartford. Again, it has not turned into a ghetto. I contend that the ghetto neighborhoods would have turned that way whether or not the highway went through them and these areas support that assumption. Jay

This is true, but with suburban enclaves it's different. In these areas the parkways and expressways often come first and then they build residential areas AROUND them to accommodate motorists. Whereas with cities, the commercial and residential areas have been established, and the highways are carved THROUGH them, instead of AROUND them. I'm sorry, but whenever a highway plows through an established urban core, it never ends well for the city.


Think of it this way: When an artist has a clear canvas, he can paint whatever he wants. If a painting is finished but there's an addition or a correction that needs to be made, this is where he has to be careful about paying attention to detail.


Again, not to sound like a broken record, but for anyone who wants to be more than a dilettante on the issue of urban planning (as some people here are) they need to read not only Caro's book, but also "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs. It's not the be all end all of civic planning, but it's a start.

[GoHuskies]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

I've heard this before, and yet nobody can seem to mention one instance where this is true. Caro's work is not flawed, it just doesn't align with your views. If you read his book, which I'm doubting you have, you would know that Brooklyn's Sunset Park and Bronx's East Tremont areas were severely and negatively impacted by the Gowanus and Cross Bronx Expressway, respectively. However effective they were at moving cars and trucks, they created instant slums and divided up the cities by race and income. These are merely two examples. I-84 in Hartford created the same effect when Albany Avenue was cut off from downtown, but I guess as long as people had quicker access to G. Fox back then that's all that mattered. Although not mentioned in this book, the history of the Harbor Freeway (I-110) in Los Angeles had the same effect. Although the area on both sides of the highway now are dangerous and crime ridden, this was not always the case. At one time the city's demographics were very different.

I would add Jersey City as another example local to me. The elevated instate lanes for I-78 to the Holland tunnel walled off what would become the cities leading development zone while neighborhoods south and west are very much still the ghetto. A few decades back the entire city was pretty much a crime infested dump but progress is somewhat defined by the barrier highway.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by GoHuskies

I would add Jersey City as another example local to me. The elevated instate lanes for I-78 to the Holland tunnel walled off what would become the cities leading development zone while neighborhoods south and west are very much still the ghetto. A few decades back the entire city was pretty much a crime infested dump but progress is somewhat defined by the barrier highway.

I believe it, and I'm so glad you brought this up, because I was actually thinking of Jersey, specifically the impact that 78 had to the Weequahic district of Newark. Believe it or not, that used to be a decent, suburban area of detached houses. After they built the highway, in the name of "progress" they replaced some of the seized homes with high-rise housing projects.


I-280 also wiped out a few neighborhoods as well, specifically in Orange, which has some nasty areas as well and also suffered directly as a result of this construction.

[BPt111]

Bridgeport to Stamford = Heavy Traffic, The heavy traffic start in Downtown Bridgeport all way to Stamford, Route 8/25 is getting congestion also with commuters from Trumbull, Monroe, Shelton, Ansonia/Derby/Seymour area, Norwalk to Stamford is wicked traffic and bad drivers.

[BPt111]

All the jobs in Norwalk/Stamford created traffic mess

[BPt111]

Development along I-84 in Waterbury Republican American