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The only missed opportunity in my book was the 277 to I-126 connection. I know some folks in Elmwood Park are grateful that is wasn't built... but I think it could have been done in a manner that wouldn't have been disruptive to the neighborhood.. You can look at some of the intown neighborhoods in Atlanta and see where below grade highways or even elevated ones skirt some of the nicest areas in town without disrupting them.. noise barriers have public art incorporated into them or simply allowing vegetation to grow on them.....This would allow traffic to enter the CBD along Bull Street and Huger Streets. I don't think there was an exit planned at that time for Main Street because of space limitations
Which neighborhoods in Atlanta would those be? Because I can tell you now, Atlantans absolutely hate how the Connector disrupted the urban fabric of Midtown in particular--it actually bisects the neighborhood--and how it is an impediment to connecting downtown proper with Midtown. There are various capping projects planned to repair some of the damage and the city largely avoided more damage to its neighborhoods with similar highway projects. Overall, I think not connecting I-126 and SC 277 was a good thing and there's no way it wouldn't have done much damage to neighborhoods like Elmwood Park and Cottontown at the time the idea was being considered.
Which neighborhoods in Atlanta would those be? Because I can tell you now, Atlantans absolutely hate how the Connector disrupted the urban fabric of Midtown in particular--it actually bisects the neighborhood--and how it is an impediment to connecting downtown proper with Midtown.
I lived in Atlanta twice. I remember people couldn't wait for the connector to be widened. And back when I lived there, no one cared about Midtown. It wasn't nearly what it is today.
I lived in Atlanta twice. I remember people couldn't wait for the connector to be widened. And back when I lived there, no one cared about Midtown. It wasn't nearly what it is today.
Were those people Atlantans who actually lived in the city or suburbanites? Either way, there's no doubt that the Connector was a severe disruption to the neighborhood and other planned highways in the city would have done the same, which is why there was so much opposition to them.
Of course they were Atlantans. This was the 70s when people there were still mostly native.
I was asking were these people clamoring for an expanded Connector actual Atlantans who lived in the city itself, or were they suburbanites who were mostly concerned about getting to and from work as quickly as possible?
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I’m not quite sure where else the connector would have gone. Remember to use what people thought in the 60s and 70s when those roads were built.
Several other major cities managed to route their interstates around the urban core instead of going straight through them. They still did damage but the Connector is almost in a class by itself.
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Finally, it doesn’t seem to have hindered growth in the area.
But it still disturbed the urban fabric in a major way. The same would have happened had I-126 been connected to SC 277 in Columbia, which is why I asked Woodlands which neighborhoods in Atlanta he's referring to that were undisturbed by freeways coming through the area.
The suburbs were just developing. The connector as all about moving traffic THROUGH Atlanta.
Do you have examples of major cities doing this? Especially major cities that saw the majority of their growth AFTER the interstates were built.
It didn't disturb something that didn't exist. Midtown Atlanta is probably the worst example you could have used. The area boomed, and is still booming, despite the connector. It only made the planning different. There was no urban fabric. It was a dumpy area that people were fleeing in droves.
Which neighborhoods in Atlanta would those be? Because I can tell you now, Atlantans absolutely hate how the Connector disrupted the urban fabric of Midtown in particular--it actually bisects the neighborhood--and how it is an impediment to connecting downtown proper with Midtown. There are various capping projects planned to repair some of the damage and the city largely avoided more damage to its neighborhoods with similar highway projects. Overall, I think not connecting I-126 and SC 277 was a good thing and there's no way it wouldn't have done much damage to neighborhoods like Elmwood Park and Cottontown at the time the idea was being considered.
I was thinking more along the lines of Grant Park or Glenwood Park. Now I don't know much about ATL history but like many large cities I 20 was likely put in in the 60s /70s and bifercated the neighborhood. Depending on the neighborhood s history that either cut its throat and caused it to decline or buffered it from already deteriorating neighborhoods. Over the years downtown grew the highway was widened people returned to some of these neighborhoods or arguably never left and now they are nice because of their convenience and may be the character of their housing stock despite the presence of a concrete river. There has also been significant infill in sections. I am not familiar with the connector project so I can't comment but if it was recently built through and existing neighborhood I am sure it was hated if one lived near it.
I don't think 277 would have done Elmwood Park any favors but it wouldn't have destroyed the neighborhood either. The route followed an existing RR track that already bifurcated the neighborhood. I don't believe any homes wouldn't have been acquired beyond any structure already bought and demolished and a few warehouses along the edge. Also it didn't have to be a concrete river but more of a parkway which is more in character of 277 anyway. Elmwood Park successfully blocked. 277 as appetite for inner city highways and support from elected officials for Eminent Domain waned
I wonder if it were built would it have improved access to the The CBD that would have benefited the area today ?
Last edited by Woodlands; 11-27-2018 at 04:48 PM..
The suburbs were just developing. The connector as all about moving traffic THROUGH Atlanta.
Do you have examples of major cities doing this? Especially major cities that saw the majority of their growth AFTER the interstates were built.
It didn't disturb something that didn't exist. Midtown Atlanta is probably the worst example you could have used. The area boomed, and is still booming, despite the connector. It only made the planning different. There was no urban fabric. It was a dumpy area that people were fleeing in droves.
Either way, Atlanta is a bad example to use. Elmwood Park and Cottontown are two of Columbia's most historic neighborhoods and would have most certainly sustained major damage had I-126 and SC-277 been connected. Back then, the major focus was on getting people (suburbanites mostly) through the city as quickly as possible and it's a good thing that Columbia's urban fabric was mostly spared such damage.
I was thinking more along the lines of Grant Park or Glenwood Park. Now I don't know much about ATL history but like many large cities I 20 was likely put in in the 60s /70s and bifercated the neighborhood. Depending on the neighborhood s history that either cut its throat and caused it to decline or buffered it from already deteriorating neighborhoods. Over the years downtown grew the highway was widened people returned to some of these neighborhoods or arguably never left and now they are nice because of their convenience and may be the character of their housing stock despite the presence of a concrete river. There has also been significant infill in sections. I am not familiar with the connector project so I can't comment but if it was recently built through and existing neighborhood I am sure it was hated if one lived near it.
Glenwood Park is a New Urbanist development abutting Grant Park that was built about 15 years ago or so. Grant Park is a historic neighborhood in the city of Atlanta and I-20 most certainly disturbed its urban fabric:
In the 1960's, the automobile was responsible for cutting the neighborhood in half by means of a six-lane highway. Grant Park was severely disrupted and declined in the wake of I-20's construction.
Here's an idea for a cap over I-20 to reconnect the neighborhood that was presented some time back. It includes some background info on the damage done to the neighborhood by the construction of I-20: https://atlanta.curbed.com/2015/9/30...-to-grant-park
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I don't think 277 would have done Elmwood Park any favors but it wouldn't have destroyed the neighborhood either. The route followed an existing RR track that already bifurcated the neighborhood. I don't believe any homes wouldn't have been acquired beyond any structure already bought and demolished and a few warehouses along the edge. Also it didn't have to be a concrete river but more of a parkway which is more in character of 277 anyway. Elmwood Park successfully blocked. 277 as appetite for inner city highways and support from elected officials for Eminent Domain waned
I wonder if it were built would it have improved access to the The CBD that would have benefited the area today ?
An I-126/SC 277 would have done more than enough damage. Elmwood Park is Columbia's oldest suburb and one of the best examples of a historic Victorian residential district in the entire state. Why would you want to see significant disruption to the neighborhood just so suburbanites can shave a few minutes off their commute? Transportation officials weren't concerned first and foremost with the neighborhoods and the people who lived there, but with traffic flow and all other considerations were a distant second.
Glenwood Park is a New Urbanist development abutting Grant Park that was built about 15 years ago or so. Grant Park is a historic neighborhood in the city of Atlanta and I-20 most certainly disturbed its urban fabric:
In the 1960's, the automobile was responsible for cutting the neighborhood in half by means of a six-lane highway. Grant Park was severely disrupted and declined in the wake of I-20's construction.
Here's an idea for a cap over I-20 to reconnect the neighborhood that was presented some time back. It includes some background info on the damage done to the neighborhood by the construction of I-20: https://atlanta.curbed.com/2015/9/30...-to-grant-park
An I-126/SC 277 would have done more than enough damage. Elmwood Park is Columbia's oldest suburb and one of the best examples of a historic Victorian residential district in the entire state. Why would you want to see significant disruption to the neighborhood just so suburbanites can shave a few minutes off their commute? Transportation officials weren't concerned first and foremost with the neighborhoods and the people who lived there, but with traffic flow and all other considerations were a distant second.
No I am not advocating that Elmwood Park should have been torn down and agree it is probably one of the city's nicest neighborhoods.. I only wanted to point out that the highway, as designed, skirted the neighborhood to the north and west and mainly warehouses along the west side of Wayne Street were impacted in addition to a few structures used to sit where Vista Towers are at the top of Huger Street. It seems like it could have been designed in a manner so that it could have served its purpose while not destroying the neighborhood.
Highways and cities have had a challenging relationship.. "yes" tearing down neighborhoods, displacing residents, bisecting neighborhoods is a problem especially when driven by race and socioeconomics "urban renewal" as they were in the 60s and 70s. Today many cities are taking down their highways or turning them into boulevards/ parkways or decking them over as you have shown. But without inner city highways.. what would the CBD of some of our cities look like? People ran to the suburbs and so did places of employment and if it there were no connections between the city and the suburbs would some have emptied out even more because of accessibility issues and lack of convenient connectivity between the city center and the suburbs?
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