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I've been trying to dig up some info. on the cancelled 390 project... apparently 390 was not supposed to wrap around the city, but continue north parallelling S. Clinton Ave and ending up downtown, but the Swillburg neighborhood fought it as the expressway would have more or less wiped out their part of the city.
Might our lack of a north-south interstate into the city be a part of the slow but sure demise of downtown ??
I used to have a map of some of these expressways. Apparently 104 was going to be an expressway through Greece also. RT 204 was going to be a larger expressway to the Airport and 531 was to be longer.
I've been trying to dig up some info. on the cancelled 390 project... apparently 390 was not supposed to wrap around the city, but continue north parallelling S. Clinton Ave and ending up downtown, but the Swillburg neighborhood fought it as the expressway would have more or less wiped out their part of the city.
Might our lack of a north-south interstate into the city be a part of the slow but sure demise of downtown ??
Have you seen this:
Northward extension blocked
Construction on I-390 from Dansville north was blocked by environmental legislation was scheduled for 1975-1976, but blocked by environmental legislation. [4]
Brian W. Campbell writes: "Interstate 390 was supposed to have continued north... running parallel to Clinton Avenue up to Interstate 490 at Goodman Street. Original plans have interchanges at Elmwood and Clinton Avenues. Along 490 between Goodman Ave and Clinton Ave downtown, there is a wide patch of land parallel to the current 490 which would have been feeder lanes for 390. The project was cancelled in the 1970s, as it would have destroyed one of Rochester's nicer neighborhoods (Swillburg/South Wedge)."
The Rochester city council opposed the northward extension, and it was cancelled. I-390 was rerouted to meet intersect I-490 west of the city. This portion of I-390, together with I-590 east of the city and their state-numbered counterparts extending north of I-490, were formerly numbered NY 47 and named the "Outer Loop" in distinction to downtown's "Inner Loop".
yes I had stumbled across that info. .... I was wondering if there were any old photos and/or news articles from that time period regarding this project's cancellation. Thanks
That expressway would have been a disaster for the city -- especially since I lived in the South Wedge. It doesnt take much longer to travel up to 490 with todays configuration. Rochester, IMO, doesnt need any more expressways it needs some nice neighborhoods and thats what exactly would have been destroyed with a 390 expansion. Look at the Cross Bronx Expressway, it literaly ripped neighborhoods in two the whole length of the highway and the Bronx is not better off because of it at all (bad air pollution for one). Or take a look at the Inner Loop, that expressway did the same thing that an expanded 390 would have done. It broke apart neighborhoods and forever changed the landscape, again Not for the better. In hence it separated downtown from the rest of the city and definitely could be considered a factor in the slow but sure demise of downtown.
That expressway would have been a disaster for the city -- especially since I lived in the South Wedge. It doesnt take much longer to travel up to 490 with todays configuration. Rochester, IMO, doesnt need any more expressways it needs some nice neighborhoods and thats what exactly would have been destroyed with a 390 expansion. Look at the Cross Bronx Expressway, it literaly ripped neighborhoods in two the whole length of the highway and the Bronx is not better off because of it at all (bad air pollution for one). Or take a look at the Inner Loop, that expressway did the same thing that an expanded 390 would have done. It broke apart neighborhoods and forever changed the landscape, again Not for the better. In hence it separated downtown from the rest of the city and definitely could be considered a factor in the slow but sure demise of downtown.
You are so right! I don't think an expressway ever "helped" an American downtown. To the contrary, they are what led to the development of the suburbs and the decentralization of retail, commerce and entertainment.
Syracuse is talking about tearing down a portion of !-81 that run through the middle of the city. It has been seen as a psychological barrier between Syracuse University and Downtown Syracuse, in which it pretty much splits the city in two and killed some close knit neighborhoods in that area. So, it might have been a good thing that this expressway wasn't built.
Now, in 2014, the city finally got funding to eliminate a key section of the Inner Loop, from Clinton to University, reconnecting downtown to the thriving East End and creating almost 10 acres of prime real estate.. They are also planning to convert South Ave and Clinton Ave back to 2 way streets. That mess of 490 ramps (further complicated because they built for the 390 downtown section that got cancelled) complicates the conversion back to 2 way, and forms a psychological and, for bikes and pedestrians physical, barrier between the thriving South Wedge and downtown. Some still believe that more expressways downtown would have helped the economy - but I think most cities have come to believe that's not the case.
I agree that it would have damaged Swillburg, but the extra 10 miles to get to downtown is a huge waste of gas when downtown is so close. A tunnel would work, although costly, but they are considering a tunnel in Syracuse for the I-81 project. I believe the never completed innerloop was to be the northern connection for 390. BTW, while I'm excited about the new neighborhood connections when they take the innerloop out, I believe they should keep the IL and bridge over the top, either preserving the IL and or keeping it for such things as underground parking.
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yes I have
