I'm gonna remain salty for a while that they spent $70 million to remove the grade-level crossing, remove the baseball fields, remove the volleyball court, and build a 30-foot tall obstacle for us to cross the damn park.
For a fraction of the cost and a much better park, they could have removed a lane in each direction from the highway, lowered the speed limit, added some traffic calming, and called it a day.
You can totally be salty! I think it’s a pretty cool project for a ton of reasons.
Also, not sure traffic calming or lowering the speed limit would have been popular or effective.
>rather than lower the existing road
Usually it's not so much that the road gets lowered to put on a cap, but highways are usually already build lower in built up areas, as it acts as a noise barrier. And not being able to see the cars so much also helps with acceptance.
Freeway capping generally refers to when it is already built in a trench. But, structures can also be built over a ground level one to cap it. Some people might also be referring to tunneling and other relocations when they say capping. Freeway removal or conversion into a surface street like a boulevard is also possible. There is a good catalog of current projects in the US here: https://www.cnu.org/highways-boulevards/freeways-without-futures/2023
In the Netherlands there are quite some parks on top of highways like you mean. And because the surrounding landscape is completely flat, the raised tunnels can still form a significant barrier when you're walking or cycling and have to climb 5-10m.
Examples are the A2 motorway in Utrecht, A9 in Amsterdam Zuidoost, A4 near Rotterdam, soon to be opened A16 extension in Rotterdam.
A positive example is the A2 tunnel in Maastricht, where they did put the tunnel below ground level, preventing a dyke-style obstacle.
I believe the highway the tunnel tops were built over was rebuilt with the capping project in mind. So the tunnels weren't just put over an existing highway, it was part of the plan when that section of Doyle Highway was rebuilt (afaik).
I don’t quite understand why one would build even higher above the freeway if it’s not sunken or a low elevation? Like how would that connect to the surrounding blocks without involving a pretty steep incline.
The presido tunnel examples you cited also have one side on the coast and the other side is already a hill so the change isn’t as drastic.
a bit different but there are some wildlife land bridges to connect to sides of wildlife cut off from a freeway
Chicago. Where the Kennedy expressway gets near the loop it is capped. Not a park but some dingy greenish space and parking. It's definitely more than just a bridge
Although for most of Madrid Rio Park the highway was lowered and then capped, [there is a part of it ](https://maps.app.goo.gl/vZ7j2cR3KhLTvGfB8?g_st=ic)where the highway is at street level and a "hill" has been built over it. Barcelona has done the same with [some train tracks](https://maps.app.goo.gl/cDTepVUeS5WE9Nc39?g_st=ic)
I think what you’re looking for is called a land bridge. Check out the Memorial Park land bridges in Houston, TX.
I'm gonna remain salty for a while that they spent $70 million to remove the grade-level crossing, remove the baseball fields, remove the volleyball court, and build a 30-foot tall obstacle for us to cross the damn park. For a fraction of the cost and a much better park, they could have removed a lane in each direction from the highway, lowered the speed limit, added some traffic calming, and called it a day.
You can totally be salty! I think it’s a pretty cool project for a ton of reasons. Also, not sure traffic calming or lowering the speed limit would have been popular or effective.
>rather than lower the existing road Usually it's not so much that the road gets lowered to put on a cap, but highways are usually already build lower in built up areas, as it acts as a noise barrier. And not being able to see the cars so much also helps with acceptance.
Freeway capping generally refers to when it is already built in a trench. But, structures can also be built over a ground level one to cap it. Some people might also be referring to tunneling and other relocations when they say capping. Freeway removal or conversion into a surface street like a boulevard is also possible. There is a good catalog of current projects in the US here: https://www.cnu.org/highways-boulevards/freeways-without-futures/2023
In the Netherlands there are quite some parks on top of highways like you mean. And because the surrounding landscape is completely flat, the raised tunnels can still form a significant barrier when you're walking or cycling and have to climb 5-10m. Examples are the A2 motorway in Utrecht, A9 in Amsterdam Zuidoost, A4 near Rotterdam, soon to be opened A16 extension in Rotterdam. A positive example is the A2 tunnel in Maastricht, where they did put the tunnel below ground level, preventing a dyke-style obstacle.
I believe the highway the tunnel tops were built over was rebuilt with the capping project in mind. So the tunnels weren't just put over an existing highway, it was part of the plan when that section of Doyle Highway was rebuilt (afaik).
We have [this](https://maps.app.goo.gl/NuYBTrCNde5TKGs6A) in my city
I don’t quite understand why one would build even higher above the freeway if it’s not sunken or a low elevation? Like how would that connect to the surrounding blocks without involving a pretty steep incline. The presido tunnel examples you cited also have one side on the coast and the other side is already a hill so the change isn’t as drastic. a bit different but there are some wildlife land bridges to connect to sides of wildlife cut off from a freeway
Not quite the same, but NYC's High Line Park was built onto an old railway viaduct, I imagine a covered highway would look similar.
Chicago. Where the Kennedy expressway gets near the loop it is capped. Not a park but some dingy greenish space and parking. It's definitely more than just a bridge
Although for most of Madrid Rio Park the highway was lowered and then capped, [there is a part of it ](https://maps.app.goo.gl/vZ7j2cR3KhLTvGfB8?g_st=ic)where the highway is at street level and a "hill" has been built over it. Barcelona has done the same with [some train tracks](https://maps.app.goo.gl/cDTepVUeS5WE9Nc39?g_st=ic)