The international ugly highway thread.

[itom 987]

It's about time we had an ugly highway thread that showcases highways that are build in undesirable ways. This thread is dedicated to all the ugly highways built in cities around the world.

To start it off I found this ugly highway built over a beach in Xiamen, China.

[IMG]Misty morning, Xiamen by BestCityscape, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is one of the worst highways I have seen in a long time. Shame on the folks that thought up this idea.

[mhays]

Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, and others have made a similar mistake.

Seattle too, but we'll start tearing our waterfront viaduct down in about a year, replaced by a two-mile bypass tunnel and a waterfront boulevard.

[itom 987]

Seattle, Washington by Thomas Huizinga, on Flickr
Seattle's highway of shame!

[10023]

Originally Posted by mhays

Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, and others have made a similar mistake.

Seattle too, but we'll start tearing our waterfront viaduct down in about a year, replaced by a two-mile bypass tunnel and a waterfront boulevard.

I don’t think you can compare Lake Shore Drive to that photo above. But to be fair, the water in Xiamen is probably too polluted to set foot in the water, anyway.

[itom 987]

Edmonton's urban highway of shame '60s that, thankfully was never fully implemented. Bullet dodged!

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by mhays

Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, and others have made a similar mistake.

Seattle too, but we'll start tearing our waterfront viaduct down in about a year, replaced by a two-mile bypass tunnel and a waterfront boulevard.

The joys of jogging along the beach with your dog is gone.

[The North One]

Manhattan still has some really ugly elevated highways along the east river (are there any plans to get rid of them?).

I'll never understand why so many cities love building highways along their waterfronts.

[itom 987]

Keep in mind that when planners planned those highways in Edmonton the city had a population of only 200,000! The planners were probably thinking "This plan will make me look cool!" LMAO

[mhays]

Lake Shore Drive might be the bigger tragedy because it's the entire length of the city.

Seattle's viaduct is just a mile of Downtown, then it goes inland (right past my office...just noticed I'm in pic 3) and into a six-block tunnel, then it's a surface limited-access uncrossable semi-freeway beyond that. The new tunnel will replace the viaduct, the old tunnel, and three blocks of that uncrossable surface bit.

[dc_denizen]

Lake shore drive is pretty innocuous. The parks the other side are huge, u don't even notice the highway.

[mhays]

There are lengthy stretches where it blocks off access. You can't walk to the water at every block like should be possible.

[10023]

Originally Posted by The North One

Manhattan still has some really ugly elevated highways along the east river (are there any plans to get rid of them?).

I'll never understand why so many cities love building highways along their waterfronts.

New York City’s “waterfronts” were never places for recreation or admiring the view. They were working ports - ugly, dirty and full of longshoremen. The most expensive real estate in Manhattan was always, and still is, the middle of the island. The East River was an eyesore (and it’s still filthy).

The idea that NYC’s waterfronts should be beautified is a modern one enabled only by the city’s transition to a services economy and the relocation of shipping to Jersey.

Chicago is almost unique amongst major US cities in the way that it did treat its waterfront as an amenity for the public.

[Gresto]

Wow, that one in Xiamen is just a travesty of city planning.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by mhays

Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, and others have made a similar mistake.

Seattle too, but we'll start tearing our waterfront viaduct down in about a year, replaced by a two-mile bypass tunnel and a waterfront boulevard.

If you're going to have a waterfront viaduct, I think Chicago's is probably the best you could possibly ask for.


source: http://www.fishmanphotography.com/ch...scapes-photos/

[suburbanite]

This stretch of Interstate 10 in Houston claims to be one of the widest highways in the world. Looks like my personal hell.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by 10023

New York City’s “waterfronts” were never places for recreation or admiring the view. They were working ports - ugly, dirty and full of longshoremen. The most expensive real estate in Manhattan was always, and still is, the middle of the island. The East River was an eyesore (and it’s still filthy).

The idea that NYC’s waterfronts should be beautified is a modern one enabled only by the city’s transition to a services economy and the relocation of shipping to Jersey.

Chicago is almost unique amongst major US cities in the way that it did treat its waterfront as an amenity for the public.

Yea, I was going to say the same thing for Philadelphia and what I'd imagine to be most US cities that came of age during the industrial revolution. Cities are just now starting to reclaim their waterfronts.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

This stretch of Interstate 10 in Houston claims to be one of the widest highways in the world. Looks like my personal hell.

I like it because I love massive freeway structures as much as I do skyscrapers. The 5-level stacks that are common in the bigger Texas cities are pretty awesome IMO as well. I've driven on that stretch of freeway many times, and it doesn't seem anywhere near as impressive from street level as it does in aerial shots.

[MolsonExport]

the busiest highway in north america, some say, in the world (401, Toronto). Traffic looks extremely light in this photo (always wretchedly packed when I travel it)



to

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

This stretch of Interstate 10 in Houston claims to be one of the widest highways in the world. Looks like my personal hell.

This is actually a nicely designed highway and a nice drive except in the worst of rush hour. The photo compresses the curves in a way that doesn't reflect reality.

[10023]

Originally Posted by McBane

Yea, I was going to say the same thing for Philadelphia and what I'd imagine to be most US cities that came of age during the industrial revolution. Cities are just now starting to reclaim their waterfronts.

Yep.

The same goes for London, whether it’s redeveloping industrial wharves into apartments and offices (St. Katherine’s Docks, Shad Thames), or building whole new residential areas in former industrial waterfronts (Vauxhall, Battersea). There is a little bit of the Westminster waterfront, from about Blackfriars to Lambeth Bridge on the left bank, which was designed to be a scenic riverfront (this is home to Somerset House, Embankment Gardens, Whitehall Gardens, the Palace of Westminster). But the rest of the river was for shipping, and most of it is still pretty ugly really.

Even Paris has limited-access expressways along the Seine. The high speed crash that killed Princess Diana was on one. Some had been pedestrianized and are controversially being re-opened to traffic: http://m.leparisien.fr/paris-75/pari...18-7572666.php