As part of the new Transbay Transit Center being developed in downtown SF, several new overpasses are being constructed. Rather than allow the oft-forgotten spaces underneath these roads to become seedy, designers are envisioning positive uses.
Will Reisman describes how designers of San Francisco's new Transbay Transit Center plan to keep the underpasses of newly constructed ramps from becoming "havens for homeless encampments, shady drug deals and other types of seedy behavior."
"A vertical climbing wall, basketball courts, a dog park, public art
and a biking path are all set to comprise Oscar Park, a public open
space situated mostly beneath the various ramps that are part of the
$1.5 billion bus and train terminal," reports Reisman.
"In the few areas where a freeway overpass doesn't
loom overhead, there will be grassy open spaces, said Courtney Pash, of
the Successor to the Redevelopment Agency, The City department
overseeing the project."
"We wanted to make sure that the sites below the ramps did not become places for negative activity," said Pash. "We knew that there would be opportunities to turn these places into open spaces with really positive outlets."
Read the full story: Transbay Transit Center to present unique opportunities for open spaces
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority