Freeway Caps
A trio of freeway cap proposals around the country—in St. Paul, Atlanta, and Austin—embody the potential of infrastructure change to undo the mistakes of the past.
UrbanLand
Richmond, Virginia is hoping to make some big changes in time for its tricentennial in 2037, including a new cap park and a new form-based code.
Richmond BizSense
A plan to build a cap over Interstate 5 in Downtown Seattle has taken a small but significant step forward.
The Urbanist
Advocates and experts are still working to further the idea of capping a Downtown freeway connector in Atlanta—a project called "The Stitch."
Curbed Atlanta
The plan to top I-5 in Seattle with a cap park—what writer Natalie Bicknell calls "the most ambitious effort in our region"—is moving ahead with a $1.5 million feasibility study.
The Urbanist
The notion of fully capping I-5 as it runs through central Seattle has been gaining steam. The city could stand to gain hundreds of acres of urban land.
Crosscut
The terminus of the I-10 freeway is a 7,000-foot concrete trench across the heart of Santa Monica. The city's new downtown plan calls for a cap, and a new master plan will hammer out specifics.
The Architect's Newspaper
Building over highways is not a particularly new idea, but it has been a rare novelty. Former SPUR director and development consultant Jim Chappell sees a brighter future for highway caps parks and projects.
UrbDeZine
Designed by the same landscape architect behind New York City's High Line, a new park will cap San Francisco's Doyle Drive, connecting the Presidio to the shoreline.
The Atlantic
To fund a wider I-70 on its route through Denver, the regional planning commission set aside $50 million in federal funds before considering other projects.
Streetsblog Denver
"A five-year, $82 million project to replace seven bridges over the Vine Street Expressway will also remodel the cultural spine of the city," reports Paul Nussbaum.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher has strong words about the wisdom of spending $1.8 billion to widen Interstate 70 to ten lanes in Northeast Denver. The highway widening would also include a freeway cap park.
Denver Post
As plans progress in many large cities to cap their below-grade urban freeways, smaller cities, like Ventura, California, are looking to benefit from similar proposals.
Ventura County Star
The proposed "Park 101" freeway cap in Downtown Los Angeles could change the face of the city. But it faces huge obstacles.
California Planning & Development Report
Dallas, Texas is building a new park on a deck over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, a strategy for creating new public spaces that is being tried across the country.
Governing Magazine
Across the country, grey-to-green transformations are in the works, capping freeways to reconnect neighborhoods with urban parks.
USA Today
