Air Right ideas in Seattle

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Cojapo

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On one of the other development sites I use a lot, I came across Seattle's plans for covering I-5, which is their version of Rte 93. I am not saying this would work in Boston, I do, however, like the idea of parks and the creative use for the space. From what I understand, Cincinnatti and Hartford have plans for parks above their respective highways. I tried to find better renderings, but with no luck.

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Cojapo said:
On one of the other development sites I use a lot, I came across Seattle's plans for covering I-5, which is their version of Rte 93. I am not saying this would work in Boston, I do, however, like the idea of parks and the creative use for the space.
Click to expand...

I assume you mean Rt 90 not 93, right?

'Cuz we already did the 'parks above Rt 93' thing. :)
 
This would be nice for entrenched highways in other parts of the Boston area, though. The Pike in Newton, for example, or Rte. 2 in Belmont.
 
These plans are actually to cover over parts of SR-520 at its overpasses. 520 is a four-lane floating bridge that runs from Seattle across Lake Washington to Bellevue. A much needed expansion to six-lanes is in the works if the state can find the money and the neighbors can be placated. I assume the idea of building parks over the freeway is an attempt at the latter.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/
 
I think the Pike could use some buildings, yes, but some small parks, or better yet, plazas on some of the smaller parcels would be nice as well.

This idea would work well anywhere with sunken highways. Especially Fall River where chunks of Government Center occasionally fall onto 195.



 
Milton did this years back on a smaller scale over the SE Expressway at E. Milton Sq. I've heard the options were either a new library, or a park. They chose a park.

I dont know how successful that park is, but it always struck me as a huge waste.

Here's a link to the place on Google maps.
 
What's the deal with the Fall River Government Center? Was it inspired by Boston's? Seems a bit out of scale for a city that small...
 
I don't know when it was built, the architect(s), or what it was modeled after, but a few other buildings bear similarities in the area (most notably, the central buildings of UMass Dartmouth).

The building blends in better than you'd think and doesn't look so out of place (although you can't tell from the angle of the first photo), but it's VERY poorly maintained as you can see from the pictures. The lack of upkeep would suggest that the building is too big for the city I guess.

Not to hijack the thread, but the UMD examples:








Notice the way the glass in the first picture is mirrored like GC Fall River and the top of the building in the last shot has a crown like GC Fall River. I'd assume that they came about the same time and had the same architect(s).
 
I've never seen the UMass Dartmouth campus before. That cultural building is fantastic...one of the best examples of brutalism in the state. Maybe second after the State Services Center...
 
They did something like this in Milton... it cost alot of money and it didnt really work because the park is in the middle of alot of busy roads. dont know the area of seattle obviously but that could really tank
 
Some people must like it because there was talk of expanding it a few years back.
 
I like the mirrored glass. The UMD examples show that Brutalism can look nice, if someone would take care of it.
 
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