City to River Blog

Peter Walker and Partners Makes It Five-for-Five

August 27th, 2010

We’re anticipating I-70 will be removed… Not only would our design not be in the way of a boulevard, but we designed so that it purposely works with a boulevard.

-Peter Walker of PWP

City to River was ecstatic to see that four of five Arch design competition finalists support I-70 removal in downtown St. Louis. More than one team went beyond simply suggesting that I-70 removal would be preferred and detailed how and why this should happen.

I-70 Removal, from the Behnisch plan

Now we know that the single team not to mention I-70 removal is firmly in favor of eliminating the highway from downtown. The design team jury interviews provided each team an opportunity to present the design concepts and reasoning behind their redesign of the Arch grounds.

As Peter Walker discussed proposed changes to Memorial Drive and Washington Avenue, he stated that the city will not see Memorial Drive activated and highlighted to its potential until I-70 is removed. He made clear that changes to Memorial Drive and possibly other downtown streets would be temporary until I-70 can be removed. The point was reiterated when discussing changes suggested for the 4^th Street, Washington Avenue, I-70 and Memorial Drive intersection.

With all five design teams on board and a growing list of businesses, organizations and individuals supporting the City to River effort, I-70 removal continues to gain momentum. City to River supports a design that plans for highway removal soon after the 2015 celebration, as part of a total connectivity plan. Moving forward, we will continue to advocate for a full transportation study to examine the benefits of highway removal. Join us, and the five finalist design teams, and help open a new front door for St. Louis!

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City to River Efforts Bolstered by Arch Competition Finalists

August 20th, 2010

Two days after plans by the five final Arch grounds design competition teams were revealed, a clear consensus is emerging that a boulevard should replace what will be the former I-70.

from Weiss-Manfredi Plan

Local news headlines read, “Arch design finalists want major changes to I-70 downtown”, “I-70’s Exit Downtown?”, and “Most Arch design teams: Remove I-70 downtown”. The St. Louis Business Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KMOV, KMOX, KWMU and KSDK have all covered the City to River effort. As the full narrative of each design team is absorbed, it’s clear that the design teams share the goal of removing the highway.

While the storyboards being displayed publicly around St. Louis attempt to graphically depict what can be accomplished in the immediate future, each design team narrative expands in explanation and extends the development vision well beyond 2015. The narratives are only available on the official competition website and range from 77-313 pages (files are as large as 478MB). They provide a full view of each team’s reasoning and design philosophy.

With new found support for the boulevard concept, we will continue to advocate for a full study of highway removal to show how the plan will work. The good news is that we have been joined in this effort by the design teams.

Specifically, two teams have spelled out their support for City to River:

SOM-Hargreaves-BIG

“The design team supports the efforts put forth by City to River in advocating for the removal of I-70 between Cass Avenue and the Poplar Street Bridge, and its subsequent replacement with an at-grade signature boulevard to better connect the city to the river. City to River articulates an enormous number of benefits arising from such a scheme.

Unfortunately, the scope and complexity of the boulevard conversion will likely preclude it from being realized before the October 2015 celebration. This does not, however, mean the boulevard concept should not be implemented. We strongly believe that the momentum created by the Memorial upgrades will help refocus the efforts of City to River and similar advocacy groups, realign political will towards the proposal, and lay the groundwork for the organizational cooperation needed to make the new boulevard a reality.”

Behnisch Team

“Perhaps the most important concurrent development to this project is the construction of the new (I-70) bridge over the Mississippi River. The new bridge creates redundancy in the network. We are interested in people driving into town, parking and walking. No longer will we allow high-speed through traffic imperiling people walking and their quality of life. Our plan sees downtown as a destination, not a way-station.

In the short term, we know that these types of projects are fraught with political peril. The driving public is understandably wary of change, especially anything that adds uncertainty to their commutes. Our team will produce predictive models so that we know we a) minimize disruptions, and b) minimize political heartburn. The key is to improve the situation, not just disrupt people’s lives.”

from Behnisch Plan

We’re encouraged that several teams have voiced strong support for the removal of I-70 in downtown St. Louis. City to River supports a design that plans for highway removal soon after the 2015 celebration, as part of a total connectivity plan.

We encourage everyone to engage in the public process of the Design Competition by viewing the designs on the Competition website or on display at the Arch and submitting your comments online or in person. Remind the jurors that ultimately you want to see the highway removed and a boulevard built.

The Competition will only accept public comments until Aug. 23, so don’t delay!

City to River thanks the Competition organizers, jurors, and design teams for this opportunity to greatly improve our city. The Competition has unlocked the door to our city, now we need YOU to help open it!

Posted in connectivity, design competition, support | 1 Comment »

4 out of 5 Design Teams Recommend Highway Removal

August 18th, 2010

“City to River articulates an enormous number of benefits arising from such a scheme…”

- SOM Team

“..the benefits of removing the highway altogether are clear…”

- MVVA Team

“Full Circle’s grand loop of transportation facilities could be easily integrated into its [City to River’s] design.”

- Weiss-Manfredi Team

“We predict fanfare should the elevated highway that cuts off Laclede’s Landing be removed.”

- The Behnisch Team

Yesterday, five exciting visions were revealed that point toward a bright future for the Arch Grounds and downtown St. Louis.

The proposals unveiled make clear that the teams agree with city to River’s supporters that highway removal is the ultimate solution to fully reconnecting the city with the Arch and riverfront.

Come to the Schlafly Tap Room Club Room tonight (7:30 p.m., 2100 Locust Street) to show your support for highway removal! Have your voice heard on this pivotal regional issue. The event is FREE.

View the event on Facebook and RSVP.

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Special Event this Wednesday Night @ the Tap Room

August 16th, 2010

City to River STLStyle Trivia and Arch Design Concepts Event

City to River is hosting an event this Wednesday evening, Aug. 18, 7:30 p.m. at the Schlafly Tap Room, located at 2100 Locust Street. We will present information and images of the designs submitted by the five finalists in the City+Arch+River Competition that are to be released to the public Tuesday morning.

You will have a chance to tell the competition jurors what YOU think of the designs and win prizes playing St. Louis Trivia with Randy Vines of STL Style and Matthew Morning of Dotage St. Louis!

In accordance with City to River’s mission to advocate for improved connections between the communities of the central riverfront and the river, we will be encouraging people to comment favorably toward any designs that incorporate highway removal and replacement with an urban boulevard. Laptops for commenting online and comment cards and will be available.

We have a Facebook event set up, so please RSVP and share the invitation with all of your FB friends.

If you or you cannot make the event, we encourage you to visit the competition website, review the designs, and make comments online.

You can also view an exhibit of the designs and make comments in person in the underground lobby of the Gateway Arch from Aug. 17 – 23. Arch lobby summer hours are 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. daily.

There is only a ONE WEEK comment period ending Aug. 23 for the public to weigh-in about what they like or don’t like before the jury begins deliberations to decide the winner. This is your opportunity to have a real impact on Downtown St. Louis and the riverfront for the next 50 to 100 years!

For more information about City to River and our vision to re-connect Downtown St. Louis with the riverfront visit our website.

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Wide Support Emerges for City to River’s Boulevard Plan

August 11th, 2010

St. Louis stands at the doorstep of a transformational moment in its history. The “Framing a Modern Masterpiece” competition promises not only to add exciting new features to the home of the Gateway Arch, but finally to weave the spectacular park and the riverfront back into our urban core. City to River–together with the rest of the region’s residents, business community, and political leadership–eagerly awaits the unveiling of the design teams’ plans for achieving the competition’s bold goals.

An ever increasing number of these key stakeholders representing a wide cross section of St. Louis have expressed support for the option of highway removal as an urban design solution. Today, a wide range of businesses and organizations representing developers, real estate, transit, hotels, property owners, and more are saying they want the City reconnected to the Arch and riverfront, that I-70 should be removed and replaced with a boulevard. In addition, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has called for St. Louis to “plan for highway removal” and the National Park Service has stated that they “strongly support highway removal.” The following St. Louis businesses and organizations have endorsed City to River’s vision:

Chivvis Development – developers of Chouteau’s Landing, just south of the Arch

Citizens for Modern Transit – local transit advocacy organization

Coldwell Banker Commercial – leading area commercial real estate firm

Drury Hotels – Drury Plaza, Drury Inn – Convention Center – major Midwest and downtown hotel operator

Environmental Operations – developers of former St. Louis Centre mall and One City Centre office tower

Gentry’s Landing – high-rise riverfront apartment community

Hilliker Corporation – leading area commercial real estate firm

Laclede’s Landing Merchant’s Association – organization representing Laclede’s Landing businesses

Laclede’s Landing Redevelopment Corporation – organization representing Laclede’s Landing property owners

Landmarks Association of St. Louis – St. Louis’ leading historic preservation organization

Lodging Hospitality Management – owner/operator of Ballpark Hilton

LoftWorks – Craig Heller – developers of Syndicate Trust, The 411, City Grocers, and several other Downtown buildings

Mansion House – high-rise riverfront apartment community

Mayor’s Vanguard Cabinet – Planning and Land Use Committee

North Riverside Holdings – Tim Tucker and Mark Schulte – owners of Cotton Belt building on North Riverfront

Open Space Council – committed to conserving, protecting and sustaining land and water resources throughout the St. Louis region

Spinnaker St. Louis – Amos Harris – developers of Laurel project in former downtown Dillard’s building

St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission – lead St. Louis convention agency

St. Louis Chapter of American Institute of Architects – local chapter of national organization

William Kerr Foundation – committed to projects designed to improve education, enrich the environment and promote health and accessibility with offices on North Riverfront.

Posted in endorsements, support | 2 Comments »

Laclede’s Landing Merchants Association Endorses City to River

August 6th, 2010

Dear City to River Organizers and Supporters:

The members and staff of Laclede’s Landing Merchants Association are very impressed with the awareness and support you have built for the City to River plan, and with the wide-spread conversation it has started throughout the region. The removal of Interstate 70 (both above ground and below) from Poplar Street to Cass Avenue promises to be a renaissance for downtown S1. Louis’ eastern boundaries and a testament to the ability of an involved, passionate community to produce major, positive upgrades in our great city.

As downtown St. Louis’ only entertainment, dining and business district east of Interstate 70, we welcome the possibility of a new at-grade Memorial Drive Boulevard and are eager to see the rest of the city reconnect to the river that we get to view and visit every day. The City to River plan and its potential $1 billion-plus in development and investment ties in perfectly with the new Cass Avenue Bridge project and the City+Arch+River Redesign competition. The final competition concepts will be unveiled in less than two weeks, and we expect the five remaining teams to have considered and incorporated the City to River proposal.

Laclede’s Landing – the city’s oldest district and only riverfront entertainment destination – supports City to River and offers our full endorsement of the plan it has presented. We commit our support and will proudly promote interstate removal, the subsequent development of a new, thriving boulevard, and a successfully reconnected St. Louis City, Arch and River.

Sincerely,

Emily Kochan
Executive Director
Laclede’s Landing Merchants Association

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Self-Healing Roads: Strong Track Record of Success for Highway Removal

July 22nd, 2010

The idea that a highway segment can be replaced with an urban boulevard without creating significant traffic problems strikes some people as unlikely. Time and again around the world, though, highway removals have shown traffic patterns to be flexible and adaptive, with doomsday predictions of gridlock proving false. This “self-healing” nature of road networks suggests that City to River’s proposal to replace the downtown portion of (soon-to-be-former) Interstate 70 with an urban boulevard is likely to cause minimal adverse effects on the vast majority of drivers traveling through the St. Louis area.

Although it seems counterintuitive, many traffic experts understand that creating more road capacity via highways actually tends to increase congestion in urban areas. Highways force (or, at least, cause) too many drivers to use a single route that often has inadequate access points to a city, rather than distributing the traffic more evenly over a network of roads. High-speed routes introduce inefficiencies by inducing drivers to go out of their way in an attempt to save a minute or two, as opposed to taking a more direct route on local streets. Even the mere ability of drivers to move faster can cause traffic problems. As explained in a 2006 SmartMobility report, “[s]peed is confused with capacity. An urban street can carry more vehicle traffic at 30 m.p.h. than it can at 50 m.p.h. because the capacity is controlled at signalized intersections.”

More and more cities are recognizing the problems caused by highways cutting through their urban cores, and the benefits that can be achieved when those highways are removed. Highway removal and restoration of the urban grid thus has become a preferred choice for an ever-growing number of cities. Even the U.S. Department of Transportation has recognized that replacing an urban highway with a surface boulevard is the more financially and environmentally sensible choice for some cities, and is consistent with USDOT’s goal of ensuring that “[p]edestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transport users of all ages and abilities are able to move safely and comfortably along and across a complete street.”

When a highway is eliminated, traffic tends to adapt quickly. Drivers spread across grid networks, with replacement streets serving much of the same traffic and previously underutilized routes absorbing the rest. Often, traffic in the impacted area appears to simply “disappear,” as drivers adopt alternative routes, travel times, and even modes of transportation. As noted in a 1998 study that analyzed the effects of seventy cases of reduced road capacity (although not necessarily highway removal), “traffic problems are usually far less serious that predicted,” and “widespread, long-term disruption is hardly ever reported.”

These are more than abstract theories, but rather have been proven time and again in successful urban highway removals around the world. Here are just a few examples of highway removals that have not caused the major traffic problems predicted by experts and feared by the public:

Read the rest of this entry »

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Distinctions Between City to River and the City+Arch+River Design Competition

July 15th, 2010

In the past few weeks City to River has substantially grown its support base – both popular and among local stakeholders – for our vision of downtown St. Louis relieved of the barriers that its Interstate lanes create.

City to River’s goals are ambitious, and on several fronts dovetail with those of the Framing a Modern Masterpiece Competition. While our goals are similar, however, they are not identical. City to River’s mission is to advocate for the renewal of connections between the communities of the Central Riverfront and the Mississippi River. Thus these two entities share an exciting new vision for the future of downtown but can be distinguished in ways that we seek to clarify here.

Time: City to River fully understands that while planning must begin now, opening a thriving urban boulevard will not occur on ribbon-cutting day in October 2015.

Space: Removing both the depressed lanes and flanking barrier transitions in front of the Arch grounds as well as the elevated lanes that proceed north exceeds the formal boundary of the Competition.

Funding: Because our vision exceeds the chronological and spatial limits of the Competition, portions of it will require other funding sources.

In short, we think of the boulevard as a long-range goal whose full realization may lie beyond the competition horizon, and have worked to encourage the design teams toward its seamless inclusion among their other contributions. City to River’s success will come in stages, with both legislative and physical milestones, any number of which could themselves merit celebration at the conclusion of the competition.

Moreover, while we consider the boulevard essential to the successful re-visioning of the Arch grounds, it need not be exclusive. The boulevard is not incompatible with additional forms of connectivity. A design that anticipates this comprehensive solution to problems recognized by all in the region will generate more public support and fuel anticipation for the transformation of the Gateway Arch from St. Louis’ icon to its heart.

Like the Framing a Modern Masterpiece Competition, City to River has ambitious goals for a dramatically transformed American city. We relish the challenges ahead of us and hope to find evidence of shared enthusiasm for our vision St. Louis’ future when the five final concepts are unveiled later this summer.

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Freeways in Cities: An Uneasy Connection

July 7th, 2010

In the half-century plus since Congress authorized its legislation, the impact of the Interstate Highway System on American transportation has been nothing short of transformative. America’s freeway system created a more accessible nation, allowed us to more easily reach our distant family and friends, and revealed the promise of the open road. But, like so many large-scale government programs, it is not without its share of problems. One fateful component of the plan has had particularly damaging effects on American cities – the decision to allow freeways to directly enter our urban cityscapes.

Norman Bel Geddes, considered by many the conceptual father of the Interstate Freeway System, first proposed the idea of an interstate highway system to President Franklin Roosevelt just prior to WWII. Bel Geddes had been impressed with the development of limited access roads in Europe, particularly the German autobahn. However, he warned explicitly that this new system should not interfere with existing street networks, arguing that it would disrupt the efficient distribution of traffic. In fact, Bel Geddes concluded: “the interests of local traffic are exactly opposite to those of through traffic… Of all the vehicles on the road, only those shall enter the community which actually have business there.” This view was not lost on the Eisenhower administration, as the President agreed that interstates should “contain only roads that carry intercity traffic around and into cities” and advocated that urban highways not be part of the plan.

Unfortunately, state and municipal policy-makers saw what they believed to be a unique opportunity to employ highway engineering as a means to help remediate some of the perceived major issues (urban divestment, social demographic shifts, etc.) that were facing American cities at the time. Mayors and municipal associations testified strongly in favor of the Interstate System because of the benefits the cities expected to receive from urban highways. Despite last-minute actions by the Eisenhower Administration to have them removed from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, urban Interstates played a large role in Congress’ decision to pass this transformative legislation and thus were included. So, with heavy municipal support, the Federal Government steamrolled its way through the heart of many of America’s great cities.

Construction of I-70, 1964

The new interstate highways, mostly completed from the 1950s to the early 1970s, had enormous consequences. In large metropolitan areas, interstates linked central cities with emerging postwar suburbs, issuing in the age of automobile commuting while undermining what was left of inner-city mass transit. The effect of the urban interstates was profound. Predicated on the slum clearance policies of the past, urban expressways were built directly through long-established inner-city residential communities, destroying low-income housing on a vast and unprecedented scale. While some new development was stimulated in downtown areas as a result, the lion’s share was pushed out to suburban areas and took shape into the shopping malls, office parks, and subdivisions so familiar today.

San Francisco Embarcadero, photo by vision63

As the deleterious effects of the urban interstates began to mount, a movement began to build, calling for certain urban expressways to be removed in favor of the traditional urban street grid that once helped make American cities the most vibrant and prosperous in the world. Cities such as New York, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Portland, removed entire urban sections of the interstate with little or no lasting disruption to traffic conditions. In these cases, the existing roadways were more than adequate to support the additional traffic. Each of these cities also saw significant and measurable economic and civic progress predicated on highway removal.

It is time for St. Louis to take a closer look at what these cities were able to accomplish and start taking the right steps to ensure that the divisive stretch of Interstate 70 cutting through downtown be removed. Only then will our city recapture its true essence as a livable, walkable community. After all, that’s what the founders of the freeway system and President Eisenhower had in mind all along.

Sources:

Bel Geddes, Norman. Magic Motorways. New York: Random House, 1940.

Removing Freeways – Restoring Cities. Siegel, Charles. 2007. The Preservation Institute. 21 June 2010.

Eisenhower Interstate Highway System Web site. 2009. 18 June 2010.

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Masterpieces Shine Brightest in Great Frames

July 2nd, 2010

Quick, do you know what the frame around the Mona Lisa looks like? If the framer did a good job, the answer is no. Frames, after all, aren’t what most people consider when they look at art – they want to enjoy the art itself.

Here is the Mona Lisa in its proper frame…

If the frame was, however, so big that it overwhelmed the painting, like this…

or loudly colored, like this…

nobody would see the painting at all. It would be lost in an inappropriate context.

Framing is tricky business. While not the central focus of an art-lover’s enjoyment, a well-chosen, correctly sized and colored frame subtly enhances a beautiful work. Frames both distinguish art from that which surrounds it and provide context. They act as mediators between the specialized realm of art and the workaday world in which we conduct our lives.

St. Louis is blessed with a magnificent work of art that has become its icon: the Gateway Arch. People worldwide recognize the monument as one of the greatest architectural achievements of the 20^th century. And with the Framing a Modern Masterpiece competition currently underway, beautiful new enhancements will soon join our city’s defining image in its sylvan setting.

Importantly, the title of the competition itself addresses the subtle but critical issue of framing. As the primary “context” for the Arch grounds, Interstate 70 is a poorly chosen frame. Instead of enhancing the experience of the Memorial and its grounds, it is a jarring distraction from the beauty it surrounds, and the elevated lanes reinforce and extend that divisive tone northward. A transitional zone – an urban boulevard – would create subtler, more elegant and more integrated transitions between the growing bustle of downtown and the serenity of the Arch grounds.

Later this summer, design teams will propose wonderful enhancements to this iconic American space – perhaps new plantings and water features, or a new museum, or waterfront aquarium. Simultaneously rethinking the frame will offer them all a new context; a context that will essentially disappear into the fabric of the city and rightfully shine the spotlight on the Arch grounds and the riverfront itself. A context scaled to human beings. One that encourages interaction instead of inhibiting it. One that draws both tourists and locals closer to the monument, and the monument closer to the city returning to life around it. Careful, thoughtful attention to the frame will make the masterpiece that is the Gateway Arch and everything around it shine that much more brightly in the reflections on the Mississippi River.

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