How can a transportation corridor be diversified? Is there a way to do this and make it more efficient and flexible? The Gran Via in Barcelona, designed by Arriola & Fiol Arquitectes, is a notable precedent for its activation of a single-use sunken freeway. This project carefully orchestrates uses, creating a sectionally-rich transportation corridor from… Read more »
How can a transportation corridor be diversified? Is there a way to do this and make it more efficient and flexible?
The Gran Via in Barcelona, designed by Arriola & Fiol Arquitectes, is a notable precedent for its activation of a single-use sunken freeway. This project carefully orchestrates uses, creating a sectionally-rich transportation corridor from an existing sunken freeway. With fast traffic in the central trunk, 3.5m cantilevers form lower-speed service roads, accomodating a tramline and parking below while reducing noise and air pollution exposure to nearby neighborhoods. Bridges were placed every 400m (3 blocks) for cross traffic.
Custom-designed acoustic barriers arc over the central carriage way, cupping the infrastructure but not covering it entirely. The resulting inclined sections that connect service roads to neighborhood streets (20%) were turned into green spaces for public use (Kelly Shannon, Marcel Smets. “Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes.” The Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructure. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2010. 100-101.)
Although there are some notable exceptions (e.g. the I-105 has light rail integrated), Southern California highways are designed for private vehicles, and therefore privately-funded transportation. Access to this public amenity is limited to a certain class. Los Angeles highways are simultaneously democratic (a one-size-fits-all for trucks, vans, cars, and motorcycles) and discriminatory (to a class of people who don’t have the funds to support vehicle ownership). Could a project like the Gran Via work in the U.S.?
Links:
Multilevel Infrastructure
Arriola&Fiol
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