
Hamburg is burying the Autobahn and putting parks on top - dthal
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/9/7520805/hamburg-highway
======
tonyg
Artist/architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser had some similar ideas about
burying highways and using parkland to absorb some of their emissions, both
chemical and auditory - his "invisible, inaudible Green Motorway":

* [http://www.pithandvigor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/under...](http://www.pithandvigor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/underground_tunnel_hundertwasser.jpg) (linked as part of this blog post: [http://www.pithandvigor.com/diy-projects/materials/friedensr...](http://www.pithandvigor.com/diy-projects/materials/friedensreich-hundertwasser/))

* [http://www.hundertwasser.com/arch/view-25slashXIII](http://www.hundertwasser.com/arch/view-25slashXIII)

* [http://www.hundertwasser.com/arch/view-25slashXII](http://www.hundertwasser.com/arch/view-25slashXII)

* [http://www.hundertwasser.com/arch/view-25slashV](http://www.hundertwasser.com/arch/view-25slashV)

~~~
frik
In Linz (Austria) there is a similar highway with a park above it (more than
one kilometer long). Built in 2005, water leaks into the tunnel and there are
high costs to fix it (including removing the park to fix the problems).

[http://derstandard.at/1310511908137/Undicht-seit-
Eroeffnung-...](http://derstandard.at/1310511908137/Undicht-seit-Eroeffnung-
Sanierung-des-Linzer-A7-Tunnels-Park-soll-abgetragen-werden) (German)

~~~
nakedrobot2
Water leaks into _all_ tunnels. Some have this issue in a more problematic way
that others, admittedly ;-)

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DenisM
Seattle area has another, much more similar highway concealment project that's
already built - the I90 on the Mercer Island is partially underground, with
the "roof" being used for things like parks. Unfortunately, not the whole
length of it is buried, so there is still plenty of highway noise throughout
the island.

Mercer Island made me think all auto roads should be built like this, and
surface should be entirely reserved for pedestrians, bikes and the like.

~~~
dthal
I think lids do three things: they cut down on noise, they reclaim some open
space, and they piece back together the neighborhoods that get cut in half by
big freeway projects. The Mercer Island lids may not do much for noise, but
they do the last two of those things nicely. I think that last item, putting
broken neighborhoods back together again, is really important and it can be
accomplished pretty well even by fragmentary lids.

~~~
mc32
There are ways to keep from cleaving neighborhoods with freeways or roads. Big
cities in Japan have tons of rail lines and expressways winding through
downtowns without really disconnecting neighborhoods. They use lots of
overhead walkways and tunnels and also buildings stand right next to the
expressways they become intricate with the fabric of the cities --not so much
an afterthought-like an add on. So it may depend on a few things --for one
people being okay with having a freeway outside the window and also being okay
with walkways above ground level connecting buildings and destinations. Now
usually the railways and roadways are elevated and not at grade

------
blisterpeanuts
I hope this is a trend. Highways are ugly and smelly and noisy and dangerous.
Parks are pretty, safe, and quiet. I wish that all urban highways could be
underground, with parks and residences and bike/walking paths above ground.

------
calebm
Sounds like the "big dig" in Boston.

~~~
GauntletWizard
And Seattle's I 5 Colonnade, Freeway Park, and Aubrey Davis Park

~~~
kldavenport
The homeless have moved back into the I-5 Colonnade and the proximity of
Duthie Hill leads most people away from the city for their rides.

------
mikeyouse
I've started to wonder if some of the land shortage in San Francisco could be
mitigated by either burying some roads or probably more realistically, just
constructing buildings over the roads. I'd love to see a series of 1-unit deep
apartments running down the middle of California or Gough. Hell, build a few
skyscrapers over 80 in SOMA.

It'll never happen, but one can dream.

~~~
ufo
I think allowing for bigger buildings with more population density would free
up more land than burying roads.

~~~
mc32
And importantly, it would be cheaper. There are always ideas about getting
high density along Geary, Third, etc. combined with BRT (bus rapid transit) or
light rail. It just never takes off --like razing JapanTown and renovating it.

------
droopyEyelids
I've always wondered if something like this was possible. chicago is a prime
candidate; lake shore drive produces an insane amount of noise and ruins an
incredible stretch of beach.

~~~
andrewem
Better to eliminate the highway and replace it with a boulevard, with good
protected sidewalks and bike lanes and transit facilities, maybe a bus lane or
rail. That highway is neither inevitable nor immortal. See for instance
[http://gizmodo.com/6-freeway-demolitions-that-changed-
their-...](http://gizmodo.com/6-freeway-demolitions-that-changed-their-cities-
forever-1548314937)

~~~
cbd1984
Here's one way to get from an eighth-story office to the nearest Post Office:
Jump out the window, then walk to the nearest Post Office.

If you were going to do that, you'd want a hell of a cushion to land on,
right?

My point is, destroying Lake Shore Drive is a _huge_ freaking leap, and unless
the people who live and work in Chicago have something to land on the moment
they need it, the immediate dislocation will cost more than Chicagoans can
pay.

These kinds of massive multi-phase synchronized plans are something _nobody_
is really good at yet, with NASA and the ESA probably coming closest. I don't
really want to bet Chicago on one of them coming together just right.

------
vproman
A bit like Teralta Park over I-15 in City Heights, San Diego. CalTrans was
supposed to have 3 - 4 covers over the freeway, with parks, shopping and
housing over it, but only one cover was completed.
[http://sandiegofreepress.org/2013/08/i-15-in-city-heights-
ho...](http://sandiegofreepress.org/2013/08/i-15-in-city-heights-how-a-
freeway-that-divided-the-community-became-an-urban-monument-to-citizen-
activism/)

------
sspross
Zürich, Switzerland is trying to do the same since 30 years.
[http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/stadt/Schwamendingen-
mus...](http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/stadt/Schwamendingen-muss-weiter-
auf-die-Einhausung-warten/story/17599823)

------
nostromo
> The project is projected to cost $800 million

What a steal. The Big Dig buried less road and cost 20-30 times more.

I wonder why infrastructure costs are so out of control in the U.S. We should
ask Germany or Japan to build California's high speed rail for us.

~~~
theklub
Let's see what it costs them in the end. Big projects like this always go over
budget.

~~~
lars_francke
Yes, one prominent example from Hamburg is the "Elphilharmonie":
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Philharmonic_Hall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Philharmonic_Hall)

------
cbr
Detailed link: [http://streetswithoutcars.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/the-
hambu...](http://streetswithoutcars.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/the-hamburger-
deckel/)

------
guruz
Berlin has something like this, on the Sat view you can see that there is a
park on top:

[https://www.google.de/maps/dir/52.4606291,13.4151826/52.4630...](https://www.google.de/maps/dir/52.4606291,13.4151826/52.4630419,13.4465243/@52.4619811,13.4292444,1399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d13.4462406!2d52.4630015!3s0x47a84f77449b9a3d:0x76492ebca2963b0d!1m0!3e0)

------
igl
Funny, this tunnel is in the 100-200 million euro range. Could have a positive
social impact. Yet they make compromises and ruin it's value. Raising it 3,5m
into the air to save some money? Can it really be called underground then?

The elbphilharmonie is at 800 million now. It will mostly make money for
private hands (public private partnership) and will leave hamburg in dept for
decades. Welcome to a CDU town.

------
legulere
Similar is planned for Nürnberg with an 1.8km tunnel with green roof:

[http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/soer/frankenschnellwegplaen...](http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/soer/frankenschnellwegplaene.html)

The plans are currently lying at court because of some opponents.

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melling
They should bury the long stretch that leads into the Holland Tunnel in NYC.
Then create one continuous residential area.

[http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/149186.jpg](http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/149186.jpg)

------
einrealist
Little OT: The list of blocked resources for this page is impressive
(ScriptSafe, µBlock).

~~~
jlarocco
Ha! I noticed the same thing.

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jacquesm
The pricing seems way off for such an ambitious project.

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holri
Vienna has this ("Platte") and build a new district and recreational erea
besides the Danube on top of it.

------
chrismcb
I'm curious how Seattle was supposed to replace an elevated freeway that is
falling aprt with a park? I guess they could replace the parking lot that is
currently under the freeway.

