I imagined that instead of being elevated ahead of a descent, I was driving at grade from Cass Avenue all of the way to the Poplar Street Bridge. The highway became an urban thoroughfare allowing for easy local access and great views. I could foresee stopping at traffic lights as pedestrians walked from the casino over to restaurants on Washington Avenue, or from downtown apartments to the river for a stroll. Instead of a gravel lot, I saw a completed Bottle District with modern mid-rise residential buildings. Lumiere Place presented an attractive face to downtown.
Straight ahead, I did not see the weary concrete sidewalks and parking lot ahead of the Hampton Inn, but a new flatiron office building with a fountain in the middle of the plaza where traffic between the boulevard merged with Fourth Street. The sensation was akin to the view of downtown Chicago offered at the point near the Drake Hotel where Lake Shore Drive meets the north end of Michigan Avenue. That view always gives me a giddy feeling, because the essence of the entire urban density of Chicago seems to come into view there. The options there are staying on Lake Shore Drive for the breathtaking view of the lake or turning off onto the Magnificent Mile. There is no mediocrity in sight.
Yesterday, I saw a similar picture. I could make a right turn and veer off into the excitement of downtown, lured by the refined architecture of the Missouri Athletic Club, or head straight for that section of downtown that is right at the Gateway Arch. Either way I was going to see our urban core at its best. When I was right at the Arch, instead of dangerously looking up through aging concrete infrastructure, I caught a red light and had at least 20 seconds to take in the glistening sheen of the Arch skin reflecting the golden sunset.
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3 comments:
no, you were hallucinating.
I think that's the trade off if the new MS crossing is built and destroys a lot of the near North, no longer let downtown be a fly through. I've tried arguing that 5 minutes of stoplights really doesn't add anything to ones travel. but abrupt change is scary for many.
70/55 has cut through for so long, it's hard for some people to imagine its absence and I sense some even feel resentment towards the idea of its removal, sad. no need for a Boston Big Dig project. and plenty of cities have no significant thru highways in the city center.
I like the idea, it's not like downtown could be hurt any worse than the past patterns and you don't see highways bisecting the commercial area of Clayton, serviced by nearby routes, yes (ok the Parkway, but even that hits traffic lights at Skinker).
That really is a shame. It actually looks like the took the time to try and create a nice plaza, next to the freeway, which I can only imagine gets very little use.
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