Southwest Corridor
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- This page is about the cancelled highway near Boston, Massachusetts. For the future light rail project in Minneapolis, Minnesota, see Southwest Corridor (Minnesota).
The Southwest Corridor or Southwest Expressway was a project designed to bring an eight-lane highway into the City of Boston from a direction southwesterly of downtown. It was supposed to connect with Interstate 95 at Route 128. It would follow the then Penn Central Franklin Line right of way running from Readville, north through Forest Hills and Jamaica Plain, where it would meet the proposed Inner Belt Expressway / Interstate 695.
The project started in 1948 with Massachusetts Public Works director William F. Callahan's Master Highway Plan for Metropolitan Boston, went through several adjustments and then was killed in 1970 by Republican Governor Francis Sargent, following popular pressure. Governor Sargent declared a moratorium on all expressway construction within Route 128 following the recommendation of a task force of private experts he appointed to study controversial highway plans.[1] Having been witness to recent housing clearances for the Interstate 93 expressway and Massachusetts Turnpike, as well as similar projects in New York City and other cities, the population of the affected area was largely unwilling to repeat similar costs for another expressway.
The corridor was later recycled into the new route for the MBTA's Orange line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor with much of the surface area being developed as a 52 acre (210,000 m²) linear park.
The Southwest Corridor Park, maintained by the state DCR, has become a vibrant space for pedestrians, bicyclists, dog-walkers, amateur sports leagues, and community gardeners. The Southwest Corridor Park Conservancy helps maintain gardens, runs summer youth projects in the park, and keeps a website with maps and photos.[1]
The 128–93–95 interchange was partially constructed, leaving a few abandoned ramps north of the interchange and one abandoned bridge (42°12′32″N 71°08′33″W / 42.208876°N 71.142483°W) just west of the two active bridges.
[edit] References
- ^ Altshuler, Alan A.; Luberoff, David (2003). Mega-projects: the changing politics of urban public investment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 9780815701293. http://books.google.com/books?id=UZY5vCO06NQC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- Al Lupo, Frank Colcord and Edmund P. Fowler, "Rites of Way: The Politics of Transportation in Boston and the U.S. City," Little, Brown and Company (1971)
- Tom Lewis, "Divided Highways," Viking-Penguin Books (1997)
[edit] See also
- Interstate 695 - A once proposed closely-related project to build an inner ring expressway around downtown Boston and cutting through East Cambridge.
- Freeway and expressway revolts
[edit] External links
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