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The American Institute of Architects is looking to supplant the idea of replacing the Gowanus Expressway with a tunnel, and instead proposes a suspended highway and formation of a Gowanus Greenway. In 2006, the Dept. of Transportation gave a green light to a $12.8 billion proposal to build a 3.5 mile, seven lane tunnel underneath the Brooklyn Waterfront and then destroying the elevated highway. The plan for a Gowanus Tunnel appears to be in perpetual stall though, and would take approximately 15 years to finish.
According to the Daily News, the alternate plan proposed by the AIA would move the route that connects the Verrazano Bridge to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel from the Gowanus Expressway that runs over 3rd Ave. to a cable-suspended highway over 1st Ave. The space between the two avenues would then be transformed into a greenway with parks and bike lanes. The designers are going to start actively pitching the plan to state and city officials soon.
At this point, the only certainty regarding the Gowanus Expressway is that it will continue to be used for some time before it is replaced, unless it actually falls apart first. NYC Roads has a complete history of the Expressway that displaced many Brooklyn residents and cut off many more from waterfront access. The history is followed by a number of proposals for improving or replacing the Gowanus Expressway.
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Living in the area, it has always been an eyesore and makes the area below look as shady as can be.
all for it going underground and bringing back the connectivity of the neighborhoods, though who's to say this won't up like the Big Dig and the nightmare to construct that?
What a total eyesore! I don't think it'll be missed
Anyone got about 15 billion dollars that they're not doing anything with? Cuz that's how much moving that damn road is going to cost, whether you build a tunnel, move it to first ave or suspend it in another dimension using fairy dust.
Something's gotta be done though, being underneath that thing..you can see the rust eating through it. I predict a West Side Highway Part 2, if something isn't done quick.
my thoughts exactly, eric. building a tunnel is going to be a sinkhole.
Who cares if it takes 15 years to finish? They've been doing construction on the Gowanus for over twenty years! Now these workers who rack up tons of overtime on our tax dollars will actually be doing something other than patching a pothole every 5 minutes.
Nothing is going to be done about the Gowanus until it turns into West Side Highway Part Deux..and it WILL turn into that.