downtown loop rendering from 1955

[voltopt]

i just stumbled across this and i must say, wow.
they thought they could build this highway loop around downtown and maintain the densities that existed in the early 1950s?

this view is from the southeast looking northwest across downtown, before all the parking lots, land clearance, etc...
this is rendered in 1955

[Tosspot]

My hatred of urban highways just went up a notch.

[Deleted User]

.

[GRID]

I can't tell from this rendering if the north loop connection was in place yet?
Wouldn't it have been awesome had they NOT ran I-70 across the northern part of the loop and left the connection from the City Market through to downtown?

I wish they would get rid of the north loop highway and let the city be a city again.
Imagine the amazing develoment that could happen if that land was freed up.

Your thinking the west loop, the north loop is there.

[LenexatoKCMO]

The sad thing is to realize that at the time people probably looked at that rendering and thought how nice and futuristic it looked and what a wonderful improvement it would make to the city.  

[voltopt]

1950 - you can see the entire swath that was ripped out for the north loop - and the interesting articulation of the west bluff and the sort of citadel nature of downtown - before the west loop

[voltopt]

oh yeah, and this view.  the wider street is sixth street trafficway (which i - 70 replaced) and the destroyed linear block is north of it.  1950

[bbqboy]

I'm just old enough to remember DT pre loop.
I won't bore you with stories, but suffice to say it killed DT, on all sides....

[voltopt]

looking south from sixth street trafficway in 1940.  many of the buildings in the foreground are gone

[Deleted User]

.

[KCPowercat]

was the south end and north end of the loop built at the same time?  I'm too junior to know.

[GRID]

was the south end and north end of the loop built at the same time?  I'm too junior to know.

Quick history lesson.

Before the interstates came, we had the starting of an expressway system.  This included:

Lewis and Clark Viaduct (bridge to KCK)
6th Street Expressway (what is now the north loop)
SW Trafficway (what is now 35 south of downtown)
Paseo (bridge portion was an expressway)
Crosstown Freeway (70 east of loop)
ASB Bridge (what is now HOA Bridge, route 9)

All of these were incorporated into the freeway system and amazingly (only in KC ), very little of it has changed since becoming integrated into interstate routes.

The east and west sides of the loop were built to tie the 6th St expressway to 70, Paseo and 35. 

35 and 29 were run down Paseo and 35 was run down SW Tfwy.  A new interstate was built off SW Tfwy into Kansas and plans were already in the works for the South Midtown Freeway (71), the Country Club Freeway (never built but would have put a freeway where SW Tfwy Ward Parkway are now....scary thought) and interstate 670 which was originally going to be I-70 but KCK didn't want to change the 70 route.

So this is one reason the area is such a mess, most of the loop and most of the highways that tie into it are old expressways from the 40's and 50's.  Everything else was just sort of rigged together to make connections (east and west loop, 169, route 9 etc).

[Tosspot]

Quick history lesson.

Before the interstates came, we had the starting of an expressway system.  This included:

Lewis and Clark Viaduct (bridge to KCK)
6th Street Expressway (what is now the north loop)
SW Trafficway (what is now 35 south of downtown)
Paseo (bridge portion was an expressway)
Crosstown Freeway (70 east of loop)
ASB Bridge (what is now HOA Bridge, route 9)

All of these were incorporated into the freeway system and amazingly (only in KC ), very little of it has changed since becoming integrated into interstate routes.

The east and west sides of the loop were built to tie the 6th St expressway to 70, Paseo and 35. 

35 and 29 were run down Paseo and 35 was run down SW Tfwy.  A new interstate was built off SW Tfwy into Kansas and plans were already in the works for the South Midtown Freeway (71), the Country Club Freeway (never built but would have put a freeway where SW Tfwy Ward Parkway are now....scary thought) and interstate 670 which was originally going to be I-70 but KCK didn't want to change the 70 route.

So this is one reason the area is such a mess, most of the loop and most of the highways that tie into it are old expressways from the 40's and 50's.  Everything else was just sort of rigged together to make connections (east and west loop, 169, route 9 etc).

And I heretofore propose that the whole ghastly vomitous bilgerious fetid dendritic clusterfuck be ripped out.

[warwickland]

is it too late to have a freeway revolt? 

[KCLover]

Heres a question: Why are we so worried about the freeways now and tearing them back out when there is still many many parking lots and dead buildings downtown? I think we should infill the empty spaces up first before we get heated about the freeway loop that distroyed a lot of buildings- you can't bring them back now so it's late.

[chrizow]

[warwickland]

Heres a question: Why are we so worried about the freeways now and tearing them back out when there is still many many parking lots and dead buildings downtown? I think we should infill the empty spaces up first before we get heated about the freeway loop that distroyed a lot of buildings- you can't bring them back now so it's late.

the mid century orgy of destruction and autocentricity that inspired the downtown loop damaged the urban fabric of downtown both directly and indirectly - they are all connected. this is a matter of philosophy. more specifically, is it appropriate to continue to have an isolating downtown loop of freeway (river market and CBD are unacceptably isolated from each other) as the city learns and evolves from past mistakes? the whole thing is due to be rebuilt - but as a taxpayer, i dont want it to be rebuilt in current form for many reasons - we should learn from the past and other cities that have removed downtown freeways.

and to answer your question, i think that is what is slowly happening.

[GRID]

Just think, St Louis never got its downtown loop and people in StL used to complain that KC got theirs and they didn't.

Wonder what they think now?  Can you imagine a freeway running north south just west of downtown StL?  Ouch.

[KCLover]

the mid century orgy of destruction and autocentricity that inspired the downtown loop damaged the urban fabric of downtown both directly and indirectly - they are all connected. this is a matter of philosophy. more specifically, is it appropriate to continue to have an isolating downtown loop of freeway (river market and CBD are unacceptably isolated from each other) as the city learns and evolves from past mistakes? the whole thing is due to be rebuilt - but as a taxpayer, i dont want it to be rebuilt in current form for many reasons - we should learn from the past and other cities that have removed downtown freeways.

and to answer your question, i think that is what is slowly happening.

I see what your saying and I completely agree. The whole seperation of the CBD/ river market, and CBD/Crossroads is screwy with the freeways. I would like to see the freeways get capped off into a tunnel and land built over top of them. Then, continue to do things like what is happening with bartle hall. I think that would be the best solution now. Although, I think the south portion of the loop technically could be removed since you could take the north portion to the exact same place. 

[im2kull]

My Opinion:

Sure the freeways are bad for density, but they make getting around easier....which is good and bad...but who cares.  If we didn't have them, then all the NIMBY's would complain that getting to the suburbs is too hard, and rather than move downtown, they would all seek new jobs outside of DT and create an even bigger migration away from DT.  Sure the loop cuts off DT, but we could just dig deeper and create underground freeways...wow...brillant...duh...

(of course there would still be vacant buildings, but its not a literall density were talking about, its the idea of a city as a whole)