Comments by "GH1618" (@GH-oi2jf) on "Freeways almost ruined San Francisco" video.

  1. Here’s how I see the criticism: Everybody wants their own route through the city to the places they want to go to be quick and easy. But the catch is that, for others, it will be an obstruction, or will destroy their neighborhood, while doing nothing for their transportation needs. Congestion is inherent in a large city. Adding traffic lanes never reduces congestion generally. When you have a growing population, any traffic lane you build quickly fills up until the congestion is the same as everywhere else. That is because of the atomic nature of individual vehicles. Cars are like molecules in a liquid — they flow to fill the available space. A good example is the road which bypasses Portland on the west, connecting US 26 to I-5 south of Portland. I have used that shortcut many times. Often, traffic comes to a dead stop.
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  2. Phil Rabe — Traffic is not worse because these structures were removed. It is worse because there are more people and more cars.
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  3. Zaheed Chapman — No, freways often destroy cities. Where did you get that idea? Read Jane Jacobs’ book.
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  4. San Francisco dodged a bullet when they stopped the completion of the Embarcadero freeway and eventually removed the piece that had been built. Seattle also stopped a shoreline freeway in the vicinity of its arboretum.
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  5. City Beautiful — A “factoid” is a false fact, not a small fact.
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  6. City Beautiful — Some people recently have suggested removing I-980 on the northern edge of Oakland, California, as it cuts off residential areas from downtown. That is a stupid idea. It’s there and it works. Redesigning the whole concept would be incredibly disruptive for no good purpose. Perhaps it would be nice to lid parts of it, like the freeway park in downtown Seattle.
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  7. James — Yes. In fact, Robert Moses made a plan for a grid of freeways in Portland, Oregon. The segment on the west side of downtown was a part of that scheme, but most of it was killed, thankfully.
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  8. Deadlytrick — In fact, you have the ability to get anywhere in the city. You are just in too much of a hurry.
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