Bundled Infrastructure: recently completed light rail expansion along I-25 corridor in metro DenverThe Functionality predicts that the rights-of-way currently occupied by freeways in and around our cities will be one of a few great urban opportunities of the near future. The sustained horizontal growth of the last few decades seems unlikely to continue, notwithstanding dips in the price of oil. Los Angeles (America’s densest “horizontal” city) slowed its outward growth years ago, where it was constricted by local politics (Home Owners Associations, etc.) and geographic boundaries. Now, other sun-belt cities without such impediments (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, etc.), have been hit with a glut of toxic, foreclosed housing supply that is often remote from major transit arteries.

As we've explained before, conditions are right for us to think big again about transportation (and the city at large). What is the future of the car, train, bus, bicycle? Even more pressing: how do we put people back to work, and encourage our cities to grow at a time when everyone is broke? The Functionality has a few ideas. Here’s one:

TRANSIT PASTA: extruded transit infrastructure bundled with developable parcelsStacked Transit City:

a slender, multi-level stack that can accommodate the spatial requirements of whatever transit cocktail we come up with in the future (road, rail, bus-way, bike-way, waterslides, etc).  Visualize the cross-section of a manhattan skyscraper, extruded like pasta for miles above the corpse of the 20^th century freeway. (By combining modes of transport in this way, we can convincingly argue against separate, unequal economic stimulus numbers for autos and rail).  So here’s the kicker: leftover space within and above the stack is made available at a discount for private development, helping to defray the public costs of construction. No calls for eminent domain--just maximizing the utility of public land in the heart of the city! 

Of course, no-one likes to live near the freeway. Why? Because no-one has ever really been invested in the freeway—its always been a public entitlement and not much else. Worse, it been used at times to callously disrupt and divide the city (see cross-bronx expressway, or dan ryan expressway). In the future, our transit corridors will almost certainly be tied to the vitality of our culture, and so must no longer be regarded as aesthetic or urbanistic afterthoughts. This opens myriad new challenges and opportunities for designers and engineers of all stripes. How does one access public space above the transit stack? How do we keep the air clean for housing? These questions will be answered eventually.

So, we’ve killed four birds with one stone:

• Built-in flexibility for future transit/development options;
• Cheap land for accessible, sustainable development—no eminent domain;
• Job creation for many;
• Recuperated image of the urban freeway.