The negative impacts of postwar urban renewal — wanton highway construction, residential displacement, social fragmentation — are still felt in cities throughout America. New Haven, the recipient of more per capita federal dollars spent on urban renewal projects than other U.S. city, suffered disproportionately from these misguided policies. Anyone traveling to New Haven today will see the remnants of this planning philosophy, epitomized most prominently by the Route 34 Connector, which has been derogatorily nicknamed “the road to nowhere.”
Initially built to connect the junction of I-91 and I-95 in New Haven through to Derby, the 1.1-mile, unfinished road cuts through the Oak Street neighborhood. More than 600 businesses and families (some of whom still gather at the annual Oak Street Reunion) were displaced between 1955 and 1957 to make way for the Rt. 34 Connector.
Plans to extend the highway to the West Haven/Orange town line were eventually abandoned, leaving it a stub of a highway. But the damage had been done. The urban freeway cut downtown off from the city’s regional transportation hub, Union Station, and further exacerbated automobile dependency and suburban sprawl.
Recently, however, a unique plan to mitigate these impacts has emerged. The proposal, developed by local activists and the City of New Haven would redevelop the Route 34 Connector into a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood of workforce housing, retail, and open space. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr.’s Future Framework 2008 plan proposes to tear down the Rt. 34 Connector, restore the long-lost street grid, and reconnect downtown to Union Station.
To rally support for the project, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the Urban Design League of New Haven are hosting a symposium highlighting the plan on April 16th from 6pm to 8pm at New Haven’s Career High School. The event, headlined by John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism and former mayor of Milwaukee, is sponsored by the City of New Haven, the Center for Transportation and Urban Planning at UConn, Yale University Sustainable Transportation, the One Region Funders Group, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the Fairfield County Community Foundation. (For more information, read TSTC’s event flier.)
Mr. Norquist will discuss how, as Mayor of Milwaukee, he led the successful effort to tear down the Park East Freeway and create a vibrant community in its place. ConnDOT Deputy Commissioner Albert Martin will also speak about Connecticut’s broader efforts to promote transit oriented development, and how these efforts relate to Rt. 34’s redevelopment.
The Rt. 34 tear-down proposal now joins a handful of similar plans throughout the region, including proposals to remove the Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx and the Skyway in Buffalo, and a proposed underground relocation of I-84 in Hartford. The Campaign hopes this quartet can spur additional community-driven proposals to rectify the damage caused by urban freeways.
You might be able to get some ammunition for this battle at http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/, which has stories of the freeways that have been removed so far, plus more information about freeway removal.
The previous comment included the comma in the link, so it doesn’t work. The right link is http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/
OK on the connector teardown but how would Rt 34 to I91/95 traffic be rerouted?
Without that connector, massive gridlock would occur as the traffic is funneled into city streets by daily commuters traveling Rt 34 from the valley towns into New Haven and people like myself who travel from East Haven to Westville each day.
This idea is doomed to failure unless a regional transportation study program is created.
Doug Losty
Route 34 can be discussed on the above website. We’re looking forward to the event!
Douglas,
I don’t know if you are going to check this because it was awhile ago but experience has shown that your scenario hasn’t really played out in practice.
Chris:
The plan adds large buildings that will attract people. These are far larger buildings then those displaced by the freeway decades ago.
Are these buildings to be all mixed use, with most or all of the people having both their residences and jobs in these buildings?
The positive benefits sought can be achieved via new buildings that respect the Route 34 freeway’s subterranean right of way.
What was done with the Pfizer building fiasco should not be allowed to hold this public right of way hostage.
this about the rt. 34 freeway—very big mistake in not finishing this highway, it should have been built on a cut, and cover, and after which, come in and rebuild the neighborhood—this way you get the best of both,as this neighborhood was a slum when they tore it down years ago.
Had they built 34(as planned) to NY `s NY State Throughway, and the NY 17 freeway interchange this would have made for a bypass (esp. east of I -684) of the costal cities of CT, and would have helped take traffic off I-95, AND I-84,
I for one disagree with the tearing down this highway, do not blame the highway, its planners, designers, and builders of the mid 50s for this—build it ,and be done with it is how highways should be built–it is this hemming, and hawing that has done more harm then good. I believe that tax revenues is another reason this is being done—what are you going to do when the city runs out of land to build, and tax.
Sincerely,
Buck
[…] speeding and red-light running. The meeting also occurs in the context of a City of New Haven proposal to replace the Rt. 34 Connector with a more human-scale […]
[…] Gov. Rell to Support Route 34 Teardown Support is growing for the City of New Haven’s proposal to remove the Route 34 highway connector, recreate the street grid, and develop housing, parks, and […]
The sky bridges tell the story of a university concened only for itself and its Phizer sweetheart deal of stealing the connector land for $1
http://cos-mobile.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-haven-yales-idea-of-reconnection.html
[…] 900 permanent jobs and start to reconnect downtown New Haven with the Hill neighborhood that was separated by Route 34 — also known, ironically, as the Oak Street Connector — during the city’s urban […]
[…] In doing so, the city will take the first step towards undoing a 1950s highway project that separated neighborhoods from […]
[…] removal of Route 34, a 1.1-mile stub of a highway that displaced hundreds of Connecticut families, homes, and businesses when it was constructed in the late 1950s, has become a cause célèbre for the City of New Haven […]