Should New Jersey Highways Go Underground? It’s Worked In Other Cities Already
If you take a bird's eye view of New Jersey, what do you think you would see?
Obviously, you would spot trees, the coast, bodies of water, traffic and roadways.
Did you know that when you combine the Garden State Parkway, the Turnpike, Route 80 and Route 287, that is nearly 650 miles of paved roadway hogging up New Jersey's surface?
What do you think New Jersey could do if that space just...opened up?
I stumbled upon a visual that speaks volumes. It is not of New Jersey but got me thinking about how the Garden State could possibly improve.
According to this Facebook visual, Boston looked a lot like New Jersey back in 2003. There were massive highways everywhere which can be necessary, but grey. Exhaust fumes fill the air, traffic dominates the area and honking horns can be heard for miles in busy and cluttered cities.
What if we put a majority of our major roads underground?
I know how it sounds but just look:
How does one put a highway underground? I have no idea but what if we could do this in New Jersey?
Nearly 650 miles of land would open up! We could grow more trees, build more parks, and construct more homes. Honestly, the possibilities would be endless.
Was this an expensive project to complete in Boston? Absolutely and it took years! The end game might make it worth it because this is also about more than just trees and parks.
There was one Facebook comment that stuck out to me on how this highway reconstruction helped the city of Boston:
It makes sense. A lot of expensive versus inexpensive areas are usually separated a major road or highway.
If those highways are no longer above ground, these two areas will have no other choice but to blend and become one.
Imagine if we can undo centuries of racism and redlining by sticking our major highways underground?
There just seems to be many more positives than negatives for a plan like this.
What do you think? Email me: Nicole.Murray@townsquaremedia.com.
Then again, maybe all our roads should go underground after thinking about it. We do have some "winners" here at the Jersey Shore:
