Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry recently announced his desire for state funding to begin removing the Hart Bridge Expressway ramps along the downtown riverfront as early as next year. For those who may question the potential results of expressway removal, here's five before and after examples where this plan has been successfully implemented.

2. Portland Harbor Drive

Harbor Drive Freeway in 1970 (Google Earth)

The first example of a freeway being demolished in the United States took place in Portland nearly forty years ago. Predating the Interstate Highway System, Portland’s Harbor Drive Freeway was completed in 1942 as a four-lane highway along the Willamette River. However, by the late-1960s, the city’s Downtown Waterfront Plan recommended replacing it with waterfront green space. With the completion of I-405 in 1973, Harbor Drive was permanently closed a year later and replaced with a waterfront park.

Harbor Drive in 2015 (Google Earth)

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