Photo, above: An 80-foot section of the old, elevated West Side Highway in Manhattan, New York City; looking westward across the Hudson River from just south of Canal Street. The roadway, long in perilous condition, collapsed in 1982 during demolition.  New York City road planning, see Hour 2, Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York, by Ted Steinberg,

Exotic alternatives have been offered to the regrettable 1970s plan for Westway, a proposed north-south highway on Manhattan's West Side that was intended to be built on land to be reclaimed from the Hudson River – a bonanza for real estate interests but dreadful for most of the citizenry. (“There was an enormous amount of political and economic power in favor of Westway in 1982,” Bernard recalled in an interview this week. “Mayor Koch was for it, Governor Cuomo and President Reagan were for it. So were the unions, the banks and the real estate industry. But the decision proved that if you have an independent and courageous judge, you have a chance,” Bernard said. [He] recalled that at one point, a federal highway official gave testimony on a Friday about the effect the landfill would have on aquatic life in the river, and then came back on Monday and changed his testimony. “It was a fraud of major proportions,” said Bernard regarding a 1984 environmental impact statement on Westway by the Army Corps of Engineers and highway agencies.)

An alternative plan was put forth by John Hencken, an engineer, and approved by Ernest P. Goodrich, consulting engineer to the Regional Plan of New York and its Environs. A linear corridor would be built from the Battery to Yonkers. A freight railroad would lie underground. On ground level would be roads alongside the corridor and an indoor enclosed sidewalk. The mezzanine, between the first and second floors, would be occupied by office space. The second floor would carry a "continuous noiseless moving platform system for passenger service", with adjacent belts moving at various speeds, for a maximum of 21 miles per hour in the middle. This service would be free, and would be a substitute for new subways in the corridor. Above the second floor would be about ten stories of apartments, offices, businesses, and other uses appropriate for the neighborhoods; these would be the main source of revenue to pay for the project. A high-speed motor parkway, open to passenger cars only, would lie on top. Cars would reach the upper level via ramps at both ends and elevators at convenient intervals.

Dr. Benjamin Battin, a professor t Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, had a similar plan for an eight-story high boulevard. The street level and first floor would be connected to the Hudson River piers. The second and third stories would carry electric passenger trains, with the second floor carrying northbound traffic and southbound traffic using the third floor. A public garage would occupy the fourth and fifth floors, helping to pay off the bonds for the project. The sixth and seventh floors would carry one-way passenger car traffic, permitting speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). A reversible roadway, carrying cars in the direction of rush hour traffic, would occupy the eighth and ninth (top) levels. Ramps to the upper car levels would be provided every fifteen to twenty blocks.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 1, Block A: American Neolithic, by Terence Hawkins  (1 of 2)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 1, Block B: American Neolithic, by Terence Hawkins  (2 of 2)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 1, Block C:  Perfidia: A novel by James Ellroy (1 of 2)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 1, Block D:  Perfidia: A novel by James Ellroy (2 of 2)

Hour Two

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York, by Ted Steinberg  (1 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York, by Ted Steinberg  (2 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 2, Block C: Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York, by Ted Steinberg  (3 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 2, Block D: Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York, by Ted Steinberg  (4 of 4)

Hour Three

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 3, Block A: City of Ambition: FDR, LaGuardia, and the Making of Modern New York, by Mason B. Williams (1 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 3, Block B: City of Ambition: FDR, LaGuardia, and the Making of Modern New York, by Mason B. Williams (2 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 3, Block C: City of Ambition: FDR, LaGuardia, and the Making of Modern New York, by Mason B. Williams (3 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 3, Block D: City of Ambition: FDR, LaGuardia, and the Making of Modern New York, by Mason B. Williams (4 of 4)

Hour Four

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 4, Block A: Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America by Sam Roberts and Pete Hamill (1 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 4, Block B: Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America by Sam Roberts and Pete Hamill (2 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 4, Block C: Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America by Sam Roberts and Pete Hamill (3 of 4)

Saturday 11 October  2014 / Hour 4, Block D: Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America by Sam Roberts and Pete Hamill (4 of 4)

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