city government
Claiborne overpass demolition still a distant prospect
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Any major changes to the Interstate 10 overpass are at least four to six years away and dependent on major studies that the city cannot currently afford to pay for – despite the potential benefits that removing the structure could bring, officials said. The destruction of the I-10 expressway and the restoration of Claiborne Avenue as put forth by the Claiborne Corridor Improvement Coalition would revitalize an area that has suffered socially, economically, and physically from the introduction of the expressway, originally built in the 1960’s, proponents of the plan said at a town hall meeting Tuesday of about 50 people at St Peter Claver Catholic School. If the current vision is adopted, Claiborne Avenue would be restored to its earlier incarnation as a classic New Orleans tree-lined boulevard and a social and economic hub of the Treme neighborhood. With enough momentum, architect Clifton James argued, the positive impacts could stretch as far west as Louis Armstrong International Airport. “Each community through which I-10 passes has riches that aren’t being visited and appreciated because of it,” James said, citing examples of local cemeteries, architectural features, and museums. Other cities such as New York and San Francisco have successfully undertaken similar efforts to revitalize neighborhoods through dismantling freeways, he said, and with an estimated $50 million in maintenance costs due for I-10 in the next few years, it may prove more economically and socially viable to consider eliminating it altogether.
