Proposals for Gaining Acceptance for Urban Freeways

Joint development and air rights projects offer a logical solution to the problem of replacement housing, afford a possible tool to alleviate the general shortage of low and middle income housing, can eliminate the disruptive impacts of freeways and are an effective method of gaining community acceptance of freeways in urban areas. Because implementation is the important step in realizing joint development and air rights projects, the process of such a project to develop housing over and adjacent to the Center Leg of the Inner Loop Freeway in Squares 560 and 562 of the District of Columbia is described. The implementation process involves establishing the legal means to permit development, initiating an urban renewal project on the site, establishing working relationships with the community to determine their needs, establishing multi-discipline teams to plan the site and determining the agreements required to realize the project. The utilization of such special and imaginative planning will have to be considered and implemented to eliminate the disruptive impacts of freeways and, thereby gain community acceptance.