The Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway was a controversial, mostly-elevated, never-built freeway that would have cut through the French Quarter (Vieux Carré) of New Orleans, Louisiana. From 1964 to 1969, it was also designated Interstate 310 (I-310).

Route description

The freeway would have split from I-10 at exit 237 ( Elysian Fields Avenue— Louisiana Highway 3021) and run south along Elysian Fields Avenue to the Mississippi River. There, it would turn southwest and run to a point near Lafayette Street, where ramps would connect to the Greater New Orleans Bridge ( U.S. Route 90 Business). An extension, never part of the Interstate Highway System, was to continue west to meet the Earhart Expressway ( Louisiana Highway 3139).

A small piece of the freeway was built as a six-lane, 690-by-98-foot-long-and-wide (210 m × 30 m) tunnel, under the Rivergate Convention Center, now Harrah's New Orleans Casino. It is now used for valet parking. ^[1]

History

The Louisiana Highway Department (predecessor to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development) hired Robert Moses as a consultant in 1946 to examine New Orleans' traffic and propose solutions. His proposals included a 40-by-108-foot-high-and-wide (12 m × 33 m) freeway running 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from I-10 near Elysian Fields Ave, following Elysian Fields at ground level to the riverfront, and continuing south, elevated to the US 90 Bus. bridge approach. ^[2] It was not added to the Interstate Highway System as an urban route in the 1950s due to a lack of funding, but, by 1961, it was being considered for addition. One proposal to gain the mileage was to shift I-10 to the Riverfront route, but eventually, in 1964, the I-420 bypass of Monroe was removed from the Interstate System and the mileage transferred to the Riverfront Expressway project. ^[3] It was officially added to the Interstate Highway System on October 13, 1964, as I-310. ^[3]

After wide local opposition, the freeway was removed from the Interstate System on August 22, 1969. ^[4] Its mileage was used in part for a new southern bypass of New Orleans— I-410—which was itself never completed.

See also

• Earhart Expressway
• Freeway and expressway revolts

References

Further reading

• Baumbach, Richard O.; Borah, William E. (2019) [First published 1981]. The Second Battle of New Orleans: A History of the Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway Controversy. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. ISBN  9781946160577.

External links