some photos of the incomplete and now partially disused Akron Innerbelt freeway

Princess Alice

In the 1960s, some bastards proposed demolishing huge swathes of Akron, displacing impoverished, mostly Black residents, to construct a massive freeway that would run north from downtown Akron, connect with State Route 8, then continue all the way to Kent.

Construction began in 1970, but ultimately, only about 4 miles of highway were completed before it became apparent how atrocious an idea this was and the project was cancelled.

For decades, the Innerbelt was one of the Midwest’s most infamous incomplete highways. In the late 2010s, a portion of it was closed to traffic, now sitting disused. The city of Akron recently purchased that property from ODOT and plans to redevelop it in the coming years.

Here are some shots my friend Maggie (former HH user @vtk) and I took with our drone yesterday.

glennmagusharvey

Neat photos!

It's kinda stunning that it's sat here for so long with nothing done with it.

I hope they redevelop this area in some way that actually helps the local residents.

Ali_Roz

This Innerbelt was clearly not an improvement of what was previously in its location.

As a non-local with zero context on the situation outside of this thread, it is not my place to decide what happens next, but I personally like the idea of space unused and not developed.  Those trees look very pretty, and open green space is in my opinion an underappreciated public good that is often not missed until it is lost.  

I'm sure the city will carefully consider what the best options are for this rare opportunity.

glennmagusharvey

Letting it re-wild into a green space might be one of the lower-cost options.