Elevate

Cities around the world are removing or decking over their highways in favor of linear parks and boulevards. Is this enough to repair decades of damage caused by highways and car-centric infrastructure? We need to develop a new typology that weaves public transit with community services and adaptive reuse, and bridges the divide created by highways. New public transit projects in NYC and innovations in architecture and infrastructure provide an opportunity to rethink the city’s existing transit corridors. ELEVATE is an ambitious proposal to redevelop the intersection of the sunken Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with the elevated Hell Gate rail bridge along Astoria Boulevard in Queens as an intermodal transit hub containing a train station, bus rapid transit, a park with exhibition and performance spaces for local artists, and studios for local artisans to create and sell their work. A section of the deteriorating bridge will be torn down and rebuilt with modern, lightweight materials. The space under the bridge will house the prefabricated, modular studios. Sustainable aspects incorporated into the project include piezoelectric technology, rain gardens, biodiversity zones, solar canopies, and retrofitted shipping containers. This hub will bridge the divide created by the expressway and serve as a catalyst for future transit design.