This section provides an introduction to New York's West Side Elevated Highway and its historical context.

• The West Side Elevated Highway was a five and a half mile long surface section of New York's state route 9A, running along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City.
• In the 1920s, the highway was built to address the traffic and safety issues of 'Death Avenue', a street where freight trains crossed the road over 100 times a day, leading to frequent accidents.
• The highway was initially proposed by the New York Central Railroad and was built privately at no cost to the city.
• However, the proposal faced opposition due to fears of creating a rail monopoly and objections to its potential ugliness and obstruction to waterfront bound freight traffic.

This section discusses the design and construction of the West Side Elevated Highway.

• The highway was designed as a double-decker road/rail highway, but the rail aspect eventually ended up being elevated along its own viaduct, known as The High Line.
• Various futuristic proposals for the highway were considered, including a 10-story complex with a rail line underground, a road at street level, a people mover above that, and 10 stories of apartments and offices on top.
• Ultimately, a plan for an elevated highway was pushed through, despite objections about its potential ugliness and obstruction to waterfront traffic.
• The highway was built of steel with a cement face and a three-foot sidewalk for pedestrians. It was 60 feet wide, accommodating six lanes of traffic.

This section outlines the operation of the highway and the challenges it faced over time.

• The West Side Elevated Highway quickly became an integral part of New York, despite criticisms about its design and aesthetics.
• As early as the 1950s, signs of wear and tear started to appear, with cracks, potholes, and crumbling concrete surfaces making driving hazardous.
• The steel components used in the highway's construction were also susceptible to corrosion due to exposure to moisture and road salts.
• By the 1960s, the highway faced increasing traffic volumes, leading to congestion, longer commute times, and frustration for motorists.

This section covers the collapse of the West Side Elevated Highway and its subsequent closure.

• On December 15, 1973, a section of the highway collapsed under the weight of a dump truck carrying over 60,000 pounds of asphalt for highway repairs. Fortunately, no serious injuries were sustained.
• The following day, both directions of the highway were indefinitely closed south of 18th Street.
• The closed-off sections of the highway were used by squatters during the period of abandonment.

This section discusses the demolition of the West Side Elevated Highway and its aftermath.

• The removal of the highway was aligned with a broader shift towards revitalizing urban areas and creating more pedestrian-friendly and community-oriented spaces.
• The demolition was carried out in stages, with crews dismantling the structure piece by piece. Environmental considerations were also made, including the proper handling of materials and debris.
• The removal of the highway paved the way for the development of the Hudson River Park and other projects that transformed the waterfront into a vibrant public space.