The City of Philadelphia is talking about digging up I95 from the Ben Franklin Bridge down to the airport… and replacing it with? Nothing:
“The question we should be asking right now is: Do we rebuild I-95 as is, or do we rethink the whole thing?” said Harris Steinberg, who runs the nonprofit consulting firm PennPraxis, which developed a waterfront policy for the city in 2007. The Obama administration’s interest in urban areas, he said, “has given the city a license to do something bold.”
Actually, what Hack and Steinberg envision is less a Big Dig than a No Dig.
Instead of burying the highway in an expensive tunnel, they would entirely rip out a stretch of I-95 that runs south of the Ben Franklin Bridge and I-676. Traffic volume drops off there, proponents argue, because the bulk of the highway’s users are commuting into Center City from the north. Airport travelers, they point out, can take I-676 to I-76.
I think we probably ought to take all these “Urban Planners” and launch them into the sun. And once you have this delightful waterfront, what then?  The Rainbow Farting Unicorns are going prance along and suddenly Philadelphia will renew itself?  No. It won’t. It’s a crappy place to live, and a crappy place to do business or spend money. Fixing that is easier, and will do a lot more to revitalize the city than any crazy notion that if we just jackhammer enough highway, and inconvenience enough people, prosperity will return.  If I were paying taxes to that city, I’d be furious they are wasting time and money on this nonsense. The Underpants Gnomes would be proud.
UPDATE: Here’s the section of highway they are talking about digging up. I wonder how UPS, the City’s 12th largest employer, who’s east coast hub is Philadelphia International Airport, will think about this. Oh, but who cares about working class stiffs with jobs when yuppees want a better view of the waterfront.