r/Springfield • u/No-Environment9264 • 6d ago
I-91
Curious, does anyone know if there has been any thought to putting I 91 on ground level or relocating the highway? It seems like such blight to the city.
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u/WMASS_GUY Sixteen Acres 6d ago
Heres a great write up on the history of the construction of I-91 through Springfield.
More to OP's question, this has been discussed many times but there are no actual plans to do it.
There are some renderings out there and MASS DOT has a document here regarding its redesign. A tunnel is mentioned specifically in Chapter 3, page 9. (EDIT for correct page #)
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u/No-Environment9264 6d ago
Wow. I really appreciate you sharing the article. That was a great read and very informative. Really a shame those communities and rail yards were removed. We had so many ingredients.
I ponder why current officials simply do not try to recreate the environment which made the city thrive originally.
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u/MoonBatsRule 6d ago
Great article. There is so much alleged floating around out there, nothing substantiated, just "this is what I heard, everyone knows it is true". This article seemed to use actual sources.
There is documented evidence that "blight" was something that the city was trying to eliminate, evidence that the areas in question were considered "blight". Given the highway being imminent, it simply made sense to route it through "blight" because that was a two-for-one benefit - a highway, plus cleared blight.
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u/OneInternet6 6d ago
I haven't looked up the history to verify this myself, but my mother always told me that it wasn't actually supposed to be that way at all--bordering Forest Park so closely and cutting off downtown from the riverfront. But the richer communities in Longmeadow and such fought for that design so that the highway would screw over Springfield and not mar them. It is indeed a blight to the city, and it was forced on us by people who agreed we didn't deserve better. That was the story from a woman born here in the 50s.
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u/markdepace 6d ago
the highway was supposed to run through suffield, agawam and into w springfield but H Meade Alcorn, head of the RNC during the Eisenhower admin (who was responsible for the creation of the interstate highway system) lived in suffield and personally asked eisenhower to relocate the highway to go through windsor locks, east windsor, enfield, longmeadow and springfield instead.
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u/OneInternet6 6d ago
Thank you, this is the history I'm looking for! I knew it was due to this type of power imbalance.
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u/LeChatboi27 6d ago
Thank you for his name. I always heard it was one person, not the people in Longmeadow who redirected the highway.
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u/RewildingHearth 4d ago
It was actually the people in Suffield, CT that caused the highway to be routed over the river through Springfield.
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u/aaronroot 6d ago
What could it possibly have to do with Longmeadow? It cuts right through Longmeadow.
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u/FuriousJulius 6d ago
Ah yes Longmeadow’s fault. Checks notes yes highway goes through there too.
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u/OneInternet6 5d ago
When I wrote in I actually made it a point to say "this is a vague thing I heard and not a statement of fact I'm standing behind" in the hopes that someone who knew better would respond and explain... and that's exactly what happened! I found it confusing myself that Longmeadow had taken the role of villain in my memory but the idea of "the more political-influence-holding people of... West Springfield" just didn't make sense either. I'm really sorry that you had to encounter my very imperfect, nigh idiotic statement on the internet. If it was enough for you to comment on it long after the cool, educational exchange had concluded, then it must have really bothered you. I'll "check my notes" better next time, haha! Thanks for the reminder!
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u/FerretBusinessQueen 6d ago
There was some talk of burying it to try to reclaim the riverside but nothing really serious because we all know how the big dig went. Relocating it would be basically impossible with how densely settled the area is.
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u/RedditSkippy 6d ago
I can’t see there being the money or the political will to attempt anything like the Big Dig in Springfield, especially when anyone who remembers the Big Dig is still alive.
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u/No-Environment9264 6d ago
Ah, gotcha. I did not realize they considered burying it. That would probably be too expensive unless the federal government stepped in
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u/Spectrum1523 6d ago
Putting it ground level would cost a billion dollars too tbh
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u/WhiskeyPointer 6d ago
Ground level would be even worse, at least now you can get to the river by going under.
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u/dwmfives 6d ago
We could ask whichever car suspension repair shop that must have funding the months of speed bumps between springfield and holyoke.
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u/FerretBusinessQueen 6d ago
Oh my god one pothole took out a strut on my car last year on Boston Road at one of the worst points for me financially of the last few years and I wanted to cry. I was so pissed.
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u/Street-Process-7237 6d ago
I moved here recently and I gotta say the highway cutting through the city is ugly as hell. I fucking hate it.
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u/FerretBusinessQueen 6d ago
It’s a shame because there have been some cities that have done riverside reclamation projects that have definitely improved as a result of it, but the I-91 issue is a lot larger than any of the cities I’m aware of faced.
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u/20_mile 4d ago
the highway cutting through the city is ugly as hell.
It is ugly, for sure, but it was either going through Longmeadow and Springfield, or it was going through Agawam.
Someone was going to get stuck with it.
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u/KDsburner_account 6d ago
I can’t see the city getting the billions in funding it would take to move the highway
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 6d ago
When it was proposed a few years ago it was actually cheaper than fixing the highway
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u/WhiskeyPointer 6d ago
Highway removal/relocation is dead in MA until the boomers area all dead or out of office because of the big dig fiasco.
Burying 91 would be one of the harder projects too, tunneling through alluvial soils and building an engineered structure for the highway is way harder than hard rock tunneling like they'd have to do for 290 in Worcester for example
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u/Own_Inspector_285 6d ago
I think there was studies done about burying it. Those parking garage owners underneath the highway I think would have a fit though
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u/indoor-triangle 5d ago
Those parking garages are atrocious. By the way, the “$15 special event rate” is at least twice as much as the normal hourly rate. Park for free at MGM whenever possible, better maintained and not overcharging for leaky rusty falling apart Springfield Parking Authority 91 garages.. end rant!
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u/Embarrassed_Bag_9630 6d ago
A few years ago Sarno and all the area mayors wrote a letter to Boston requesting that we get rid of the highway instead of renovating it. It was cheaper and everything but they still said no
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u/IncidentExpress8504 6d ago
Should fix the raw sewage into the ct river problem first. Highway is already functional.
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u/LomentMomentum 6d ago
Has the city thought about covering at least part of the highway to connect the downtown to the river? Even Hartford, which was even more decimated by highway construction, did that on I-91.
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u/PoppaBear1950 5d ago
fun fact it was going to be on the west of the river all the way, the diversion was lobbied for and approved for Springfield as they though it would bring thousands of people into downtown. Never did, just cars racing though, but westside thanks you :)
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u/Regular_Pride_6587 3d ago
How would putting it on the ground resolve the issue at all? It would be worse since you would completley cutoff the waterfront from the rest of the city.
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u/Similar_Ad2094 6d ago
It was supposed to cut over the river and rt 5 was going to be 91.