The High Line in New York City is being built in three phases. Fast Company recently released some renderings of phase two along with the video above.
The High Line is an old elevated railroad that was reclaimed by nature and by citizens as park space long before the government stepped in.
Though overgrown, the walking trail worn by locals was clear evidence of its use. In its transformation into planned park space proper, some of the old rail was retained.
In the upcoming phases, a glass floor will allow the ironwork to be seen.
Where tall sumac trees have grown above the trestle, a canopy walk is planned.
It willl be an exciting addition to the already very successful elevated park.
The one concern is the street below. Back in the days of urban renewal when it was considered proper for cars and pedestrians to be completely segregated, skybridges between buildings and pedestrian tunnels were all the rage. Instead of integrating cars and people in a complete street design, they were separated and the streets and sidewalks suffered. Looking at the High Line, we can assume that the great density of New York City might put some people on the street below anyway, but pictures suggest otherwise.
Walking under the High Line is not an experience that has been invested in greatly. It's possible that while the park thrives, the street below may suffer. At least that's the experience in St. Louis. Even fancy light posts cannot save the wasteland under I-70 in downtown St. Louis.
There has been some attempt at putting art under the high line, but the people still prefer to walk above. Interesting lighting and integrated cafes help though.
The dead space beneath is something NYC will have to figure out, but overall the High Line has been extremely successful. It has drawn people to the surrounding neighborhood and drawn international landscaping buzz.
It's route goes through a pretty large section of western Manhattan and is credited with revitalizing nearby real estate.
Highlighting the success of the High Line and its expansion, creates some hope for the future Iron Horse Trestle in north St. Louis, which is slowly being reclaimed as park space by Great Rivers Greenway.
The main difference is that that the land under the Iron Horse Trestle is all industrial and off-limits to walking anyway.
Like the High Line, phase I is already complete. This is the bikeway on the side of McKinley Bridge and the Branch Street Trestle.
It's just a sun-baked slab on concrete now, but it has a great future ahead of it. It will connect into a larger network of heavily used trails on the north Mississippi riverfront and to the Old North St. Louis neighborhood.
Anyone who has ridden the riverfront trail before knows of the piles of sand and tailings, and the general smell. This surely looks familiar and exciting,
A lot of the before and after renderings depict people on bicycles instead of the leisure walking crowds on the high line.
It seems like the trestle is primarily a bike highway with scenic overlooks of the river. It appears a bit more narrow than the High Line too. Clearly the designers haven't used mixed-use trails before though since the pedestrian/running path is not always separated from the bike path.
The St. Louis biking culture tends towards the racing cyclist side with the rider's head over the handlebars pre-conditioned for head injury. A leisure walk can end badly when you get hit by a guy training for his big race or eager to lose weight while biking to work.
The best part of the trestle is that it helps connect residential north St. Louis to the riverfront without bothering the industrial plants between. It will cross I-70 and comes right down into a bicycle park in Old North.
From this bike park, people can go north to the vibrant Crown Square area and get some ice cream or bike south to the downtown bike station and on to their desk job.
Although the Iron Horse Trestle would join the High Line on a very short list of elevated parks, there are many differences. The High Line is a residential oasis full of hangouts. There are benches and even a planned museum. The Iron Horse Trestle is all about connecting a neighborhood to the riverfront. There may be a few spots to hang out on the trestle, but the majority of users will be going somewhere. The High Line is an attraction, and the trestle connects attractions. It will be a major bike commuting corridor for Metro-East residents that work downtown. There are many, many trails around SIUE and they're all going to connect to the McKinley Bridge just south of Granite City eventually.
It is also worth noting that the bicycle park is very close to Cass around the entrance to the new Mississippi River Bridge, which will reroute I-70 and potentially allow the old interstate route downtown to be converted into a vibrant boulevard. It would be a complete street, not a segregated highway and pedestrian mall. The new boulevard put forth by City to River will connect downtown to the riverfront. The trestle will do the same. The two projects together have great potential to stimulate investment. City to River's boulevard will have an estimated $1.1 billion dollar impact. As the High Line stimulated investment, so too will the trestle.
The Old North St. Louis Restoration Group is one of the most transformational organizations in the city. In addition to their restored Crown Square, their gardens and farmer's market, their non-profit cafe, and their historic ice cream parlor, they will soon have a very large youth hostel. Tourists, do come to St. Louis to bike our trestle and stay in our historic youth hostel.
There are pleny of other good investments waiting to happen. Just south of the trestle the Columbus Square neighborhood might be brought back with the new boulevard and the Bottle District on the vacant lots north of the Edward Jones Dome. The Carr School is directly between the new bike park and the St. Louis City Museum. It's the coolest building in the Carr Square neighborhood, and perhaps the whole region. It's just waiting for a rehab. The Pruitt-Igoe site sits nearby too, waiting for its future. There are lots of vacant lots and surface parking areas that can be built on.
Boulevard + Bottle District + Trestle + NorthSide = St. Louis Renaissance
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