Seattle's Venerable Alaskan Way Viaduct is Focus of Effort to Balance Vehicles & Pedestrians (NY Times)

When it was built in 1953, the 2.2 mile long Alaskan Way Viaduct skirting downtown Seattle next to Elliott Bay represented the eceonomic priorities of a nation - providing drivers effcient routes from the central city to the growing suburbs.
Similar roads could be found waterside in places such as New York, Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Washington and Portland.

But in the early years of the 21st century, Seattle's old wall of concrete has come to be viewed as a barrier to the citry's quality of life.

After a 2001 earthquake, a debate ensued whether and how to create a vehicular artery appropraite to the 21st century.

This debate and what it may represent for the larger society can be found in an interesting article in a special "Cars" supplement of the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/automobiles/autospecial/25cities.html