Removing Highways Can Reduce Traffic Jams  Yonah Freemark and
Jebediah Reed at the Infrastructurist look at four major urban
highways that were demolished, creating lovely waterfronts and
parks. There is the Cheonggyecheon highway in Seoul, Harbour
Drive in Portland, the Embarcadero Freeway and the Central
Freeway in San Francisco.  In every case , the city was a lot
prettier. What is surprising their claim that the traffic
actually now moves better than it did before.  Embarcadero
Freeway, San Francisco, before  The mathematical reason is
called the Braess Paradox:  the addition of extra capacity to a
road network often results in increased congestion and longer
travel times. The reason has to do with the complex effects of
individual drivers all trying to optimize their routes.
Likewise, there is the phenomenon of induced demand — or the "if
you build it, they will come" effect. In short, fancy new roads
encourage people to drive more miles, as well as seeding new
sprawl-style development that shifts new us