Page 291 - Beyond Decommissioning

272 Beyond Decommissioning

parking facilities. Staying in the USA, an interchange was constructed to link Inter-
state 90 near Albany, NY, and the not-likely-to-happen Insterstate 687; the inter-
change now is an exit to a local avenue. The A47 near Wardley, UK was re-routed
in 1987, which left behind an idle section of roadway: this tract services only a broad-
casting station. In 2009 the A2 in Kent, UK was partly reoriented, which left aimless a
considerable section of the initial route. Part of this section has been turned into park-
land. In the Italian Alps tunnels were built to replace a few dangerous road sections:
vehicles are not allowed to pass through the vacant sections, which are commonly
used as footpaths.
A highway may have unused lanes, which are reused in other ways. In Canada, the
1000 Islands Parkway contains two “ghost lanes” for its full 40 km length. This road is
four-lane divided, as it was part of Highway 401, during the construction of that high-
way. At the completion of the 401 works, the last 1000 Islands bypass took an inland
route. Two lanes of the initial four-lane coastal road were kept for the charming high-
way, the others being used as foot or bike paths installed in the otherwise-unused
highway.
A quite unique case is described as follows. “Le Gallerie” are two former road tun-
nels used until October 2007 for traffic in the Trento Region, Italy (Fig. 6.53). Their
2
area surface is more than 6000 m and are 300 m long. Purposely one tunnel was
painted white and the other black: the meaning was to associate them with historic
photos and documents. “Le Gallerie” are mostly devoted to illustrating the memories
of the Trento Region, but include other subjects as well. “Le Gallerie” are not a typical
museum, rather an interactive workshop and media center: since their onset, they have
been managed by the Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino (Historic Museum
Foundation for Trento Region). See more detail under (Trentino, n.d.).

Fig. 6.53 Motorway tunnels converted to museum, Trento Region, Italy.
Photo by M. Laraia.