It may not be immediately clear to everyone how significant the difference is between the image on the right and that on the left, but it should be. The image to the left as taken well after the Arch grounds were cleared. A widened Third Street serves as a downtown boulevard. One can see human-scaled commercial buildings on its west side. One sees the Old Cathedral as connected to downtown. The image to the right shows a completed Interstate 70. The difference in appearance, the new disconnectedness is stunning. No longer does it seem that any human-scaled activity belongs here, and in fact, it no longer exists here. To some, the difference above may seem less than definitive, but it's made all the difference on the eastern edge of downtown St. Louis.
Added image below: Unfortunately, the image above doesn't show the transition lanes, the more impervious barrier between the Arch and city. For several blocks north and south, there's zero access, not for cars or pedestrians. It is perhaps these sections that are the most damaging and the most ignored.
