American firms Rogers Partners and Nelson Byrd Waltz have conceived a raised, tree-lined park for Atlanta, Georgia, that would be built atop rail tracks and a busy roadway (+ slideshow).

Called Bulkhead Park Over GA400, the project calls for a strip of green space to be constructed over a freeway and commuter railway in Buckhead, a business and residential district in Atlanta. The park will stretch 2,400 feet (731 metres) and will offer a variety of activities.
The scheme was envisioned by New York-based Rogers Partners in collaboration with landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz, which has offices in Charlottesville, Virginia, and New York City.

"We see Buckhead leading a national trend to create value, enhance quality of life, and improve connectivity by constructing inspired public spaces," said Robert M Rogers, founding partner of his eponymous firm. The park could serve as a model for other car-oriented cities, such as Dallas and Houston, the team added.

The park would help stitch together parts of the Buckhead neighbourhood that became disconnected when the highway was built there in the 1990s. The rail line occupies the highway's median.
"Slicing through the heart of the Buckhead neighbourhood in Atlanta, a busy highway and a commuter rail line have physically fragmented the community for many years," said Rogers Partners.

The new park aims to "make the area whole again, providing the public with safe, easy and efficient access t...