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This is Valencia, Spain. In 1957, the Túria river, which went through the middle of the city, caused a large flood, dozens of dead and enormous amounts of material damage. Through the 60's, a plan was designed to make the river run to the south of the city, in an artificial bed that would be able to hold flows larger than that of the 1957 flood. Once the deviation was completed in 1969, a question remained: what do we do with the more than a hundred hectares that remained from the old bed, crossing the city from the west all the way to the docks on the east?
Being the 1970's, it was naturally proposed that the old riverbed be converted into an urban motorway, which would have connected, among others, the airport directly to the docks. It was, after all, a golden opportunity, there was nearly nothing that needed to be destroyed for the project to be completed (aside from some historic bridges, probably)
But neighbours wouldn't be getting any of that. Instead, they lobbied, protested, and with Spain's transition to democracy in the late 1970's, they won the battle. In 1986, the gardens of the Túria river were open: one of the largest urban green areas of the country.
Yes, urban motorways were a huge mistake. Yes, other alternatives exist.
