Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Photos 8B

Second part of my walking around the Riverside/White River area.

Intersection of White River Parkway/30th Street and 30th Street/29th Street. This area had the most change in my years of living in this area. I took some photos around here to illustrate and explain. First off, looking down this street, it used to be you could go down that way to the next street down, only to turn right to that street. Technically you can still go down there, but most of it was repurposed into parking spots, and the rest was incorporated into park land for Riverside Park. In fact, it kinda looks a little obvious that they did that. I took a shot of that.

A somewhat better view of the street. It's strictly one-way now, and goes to 30th Street. Looking down, that's 30th Street, and it used to be you could go down the other way, but in a limited fashion. Behind me, I came from White River Parkway. It's an odd intersection, really. Turning right from where I am, would send you to 29th Street...

Okay, if you're still confused, let's say you're standing at this intersection where this shot was taken...

Going towards you BUT turning left goes from one-way 30th Street into two-lane 30th Street, going up used to go to the next street (E Riverside Dr), but is now parking space/park land, turning right at where you're standing goes into one-lane 29th Street, and going towards you but keeping straight (going behind you) keeps you on the same street, but it's now White River Parkway (one of at least three streets in and around this area to share that name - one is an East Drive, one is a North Drive). If you're still confused, I drew something out to probably help...

A little more background: Where those houses are in the distance, that used to be the site of the old Riverside Amusement Park. The park closed down in 1970, the rides/anything else left standing were tore down in 1978, and the land was fenced off, unused, and abandoned until 2000, when construction on the River's Edge subdivision started. Because of that, one of the streets next to E Riverside Dr (White River Pkwy E Dr, see below) was rerouted to connect with E Riverside Dr from 30th Street. The original entry way to White River Pkwy E Dr was blocked off a few feet from entry and turned into a parking lot for the nearby Naval Armory as well as a bike trail. Below are shots from that area.

And how the hell do I know all this stuff? Well, you don't live in an area for 14 years without seeing stuff and noticing stuff.

A shot of the Naval Armory at the intersection. For such an old building (I think it dates back to the 1930s), it still looks damn good.

Okay, where those houses are, that used to be abandoned land (see above), and where those parking lots are used to be the original route of White River Parkway East Drive. Due to construction, part of that street was rerouted. I took a shot that provides a better view of the original route (now parking lot space for the Naval Armory as well as a bike trail)...

Better view of what is now a bike trail/Naval Armory parking space from the other side. Took a bit of walking to get there, too. I think the bike trail is the only part of the original route that remains. That wall on the far right, is where various plants and the White River is.

Okay... See the sign on the far left? Continue to the right of that sign on the pavement below, you're on the bike trail/original route of this street. Continue foward past of that sign (i.e. go off on the road from where I was standing when I took this shot), and you're on the new route, that connects to E Riverside Dr. Continue to the far left, past the sign (going towards me and turning left), and you're on the remainder of the original route. The street, despite all the moving and building, still goes up to 38th Street.

Intersection of 30th and E Riverside/White River Pkwy E Dr. See that crease going across the grass down there? That used to be where you could turn right on E Riverside. Also, up until 2000, that street ended at 30th due to much of what I explained (or tried to explain) up there.

Back to that one shot, the one with the sign. I turned around, and this is the rest of that route. It's untouched, save for the houses on the right... and even that ends after another block or two put in by construction. The last three shots are me walking down this street from this point to 38th Street.


Well, those are all the pictures I took. I don't know when I'll go out and take more, but I hope they look as good as these (well, some of them don't look that great; there were issues with colors and brightness that I later fixed or tried to fix).

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