Yuck. That almost happened here. Back in the 60s there were major plans for freeway construction in Central Austin.
There was a freeway that would have been north of the Capitol in downtown running east/west along 15th Street I believe. It would have sliced Austin's urban core in half dividing downtown and the Capitol complex from the UT Campus. There was another freeway that would have been aligned along Guadalupe in downtown starting at that freeway mentioned above, and would have run north to US 183 in North Austin.
There was also a freeway planned along downtown's southern edge north of the river that was aligned along Cesar Chavez Street. It connected from Mopac to I-35. It would have crossed the river east of Congress and connected to Riverside Drive. Riverside Drive was also planned to be turned into a freeway. That area now has instead turned into one of the most dense areas of Austin with thousands of apartments going up. That area is now planned to have urban rail since it's a main route to the airport from downtown. The very same place where the freeway bridge would have been is now planned to have an urban rail bridge with a possible pedestrian pathway. That area is now being master planned to have midrise and highrise residential, museums and parks.
Central map:
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Austin/historic/freeway_planning_maps/images/austin_1962_central.jpg
Citywide overview:
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Austin/historic/freeway_planning_maps/images/austin_1962.jpg
More nastiness here:
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Austin/historic/freeway_planning_maps/freeway_planning_maps.shtml
If all of that had happened, Austin would be a very different city and likely in many more ways than one. I cannot express enough how glad I am that never happened.
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