The decision to level the Casey Overpass began and ended with figures on a spreadsheet. The elevated roadway, which soars over Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, is crumbling and nearing structural obsolescence. It’s far cheaper to just level the overpass, than it is to repair or replace it. It happens that the state’s plans for grounding the Casey line up with modern urbanist planning principals, which favor streets scaled to pedestrians over colossal 1950’s-era infrastructure. The monstrous Casey Overpass falls squarely in the latter category, since the elevated roadway severs Jamaica Plain physically and economically. This alignment of financial and neighborhood-building interests is coincidental, not intentional. That means the road project cannot be an end unto itself. It’s what happens after the span’s disappearance that really matters.