Here is an example of a unneeded and unused piece of asphalt on the street (I can't remember the number) in front of the Bellevue Club in Bellevue, WA.

For several hundred yards, the middle lane is unused. There are no entrances that require it to be used by drivers who need to turn left to get there. It would be an ideal spot to have a raised bed containing high oxygenating, low-maintenance trees that would also create a bridge between the trees on one side of the street to the trees on the other for small animals to cross.