The AARoads Blog

Work involving the West Dodge Road project in Omaha enters the final stages… At stake is the upgrading of U.S. 6 (West Dodge Road) to a full freeway from Interstate 680 west to 132nd Street in west Omaha by replacing the surface expressway alignment with a pair of three-lane viaducts above and parallel to the original roadway.

Before construction, West Dodge Road existed as a six-lane expressway complete with east and westbound frontage roads. Interchanges included a full diamond at 120th Street and a folded-diamond interchange at 108th Street. The intersection with 114th Street was signalized among others.

The elevated express lanes will bypass 114th and 120th Streets to provide a seamless connection with the U.S. 6 freeway west of 132nd Street. Original West Dodge Road will remain in use for local traffic; frontage roads will be relocated to accommodate the new elevated structures and the 120th Street diamond interchange will be dismantled and replaced with a signalized intersection.

Ramps to the express lanes will tie into West Dodge Road west of 120th Street and east of 108th Street. The elevated lanes will descends west of 120th Street onto the preexisting freeway. Widening of that freeway coincides with the project to bring U.S. 6 up to nine overall lanes west to the 132nd Street interchange.

Work commenced in 2003 on the $100 million project that is expected to be completed this year, a full year ahead of schedule. The westbound elevated lanes opened to traffic on July 27, 2006; eastbound lanes opened to drivers on October 13, 2006. Both viaducts were originally slated for completion by August of 2007. Landscaping and other work involving completion the original West Dodge Road westbound lanes and the 114th Street intersection are all that remains on the 5-year project.

Further west, interchanges were constructed along U.S. 6 between 2005 and 2006 to bring the entire stretch of West Dodge Road between Interstate 680 and U.S. 275 up to freeway standards. Included is work involving the upgrading of U.S. 275 (240th Street) and West Dodge Road’s (Nebraska Link 28B) intersection into a full interchange.

West Dodge Road constitutes the easternmost segment of an overall freeway in the works between Interstate 680 and Omaha with Fremont to the northwest. U.S. 275 continues the limited access highway northward from Nebraska Line 28B (West Dodge Road west of U.S. 6 & Nebraska 31 (204th Street) northwest to its merge with Nebraska 64 (Maple Road). The pair continue northwest to Valley.

Various segments of the alignment between Waterloo, Valley, and Fremont exist as a freeway or a freeway in waiting. When all is said and done, the freeway will stretch east from U.S. 30 and 77 at Fremont southeast along U.S. 275 to West Dodge Road and Interstate 680.

U.S. 6 leaves West Dodge Road for 204th Street with Nebraska 31 south. The two highways venture south to Gretna. Nebraska Link 28B continues West Dodge Road to junction U.S. 275 (240th Street). Photo taken 09/05/05.

Returning eastward toward Elkhorn, U.S. 6 (West Dodge Road) nears the interchange with 180th Street, seen here under construction on September 5, 2005. The split intersection with 192nd Street was also upgraded to an interchange.

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A while back there was an interesting story in the Hoosier Gazette about a congressman in Indiana who was convinced by religious leaders to change the number of I-69 to something more “moral sounding”. The story noted that the congressman wanted to change the number to I-63 past Indianapolis. The article was fictitious satire, but I’m in a mood for a new interstate number.

I-69’s extension is sometimes called the NAFTA Superhighway, extending from Mexico to Canada. Critics say that the road will bring increased globalization and more problems for America’s already overstressed working class. Proponents say the new interstate construction will bring more commerce and business. If anything, it’s telling that the only stretch of the highway already open (far) outside of MI and IN is the one that connects the lucrative casinos of Tunica to I-55.

The High Five Interchange, a fixture on the Dallas road scene for years now, is pretty much completed. Let’s take a look at it.

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Construction began January 19, 2007 on the newest toll facility in the greater Orlando metropolitan area, that of the John Land Apopka Expressway (Maitland Boulevard Extension). Planned since the late 1990s initially as a free arterial route, the highway became under the jurisdiction of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority when funding was unavailable for the original Maitland Boulevard extension. Design work is now complete on the 5.5-mile long Stage 1 and work is underway on building a tolled freeway from U.S. 441 (Orange Blossom Trail) west to Florida 429 Toll (Daniel Webster Western Beltway).

Elements of the project include an upgrade of the current Florida 414 (Maitland Boulevard) intersection with U.S. 441 into a partial-cloverleaf interchange, a new interchange to Keene Avenue and a drastic relocation of Florida 429 Toll to tie into Florida 414 Toll, all in anticipation of the eventual Wekiva Parkway project to the north. Work on Stage 1 of the $425 million project should be completed by 2009 with an expected 26,000 to 38,000 motorists per day using the tolled facility.

The planned path of Florida 414 Toll (John Land Apopka Expressway) and the shift of the Florida 429 Toll mainline to reflect its eventual path onto the Wekiva Parkway (north of U.S. 441). Florida 414 Toll & 429 Toll will share a four-mile overlap for continuation purposes involving motorists using Florida 414 Toll to bypass U.S. 441 through downtown Apopka. Old Florida 429 Toll north of Florida 414 Toll becomes Florida 451 when the Apopka Expressway is complete.

Stage 2 of the project continues Florida 414 Toll northwest with Florida 429 Toll to U.S. 441 near Orange county 437 (Plymouth Sorrento Road), completing the nine-mile project. Originally work on Stage 2 was to coincide with work on Stage 1, however funding presently is unavailable due to current toll revenue projections expected by OOCEA.

Once Stage 1 is completed, Florida 429 Toll will meet Florida 414 Toll at a new interchange west of the present half-diamond interchange with Orange County 437A (Ocoee-Apopka Road). The shift to the northwest allows Florida 429 Toll to join Florida 414 Toll on the northwestern trajectory to U.S. 441 at Plymouth Sorrento Road.

Originally Florida 429 Toll was to continue across the present alignment north of U.S. 441. Redesign of the Wekiva Parkway section of toll road, the missing northwest loop of the overall Orlando Beltway system, required Florida 429 Toll to follow a new path along the Florida 414 Toll routing between Ocoee-Apopka Road and U.S 441 (Orange Blossom Trail) at Plymouth Sorrento Road. Funding and the exact path of the Wekiva Parkway are still unclear at this time, however the consensus is that it will extend north of Florida 414 & 429 Toll’s planned north end at U.S. 441 on its journey to Interstate 4 near Sanford.

Relocation of Florida 429 Toll that ties it into the John Land Apopka Expressway will orphan a segment of existing Daniel Webster Western Beltway near the Exit 30 interchange with Ocoee-Apopka Road. That section and interchange will be demolished and a new diamond interchange with Orange County 437A will be built to the south. The segment of existing Florida 429 Toll north of Florida 414 Toll will become newly designated Florida 451 Toll once Stage 2 is completed.

Much to my surprise when recently viewing aerials (2005 or so) of Mobile County, work is well underway involving the Alabama 158 extension west from U.S. 45 to the proposed extension of Schillinger Road (Mobile County 31). Included in the extension is the upgrade of the intersection between U.S. 45 and Alabama 158 and the Alabama 158 grade separation with Mobile County 55 (College Parkway) to full interchanges.

The upgrade is supposed to tie into the new U.S. 98 Wilmer Bypass at Schillinger Road, which ground broke earlier this year. The Alabama 158 widening between U.S. 45 and Interstate 65 comes at a good time as a new NASCAR track is planned for the swath of land north of Alabama 158, west of Kali-Oka Road (Mobile County 55), and east of the abandoned railroad parallel to U.S. 45. The new track site-plan includes a second diamond interchange along Alabama 158 at the future west entrance.

Jeff Royston sent us this great shot of a state name shield in Hawaii. Or is it Hawai’i? No word on if the DOT there has any plans to add the apostrophe, but its still a fantastic find. As always, click for larger.

Interstate 10 drivers have one less issue to worry about when traveling through the Pensacola, Florida area now. Crews recently finished work on the first of two replacement spans for the Hurricane Ivan-damaged bridges over Escambia Bay. The new span, situated just south of the original bridges, currently carries two lanes of traffic in both directions. That is a temporary arrangement as construction workers continue to build the future westbound-only span just to the north. At the same time, demolition and removal of the original twin bridges is underway.

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A new partial-cloverleaf interchange (Exit 105) opened to traffic on March 12, 2007 between Interstate 75 and Golden Gate Parkway near Naples, Florida. Golden Gate Parkway links Naples with Golden Gate as a four-lane divided surface arterial and the interchange should alleviate some traffic from nearby Pine Ridge Road (Exit 107).

March 26, 2006 view of the interchange construction from Interstate 75 northbound.

Source:

“Golden Gate Parkway I-75 interchange to open Tuesday.” Naples News, March 12, 2007.

An article in today’s Delaware News Journal updates us on the long planned widening of Interstate 95 between Exits 4AB (Delaware 1 & 7) and 5A/B (U.S. 202 & Delaware 141) through Christiana Marsh. This work follows area projects completed within the last ten years including the extension of the Delaware 1 (& 7) freeway to include a partial-cloverleaf interchange with Delaware 58 (Churchmans Road) and the replacement of the Churchmans Road bridge over Interstate 95 with a new wider span (the new span accommodates the wider footprint of expanded Interstate 95).

Built between April 2005 and December 8, 2006, the $13 million Churchmans Road overpass spans Interstate 95 just east of its predecessor. The new bridge includes a bike path, but overall retains just two lanes with full shoulders/merge lanes (similar to the original span). Photo taken 12/23/06.

Widening of the most congested stretch of Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Philadelphia involves building an additional main line travel lane in both directions. Crews will add lanes on the outside of both carriageways, a process expected to take 1.5 years and cost $51 million according to the New Jersey firm R.E. Pierson Construction Co, the likely contractor for the work. Pierson can complete the work in much less time than two other contractors bidding on the work, but for a higher cost. DelDOT is waging time over money in their decision, a wise move given the daily congestion-related traffic jams on the stretch. At least four 11′ lanes will remain open at all times during the project.

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Two articles recently published in the Mobile Press Register highlight road projects pertaining to the Orange Beach area of south Baldwin County. Baldwin County, Alabama’s largest and fastest growing, includes the beach resort communities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Opened in June 2000, the Foley Beach Express created a controlled access route around downtown Foley from Alabama 59 south to Alabama 180 in western Orange Beach. Initially the route resembled an expressway with just a handful of signalized intersections…

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