The AARoads Blog

The Pittsburgh Steelers go for an unprecedented seventh world championship in Superbowl XLV. Exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel onto the double-decked Fort Pitt Bridge is the city’s finest roadgeek view including multiple bridges, high rises, Heinz Field, PNC Park, etc. Photo taken July 12, 2010 by AARoads’ avid Steelers fan!

Extended Interstate 376 east meeting its original end by downtown Pittsburgh.

Day 3 of the trip focused on documenting the Cleveland area Interstates, walking around Public Square in downtown, heading east to Pennsylvania to redrive the extended Interstate 376, and revisiting the city of Pittsburgh. Orange cones, barriers and signs were omnipresent throughout northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania related to numerous resurfacing and bridge rehabilitation projects. Some of the more major road projects we encountered are highlighted below.

Clearview based signage replaces button copy signs throughout the Akron and Cleveland area Interstate system. This particular sign bridge resides along Interstate 77 north ahead of Interstate 277 west and U.S. 224. U.S. 224 follows all of Interstate 277 and much of Interstate 76 to the west. The highway continues the freeway east to Kelly Avenue near Akron Fulton International Airport.

Traveling virtually alone on the Innerbelt freeway of Ohio 59 north into downtown Akron. This 2.24-mile freeway spur connects Interstates 76 & 77 with the central business district of Akron at Main and Howard Streets. Connections at the south end only provide access to Interstates 76-77 west and from I-76-77 east to OH-59 north. Like other partially completed and underutilized freeways, the Innerbelt has been considered for partial or total removal to reclaim land lost by its construction.

Interstate 77 travels west and merges with Ohio 21 (former U.S. 21) southwest of Montrose. U.S. 21 joined Interstate 77 when the freeway opened between Ghent and a point one mile south of the Ohio Turnpike in 1964. U.S. 21 was downgraded to Ohio 21 in 1971.

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Officials hoped to open Interstate 99 on December 2, but a delay in the installation of highway signs pushed that date back to a time between December 12 and 19. When it opens, northbound drivers will be able to seamlessly travel from Bald Eagle to State College Skytop / Port Matilda along new freeway. Southbound drivers however must wait until mid-2008 to fully use the freeway, as crews continue to remove acid rock from the Skytop area north of Port Matilda.

The acid rock removal affects the Interstate 99 interchange with U.S. 322 at Port Matilda, where Interstate 99 north merges with U.S. 322 east. All northbound traffic will be squeezed to one through lane via a temporary configuration until the completion of the acid rock removal process. Interstate 99 south will begin at the High Street diamond interchange west of Port Matilda.

U.S. 220 south & 322 (Eagle Valley Road) west at the Interstate 99 bridge over Bald Eagle Creek and Eagle Valley Road northeast of Port Matilda during construction. Interstate 99 bypasses Port Matilda to the north before crossing over U.S. 220 & 322 onto Eagle Mountain to the east. Photo taken 04/30/05.

Opening of the highway project, despite the acid rock removal, was advocated by State Rep. Rick Geist (R-Altoona) in effort to improve access to State College, its economic development, and safety along the previous two-lane U.S. 220 corridor.

A diamond interchange lies west of Port Matilda, joining Interstate 99 with High Street (U.S. 322). Just north of there is the Laurel Run bridge and merge with the U.S. 322 eastbound freeway. The acid rock removal site lies along the freeway between the U.S. 322 interchange and the Eagle Valley Road under crossing. Photo taken 04/30/05.

The acid rock resulted from an unearthing of sandstone laced with pyrite in 2003. Large amounts of the pyrite-laced sandstone were found at the project site near Port Matilda (Skytop), which when exposed to air and water created sulfuric acid. A now $79-million project began to remove the acid rock from the construction area, causing delays in overall completion and escalation of construction costs.

Interstate 99 turns southward from west of Port Matilda back onto Eagle Mountain. Pictured here are bridge supports for the Interstate 99 span over U.S. 220 (Eagle Valley Road), Bald Eagle Creek, and the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad. Photo taken 04/30/05.

More information on Interstate 99 is available at Interstate 99 @ Interstate-Guide.

Sources:

“Interstate 99 opening delayed.” The Altoona Mirror, December 1, 2007.

“Cost of Interstate 99 acid cleanup rises to $50.5 million.) Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, December 5, 2007.

Day 9,Since our friends decided to leave early, we followed suit and made a day out of it on the way back south.

Decided on Interstate 89 south to check out the Barre Connectors first, both of which appear as freeways on maps sometimes, but really are expressway-like roads with no private driveways. Vermont 62 spurs east from Exit 7 into northern Barre, complete with a connector leading to U.S. 302. The connector splits with Vermont 62 via a partial interchange north of the signalized intersection with Fisher and Airport Roads. The road otherwise ends at a traffic light with the U.S. 302 junction at Vermont 14.

Vermont 14 follows Maple Avenue through Barre to junction U.S. 302 (Main Street) and the Barre Connector (Vermont 62). Sign bridges are posted in all four directions leading into the intersection. Vermont 14 south joins U.S. 302 east briefly before turning southwest to South Barre. Vermont 62 begins and ascends westward toward Edward J. Knapp State Airport and junction Interstate 89.

Further south, Vermont 63 spurs east from the Exit 6 trumpet interchange to Vermont 14 at South Barre. This connector carries less traffic and has only two at-grade intersections. Both connectors see end shields on the southbound Interstate 89 on-ramps.

Vermont 63 travels a less busy route between Vermont 14 (South Barre Road) and Interstate 89 (Exit 6). Unlike Vermont 62 to the north, Vermont 63 sees no traffic signals (just a set of flashers at Miller Road). This shield assembly and Interstate 89 trailblazer lies west of that intersection.

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The beginning of a week plus trip that took us northward from Delaware/Philadelphia to Boston for several days and from there to Lake Champlain in Vermont for a 5-day vacation…

We started our journey just south of the Pennsylvania state line, beginning first with a visit to the Pennsylvania Welcome Center to obtain the latest copy of the Pennsylvania State Highway Map. Construction is present along all of Interstate 95 in Delaware County between the state line and junction Interstate 476. PennDOT is in the process of again resurfacing the highway with asphalt. At the time, the previous coat of asphalt was milled down to the original concrete roadway. This project would hamper us a over a week later with a 30-minute back-up at 11 pm on a Saturday night…

Continuing east into New Jersey, we entered the New Jersey Turnpike by way of New Jersey 168, the only connection between the toll road and parallel Interstate 295 close enough to act as the junction between the Turnpike and Interstate 76/New Jersey 42 (North South Freeway). New Jersey 168 offers two lanes laden with traffic lights on the short drive between the respective interchanges. There are no plans to provide a direct connection between the two pivotal roads in South Jersey…

Northward, Turnpike travelers heading southbound this day (Friday July 27) were greeted with what seemed to be a 15-20 mile back-up between the Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension and New Brunswick. It was unclear as to what caused the congestion, but the Turnpike does reduce from a four-carriageway configuration into a six-lane freeway on this stretch.

Garden State Parkway northbound at the Metrowest trumpet interchange (Exit 131B) near Iselin. The Parkway is untolled between the New Jersey Turnpike and a point just south of junction Interstate 78. Several button copy signs remain in use along this stretch of freeway.

Eastward, we opted for the Holland Tunnel into Lower Manhattan and Canal Street southeast to the Manhattan Bridge. The Manhattan Bridge is historical in nature as far as Interstates are concerned as it was one time planned to be a part of Interstate 478 between the unconstructed Lower Manhattan Expressway (Interstate 78) and Interstate 278 (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). As it exists, the Manhattan Bridge carries seven lanes of traffic and four Metro tracks; vehicles partition between separate two lane upper carriageways on the outside of the suspension bridge span and a three-lane lower carriageway on the inside of the bridge. Since Interstate 78 was never built east of the Holland Tunnel, Interstate 478 was removed from the Manhattan Bridge and reapplied on the nearby Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in an unsigned fashion. The Manhattan Bridge along with the Brooklyn and Queensboro Bridges are the only three untolled spans across the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn/Queens.

Southbound on the upper carriageway or the Manhattan Bridge. Like other Manhattan area bridges, no shoulders or break-down lanes are provided. The span ends at Tillary Street in Brooklyn on the south side with connections provided to Interstate 278 (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) via surface streets (Jay Street north / Sand Street east).

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On Sunday, we traveled to Philadelphia to do the tourist thing, parking the car on Front Street and hoofing it around downtown and the historic district. Here are a few photos from the afternoon:

The new Comcast Center skyscraper stands out from the Philadelphia skyline from all directions. This view is afforded along the Walt Whitman Bridge westbound (Interstate 76) on the approach to the main line toll plaza and Front Street/Interstate 95 off-ramps.

Broad Street (Pennsylvania 611) carries six lanes through the heart of Philadelphia northward to suburbs such as Willow Grove. Pennsylvania 611 follows all of the boulevard in either direction of the square at Philadelphia City Hall and the Broad Street Subway line travels below along the same alignment. Broad Street was once a part of U.S. 611 (north of Market Street) and Pennsylvania 291 (south of Market Street). This view looks north from City Hall.

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I scored a batch of 1950s-70s highway maps from the New Castle Flea Market in Delaware on Saturday, including a 1959 AAA Northeast Map that displays an Interstate designation I have never seen before. When finding proposed designations, one has to use some skepticism, especially when not discovering such a route on any other maps. Maps are not always that accurate, and some changes such as proposed lines, designations, etc. are up to the discretion of the cartographer. However this particular find appears not only on the regional map, but also the Philadelphia city inset, and AAA out of Philadelphia appears to be the organization responsible for the inset, which adds to its potential validity. The scans below come from the 1959 AAA Map (click for larger):

Interstate 395 appears over what is the North-South Freeway (Interstate 76) on the Northeast Regional Map. We are aware that Interstate 76 was originally designated Interstate 80S through Philadelphia and Camden, but have never seen Interstate 395 on any stretch of the New Jersey freeway.

The reverse side of the map indicates the North-South Freeway as both Interstate 395 and New Jersey 42. New Jersey 42 is the North-South Freeway south of Interstate 295 and 76 still to this day. Interstate 395 was never signed as far as we know.

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