Corpus Christi - unrealized freeway proposals?

[Truvelo]

A short stretch of Laredo St appears well over engineered with three bridges and looks completely out of place compared to the surrounding streets. Was it planned to be part of something bigger such as a northwards extension to US 181 via Upper and Lower Broadway?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@27.7900264,-97.3975808,869m/data=!3m1!1e3

[Bobby5280]

I couldn't say for certain, but it does appear plans were in the works at one time to build an inner loop freeway, similar to what wraps around downtown Tulsa, OK or the one getting partially dismantled in Rochester, NY.

Upper Broadway and Lower Broadway streets in downtown Corpus Chrisi look like they were to be streets running under an elevated freeway that never was built. That freeway would have ran South from the I-37/US-181 interchange down to Laredo Street where that little two block section of old freeway exists. I think if the freeway had been built it would have consumed the properties between Laredo St. and Agnes St. to meet up with the Crosstown Expressway and perhaps extend a few blocks after that. Notice how FM-544 merges both Laredo and Agnes streets together West of the Crosstown Expressway.

[The Ghostbuster]

Does anyone have a history of Corpus Christi's freeway system? Both about roads that were built and those that weren't built?

[hotdogPi]

Does anyone have a history of Corpus Christi's freeway system? About roads that were both built and not built? I don't know how to use Google.

Fixed. See if you can spot Alanland-style wording in the fixed post.

[MaxConcrete]

http://www.texasfreeway.com/Corpus/historic/freeway_planning_maps/images/corpus_christi_1963.jpg

This 1963 planning map shows nothing planned along Laredo street. There are no unbuilt freeways from the 1963 plan. It is unlikely that new inner-city freeways were added to planning maps after 1963.

[In_Correct]

A short stretch of Laredo St appears well over engineered with three bridges and looks completely out of place compared to the surrounding streets. Was it planned to be part of something bigger such as a northwards extension to US 181 via Upper and Lower Broadway?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@27.7900264,-97.3975808,869m/data=!3m1!1e3

It does look like a partial upgrade. Other parts of the highway is a stupid pair of one way streets in the middle of downtown, with buildings in the middle of it. They should upgrade the rest of it.

[Truvelo]

The map does show three grade separations where the three bridges currently are but nothing else. It seems strange to have a high standard section of road completely isolated from other expressways.

[NE2]

Upper Broadway and Lower Broadway streets in downtown Corpus Chrisi look like they were to be streets running under an elevated freeway that never was built.

They are separate due to a steep hill.



http://books.google.com/books?id=PGMsAQAAMAAJ&q=%22laredo+street%22

I found the following:

1. The extension and improvement of Agnes Street (Route 44) from Port Avenue to the southern edge of the business district. This route carries more traffic into the city than any other state or federal highway and furnishes access to a large and growing residential and industrial area to the west. It is presently improved with a modern four-lane pavement with parking provided outside the paved portion from the city's outskirts to Port Avenue. East of Port Avenue the right-of-way narrows to 40 feet and the street is poorly paved. As a result of this bottleneck, much of the inbound traffic is diverted to Port Avenue and enters the business district over the several east-west streets such as Leopard Lipan or Comanche.

There has been much discussion in the past about the advisability of constructing an expressway to the business district along this route and special study was made to determine whether or not such a facility would be required to meet future traffic demands. From the traffic estimates it was determined that the situation could be taken care of satisfactorily by means other than an expressway.

[it then talks about the ramp system that has since been built]