Ahh, Texarkana. They say it is "twice as nice" but it is not "twice as many interstates nice" because I-49 is not here yet. Regardless of your maps, the freeway stretching south of Texarkana is signed only as AR 549. No "Future I-49" signs here, no sir. Here it is, plus some AR 245 goodness. AR 549 is an all concrete facility, with lanes 2×2 but a small [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
SH 121 connects DFW airport and several large employment areas with Collin County, north of Dallas, TX. Collin County is the fastest growing county in the state and one of the top 5 fastest growing in the nation. As such, SH 121 is undergoing massive traffic strains. 15 years ago it was a bucolic 2 lane rural highway, and today it is a snarly mess with a regional mall on [...]
So, this is the Big Dig: Interstate 93 through the Big Dig We all know about the big dig, and if you don't, you're a terrible roadgeek. The main thrust of the project was to take the ugly central artery and replace it with a tunnel beneath downtown. Where the central artery was, was to become a pretty urban park. Let's see what is going on up [...]
With Federal Highway officials approval of environmental studies for the planned northward extension, ALDOT moves closer to the start of construction. Next week officials will hold an informal meeting on an associated project, the new Baldwin County 68 interchange with Interstate 10. Land has yet to be purchased for the interchange right of way, pending environmental approval from FHWA officials. However work on the new interchange should begin in early [...]
Lets take a look at Mass. Route 2 through north-central Massachusetts. Picture below is the French King bridge. The bridge takes its name from nearby French King Rock, which was in turn named by a French army officer during the French and Indian wars of the eighteenth century. The span opened September 10, 1932. The French King bridge was constructed in 1932 to take Route 2 over the [...]
Let's take a quickie look at SR 146 from Providence, RI up to Worcester Mass. The pictures are from last weekend, when the New England spring was in full swing with budding dogwoods and hordes of people moving to Vermont. Route 146 leaves Providence as a fairly major freeway. The six lanes give way to four just as the northern suburbs are at their peak. Route 146 [...]
Construction on the destroyed US 90 bridge over the mouth of Biloxi Bay is proceeding at a rapid rate. I guess it takes a hurricane to whip the asses of the DOTs into gear. This photo from April of this year shows just how quickly the process is going. It's not China-fast, but in terms of US road construction they are going fairly quickly. AAroads has updated road photos post-Katrina [...]
Overall the Intercounty Connector (ICC) represents a $2.4 billion project to build an 18-mile long toll road between Interstates 370 in Montgomery County and Interstate 95 in Prince Georges County, Maryland. After years of representing nothing more than just a dashed line on planning maps, the first leg of the (ICC) is set to become reality as construction begins this Summer on the first segment of roadway. Five stages of [...]
