Construction of the new Greensboro bypass, otherwise known as Painter Boulevard, resulted in the relocation of Interstate 85 from the city onto the southeastern section of the new road in 2004 and then Interstate 40 on both the sections of the new bypass in February 2008. The new bypass was constructed in an effort to alleviate the through-city route of Interstates 40 and 85 and their "Death Valley" interchange south [...]
Georgia was the one of a few southeastern states to openly embrace the concept of using Interstate Business Loops in the early days. North Carolina had its loops through Lexington, Fayetteville, and Rocky Mount, before the urban freeway loops of Winston-Salem and Greensboro (of which Business Loop I-40 was recently decommissioned) joined the list. Those routes represented temporary Interstate alignments or former Interstate alignments. South Carolina contributed with its Business [...]
My home state has had a busy year with opening new stretches of major roadway. A large section of the new tolled SH 121 freeway north of Dallas opened in August. The new 16-mile stretch from Frisco to the southwest forms a partial loop of northern Dallas. San Antonio's newest behemoth opened in August as well, at the junction of the US 281 freeway and Interstate 410. The two busiest [...]
Speaking of places that aaroads does not cover in too much detail, we'd like to introduce a new Kentucky page. So far, only I-64 and Lexington's New Circle Road are posted but all Louisville area freeways, and a few other roadways in the "Golden Triangle" area of the state are coming soon. Edit: They're all up now! I'd like to especially thank the Louisville Courier-Journal for the use of their [...]
Florida 23 north at the future First Coast Expressway Update on the Branan Field-Chaffee Expressway, well not much has changed, construction has progressed a little on the future freeway connector and interchange between Florida 23 and Interstate 10. This scene however, looks identical to December 2007. Touted as Segment 2 of the overall project, work began January 16, 2007 and is expected to be completed by next [...]
What began as a local river crossing in 1935, the Interstate 74 & U.S. 6 bridges (Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge) across the Mississippi River between Moline and Davenport are reaching the end of their life span. Though never built to Interstate standards, the 1935-northbound bridge and 1959-built southbound span were added to the Interstate system in 1974. Each suspension bridge carries two lanes without left or right-hand shoulders. The safety issues [...]
Peoria includes two Interstates, the main route through the city, I-74, and the bypass route, I-474. Lets take a look at the two and more... Interstate 74 cuts a swath through the downtown area, meandering along a curved path from junction Interstate 474 & Illinois 6 northwest of the city to a brief depressed section of freeway near the central business district. A high-level cantilever bridge carries the freeway across [...]
Dubbed the Congestion Relief Project, the Illinois Tollway system, an integral part of Chicagoland's highway network, is a series of construction projects aimed at modernizing and expanding the multiple-route system in northern Illinois. The overall project was approved in September 2004. Interstate 355 northbound at Illinois 171. One of the main aspects of the project was the modernization of the 20 main line toll collecting facilities. Work [...]
Continuing with our I-49 corridor theme, it's time to look at Shreveport's non interstate-interstates. The Clyde Fant memorial parkway runs southeast from downtown along the Red River. It goes through miles of parkland and passes by the city's major hospital and it's major tourist attractions (the casinos). The view below looks north at downtown Shreveport from the Parkway. Click any images for a larger view. I-20 east at [...]
Interstate 540 is a two-parter. The southern section runs from the Oklahoma state line and bypasses Fort Smith and runs over the wide Arkansas River to end at I-40 northeast of the city. The newer, northern section, runs north from I-40 to the state's northwest metro area. Continuing on our future-Interstate-49 trend, lets take a look at I-540 in Arkansas. This view looks eastward at the Arkansas State [...]
