It's no secret that Phoenix is one of the sprawliest urban areas in the nation. Arizona's DOT is responding to this need for infrastructure with Loop 303, a third freeway loop around Phoenix. The road has been around in a two-lane highway form for several years now, but groundbreaking took place last week on the first section of freeway for Loop 303 stretching from I-17 north of Phoenix west and [...]
Hooray, new route markers. DFW's tolling authority, the NTTA, is replacing all of their signs - which are now unique to each route - with a standardized version. The Dallas North Tollway's familiar round green shields are about 30% gone; the George Bush Turnpike's old signs are over 60% replaced, and the newly christened Sam Rayburn Tollway (SH 121) has about 25% of its signs in the new style. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/3523867876_2242837beb_b.jpg [...]
Lubbock, Texas has opened two new stretches of freeway in May. Phase 2 of the large Marsha Sharp freeway completed the interchange at 19th Street (where US 62 splits off) and continued the main lanes northeast and east to Avenue Q (US 84). The $131 million phase of the project started about 4 years ago. It's still not 100% complete, as landscaping and signs are not installed yet. Additionally, no [...]
A recent visit to State Line, Mississippi revealed changes made by 2007 to U.S. 45, Mississippi 42, and Mississipi 57. This small town derives its name from its proximity to the Alabama state line on the Greene and Wayne County lines. Mississippi 42 enters State Line as a two lane road from Richton to the west; Mississippi 57 connects the community with Leakesville to the south; U.S. 45 joins the [...]
An extension of the Mobile County 39 (McDonald Road) divided highway constructed in the mid-2000s will take place on May 20, 2009. County Highway 39 was realigned eastward to meet Interstate 10 at a new six-ramp partial-cloverleaf interchange that opened January 12, 2005. Presently the four-lane road ends at U.S. 90 by Irvington. Work began December 2007 on a $10.2 million extension of County Highway 39 from a folded-diamond interchange with U.S. [...]
Coming to fruition within the last few years are two new state highway alignments in Harrison County, Mississippi. The first is Mississippi 605, a highway designated along the previously unnumbered Lorraine and Cowan Roads between U.S. 90 and Interstate 10 and northward onto a new four-lane facility to Mississippi 67 at Traditions Parkway. Second is the new four-lane alignment of Mississippi 67, a 19-mile route with expresswaylike characteristics between U.S. [...]
Took a ride to south Baldwin yesterday and checked out the status of road work at the current north end of the Foley Beach Express. According to a WKRG report http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/another_hurricane_evacuation_route/17752/ from August of last year, work on the $26 million project to extend the four-lane roadway will take 5 to 7 years and initial construction involves two miles. Well after a field check, only 1.5 miles of new road [...]
The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority is making moves toward a 25 cent toll increase at all 14 toll plazas and most toll ramp facilities in the greater Orlando area. The OOCEA covers about 105 miles of toll roads in the central Florida region such as Toll Florida 408, 417, 429 and the newly partially opened Toll Florida 414. Some motorists are against this type of increase and have already suggested [...]
Texas Stadium is being replaced with a new Dallas Cowboys stadium opening later this year in a suburb further west. The old stadium opened in 1971 and with it a flurry of freeways and ramps designed to allow for traffic to and from the venue. As the stadium grew up, so did Irving, the suburb surrounding it. Traffic volumes on the freeways surrounding the stadium area grew and grew and [...]
Today I took a little jaunt up and over to US 331 to see if by chance I could find any remaining colored shields along the route. Alas, as previously told to me, none were found. Along my journey today though, I found an oddity. I stumbled across a reassurance shield assembly located in Florala, Alabama for Alabama 55 and Florida 85, just south of the intersection with US 331. [...]
