First lengths of freeway

[NE2]

I believe the first stretches of freeway in New Jersey were NJ 495 and Interstate 280.

Er... The Pulaski Skyway...

[US71]

Missouri: probably US 66 (later upgraded to I-44)

[oscar]

In Hawaii, the first part of the Mauka Arterial near University Ave., about a mile long, opened in November 1953 as a six-lane freeway.  The Mauka Arterial was incorporated into the eastern Lunalilo Freeway segment of Interstate H-1 after Hawaii became a state.  

[SignBridge]

In New Jersey, I-280 was not built 'til the 1970's. Some earlier possibilities are NJ Route-4 from G.W. Bridge west in about 1931 when the bridge opened. Pulaski Skyway was I believe 1932. Re: NJ-495, are you talking about the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel? I'll guess mid-1930's when the first tube of the tunnel opened.

[agentsteel53]

I believe there were fully limited-access grade-separated approaches to the Bay Bridge on the Oakland side (CA-17, US-40, US-50) by 1937 or 1938, the "distribution structure" which was a predecessor to the current MacArthur Maze.

[broadhurst04]

North Carolina:  As far as I can determine, the first freeway in NC was the west side of the Beltline, now US 1 and I 440, opened in 1963.

Several freeway segments were open in NC by 1957:
US 301 Byp of Lumberton
US 15 Byp of Durham
US 29-70 Bypass of Lexington (possibly a freewayish route when opened in 1952)
I-95 around Dunn
What is now I-85 between Greensboro and Hillsborough

There are probably more...

Mapmikey

The original I-40 (now Business 40) through Winston Salem dates back to the mid 50s I think, as does a section of I-40 from Asheville to Waynesville. I believe the latter is credited by NCDOT as the first section of Interstate completed in NC.

[Alps]

In New Jersey, I-280 was not built 'til the 1970's. Some earlier possibilities are NJ Route-4 from G.W. Bridge west in about 1931 when the bridge opened. Pulaski Skyway was I believe 1932. Re: NJ-495, are you talking about the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel? I'll guess mid-1930's when the first tube of the tunnel opened.

495 was not built until later, actually. First stretch of freeway in the state was definitely the Skyway. NJ was a pioneer at grade-separated interchanges, though, and had several Jersey Freeways in place that early. US 1-9/NJ 35 was the original cloverleaf anywhere (then US 1-NJ 4 over US 9), and NJ 17/NJ 4 was not far behind.

[Beeper1]

In RI, the first section of freeway was the section of RI-146 between Lincoln Woods state park and the Woonsocket city line. This opened in, I think, 1959.    Some short sections of RI-10, such as the Olneyville Bypass, may be older, but 146 was the first section of road with any length.

In Mass, I think some sections of MA-128 near Dedham and Westwood opened as super-2 in the late 1940s. 

[KEVIN_224]

On 1947-12-13, the Maine Turnpike opened, from the US1 Bypass in Kittery to outer Congress St in Portland.

December 13, 1947 sounds familiar, as there's a big red sign in the Kittery/York area which states "Gold Star Memorial Highway - Dedicated 1947." As for Outer Congress Street, is that associated with a modern exit on the Maine Turnpike? I know Exit 44 is for I-295 North in Scarborough and Exit 45 is for the Maine Mall and Scarborough Connector.

[TheStranger]

I believe there were fully limited-access grade-separated approaches to the Bay Bridge on the Oakland side (CA-17, US-40, US-50) by 1937 or 1938, the "distribution structure" which was a predecessor to the current MacArthur Maze.

Does that predate the Doyle Drive freeway on US 101?

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

In Louisiana, I believe the oldest section of freeway is what is now I-110 in Baton Rouge from the Governor's Mansion curve (exit 1F) to the other sharp curve to the east at Plank Road/Scenic Highway (exit 2B), completed ca. 1955. This original section was constructed to provide a direct connection from 9th/10th Streets (downtown BR) to Plank Road and Scenic Highway (north BR) without having to navigate the surface streets in the Mid City area. The ramps on the eastern end were configured differently at the time to facilitate this traffic pattern.

The oldest section of limited access highway with a definite open date is the Pontchartrain Expressway (I-10) from Airline Highway to Carrollton Avenue (1957). Of course that's really just a single interchange but a short section of mainline did open as well. The expressway from DeGaulle across the Mississippi River bridge to Airline was complete by 1959.

[txstateends]

If I remember reading correctly, the first stretches in Texas (or at least Houston) were IH 45 (then US 75) through downtown and heading south... the original "Gulf Freeway"

According to Erik from houstonfreeways.com, the Gulf Freeway was dedicated September 30, 1948.  Meanwhile, in Dallas, the first section of Central Expressway (US 75) opened between downtown and the Fitzhugh Ave. exit on August 20, 1949.

[Coelacanth]

In Minnesota, parts of MN 100 were open by 1936, but it'd be a huge stretch to call it a freeway (MN 100 at the time featured several RIROs and median crossovers).  The first true freeway segment to open was a stretch of I-35 north of Owatonna in 1958.

Similarly, parts of MN 36 date to the late 1930s, but I don't know when that stretch (between say Cleveland and Edgerton) became fully limited-access.

[triplemultiplex]

Wisconsin's first freeway turns out to be a chunk of the Stadium Freeway across the Menomonee Valley.  I previously thought it was a piece of then WI 30 (modern I-94) around Waukesha, but it turns out that was the first interstate segment in this state.

I'm looking at a 1956 aerial right now that shows the Stadium Freeway fully under construction between National Ave & Wisconsin Ave. (Man, look at the size of the factory that sat where I now tailgate )

The same photos show the start of earthworks for what is now I-43 through the northeast suburbs between Good Hope Rd. and the county line.  But this was not built as an interstate-standard freeway and still isn't to this day. x|

[RoadWarrior56]

In Kentucky, the first freeway in the state would be parts of the Watterson Expressway (now I-264) around Louisville.  From what i had read, the first section was opened around 1954, which predated the Kentucky Turnpike, which opened in 1956.

[hbelkins]

The Watterson was built as US 60.

[Dr Frankenstein]

The first section of freeway that opened in Québec was a section of A-15 that ran from the Metropolitan Boulevard (now A-40) in Montreal to Sainte Rose Boulevard in Laval. AFAIK it was tolled.

[J N Winkler]

I believe there were fully limited-access grade-separated approaches to the Bay Bridge on the Oakland side (CA-17, US-40, US-50) by 1937 or 1938, the "distribution structure" which was a predecessor to the current MacArthur Maze.

Does that predate the Doyle Drive freeway on US 101?

I believe it does.  From my memory of CHPW articles browsed from 1936 onward (NB:  Internet Archive now has the entire run of CHPW in scanned PDF--almost 2 GB worth of highway goodness), the Distribution Structure opened at the same time as the Bay Bridge proper, but the rail tracks on the lower deck and the Transbay Terminal opened later, around 1937 or 1938.  The Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937 and I believe its accesses on either side opened at about the same time.

Checking CHPW running notes:

*  November 1936 is the CHPW Bay Bridge opening special issue and includes an article on the Distribution Structure, explaining that it was located in Emeryville to allow the Bay Bridge approach roadway to cross two rail lines at once.

*  May 1937 is the Golden Gate Bridge opening special issue and has a feature on the construction of what it calls the "Waldo Point road," now known as US 101 just north of the Golden Gate.  (This was built by the State of California rather than the Golden Gate Bridge District.)

*  May 1938 contains an in-depth account of the Transbay Terminal, whose opening was reported in December 1938.

Edit:  I am now going through CHPW June 1939, which has a feature on the "Presidio Approach to Golden Gate" which was then under construction.  It is therefore definite that the Doyle Drive freeway was finished after the Distribution Structure.  An interesting question, which I hope later issues of CHPW will clarify, is whether the Doyle Drive freeway opened before or after the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which (notwithstanding any competing claim the Distribution Structure may be able to make) is usually quoted as California's first length of freeway.

[nexus73]

Oregon: The Banfield Expressway in Portland was the first one as I recall.  Today it is I-84 and has been modernized so the old style expressway look is now gone.  It predated the Interstate system's creation by a year I believe.  Maybe Xonhulu (Chris) has more info as he's the expert on all things US 30 in Oregon.

Rick

[xonhulu]

Oregon: The Banfield Expressway in Portland was the first one as I recall.  Today it is I-84 and has been modernized so the old style expressway look is now gone.  It predated the Interstate system's creation by a year I believe.  Maybe Xonhulu (Chris) has more info as he's the expert on all things US 30 in Oregon.

Rick

Thanks, but you're overstating things by calling me any kind of expert.

I looked up on the ODOT History of Oregon Interstates document ( http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM/interstate50_I84.shtml ) that the Banfield did indeed open in 1955, pre-dating the start of the interstates.  It was widened and modernized in the 1980's, so yeah, the original roadway is gone.

[TheStranger]

An interesting question, which I hope later issues of CHPW will clarify, is whether the Doyle Drive freeway opened before or after the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which (notwithstanding any competing claim the Distribution Structure may be able to make) is usually quoted as California's first length of freeway.

I suspect the reason the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) gets that claim, and not the Doyle Drive US 101 freeway or the original US 40/50 stretch from 5th Street to the MacArthur Maze/Distribution Structure (today's I-80)...

is that it was the first freeway in California built not simply as access to a bridge.

having said that, by the most general definition of limited-access (ramps only, no driveways or intersections at-grade), those two bridges and their associated access roads would fall under what we do consider "freeway" today.

Does the Presidio Tunnel also predate the Arroyo Seco Parkway?  I think it was under construction ca. 1938, though that limited access spur (Route 1 today, planned to be grandfathered into I-280 in the 1950s and 1960s at one point) has no exits.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Hardly makes it historic, but the Valley Highway in Denver opened in 1958 as U.S. 87, and became I-25 within a few years. I-25 around Pueblo was originally constructed as the "Pueblo Freeway" (its original name), with the south side near the steel mill being bypassed by about 1956. I work at the electric utility, and in our vaults dating from the time the utility was headquartered here is the 1949 annual report which shows construction on what is called the Pueblo Freeway. I believe the picture shown is the original interchange with U.S. 50 west on the north side of the city, a junction which has been reconstructed twice since then.

[cbalducc]

For Arkansas it was either the US 61-63-64-70-79 approach to the Memphis-Arkansas bridge between West Memphis and Memphis which opened around 1949.  I'm not sure if it was originally built as a freeway or if it was just a 4 lane expressway.  This stretch of highway is part of I-55 now.

The other candidate would be the New Benton Highway (US 67-70, now I-30) between the modern I-30/University Avenue interchange in Little Rock and Benton, which was built in the early 50s IIRC.  I believe the New Benton Highway was originally built as a freeway.

I've copied the following from a post I made in the Midsouth section:

This is from an online version history of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
(http://arkansashighways.com/historic_bridge/Historic_Documents/History%20Book%202004.pdf):

Construction on Arkansas' Interstates actually began in 1952.
The U.S. Highway 61 Bypass in West Memphis is generally considered
the first Interstate project in Arkansas. It was constructed using a 50/
50 ratio of federal and state funds. The southbound lanes of I-30
between Little Rock and Benton came along in 1954 under the 60/40
arrangement. This was the state's second Interstate project.

Of course, this refers to highways built to Interstate standards.  I'm not sure about where the first four-lane was in Arkansas.

God bless,

CKB

[Henry]

Illinois has a few differing times by differing agencies.

Built by the City of Chicago -- Lake Shore Drive (US-41), 1937 (then Leif Ericson Drive - renamed in 1946).  LSD's origins extend back to 1882, and was included (not as a freeway) in Daniel Burnham's Plan for Chicago.
Built by Cook County Highway Commission -- Calumet Expressway and Kingery Expressway between the state line and 130th Street, 1950.  This is considered the first modern freeway in Illinois.
Built by Illinois Highway Department (now IDOT) -- US-66 bypass of Braidwood, Joliet, and Plainfield, now I-55, 1956.  IODT was relatively late to the freeway game (as usual) and thus it was proposed that a toll commission be formed.
Built by Illinois State Toll Highway Commission (now ISTHA) -- Tri-State Tollway, Northwest Tollway, and the East-West Tollway to Sugar Grove, 1958.  These were planned earlier but held up by lawsuits.  Without the lawsuits, they might have been built much closer to 1950.

Indiana:
Tri-State Highway (now Borman Expressway), 1949-50.  Was opened as Indiana SR 420.
Indiana East-West Toll Road, 1956

I remember seeing a few old road atlases showing the proposed routings of the above-mentioned highways. It figures that Illinois was a little hesitant to jump onto the freeway (expressway) bandwagon, what with these lawsuits and lengthy opposition going on then.

North Carolina:  As far as I can determine, the first freeway in NC was the west side of the Beltline, now US 1 and I 440, opened in 1963.

Several freeway segments were open in NC by 1957:
US 301 Byp of Lumberton
US 15 Byp of Durham
US 29-70 Bypass of Lexington (possibly a freewayish route when opened in 1952)
I-95 around Dunn
What is now I-85 between Greensboro and Hillsborough

There are probably more...

Mapmikey

The former I-40 in Winston-Salem (now a Business Loop) is another.

EDIT: Someone beat me to it! That section of I-40 was definitely open by 1957.

[TheStranger]

Edit:  I am now going through CHPW June 1939, which has a feature on the "Presidio Approach to Golden Gate" which was then under construction.  It is therefore definite that the Doyle Drive freeway was finished after the Distribution Structure.

Just clarifying:

Is that a definitive reference to Doyle Drive, or to the then-under-construction Route 1 tunnel?