Freeways that were once arterials

[roadman65]

I have forgotten some too that I now remembered.

In Pennsylvania the whole entire I-78 and US 22 duplex was a four lane divided with a concrete strip in the middle instead of double line and with rumple strips before freeway.  It was a newer alignment for US 22 that was once a narrow two lane road  you can still find nearby.  It had intersections and driveways (the Roadside America Little Village in Shartlesville had entrances from US 22 before I-78) that were removed.  Only the Grimes Interchange (Exit 12) is the only intersection that was not given an overpass, but changed into a right in and right out as you can see was once a complete intersection.  That also explains why no wide median here.

In Texas, the current I-35 and US 83 duplex was a arterial in Laredo and north of there it was a two lane road.  Both carried US 81 and US 83 as US 81 made it to the Rio Grande before I-35.  I also think that many other freeway parts of US 83 were converted, especially between Pharr and Brownsville.


In New Jersey as we speak, Hoes Lane in Piscataway is being upgraded to be NJ 18.

[vdeane]

Virginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd

New York:
-Parts of streets in downtown Rochester were absorbed by the Inner Loop
-Ridge Rd/NY 104/Veterans Bridge - this was absorbed by the NY 104 freeway; recently when a fire destroyed a row of houses along NY 104 just to the west, the DOT used the opportunity to upgrade the section from Ridgeway Ave to Maplewood Dr to a full freeway.
-Not sure if the Thousand Islands Bridge counts or not.

[AZDude]

The first 6 miles of I-215 beltway, from the terminus at I-515/US 93/US 95 to NV146/St Rose Pkwy, was built directly on top of the SR 146/Lake Mead Drive right of way--at the time, that portion of SR 146 was still mostly a busy, two-lane highway.

I can still remember when it used to be like that.  The city had not developed in that area yet.  It was still open desert (save for the first few miles west of I-515).  I watched as the freeway was gradually built over the years.  I remember when parts were still under construction.  Traffic would have to stop at every future off ramp.  Now its hard to believe the road was once a two lane highway through that area.

[huskeroadgeek]

The US 77 Bypass on the west side of Lincoln originally was an at-grade 4-lane arterial.

I-76 in Colorado W. of Fort Morgan was built on top of US 6. In fact, some maps used to label I-76 in the Keenesburg area as 4-lane non-controlled access expressway into the 1990s. Much of I-70 W. of Denver was also built on top of US 6.

One I've wondered about is I-44 in Tulsa. With its frontage roads filled with businesses and being designated as the non-freeway sounding Skelly Drive, I've wondered if it was ever a non-freeway arterial. I also have a map from the 80s that shows the E-W portion of I-44 in OKC that follows old US 66 as 4-lane non-freeway arterial.

[J N Winkler]

-The US 54 freeway in eastern Wichita, KS was originally Kellogg Ave, a normal surface street.

Not just east Wichita--Kellogg Avenue (US 54) is now a full freeway all the way from 111th St. W. (west side) to Cypress Avenue (east side, just shy of the ramps to the Turnpike).  There is essentially only one mile on each end of the freeway segment where US 54 is still in urban Wichita but is not yet a freeway.  Frontage roads are being built on the west side for future extension of the freeway, and the Webb Road/Turnpike interchange renovation is in final design.

We still call our US 54 freeway Kellogg Avenue.  It is signed accordingly at the I-135/US 54 turban, which has brand-new signing since the exit ramps were modified in 2009-2010 to add option lanes.  Kellogg Avenue receives its name from Milo Bailey Kellogg, Wichita's first postmaster, who was born in upstate New York, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, came to Wichita shortly before 1870 when the city was founded, and eventually moved on to California and Washington state.  Late in life he received a war disability pension because he had been captured by the Confederates and sent to the Andersonville POW camp, where he suffered from sunstroke.  Kellogg never returned to Wichita after he left, but his son did, and was astonished to discover that what was then already the city's busiest street was named after his father.

[Dr Frankenstein]

A-20 in Vaudreuil is currently an arterial street, and is in the process of being converted to a freeway. In Western Montreal, it used to be that way as well.

[froggie]

Virginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd

Not really a freeway, despite what some maps suggest.

[mightyace]

DE 141 from the DE 41 junction south to I-95/295/495 was originally a surface street.

Parts of the US 15 freeway (Future I-99) north of Williamsport follow the old non-freeway alignment.

The short stretch of PA 309 (North Cross Valley Expressway) between the Kidder Street exit and I-81 near Wilkes-Barre, PA was a four lane arterial and used to become Kidder Street.

Also, part of I-24 over Monteagle Mountain was overlaid over old US 41-64 ROW.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4447.0

[UptownRoadGeek]

I-10 through New Orleans was built over Pontchartrain Blvd and N Claiborne Ave.

[vdeane]

Virginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd

Not really a freeway, despite what some maps suggest.

Well, past VA 237 there aren't any at-grade intersections... how is that not a freeway?

[Henry]

Independence Boulevard in Charlotte comes to mind; the part from Uptown to the old Coliseum has been a freeway since 1996 or so.

[Ian]

Virginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd

Not really a freeway, despite what some maps suggest.

So do you think VA 28 north of Centreville would count?

[froggie]

Well, past VA 237 there aren't any at-grade intersections... how is that not a freeway?

Closer to Lynn St, yes...but at Courthouse is very debatable for eastbound traffic.  That, however, will change with an upcoming construction project.

So do you think VA 28 north of Centreville would count?

North of Ellanor Lawrence Park (about a mile north of I-66) to Waxpool Rd (SR 625), yes...which is why I included it on my own list.

[PAHighways]

Allegheny County
US 22 between PA 130 and Business US 22.

Former PA 60 and former Business PA 60 between Montour Run Road (current I-376/Exit 58) and Thorn Run Road (Business Loop 376) and former Business PA 60 between Flaugherty Run Road and the PIA maintenance facilities.  Originally the entire length of Business Loop 376 was to become an expressway when the old Greater Pitt terminal was located at the intersection of 60 and Beers School Road (now University Boulevard).  Ironically, more of Business PA 60 was upgraded to an expressway after the Midfield Terminal opened.

Berks County
US 222 between PA 272 and Business US 222.

[TheStranger]

Parts of I-5/Santa Ana Freeway in northern Orange County towards Norwalk appear to have directly supplanted the old Firestone Boulevard/1934-1957 Route 10, though other parts became frontage road (when the freeway was still being built as US 101).

[Anthony_JK]

I-10 in Lake Charles uses what used to be the US 90 arterial (and the old Calcasieu River Bridge) from just west of Westlake to near the old Southern Pacific (now UP/BNSF) railyard.


Anthony

[Mr_Northside]

U.S. 50/301 in Maryland was converted to freeway (though it is not part of I-595) between Ritchie Hwy. (Md. 2/450) in the Annapolis area to the 50/301 split in Queenstown.  It had been a high-speed, six-lane (?) arterial with traffic signals in about a half-dozen locations along the length.

I remember those days from early (young?) vacations to Ocean City...  I remember it being the opposite of "high-speed", in part because of the signals but mostly because of the Bay Bridge. (It can still get REAL backed up as a freeway too). I remember one summer it was so bad my uncle ran out of the car he was riding in, got take out from a fast food joint, and got back in the car just a little further down the road.  I think it might have only been 4-lanes then, but I can't say I remember that with certainty.
On the Kent Island side, though, not only where there more signals, but they still had the lower drawbridge on the other side of Kent Island.  It's a lot better now (not counting the Bay Bridge), but they need to continue freeway-ing it down to at least MD-404.

Allegheny County

Also, I believe PA 28 from Etna to Millvale counts... and in 2014 it will be Etna to I-279/North Shore.

[pianocello]

Cline Ave (912) in NW Indiana is a full freeway (its name gives away the fact that it used to be a surface street)

The northbound lanes of I-69 in Michigan north of Charlotte used to be the southbound lanes of US-27. The northbound lanes of former 27 were converted to a 2-lane road and new southbound lanes were built for I-69 (around MM63 Lansing Rd passes under 69, but the same concept is used north of that). I believe this was done north (east) of Lansing as well with M-78.

[ftballfan]

The northbound lanes of I-69 in Michigan north of Charlotte used to be the southbound lanes of US-27. The northbound lanes of former 27 were converted to a 2-lane road and new southbound lanes were built for I-69 (around MM63 Lansing Rd passes under 69, but the same concept is used north of that). I believe this was done north (east) of Lansing as well with M-78.

Between Charlotte and Potterville, NB I-69 was SB US-27 and between Potterville and just south of I-96, SB I-69 was NB US-27. Old 27 is still divided highway through Potterville as I-69 bypasses it to the south.

Northeast of Lansing (from roughly MM 95 to MM 103), EB I-69 was WB M-78 and the former EB lanes were converted to a two lane road.

[mgk920]

Cline Ave (912) in NW Indiana is a full freeway (its name gives away the fact that it used to be a surface street)

Actually, north of the Indiana Toll Road, the north-south part of original Cline Ave (the Gary-East Chicago border) is the freeway's west frontage road.  South of the Toll Road, the Cline Ave freeway is on the original surface road/street grade.  I know this from researching the Yellowstone Trail, which used the original Cline Ave between US 12 and King Drive in East Chicago.

Mike

[hm insulators]

In the eastern part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Loop 101 freeway runs from Chandler to Scottsdale along what used to be Pima Road in Scottsdale and Price Road in Tempe and Chandler. Price and Pima Roads still exist as one-way frontage roads. And before I-17 through Phoenix was built, there was the Black Canyon Highway and I think it was also Arizona 69.

Do you have any pictures of what Price Road looked like before the Freeway was built?

Been a while since I've been on this website, so my apologies. Anyway, no pictures, but I did find a 1977 Thomas Guide of Phoenix at a garage sale a couple of months back that shows Price Road as a major (though probably two lane) road.

[AZDude]

No worries, I wonder if there were any stores/businesses through there before the freeway was built.

[1995hoo]

VA-28 was a two-lane road (passing over the center line) in the not-too-distant past. That area was far enough out that the road wouldn't have qualified as "arterial" in the minds of many people, primary route number notwithstanding. It's a fine example of the explosive growth in Northern Virginia over the past 30 years.

Of course, this being Virginia, the speed limit on that nice six-lane expressway is the same 55 mph that was posted on the old two-lane road.

[RoadWarrior56]

4+ miles of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard northeast of I-285 outside of Atlanta was converted from a six-lane arterial in stages to a four-lane freeway with frontage roads during the 1980's and 1990's.

[pianocello]

Actually, north of the Indiana Toll Road, the north-south part of original Cline Ave (the Gary-East Chicago border) is the freeway's west frontage road.  South of the Toll Road, the Cline Ave freeway is on the original surface road/street grade.  I know this from researching the Yellowstone Trail, which used the original Cline Ave between US 12 and King Drive in East Chicago.

Mike

I was not aware of that.

I know the M-5 freeway outside of Farmington, MI was like that, and other Detroit area freeways probably were too.