Best "old" expressway

[Mergingtraffic]

What is the coolest old freeway you've been on?  When I say old, I don't mean the year it was opened. I mean, old signage, pavement, street lights, guard-rail etc.

I say for me it's CT-25 Expressway, even thoughit opened in 1983, everything is still original.  Original cement, BGS signage, lighting, guardrails etc.  It's like it's 1983 when I drive on it. Old grafitti on the rocks etc.

or

The US 5 Expressway in Springfield, MA, everything on the highway is old!  Cool old lighting, guard rails etc. 

[Alps]

CA 110 / Arroyo Seco is not just old signage but one of the oldest freeways anywhere and still retains its charm in the northernmost section.

FDR Drive has a Crack is Wack mural from 1986, plenty of old signs, old-school drive-throughs of buildings, never widened from its original construction.

Pulaski Skyway has every single element you mention.

Finally, I agree with US 5.

[agentsteel53]

CA-126 has most of the original signage from when it opened in 1962-1965!  There are, if I recall correctly, only three overhead signs which are not original porcelains.

[vdeane]

I like the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Orleans County.

[Ian]

Not sure if this really counts, but the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut and the Taconic State Parkway in New York are my favorites. Neither have horribly old signs (though the Merritt has repros of the originals), but the decorative bridges and old narrow roadways are cool.

[mightyace]

but the decorative bridges and old narrow roadways are cool.

Agree on the former.  On the latter, narrow roadways are only cool if someone else is driving! 

The first that comes to my mind was the freeway stub that carries Bus I-83 to S. George St. in York, PA.  I say was because I'm talking about before it was recently rebuilt.

[thenetwork]

Up until 6-7 years ago, SR-8 in Downtown Akron was a great one, with some first generation signage from the 50's when the freeway first opened.  Now that they rebuilt it, the section just north of downtown is still a "classic" as most of the signage and lighting is from the mid-70s.

Runner up is the West Shoreway/SR-2 in Cleveland.  A lot of the signage and lighting is about 10-15 years old, but the bridges and exits are still fun to look at.  Clinch it while you can, since it is on the endangered species list -- due to be downgraded to a boulevard status within the next decade.

I also remember the Davidson Freeway in Detroit, before they rebuilt that one -- definitely a classic. 

If only they invented digital cameras 20-25 years sooner!

[mightyace]

^^^

It was classic for looks, but not for driving.  I hated those "suicide" ramps in the Akron U area!  If it wasn't late at night, I'd go out of my way to get on at Perkins street or just go another way to avoid those ramps!


I don't mind that it's rebuilt at all.

[ftballfan]

US-31 between M-120 and Sternberg Rd in Muskegon. At one point, four lanes of US-31 squeeze under a railroad bridge and I feel a little claustrophobic through that section.

I-196 west of US-131 is another classic.

[TwinsMetsFan]

The one that comes to my mind is the Inner Loop around downtown Rochester, New York. Although there are some newer signs along the highway, a substantial number of the road's signs are button copy, faded, or both. The expressway itself is old as well, looking every bit like an urban arterial built during the 1950s and 1960s.

Prior to the completion of the Western Gateway Project a couple of years ago, the section of I-490 between the 390 interchange and the Inner Loop would have been another "old expressway" candidate, featuring choppy concrete (probably dating back to the road's construction in the 1970s) and an abundance of button copy signs. A few old signs remain at the 390 interchange, but the old concrete and the vast majority of the button copy signs are long gone.

I like the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Orleans County.

That's another good one. Although it's not as all-around "old" (as defined by this thread) as the Orleans part, the section of the parkway between the county line and NY 390 has its share of old signs as well.

As an aside, I had intended to check out the Orleans County part of the parkway (and its old signs) as part of a Rochester-Lockport trip last year. However, the concrete on the section of the parkway between Hamlin Beach and the county line was so bad that I decided to get off at NY 272 and use NY 18 instead. I have no idea if the parkway is better or worse in Orleans County, but I assumed at the time that the condition of the parkway was only going to get worse the farther I went west.

[vdeane]

It's actually about the same.  The whole section west of Hamlin Beach was constructed in the 70s and hasn't seen work since.  The rest of it is actually older, though it's seen maintenance over the years.  I believe the section east of NY 261 dates to the 60s and the rest is from the 40s or 50s.

Until recently, the section west of Hamlin Beach didn't have mile markers.  It's also the only parkway in NY that allows commercial vehicles (west of NY 272 only).

[SignBridge]

Earlier someone mentioned New Jersey's Pulaski Skyway. I don't think it quite qualifies as original. When built in the 1930's it did not have a divider. That wasn't added until circa 1960, and was a low curb. The now famous "Jersey wall" wasn't even invented 'til a few years later. Not sure what it has now; been a few years since I drove it. But the exit signage was reasonably new and far better than what existed when I was a kid in the 1960's.

[rte66man]

Balboa in San Diego.  You can really imagine you're back in the 50's while on it.

[hbelkins]

I-83 through Harrisburg certainly has an old feel to it, with a lot of the ancient button copy signs and all.

[Ian]

I-83 through Harrisburg certainly has an old feel to it, with a lot of the ancient button copy signs and all.

Used to have a lot of ancient button copy. When I went through there a few weeks ago, all of the button copy signs that were on I-83 in H-burg were replaced by clearview.

[hbelkins]

I-83 through Harrisburg certainly has an old feel to it, with a lot of the ancient button copy signs and all.

Used to have a lot of ancient button copy. When I went through there a few weeks ago, all of the button copy signs that were on I-83 in H-burg were replaced by clearview.

That's recent, then. I drove I-83 north from PA 581 to I-81 in March and the button copy was still there, although there was a lot more on the southbound side when I drive it from I-283 to the Turnpike last June.

[J N Winkler]

PennDOT has awarded a lot of "Major Guide Sign Maint" contracts in the past year or so, so these might have accounted for the I-83 button copy signs.  Unfortunately these jobs are all proposal-only with no plans or drawings in the proposal books, so the only way to get drawings is to bug PennDOT with a RTKL request.

[Ian]

BTW, here are some photos of the new I-83 signs:










Notice how in the 2nd and last photos, only the "St" is in clearview!

[deathtopumpkins]

Nice... "Lane Ends 3/8 mi"

Though is it normal PennDOT practice to put "th" and "nd" in uppercase letters? I thought it was generally lowercase.

[SignBridge]

These signs are brand new? If so PennDOT is not following the newest MUTCD (2009). As per the current standards, in the bottom two photos  the arrow is supposed to now be placed between the words "exit" and "only". Also, in the 3rd photo from the bottom, the words "next right" should not be on the sign that already says "exit only" with a down arrow over the exiting lane. I can't believe I'm seeing this. On the other hand, I'm not an engineer, and there could have been a specific reason that these exceptions to the standard practice were done. You'd have to ask PennDOT.

[J N Winkler]

They might not have read the 2009 MUTCD thoroughly.  I myself did not know about the requirement to put the arrow on the bottom "EXIT ONLY" panel in lane drop exit direction signs until I was informed of it by another member, who (unlike me) is actually in the business, in a parallel thread some months ago.  BTW, this requirement applies only to brand-new installations--exit direction signs which have been retrofitted through addition of a bottom yellow "EXIT ONLY" panel can still have the arrow against the green background.

I am actually tempted to file a RTKL request.  I will just have to be patient, since it is a minimum 37 days for PennDOT to respond.  They are required to respond within 5 business days, which usually means 7 calendar days except for holidays, but under the law they are allowed to delay a substantive response a further 30 calendar days if the information has to be retrieved from distant satrapies (i.e., district offices).  This timeframe does not include appeal of a specious denial, which PennDOT may under current law issue without penalty.

[hbelkins]

The Exit 43 sign pictured above was the same way back in March, but the others have been replaced since.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hbelkins/5684229210/in/set-72157626638599228

And start forward from there.

[nexus73]

For those of you who want to see real expressway design circa the early postwar era, take the drive from Coos Bay to Coquille.  Back then, US 101 went from Coos Bay to Coquille to Bandon.  A bypass was completed in 1961 that resulted in a shorter direct route to Bandon from Coos Bay.  The section of 101 from the current 101/42 semi-interchange to Coquille was then called state route 42 and the section of 101 going from Coquille to Bandon became state route 42S.  

Over the years there have been some improvements made to the old expressway, most notably in the Millington area and by the Greenacres junction.  There are still a good number of miles that are the original spec with some nice divided highway sections.  This is the only section of US 101 in Oregon to have been upgraded to a 4-lane expressway in that era so that makes it the "best" one there is for our state...LOL!

After arriving in Coquille, continue on 42 for another 10 miles to Myrtle Point and see the 4-lane highway between the towns that was built in the 1970's to get a fine contrast in highway design.  Coquille itself received a 4-lane bypass section that is now part of 42 around 1990 and there is the mysterious 2-lane section of 4 miles from that bypass to North Bank Road north of Coquille which never was upgraded to expressway standards back when the original expressway was built nor has it been redone to this day despite ODOT designating the section as "expressway".  Making this drive is like looking at a core sample so it's rather intriguing for us roadgeeks!

Rick  

[Mr_Northside]

The "Lane Ends - Merge Left" with the 3 arrows doesn't really look like any sort of "lane ends" sign I've ever seen anywhere else in PA.

[Mergingtraffic]

BTW, here are some photos of the new I-83 signs:

Isn't that a centered exit tab as well?