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US 50 in Clarksburg, WV

Started by Tom958, May 03, 2022, 02:21:04 PM

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Tom958

Yesterday I replied to a signage-related Facebook post about something near Clarksburg, WV, and I took the opportunity to have a look at US 50 downtown after seeing some funky-looking ramps there. I'd just assumed that the freeway segment there that appears in the Rand McNally atlas was a boring modern highway like the one in Parkersburg. No. Not even.

To make a long story short, this impressive railroad viaduct spanning US 50 and Sycamore Street was built in 1937, but US 50 passing under it wasn't opened until the late fifties-early sixties. The second portion to open, a bridge spanning Elk Creek east of downtown, came along in 1955; this aerial photo from 1957 shows it open, but not a hint of construction anywhere else that I see. The other bridge over Elk Creek, much nearer to the rail viaduct, was finished in 1958. Unfortunately, there's not another historicaerial until 1982, when everything was finished, and the USGS topos found at that site are unconvincing and unhelpful.

If a false start was made on building a freeway here in 1937, it would've been one of the earliest freeways in the nation, contemporary with what became the Hollywood and Pasadena Freeways in Los Angeles. I find that absolutely fascinating, and I'm surprised that I'd never heard of it.

I'm sure there are people here who know all about this, and/or who can direct me to online sources about it. And... hopefully, people will just want to talk about it.

 


Dirt Roads

Sorry, no dice here.  That viaduct went over a B&O branch line that connected northwest of here and skirted along the northside of downtown.  Back in the 1920s, Sycamore Street was routed through that third bay under the viaduct pretty much the same way that it is today.  By the early 1950s, the downtown branch had been abandoned and several roads popped up along its old alignment.  From the look of this viaduct structure, there may have been separate tracks in each of the two bays that carries Corridor D today.

The 1958 USGS map shows the eastern end of the Clarksburg Freeway completed from Pike Street East to the Third Street RIRO exit and just beyond the North Fourth Street overpass.  The USGS actually shows an elevated fill that runs from about Fifth Street past Sixth Street and then turning northward along what is now College Street.  It looks like another railroad branch ran along that fill line back in the 1920s.  Since the Clarksburg Freeway runs along the creekbank elevation and slightly depressed as compared to the streets in downtown Clarksburg, it looks like the railroad fill was removed during the construction of the freeway.  Anyhow, US-50 continued to use the Pike Street (westbound) and Main Street (eastbound) until Corridor D was completed from Wilsonburg in 1977.  That section was routed beneath the B&O Mainline viaduct that you posted here and connected to the lightly used section constructed in the late 1950s.

For the history books, that early section of the Clarksburg Freeway would have been the earliest section of freeway completed in West Virginia except that it didn't have a fully functioning exit at Third Street back then (and the east end simply dumped onto Pike Street). 

Tom958

#2
Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 03, 2022, 08:03:51 PM
Sorry, no dice here.  That viaduct went over a B&O branch line that connected northwest of here and skirted along the northside of downtown.  Back in the 1920s, Sycamore Street was routed through that third bay under the viaduct pretty much the same way that it is today.  By the early 1950s, the downtown branch had been abandoned and several roads popped up along its old alignment.  From the look of this viaduct structure, there may have been separate tracks in each of the two bays that carries Corridor D today.

The 1958 USGS map shows the eastern end of the Clarksburg Freeway completed from Pike Street East to the Third Street RIRO exit and just beyond the North Fourth Street overpass.  The USGS actually shows an elevated fill that runs from about Fifth Street past Sixth Street and then turning northward along what is now College Street.  It looks like another railroad branch ran along that fill line back in the 1920s.  Since the Clarksburg Freeway runs along the creekbank elevation and slightly depressed as compared to the streets in downtown Clarksburg, it looks like the railroad fill was removed during the construction of the freeway.  Anyhow, US-50 continued to use the Pike Street (westbound) and Main Street (eastbound) until Corridor D was completed from Wilsonburg in 1977.  That section was routed beneath the B&O Mainline viaduct that you posted here and connected to the lightly used section constructed in the late 1950s.

For the history books, that early section of the Clarksburg Freeway would have been the earliest section of freeway completed in West Virginia except that it didn't have a fully functioning exit at Third Street back then (and the east end simply dumped onto Pike Street).

Thanks for that! (Sorry for the late reply. I've had a rough couple of days)

I still think that the B&O viaduct was built as a crossing of at least a four-lane highway as well as Sycamore Street. One other data point Is the placement of the decorative B&O shields: one over each future roadway, in the direction of traffic flow. It seems unlikely that they would've built it that way if it was intended only to cross some (four?!?) train tracks.

One caveat is that the highway may not have been envisioned initially as having fully controlled access. The lay of the land, though, makes only the Chestnut Street and the Thirteen Street-Sycamore Street interchanges appear to be optional (the former, per Bridgehunter, was built in 1958, the latter in 1961). However, the Fourth and Sixth Street bridges were there before new US 50, and having the new highway intersect them at grade would've been expensive to the point of infeasibility as well as inferior in perfomance-- unless that railroad embankment you mentioned was high enough to meet Fourth and/or Sixth Streets at grade and the bridges were extended over the highway when it was built. What I found at http://bridgehunter.com/wv/harrison/bh92846/ and http://bridgehunter.com/wv/harrison/bh92847/ weighs against that possibility, though:

The 1933 Fourth Street Bridge


The ancient Fourth Street Bridge


I'm gonna email https://www.clarksburghistorymuseum.com/ about it.

Bitmapped

Quote from: Tom958 on May 05, 2022, 05:54:39 AM
Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 03, 2022, 08:03:51 PM
Sorry, no dice here.  That viaduct went over a B&O branch line that connected northwest of here and skirted along the northside of downtown.  Back in the 1920s, Sycamore Street was routed through that third bay under the viaduct pretty much the same way that it is today.  By the early 1950s, the downtown branch had been abandoned and several roads popped up along its old alignment.  From the look of this viaduct structure, there may have been separate tracks in each of the two bays that carries Corridor D today.

The 1958 USGS map shows the eastern end of the Clarksburg Freeway completed from Pike Street East to the Third Street RIRO exit and just beyond the North Fourth Street overpass.  The USGS actually shows an elevated fill that runs from about Fifth Street past Sixth Street and then turning northward along what is now College Street.  It looks like another railroad branch ran along that fill line back in the 1920s.  Since the Clarksburg Freeway runs along the creekbank elevation and slightly depressed as compared to the streets in downtown Clarksburg, it looks like the railroad fill was removed during the construction of the freeway.  Anyhow, US-50 continued to use the Pike Street (westbound) and Main Street (eastbound) until Corridor D was completed from Wilsonburg in 1977.  That section was routed beneath the B&O Mainline viaduct that you posted here and connected to the lightly used section constructed in the late 1950s.

For the history books, that early section of the Clarksburg Freeway would have been the earliest section of freeway completed in West Virginia except that it didn't have a fully functioning exit at Third Street back then (and the east end simply dumped onto Pike Street).

Thanks for that! (Sorry for the late reply. I've had a rough couple of days)

I still think that the B&O viaduct was built as a crossing of at least a four-lane highway as well as Sycamore Street. One other data point Is the placement of the decorative B&O shields: one over each future roadway, in the direction of traffic flow. It seems unlikely that they would've built it that way if it was intended only to cross some (four?!?) train tracks.

The National Bridge Inventory says the bridge over US 50 was built in 1960. I suspect that the original 1937 bridge over Sycamore Street was extended when the US 50 freeway was built.

Tom958

#4
Quote from: Bitmapped on May 05, 2022, 09:22:26 AMThe National Bridge Inventory says the bridge over US 50 was built in 1960. I suspect that the original 1937 bridge over Sycamore Street was extended when the US 50 freeway was built.

I have a hard time believing that. The Bridgereports entry has issues; it doesn't even have the usual place for a modification date, and the span length is apparently the width of the spanned roadway measured perpendicularly to the roadway rather than the usual actual length of the two spans. Beyond that... does this really look like something that's been added onto?

There's some other stuff, too, detailed below. I think it's likely that the Bridgereports entry is simply mistaken. I love Bridgereports, but I've found mistakes there before.

Quote from: Dirt Roadshttps://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31465.msg2734594#msg2734594The USGS actually shows an elevated fill that runs from about Fifth Street past Sixth Street and then turning northward along what is now College Street.  It looks like another railroad branch ran along that fill line back in the 1920s.  Since the Clarksburg Freeway runs along the creekbank elevation and slightly depressed as compared to the streets in downtown Clarksburg, it looks like the railroad fill was removed during the construction of the freeway.

I didn't really understand what you were saying here (and I must not be as good at finding old USGS maps), so I had a look at the 1926 map. I don't really see the line along College Street, but there's a railroad spur that runs westward from Fourth Street along the future route of US 50! So, it seems extremely unlikely that the 1937 bridge wasn't built in one phase rather than being extended in, say, 1960.

On the 1958 map I looked at, the rail spur is gone, but the contours for that cut are visible. There's an unexcavated plug right at Broaddus Avenue, though, where the interchange bridge is now. Could that have been a short tunnel? Sure looks like it. Also, the photo I posted above of the 1933 Glen Elk Viaduct/Fourth Street bridge mentioned an interurban line. Maybe that plays into all of this somehow.

I sent a concise message to the museum in Clarksburg. Maybe something will come of it.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 03, 2022, 08:03:51 PM
Sorry, no dice here.  That viaduct went over a B&O branch line that connected northwest of here and skirted along the northside of downtown.  Back in the 1920s, Sycamore Street was routed through that third bay under the viaduct pretty much the same way that it is today.  By the early 1950s, the downtown branch had been abandoned and several roads popped up along its old alignment.  From the look of this viaduct structure, there may have been separate tracks in each of the two bays that carries Corridor D today.

The 1958 USGS map shows the eastern end of the Clarksburg Freeway completed from Pike Street East to the Third Street RIRO exit and just beyond the North Fourth Street overpass.  The USGS actually shows an elevated fill that runs from about Fifth Street past Sixth Street and then turning northward along what is now College Street.  It looks like another railroad branch ran along that fill line back in the 1920s.  Since the Clarksburg Freeway runs along the creekbank elevation and slightly depressed as compared to the streets in downtown Clarksburg, it looks like the railroad fill was removed during the construction of the freeway.  Anyhow, US-50 continued to use the Pike Street (westbound) and Main Street (eastbound) until Corridor D was completed from Wilsonburg in 1977.  That section was routed beneath the B&O Mainline viaduct that you posted here and connected to the lightly used section constructed in the late 1950s.

For the history books, that early section of the Clarksburg Freeway would have been the earliest section of freeway completed in West Virginia except that it didn't have a fully functioning exit at Third Street back then (and the east end simply dumped onto Pike Street).

Quote from: Tom958 on May 05, 2022, 05:54:39 AM
Thanks for that! (Sorry for the late reply. I've had a rough couple of days)

I still think that the B&O viaduct was built as a crossing of at least a four-lane highway as well as Sycamore Street. One other data point Is the placement of the decorative B&O shields: one over each future roadway, in the direction of traffic flow. It seems unlikely that they would've built it that way if it was intended only to cross some (four?!?) train tracks.

Quote from: Bitmapped on May 05, 2022, 09:22:26 AM
The National Bridge Inventory says the bridge over US 50 was built in 1960. I suspect that the original 1937 bridge over Sycamore Street was extended when the US 50 freeway was built.

Oops.  I found a map from 1925 that shows that the B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch did come off of the mainline and cross under the B&O Mainline before crossing Elk Creek into downtown.  Back then, Sycamore Street zigzagged west and north to cross over the mainline at grade.  (This looks just like the arrangement shown in the 1928 USGS map).  I'll need to look again, but I am pretty sure that the other map I saw had Sycamore Street on the same alignment as today (and parallel to the B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch).  If so, that map must have been dated after 1937.  At the scale that I can get, it was not obvious whether the B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch had one or two tracks under the B&O Mainline.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: Tom958 on May 05, 2022, 04:18:28 PM
I sent a concise message to the museum in Clarksburg. Maybe something will come of it.

That ought to work great.  More than likely, they will find a local railroader who knows the real story (and some of the fish tails).  If you talk to someone directly, make sure you ask them where to find the best pepperoni rolls.  (I just had one about an hour ago, but it wasn't made in West Virginia). 

I'm still curious why it took nearly 20 years to open that section if that viaduct was already constructed to accommodate the Clarksburg Freeway by 1958.  For the record, early Amtrak still ran over this route until 1973 (including a year-long test of the Turbo Train in mountain territory).

Mapmikey

There is physical evidence the bridge was lengthened.

Here is a date plate from the 1934 bridge on US 19 over West Fork River - https://goo.gl/maps/4oRyBPyvzpjjHVwy9
Here is a date plate from the 1961 bridge on Sycamore over US 50 - https://goo.gl/maps/2vMQtY8ji5S5LNbJA

Now here is the date plate on the EB US 50 underpass of the rail bridge - https://goo.gl/maps/L8ZzZE4f8QwTdrAWA
Here is the date plate on the WB US 50 underpass - https://goo.gl/maps/z5s5LT1VxdT3dHyL7

Regrettably no GMSV angle I could muster could show the date on either underpass plate.

It is inconclusive to me whether either the 1955 or 1957 aerials show a shorter bridge than the 1982 aerial and this 1926 map may not be much help either.

This page from the 1958-61 WV Highway Report is inconclusive about whether the B & O bridge was being lengthened - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3036255&view=1up&seq=48&skin=2021&q1=clarksburg


Dirt Roads

I wasn't aware that Steve Alpert had posted a bunch of pictures of the Sycamore Street portion of the underpass on his website:  https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/sycamore_st/
There's more pictures of the Clarksburg Freeway portion of the underpass on his topic webpage (about halfway down): https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/us_50/w.html

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 05, 2022, 09:53:54 PM
This page from the 1958-61 WV Highway Report is inconclusive about whether the B & O bridge was being lengthened - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3036255&view=1up&seq=48&skin=2021&q1=clarksburg

Sure enough, the road was called the Clarksburg Expressway back when it was constructed.  No doubt that the locals still call it that.  Looks like it was originally funded as a portion of US-50, even though it took 20 years or more to actually be routed onto.

Tom958

Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 05, 2022, 10:16:12 PM
I wasn't aware that Steve Alpert had posted a bunch of pictures of the Sycamore Street portion of the underpass on his website:  https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/sycamore_st/
There's more pictures of the Clarksburg Freeway portion of the underpass on his topic webpage (about halfway down): https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/us_50/w.html

We're Facebook friends, so I just messaged him. :)

Mapmikey

Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 05, 2022, 10:16:12 PM
I wasn't aware that Steve Alpert had posted a bunch of pictures of the Sycamore Street portion of the underpass on his website:  https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/sycamore_st/
There's more pictures of the Clarksburg Freeway portion of the underpass on his topic webpage (about halfway down): https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/us_50/w.html

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 05, 2022, 09:53:54 PM
This page from the 1958-61 WV Highway Report is inconclusive about whether the B & O bridge was being lengthened - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3036255&view=1up&seq=48&skin=2021&q1=clarksburg

Sure enough, the road was called the Clarksburg Expressway back when it was constructed.  No doubt that the locals still call it that.  Looks like it was originally funded as a portion of US-50, even though it took 20 years or more to actually be routed onto.

The last picture on Alps' page gives a project number and bridge number which means you can find out particulars - here is bridge 1427 on this 1938 page showing the length as 0.02 mi or about 105 ft which is not enough to cross both sides of US 50 and Sycamore.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3036240&view=1up&seq=348&skin=2021&q1=1427

Bitmapped

Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 05, 2022, 10:16:12 PM
Sure enough, the road was called the Clarksburg Expressway back when it was constructed.  No doubt that the locals still call it that.  Looks like it was originally funded as a portion of US-50, even though it took 20 years or more to actually be routed onto.

Actually, nobody calls it the Clarksburg Expressway. It's just Route 50.

Tom958

#12
Quote from: Mapmikey on May 05, 2022, 11:33:06 PM

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 05, 2022, 09:53:54 PM
This page from the 1958-61 WV Highway Report is inconclusive about whether the B & O bridge was being lengthened - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3036255&view=1up&seq=48&skin=2021&q1=clarksburg
The last picture on Alps' page gives a project number and bridge number which means you can find out particulars - here is bridge 1427 on this 1938 page showing the length as 0.02 mi or about 105 ft which is not enough to cross both sides of US 50 and Sycamore.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3036240&view=1up&seq=348&skin=2021&q1=1427

I have a hard time taking seriously a source that lists bridge lengths in fractions of a mile. I guess bridgereports.com has spoiled me.  :bigass:

I must confess that I'm gonna be unpersuadable on this unless I hear something out of the Clarksburg Museum (nothing as yet)  or maybe sworn testimony as to the content of that date plate that's unreadable on Streetview. The railroad viaduct simply looks as though it was built in one piece, at one time, and that time was in 1937.

As penance for my hard-headedness, here's a combined view of the 1926 and 1958 USGS maps I was looking at, plus today's Google Map of the same area.

Quote from: Dirt Roads
Oops.  I found a map from 1925 that shows that the B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch did come off of the mainline and cross under the B&O Mainline before crossing Elk Creek into downtown.  Back then, Sycamore Street zigzagged west and north to cross over the mainline at grade.  (This looks just like the arrangement shown in the 1928 USGS map).

I presume that zigzaggy Sycamore Street crossed the B&O at grade. Note, too, that the rail spur into downtown crossed both the railroad and the street at the same point. To me, it seems likely that the rail spur was tunneled under the B&O and the street, as it appears to have been tunneled under Broaddus Avenue further east. Replacing that setup with today's direct Sycamore Street and Twelfth Street would've been a huge project, and I don't think the tunnel would've survived it intact. Therefore, I think they built a futureproof viaduct to replace it. That's my current theory, anyway.




Mapmikey

Quote from: Tom958 on May 07, 2022, 10:31:54 AM

I have a hard time taking seriously a source that lists bridge lengths in fractions of a mile. I guess bridgereports.com has spoiled me.  :bigass:


Note the distance was reported as 0.020 miles which means it is accurate to within 5 feet.


Dirt Roads

Quote from: Tom958 on May 07, 2022, 10:31:54 AM
I must confess that I'm gonna be unpersuadable on this unless I hear something out of the Clarksburg Museum (nothing as yet)  or maybe sworn testimony as to the content of that date plate that's unreadable on Streetview. The railroad viaduct simply looks as though it was built in one piece, at one time, and that time was in 1937.

From this angle (westbound), you can clearly see that there are two separate bridge structures.  I can't tell for sure, but it looks like the single bay overpass for (now) Sycamore Street is an entirely concrete structure, whereas the bridge over the US-50 Clarksburg Expressway is comprised of stringers, and these look like steel stringers to me because of the sheer number of them at a close spacing.  From this angle, it also appears that both of the concrete abutments for the overpass for (now) Sycamore Street are identical.  It



Turning around and looking at the other angle (eastbound), you get a different perspective about the center abutment for the two bridges.  There a whole separate abutment for the bridge over the US-50 Clarksburg Expressway that is missing in the other view. 



I'm wondering if this is an [intentional] optical illusion.  First, the "architecture" of the parapet walls and retaining walls are identical, and the "guardrails" atop both bridges are identical.  The date stamp 1937 on both ends of the center abutment is very distinctively of the font used by the B&O Railroad back in the early 1900s.  But the concrete arched "guardrails" are a design used by the State Road Commission in the mid-century.  Most noteworthy, the B&O logo on the bridge is the very newest logo used by the railroad and just happens to be the same as was on the Metropolitan Subdivision bridge dating from the early 1960s over the Capital Beltway near Kensington, Maryland (sadly, a metal CSX sign is stapled over the original B&O logo).



Anyhow, I'm still quite curious about the "original" 1937 bridge, which was the second bridge at this location.  My best guess is that the original bridge (shown in the 1925 USGS map) was insufficient for modern-day freight loads and was replaced directly adjacent to the old bridge location.  From the 1958 USGS map, it appears that the original routing of the B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch (which had already been removed) was aligned to the east of what by then is being shown as the Sycamore Street underpass.  But I can't help but think that Sycamore Street continued to use the at-grade crossing and the B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch used the underpass prior to abandonment of the railroad.

And the railroader in me can't help but see that the 1928 alignment for B&O Downtown Clarksburg Branch just happens to be exactly tangent to the B&O Mainline northwest of there, with the B&O Mainline routed slightly to the south then up and over the branch.  Makes me wonder if the original B&O Mainline went through downtown and crossed back over Elk Creek somewhere else.

Mapmikey

ok...here is the proof:

see page 4 of this document, which are the 1955 survey plans for the Clarksburg Expressway
https://mapwv.gov/DOTLivePlans/Scanning/ProjectBookFolders/R_17_2_0050_00_000_1955_S01916/PDF/R_17_2_0050_00_000_1955_S01916.pdf

It clearly shows the edge of the WB pavement to be located past where the railroad bridge ends.

Tom958

#16
Quote from: Mapmikey on May 07, 2022, 02:16:15 PM
ok...here is the proof:

see page 4 of this document, which are the 1955 survey plans for the Clarksburg Expressway
https://mapwv.gov/DOTLivePlans/Scanning/ProjectBookFolders/R_17_2_0050_00_000_1955_S01916/PDF/R_17_2_0050_00_000_1955_S01916.pdf

It clearly shows the edge of the WB pavement to be located past where the railroad bridge ends.

And a substantial abutment and steep cut slopes within the footprint of the current eastbound roadway.

Indeed, that's conclusive proof. Great work on your part, Mapmikey! Now I must admit to the absurdity of my freeway-in-the-mid-thirties hypothesis, though I feel slightly vindicated that the mega-abutment between the 1937 and 1960 spans was certainly built in 1937 and modified only minimally in 1960.

As to the impressive architectural integrity of the final structure, I'm not conversant with the architectural aspects of West Virginia highways, but it's not that unusual for distinctive guardrail designs to be in use for thirty years or more. In fact, the metal guardrails on the Thirteenth Steet and the now-demolished Chestnut Avenue-Broaddus Street bridges reminds me of a design Alabama used for a good thirty years running. The last installation I know of was on one bridge over I-85 at the Georgia state line in 1959 or so, and was surely also chosen for aesthetic and/or nostalgic rather than practical reasons.

I cheerfully admit that I have no knowledge of the evolution of B&O Railroad logos, either.

I hope you somewhat enjoyed the wild goose chase I sent you on, and also that you enjoy your delicious roast goose dinner.   :)

Dirt Roads

#17
Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 07:46:06 AM
I hope you somewhat enjoyed the wild goose chase I sent you on, and also that you enjoy your delicious roast goose dinner.   :)

Not a wild goose chase, as this is just a follow-up on the gentleman's argument between bitmapped, seicer and myself back in late 2020: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26914.msg2550781#msg2550781

After playing this game with us, please do us a favor and give your unbiased opinion of whether this section of the Clarksburg Freeway should be considered the first section of freeway in West Virginia.  Here are the important facts:


  • The Clarksburg Expressway started construction about 1955 and this first section opened in 1958.
  • The Clarksburg Expressway in 1958 was connected to US-50 on the east end and had the RIRO at Third Street.  Not sure if there was any way for westbound traffic to exit at Third Street.
  • This section of the Clarksburg Expressway was converted into part of a freeway when connected to Corridor D in 1977.

  • The Camden Avenue Expressway (WV-81, now WV-95) in Parkersburg started construction in 1956 and was completed in 1959.  It never had any interchanges, and has several RIROs.
  • Like its older sister in Clarksburg, the Camden Avenue Expressway was supposed to be part of US-50 when fully connected.  Never happened, thus never became part of a freeway.

  • The Oak Hill Expressway (then US-21) started construction in 1957 and was completed in 1960.  That original section had two interchanges, qualifying as a "freeway" from the onset.

  • The first section of Interstate in West Virginia was I-64 between Exit 15 (East Huntington) and (then) Exit 20 (originally Ona, now Mall Road, was also known as Barboursville) opened later in 1960.

For the record, the official West Virginia History textbook used in the 1970s had a factoid that the Oak Hill Expressway was the first freeway in West Virginia.


Dirt Roads

Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 07:46:06 AM
I cheerfully admit that I have no knowledge of the evolution of B&O Railroad logos, either.

Like all good railroaders, I am not a... well lets call them "railgeeks".  But I do have an interest in railroad history, particularly in areas where roads and rails intersect.  There was a snarky tradition floating around with the old B&O guys that the C&O changed the ampersand in the B&O logo to the C&O font.  If you never paid any attention, my home road (the Chesapeake and Ohio) never had an ampersand in its logo (instead spelling out the work "and").  But after this discussion, I decided to check it out.  Sure enough, the older B&O logos had a distinctive crook in the tail of the ampersand.  This logo impressed on the B&O bridge over the Clarksburg Freeway has a simple ampersand. 

Anyhow, the question that this leads up to is that the C&O didn't take over the B&O until 1962.  Makes me wonder if the "new B&O logo" wasn't part of the original bridge construction in 1958.

Tom958

#19
    Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 08, 2022, 02:44:17 PM
    Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 07:46:06 AM
    I hope you somewhat enjoyed the wild goose chase I sent you on, and also that you enjoy your delicious roast goose dinner.   :)

    Not a wild goose chase, as this is just a follow-up on the gentleman's argument between bitmapped, seicer and myself back in late 2020: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31465.0

    That's the URL for this thread.  :D  I think the discussion you refer to starts here.

    Quote from: Dirt RoadsAfter playing this game with us, please do us a favor and give your unbiased opinion of whether this section of the Clarksburg Freeway should be considered the first section of freeway in West Virginia.  Here are the important facts:


    • The Clarksburg Expressway started construction about 1955 and this first section opened in 1958.
    • The Clarksburg Expressway in 1958 was connected to US-50 on the east end and had the RIRO at Third Street.  Not sure if there was any way for westbound traffic to exit at Third Street.

    Per http://bridgereports.com/1613047, the impressive ramp bridge connecting Second Street to westbound US 50 was completed in 1958. It isn't that obvious because it looks newer than that due to its rakish hammerhead piers and the modern parapets added (I presume) during its 1994 reconstruction. That being the case, there would've been a full interchange at Second and Third Streets, giving the crown to the Clarksburg Expressway.

    I assume that we're excluding the Turnpike for its tolls and two-lanedness. Its first sections opened in 1954.[/list]

    Mapmikey

    There are aerial shots that show the Clarksburg Expressway in the early years:

    Pictures #2 and #3 at this link.

    It is unclear to me where you could exactly go to/from west of 2nd/3rd on the original expressway portion.  If you couldn't go west of 2nd/3rd, then this is really no different than the US 40-250 bridge in Wheeling which was dedicated in late 1955 and had one exit in between the at grade tie-ins.

    I would also agree that there is insufficient 4-laning anywhere on the Turnpike in the late 1950s to qualify for this question.

    Surprisingly, this WVDOT document does not mention earliest expressways, though does identify the first limited access road in West Virginia as US 119/WV 10 in Logan.

    Dirt Roads

    Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 07:46:06 AM
    I hope you somewhat enjoyed the wild goose chase I sent you on, and also that you enjoy your delicious roast goose dinner.   :)

    Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 08, 2022, 02:44:17 PM
    Not a wild goose chase, as this is just a follow-up on the gentleman's argument between bitmapped, seicer and myself back in late 2020: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31465.0

    Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 08:28:17 PM
    That's the URL for this thread.  :D  I think the discussion you refer to starts here.

    Indeed, except the link I was going to use started at a different post.  If you don't mind, I'll correct my link with yours.

    Quote from: Dirt Roads on May 08, 2022, 02:44:17 PM
    After playing this game with us, please do us a favor and give your unbiased opinion of whether this section of the Clarksburg Freeway should be considered the first section of freeway in West Virginia.  Here are the important facts:


    • The Clarksburg Expressway started construction about 1955 and this first section opened in 1958.
    • The Clarksburg Expressway in 1958 was connected to US-50 on the east end and had the RIRO at Third Street.  Not sure if there was any way for westbound traffic to exit at Third Street.

    Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 08:28:17 PM
    Per http://bridgereports.com/1613047, the impressive ramp bridge connecting Second Street to westbound US 50 was completed in 1958. It isn't that obvious because it looks newer than that due to its rakish hammerhead piers and the modern parapets added (I presume) during its 1994 reconstruction. That being the case, there would've been a full interchange at Second and Third Streets, giving the crown to the Clarksburg Expressway.

    Good find, since the 1958 USGS map doesn't show the Second Street interchange.  I will sheepishly eat my hat.  Actually, I was originally in agreement with both Bitmapped and Seicer that the Clarksburg Expressway portion was the oldest section of freeway in the state, but since my old textbook said that the Oak Hill Expressway was the first section of freeway I was still good with that interpretation as well.  But this plays out that the Clarksburg Freeway wins both.

    Please give us a follow-up if you get anymore details from the Clarksburg Historical Society.  I was planning on asking a few questions to a fellow railroader who grew up in nearby Bridgeport and would have been old enough to remember when this section was completed.  He was a railcar engineer, so who knows if paid any attention to the bridges.

    Dirt Roads

    Quote from: Mapmikey on May 08, 2022, 08:47:55 PM
    There are aerial shots that show the Clarksburg Expressway in the early years:

    Pictures #2 and #3 at this link.

    Wow!  Picture #2 clearly shows the Clarksburg Freeway ending at Third Street, with nothing paved west of the Fourth Street overpass.

    Quote from: Mapmikey on May 08, 2022, 08:47:55 PM
    It is unclear to me where you could exactly go to/from west of 2nd/3rd on the original expressway portion.  If you couldn't go west of 2nd/3rd, then this is really no different than the US 40-250 bridge in Wheeling which was dedicated in late 1955 and had one exit in between the at grade tie-ins.

    Any idea if the Fort Henry Bridge was multi-lane divided when it first opened?  Most of those bridges were multi-lane undivided, like the Patrick Street Bridge in Charleston.  (Not even sure if there were any other long multi-lane bridges in West Virginia back then).

    Quote from: Mapmikey on May 08, 2022, 08:47:55 PM
    I would also agree that there is insufficient 4-laning anywhere on the Turnpike in the late 1950s to qualify for this question.

    Truth be told, there weren't any sections of "freeway" on the West Virginia Turnpike before 1980.  (Some folks might argue about a few sections of I-77 completed before then, but I don't recall any of those sections having exits back then).  None of the multi-lane toll booths were completed back then, either.

    Quote from: Mapmikey on May 08, 2022, 08:47:55 PM
    Surprisingly, this WVDOT document does not mention earliest expressways, though does identify the first limited access road in West Virginia as US 119/WV 10 in Logan.

    I knew Logan Boulevard was one of the older expressways, but I would have thought that the Southside Expressway in Charleston was older.  Another very good find.

    Tom958

    Quote from: Mapmikey on May 08, 2022, 08:47:55 PM
    There are aerial shots that show the Clarksburg Expressway in the early years:

    Pictures #2 and #3 at this link.

    It is unclear to me where you could exactly go to/from west of 2nd/3rd on the original expressway portion.  If you couldn't go west of 2nd/3rd, then this is really no different than the US 40-250 bridge in Wheeling which was dedicated in late 1955 and had one exit in between the at grade tie-ins.

    That bothers me, too, especially considering what the 1957 historicaerial shows. However, per http://bridgehunter.com/wv/harrison/bh53942/, the now-replaced Chestnut Street interchange bridge was also finished in 1958, so to me it seems likely that the road between there and the eastern sections of the expressway was done around that time, too.

    Dirt Roads

    Quote from: Mapmikey on May 08, 2022, 08:47:55 PM
    There are aerial shots that show the Clarksburg Expressway in the early years:

    Pictures #2 and #3 at this link.

    It is unclear to me where you could exactly go to/from west of 2nd/3rd on the original expressway portion.  If you couldn't go west of 2nd/3rd, then this is really no different than the US 40-250 bridge in Wheeling which was dedicated in late 1955 and had one exit in between the at grade tie-ins.

    Quote from: Tom958 on May 08, 2022, 10:42:19 PM
    That bothers me, too, especially considering what the 1957 historicaerial shows. However, per http://bridgehunter.com/wv/harrison/bh53942/, the now-replaced Chestnut Street interchange bridge was also finished in 1958, so to me it seems likely that the road between there and the eastern sections of the expressway was done around that time, too.

    Since the DOH had a history of letting local bumble around on unpaved sections of freeways under construction, it would not surprise me if some folks were able to use the unopened Clarksburg Expressway bridge over Elk Creek and use this underpass to access the Northview community.  (Its looks like one could not access Sycamore Street this way).  On the other hand, I fondly remember a time where my father let me drive on an unopened section of I-79 (which eventually got diverted along a dirt berm) only to be confronted with a bridge that was 8 inches higher.  It was obvious that some Jeeps were using the bridge, but I had to turn around and go back 5 miles to the closest exit.  The truth is out there somewhere.



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