Fertile grounds for road meets?

[hbelkins]

Where are some places where a road meet has never taken place, but might be a possibility if any projects are undertaken the area?

Some I've thought of include:

Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY (those two may be taken care of next year)
Chattanooga, TN
Tri-Cities area (Bristol/Johnson City/Kingsport), TN
Roanoke/Christiansburg, VA
Fort Wayne, IN
Urbana/Champaign, IL
Bloomington/Normal, IL
Peoria, IL
Quad Cities, IL/IA
Springfield, IL
Birmingham, AL
Huntsville/Decatur, AL
Memphis, TN
Columbia, SC
Winston-Salem, NC
Little Rock, AR
Tulsa, OK
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA
Erie, PA
Akron/Canton, OH

Those are a few places that I can think of that would be within driving distance for me.

Any other possible locations that anyone can think of?

[SSOWorld]

Twin Cities, MN (someone has that planned - possibly next year?)
Wausau, WI (freeway rebuild with new flyovers for WIS 29)
Green Bay/Fox Cities (as in Appleton, Oshkosh and points in between), WI (upgrades - best to wait a few years for Appleton to Oshkosh since the freeway is at the beginning of expansion)
Detroit - can't rule that out (Gateway project)

EDIT - details added for two ideas

[PAHighways]

Philadelphia and Williamsport are two possible locations that I am kicking around since there is the Fort Washington Expressway rehabilitation and US 15 (future I-99) upgrading taking place.

There is nothing really going on in the Erie and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre areas.

[Alps]

I thought Central Scranton Expwy was supposed to get reconstructed soon.  Was that shelved?

[PAHighways]

I thought Central Scranton Expwy was supposed to get reconstructed soon.  Was that shelved?

I haven't seen anything on the District 4-0 site.

[Dougtone]

A couple of places in New York State which have not had meets yet - Watertown and Binghamton, may have meets over the next couple years as road construction allows. 

As for this year's Upstate NY meet, it looks like we are going back to Poughkeepsie in early October for the opening of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge as a pedestrian bridge.  I am currently trying to figure out what else in the area to look at, but anything else I can think of seems to be in Newburgh or Middletown.

Also, not many meets have been hosted out west, and I have been thinking of calling for a get together of roadgeeks/road enthusiasts/etc while I am in Oregon in September...

[cu2010]

A Watertown/North Country meet might be feasible within the next few years, especially with the Northern Tier Expressway project that's been proposed for decades now moving closer and closer to reality. I'd definitely be up for one. 

[mightyace]

As for this year's Upstate NY meet, it looks like we are going back to Poughkeepsie in early October for the opening of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge as a pedestrian bridge.  I am currently trying to figure out what else in the area to look at, but anything else I can think of seems to be in Newburgh or Middletown.

I might consider going up for that one.  For me, that would be a two for one meet (railfan and roadgeek)!

Slightly O. T. but a brief history of the bridge
The Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge is infamous in Railfan circles.  The bridge burned on May 8, 1974 and was owned by the Penn Central at the time (ex-New Haven).  In short, the Penn Central wanted to route freight from New England over its own lines and not hand off to other railroads in Maybrook, NY like the New Haven did.  A court order forced the PC to route a certain amount of traffic that way until it mysteriously burned thus severing the route forever.

It has certainly helped trucking into New York City and New England as it was the only crossing of the Hudson river south of Albany for freight traffic.  The tunnels in NYC are passenger only.  Freight from Philadelphia can just use the NJ Turnpike and the bridge/tunnel of your choice by truck but by rail, the freight would have to go up to Albany cross to the east side of the Hudson and back!

[hbelkins]

As for this year's Upstate NY meet, it looks like we are going back to Poughkeepsie in early October for the opening of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge as a pedestrian bridge.  I am currently trying to figure out what else in the area to look at, but anything else I can think of seems to be in Newburgh or Middletown.

Doug, is the date you mentioned on another venue set in stone? If so, I'll start making my travel plans. I could use this trip to clinch Virginia's counties on the way and maybe also pick up some of the Pennsylvania counties I'm missing.