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"Oxbow" Highways

Started by Zeffy, July 25, 2015, 10:03:52 PM

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thenetwork

#25
July 27, 2015, 12:39:55 AM  
Quote from: vtk on July 26, 2015, 08:18:48 AM
In Ohio, from memory:
US 23 at Upper Sandusky
US 33 at Bellefontaine, Lancaster, and Nelsonville
US 35 at Xenia and Washington Court House
OH 2 at Sandusky

I don't think these are as pronounced as the example in the OP, though.

I don't think so, either, as many were designated as "bypasses" around said cities.  In fact SR-2 around Sandusky (and Port Clinton for that matter) were purposely designed to bypass both cities (Sandusky to skirt Cedar Point traffic and Port Clinton to bypass a drawbridge on the original OH-2 alignment just west of downtown PC).  There may have been some NIMBY opposition on the segment of SR-2 around Huron as US-6 came out of the west side of Huron on a limited access highway built in the 60s, while SR-2 connects with it by Rye Beach Road -- about 2 miles west of the start of the US-6 "freeway".

A better example is  I-77 around Fairlawn, OH.  The NIMBYs in this affluent Akron suburb definitely won the battle over ODOT and I-77 had to tie into the existing SR-21 freeway further south & west than what they wanted to.  In hindsight, the current oxbow provides better access to SR-18 West through traffic (connecting with I-71 and points west) over it's original planned alignment.

I'll also throw in I-96 on the west side of Metro Detroit -- another interstate that had to tie into another freeway (I-275) to reach its point of continuation.

bzakharin

#26
July 27, 2015, 09:36:02 AM  
How about I-95 around Boston?

spooky

#27
July 27, 2015, 09:46:25 AM  
Quote from: bzakharin on July 27, 2015, 09:36:02 AM
How about I-95 around Boston?

I guess this fits the OP's criteria, but seems like it shouldn't because a different freeway serves the city.

Henry

#28
July 27, 2015, 11:18:01 AM  
I-40 around Greensboro used to be that way, but then they rerouted it back through the city.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

texaskdog

#29
July 27, 2015, 11:45:27 AM  
Quote from: briantroutman on July 26, 2015, 06:55:36 PM
If we’re taking “oxbow” to mean “any time a freeway’s path bends around a town instead of plowing straight through it”, the supply of examples is nearly limitless. Even without any NIMBY pressure, there are many practical considerations (cost of ROW acquisition, ability to bypass local traffic, etc.) that would suggest that a freeway go around rather than through.

I do know of at least one “reverse oxbow”—where an alignment bypassing town was originally considered, but an alternative going directly through town was selected instead. According to a 2004 Sun-Gazette article which was reposted on m.t.r, the presiding PennDOT 3-0 district engineer was originally in favor of routing I-180 on the northern outskirts of Williamsport north of Four Mile Drive and Grampian Boulevard. However traffic studies suggested that the northern alignment would be less effective at removing traffic from city streets.

Also, it’s not mentioned in the article, but I suspect that Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was instrumental in clinching the current alignment. The flood waters destroyed blocks of downtown buildings on the former Front and Second streets, thereby essentially clearing the ROW that was needed to build the freeway. At the same time, the Army Corps of Engineers was studying levee solutions that could prevent future flooding, and fill needed for the I-180 alignment was able to double as a flood barrier.

I think the numbers dwindle when you take out freeways that just curve by.  I'm thinking the definition is one that make a half-circle around.

PHLBOS

#30
July 27, 2015, 11:54:04 AM  
Quote from: spooky on July 27, 2015, 09:46:25 AM
Quote from: bzakharin on July 27, 2015, 09:36:02 AM
How about I-95 around Boston?

I guess this fits the OP's criteria, but seems like it shouldn't because a different freeway serves the city.
A similar argument can be made regarding I-95 running along the eastern half of the Capitol Beltway.

Back to the topic at hand: I-95 in Pawtucket, RI

GPS does NOT equal GOD

iBallasticwolf2

#31
July 29, 2015, 05:54:21 PM  
Only two things are infinite in this world, stupidity, and I-75 construction

Chris19001

#32
July 30, 2015, 03:54:08 PM  
Quote from: texaskdog on July 26, 2015, 12:16:46 AM
I 40 in Memphis
I-40 has a much larger one in western Arizona/eastern California around Oatman, Laughlin and a mountain range..  I always wondered why that alignment was taken considering how odd it looks.

hm insulators

#35
August 05, 2015, 06:26:39 PM  
Doesn't I-15 "oxbow" around Great Falls or Helena or one of those cities in Montana?
Remember: If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

I'd rather be a child of the road than a son of a ditch.


At what age do you tell a highway that it's been adopted?

iBallasticwolf2

#36
August 05, 2015, 07:09:59 PM  
Quote from: hm insulators on August 05, 2015, 06:26:39 PM
Doesn't I-15 "oxbow" around Great Falls or Helena or one of those cities in Montana?

Nope, but it does make a sort of "Reverse Oxbow around Great Falls.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@47.4993063,-111.2846435,13.68z
Only two things are infinite in this world, stupidity, and I-75 construction
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