Easter Eggs in Your State

[getemngo]

As for neat hidden treasures in my state, we have the only road that passes under the Erie Canal.

Do tell.

It's just east of Medina. I almost posted it to the "low clearance" thread.

[agentsteel53]

Something more fun would be to find the "BUSINESS LOOP 14" signs in Huron.

once you know the town, it's not too tough to find.  in Oct'11 I found three survivors.  there's also an old underpass with original two-lane concrete at one or the other ends of the old 14 segment through town.  east end, IIRC.

[agentsteel53]

I know of three circle cutout Mountain Parkway signs still in existence. Two in Salyersville and one in downtown Jackson.

I pulled up my photo.  it has three assemblies:

* to/Bert Combs supplemental arc/Mountain Parkway circle/left arrow.
* KY-11/bidirectional arrow
* KY-52/right arrow

this is in Beattyville, on KY-52 eastbound, at the north end of the 11/52 multiplex that crosses the river.

here is a street view, but that dates to 2009:
http://goo.gl/maps/kSzzN

do you happen to have any evidence, more recent than November 2010, of the existence or demise of this arc-and-circle assembly?

[hbelkins]

I know of three circle cutout Mountain Parkway signs still in existence. Two in Salyersville and one in downtown Jackson.

I pulled up my photo.  it has three assemblies:

* to/Bert Combs supplemental arc/Mountain Parkway circle/left arrow.
* KY-11/bidirectional arrow
* KY-52/right arrow

this is in Beattyville, on KY-52 eastbound, at the north end of the 11/52 multiplex that crosses the river.

here is a street view, but that dates to 2009:
http://goo.gl/maps/kSzzN

do you happen to have any evidence, more recent than November 2010, of the existence or demise of this arc-and-circle assembly?

LOL. That's my hometown and I pass that sign everyday. I guess I'm so used to it that I had forgotten about it. It's still there. Main Street is no longer KY 52, as that route has been bypassed and the street has been turned over to city maintenance. I guess KYTC is just going to let that assembly rot in place.

So make that four cutout Mountain Parkway old-style signs still in existence, unless they've removed the one in downtown Jackson. Even though I work in Jackson I don't get downtown very often.

[texaskdog]

Old US-81 crossing over Walnut Creek in Austin.  Changed routing during the 40s but to find the old piers while hiking and not looking for them was cool.

[mapman1071]

According to Street View, ALL the signage says Belt Parkway except the Cross Island Parkway.  Also, there's more through lanes coming from the Southern Parkway at that interchange... the only way to tell anything differently is to look at the exit numbers in Street View.  It would appear that the exit number to go from the Belt Parkway to the Southern Parkway and the exit numbers on the Cross Island are the only vestiges of the original plan.

Originally The Cross Island Parkway, The Southern State Parkway & Heckscher State Parkway Exit Numbers were Continuous, Cross Island Exit 1 (Whitestone Parkway) - Exit 12 (Laurelton Parkway) -> Southern State Exit 13 (Central Avenue) to Heckscher Exit 46 (Timber Point Road)

[roadman]

I-95 stub in Massachusetts, where I-95 was going to be built but wasn't.

I would say that the I-695 stubs in Somerville are just as, if not more, unique than the I-95 stub in Canton.  The stubs from southbound I-93 and to northbound I-93 are now part of the Leverett Connector ramps, but the stubs from I-93 northbound and to southbound I-93 have never been used (and can never be used because of the Leverett Connector).

Then, of course, there's the overpasses to nowhere on US 1 at MA 60 in Revere that were supposed to connect the Northeast Expressway to the continuation of I-95 across the Lynn Marsh.  Much of that embankment was removed several years ago to reclaim the sand for Revere Beach, which had severely eroded.

[empirestate]

I found three Easter eggs just today on a walk through Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx–the park is rife with hidden historic treasures!

One is the weird old reference marker I've posted about previously.

Another is a NYC street blade sign for Jerome Ave. in the median of I-87 at Exit 13. While Jerome Ave. did indeed continue up the I-87 right of way into Yonkers, this sign isn't quite old enough or in quite the right spot to date from that era. Yet there's a second bracket that looks as if it could have held an intersecting street sign; what might it have said? (StreetView)

The last is a fire hydrant and some crumbling stonework along the long-obliterated r.o.w. of Mosholu Avenue where it crosses the old Croton Aqueduct trail. Interestingly, there is another hydrant and some better-preserved stonework behind the ballfields on the other side of I-87 from here (which you can just discern in this StreetView, and Mosholu Avenue lives on here as the entrance drive into the ballfield parking area. (Similarly, Mosholu Ave. still exists on the western side of the park leading to the stables and maintenance areas.)

This stretch of I-87 was in the news recently when a small plane successfully made an emergency landing on it.

[Duke87]

As for neat hidden treasures in my state, we have the only road that passes under the Erie Canal.

Do tell.

Or show?

[US81]

Old US-81 crossing over Walnut Creek in Austin.  Changed routing during the 40s but to find the old piers while hiking and not looking for them was cool.

Just east of Lamar between Yager and Braker? I was fairly sure I could see remains of an old bridge from the current Loop 275 bridge over Walnut Creek while tracking old US 81 alignments. I wasn't sure about hiking over there, although west of Lamar is clearly a city park. Where Yager intersects Lamar, you can see on satellite maps (and in real life) where what must have been the old alignment diverged slightly eastward and trace it nearly to the former creek crossing. I have always wanted to go and explore that area more.

[texaskdog]

Old US-81 crossing over Walnut Creek in Austin.  Changed routing during the 40s but to find the old piers while hiking and not looking for them was cool.

Just east of Lamar between Yager and Braker? I was fairly sure I could see remains of an old bridge from the current Loop 275 bridge over Walnut Creek while tracking old US 81 alignments. I wasn't sure about hiking over there, although west of Lamar is clearly a city park. Where Yager intersects Lamar, you can see on satellite maps (and in real life) where what must have been the old alignment diverged slightly eastward and trace it nearly to the former creek crossing. I have always wanted to go and explore that area more.

"THE DALLAS HIGHWAY"  Take Oakbrook off of Lamar to near where it ends.  It is even shown on Google Maps as Walnut Bluffs Trail.  If I remember correctly you have to go a little ways past the end of the trail, but it is not gated off.  Basically you can just see the old piers on either side, and you can tell it was removed long ago (the 1940s).   I just found this on one of our hikes.  When the Walnut biking trail is complete in a few years it will go right thourgh there.  Sadly they may have to take it out to make the trail fit, but that is just speculation on my part.

Sorry to call you old, US-81

And do yourself a favor and hike in Walnut Creek Park!  17 miles of hiking trails.

[US81]

Old US-81 crossing over Walnut Creek in Austin.  Changed routing during the 40s but to find the old piers while hiking and not looking for them was cool.

Just east of Lamar between Yager and Braker? I was fairly sure I could see remains of an old bridge from the current Loop 275 bridge over Walnut Creek while tracking old US 81 alignments. I wasn't sure about hiking over there, although west of Lamar is clearly a city park. Where Yager intersects Lamar, you can see on satellite maps (and in real life) where what must have been the old alignment diverged slightly eastward and trace it nearly to the former creek crossing. I have always wanted to go and explore that area more.

"THE DALLAS HIGHWAY"  Take Oakbrook off of Lamar to near where it ends.  It is even shown on Google Maps as Walnut Bluffs Trail.  If I remember correctly you have to go a little ways past the end of the trail, but it is not gated off.  Basically you can just see the old piers on either side, and you can tell it was removed long ago (the 1940s).   I just found this on one of our hikes.  When the Walnut biking trail is complete in a few years it will go right thourgh there.  Sadly they may have to take it out to make the trail fit, but that is just speculation on my part.

Sorry to call you old, US-81

And do yourself a favor and hike in Walnut Creek Park!  17 miles of hiking trails.

Actually, I have hiked in Walnut Creek Park. My sister used to live near there. Love those trails. I just never got onto the Walnut Bluffs Trail - but I am planning to change that as soon as I can get back to Austin. Thanks for the good info. I hope I can time it right and get some good pictures.

and "I" can't really be upset about being called "old" because "I" date back to the days of the Meridian Highway and SH2 and the original 1926 Ag BPR.   

[texaskdog]

Old US-81 crossing over Walnut Creek in Austin.  Changed routing during the 40s but to find the old piers while hiking and not looking for them was cool.

Just east of Lamar between Yager and Braker? I was fairly sure I could see remains of an old bridge from the current Loop 275 bridge over Walnut Creek while tracking old US 81 alignments. I wasn't sure about hiking over there, although west of Lamar is clearly a city park. Where Yager intersects Lamar, you can see on satellite maps (and in real life) where what must have been the old alignment diverged slightly eastward and trace it nearly to the former creek crossing. I have always wanted to go and explore that area more.

"THE DALLAS HIGHWAY"  Take Oakbrook off of Lamar to near where it ends.  It is even shown on Google Maps as Walnut Bluffs Trail.  If I remember correctly you have to go a little ways past the end of the trail, but it is not gated off.  Basically you can just see the old piers on either side, and you can tell it was removed long ago (the 1940s).   I just found this on one of our hikes.  When the Walnut biking trail is complete in a few years it will go right thourgh there.  Sadly they may have to take it out to make the trail fit, but that is just speculation on my part.

Sorry to call you old, US-81

And do yourself a favor and hike in Walnut Creek Park!  17 miles of hiking trails.

Actually, I have hiked in Walnut Creek Park. My sister used to live near there. Love those trails. I just never got onto the Walnut Bluffs Trail - but I am planning to change that as soon as I can get back to Austin. Thanks for the good info. I hope I can time it right and get some good pictures.

and "I" can't really be upset about being called "old" because "I" date back to the days of the Meridian Highway and SH2 and the original 1926 Ag BPR.   

Have you ever been to the UT map library?  I found a gem there of a map before US Highways.  If only I weren't honest I would have taken it home. 

Walnut Bluffs is short and boring other than the bridge piers.  Takes maybe 20 minutes out and back.  I dont think you can access this (legally) on the North side.  I'd love to walk that old alignment.

Look at this http://fryr.tripod.com/cfhistoryaerial1954.html

[thenetwork]

SR 303 just east of Peninsula, OH, there is a section of old SR-303 that still is overgrown with trees and other assorted foliage, but there is a local hiking trail which follows the old red-brick alignment which still mostly exists (between Dell & Pine -- barely visible in this GSM link:  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Peninsula,+OH+44264/@41.2399722,-81.5434382,553m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x8830d84c1c3e0201:0xb8200bb20199a8a6

[US81]

Have you ever been to the UT map library?  I found a gem there of a map before US Highways.  If only I weren't honest I would have taken it home. 

Walnut Bluffs is short and boring other than the bridge piers.  Takes maybe 20 minutes out and back.  I dont think you can access this (legally) on the North side.  I'd love to walk that old alignment.

Look at this http://fryr.tripod.com/cfhistoryaerial1954.html

I have not been to the UT map library, but I'm dying to go. 

I think you're right about not being able to access the old alignment legally from the north side, looks very 'private property - keep out' but like you, I'd love to walk it.

What a cool photo. You can clearly see the old 81 alignment. The caption says Yager was not yet built, but it should looks like there was a road in the same alignment where Yager is now. I will definitely have to prowl more maps. 

[hbelkins]

To answer Jake's question upthread, the old US 60 cutout in Frankfort with the "TO" lettering added is still in existence.

I also saw a very old text-only "DO NOT ENTER" sign today in Frankfort that uses a font that I always found exclusive to the Louisville district office. Alas, I was riding with someone and couldn't get a photo.