Freeway segments of fully decommissioned US routes (in particular, US 66)

[TheStranger]

A thread idea that's been around in my head for a long time but finally came back to me just now:

California roadgeeks are familiar with the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) originally being built as US 66, which stands out in comparison to how much of the focus of Route 66 has been on ancient conventional roads of various types (undivided two-lane, four-lane both divided and undivided).  So it got me thinking, what segments of existing freeway have been part of US 66?  In California I can think of several (US 101 in Hollywood/Echo Park, all of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, a portion of the Colorado Freeway/Ventura Freeway that was Alternate US 66 near Eagle Rock, and portions of I-215, I-15, and I-40). 

Then this got me thinking: This could also apply to US 466 too!  (part of US 101 near Atascadero, parts of Route 99 and Route 204 near Bakersfield, and just about all of I-15 going towards Nevada)

The old Maryland/West Virginia US 48 fits this easily (as it was entirely supplanted by I-68).  And US 99 is an easy one as existing I-10, I-5, US 101, much of California State Route 99, Route 204, Business I-80/Route 51 (as US 99E), Route 275 and US 50 (as US 99W), I-80, Route 65, Route 70, and portions of Washington State Route 99 all have operated as US 99 at some point.

In order for a road to qualify for this thread, it has to have been signed as the US route in question - simply being planned as such, but never signed for it or never built, doesn't qualify (so US 6 being the proposed designation for the Route 170 portion of the Hollywood Freeway doesn't qualify in addition to the fact US 6 is still around much further north). 

Curious of other examples that I haven't thought of.

[SkyPesos]

For US 66 in IL, it was already a divided 4 lane between St Louis and Chicago before the interstate era. When I-55 was being constructed, for the most part, one direction of US 66 was upgraded to become one direction of the lanes for I-55, while the other direction became a 2-way frontage road, and the other I-55 lanes was constructed from scratch. So for the purpose of this thread, half of the I-55 lanes was part of pre-interstate era US 66.

[GaryV]

There is a portion of I-96 west of Grand Rapids where the freeway was built on top of former US-16.

There is also a bit of I-75 built on top of what was then US-27 near Grayling.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Before we get too far in, the OP specified that he was looking for US routes that no longer exist at all.

[GaryV]

Both US-16 and US-27 are decommissioned in Michigan.

[Max Rockatansky]

Part of former US 99/Golden State Boulevard north of Church Avenue in Fresno is a full freeway and not state maintained. 

[sprjus4]

The CA-60 freeway in the Los Angeles metro used to be US-60. While US-60 still does exist, it has been fully decommissioned in California.

[OCGuy81]

There's parts of WA-99 in Seattle that are a freeway.  US-99 no longer exists. 

Is WA-99 on the original alignment of US-99?

[TheStranger]

There's parts of WA-99 in Seattle that are a freeway.  US-99 no longer exists. 

Is WA-99 on the original alignment of US-99?

The Alaskan Way Viaduct absolutely fit this thread, not sure if any of the other WA 99 freeway segments were built as US 99.

[BrianP]

The I-270 freeway in MD was originally signed as US 240.

[Bruce]

There's parts of WA-99 in Seattle that are a freeway.  US-99 no longer exists. 

Is WA-99 on the original alignment of US-99?

The Alaskan Way Viaduct absolutely fit this thread, not sure if any of the other WA 99 freeway segments were built as US 99.

SR 99 generally follows the post-1953 (but pre-1960s) alignment of US 99 before it was shifted over to completed sections of I-5.

SR 529 also follows an expressway-like section of US 99 that opened in 1954, with the twinning of the Snohomish River bridges and a bypass of Marysville.

Washington started upgrading sections of US 99 to limited-access standards in 1947, including building new bypasses and alignments used today by I-5. Besides the viaduct and its associated freeway to Tukwila (which was upgraded to a freeway prior to US 99 being fully decommissioned), these sections of upgraded US 99 are now part of I-5:

Salmon Creek (I-205) to Woodland (SR 503)
Woodland (Dike Access Road) to Kelso (SR 432)
Castle Rock to Chehalis
Grand Mound to Tumwater
Lacey to Lakewood (Ponders Corner)
Marysville (SR 529) to Stimson Crossing (136th Street)
Conway (SR 534) to Burlington (SR 11)

(This was off the top of my head, so some bits might be a bit off)

[Max Rockatansky]

There's parts of WA-99 in Seattle that are a freeway.  US-99 no longer exists. 

Is WA-99 on the original alignment of US-99?

The Alaskan Way Viaduct absolutely fit this thread, not sure if any of the other WA 99 freeway segments were built as US 99.

SR 99 generally follows the post-1953 (but pre-1960s) alignment of US 99 before it was shifted over to completed sections of I-5.

SR 529 also follows an expressway-like section of US 99 that opened in 1954, with the twinning of the Snohomish River bridges and a bypass of Marysville.

Washington started upgrading sections of US 99 to limited-access standards in 1947, including building new bypasses and alignments used today by I-5. Besides the viaduct and its associated freeway to Tukwila (which was upgraded to a freeway prior to US 99 being fully decommissioned), these sections of upgraded US 99 are now part of I-5:

Salmon Creek (I-205) to Woodland (SR 503)
Woodland (Dike Access Road) to Kelso (SR 432)
Castle Rock to Chehalis
Grand Mound to Tumwater
Lacey to Lakewood (Ponders Corner)
Marysville (SR 529) to Stimson Crossing (136th Street)
Conway (SR 534) to Burlington (SR 11)

(This was off the top of my head, so some bits might be a bit off)

Wasn't 599 also a US 99 freeway alignment or was it expressway grade at the time?

[Dirt Roads]

It's before my time, but I vaguely recall that parts of US-21 in Ohio were freeway segments before I-77 was signed.  Perhaps the concurrency in northern Summit County was one of these sections.

[DJ Particle]

US-65 was decommissioned north of Albert Lea, MN... but I think parts of current I-35/35W (and the MN-65 freeway stub, and MN-121) north of that were designated US-65 at one time.

[sbeaver44]

A lot of the I-83 freeway in PA is former US 111 (and it shows)

I believe I-283 and the section of I-83 between I-283 and I-81 was Bypass US 230

[BrianP]

A lot of the I-83 freeway in PA is former US 111 (and it shows)

I believe I-283 and the section of I-83 between I-283 and I-81 was Bypass US 230

There wasn't that much built as US 111 in MD in looking at the 1957 aerial view.  There was the six mile stretch from the Baltimore Beltway to exit 20.  North of there it was built as a super-2 up until north of Hereford.  But exit 24 for Belfast Road only had a partial interchange which included an intersection on US 111.  Though there was some construction on the PA side of the state line.  Unfortunately that aerial view doesn't go far into PA. 

In PA there's a 1958 topo map that shows the northern part done from about Carlisle Road down to PA 297 and under construction for a bit south of there to the end of the map.  AFAICT that would be the only section that seems likely to have been signed as just US 111 freeway.  The parts that open later may have already been signed as I-83.  The 1957 York County map shows the whole route as I-83.  But who knows what's actually completed at the time and what it was signed as. So it's hard to say. 

As for US 230 bypass, the 1958 topo shows it goes from US 22 to PA/US 230.  But it looks like a two lane non-freeway bypass.  I think that was actually what is now Eisenhower Blvd.  So it doesn't fit what's being looked for in this thread.

[froggie]

US-65 was decommissioned north of Albert Lea, MN... but I think parts of current I-35/35W (and the MN-65 freeway stub, and MN-121) north of that were designated US-65 at one time.

Everything that was built was signed as an Interstate from the get-go, so US 65 doesn't qualify (nevermind that US 65 still exists in Minnesota...the OP's criteria disqualify it).

[bing101]

A thread idea that's been around in my head for a long time but finally came back to me just now:

California roadgeeks are familiar with the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) originally being built as US 66, which stands out in comparison to how much of the focus of Route 66 has been on ancient conventional roads of various types (undivided two-lane, four-lane both divided and undivided).  So it got me thinking, what segments of existing freeway have been part of US 66?  In California I can think of several (US 101 in Hollywood/Echo Park, all of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, a portion of the Colorado Freeway/Ventura Freeway that was Alternate US 66 near Eagle Rock, and portions of I-215, I-15, and I-40). 

Then this got me thinking: This could also apply to US 466 too!  (part of US 101 near Atascadero, parts of Route 99 and Route 204 near Bakersfield, and just about all of I-15 going towards Nevada)

The old Maryland/West Virginia US 48 fits this easily (as it was entirely supplanted by I-68).  And US 99 is an easy one as existing I-10, I-5, US 101, much of California State Route 99, Route 204, Business I-80/Route 51 (as US 99E), Route 275 and US 50 (as US 99W), I-80, Route 65, Route 70, and portions of Washington State Route 99 all have operated as US 99 at some point.

In order for a road to qualify for this thread, it has to have been signed as the US route in question - simply being planned as such, but never signed for it or never built, doesn't qualify (so US 6 being the proposed designation for the Route 170 portion of the Hollywood Freeway doesn't qualify in addition to the fact US 6 is still around much further north). 

Curious of other examples that I haven't thought of.

There was also a US-48 in California at one point

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_48_(1926)
But this section is now I-580, and I-205.

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana had only two US roues that have been fully decommissioned: US 112 and US 152, both of which went away before freeways were even a thing.

US 460 may have had freeway sections in Evansville before going away in Indiana, but it still exists in other states.

[TheStranger]

A thread idea that's been around in my head for a long time but finally came back to me just now:

California roadgeeks are familiar with the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) originally being built as US 66, which stands out in comparison to how much of the focus of Route 66 has been on ancient conventional roads of various types (undivided two-lane, four-lane both divided and undivided).  So it got me thinking, what segments of existing freeway have been part of US 66?  In California I can think of several (US 101 in Hollywood/Echo Park, all of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, a portion of the Colorado Freeway/Ventura Freeway that was Alternate US 66 near Eagle Rock, and portions of I-215, I-15, and I-40). 

Then this got me thinking: This could also apply to US 466 too!  (part of US 101 near Atascadero, parts of Route 99 and Route 204 near Bakersfield, and just about all of I-15 going towards Nevada)

The old Maryland/West Virginia US 48 fits this easily (as it was entirely supplanted by I-68).  And US 99 is an easy one as existing I-10, I-5, US 101, much of California State Route 99, Route 204, Business I-80/Route 51 (as US 99E), Route 275 and US 50 (as US 99W), I-80, Route 65, Route 70, and portions of Washington State Route 99 all have operated as US 99 at some point.

In order for a road to qualify for this thread, it has to have been signed as the US route in question - simply being planned as such, but never signed for it or never built, doesn't qualify (so US 6 being the proposed designation for the Route 170 portion of the Hollywood Freeway doesn't qualify in addition to the fact US 6 is still around much further north). 

Curious of other examples that I haven't thought of.

There was also a US-48 in California at one point

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_48_(1926)
But this section is now I-580, and I-205.

Not sure any of the freeway lanes use pavement/roadway that was ever US 48 though.

Along those routes:

- Castro Valley Boulevard and Business I-205 each represent former US 50/US 48, while 580 and 205 use a parallel alignment

- Even if the 262 upgrade to freeway happens, that would have never been signed as US 48 at any time in its history.

[ctkatz]

wasn't ca 99 all us 99 at one point?  south of sacramento it's all interstate grade (some portions badly needing a third lane in both directions).

[gr8daynegb]

For those older than me in WI, how much of 43 now used to be 141? 

Beyond that believe interstates overtook state highways or just in Wisconsin fashion coexist with US routes outside of old 141

[Brandon]

For US 66 in IL, it was already a divided 4 lane between St Louis and Chicago before the interstate era. When I-55 was being constructed, for the most part, one direction of US 66 was upgraded to become one direction of the lanes for I-55, while the other direction became a 2-way frontage road, and the other I-55 lanes was constructed from scratch. So for the purpose of this thread, half of the I-55 lanes was part of pre-interstate era US 66.

Yes, but that was all at-grade divided highway with the exception of the following:

The current I-55 freeway from Gardner to Welco Corners (I-355 today).  This was completed in 1956 as a pre-interstate freeway for US-66 as a bypass of both Joliet and Plainfield.

[sparker]

wasn't ca 99 all us 99 at one point?  south of sacramento it's all interstate grade (some portions badly needing a third lane in both directions).

North of Sacramento, the present route of CA 99 (the portion not "coincident" with I-5 north of Sacramento) between downtown Sacramento and Yuba City was at one point SSR 24 (LRN 232), an unsigned section northwest of Nicolaus (LRN 245), and old Alternate US 40 (LRN 87), into Yuba City from the south.  North of Yuba City, it was US 99E (LRN 3), but with a coincidence with SSR 36 (LRN 29) for the last three or so miles into Red Bluff, where it rejoined US 99W and continued on north as basic US 99 (and the continuation of LRN 3).  Currently, CA 99 terminates at CA 36 east of Red Bluff along the old US 99E alignment.

[ilpt4u]

For US 66 in IL, it was already a divided 4 lane between St Louis and Chicago before the interstate era. When I-55 was being constructed, for the most part, one direction of US 66 was upgraded to become one direction of the lanes for I-55, while the other direction became a 2-way frontage road, and the other I-55 lanes was constructed from scratch. So for the purpose of this thread, half of the I-55 lanes was part of pre-interstate era US 66.

Yes, but that was all at-grade divided highway with the exception of the following:

The current I-55 freeway from Gardner to Welco Corners (I-355 today).  This was completed in 1956 as a pre-interstate freeway for US-66 as a bypass of both Joliet and Plainfield.

Wasn't the section from 355 (obviously wasn't there when initially built) to 294 also built to a Freeway before the I-55 designation? Hence why Joliet Road/Old US 66 is multiplexed on this section?