The Worst Of The Missing Links -- Past & Present

[thenetwork]

In the days when freeways weren't fully completed, there would be some missing links connecting open sections of the freeway.  Some missing links were easy to go around, while some were pure hell.

Which one in your area was historically considered to be the worst missing link -- that is, what was the missing section that was "needed yesterday" the most.

CLEVELAND, OH -- I-480, between Tuxedo Avenue (Brooklyn Hts.) and W. 139th St. (Brook Park).  About a 5-mile stretch in which I-480 through traffic had to follow SR-17/Brookpark Road.  During evening rush hours, it was not unusual to need 45-minutes to an hour to traverse that 5-mile stretch, due to the high amount of un-synched traffic lights. 

I did have to give credit to ODOT for temporarily making a ramp from Brookpark Road to I-480 West at W. 139th St., assuring one (right) turn off of SR-17 back onto I-480.  Once the freeway was near completion, Brookpark Road traffic had to turn right on W. 130th St, then make a left at the official I-480 on-ramp, and the W. 139th on-ramp was returned to it's original I-480 East on-ramp configuration.

Others??? 

[agentsteel53]

the missing segment of I-710 in Los Angeles would make 5-710-210-5 into a very effective bypass of the East LA Interchange for traffic that would otherwise be taking 5 straight through.

[hbelkins]

Probably I-64 between the Watterson Expressway and I-65.

[SSOWorld]

I-70 through the Glenwood Canyon.

[formulanone]

A real link I-95 and SR 869 in Florida was denied by a local politican, who wanted to court the local voters (because it passed by a retirement community). So now there's a 3 mile link between the two, interspersed by stop lights. All was okay for a few years, but the light on SR 869 backs up into I-95, slowing down most lanes by the exit, and the ramps back on the surface street during rush hour. But they honored him by naming the link road after him.

On one hand, you've got to admire him for the concept of not selling out, and potentially forcing retirees out of their condos. But I think selling them on the nuisance of the expressway was total hogwash, and nobody would have been seriously disrupted; the noise of vehicles slowing down and accelerating is far more of an annoyance than just that of half of the traffic using the interchange.

[mukade]

Past: I-94 from Michigan line/M-239 to I-80/I-90 in Indiana in the 1960s and 1970s

Current: I-69 between Indy and Bloomington or somewhere north looks to be a fairly long problem

[PAHighways]

I-279 through the East Street Valley before 1989
I-676's entire route through Philadelphia before 1991
US 422/PA 28/PA 66 around Kittanning before 2001
I-99 north of Bald Eagle before 2008

[Mr_Northside]

US 219 between Somerset & Meyersdale.... and not AS bad but still missing, from Meyersdale to I-68.

If I had more time, I could list the segments (past & present) of the Mon-Fayette, but they've been documented elsewhere.

[vtk]

60s—2003: I-670, between Grandview Ave and Neil Ave

70s—1994: I-670, between I-71 and the Airport

90s—Present: US 23, between I-270 and Waldo.  Shame on ODOT for not establishing proper access control decades ago.

Hot Rod can probably detail earlier missing links, like OH 315 by Riverside Hospital, and maybe some gaps in 70 or 71.

[Kniwt]

US 101, Santa Barbara
From 1988: http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-19/news/mn-1396_1_santa-barbara

Somewhere (perhaps even here) I've seen an old pic, but I'm not finding it at the moment.

[national highway 1]

US 60 between Phoenix and Brenda, AZ before I-10 was opened in 1974.

[Stephane Dumas]

A-55 between St-Celestin and TCH-20 until 2006.

A-50 between Lachute (a gap who opened in 1975) and A-15 until the mid-1990s and the remining gap between Thurso and Montebello for next year.

A-25 until last summer.

[NE2]

It wasn't necessarily bad traffic-wise, but Wallace, Idaho became famous for being the last traffic light on I-90.

[cpzilliacus]

In the days when freeways weren't fully completed, there would be some missing links connecting open sections of the freeway.  Some missing links were easy to go around, while some were pure hell.

The never-built Barney Circle Freeway in the District of Columbia, which would have connected I-395/Secret I-695 with D.C. 295 in the direction of U.S. 50 (John Hanson Highway) and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland.  This relatively short section of road was funded and had an approved record of decision in the mid-1990's, but former Mayor-for-Life, Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (then in his final term as Mayor) killed the project in order to comply with demands from the so-called New Columbia Chapter of the Sierra Club. 

The "missing" movements that would have been connected by this project are now being linked (after a delay of over 10 years) by a large interchange reconstruction project at the junction of I-295, D.C. 295 and the 11th Street Bridge on the south side of the Anacostia River.

Opponents of both projects have tried to claim that motorists will use this missing connection as a way to bypass the (formerly) extremely congested Woodrow Wilson Bridge, but since most of that project is now complete (except for the reconstruction of the Va. 241 (Telegraph Road) interchange (Virginia Exit 176 on I-95), such claims did not and do not hold much water.

[mightyace]

US 30 west of I-71 in Ohio.  Up until fairly recently, it was a series of alternating expressway/freeway and 2 lane highway that was heavy with trucks.  Traffic moved fine, but having big rigs going the other way pass by you often at 55 mph. (110mph closing speed) was really unnerving.

The section of what is now I-180 east of US 15 in Williamsport, PA.  The section from US 15 to Montoursville took forever to finish.  The section from Montoursville to Hughesville where US 220 enters/leaves from the north took a while as well.  Before that, the freeway ended at the partial Main St. exit south of Muncy.

The Saint Clair, PA bypass.  In the 1960s, the borough posted a sign "ST CLAIR BYPASS URGENTLY NEEDED, SEND COMPLAINTS TO PENNDOT"   They finally got the bypass around 2000!

The Ohio 2 bypass around Huron, OH added some slow going between Cleveland and Cedar Point until it was finished.

None of these are epic, but were a pain.

And, of course, there is I-95 in New Jersey. 

[Beltway]

In the days when freeways weren't fully completed, there would be some missing links connecting open sections of the freeway.  Some missing links were easy to go around, while some were pure hell.

The never-built Barney Circle Freeway in the District of Columbia, which would have connected I-395/Secret I-695 with D.C. 295 in the direction of U.S. 50 (John Hanson Highway) and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland.  This relatively short section of road was funded and had an approved record of decision in the mid-1990's, but former Mayor-for-Life, Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (then in his final term as Mayor) killed the project in order to comply with demands from the so-called New Columbia Chapter of the Sierra Club. 

The "missing" movements that would have been connected by this project are now being linked (after a delay of over 10 years) by a large interchange reconstruction project at the junction of I-295, D.C. 295 and the 11th Street Bridge on the south side of the Anacostia River.

The Barney Circle Freeway would be much more effective than the current project, as it would bypass 2 miles of the Anacostia Freeway, have minimal environmental impact, utilize the stub of the I-295 East Leg, not require massive replacement of the 11th Street Bridge, and would be on a much more direct connection to the north.

[Beltway]

<<< I-279 through the East Street Valley before 1989
I-676's entire route through Philadelphia before 1991
US 422/PA 28/PA 66 around Kittanning before 2001
I-99 north of Bald Eagle before 2008 >>>
.......

The I-95 gap in downtown Philadelphia, before it was opened in 1979. 

The I-95 gap at Philadelphia International Airport, before it was opened in 1985.

I-476 between I-95 and I-276 PA TPK, before 1992.
PA-320 was sloooooowwww.....

[akotchi]

I-295, between Kuser Road and U.S. 130, Burlington and Mercer Counties, NJ.  Using CR 533 and U.S. 206/130 was not much fun.

I-78 around Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton (PA) and Phillipsburg (NJ).  U.S. 22 was horrendous.

PA 33 between U.S. 22 and I-78.

Various freeway upgrades to U.S. 22/322 (and 322 alone) between Harrisburg and State College, PA.  Trips to and from school in the mid-1980s were always challenging in the 2- or 3-lane sections.

Just to name a few. . .

[TheStranger]

The Route 1 and US 101 street segments in San Francisco certainly don't always move particularly well, especially Route 1/19th Avenue north of Route 35...

[texaskdog]

Ayd Mill road in Saint Paul not connecting to I-94. 

[SP Cook]

I-64 in WV, the last section of original interstate where the alternative was 2 lane.

WV generally built all of its interstates and corridors in reverse order, completing roads in northern WV which were, and are, lightly traveled decades before I-64, the most important road in the state.  For the 8 year governorship of Rockefeller, where no roadwork of significance was done, so 64 ended at Sam Black Church, in the middle of nowhere, and then thru traffic had to slog its way over two huge mountains on US 60 to Charleston, while Beckley traffic had an equally awful trip down WV 12 and then 3.  And the Turnpike was still 2 lane and a deathroad. 

Meanwhile US 50/Corridor D and other such were finished, and carrying 1/8th of the average daily traffic I-64 would eventually.

[mgk920]

In Wisconsin:

-US 10's entrance into the Appleton area from the east
-US 18/151's non-freeway connection to the Madison Beltline from the southwest
-The WI 64-MN 36 Stillwater Saint Croix River crossing
-The US 2/53 - I-35 non-freeway connection though Superior
-US 41's non-bypass of Marinette

Mike

[hbelkins]

I-64 in WV, the last section of original interstate where the alternative was 2 lane.

WV generally built all of its interstates and corridors in reverse order, completing roads in northern WV which were, and are, lightly traveled decades before I-64, the most important road in the state.  For the 8 year governorship of Rockefeller, where no roadwork of significance was done, so 64 ended at Sam Black Church, in the middle of nowhere, and then thru traffic had to slog its way over two huge mountains on US 60 to Charleston, while Beckley traffic had an equally awful trip down WV 12 and then 3.  And the Turnpike was still 2 lane and a deathroad. 

Meanwhile US 50/Corridor D and other such were finished, and carrying 1/8th of the average daily traffic I-64 would eventually.

I only have a vague recollection of it, but when I was a kid we were coming home from a vacation and it took us four hours to get from White Sulphur Springs to Charleston. Back then, and even without the completion of Virginia's four-lane corridors, it was easier for us to go to the Richmond/Williamsburg/Norfolk area by going down to Abingdon and then north on I-81 and east on US 460 and US 360.

[rickmastfan67]

Past: FL-9A between St. Johns Bluff Road and JTB (FL-202).  This gap was built in 2 pieces.  First was from St. Johns Bluff to Beach Blvd (US-90), and then from US-90 to Town Center Pkwy.  The remaining section between Town Center Pkwy and JTB was just realigned (which used to be St. Johns Bluff Road itself) to match up with the new alignment of FL-9A.

Past: FL-9A between US-1 (Exit #60) and I-95/I-295 (Exit #61).  Had to go up US-1 to get onto I-95 and then go back to the I-95/I-295 interchange.

[mapman1071]

AZ Loop 202 South Mountain
Freeway (Interchanges)
Or  Parkway (Limited Access with Traffic Signals/Interchanges)
or Tollway to Freeway (Constructed with State/Federal funds, Tolled by Private Contractor till Paid Off)

The route From I-10 S to Baseline Road along the 55th Avenue alignment is locked in place and most of the residential, business and agricultural ROW is clear 1/4 mile wide.

The route From Baseline Road & 55th Avenue S and E to I-10 Exit 161/Loop 202 Exit 53 in in dispute since 2000, Negotiations are in progress between ADOT, the Ahwatukee/Foothills Homeowners, The City Of Phoenix & The Gila River Indian Nation for Placement, Design and location Along Pecos Road or S Of Pecos Road on Gila Lands.

From The Maricopa Association of Governments 1985 & 2005 Freeway and Transit Plan.