Saw when researching I-84 in CT that the bridge carrying I-84, US 6, and US 44 over the Connecticut River is not only older than the interstate it Carrie's, but built in 1908.
I had to find out more about it when I saw just how US 44 enters the freeway in East Hartford. Connecticut Blvd. I see is in direct line with the bridge and I-84 moves out of the way on the east approach. So it's not hard to figure out that Connecticut Blvd. and the bridge ran seam less at one time and the bridge was an arterial crossing of the Connecticut River.
My question is, would this bridge be the oldest on the interstate highway system?
I think it is the oldest bridge in use on the interstate system (1908), although obviously widened since. BTW, if you look at older maps of the area, Connecticut Boulevard was the original roadway leading to the bridge in East Hartford. That was true even after I-84 was connected to the Connecticut Boulevard and then the bridge in the 1960s. It must have been a bad merge. Sometime in the state changed the approach to eliminate that merge.
For a few years, when the Conland-Whitehead Highway in Hartford was officially designated (but not signed) Interstate 484, the Main Street Bridge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Bridge_(Hartford,_Connecticut)) was likely the oldest road bridge on the Interstate Highway System. It was built in (not a typo) 1833.
Reason: the original bridge was over the Park River, which was covered by the Whitehead Highway more than a century later, in 1945.
Quote from: kurumi on June 07, 2022, 08:51:39 PM
For a few years, when the Conland-Whitehead Highway in Hartford was officially designated (but not signed) Interstate 484, the Main Street Bridge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Bridge_(Hartford,_Connecticut)) was likely the oldest road bridge on the Interstate Highway System. It was built in (not a typo) 1833.
Reason: the original bridge was over the Park River, which was covered by the Whitehead Highway more than a century later, in 1945.
It's amazing how right next to the MainStreet Bridge, they were able to build the Library right up against it to create a tunnel on Whitehead Highway below it.
Quote from: roadman65 on June 07, 2022, 01:52:22 PM
My question is, would this bridge be the oldest on the interstate highway system?
Currently, as far as I know, yes. Historically, no - just west of downtown Kansas City, I-70 follows the Lewis and Clark Viaduct and the original westbound span dated back to 1907, just edging out the Bulkeley Bridge. But that 1907 structure was completely replaced a few years ago.