You may or may not have seen this GIF that shows Walmart's growth over the years:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic2.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F52d96f796da811bb0ddd0e75%2Fexcelhero_walmart_growth.gif&hash=b97aa2f71fb0ab635069c220f2619af4e51a2eb4)
I recently came across it, and it made me wonder if there was a similar GIF showing how the Interstate highways opened from the '50s to the present. I think that that would be pretty cool to see, that familiar map (at least to us roadgeeks), slowly appearing before our eyes.
So, has anyone made something like this?
Or failing that, would anyone be interested in doing it themselves? :)
Or failing that, help me make one?
This seems like it could be pretty cool to make. I have a simple idea on how it could work, if someone wanted to provide the data that I don't currently know. Failing that, I could help make one.
After Florida is seemed that it expanded quite rapidly in South Carolina before it made it into the other SE corner states, ie Georgia, North Carolina.
I would break it down by region, otherwise the map would get crowded fast
Quote from: roadman65 on September 16, 2015, 01:50:42 AM
After Florida is seemed that it expanded quite rapidly in South Carolina before it made it into the other SE corner states, ie Georgia, North Carolina.
The antiunion laws are probably even worse in South Carolina than in other states. There was a worker strike at a hospital in 1969 where they actually put workers in JAIL for trying to form a union.
I would start with a nation wide map, starting in 1940. No roads on it, then over 1940-1951 you start filling in the toll roads, extending the PA turnpike. 1956: Interstate Highway act enacted. You start to go region by region at that point.
Alternative idea, Flash programming can be used to add layers, you use flash on a map of the country, allow zooming, go in 5 year incraments on the map.
I have a series of maps for four-lane roads in Iowa, but the growth isn't animated:
http://iowahighwayends.net/maps/fourlanes.html
If anyone is going to do this, please don't do it in Mercator projection.
Actually, if we got a few people who are comfortable working in JOSM and have access to opening-year data, I know how to produce an animation from that...
Quote from: vtk on September 18, 2015, 01:02:30 PM
have access to opening-year data
That's the big sticking point. It'd take a lot of newspaper research.
Quote from: vtk on September 18, 2015, 01:02:30 PM
If anyone is going to do this, please don't do it in Mercator projection.
Actually, if we got a few people who are comfortable working in JOSM and have access to opening-year data, I know how to produce an animation from that...
Minus the opening year data part, I know how to use JOSM decently well enough.
Quote from: NE2 on September 18, 2015, 03:31:48 PM
Quote from: vtk on September 18, 2015, 01:02:30 PM
have access to opening-year data
That's the big sticking point. It'd take a lot of newspaper research.
Kurumi's already done all the legwork with the 3dIs...
While getting down to the exact day would require some newspaper work, reference to the general highway maps, particularly the official state issued ones, would be good enough for a year by year work.
Also, at least in my state, every time a route opens there is a "Commissioner's Order" that declares it a public road, describes its end points, and assigns it its number. An example for an interstate might be: "The Commissioner (legalese) declares a new route, to be designated as Interstate 64, to be a public road and to run from a junction with I-64 previously designated at MM 15 at Ona in Cabell County to MM 39 and junction with State Route 34 at Teays in Putnam County.
These are recorded in a vault at the Capitol just like a county deed record room. While not computerized, they are indexed and fairly easily searchable.
I would love to see such a set of maps.
Wikipedia might have some of that info as well. Some of the highway articles are quite extensive.
I would do it end of year.
Quote from: vdeane on September 21, 2015, 12:51:52 PM
Wikipedia might have some of that info as well. Some of the highway articles are quite extensive.
It depends on the state; Michigan and Delaware should have everything, for example, but other states (think Rockies and South) don't have as many active editors. You would want to make sure that there is a citation for the date, so you know that some random IP editor didn't just make it up.
AARoads also has some data for a few states like California; I found some discrepancies when researching I-805 and I-8 for Wikipedia, but it should be accurate at least to the year.
Quote from: NE2 on September 18, 2015, 03:31:48 PM
Quote from: vtk on September 18, 2015, 01:02:30 PM
have access to opening-year data
That's the big sticking point. It'd take a lot of newspaper research.
How bad was it when you did NJ's Interstates?
Well, I haven't found anything out there that directly answers my question, but I did find this gif that shows when the bridges for the interstates were built, which is interesting. I always thought that the system developed more linearly than this, which shows things happening more or less everywhere all at once.
(https://metricmaps.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/new-bridge.gif)
Individual states were in charge of building, so it's not too surprising. That said, it makes you wonder if a map that plotted out the pavement would mirror this.
In other words, it'd be head-scratching if the data showed that bridges were built and just sat around for pavement to join up to them (i.e., a long time gap between bridge building and pavement building).
Quote from: Rothman on February 29, 2016, 07:42:02 AM
In other words, it'd be head-scratching if the data showed that bridges were built and just sat around for pavement to join up to them (i.e., a long time gap between bridge building and pavement building).
There was Pittsburgh's "Bridge to nowhere" and Milwaukee's Hoan bridge which were built before they connected on both sides. Otherwise the pavement was usually built with the bridges.
Quote from: Big John on February 29, 2016, 08:30:08 AM
Quote from: Rothman on February 29, 2016, 07:42:02 AM
In other words, it'd be head-scratching if the data showed that bridges were built and just sat around for pavement to join up to them (i.e., a long time gap between bridge building and pavement building).
There was Pittsburgh's "Bridge to nowhere" and Milwaukee's Hoan bridge which were built before they connected on both sides. Otherwise the pavement was usually built with the bridges.
Heh. There was also the bridges to nowhere along I-84 west of Hartford as well that sat for quite a while before eventually being used for CT 9, I believe. :D It was pointed out as a boondoggle for years by local media (and my father as we drove under it quite frequently on our trips to my grandparents' house).
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on February 29, 2016, 04:52:06 AM
Well, I haven't found anything out there that directly answers my question, but I did find this gif that shows when the bridges for the interstates were built
Is this showing when a bridge was first built or most recently? It looks like some of the Northway is showing post-1985 when the route was fully open well before. So I'm guessing it's last replacement/reconstruction. The map is also not complete unless I-95 in manages to get from southern Maine to New Brunswick on nothing but dry land.
If a bridge was completely replaced, the NBI would show the replacement year.
Does the bridge map include box culverts and other large culverts? Some of those may have been converted to all-out bridges or vice versa, creating some idiosyncrasies. It also may explain some points on the map that don't correlate with the construction of the pavement itself.
Eureka!
This web site (https://www.geotab.com/evolution-of-interstate/) has pretty much exactly what I was looking for, to the year. At the beginning, there's a little spiel showing some of the key dates and other information about the Interstate system, but at the end is a map with a slider that will show you which segments were open at that time.
(https://i.imgur.com/xdEFbgN.png)
There are some inaccuracies in that map; it doesn't distinguish between different segments of the same route in the same state, e.g. I-69 in Indiana.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=23151.msg2338276#msg2338276
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on October 20, 2019, 09:16:51 PM
Eureka!
This web site (https://www.geotab.com/evolution-of-interstate/) has pretty much exactly what I was looking for, to the year. At the beginning, there's a little spiel showing some of the key dates and other information about the Interstate system, but at the end is a map with a slider that will show you which segments were open at that time.
(https://i.imgur.com/xdEFbgN.png)
Neat, but definitely some errors if you're looking for specifics. A few notable ones in my neck of the woods, I-64 is shown complete between Richmond and Norfolk in the late 60s when in reality it was completed until the late 70s, I-95 isn't shown being built until the mid 80s between Richmond and DC when in reality it was completed in the 60s, and I-40 between I-85 and Wilmington is shown as being completed in the 60s when in reality it wasn't finished until the early 90s, and more interestingly the routing to Wilmington wasn't even approved until the 70s.
Earlier this year, I created a thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=24320) with interactive maps to so far 5 different states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware, and Maryland / DC) where opening dates for every segment of interstate highway is documented along with many non-interstate freeway opening dates. I'm currently working on a map with Indiana freeway openings, and plan to do a few more over the next couple of months.
Quote from: 1 on October 20, 2019, 09:39:52 PM
There are some inaccuracies in that map; it doesn't distinguish between different segments of the same route in the same state, e.g. I-69 in Indiana.
Yeah, there's quite a few. My "Eureka" may have been unwarranted.
Quote from: 1 on October 20, 2019, 09:39:52 PM
There are some inaccuracies in that map; it doesn't distinguish between different segments of the same route in the same state, e.g. I-69 in Indiana.
And it's missing almost the entire route of I-26
Quote from: 1 on October 20, 2019, 09:39:52 PMThere are some inaccuracies in that map; it doesn't distinguish between different segments of the same route in the same state, e.g. I-69 in Indiana.
I am not seeing a consistent pattern to the errors. For example, it shows the entirety of I-70 in Kansas open in 1956: in fact the Turnpike segment was open, as well as the short segment just west of Topeka that anchors Kansas' "first Interstate" claim, but it took until 1970 to finish the rest. Meanwhile, well over 90% of I-235's mileage in Wichita opened in 1961; no part of it is shown until 1965, when the short segment between Broadway and I-135 opened.
TIL the Mass Pike opened in 1990
Michigan is weird too. It shows I-75 complete in 1959, when signs first went up on the few open segments. The Bay City to Grayling section didn't open until 1973.
In contrast, I-94 is ignored until 1971. That's when the final mile or so was opened when Indiana completed their work. But the rest of the highway was complete in 1967.
I-69 doesn't appear until 1997; it was complete in 1992 and the section south of I-94 was opened in 1967.
It seems like some data on the map comes when segments of the Interstate open; other times it waits until the whole state is complete. And sometimes like I-69, the reason for the date is incomprehensible.
Totally inaccurate re: WV. Shows the western section of I-64, among the oldest in the state, with parts open by 1963, as unfinished until 1991. It shows the other end of 64 ending at the Virginia line until that time as well, when it actually was finished 20 miles west of that by 1974. It shows 79 finished all at once, in 1980, when it was actually built north to south over about 15 years.
It also shows I-64 as almost complete in Kentucky in 1957. IIRC, 64, at least the part between WV and Lexington, was built in the late 60s and early 70s.
Quote from: SP Cook on October 22, 2019, 10:07:01 AM
It also shows I-64 as almost complete in Kentucky in 1957. IIRC, 64, at least the part between WV and Lexington, was built in the late 60s and early 70s.
Last section finished between the state line and Lexington was from the US 60 exit near the Boyd-Carter line to KY 1/KY 7 at Grayson. On our family trips to West Virginia to visit my dad's relatives on his dad's side, we would have to take US 60 from Grayson instead of being able to get on I-64 there.
The section between Frankfort and Lexington was completed in 1971. I was on it shortly after it opened in my mom's new 1971 Dodge Dart.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on October 20, 2019, 09:16:51 PM
Eureka!
This web site (https://www.geotab.com/evolution-of-interstate/) has pretty much exactly what I was looking for, to the year. At the beginning, there's a little spiel showing some of the key dates and other information about the Interstate system, but at the end is a map with a slider that will show you which segments were open at that time.
(https://i.imgur.com/xdEFbgN.png)
As of right now, it's not working at all.