Roads with unused accommodations for expansion

[hbelkins]

All of KY 67. Grade was excavated and filled for two carriageways, but only one was built.

Aren't there also mounds of dirt for future overpasses?

All the grade separations are KY 67 over the other routes. The grade is done right up to where the bridge would be built. Can't think of any places where a road might cross over the Industrial Parkway.

I also thought of another place. Some work was done on I-64 in the Huntington area that left room for a third lane, but I believe that route's being widened right now. I haven't been up there since last August, 16 months ago, but I think some construction signs were just going up back then.

[NE2]

Can't think of any places where a road might cross over the Industrial Parkway.

Here, for example. The current crossroad would be converted to ramps. There are even stubs visible on the aerial. There's another one of these to the south, but nothing as obvious north of here.

[3467]

IDOT was once visionary enough to include a 4 lane ROW when it built new 2 lane sections or sometimes just reconstructed them . Parts of US 50 which has come in handy for them near Olney and US 34 near Galesburg and Olds US 34 -IL 164 near Monmouth

[cl94]

- I-490 (NY) west of Rochester has space on bridges for a third lane in each direction
- The LaSalle Expressway in Niagara Falls has space for 6 lanes on some overpasses at the end, which currently have 4-5 lanes
- I-87 in Albany and southern Saratoga Counties has room for a 4th lane on all bridges reconstructed in the past ~15 years
- NY 17/Future I-86 has a couple extra-wide bridges in Orange County that could accommodate an extra lane per direction
- I-271 south of SR 8 has a few bridges, including the long one over the Cuyahoga River, that can accommodate 3 lanes/direction
- NY 104 in Wolcott has an overpass with room for an extra carriageway
- A bridge on US 20 ~1 mile south of NY 249 has room for 4 lanes, but currently carries 2

[lordsutch]

I-75 southbound through the Hartley Bridge Rd/I-475 south interchange complex in Macon, Georgia has a wide right median that is sufficiently wide to restripe for an additional through lane and full shoulder, giving 3 continuous southbound lanes to match the 3 continuous northbound lanes; the extra lane would drop about 1/2 mile south of the Hartley Bridge merge. I can't see volumes getting to the point this is necessary anytime soon - if anything, the additional lane is needed sooner south of Sardis Church Road to around Russell Parkway, particularly as a climbing lane for trucks between Sardis Church and GA 49 at Byron - but the pavement is already there.

Similarly the newly widened I-75 section between Arkwright and Pierce roads has an onramp from Arkwright that would accommodate an additional lane (two right turn lanes from NB Arkwright to SB I-75, and a leisurely merge).

Some of the bridges on I-475 in GA seem to be wider than they need to be, but I'm not sure if you could squeeze 4 lanes + shoulders on them or if that was just an esoteric design choice or just something that was done to make it easier for the construction staging when it was widened. You can see that the right shoulder gets wider but not a full lane-width wider. https://goo.gl/maps/0vYYx

A few bridges on US 23 between Macon and Cochran are built wide enough for four lanes even though the four-lane section ends at GA 96, and widening GA 96 in the future will probably eliminate any future need to widen this part of US 23, especially since the Macon-Brunswick GRIP corridor bypasses this part of US 23 anyway.

The mainline bridges on Corridor X/I-22 in Jefferson County AL are built wide enough for an additional left-hand through lane east of exit 81 to I-65, giving 8 through lanes; you can see the taper for the eventual exit-only lane drop at exit 81 westbound as the lanes subtly shift left (same thing happens in reverse eastbound). At highway speeds it's a little noticeable because the curve's banking isn't quite right for the current striping.

Half-constructed dual-carriageway roads are pretty common in growing areas; a couple of examples off-hand, where only one carriageway connects to anything:

https://goo.gl/maps/Ah3vd (this one isn't even blocked off with cones or anything...)
https://goo.gl/maps/ETfW4 (this one may now be connected; haven't checked it in a while)

As for wide rights-of-way for future widening... cataloging all of those would take eons.

[Revive 755]

* I-55 through Springfield has extra space and pavement around the IL 29 and IL 54 interchanges for a third lane each way in the median:  Aerial at IL 29; aerial at IL 54

* The Kankakee River Bridge on I-55 appears to have had the pier built to accomodate future expansion between the two carriageways:   Aerial.

* I-64 through O'Fallon, IL appears to have been built for four lanes each way, but with the fourth lane currently stripped as an extra-large inner shoulder:  Aerial.

* IL 64 between Old St. Charles Road and Swift Road (just west of I-355) - the shoulder appears to be intended as use as a fourth through lane:  Aerial photo

* One of the recently replaced bridge on I-65 between Lebanon, IN and Merillville is wide enough for an extra lane each way in the median.

* MO 364 has a couple spots where it appears an extra lane could be striped in the future:  Aerial at the eastern MO 94 interchange, aerial at the Arena Parkway interchange,,

* US 40/US 61 over Dardenne Creek near Weldon Spring, MO, has space for an extra lane in the median:  Aerial photo

* I-55 over the BNSF Railroad in Festus, MO, had the bridge rebuilt to accommodate future lanes in the median:  Aerial photo

[Roadrunner75]

When the NJ 33 bypass around Freehold, NJ was completed a few years ago, the final segment of the freeway bypass was built as a divided Super 2 (much to my chagrin).  Some of the bridges along the route appear to only accommodate the single travel lane (with shoulder) - and some, as in this example, clearly were designed to accommodate a widening to 2 lanes in each direction:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.2366,-74.243764&spn=0.000002,0.001635&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=40.2366,-74.24402&panoid=RxvUpOcImPVQx6XiyEQsHA&cbp=12,251.75,,0,0
The future proofing bridges appear to be across the 2 creeks, while the bridges over roads/former RR ROW were not, maybe to avoid the stream encroachment / wetlands permitting nightmare in the future for upgrades to those spans.

[thenetwork]

The I-480 West and I-71 South ramps to OH-237 and Cleveland Hopkins Airport were built in the 70s to accommodate 2 lanes, as well as the I-71 North ramp to I-490 East near Downtown Cleveland.  As of yet, they have only used one lane, with the other lane striped off. 

The only times when they have used the striped-off lanes are the rare occurrences when they closed the normal lane for resurfacing or construction.

Meanwhile, down in neighboring Akron, there is also a striped-off lane where I-77 South turns right at the Central Interchange, however it once used both lanes at the transition.  And I believe most of the I-76 ramps at both ends of the Kenmore leg have double-laned ramps with only one lane in use.  Not sure if those were originally in full use or not.

And there are many Super-2 highways from the 60's where there was to be a 4-lane divided highway that was never built:

-  OH-5/44 Ravenna
-  OH 57 Rittman/Wadsworth
-  OH 261 Kent
-  OH 585 Doylestown

And then there is Salem OH, with a whole clusterf*** of roads to nowhere.

And OH-83's exits with I-90 and OH-10 were built as 4-lane divided highways in anticipation for a lengthy 4-lane realignment of OH-83 which were never built.  To this day, those freeway exits to 83 are merely stubs (the I-90 exit gently, but quickly realigns 83 back to its original alignment on each end and the OH-10 ends at the parallel streets on either side of the freeway).

[SteveG1988]

US50 in central IL was planned at one time to be expanded into an interstate, but I-64 was routed south of this planned section. Along the section built with expansion you have unused bridges over creeks, overpasses with farm fields under them where the lanes would be, etc. http://www.jimgrey.net/Roads/US50Illinois/index.htm

[cjk374]

I-220's eastern interchange with I-20 had all of the dirt work formed for ramps to create a full cloverleaf interchange for a southbound expansion When it was originally built in the 70s.  However, the expansion would put the road in the middle of Barksdale AFB.  There is now talk about building this expansion, but it would be a new entrance gate into the base not really for public use.

[mgk920]

In Wisconsin, WI 11/81 between the end of the four lanes just east of Monroe and Brodhead is graded for four lanes.  There is also preserved ROW for a conventional diamond interchange at the WI 11/81 split intersection on the south edge of Brodhead.  It was intended to be a westward extension of what became I-43 to Beloit.  The original plans for what became I-43 (previously 'WI 15') were for it to continue westward, running between Beloit and Janesville, but was later on redirected to feed into Milwaukee Rd (WI 81) in Beloit.

Mike

[busman_49]

And then there is Salem OH, with a whole clusterf*** of roads to nowhere.

This one's pretty cool: http://binged.it/1wgUwRl

Let's not forget US 30 & Trump Ave just east of Canton, Ohio: http://binged.it/1x2rSpL
Apparently there are no current plans to continue 30 as a freeway east of this point.

[vdeane]

Many autoroutes in Quebec are super-2 with ramps, overpasses, and ROW such that the other carriageway could easily be built.

[GCrites]

KY 67

Oh that thing. Fascinating to drive through, but also a total waste.

[robbones]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fort+Worth,+TX/@32.9589203,-97.3084635,20.33z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x864e6e122dc807ad:0xa4af8bf8dd69acbd

Tx 170 (Alliance Gateway Freeway) in Fort Worth currently uses its frontage roads with potential for main lanes in the future

[NE2]

Tx 170 (Alliance Gateway Freeway) in Fort Worth currently uses its frontage roads with potential for main lanes in the future

At least link to the unused bridge.

[theline]

My recollection is that SR-37 between Noblesville and Marion, IN once had a wide ROW on one side, which could have accommodated a second carriageway. I don't see that now on GSV. I remember my father driving the road in the late '50s. When I asked about the wide ROW, he explained that SR-37 was originally envisioned as the "superhighway" route connecting Indy and Ft. Wayne, so the state had purchased the extra ROW when building the road.

I wonder if the state might have turned the extra land back over to the property holders after I-69 was routed farther east, through western Delaware County. I can't find historical aerials of the area back far enough to confirm my recollection.

[seicer]

KY 67

Oh that thing. Fascinating to drive through, but also a total waste.

It's a good bypass of Ashland, especially for I-64/US 23 travelers and those to Ohio. You can use US 52 to AA Highway to KY 67 to bypass much of the metro. It was cheap to build as it was built mostly upon Addington strip mine land, and so ROW costs were very low.

[hbelkins]

KY 67

Oh that thing. Fascinating to drive through, but also a total waste.

It's a good bypass of Ashland, especially for I-64/US 23 travelers and those to Ohio. You can use US 52 to AA Highway to KY 67 to bypass much of the metro. It was cheap to build as it was built mostly upon Addington strip mine land, and so ROW costs were very low.

An extension to the US 23/KY 645 intersection in Lawrence County is under study. If that road ever gets built, it would be a great through route which would bypass not only Ashland, but the traffic lights at Louisa.

Not to mention it's a great alternative to KY 1 for me if I'm trying to get to Portsmouth and points north on 23.

[Eth]

I-20 in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia has a few overpasses/bridges with room for multiple additional lanes.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

If I'm not mistaken, the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, which now carries I-70 over the Mississippi River in St. Louis, carries four lanes with space for six when the time calls for it.

It's been a few years, but I do remember some bridges on I-40 just west of Nashville having unusually large inner shoulders. (As a matter of fact, here's an example of one here, with a few more in that area.)

As Revive 755 mentioned, I-65 just recently had a bridge replaced and was built to accommodate future expansion. It's actually located between the Indiana 14 and Indiana 10 exits near Demotte. I-65 was designed to hold a third lane between US 231 and US 30 (with exception for some bridges).

[kurumi]

The Hillandale Road overpass on SSR 476 (Sherwood Island Connector) in Westport, CT was built wide enough for a four-lane divided highway

US 6 east of I-395 was supposed to have been designed for future four-lane divided expansion when the work was done c. 1958; but evidence of that (grading, etc.) is hard to see.

[DandyDan]

Having just traveled the route tonight, it appears I-80 between Omaha and Lincoln is potentially set up to add a 4th lane in each direction, although I have no idea when that would ever happen.  The segment of US 275 built after 2000 between Omaha and Fremont could add a third lane each way as well.

[national highway 1]

The western stub end of Route 4 in Hong Kong
http://goo.gl/maps/BElv2

[Pink Jazz]

The I-10 Papago Freeway Tunnel underneath Downtown Phoenix has an unused center tube that was supposed to be used as an express tube for transit use.  That tube is currently gated off.