Roads with unused accommodations for expansion

[UCFKnights]

Palm Beach County puts accommodations in for future expansions (drain/curbs exactly one further lane out, and bridges wide enough for another lane) on a lot of roads when they build them, lately they have been going back and completing a lot of them as well, but there is still a lot, just a few examples off the top of my head:
- Yamato east of 95
- Lyons north of Clint Moore
- Clint Moore east of Lyons
- Atlantic Ave west of Turnpike
- Flavor Pict Rd
The whole area is filled with that, a very forward looking DOT

[1995hoo]

I had forgotten about it until this week: Lots of roads around Viera, Florida, have quite clearly been designed for future expansion. I'm typing this on my iPad and can't easily get a map link, but if you look at Stadium Parkway you'll see how it's clearly designed for future four-lane expansion from Rosemount Drive north to I-95; same is true of Viera Boulevard to the east when you get close to Route 1. The right-of-way to extend Lake Andrew Drive north is pretty obvious in a satellite view.

The area feels like it's still growing a lot (the planned DDI on I-95 at Viera Boulevard would surely accelerate that), so I think the planners did a wise thing leaving room to expand the arterial streets. Won't require eminent domain proceedings when it comes time to widen the roads.

[roadfro]

In the Las Vegas, NV area: The McCarran Airport Connector (unsigned SR 171) was built with space in the median (such that the several bridges above have two sets of support columns) and the Airport tunnel was constructed with a third, unused bore between the northbound and southbound lanes. [See Google Street View of southern tunnel portals.]

I believe the original intent of this was to accommodate potential future mass transit option to serve the airport from points south, although there has been no talks of this since the connector opened.

[Tom958]

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

I'll see that and raise you this: the I-285-Memorial Drive interchange, which has expensively-provided room for a ten lanes mainline plus three lane CD's in each direction even though there's no prospect of them ever being needed, let alone built. I've tried more than once to photograph it, but it's difficult to capture the immense scale of this boondoggle without driving through it.

The I-285-Paces Ferry Road interchange was similarly reconstructed, though it's less spectacular due to site conditions. There, though, the nearby bridges carrying Cumberland Parkway and Mt Wilkerson Pkwy over 285 were built to accommodate that same eighteen lane configuration. 

EDIT: Oh, wow, it's still online!

[SectorZ]

https://goo.gl/maps/pzXMk

US 4 in Durham NH, just west of NH 108. Always wondered about this one, especially given that there were no expansion plans that I know of planned for the route.

[Revive 755]

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

I am 95 percent sure that the section of US 50 between Lebanon and Caryle had the extra bridges built as part of the supplemental freeway plans, not as part of the original I-64 routing. It would also explain the under construction symbology on the 1985-1986 Illinois Map (General link to the Illinois map collection

In addition, some of the bridges on the section seem to have been built after completion of I-64 in Illinois, per IDOT's bridge inventory.

[3467]

You are right 755. I think the ROW in the East from Xenia to Indiana may be from 1-64 . Ironically the ROW was mentioned in the supplemental Freeway EIS and it said it was not good enough for current(70s) Freeway Standards ....and yet more irony IDOT now says its just fine for the 4 lane expressway from Olney  to IL 1 . .

[roadman65]

John Young Parkway has a very wide median at Princeton Street for a possible SPUI that has never been needed as of yet, but there nonetheless.

Orange Blossom Trail under FL 528 has an expanded area on the east side of the road for widening and dividing the road, but when FDOT did widen it in 2006, they never utilized it.  Instead they just added lanes on both sides of the existing roadway and added a raised curb median instead of giving themselves a nice wide median as the original planners conceived when building the FL 528 in the late 60's and early 70's.

Also I-4 at the Polk Parkway's eastern end near Polk City.  The bridge was given an area to both sides of I-4 when it was built to allow I-4 to be relocated to the outside of the original 4 lane carriageway.  However a few years later when FDOT 6 laned I-4 from US 192 to I-75, they decided to keep I-4 where it was at and just add lanes to it.   Now that bridge  has two empty spaces with FL 570 having two extra spans built to it over that  area never ever to be used.


Here is another overpass in Lakeland that was rebuilt in 1999 when the first phase of the I-4 widening project from I-75 to US 192 that ended at Exit 28 that had I-4 EB travel lanes shifted over to the right.  Here, as you see, it passes through the wide gap in the middle of the overpass, as that was to be temporary as to when the second phase to take place I-4 EB would have been completed it would have continued to the side of where it is now and pass through the right (unused) part of the bridge.  However when the next phase commenced just shortly after this bridge was lengthened above they decided to not realign the new widened roadway to use the new addition and that is why this bridge now looks awkward.

[thenetwork]

I-90 in Cleveland, roughly between Warren Road and West 44th Street contains a very wide median that looks like what could've been some reversible and/or express lanes.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lakewood,+OH/@41.4691671,-81.7989075,3a,75y,58.5h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s00va8SqQpZeBExn2cnK_mw!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x8830f2204ee738e3:0x47bdfad952d70d25

Smart that they didn't build them, as I-90 Eastbound between W. 44th and I-71 is a choke-point as it is in AM rush, having another two lanes to add to the morning mayhem would've been disastrous.

On the other hand, if there would've/could've been a way to tie the rebuilt Innerbelt Bridge directly into the reversible lanes -- building them now -- that might have been an interesting benefit for I-90 travelers to and from the farther west side of Cleveland.

[davewiecking]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4651983,-83.8786764,381m/data=!3m1!1e3 Along US33 in the vicinity of Lakeview, OH. RoW wide enough for 4 lanes. 2 lane road; obsolete bridge left in place in "westbound" part of RoW; new bridge built in "eastbound" part and roadway shifted several feet to accommodate. Bridge probably not fit for traffic, but the RoW is there...is this an "accommodation" within the meaning of the question?

[Sonic99]

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.

It used to have signs on it that said "future bus terminal entrance" or something similar, I believe. There's been talk of maybe using it for some kind of light rail extention heading out to the West Valley, but not sure if that's been decided for sure or not. I-10 all the way out to the 101 in Avondale has room to accomodate a light rail line without infringing on the freeway really much at all. Honestly seems like a no-brainer to me.

[roadman65]

US 1 in Bel Air, MD has several feet of ROW for future expansion that never got used.  Even the overpasses, have left room for another carriageway, however MdSHA widened US 1 by leaving it undivided and within the piers of the bridges.

Oh yes, in Linden, NJ the wide median of I-278 will never be used as the Union County Expressway died over 40 years ago.  It would have had an express and local set up if I-278 continued all the way to connect with its parent in Springfield, NJ. 

[cl94]

Most bridge replacements on 4-lane segments of I-71 in Ohio within the past decade are wide enough for an extra lane per direction, as the eventual plan is to 6-lane it from I-471 to the northern terminus, excluding the segment between I-70 and I-670.

[UCFKnights]

I noticed on the 408 toll plaza east of downtown orlando that was recently rebuilt, they left room for one more e-pass lane that is not striped and has a temporary concrete barrier blocking it off.

[national highway 1]

These stubs are for the under construction Kempsey to Eungai Deviation on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey, NSW
https://goo.gl/BxEIwK

[exit322]

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).

It appears now to me, with both sides reopened on the Kenmore Leg, they are going to widen it to 3 lanes.  The innermost lanes each way are still being worked on, but there is adequate size for a third lane, albeit with very little to no shoulder.  They could just be having a larger shoulder there, though.

[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).

It appears now to me, with both sides reopened on the Kenmore Leg, they are going to widen it to 3 lanes.  The innermost lanes each way are still being worked on, but there is adequate size for a third lane, albeit with very little to no shoulder.  They could just be having a larger shoulder there, though.

I really don't think there is a need for a 3rd lane on the Kenmore Leg of I-76.  The section is only about 2 miles in length and even though the interchanges with I-77 and US-224 can already accommodate an extra lane on some of the ramps, you still cannot adequately merge two lanes from the Kenmore Leg onto either of the other two freeways.

[PurdueBill]

It appears now to me, with both sides reopened on the Kenmore Leg, they are going to widen it to 3 lanes.  The innermost lanes each way are still being worked on, but there is adequate size for a third lane, albeit with very little to no shoulder.  They could just be having a larger shoulder there, though.

Indeed when they are done with the last parts of the work, they will restripe for 3 lanes.

[exit322]

That'll be especially helpful when they work on the 76/224 widening in a few years.

[Roadsguy]

I-81 from I-83 to I-78 in PA has room on all its bridges for a six-lane widening, which it could really use. Unfortunately, though, it was reconstructed several years ago and not widened.