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Proposed but never built bridges

Started by Bruce, May 16, 2014, 05:46:27 PM

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Bruce

So, it's about time a thread for bridges that were seriously proposed but rejected, multiple times even, got their own thread.

Let's start with the long-fabled bridges and/or tunnels across the Puget Sound from Seattle to the Kitsap Peninsula, as seen in this map from 1950:



BrianP


kurumi

Several alternatives were proposed for a Long Island crossing (NY - CT): http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/licrossing.html

A CT 82 bridge was proposed, possibly freeway grade, south of the existing CT river bridge. I haven't found much information on this one at all.

A new CT 17/66 bridge was also proposed, south of the Arrigoni Bridge, in Middletown/Portland.

The Hartford Bridge Commission (mid-20th Century) apparently planned for 7 Hartford-area bridges, though it eventually ended up with five (291, 84, 2, 15, 3).

My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

SteveG1988

A new burlington bristol bridge was planned between the 1960s and 1990, canceled after 1990. Was either going to be a Cable Stay or Box Girder span.

US9 bridge between Cape May and Delaware has been proposed over the years to replace the current ferry.

Roads Clinched

I55,I82,I84(E&W)I88(W),I87(N),I81,I64,I74(W),I72,I57,I24,I65,I59,I12,I71,I77,I76(E&W),I70,I79,I85,I86(W),I27,I16,I97,I96,I43,I41,

roadman65

I-495 across the Long Island Sound.

I-287 across the same body of water connecting it with the Seaford- Oyster Bay Expressway.

Then I do not know if there was any fact to this proposal, but a bridge between New Haven, CT and Port Jefferson, NY that would have extended I-91 into Long Island.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Pete from Boston

#5
Quote from: roadman65 on May 17, 2014, 09:25:09 AMThen I do not know if there was any fact to this proposal, but a bridge between New Haven, CT and Port Jefferson, NY that would have extended I-91 into Long Island.

Shoreham.  Port Jeff proposal was to Bridgeport.

http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/shoreham-newhaven/

Apparently eight crossings were studied:

http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/LI-sound-2/

roadman65

Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 17, 2014, 09:31:02 AM

Quote from: roadman65 on May 17, 2014, 09:25:09 AMThen I do not know if there was any fact to this proposal, but a bridge between New Haven, CT and Port Jefferson, NY that would have extended I-91 into Long Island.

Shoreham:

http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/shoreham-newhaven/
Thanks for pointing that one out.  Now that I have seen your link it brings back memories of where I saw that proposal.  It obviously stuck with me from reading it once there,  and the where just eluded me all these years.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Jardine

Ruck a Chucky Bridge, American River, California

DTComposer

The "Southern Crossing" has been proposed almost since the Bay Bridge first opened. Most plans had originating from US-101 along the Cesar Chavez Street (nee Army Street) corridor, either crossing to Alameda:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/4235799354/in/set-72157622139053795

or Bay Farm Island, by the Oakland Airport:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/4231789143/in/set-72157622139053795

Alps

Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 17, 2014, 08:53:42 AM
A new burlington bristol bridge was planned between the 1960s and 1990, canceled after 1990. Was either going to be a Cable Stay or Box Girder span.

I-895.

SteveG1988

Quote from: Alps on May 20, 2014, 07:35:01 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 17, 2014, 08:53:42 AM
A new burlington bristol bridge was planned between the 1960s and 1990, canceled after 1990. Was either going to be a Cable Stay or Box Girder span.

I-895.

Correct.

Also: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2328.htm

The Gustav Lindenthal Hudson River bridge

Roads Clinched

I55,I82,I84(E&W)I88(W),I87(N),I81,I64,I74(W),I72,I57,I24,I65,I59,I12,I71,I77,I76(E&W),I70,I79,I85,I86(W),I27,I16,I97,I96,I43,I41,

Doctor Whom

One proposed bridge across the Potomac would have connected the GW Parkway with what is now the Clara Barton Parkway near Great Falls.  Another, the Three Sisters Bridge, would have crossed the river at the western edge of Georgetown and would have been designated I-266.

Alps

Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 21, 2014, 06:55:30 PM
Quote from: Alps on May 20, 2014, 07:35:01 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 17, 2014, 08:53:42 AM
A new burlington bristol bridge was planned between the 1960s and 1990, canceled after 1990. Was either going to be a Cable Stay or Box Girder span.

I-895.

Correct.

Also: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2328.htm

The Gustav Lindenthal Hudson River bridge


16 lanes... 155 feet. Interesting thinking back then. You could squeeze fourteen 11' lanes on there, maybe cheat an inch off each one to get a 2' median out of it. I imagine that's what it would look like today - and we'd STILL have traffic jams. (I can't imagine what it would have tied into on either side - probably just boulevards, no interchanges.)

Revive 755

Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois
Seriously Considered
* Crossing at Scott City - Considered back when I-24 was seriously considered to extend into Missouri to end at I-55

* Crossing between Cahokia, IL, and St. Louis - was planned as a toll bridg, seems to have died in the late 1950's.  Would have crossed I-55 between the 4500 Broadway Exit (204) and the Potomac Street interchange (206)

* St. Charles County to Calhoun County - Somewhere around the Golden Eagle Ferry; one of those projects that comes up every now and then.

Not Considered As Seriously
* Crossing at Ste Genevieve - Had been considered for accommodating both road and rail traffic.

* Crossing at Festus/Crystal City - Considered around the 1960's or 1970's

* Crossing around Cass Avenue in St. Louis City - Considered long before the current I-70 bridge was under consideration

Pete from Boston

#14

Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 21, 2014, 06:55:30 PM
Quote from: Alps on May 20, 2014, 07:35:01 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 17, 2014, 08:53:42 AM
A new burlington bristol bridge was planned between the 1960s and 1990, canceled after 1990. Was either going to be a Cable Stay or Box Girder span.

I-895.

Correct.

Also: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2328.htm

The Gustav Lindenthal Hudson River bridge
There used to be rumors that a part of an anchorage for this was built on the Stevens campus in Hoboken.  Anyone know of there's any truth to this?


Your text goes at the BOTTOM. ~s

Alps

Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 22, 2014, 09:34:37 PM

Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 21, 2014, 06:55:30 PM
Quote from: Alps on May 20, 2014, 07:35:01 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 17, 2014, 08:53:42 AM
A new burlington bristol bridge was planned between the 1960s and 1990, canceled after 1990. Was either going to be a Cable Stay or Box Girder span.

I-895.

Correct.

Also: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2328.htm

The Gustav Lindenthal Hudson River bridge
There used to be rumors that a part of an anchorage for this was built on the Stevens campus in Hoboken.  Anyone know of there's any truth to this?


The cornerstone was built somewhere else (1200 Liberty I think?), and then recently moved to Stevens.

dgolub

There was a proposal to extend the Cross County Parkway across the Hudson River to New Jersey.  See http://www.nycroads.com/roads/cross-county/.

roadman65

How about a new Goethals Bridge?  It has been proposed for decades now, but until I see work done on this structure I will consider it proposed.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

US 41

I-69 Ohio River Bridge in Evansville may end up being added to list one day.
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SteveG1988

I think proposed bridges that are confirmed to be in the works should not count towards "never built" as sometimes it takes a while between approval and actual construction start or even opening. For example the I-295 bridge over Crosswicks Creek in NJ probably was planned as early as 1970, but was not actually built and opened until 1995. Or the new span for the Oakland Bay Bridge, over 20 years since it was first brought up until it was completed
Roads Clinched

I55,I82,I84(E&W)I88(W),I87(N),I81,I64,I74(W),I72,I57,I24,I65,I59,I12,I71,I77,I76(E&W),I70,I79,I85,I86(W),I27,I16,I97,I96,I43,I41,

cpzilliacus

Quote from: Doctor Whom on May 21, 2014, 07:42:57 PM
One proposed bridge across the Potomac would have connected the GW Parkway with what is now the Clara Barton Parkway near Great Falls.  Another, the Three Sisters Bridge, would have crossed the river at the western edge of Georgetown and would have been designated I-266.

Outer Capital Beltway crossing between Montgomery County, Maryland and either Fairfax County, Va. or Loudoun County, Va.

In recent years, discussed as part of a "Techway" crossing to provide relief to the American Legion Bridge (I-495).
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

roadman65

Quote from: SteveG1988 on May 24, 2014, 03:48:56 PM
I think proposed bridges that are confirmed to be in the works should not count towards "never built" as sometimes it takes a while between approval and actual construction start or even opening. For example the I-295 bridge over Crosswicks Creek in NJ probably was planned as early as 1970, but was not actually built and opened until 1995. Or the new span for the Oakland Bay Bridge, over 20 years since it was first brought up until it was completed
It depends really on how you look at it.  Many cases a road agency has a bridge on the books, and you know that it will never get built even though the politicians are fighting to get it done.  I sort of feel this way about the Goethals Bridge, that PANYNJ is not going to ever build a new bridge between NJ and NY.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

SidS1045

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was originally proposed by Robert Moses as the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, and it would have been built that way if President Roosevelt hadn't stopped it.
"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." - Edward R. Murrow

froggie

A few of note in the Norfolk, VA area:

- The 1960s freeway proposals included a bridge over the Elizabeth River south of I-264 roughly at Ballentine, proposed as part of the "Metropolitan Loop" that would've encircled downtown Norfolk/downtown Portsmouth.

- A 1970s study considered a bridge or tunnel (more likely the latter) across the Elizabeth River just north of Lamberts Point, crossing over to Craney Island and connecting to Hampton Blvd near ODU.

- VDOT's 1990 Plan proposed a new crossing of the York River near Cheatham Annex east of Williamsburg.  It was to have connected the southern I-64/VA 199 interchange to US 17 near Gloucester.  Instead of building this bridge, VDOT chose to widen the US 17 Coleman Bridge at Yorktown to 4 lanes in 1996.

Mapmikey

Also from Southeastern Virginia...

Permits were granted to the Eastern Virginia Bridge Company by CTB to build toll bridges over both the James River in Aug 1928 (Scotland Wharf to Jamestown Island) and the York River in March 1928 at Gloucester Point.

The Eastern Virginia Bridge Company was again granted a permit for the James River crossing again in March 1933.

The permits had 20-year recapture clauses.

The CTB Minutes don't (at least not that I could find) state why these bridges were never constructed (the York River bridge was finally built in the 1950s).

In hindsight it probably worked out for the best with the Jamestown bridge because that would've kept the state highway on the historic part of the island permanently.  Instead VA 31 was rerouted to the west of Jamestown to the present ferry location between 1942-44.  The causeway VA 31 used from what is now the Jamestown Informational Center parking area south across the marsh approaching Back River and the historic area is still visible on satellite photos.

Mapmikey



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