Cities that have lost interstates

[bugo]

I-84 used to pass through Willimantic, Connecticut, but it was decommissioned and became a part of US 6.  What other cities/towns/villages have lost interstates?  How did these places deal with the loss of their interstates?  Having an address on an interstate is more prestigious than just a US highway.

[pianocello]

The only one I can think of is a pure technicality: the South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago "lost" the I-90 designation on the Skyway. I don't think taking away the designation made much of a public difference, because (a) it's still signed TO I-90 eastbound and TO I-90/94 westbound, and (b) because it's still part of Chicago, which still has the highest number of 2dis in the country.

[hbelkins]

The only one I can think of is a pure technicality: the South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago "lost" the I-90 designation on the Skyway.

Huh? Does this mean there is an interstate other than I-95 that has a gap in it now?

[US 41]

The only one I can think of is a pure technicality: the South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago "lost" the I-90 designation on the Skyway. I don't think taking away the designation made much of a public difference, because (a) it's still signed TO I-90 eastbound and TO I-90/94 westbound, and (b) because it's still part of Chicago, which still has the highest number of 2dis in the country.

The Skyway is Interstate 90.

[Brandon]

The only one I can think of is a pure technicality: the South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago "lost" the I-90 designation on the Skyway. I don't think taking away the designation made much of a public difference, because (a) it's still signed TO I-90 eastbound and TO I-90/94 westbound, and (b) because it's still part of Chicago, which still has the highest number of 2dis in the country.

A. According to FHWA, it's I-90.
B. According to IDOT, it's I-90.
C. It's the City of Chicago, and only the City of Chicago that doesn't seem to think it's I-90.
D. CDOT handles the signage for the Skyway, not IDOT.

[bugo]

But San Francisco still has interstates.  This thread is about towns that were once on the I system that no longer are.

[Roadrunner75]

You could make an argument for the townships along the Lehigh Valley Thruway (US 22) in the Allentown, PA area.  I-78 was rerouted south of Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton in the 1980s, leaving former I-378 without a connection to its parent and townships like Whitehall, etc. along the corridor without an interstate.  The cities (A/B/E) themselves are still served by I-78 of course and with the completion of PA-33 to 78, a beltway of sorts as well.

[bulldog1979]

The city of Farmington, Michigan, lost I-96 in the 1970s. The original route of I-96 into Detroit was to parallel Grand River Avenue. That segment of freeway was mostly cancelled, and the Jeffries Freeway was built in its place. What is now M-5 southeast of I-696 was once the I-96 mainline until I-96 was rerouted to follow I-275 and the Jeffries. I-96 still enters Farmington Hills, but it no longer crosses through part of Farmington.

[Brian556]

Forney, Texas. I-20 used to be on US 80, before being moved south to a new alignment in the 80's

[roadman65]

What about I-878 becoming NY 878?  Then I-495 in NJ being lost when NYCDOT decided not to build the Mid Manhattan Expressway.

[texaskdog]

I-84 used to pass through Willimantic, Connecticut, but it was decommissioned and became a part of US 6.  What other cities/towns/villages have lost interstates?  How did these places deal with the loss of their interstates?  Having an address on an interstate is more prestigious than just a US highway.

It doesn't appear to connect on the map

[vdeane]

I-878 is still there.  It's just not signed.  Plus:

But San Francisco still has interstates.  This thread is about towns that were once on the I system that no longer are.

NYC is still on the interstate system.

[pianocello]

The only one I can think of is a pure technicality: the South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago "lost" the I-90 designation on the Skyway. I don't think taking away the designation made much of a public difference, because (a) it's still signed TO I-90 eastbound and TO I-90/94 westbound, and (b) because it's still part of Chicago, which still has the highest number of 2dis in the country.

A. According to FHWA, it's I-90.
B. According to IDOT, it's I-90.
C. It's the City of Chicago, and only the City of Chicago that doesn't seem to think it's I-90.
D. CDOT handles the signage for the Skyway, not IDOT.

Right, thanks for the clarification. I remember reading many years ago that the agency that maintains the Skyway doesn't consider it part of 90 and therefore uses the "TO" banners. I must have either skipped or forgotten the fact that it was only CDOT, not IDOT and FHWA that reneged the I-90 designation on the Skyway.

Sorry about the confusion.

[bugo]

I-84 used to pass through Willimantic, Connecticut, but it was decommissioned and became a part of US 6.  What other cities/towns/villages have lost interstates?  How did these places deal with the loss of their interstates?  Having an address on an interstate is more prestigious than just a US highway.

It doesn't appear to connect on the map

It was once a part of I-84.  The fact that it didn't connect to the rest of the system is irrelevant.  The whole I-69/I-2 mess in Texas doesn't connect to the rest of the system either.

[briantroutman]

I-878 is still there.  It's just not signed.  Plus:

But San Francisco still has interstates.  This thread is about towns that were once on the I system that no longer are.

NYC is still on the interstate system.

Yes, not only is New York City as a whole connected to the Interstate System, but every single borough has Interstate mileage–and with the exception of the Staten Island, every borough has mileage from at least two different Interstates.

How did these places deal with the loss of their interstates?  Having an address on an interstate is more prestigious than just a US highway.

It was once a part of I-84.  The fact that it didn't connect to the rest of the system is irrelevant.

As to your second question (how did the towns deal with the loss of an Interstate), I think the answer is wrapped up in the fact that Willimantic's segment of I-84 never connected with the rest of the route. And we're not just talking about a small gap with the remainder of the route: It's about 11 miles west to the Manchester section (more than twice as long as the freeway in Willimantic) and another 18 miles east to a tiny freeway fragment at I-395. Since the 1969 realignment of I-84 never really served the purpose of being a single, consolidated, functioning route, I think Williamantic never truly benefited from the prestige that the Interstate designation conveys.

I'm sure that rescinding the I-84 designation was a devastating blow to local boosters, though, mostly due the vague notion of things that might have been–factories or distribution centers that could have been built because of the easy access to Hartford and Providence, restaurants and hotels the might have sprung up to serve regional travelers, etc. But I think upwards of 75% of the loss was losing the completed freeway; maybe 25% or less was losing the I-84 designation.

[TheStranger]

Does the Route 99 corridor in the Central Valley kinda count?  It's the originally proposed I-5 before the West Side Freeway alignment was chosen...though most of it has become freeway anyway (with one last segment being worked on this year) and potential future interstate nowadays.

[US 41]

Didn't Vincennes, IN lose I-64?

[Henry]

We know that Washington, DC lost the in-town portion of I-95, as the section north of downtown was cancelled. And Baltimore lost I-170 when it was known that I-70 was not going past MD 122. (Speaking of I-70, it will be truncated to I-695 within a few years, and the part east of there will be reduced to a three-lane parkway called Cooks Blvd, which connects to the existing Cooks Lane further in town.)

[tdindy88]

Didn't Vincennes, IN lose I-64?

I-64 was never actually signed along US 50 in Vincennes. Although the highway was once proposed to go through there, by the time highway shields would have been placed the highway was already in its present day configuration.

[PHLBOS]

We know that Washington, DC lost the in-town portion of I-95, as the section north of downtown was cancelled. And Baltimore lost I-170 when it was known that I-70 was not going past MD 122. (Speaking of I-70, it will be truncated to I-695 within a few years, and the part east of there will be reduced to a three-lane parkway called Cooks Blvd, which connects to the existing Cooks Lane further in town.)

Although it wasn't completely signed as such, the Northeast Expressway, Tobin Bridge & Central Artery in Boston were all once part of I-95; the former-two became US 1 and the latter became I-93.

Although it was never constructed, Lynn lost its planned I-95 corridor & Salem lost two potential 3di connectors from said-I-95 corridor (Vinnin Square & Salem Connectors).

[Laura]

We know that Washington, DC lost the in-town portion of I-95, as the section north of downtown was cancelled. And Baltimore lost I-170 when it was known that I-70 was not going past MD 122. (Speaking of I-70, it will be truncated to I-695 within a few years, and the part east of there will be reduced to a three-lane parkway called Cooks Blvd, which connects to the existing Cooks Lane further in town.)

I've been thinking about the effects of losing I-170 on a micro level, and its demotion signaled victory as well as loss. Victory that this continued to confirm that the neighborhoods won the highway wars. However, by this point, the surrounding neighborhoods were in such decline that it almost didn't matter.

Interestingly, I've heard theories that these neighborhoods would have fallen into decline regardless of the freeway, with the major difference potentially being a decreased amount of outright abandonment.


iPhone

[lepidopteran]

At least 2 locations had their 2di's "demoted" to 3di's.

• Tampa, FL: I-75 -> I-275 (when I-75 was rerouted inland)
• Rockville, MD: I-70s -> I-270 (when they did away with the N and S suffixes)

Supposedly, the reason that I-95 was never routed down the NJ Turnpike and across the Delaware Memorial Bridge is because Philadelphia did not want their section demoted to 3di status. Which is understandable, given I-95's position commercially.

[Pete from Boston]

North Bergen, Union City, and Weehawken, NJ, were served by Interstate 495, since demoted to NJ 495.

[DandyDan]

Omaha technically lost I-580, although Omaha still got to keep I-80, I-480 and I-680.  I'm not sure it meant anything to North Omaha to lose I-580, but the thing I really don't know is whether they actually signed it as such.

Oddly enough, I was at the local library here in Papillion over the weekend, and I saw a 2030 highway projection from a local agency (MAPA) which has an extension proposed crossing the Missouri River into Iowa and meeting up with I-680 somewhere between the Mormon Bridge and I-29.

[PColumbus73]

I think Laurinburg, NC kind of counts, at least for now. If I remember, I-74 was briefly signed through that area but signs were removed because there were some deficiencies on the US 74/ Future I-74 corridor.