Freeways that never got built

[TheStranger]

California had a highway 77 that was supposed to go from the East Bay areas of Walnut Creek and Concord to the Oakland hills. It showed up on some maps.

The section of Route 185 between 14th Street and I-880 was the first (and only) segment the of Route 77 freeway to be built; according to Dan Faigin's site cahighways.org, it's now signed between 880 and there.

How many are in San Francisco again?

Let's see...this only acknowledges routes which were either partially constructed, or which had a proposed route number:

I-480 between Marina Boulevard and Broadway
US 101 between Golden Gate Avenue and the proposed I-480 (at which point 480 and 101 would have run concurrent to the Presidio and Route 1)
the original I-280 north routing along Route 1, the northern extension of the Junipero Serra Freeway from Brotherhood Way (where JSF currently ends) along Junipero Serra Boulevard to Golden Gate Park, and then towards Park Presidio Boulevard to the existing Route 1 freeway
Route 87 between the city of San Jose and Army Street (the segment north of there is of course now I-280; the segment from Army Street to Brisbane became part of an extended, unbuilt Route 230)
the Mission Freeway (US 101?) north of Bosworth Street; south of there it is today's San Jose Avenue
I-80 Western Freeway along Fell Street from Golden Gate Park (at Route 1/I-280) to the Central Freeway where the old Fell Street ramps were - this was the most controversial plan of all of them IIRC
I-280 (originally Route 87?) from 6th Street to I-80, after 280 had been moved onto the old 87/82 (101) routing from the Route 1/Junipero Serra north extension; 280 was only ever completed up to 4th Street

I think that covers it, save for a couple of proposals that never received numbers (the Southern Crossing, the Crosstown Freeway along Monterey Boulevard, a Great Highway conversion, and a Tiburon bridge).

[TheStranger]

Metro Sacramento has quite a few unbuilt routes, most of which were nixed in the 1970s (and have since proven to have been necessary after all) -

Route 143 between Route 99 in Elk Grove and the I-80/Business 80 junction, providing a bypass of downtown Sacramento to the east for drivers going to Roseville; the current major surface arterial approximately on this route is Watt Avenue/Elk Grove-Florin Road
Route 244 between its current endpoint at Auburn Boulevard (east of the I-80/Business 80 split) and US 50 east of Rancho Cordova, which would have allowed traffic from the Bay Area to South Lake Tahoe to avoid downtown Sacramento using the I-80 (originally I-880) north bypass.  (It also would have made it much easier to reach Natomas from the eastern suburbs)
Route 148 connecting I-5 and Route 99 (and Route 143) approximately along Cosumnes River Boulevard/Calvine Road, a surface street that is slated to be extended west to I-5 soon
Route 102, originally proposed as a freeway to supplant Elkhorn Boulevard/Greenback Lane between the airport and Folsom and Folsom-Auburn Road to Auburn, later rerouted on paper to be a more direct northern I-80 bypass from the airport area to Auburn. 

The only freeway in the area still proposed in the long term is Route 65 from Roseville south to Rancho Cordova and southeast to its southern segment further down in the Central Valley; Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights is located near where the 65/102 junction would have been.

Also, the Interstate 80 realignment along the railroad tracks from midtown Sacramento to the Del Paso Heights neighborhood, replacing the 1940s-1950s era US 40 and US 99E freeways, was nixed by the city council in 1979, with its right of way and funds being transferred to the light rail system.  (In fact, the northernmost segment of the realignment, from Del Paso Heights to Watt Avenue, is now part of three Sacramento Regional Transit light rail stations).  This of course led to 80 being rerouted north of town, US 50 being extended west along old I-80 and old US 40 (a decade previously, it had continued south down Route 99), and Business 80 replacing all of what had been I-80 through Sacramento and around the Arden-Arcade area.  Business 80 of course has been a major regional bottleneck since, especially where the 1960s-era, interstate-quality eight-lane former US 99E/I-80 freeway in midtown narrows to 6 for the 1950s US 99E bridge.

[bugo]

Riverside Freeway in Tulsa.

[Alex]

Riverside Freeway in Tulsa.

What about the western half of the loop. I've seen maps still showing this proposed, but I'm assuming that highway has been cancelled for a long time?

[bugo]

Riverside Freeway in Tulsa.

What about the western half of the loop. I've seen maps still showing this proposed, but I'm assuming that highway has been cancelled for a long time?

It's still on the books.  The segment of the Gilcrease from the N end of the Tisdale to its current end at Lewis is U/C and should be opening within the near future.  The other segments of the loop are not being constructed at this time, but land acquisition has begun. 

I wonder what they'll call this road?  I'd number it as I-844, and reroute OK 11 to follow the Tisdale to end at I-244.

[Voyager]

From another thread about it, the Sir Francis Drake freeway was never built from US 101 to I-580 in Marin County. I think that would have been a really short freeway though. I think it would have given that northern US 101 to east I-580 connection, even though I think it's not really that needed. Guess Caltrans agreed with me.

[Alex]

Delaware has a few:

U.S. 301 was to travel a full freeway from the state line west of Middletown northward to the unconstructed Exit 2 interchange of the Delaware Turnpike. The unconstructed Pike Creek Freeway was to continue north from there to Delaware 2 (Kirkwood Highway), transitioning into an arterial route that would link with Delaware 7 (Limestone Road).

Delaware 141 was to be a full freeway bypass of Wilmington. Sections between Delaware 2 and Delaware 41 and Delaware 100 and Interstate 95 at U.S. 202 Exit 8 were never built.

There was also a plan to build a 12th Street Expressway spurring into downtown Wilmington from Interstate 495 to the east. This never happened and a watered down 12th Street extension was built to the Exit 3 diamond interchange with the freeway instead.

[Terry Shea]

Take a look at a map of Michigan.  There are 4 North-South US Highways entering the state from Indiana and Ohio (US 31, US 131, US 127 and US 23)  All have significant portions which are freeway and all have significant segments which were supposed to be upgraded to freeway status but now won't at all or won't be completed until who knows when. 

At one time US 31 and US 131 were supposed to be rebuilt as freeways up to The Mackinac Bridge.  Not going to happen now.  US 31 has 2 freeway gaps from the Indiana border up to Ludington and one of them is a maddening 2.5 mile gap near Benton Harbor.  These gaps will be filled in eventually...maybe...if the funds ever appear and our dimwitted politcal leaders ever get their act together.

US 131 was supposed to have it's freeway portion extended from where the freeway now ends in Schoolcraft to the Indiana Toll Road just south of the Indiana border.  Now they're just going to bypass a couple of small towns and it's going to be a 2 lane bypass.  WTF?

US 127 has a gap between just north of St Johns and Ithaca.  Supposedly this gap is to made into a freeway someday, but who knows when.  This should be an easy fix though.  The route is already divided and there's only 1 traffic light and few at grade intersections along the route.

US 23 was at one time supposed to have its freeway portion extended from where it leaves I-75 to Tawas City or perhaps even Alpena.  Not going to happen now although this actually makes sense because I'm sure the traffic, or lack thereof, wouldn't warrant it being upgraded to freeway standards.  At least US 23 is a continuous freeway from south of the Ohio border to well north of Bay City.

I think the reason these southern routes haven't been upgraded is because so many people have been leaving Michigan for several years now and our politicians don't want to build us good roads to make it easier to leave. 

[Revive 755]

Turned up an article with a few more dead freeways for Portland, OR:
http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6110

[DrZoidberg]

Some of those freeways would really be beneficial to Portland today.  I still am waiting, and will be for the rest of my days, to see a westside bypass of Portland.  If I-605 ever came to be, it'd be a huge help to relieving traffic on Portland's west side.

[hm insulators]

Look at some vintage maps of the Los Angeles area and you'll see that the freeway system was originally intended to be even more extensive than it already is. The Reseda Freeway, the Whitnall Freeway, the Beverly Hills Freeway, the Laurel Canyon Freeway, the Industrial Freeway, all those and many others were originally slated to be built. By the 1970s, political and economic realities forced many of these projects to be canceled and now the Los Angeles/Orange County metropolitan area is paying the price.

[njroadhorse]

NJ 75 between I-280 and NJ 21 in Newark and Belleville would have incredibly nice to have been built.  It was known as the Newark Midtown Freeway, and was aimed to relieve congestion and provide a GSP truck alternative, as well as have a 2-3-3-2 configuration with 3 express lanes on each side.  But by 1969, the project's costs had risen to $115 million, and it was shelved in 1973.

[Alex]

Unconstructed New Jersey 75 always interested me. That tri-level stack interchange along Interstate 78 surprised me when I first saw it in 1993. I have a few photos of the interchanges where the freeway would have ended (none of these are posted on AARoads yet):



Eastbound at the Exit 58 off-ramp on Interstate 78, where New Jersey 75 north would have begun.



Aerial image showing the stack interchange and abrupt end.



Original button copy sign alluding to the New Jersey 75 freeway.



Interstate 280 westbound's mainline merges onto what was to be the north end of New Jersey 75.



Aerial of the north end interchange with Interstate 280 (Exit 13) for unbuilt NJ-75.

[Alex]

Look at some vintage maps of the Los Angeles area and you'll see that the freeway system was originally intended to be even more extensive than it already is. The Reseda Freeway, the Whitnall Freeway, the Beverly Hills Freeway, the Laurel Canyon Freeway, the Industrial Freeway, all those and many others were originally slated to be built. By the 1970s, political and economic realities forced many of these projects to be canceled and now the Los Angeles/Orange County metropolitan area is paying the price.

Riding around with Mike Ballard, I learned so much of what was unconstructed or partially built around Los Angeles. There is so much to see that that each time I go back, I find out something new.

One of my favorite stubs is the California 710 freeway spur from the 210 in Pasadena.



There are also even more recent signs of unbuilt evidence, like the I-110 HOV stub near 28th Street (are they going to extend it north?):

[hm insulators]

Look at some vintage maps of the Los Angeles area and you'll see that the freeway system was originally intended to be even more extensive than it already is. The Reseda Freeway, the Whitnall Freeway, the Beverly Hills Freeway, the Laurel Canyon Freeway, the Industrial Freeway, all those and many others were originally slated to be built. By the 1970s, political and economic realities forced many of these projects to be canceled and now the Los Angeles/Orange County metropolitan area is paying the price.

Riding around with Mike Ballard, I learned so much of what was unconstructed or partially built around Los Angeles. There is so much to see that that each time I go back, I find out something new.

One of my favorite stubs is the California 710 freeway spur from the 210 in Pasadena.



There are also even more recent signs of unbuilt evidence, like the I-110 HOV stub near 28th Street (are they going to extend it north?):

For fifty years, the state of California has tried and tried and tried to connect that little stub with the rest of the I-710 to Long Beach, but the little city of South Pasadena has stubbornly refused to let the freeway be built through their community--a little David fighting off the freeway Goliath, as it were. So all the traffic trying to connect to the main stretch of the 710 has to use little surface streets like Fremont Avenue that were never designed to handle this traffic. Neighboring Alhambra would love the freeway to be built, but South Pasadena is just too stubborn.

The latest I've heard is that they're doing soil tests to see if they can tunnel under South Pasadena, sort of like the Big Dig in Boston.

In the meantime, the I-210/I-710/California 134 interchange pictured is always congested because of its design, especially for people wanting to stay on the 210. This interchange is at the west end of Pasadena (in your picture, we are facing north), and if you're heading west on the 210 and want to stay on the 210 past this interchange, you have to make a 90-degree elbow north on a little two-lane transition ramp. The 210 actually then heads due north for a mile or so before bending northwest through La Canada Flintridge (where I grew up) and ultimately on to the I-5.

Coming the other way from the I-5, you head generally southeast, then the last mile into the interchange, you head due south. Because of the truncated 710, most traffic has to squeeze into two lanes to catch the transition elbowing east to stay on the 210. So you got four lanes of traffic all of a sudden having to squeeze into a two-lane transition that can't really easily be widened because it tunnels under the interchange. You can imagine the traffic snarls, not only on that stretch of the 210, but also the eastbound California 134, especially during afternoon rush hour.

I think when this interchange was originally designed (it was constructed in the mid-1970s), they figured that more traffic would continue south on the 710 to Long Beach and they didn't figure on South Pasadena being so successful at fighting off the freeway this long.

On the 110 HOV lanes: I think they were eventually going to extend it, but I'm not sure whatever happened to that.

[sdmichael]

The elevated HOV lanes on the 110 were planned to connect with the El Monte Busway via an elevated connection. I have a drawing of one of the plans in my archives. I'll scan it and post it on my website soon. The viaduct would have bypassed the Four Level to the southeast but would have had some connections to the 101 and 110 from there.

[WNYroadgeek]

I've also heard that the Lake Ontario State Parkway was supposed to continue past Lake Ave and follow abandoned railroad tracks to NY 590.  There is certainly enough right of way for that to have happened in Durand Park; the portion of Lake Shore Blvd in the area only has two lanes but is wide enough for at least four (the remaining space is used for a left turn lane and parking).

At one point it was intended for it to terminate at the Inner Loop (and the western terminus was intended to be at the Robert Moses Parkway in Youngstown, for that matter). In fact, both Buffalo and Rochester have quite a few freeways that never saw the light of day: http://www.gribblenation.net/nypics/planned/

[jp the roadgeek]

Hartford, CT has a TON of unbuilt freeways.  In addition to the aforementioned I-384, there is:

The I-291 Hartford beltway, of which 2 portions are in use.  The part from I-91 in Rocky Hill to CT 9 in New Britain was never built, as well as the northwest quadrant from the end of CT 9 to the current western end of I-291 in Windsor.  Ironically, CONNDot built its headquarters on land to be used for this. 

3 other Hartford area interstates never built: I-491 (I-86), a short freeway from the end of CT 3 to near the I-84/291/384 interchange in Manchester.  I-484 as a connector between I-84 exit 48 and I-91 exit 29A with a tunnel under Bushnell Park.  I 284 as an extension of CT 2 up to I-291 in South Windsor.

2 freeway extensions that were supposed to be part of the original CT 9: one from the north end of the Berlin Turnpike to I-84 exit 45, and from Exit 46 to the CT 187/189 freeway in the middle of nowhere.

Countless other state route freeway extensions statewide.  To name a few: CT 8 to the Mass Pike, CT 11 (we all know that one), CT 72 to CT 8, CT 78 to I-95, Super 7 from Norwalk to Danbury, CT 40 as the CT 10 expressway to I-84 exit 29.

[cpzilliacus]

Metropolitan Baltimore has the eastern end of I-70 and the southern end of I-83 which were never built.  South of Baltimore in Anne Arundel County, Md. 10 ends at Md. 2 in Pasadena instead of connecting to U.S. 50/U.S. 301 in Arnold.

[PHLBOS]

Massachusetts
I-95 was supposed to be (was?) the central artery and split off onto a partially built freeway that is currently signed US 1 but was never completed northeastward to close the gap.

What you're describing is only one piece of the "missing" I-95 in the Boston area... the extension of the Northeast Expressway to MA 128 (at the current I-95 interchange in Peabody).

The Southwest Expressway portion of I-95 (between the Mass Ave. interchange and Canton (current I-93/95/MA 128 interchange) was also never built along with the I-695/Inner Belt and related connectors to MA 2 and US 3.

US 3/Northwest Expressway was never extended south of I-95/MA 128 in Burlington.

The Vinnin Square & Salem Connectors (originally to I-95, then later to MA 128) were never fully built.  The new Salem-Beverly Bridge (MA 1A) and the 2-lane Bridge St. Bypass (MA 107) are the only legs of the Salem Connector that became reality within the last decade-and-a-half.  The Forest St. interchange off MA 128 (Exit 28) was originally intended to be the western leg of the above-canned connectors.

An Outer Beltway, located mid-way between I-495 and I-95/MA 128 was planned but never became reality.

I-895 in southern MA, aka Providence's eastern beltway/bypass.

MA 25 extension to MA 3 in Plymouth.

I-290 eastern extension from I-495 to MA 2 and even I-95/MA 128.

A direct highway connection between the I-90/Mass Pike and Worcester Airport (ORH).

Rhode Island

I-84 between the CT State line and I-295, the completed leg east of I-295 is designated as US 6.

I-895 between the MA state line and I-95 (Exit 3).  The Newport & Jamestown-Verrazano Bridges along with highway segments of RI 138 from Newport to the US 1 interchange were originally intended to be parts of I-895.

Pennsylvania

A few more to add:

US 422 Expressway extension from King of Prussia to I-476 in Radnor aka the Radnor Spur.

I-695/Cobbs Creek & Crosstown (aka South St.) Expressways in Philly and Darby Borough, Delaware County.

Tacony/Pulaski Expressway from I-95/Betsy Ross Bridge (Exit 26) interchange to Northeast & North Philly.

West Philadelphia Expressway (US 1).

Lansdowne Expressway (from above-West Philly Expressway to I-476 in Marple Twp., Delaware County).

Woodhaven Road Expressway Extension (PA 63) west of US 1; although a portion of it may be revived.

US 202 Expressway north of Doylestown, aka Section 800.

US 202 Expressway between King of Prussia (I-76) and Montgomeryville (PA 309), aka Sections 500 & 600.  Note: Section 700 was downgraded to a Parkway and was opened in late 2012.

New Jersey

I-695, a western north-south connector linking I-287 to the never-built Somerset Expressway (I-95).

NJ 90 east of NJ 73; this expressway would've paralleled NJ 73 and terminated at such just of the NJ Turnpike (near/at Exit 4).

NJ 92.

NJ 55 south of its present terminus at NJ 47.  Note: the NJ 347 corridor was originally planned to a part of the 55 Freeway Extension.

US 322 Expressway east of the Commodore Barry Bridge to NJ 55.

[roadman65]

Ditto on the unbuilt New Jersey freeways.  NJ has enough problems with traffic as the current road system is so outdated that it cannot handle the increased cars, trucks, and buses that developed.  It is sad as the proposals were so nice, it would have helped plenty, but we all know what makes the world go around.  Unfortunately, New Jersey does not have enough to go around to make the ideal road system for the times we are in.

Also to add, is the unbuilt NJ 24 west of I-287 along with its spur to NJ 10.  It would have terminated at current CR 510 somewhere west of Morristown as NJ 24 once did continue west to Hackettstown and even at one time to Phillipsburg.

Then the NJ 31 freeways in Mercer and Hunterdon Counties, especially the latter which would by-pass Flemington that was proposed in the 1980's after local business owners disapproved of widening existing NJ 31 within Flemington.

[NE2]

Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road was going to be a freeway. A short piece was built at the Old Faithful exit.

[kurumi]

Connecticut

Never constructed: 1 (West Haven), 10, 35/110, (42), US 44, (68), 71, 79, 80, 82, 83, 117/164, 137, 313

Only stubs: 4, 5/I-284, 9/189, 73, 190, 501, 504, East Rock Connector, Ring Road, 702

Parts missing: 2, 2A, 6/I-84/I-384, 7, 8, 9, 11, 17, 20, 22/40, 25, 32, 34, 66, 72, I-86/I-491, I-291, I-484

Some designations are combined if the proposed or working number changed. Number in parentheses if proposal was in corridor but never associated with number in plans or articles I've found.

Hartford area map: http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/hfd-fwy-60s.html

[Big John]

Milwaukee had several unbuilt/partially built freeways that will never be completed:

Stadium South: Extension of Stadium Interchange to I-894.  South now a bus-only entrance.

Stadium North: From Stadium Interchange north to I-43/ WI 57 interchange by Saukville.  South end buil as current US41 (soon to be renumbered) .  I-43 SB over WI 57 was built as a 3rd-level overpass as the never-built freeway was to be at a 2nd-level bridge at that interchange.

Bay Freeway:  Was planned where Brown Deer Road is

Park West/Fond du Lac Freeway:  To follow WI 145 from the interchange of US 41/45 and the interchange with I-43.  Only the west part from US 41/45 to 68th St was built.  The rest is still city streets.

Park East Freeway:  To follow WI 145 from I-43 to the never-built Lake freeway.  A short elevated freeway was built from I-43.  It has since been demolished and replaced with city streets.

Lake Freeway:  To follow the lake eventually from the north suburbs down to Illinios.  Only the Hoan Bridge part was built and many years, a Lake Parkway was built to connect to it to the south, but not as a freeway.

Western freeway:  Planned primarily for Waukesha County.  Was planned to connect to US 41/45 at the Mequon Road interchange, and a bridge over the freeway is extra long as it was to accommodate ramps from that unbuilt freeway.

[1995hoo]

There were a bunch of planned freeways in Northern Virginia detailed in the "1969 Northern Virginia Major Thoroughfare Plan." I can't find details online, though; the site that once had some maps is now gone. I believe the public library in Fairfax City has a copy; if I have time when I'm next out there, I'll try to find it and use my iPad camera to make some scans.