Highways built parallel to railroads

[golden eagle]

Pretty much all of Mississippi's 2DIs (except I-69) were built parallel to railroads.

[amroad17]

Why are people seeming to make this out to be some kind of surprising coincidence?

I think it's a trend on these forums that people like to use observations they see in road networks, even obvious ones, and use them as a start for discussion. Don't overthink it too much.

It is rarer when a modern highway is constructed where no mode of transportation existed prior.

Such as I-80 in Pennsylvania for the most part.  And, of course, I-70 through the San Rafael Swell.

[jeffandnicole]

An opposite to this is that many new light rail networks are built along highways.

Even when i was a small child, i wondered why light rail or regional passenger service rail lines were not built in the medians/next to freeways. The grading is good, high traffic volumes, etc.

I have even come up with ways of transporting cars via rail along interstate corridors. I just feel like there is so much more potential for interstate/freeway ROWs.

1) They're expensive

2) They're expensive

3) They're expensive

4) Buildings roadways, especially today, often is done by connecting the new road into another existing road. The new road may have the ability to hold a rail line but how does the rail line connect into another part of the system to get people where they may want to go? Rail lines also need lower grade changes than highway, so there's an impact on bridges.  Parking and train stations take up considerable room. And rail lines make it tough to expand the highway in the future if warranted.

5) They're expensive.

[Max Rockatansky]

Why are people seeming to make this out to be some kind of surprising coincidence?

I think it's a trend on these forums that people like to use observations they see in road networks, even obvious ones, and use them as a start for discussion. Don't overthink it too much.

It is rarer when a modern highway is constructed where no mode of transportation existed prior.

Such as I-80 in Pennsylvania for the most part.  And, of course, I-70 through the San Rafael Swell.

CA 1 through Big Sur is the most notable by me.  I-5 and the West Side Freeway largely doesn't overlap any previous modern corridors or at least back to El Camino Viejo.

[roadman65]

I noticed near Shasta Lake in CA, that I-5 has a Union Pacific rail line inside the two carriageways of the freeway. Though not visible by sight as the median is very wide with hills and built like Monteagle Grade in TN on I-24, it's there. In fact the rail line has several tunnels of which two of them pass under SB I-5 to get in the middle.

https://goo.gl/maps/CT5sKvREryBUw3Wr8
Edit: One Tunnel and the rail line are visible from SB I-5 SB at the south end of the split.

https://goo.gl/maps/e6QNNWDV8jQQoVN57
Plus the rail line is visible on the NB side of the freeway.

[Dirt Roads]

I noticed near Shasta Lake in CA, that I-5 has a Union Pacific rail line inside the two carriageways of the freeway. Though not visible by sight as the median is very wide with hills and built like Monteagle Grade in TN on I-24, it's there. In fact the rail line has several tunnels of which two of them pass under SB I-5 to get in the middle.

And CSX's former Atlantic Coast Line mainline is right down the middle of what we railroaders call the "Acca Freeway" in Richmond, Virginia.  On the north end, The Acca is I-195 and more formally known as the Beltine Expressway.  On the south end, The Acca is Toll VA-76 and known as the Powhite Parkway.  When I lived there, the pronunciation of Powhite Creek and Powhite Parkway was changed to "Pow-height" for obvious reasons. 

Fun fact:  When the Powhite Parkway Bridge was being widened back in 1988 with a newly constructed toll booth (also widened), locals saluted the previous governor when depositing 50 cents in the coin basket.  They said "Chuck" when throwing the money, and "Robb" when the signal cleared at the gate rose.  To this day, I still say the same thing at every toll booth I encounter (to the dismay of my other passengers).

[Revive 755]

Old US66 parallels the old Chicago & Alton route (Now Canadian National north of Joliet and Union Pacific south of Joliet) thru most of the state of Illinois. The original US 66 alignments hug the railroad alignment the most, with the newer re-routes moving farther and farther away.

South of Springfield, later alignment of US 66 was closer to what is now Norfolk Southern from a little north of Litchfield to around Staunton.  Between Litchfield and Springfield US 66 was somewhat close to an Illinois Central Line, much of which is now abandoned.



* I-44 in Missouri roughly parallels a BNSF line for much of the way between St. Louis and Springfield, with a nice stretch in St. Louis County along the tracks.

* I-70 in Missouri roughly parallels a Norfolk Southern line from about MO 19 to around MO 370.  MO 370 then roughly parallels the same line, with the closest section being the stretch that includes the Missouri River crossing.

* Old US 36 parallels what is now a Norfolk Southern line for a bit between Springfield and Decatur.  There was also a section where US 36 also had an Illinois Terminal line on the south side, of which only a small portion still exists.

* US 67 roughly parallels a Kansas City Southern line between Godfrey and Manchester.

* US 45 parallels a Canadian National line between Kankakee and Effingham.  North of Kankakee IL 50 generally parallels the CN line to about Monee.  South of Effingham IL 37 parallels the line to a little north of Salem.

* South of Salem IL 37 roughly parallels a Union Pacific line to West Vienna.