NC 16 goes from a 2-lane road to a full freeway. Any other crazy examples?
AZ 303 actually becoming a freeway instead of a weird two lane oddity in the West Valley.
MA 140 in Taunton seems to qualify.
MA 18 in New Bedford is a multilane freeway for one mile, and one mile only. The north end of this freeway is a more sudden change than the south end of the freeway.
Going past the south end of I-89 and continuing straight puts you on a two-lane road that isn't even a main thoroughfare. It isn't quite residential, but it's close.
The northern end of MA 146 (a freeway) continues as a residential road.
Other roads where similar things happen: I-291 (MA)'s north end, I-391's north end (when continuing straight), MA 140's south end, and CT 40's south end.
Quote from: 1 on November 20, 2017, 12:21:08 PM
MA 140 in Taunton seems to qualify.
Going past the south end of I-89 and continuing straight puts you on a two-lane road that isn't even a main thoroughfare. It isn't quite residential, but it's close.
Did you mean to say Route 140 in New Bedford at the intersection of US 6? Freeway on the north side of US 6, two lane residential street on the south side.
Quote from: roadman on November 20, 2017, 12:35:11 PM
Quote from: 1 on November 20, 2017, 12:21:08 PM
MA 140 in Taunton seems to qualify.
Going past the south end of I-89 and continuing straight puts you on a two-lane road that isn't even a main thoroughfare. It isn't quite residential, but it's close.
Did you mean to say Route 140 in New Bedford at the intersection of US 6? Freeway on the north side of US 6, two lane residential street on the south side.
I edited my post to add more information, which includes MA 140 in New Bedford. I looked at the segment in Taunton again, and I didn't see that the change was more gradual.
Until some time ago, the North end of SD I-229 :sombrero:.
Just east of Elkins, WV, US-33/WV-55 shifts from a somewhat winding 2-lane road to a well-constructed 4-lane freeway (with at-grades, but I think it's still signed at 70 mph.) I think this was supposed to be the original routing of Corridor H, now routed as part of US-48 to the north of Elkins.
A bit of a cheat, but the northern end of I-35 turns into a side street.
Right here in the South Bay: WB CA 152, after nearly 30 miles of divided expressway west of I-5 and extending over Pacheco Pass, peters out into a substandard winding 2-lane road after the CA 156 junction. If it weren't for the massive amount of truck traffic that uses this route, it could be shrugged off as just another uncompleted corridor; but it's long been a major regional safety hazard.
Quote from: lepidopteran on November 20, 2017, 12:51:43 PM
Just east of Elkins, WV, US-33/WV-55 shifts from a somewhat winding 2-lane road to a well-constructed 4-lane freeway (with at-grades, but I think it's still signed at 70 mph.) I think this was supposed to be the original routing of Corridor H, now routed as part of US-48 to the north of Elkins.
According to hbelkins, you are correct:
Quote from: hbelkins on October 08, 2012, 09:16:15 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 08, 2012, 02:57:01 PMThere was also a section between Elkins and the Monongahela National Forest where the road was a four-lane divided expressway. I don't know whether that was a new configuration or not because I had not been on that segment before (and it had been 20 years since I'd been in that area at all).
Known locally as "The Racetrack." Built in the late 70s-early 80s as part of Corridor H before the routing was moved north to follow US 219 out of Elkins. This section was built before the portion between Buckhannon and Elkins was finished.
My family went on a vacation in the early 80s to drive Skyline Drive and the BRP, and we spent the night in Harrisonburg. I remember we had to take the two-lane route through downtown Buckhannon and on to Elkins because the four-lane was only completed to Buckhannon, and then that short portion east of Elkins.
Regarding Corridor H, I guess you could consider its current eastern terminus to be an example of the sort of thing about which the OP asks since just west of Wardensville it goes from a nice 65-mph expressway to a two-lane road that has an S-curve signed at an advisory speed of 20 mph. (In West Virginia's odd fashion, the sign prior to where this occurs advises of the "freeway" ending despite there having been an at-grade intersection just prior to the sign (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.070407,-78.6329762,3a,75y,100.71h,80.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4oKDeF8tbp0VYLJpjS1WRg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656).)
I probably wouldn't count this as an "intended" example of a "drastic road standard change" because the configuration is due to Corridor H not being completed east of that point. But certainly the drop from a 65-mph highway to a 20-mph S-curve is a bit "drastic."
I think US 395 goes from 2-lane to full freeway near the northern CA/NV border.
US 1 is a two lane road in MD and goes to a freeway at the PA Line. However at the state line though there is an at grade intersection.
US 301, as of now, goes from two lanes in Delaware to a four lane expressway at the MD Line. In DE the road has side road and intersections while in MD it is limited access despite it not being a freeway.
US 12, from very poorly designed local street to interstate-standard freeway at the IL-WI state line.
Mike
Near Park City UT, Silver Creek Rd winds through a residential area, hits I-80 at Silver Creek Junction, and suddenly becomes the US 40/189 freeway (which is probably up to Interstate standards).
Google Map of the junction (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7314457,-111.4974873,16.86z)
MN 77 at the north end goes from a 4-lane freeway to a congested two-lane urban arterial.
US 95 in Nevada drops from a well built divided expressway to a curvy ancient two-lane mountain road entering California. But I think the cake goes to CA 1 in California has it literally has Freeway, expressway, rural two-lane, and coastal mountain segments.
WA-512 (https://goo.gl/WXgB4D) in Lakewood, Washington "ends" at Pacific Ave, but the roadway keeps going past the signal, becomes a narrow neighborhood street (Perkins Lane), and T's about two blocks later.
(https://i.imgur.com/z6DB3xy.png)
Quote from: jakeroot on November 20, 2017, 11:52:27 PM
WA-512 (https://goo.gl/WXgB4D) in Lakewood Washington "ends" at Pacific Ave, but the roadway keeps going past the signal, becomes a narrow neighborhood street (Perkins Lane), and T's about two blocks later.
*snipped image*
Why was that cloverleaf ramp removed?
Quote from: roadguy2 on November 21, 2017, 12:00:51 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on November 20, 2017, 11:52:27 PM
WA-512 (https://goo.gl/WXgB4D) in Lakewood Washington "ends" at Pacific Ave, but the roadway keeps going past the signal, becomes a narrow neighborhood street (Perkins Lane), and T's about two blocks later.
*snipped image*
Why was that cloverleaf ramp removed?
The two cloverleafs were conflicting with each other, because they both handled extremely popular movements. So around 2000, the SW petal was replaced with a triple left, perhaps the first in Washington State (should give you some idea of how popular the movement is).
Quote from: fillup420 on November 20, 2017, 03:00:39 PM
I think US 395 goes from 2-lane to full freeway near the northern CA/NV border.
It's full freeway in Nevada, transitions to 4-lane divided right at the California state line for about 7 miles to just past the Hallelujah Junction interchange (this section feels like it's still freeway though), then goes down to 2-lane road.
Quote from: mgk920 on November 20, 2017, 04:04:28 PM
US 12, from very poorly designed local street to interstate-standard freeway at the IL-WI state line.
Mike
Let's be honest, it goes to dirt at the IL/WI state line, having to exit off itself.
Illinois 53 infamously goes from a 6-lane expressway to a concurrency with Lake-Cook Rd.
Quote from: Finrod on November 22, 2017, 02:42:48 PM
Illinois 53 infamously goes from a 6-lane expressway to a concurrency with Lake-Cook Rd.
Well, the freeway ends there anyway. IL-53 exits at Dundee Road (IL-68), one exit (about one mile) sooner than the end. Then IL-53 follows Dundee Road west to Rand Road (US-12) before turning north on Hicks Road.
Quote from: Brandon on November 22, 2017, 03:38:09 PM
Quote from: Finrod on November 22, 2017, 02:42:48 PM
Illinois 53 infamously goes from a 6-lane expressway to a concurrency with Lake-Cook Rd.
Well, the freeway ends there anyway. IL-53 exits at Dundee Road (IL-68), one exit (about one mile) sooner than the end. Then IL-53 follows Dundee Road west to Rand Road (US-12) before turning north on Hicks Road.
You are of course correct. It's been 20 years since I drove that stretch of road so I forgot that detail.
US 101 also has 8-lane freeway segments, and also narrow twisty 2-lane segments.
I believe this thread is meant for a road that is of one standard immediately becoming a much lower standard, not a route that has two vastly different sections with an arbitrary distance between them. If allowing the latter, QC 138 is a major example, having freeway and expressway sections around Montreal and Quebec City, but (currently) ending as an unpaved road in Kegashka.
Or CV-35 in the Valencian Community in Spain, which starts in Valencia as a full freeway and gets progressively worse until it reaches the Castile-La Mancha border as a goat path.
Anyway, State/Regional borders are the best place to search abrupt changes. Sometimes one subdivision has upgraded its section and while the other didn't, resulting in a good road becoming a goat path at the border.
Alexandria, LA has two-way frontage roads that suddenly become one-way. No warning, simply the road in one direction ends at a curb.
CA 299 is a 2-lane road with high design speed and shoulders. It crosses the Nevada border and turns into former Nevada state highway 8A, which is about 1 1/2 lanes, dirt, never was paved, now recommended for jeeps and pickups and not much else.
Quote from: kkt on November 23, 2017, 10:41:36 PM
CA 299 is a 2-lane road with high design speed and shoulders. It crosses the Nevada border and turns into former Nevada state highway 8A, which is about 1 1/2 lanes, dirt, never was paved, now recommended for jeeps and pickups and not much else.
I wonder if those 8A shields are still standing after all these years? That's the kind of area that vintage shields would last because of how remote it is.
The expressway section of NY 27 used to end at the "Shinnecock Squeeze" where it narrowed down to one eastbound lane and two westbound lanes, undivided. Relatively recently, they widened is so that it's now four-lane undivided after the expressway ends.
In NE OH, US-422 goes from a 4-lane freeway to a narrow 2-lane road a few miles east of OH-44 for several miles before it reverts to a 4-lane divided roadway. ODOT is in no hurry to upgrade that 2-lane stretch despite being narrow and dangerous with high traffic AND the occasional Amish buggy to make things interesting.
NH 101 is one of my favorite examples. It starts off as a narrow one-way pair (https://goo.gl/maps/oZ9TVgU9wtG2) in Hampton Beach, then less than two miles west turns into a short-lived super-two freeway (https://goo.gl/maps/aUzcBw5bdCw) before turning into a full-blown divided freeway (https://goo.gl/maps/5rrt6pNWDsk) not long after that.
When US 74 was being upgraded in eastern NC during the late 1990's, it would frequently jump between 2-lane road and interstate-standard freeway, as new sections were built and opened. Now its done so we don't get any of that.
Benson Road in eastern Sioux Falls transitions directly from a 4-lane with turning lane concrete surface to gravel: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5871969,-96.6880323,3a,75y,79.43h,82.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLnJTyEOq4wRQUgLfse2TRA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5871969,-96.6880323,3a,75y,79.43h,82.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLnJTyEOq4wRQUgLfse2TRA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en)
(This may be fixed with the SD 100 project; they're building from SD 42 to I-90 next year...)
Quote from: SD Mapman on November 25, 2017, 08:33:13 PM
Benson Road in eastern Sioux Falls transitions directly from a 4-lane with turning lane concrete surface to gravel: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5871969,-96.6880323,3a,75y,79.43h,82.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLnJTyEOq4wRQUgLfse2TRA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5871969,-96.6880323,3a,75y,79.43h,82.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLnJTyEOq4wRQUgLfse2TRA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en)
Interesting TRUCK ROUTE sign with a PRIMARY banner... never seen that before.
U.S. 1 southbound in Pennsylvania goes from being a four-lane freeway to a two-lane divided arterial as it approaches and crosses the Maryland border.
U.S. 1 further degrades as it crosses the Conowingo Dam at the Susquehanna River (the lanes are quite narrow (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.6590619,-76.174374,3a,75y,179.65h,80.48t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssVqRTk2gsBvLlNvIVvyXYA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en) at the south (west) end of the dam at the power house).
US 95 goes from a 70 MPH expressway in Nevada before dropping down to a worn two-lane road following the original 1926 alignment of US 66 upon entering California.
Quote from: mgk920 on November 20, 2017, 04:04:28 PM
US 12, from very poorly designed local street to interstate-standard freeway at the IL-WI state line.
Mike
with a stop sign
In Ohio:
Near Fairborn, I-675's northern terminus at I-70 is actually a full cloverleaf. So what happens in the fourth direction to the north? The freeway quickly downgrades to 2-lane County Road 335, also known as Spangler Rd. IMHO, not only does the interchange seem like overkill, there are two interchanges a few miles in either direction that are just as good to get to the control city of Medway.
In Northbridge, OH, just north of Columbus, SR-315 (Olentangy Freeway) is a full freeway right up to the interchange with I-270. A traffic signal then appears before EB->NB ramp even finishes merging! It then quickly whittles down to 2 lanes with a center turn-lane, then becomes a 2-lane road through a wooded area along the river. The interchange, which used to have an at-grade left turn for one movement, is now a 3/4 cloverleaf with one mixing bowl ramp, and most recently a supplementary ramp was added to access a C/D lane serving US-23.
About 30 years ago, the suddenness of this shift caught me off-guard, on a bicycle! I was coming down from the north, then was like, "Whoa, I'm on a freeway!" (I know, some non-interstate freeways allow bicycles on the shoulder, but...) I had to backtrack to the Linworth Rd. overpass to continue southward.
In the Seven Pines area of eastern Henrico County, traveling westbound on US 60 from I-295 sees it rather dramatically drop from a 4-lane divided road with a 55 mph speed limit to a 2-lane road with a 25 mph speed limit as it approaches the rather messy intersection with VA 33 and VA 33Y.
CT 25 going from a 6 lane freeway, and after crossing CT 111 at-grade, becomes a 2 lane road.
US 7 in Norwalk hitting a dead end at Grist Mill Rd. and turning right to connect to the road that becomes its old alignment
The old west ending of the CT 72 expressway in Plainville where continuing straight put you on a neighborhood street with a 25 MPH speed limit.
CT 9 in Middletown that goes from a 65 MPH expressway to 2 traffic lights in less than a mile.
The west end of I-291 that connects to CT 218 (similar to CT 40).
The Berlin Turnpike which goes from the US 5/CT 15 portion which is 4 lanes divided and a 50 MPH speed limit to CT 314 which is 2 lanes undivided and a 40 MPH speed limit, then about a mile later becomes Maple Ave in Hartford and a 25 MPH limit.
The north end of I-678 which becomes the Hutch Parkway where commercial vehicles are banned.
CA 58 is largely an Expressway or a Freeway east of Bakersfield. West of Bakersfield the route is largely rural and curvy, in fact you'd might mistake it for CA 178 because it was at one point.
This historical example is one of my favorites:
(https://i.imgur.com/XhTPOvG.jpg)
Kansas Turnpike in 1956 at the Oklahoma border. If you're not careful, you'll go right into a field.
I'd love to see any ground-level photos of this intersection from that time.
When the VA-76 Powhite Parkway Extension was opened in 1988, at the west end it transitioned in 1/2 mile from a 4-lane freeway to a 2-lane at-grade expressway to the gravel road VA-652 Old Hundred Road, in one seamless road.
This is near where now VA-288 and VA-76 cross. VA-652 Old Hundred Road was upgraded a few years later into a modern 2-lane paved secondary road.
Quote from: JasonOfORoads on November 29, 2017, 05:49:10 PM
This historical example is one of my favorites:
(https://i.imgur.com/XhTPOvG.jpg)
Kansas Turnpike in 1956 at the Oklahoma border. If you're not careful, you'll go right into a field.
I'd love to see any ground-level photos of this intersection from that time.
There are some somewhere on this forum.
Edited to add: Found a link in a prior thread to a grainy newspaper photo. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19570403&id=FFdIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wgAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7241,5569082&hl=en
The northern end of the US-131 freeway, when it reverts to a two-lane road (although that stretch of 131 may be considered a Super 2 as there are very few if any driveways between the northern end of the freeway and Fife Lake)
I'm surprised no one here yet has mentioned US-101 from Novato to Petaluma, between Marin County and Sonoma County in California. After the last exit in Novato, it goes down from 8 to 6 lanes, then very quickly goes down to four lanes, in less than a mile of highway! If you get caught in traffic in this part of US-101, expect a 30 minute delay when going to Petaluma or Santa Rosa, probably because at one point Caltrans though cost-cutting in highway building was a good idea but didn't foresee millions of dollars of wasted productivity as a result of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Caltrans today is well aware of this - it has been working on a project called the "Sonoma-Marin Narrows (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=13396.0#msg2251642)" and you can see the effects of its construction as you pass through in either direction. I have gone southbound here multiple times and I can see enough space for a third lane, except it's currently painted over so you can't drive on it. The idea is they are working on a new lane so it only drops to 6 lanes, except the center most lane is HOV.
Quote from: dgolub on November 24, 2017, 09:13:59 AM
"Shinnecock Squeeze"
This sounds like something that results in a sexual harassment lawsuit. :-D
Quote from: TechknowI'm surprised no one here yet has mentioned US-101 from Novato to Petaluma, between Marin County and Sonoma County in California. After the last exit in Novato, it goes down from 8 to 6 lanes, then very quickly goes down to four lanes, in less than a mile of highway!
No worse than US 12 in Wayzata, MN. Prior to the Long Lake bypass, it went from a 6-lane freeway to 2-lane surface road in the span of about a half-mile. Not quite as bad now with the bypass (but still comparable to your US 101 example), where it now goes from 6-lane freeway to Super-2 in about 3/4-mile.
US 202 at the PA 611 cloverleaf near Doylestown, PA: 4-lane divided expressway north of the interchange to a 2-lane undivided parkway south of it.
Woodhaven Road in Philly goes from a full freeway to a dead-end street without so much as a marked median after a single at-grade intersection
The Summerlin Parkway progresses from freeway to arterial to total dead end in less than a mile.
Quote from: pdx-wanderer on February 01, 2018, 03:35:34 PM
The Summerlin Parkway progresses from freeway to arterial to total dead end in less than a mile.
Well actually, it turns into an arterial at the CC 215 interchange (traffic lights), and hasn't yet been constructed beyond said beltway interchange. If and when Summerlin Pkwy is built beyond the 215, it is planned to be a surface arterial.
Quote from: roadfro on February 05, 2018, 10:55:36 PM
Quote from: pdx-wanderer on February 01, 2018, 03:35:34 PM
The Summerlin Parkway progresses from freeway to arterial to total dead end in less than a mile.
Well actually, it turns into an arterial at the CC 215 interchange (traffic lights), and hasn't yet been constructed beyond said beltway interchange. If and when Summerlin Pkwy is built beyond the 215, it is planned to be a surface arterial.
Which makes perfect sense and it's clearly left with room to easily expand but until that happens though, it definitely fits for this list, I think.
Quote from: pdx-wanderer on February 06, 2018, 02:24:43 AM
Quote from: roadfro on February 05, 2018, 10:55:36 PM
Quote from: pdx-wanderer on February 01, 2018, 03:35:34 PM
The Summerlin Parkway progresses from freeway to arterial to total dead end in less than a mile.
Well actually, it turns into an arterial at the CC 215 interchange (traffic lights), and hasn't yet been constructed beyond said beltway interchange. If and when Summerlin Pkwy is built beyond the 215, it is planned to be a surface arterial.
Which makes perfect sense and it's clearly left with room to easily expand but until that happens though, it definitely fits for this list, I think.
If you and a mate were driving along US-95 at its interchange with the Summerlin Parkway, and you told them that the overhead ramps led to a freeway that dead-ends in a desert in about six miles, you'd at least get some sort of "seriously?" response. I think it should qualify for the time being.
These are examples of high-standard roads changing to not-high standard roads. My first thought goes to an example on the other end of the scale. Texas FM 1576 runs north to the New Mexico state line, then runs east along the state line, and then the road turns north and changes into a county road in New Mexico. FM 1576 is a narrow two-lane highway but has very little traffic and other than three right angles is suitable for highway speeds. The county road it turns into is very rough and requires low speed and great care. It's rocky, so getting stuck in mud isn't a worry, but any speed higher than a crawl imposes a constant pounding. This is a change from a normal road to a very low standard road that happens instantly.