I remember when I-80 in New Jersey was being constructed how US 46 was the main corridor through its path.
I also remember when I-287 was incomplete between North Maple Avenue in Basking Ridge and NJ 10 in Parsippany, where US 202 was the main route.
In both of these cases, I now cannot picture either road not being there. I could not see US 46 being a major long haul route or even US 202 through the streets of Morristown as being part of a major highway corridor either.
I can still see US 22, where independent of I-78 between Clinton and Newark, as a major long haul though before I-78 completed. However, I think that is cause US 22 is far enough away from its companion interstate (and also 40 miles of independence from its big sister) that makes that one most believable. Plus commuting on it frequently and even sitting in the back seat on it as kid, helped with that as well.
Do many of you out there find it hard to believe that a freeway that you saw built either recently or in the distant past, never existed?
US 202 worked fine instead of I-287 because that was before all of the development came out to the beltway corridor.
How about the idea that US 1 was the main highway linking Boston to DC through NY, Philly, and Baltimore?
I cannot imagine that US 1 was main then, even though I know it was. That was way before my time.
You are quite correct about the developments along the I-287 corridor, specifically in Morris County being built up after that freeway opened. US 202 did not have the traffic that of course Route 287 does now, but it did get some congestion in Morristown along the one way Market Street into the Green. This was when some Somerset development already started and north of North Maple Avenue was incomplete and many got crammed into the two lane streets of Morristown. Plus the light leading into the Green for NB US 202 is part of the same signal on the SB side and has all those movements which require a long wait.
Yeah, I remember those days it was the through route, but since so much happened since then that is most likely why it seems like it is impossible.
Route 80, as you know, also got developed after its built as well. Plus Western Morris and part of Sussex building bedroom communities post I-80 made more commuter traffic as well.
Basically the entire loop system in the Phoenix metro area. I can remember what it used to be like to go from my house in Mesa to my aunt's house in far north Phoenix when I was a kid. One way to go. US 60 to I-10 to I-17 north. Now you've got all these loop freeways that can take you around the outskirts at 80mph the whole way. What used to be an hour drive or more now takes 20 minutes. The entire Phoenix system has been a godsend to the area. I just wish I had today's camera technology at my disposal then so I could have documented the expansion.
ON 416. Hard to imagine trips to Ottawa without it!
I'm a relative newcomer to thee US, so very few freeways were built or completed on my watch in my area, and none seem indispensable as of now. The completion of I-295 in the Trenton area is probably the most important, though I don't know how indispensable that portion is. The others, like the Brigantine connector and the 133 freeway feel like we could easily do without them, though, of course, that may change. I guess the completion of the Route 24 freeway, which haven't used for the first time until 20 years after it was done, was a big deal. Similarly, I lived far enough away from I-287 during its completion not to care, but can't imagine it ever not being there.
I ride in a carpool with 2 others that commuted via 295-130-206 prior to the 295 missing link being built. The nearly daily congestion on that stretch during the morning rush shows how busy it is.
That, combined with the relatively new Hamilton Train Station, has also helped Burlington County become a suburban home for long distance commuters to New York City, well over 60 miles away.
Quote from: Steve on December 25, 2013, 11:04:55 AM
How about the idea that US 1 was the main highway linking Boston to DC through NY, Philly, and Baltimore?
Fortunately, it was not just U.S. 1.
Between Baltimore and Farnhurst, Delaware, U.S. 40 connected drivers to U.S. 13 and (prior to 1951 and the opening of the Delaware Memorial Bridge) a ferry that crossed the Delaware River to Penns Grove, N.J., N.J. 48 and U.S. 130. From the opening of the bridge and the NJTP, U.S. 40 was the preferred route from Baltimore to North Jersey.
Quote from: vdeane on December 25, 2013, 01:50:09 PM
ON 416. Hard to imagine trips to Ottawa without it!
I remember traveling south on ON 16 from Ottawa to the McDonald-Cartier Freeway (ON 401) in 1981. A two-lane road of absolute nothingness.
Quote from: cpzilliacus on December 25, 2013, 04:50:16 PM
Quote from: Steve on December 25, 2013, 11:04:55 AM
How about the idea that US 1 was the main highway linking Boston to DC through NY, Philly, and Baltimore?
Fortunately, it was not just U.S. 1.
Between Baltimore and Farnhurst, Delaware, U.S. 40 connected drivers to U.S. 13 and (prior to 1951 and the opening of the Delaware Memorial Bridge) a ferry that crossed the Delaware River to Penns Grove, N.J., N.J. 48 and U.S. 130. From the opening of the bridge and the NJTP, U.S. 40 was the preferred route from Baltimore to North Jersey.
My dad told me that he used US 130 down to the old Pennsville- New Castle Ferry to go from Newark, NJ to Wilmington, DE instead of using US 1.
I imagine that US 130 was the route from US 40 northward as you say. Also US 13 on the west bank into Philly.
The 880/Cypress Freeway replacement between 980 and the MacArthur Maze. I have no memory of the original except for it having collapsed in the Loma Prieta quake, but can't imagine how much worse the Maze would be today (not that it is all that great) without the bypass along West Grand.
105 in its entirety.
I wasn't around for the construction of 101 (Bayshore Freeway) and 280 in the Peninsula but before then, El Camino Real and the surface Bayshore Highway were THE SF-SJ corridors, and Junipero Serra Boulevard was much more important regionally.
The Missouri River portion of the Interstate 480 bridge from Council Bluffs Iowa to Omaha Nebraska was built prior to the rest of I-480. For several years all the west bound traffic came off the bridge via a weird curvy off ramp structure and onto Dodge Street. To my young eyes at the time, it was hard to imagine how the truncated main span was going to continue anywhere as buildings and train tracks seemed to be an impenetrable barrier to ever complete the bridge. I have clear memories of watching the 480 bridge being built as we frequently went to Omaha via the old Aksarben Bridge. That bridge I now realize was functionally obsolete, and very likely overloaded by the increasing numbers of trucks crossing it. I remember the coffer dams holding back the Missouri for the enormous piers for the new bridge, and the staggeringly big I-beams that were lifted up by giant cranes to carry the new span.
I was very sorry to see the Playland Park rollercoaster destroyed to make room for the east approach. I never rode that rollercoaster as my parents were really cautious. The only bit left of the Aksarben Bridge is a scary looking pier in the river. Hard to imagine the metro area still functioning with that old bridge still there and/or without the new (as of mid 60s, LOL) 480 bridge.
The Interstate bridge handled the awful flood of 2011 without a it of trouble. The river may have been out of control, but it could not threaten that bridge.
I have seen a few pictures of the old Aksarben Bridge. I'm sure if it was still there today and scheduled for demolition there would be quite a cry to save it. As it was, I don't recall any sentiment other than relief when it was dynamited.
I cannot see how Baton Rouge would function today without the freeway system (I-10, I-12, I-110). As it is, the freeway system is barely able to accommodate the traffic it currently carries. I imagine the major surface routes alone would have been adequate back when the metro region was contained largely within East Baton Rouge Parish, prior to 1980 or so.
The intercity surface highways that parallel Interstates in Louisiana would be wildly inadequate for today's traffic loads, with the possible exception of Airline Highway/US 61.
Of course, the Westbank of greater New Orleans (West Jefferson, Algiers, Belle Chasse) would be impossible without the Crescent City Connection/GNO Bridge, and the Northshore (Mandeville/Covington, Slidell) would be impossible without the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and the Twin Span bridges.
I remember the dark days of traveling from Bolingbrook to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg before I-355 was built and Route 53 was just a 2 lane road north of Royce Rd. The traffic on 355 plus the traffic on 53 between Bolingbrook and Addison was so bad that it took an hour to go 18 miles.
I watched the 210 being built between SR-57 and I-215. Parts of old State 30 went through open land and wasn't that busy a two lane road. Now that same area is filled with houses, a very busy freeway, and doesn't even seem the same at all.
While I am not old enough to have seen the Garden State Parkway built, I cannot imagine going down the shore only using US 9.
I remember traveling with my parents on US 46 between the northern end of the New Jersey Turnpike and the George Washington Bridge, and using the direct freeway connections from the Turnpike to the GWB after they first opened.
It wasn't until the mid-to-late 70s before Cleveland saw a true east-west freeway. You had The Ohio Turnpike and I-90 (free portion) east of downtown.
The west side of I-90 was missing huge gaps for what seemed forever. And I-480 wasn't officially complete until the late 80s. What took less than ten-minutes when the "missing link" near Parma was completed, took upwards of nearly an hour on the paralleling Brookpark Road (SR-17) on a Friday afternoon. Chalk that choke point up to an over-abundance of poorly timed lights.
I-476 in Pennsylvania (the Blue Route part). Before then, PA 320 was constantly jammed.
Quote from: xcellntbuy on December 25, 2013, 05:08:29 PM
Quote from: vdeane on December 25, 2013, 01:50:09 PM
ON 416. Hard to imagine trips to Ottawa without it!
I remember traveling south on ON 16 from Ottawa to the McDonald-Cartier Freeway (ON 401) in 1981. A two-lane road of absolute nothingness.
It still is a freeway of absolute nothingness. I frequently take CR 44 instead, it's just as boring (except in towns like Kemptville).
Aside from the frustration with trying to take sign photos at the time, my favorite trip up ON 416 was that time it was obscured by tick fog. And my favorite trip up ON 417 was in a dark night. I'm noticing a pattern here.
Quote from: vdeane on December 26, 2013, 05:30:06 PM
that time it was obscured by tick fog.
Damn. And I thought the lovebugs in Florida were bad.
VA 288. My dad worked on the section just north of VA 76, and I distinctly remember walking across the just-cleared alignment for it once.
I am old enough to remember metropolitan Washington in the days before the Capital Beltway was built. Getting from our home in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland to my aunt and uncle's place in the Lake Barcroft area of Fairfax County, Virginia meant a trip through the District of Columbia, usually crossing by way of the Key or Chain Bridges.
Traffic in those days through D.C. was bad, with poorly-timed signals and a street network that could not handle the through traffic (especially the trucks).
When it opened in 1964, most of the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County (between Springfield and the American Legion Bridge [called the Cabin John Bridge back then]) was two lanes each way, and pretty empty.
I-64 in Louisville between I-264 (Watterson Expressway) and Spaghetti Junction. I remember as a kid having to go up to I-71 and then into downtown when my dad went to the shop where his artificial leg was serviced.
Also I-64 between Lexington and Frankfort, the last part of I-64 built in Kentucky.
I also remember when I-275 and I-471 were built in the northern part of the state.
Roadman wrote in his original post about US-46. I remember the grueling ride on that road between the G.W. Bridge and the G.S. Parkway in the early 1960's. When I-80/95 opened circa 1965, it was like science fiction. A ten lane freeway with separate express and local lanes that got you from the Bridge to the Parkway in 10 minutes at 60mph. A dream come true in that era.
I still remember the western (north-south) part of the Madison, WI beltline as a rural two-lane surface highway.
I also can't imagine modern-day six lane US(I)-41 in the Appleton/Oshkosh,WI area as it was before the late 1960s, when it was mostly a four-lane surface expressway with lots of sideroad intersections, scattered interchanges, several at-grade railroad crossings, a two-lane drawbridge and an older substandard freeway section with no median barrier, only a narrow raised hump, in its Neenah bypass section.
Mike
A bit before my time (although if I lived in Bend as a kid, I would've been old enough to see it being built), but my Dad has told me plenty about it. Apparently, traffic would get backed up for a mile or more during the summer at the 3rd st (former US-97, now its business loop) underpass under the railroad, where it dropped to two lanes.
I cannot imagine how painful it would be to get from the SW part of bend where I live, to the north end (which we do often, and takes about 15 minutes) without the parkway. Even without the extra traffic, it would take an extra 5-10 minutes, and with the extra traffic, it would be a nightmare. Not to mention that the fact that the population of Bend has about doubled since they finished building it.
And all this, even though the parkway isn't all that busy (except the two signalized intersections on the north end, those suck), with only 4 lanes of traffic, and always moving pretty smoothly, and isn't a full freeway (it has RIROs, an (ignored) 45 mph speed limit, and traffic lights at the north and south ends).
Quote from: roadman65 on December 25, 2013, 05:52:57 PM
My dad told me that he used US 130 down to the old Pennsville- New Castle Ferry to go from Newark, NJ to Wilmington, DE instead of using US 1.
My Dad told me the traffic queues for that ferry (between Penns Grove, N.J. and New Castle, Delaware) were absolutely
epic (he did some of his Army service at Fort Dix, N.J.).
The opening of the first span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge was a massive improvement, even though there were sometimes backups to pay the toll (2-way tolling in those days).
I was nowhere near driving - but still a baby road geek - when US 75, US 77 and US 81 were being upgraded to I-45 and I-35. There were several dangerous transitions from freeway to expressway with at grade cross-overs or even surface street and I remember seeing some awful wrecks happen in the days before all the construction was complete.
Conversely, I also remember when I-20 was being constructed around the south side of Dallas/Ft. Worth. Formerly, trips that were country lanes over to US 67 - a surface street - and Loop 12 - another surface street - to US 77 - finally becoming a freeway right near downtown Dallas. The huge freeway with what seemed like enormous right-of-way being constructed in what appeared to be rural nowhere - this seemed to be misguided to my small child self. Of course, by the time I was driving, any trips were thru urban areas and usually involved heavy traffic.
Another that just came to my mind for here in Wisconsin is US(I)-41 between Ashland Ave and Lombardi Ave, along with connecting WI 172, in Ashwaubenon (suburban Green Bay) - opened in about 1974. Before then, all of that through traffic on US 41, now being upgraded to six and eight lanes, went north on Ashland and then took a 90 degree intersection turn to continue west on Lombardi, right past Lambeau Field, before returning to its current routing.
:wow:
Mike
While the Blue Route (I-476) was already mentioned; I would like to add the eastern extension of the Vine Expressway (I-676) in Philly and the Exton Bypass (US 30) between Downingtown and Frazer to the list.
Prior to the Vine Expressway being fully opened in 1991, traffic along the Ben Franklin Bridge was less than its Walt Whitman Bridge counterpart; once the expressway finally opened, the BFB started receiving more traffic than the WWB.
Before the Exon Bypass became reality in the late 1990s; the parallel Lincoln Highway (old US 30/current Business US 30) in that area was very crowded. It would've been a lot worse had the newer various business & shopping center developments that are there now existed back then.
Opening of that bypass extension certainly diverted a lot of Downingtown-bound traffic from points south away from US 322 (West Chester Bypass between US 202 & Downingtown Pike/Bus US 322) to a point that, IMHO, PennDOT ought to replace replace Downingtown with E. Bradford from the US 322 West BGS and add Downingtown to its current Exton listing for the PA 100 TO US 30 West BGS because most are already using PA 100 North to US 30 West as a means to getting to Downingtown from West Chester.
US 322 West exit BGS from US 202 North (change Downingtown to the suggested-E. Bradford) (http://goo.gl/maps/Y02hp)
PA 100 North TO US 30 West Exton exit BGS from US 202 North (add Downingtown with the Exton listing) (http://goo.gl/maps/PxTz3)
Yes, I'm aware that such alteration would require a whole new BGS panel(s) for this interchange.
I-64 in Missouri. I put myself through the torture of driving through the traffic signals on the western segment of that before it was completed. These days, the freeway seems like such a natural fit that the untrained eye could probably mistake it for having been around as long as I-270.
I can't say the same for MO 370, though, which has been around so long that I can't remember it being built. But I don't think I've ever seen more than about three other cars going in the same direction as me, at any given time on it.
Best example for me is probably the expansions and relocations of US 10 & 45 in Winnebago County. That was always our family's route between the Northwoods and Milwaukee and watching WI 110 transform from a low-grade state highway to a full freeway for US 45 was super cool. Everything from the first minor tweak of WI 110 at Winchester (moving it west of town to meet WI 150) to the completion of the flyover in Oshkosh just over a year ago.
I occasionally take the old alignment of WI 110 through Zittau to score some cheese and it makes me glad to have that nice, safe freeway to use; especially when it's snowy. Without all the traffic, it's a pleasant country drive, especially when all the waterfowl are migrating.
Quote from: stridentweasel on December 30, 2013, 09:22:51 PM
I-64 in Missouri. I put myself through the torture of driving through the traffic signals on the western segment of that before it was completed. These days, the freeway seems like such a natural fit that the untrained eye could probably mistake it for having been around as long as I-270.
I live in St. Charles County where I-64 now runs. I saw it transform over the last decade. It is MUCH improved compared to when there were traffic signals. It's so busy now that it already needs to be widened by at least another lane in each direction from Hwy K in O'Fallon west to I-70 in Wentzville. The new eastbound span of the Daniel Boone Bridge that is curretly under construction over the Missouri River will probably bring even more traffic to I-64 when it opens in the next year or so. In less than a year, MO 364 (a new freeway) will connect to this stretch of I-64, too, making yet another connection to I-270, so that may relieve some of the increased traffic heading toward St. Louis.
Though it's not as "busy" as some of the other examples, I saw the US 222 freeway being finished from the PA Turnpike to Reading in bits and pieces over the span of many trips to my grandparents' house. It gets a lot of traffic now, and it's surprising that all that was squeezed onto the old road, or other alternate routes.
Quote from: sdmichael on December 25, 2013, 10:31:33 PM
I watched the 210 being built between SR-57 and I-215. Parts of old State 30 went through open land and wasn't that busy a two lane road. Now that same area is filled with houses, a very busy freeway, and doesn't even seem the same at all.
I remember watching the 210 being built between La Canada Flintridge (where I grew up) and the 57 in the 1970s.
Quote from: hm insulators on January 06, 2014, 01:35:01 PM
Quote from: sdmichael on December 25, 2013, 10:31:33 PM
I watched the 210 being built between SR-57 and I-215. Parts of old State 30 went through open land and wasn't that busy a two lane road. Now that same area is filled with houses, a very busy freeway, and doesn't even seem the same at all.
I remember watching the 210 being built between La Canada Flintridge (where I grew up) and the 57 in the 1970s.
I remember the gap on the 210 between the 118 and Sunland as well. Same for the 118 in fact. My grandparents lived in Northridge and we had to take Rinaldi St while the 118 was being built. I still remember the grading machines and a much busier Rinaldi St.
I watched I-696 in Metro Detroit being built in the 1970s (in Macomb County). Until the middle section opened in 1989, a lot of the crosstown traffic would be on 8 Mile road (M-102) to the Lodge (M-10) to the open section of I-696 to I-96.
I remember seeing the construction on what is now I-355, but sadly, graduated from high school one year before its completion (1988). I also remember when I-105 in L.A. was built.
I remember the completion of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. Before then, there was a sign for Interstate Blank going into downtown Baltimore from the south.
I remember seeing the I-105 being built on a trip to L.A. in 1987.
And I can't imagine what it must have been like to get thru Baltimore on I-95 before the Fort McHenry Tunnel. The Harbor Tunnel is only 2-lanes each way, unlike the new tunnel with 4-lanes in each direction. I first went thru it when it was new in 1987, and the toll was $1.00, same as the JFK Highway and the Delaware Turnpike at that time. Before that, I'd never been thru the Baltimore area.
The new Dumbarton Bridge. The old Dumbarton Bridge on S.F. Bay was just two lanes, each only 10' wide, with an overhead truss and drawbridge section. How did we cope?
I-280 completion in San Jose.
The US-101 bypass from south San Jose to Gilroy. The boulevard that was its former route was a blood alley, a 4-lane expressway with traffic lights every 1/2 mile or so and fruit stands all along it, but despite all those distractions lots of traffic would still try to go 65.
The Caldecott Tunnel before the third bore. (And now there are four!)
I-238 when it was humble CA-238, missing the westbound 238 to southbound 17 movement and the eastbound 238 to northbound 580 movement. And had some cross streets, what a pain in the neck it was.
Okay, something from my adopted home state: The West Seattle high level bridge.
Something that's way overdue: I-5 bridge over the Columbia that's not a drawbridge and might not fall down in the next earthquake.
Not a freeway, but I also cannot imagine what traffic would be like here in the Appleton, WI area today had the WI 15 Northland Ave extension (it runs west from US(I)-41 at interchange 139) not been built, opening in 1998. Before then, the area of US(I)-41/Wisconsin Ave (then US 10, now WI 96) had some of the worst congestion in NE Wisconsin with two major commuter highways converging at the north entrance to a major mall parking lot, located just west of the US(I)-41 interchange (interchange 138, a very narrow diamond). I was pushing hard for something like that from the mid-1980s until WisDOT announced that project in the early 1990s.
http://goo.gl/maps/7eZ7m
BTW, when it was first built in the late 1930s, the original two-lane US 41 Appleton bypass took a broad north-south to east-west curve at what is now interchange 139 to follow Northland Ave across what is now Appleton's north side. The grade of that original curve is still visible in the aerial image.
Mike
Quote from: US81 on December 28, 2013, 11:12:49 AM
I was nowhere near driving - but still a baby road geek - when US 75, US 77 and US 81 were being upgraded to I-45 and I-35. There were several dangerous transitions from freeway to expressway with at grade cross-overs or even surface street and I remember seeing some awful wrecks happen in the days before all the construction was complete.
Conversely, I also remember when I-20 was being constructed around the south side of Dallas/Ft. Worth. Formerly, trips that were country lanes over to US 67 - a surface street - and Loop 12 - another surface street - to US 77 - finally becoming a freeway right near downtown Dallas. The huge freeway with what seemed like enormous right-of-way being constructed in what appeared to be rural nowhere - this seemed to be misguided to my small child self. Of course, by the time I was driving, any trips were thru urban areas and usually involved heavy traffic.
I watched each of those highways being built. US 81 just south of Ft. Worth was extremely dangerous with the high traffic volume, high speeds and at-grade crossings. The stretch of I-20 thru Grand Prairie was our local midnight dragstrip before it was opened to the public in 1975. Spent many nights on top of the hill in the median going up to Duncanville also. The view from up there could not be beat. Mostly fond memories there.
I watched I-15 being built in San Diego and Riverside counties, replacing mostly 2 lane US 395 and CA 71. I recall what a pain it was to make the left onto 395 north from Reche Rd in Fallbrook, and long backups behind trucks going up Shearer's grade, near where the W Lilac bridge is now.
Quote from: cwf1701 on January 07, 2014, 06:06:32 PM
I watched I-696 in Metro Detroit being built in the 1970s (in Macomb County). Until the middle section opened in 1989, a lot of the crosstown traffic would be on 8 Mile road (M-102) to the Lodge (M-10) to the open section of I-696 to I-96.
Yes, the "middle section" of I-696 is the one that's simply impossible to imagine not existing today, even though I experienced the time where it didn't exist.
It made east-to-west-side travel exponentially easier, while also economically helping some suburbs like Ferndale & Royal Oak grow (both their downtowns and more attractive to live).
I remember when the gap on the 101 was closed in Santa Barbara, CA in the early 90's. The 101 was a 6-lane freeway to the north and a 4-lane freeway to the south of Downtown SB. Through Downtown SB, there was a series of four traffic lights that caused miles-long backups on the 101. The lights heavily favored the 101 though, to such an extent that they had signs on the side street advising drivers to turn off their engines due to the long red lights.
Eventually, they built a tunnel to route State Street below grade and the 101 became traffic-light free between L.A. and SF.
It's amazing to me that they took as long as they did to close this gap.
Quote from: SignBridge on January 08, 2014, 09:18:36 PM
And I can't imagine what it must have been like to get thru Baltimore on I-95 before the Fort McHenry Tunnel. The Harbor Tunnel is only 2-lanes each way, unlike the new tunnel with 4-lanes in each direction. I first went thru it when it was new in 1987, and the toll was $1.00, same as the JFK Highway and the Delaware Turnpike at that time. Before that, I'd never been thru the Baltimore area.
The backups could be
epic, though the earliest days of (what is now) I-895 were a huge improvement over Baltimore City streets in 1957 when it opened as a link between U.S. 1 on the south and U.S. 40 to the north.
For many years, the best bypass route was I-695 (Baltimore Beltway) over the "top" of Baltimore. In 1977, the tolled Outer Harbor Crossing (F.S. Key Bridge) opened (making the Beltway a "complete" loop, though the approaches to the FSK were to remain Super-2 highways for
many years), but that was another bypass.
Quote from: Alps on December 25, 2013, 11:04:55 AM
How about the idea that US 1 was the main highway linking Boston to DC through NY, Philly, and Baltimore?
Though there were (and remain) U.S. highway alternate routes along parts of U.S. 1, such as U.S. 202, U.S. 40, U.S. 130
Quote from: mgk920 on December 29, 2013, 09:55:06 AM
Another that just came to my mind for here in Wisconsin is US(I)-41 between Ashland Ave and Lombardi Ave, along with connecting WI 172, in Ashwaubenon (suburban Green Bay) - opened in about 1974. Before then, all of that through traffic on US 41, now being upgraded to six and eight lanes, went north on Ashland and then took a 90 degree intersection turn to continue west on Lombardi, right past Lambeau Field, before returning to its current routing.
:wow:
Mike
Mike, I was in high school when the 172 bridge connecting Allouez and Ashwaubenon was built. At the time, 172 ended at Webster Av and you could bicycle on the bridge which was useful for the short time I worked at Prange's on the west side. It also made it much easier to get to Packer games. When I go back to GB, I'm amazed at how much traffic 172 carries.
I remember when A-55 between Sherbrooke and Drummondville was a super-2. I also remember the missing gap between St-Celestin and A-20.
Hard to believe now we can travel on the Laurentides park on a 4-lanes PQ-175.
For those who didn't taked TCH-417 or old Hwy-17 between Pointe-Fortune and Ottawa. There was PQ-148 who was the main throughfare on the North shore of Ottawa River what was a part of A-50 was a little bypass of Lachute and a part of today PQ-158 between St-Esprit and Joliette.
Late to this topic, but...
One for me was US 95 in northwestern Las Vegas. North of Rainbow Blvd/Summerlin Pkwy interchange, this was all 4-lane divided expressway when I was growing up, with all overpasses between there and Ann Road being very dangerous two-way stop at-grade intersections. The upgrade to freeway happened in roughly 1988-90, with further expansions/improvements completed in 2001 and 2013.
Another one is just the mere existence of the I-215/CC 215 beltway in Las Vegas. From my house, you can somewhat see Lone Mountain, and growing up there was a lot of empty space between my neighborhood and there. It still messes with my head that the busy 215 beltway now exists and runs *behind* Lone Mountain.