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National Boards => General Highway Talk => Topic started by: froggie on June 08, 2015, 04:31:26 PM

Title: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: froggie on June 08, 2015, 04:31:26 PM
After looking at Google Earth imagery of the Camp Lejeune (Jacksonville, NC Marine base) area, I noticed construction of a new base roadway connecting to NC 24 (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.7225745,-77.3807076,14z/data=!3m1!1e3).  After further review, I discovered that this is a new access roadway (http://samehr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Hampton_Roads_SAME_New_Gate_and_Road_Entry-.pdf) that, except for a traffic signal just beyond the security gate, will effectively be a freeway on base, with 3 interchanges and extending to Sneads Ferry Rd.

This got me to wondering where else there might be freeway segments within a military base.  One I have personal experience with is Fort Benning, GA, where an extension of I-185 (https://www.google.com/maps/@32.3833007,-84.9292798,14z/data=!3m1!1e3) continues past the security gate for a few miles.

There's also the northernmost end of the All-American Freeway (https://www.google.com/maps/@35.130062,-78.9930225,15z/data=!3m1!1e3) at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, NC.

These are the only three that I can think of.  Are there any others that I may have missed?  To qualify, the freeway segment must be INSIDE the base's security gate.  So, for example, DE 1 at Dover AFB or I-564 at Norfolk Naval Station do NOT count as they are outside the gates.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: roadman65 on June 08, 2015, 07:00:48 PM
The Verazano Bridge had its SI approach through Fort Wadsworth.

Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: lordsutch on June 08, 2015, 07:39:53 PM
Pre-9/11 (and probably for a few years after that), I don't believe either of the two older examples were behind security gates; nobody thought keeping civilians out of the PX parking lot or base housing was really that important. By the pre-9/11 standard you'd count stuff like I-95 through Quantico and Fort AP Hill and the whole Pentagon road network.

That said I can't think of any other examples off-hand from my misspent youth as a dependent. Maybe some isolated section of B-road in Germany is now on a US installation due (again) to post-9/11 stuff, but I can't find anything surfing around K-town and the like.

I'm not sure many installations would have the traffic volume to justify freeways on base anyway.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: froggie on June 08, 2015, 08:04:16 PM
Quote from: roadman65The Verazano Bridge had its SI approach through Fort Wadsworth.

Doesn't count.  I'm looking for freeways inside the base security perimeter serving purely base traffic.

Quote from: lordsutchPre-9/11 (and probably for a few years after that), I don't believe either of the two older examples were behind security gates;

I can confirm this was the case at Fort Benning, as I tried that road once while I was stationed in Meridian (1998-2001).

QuoteThat said I can't think of any other examples off-hand from my misspent youth as a dependent. Maybe some isolated section of B-road in Germany is now on a US installation due (again) to post-9/11 stuff, but I can't find anything surfing around K-town and the like.

I'm not sure many installations would have the traffic volume to justify freeways on base anyway.

You are probably correct.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: briantroutman on June 08, 2015, 08:21:59 PM
Also–in my limited experience visiting visiting two military brothers at various installations–speed limits seem to be very low and traffic enforcement is perpetually citing speeders. A freeway on post might make that situation more challenging.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: Mapmikey on June 08, 2015, 08:35:44 PM
I am aware of a full cloverleaf (1st one in South Carolina) still up and in use within the gated area of the Savannah River Site, though neither road is a freeway.  The N-S road was once SC 19.
https://goo.gl/maps/8EXZd

Mike
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: mgk920 on June 08, 2015, 10:45:11 PM
I-90 passes through Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.  No interchanges or gates on base, though, and that part of I-90 is the longest distance between interchanges in the state.

Mike
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: mapman1071 on June 09, 2015, 12:52:34 AM
i-5 Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: Bickendan on June 09, 2015, 02:52:41 AM
I-5 through Fort Lewis between Olympia and Tacoma, with an interchange on base.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: silverback1065 on June 09, 2015, 11:33:58 AM
Don't I-H2 and I-H3 both technically end inside the bases they go to?  I-H3 appears to, but I-H2 may not, I can't tell.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: froggie on June 09, 2015, 11:43:13 AM
I-H2 does not.  I-H3 ends at the gate, but does not go inside K-Bay (as we call it in short).
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: TheStranger on June 09, 2015, 02:12:09 PM
San Francisco's Presidio was an active military base until 1994 - US 101/Route 1 along the Golden Gate Bridge approaches has had an exit for Lincoln Boulevard (the visitor's center area) from the start, even before the area became a park.  (The exit from 101/Richardson Avenue north into the Presidio, now removed as part of the Presidio Parkway project, is from the 2000s and did not exist at the time the base was open)
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: froggie on June 09, 2015, 02:41:10 PM
I'm thinking lordsutch is correct and there aren't any other examples.  All of the recent suggestions are not applicable given the criteria in the OP, though the cloverleaf mentioned by Mapmikey is intriguing.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: roadman65 on June 09, 2015, 03:13:20 PM
What about I-781?  I know it is considered to be base traffic only beyond US 11 at Camp Drum, but is not the freeway before the gate officially on base property?  If it is then with lack of other crossroads east of US 11, then it would count.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: lordsutch on June 09, 2015, 03:29:44 PM
Quote from: froggie on June 08, 2015, 08:04:16 PM
I can confirm this was the case at Fort Benning, as I tried that road once while I was stationed in Meridian (1998-2001).

Indeed I think using Lindsey Creek Pkwy used to be part of a semi-popular local rat run to get to and from AL 165 and US 431 south of Phenix City avoiding downtown Columbus.

Closest other examples I can think of:

There's a diamond interchange between NASA Pkwy and Kennedy Pkwy at Kennedy Space Center; I don't believe it is publicly accessible anymore, although I think it used to be.

There's a Y-split interchange just south of the main gate at NAS Pensacola.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: froggie on June 09, 2015, 04:40:43 PM
QuoteWhat about I-781?  I know it is considered to be base traffic only beyond US 11 at Camp Drum, but is not the freeway before the gate officially on base property?  If it is then with lack of other crossroads east of US 11, then it would count.

It's on base property, but it's not a freeway once you're past the gate, so under my original criteria it doesn't count.  I consider this the same as I-H3....a freeway that goes to the gate, but isn't a freeway past the gate.

QuoteThere's a diamond interchange between NASA Pkwy and Kennedy Pkwy at Kennedy Space Center; I don't believe it is publicly accessible anymore, although I think it used to be.

As late as 2004, much of Kennedy was publicly accessible, but looking at Google Earth imagery, that no longer appears to be the case.  The diamond interchange you mention is just past the gate.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: route17fan on June 09, 2015, 04:59:47 PM
I drove the I-185 extension pre-9/11 and, like stated above, never thought that the whole extension would be behind gates. (besides, there is (was) button copy in there!!  :) )
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: DeaconG on June 09, 2015, 07:37:17 PM
Quote from: froggie on June 09, 2015, 04:40:43 PM
QuoteWhat about I-781?  I know it is considered to be base traffic only beyond US 11 at Camp Drum, but is not the freeway before the gate officially on base property?  If it is then with lack of other crossroads east of US 11, then it would count.

It's on base property, but it's not a freeway once you're past the gate, so under my original criteria it doesn't count.  I consider this the same as I-H3....a freeway that goes to the gate, but isn't a freeway past the gate.

QuoteThere's a diamond interchange between NASA Pkwy and Kennedy Pkwy at Kennedy Space Center; I don't believe it is publicly accessible anymore, although I think it used to be.

As late as 2004, much of Kennedy was publicly accessible, but looking at Google Earth imagery, that no longer appears to be the case.  The diamond interchange you mention is just past the gate.

The gates were moved around 2009.  Prior to that the gates were on the NASA Causeway entering the Industrial Area or on Kennedy Pkwy prior to entering the VAB area.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: DeaconG on June 09, 2015, 07:40:02 PM
The Mid-Bay Connector (FL 293) runs through parts of Eglin AFB.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: Otto Yamamoto on June 18, 2015, 07:04:57 PM
No. H2 ends outside of Schofield Barracks, and H3 ends at a culvert just outside the gate at MCAS Kaneohe.

Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: roadman65 on June 19, 2015, 11:07:17 AM
Quote from: DeaconG on June 09, 2015, 07:37:17 PM
Quote from: froggie on June 09, 2015, 04:40:43 PM
QuoteWhat about I-781?  I know it is considered to be base traffic only beyond US 11 at Camp Drum, but is not the freeway before the gate officially on base property?  If it is then with lack of other crossroads east of US 11, then it would count.

It's on base property, but it's not a freeway once you're past the gate, so under my original criteria it doesn't count.  I consider this the same as I-H3....a freeway that goes to the gate, but isn't a freeway past the gate.

QuoteThere's a diamond interchange between NASA Pkwy and Kennedy Pkwy at Kennedy Space Center; I don't believe it is publicly accessible anymore, although I think it used to be.

As late as 2004, much of Kennedy was publicly accessible, but looking at Google Earth imagery, that no longer appears to be the case.  The diamond interchange you mention is just past the gate.

The gates were moved around 2009.  Prior to that the gates were on the NASA Causeway entering the Industrial Area or on Kennedy Pkwy prior to entering the VAB area.
And even earlier, Kennedy Parkway was part of the Florida State Highway system and all of it was open to the public.  The Space Center took over a lot of public area and even displaced the town of Wilson.

As far as this topic goes NASA Parkway/ Causeway are not freeways. 
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: cpzilliacus on June 19, 2015, 06:26:36 PM
Md. 32 (unsigned Patuxent Freeway) runs through Fort Meade, Maryland.  There is a segment of westbound Md. 32 that is not officially considered a freeway because of sharp curves, but both sides have full access control and motorists drive it as if it were a freeway.   

There are two interchanges for the National Security Agency (one is for employees only and signed as such), as well as an interchange at Md. 198 which serves two of the base gates as well as the eastern terminus of "public" 198.

Sections of Va. 286 (Fairfax County Parkway, an expressway, not a freeway) cross Fort Belvoir - at least three entrances to Fort Belvoir's territory are by way of at-grade intersections, and other access points are with grade-separated interchanges.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: Occidental Tourist on June 24, 2015, 02:11:56 AM
The Great Ocean Highway crosses under Fort Zancudo at some point south of Paleto Bay.  But I don't know if it is up to freeway standards north of Chumash.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: BamaZeus on June 24, 2015, 11:38:54 AM
I think it's more of a super-2 between Zancudo and Paleto Bay, through the woods
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: Bruce on July 14, 2015, 11:18:02 PM
Speaking of military bases, there's this weird gate on an I-82 onramp just outside the Yakima Firing Center:

https://goo.gl/maps/RsjDE
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: realjd on July 15, 2015, 09:04:39 AM
I'm seeing lots of examples of public freeways that happen to be on base property, but OP is asking for examples of freeways that are actually on post and not accessible by the public.

You won't find many full freeways on military installations, mainly because there isn't a need for them. What you will find though are roads with a mix of interchanges and surface intersections. Martin Road and Toftoy Thruway at Redstone Aresnal in Huntsville are a good example of what I'm talking about.

One other interesting thing about roads on military bases is that they tend to follow local design standards for things like traffic signals, probably because they use local contractors. On posts like Fort Campbell which straddles the KY/TN border, this leads to interesting cases where you have KY-spec traffic light installations (with the weird middle light shade) in TN and TN-spec installations in KY.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: texaskdog on July 15, 2015, 10:25:18 AM
Mopac (Loop 1) in Austin was built along the edge of Camp Mabry, but I don't know if that is Mabry land or not.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: froggie on July 15, 2015, 10:52:05 AM
QuoteSpeaking of military bases, there's this weird gate on an I-82 onramp just outside the Yakima Firing Center:

That could also be for an inclement weather (i.e. winter storm) closure.  Several Plains states have similar gates that are used when the plows can't keep up with the snow.

QuoteI'm seeing lots of examples of public freeways that happen to be on base property, but OP is asking for examples of freeways that are actually on post and not accessible by the public.

Correct.  Doesn't seem like there are any more beyond the three I initially found, but there are a few base roads here and there (a couple mentioned) that have interchanges on them.
Title: Re: Freeways inside military bases
Post by: iBallasticwolf2 on July 15, 2015, 11:34:04 AM
There are some freeways on the Disney Tourist Military Base
http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/28.3651/-81.5593
:-D :-D :-D :-D :bigass: :bigass: :bigass: