Spur 527 is a weird looking freeway stub that extends a few blocks into Midtown Houston from I-69. It's rare for a freeway stub like that to be designed on purpose. Were they originally planning to have it go all the way to I-45 like this:https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KBPOW8Y1xTdrKYuBwaYY9yqLQtdpBwjM&usp=sharing?
QuoteIt's rare for a freeway stub like that to be designed on purpose.
It's actually more common than you think. Chicago, Minneapolis, and Miami have such purposely-driven examples, amongst others.
Quote from: froggie on November 01, 2020, 10:39:17 AM
QuoteIt's rare for a freeway stub like that to be designed on purpose.
It's actually more common than you think. Chicago, Minneapolis, and Miami have such purposely-driven examples, amongst others.
Most of the Chicago ones are cancellation related:
* The Chinatown Feeder off I-90/I-94 was supposed to extend up to to (then) Congress Parkway
* The Ohio Street Feeder off I-90/I-94 north of the loop was supposed to extend to Lake Shore Drive as part of the Lake Shore Drive I-494 route.
* The stub off I-94 at Stoney Island Avenue was supposed to extend up to Lake Shore Drive as the southern end of the Lake Shore Drive I-494 route.
Quote from: kernals12 on November 01, 2020, 09:46:11 AM
Were they originally planning to have it go all the way to I-45 like this:https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KBPOW8Y1xTdrKYuBwaYY9yqLQtdpBwjM&usp=sharing?
The answer is No, there was never any official or TxDOT-approved plan to extend it to Interstate 45. A preliminary, non-final plan for downtown freeways in 1954 showed it connecting to I-45. (see Houston Freeways book page 14 http://houstonfreeways.com/) (http://houstonfreeways.com/))
The downtown plan was refined in 1957, and at that time the connections between the freeways and downtown streets were greatly enhanced.
The purpose of Spur 527 appears to have been defined in 1957. It is to distribute inbound traffic onto Travis, Louisiana and Brazos Streets. It also collects traffic from outbound Milam, Smith and Bagby. It's designed to be a collector/distributor from/to downtown, which is why it is short.
Max got this one exactly right. It was the place where the Southwest Freeway ended into downtown. Most of the early freeways did this. This one was just left in place when 59 skirted around downtown.
If 527 had been proposed to connect with Interstate 45, I imagine it would have gone in a straight line northeasterly paralleling the Bagby St./Brazos St. corridors.
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on November 06, 2020, 01:02:01 PM
If 527 had been proposed to connect with Interstate 45, I imagine it would have gone in a straight line northeasterly paralleling the Bagby St./Brazos St. corridors.
You know anything is possible. This one was like the stubs that existed on both ends of Pierce, Jefferson, and Pease Streets before the Pierce Elevated was built. The ones on I-45 look more like simple exit / entrance ramps. US-59 was rerouted further south / west than the previous end of the freeway (Spur 527). Think of Spur 527 as a long entrance / exit ramp to downtown from/ to the Southwest Freeway (US-59 / I-69)
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on November 06, 2020, 01:02:01 PM
If 527 had been proposed to connect with Interstate 45, I imagine it would have gone in a straight line northeasterly paralleling the Bagby St./Brazos St. corridors.
Never was planned. US59 was always planned to go east where it is today.
Quote from: MaxConcrete on November 01, 2020, 07:30:09 PM
Quote from: kernals12 on November 01, 2020, 09:46:11 AM
Were they originally planning to have it go all the way to I-45 like this:https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KBPOW8Y1xTdrKYuBwaYY9yqLQtdpBwjM&usp=sharing?
The answer is No, there was never any official or TxDOT-approved plan to extend it to Interstate 45. A preliminary, non-final plan for downtown freeways in 1954 showed it connecting to I-45. (see Houston Freeways book page 14 http://houstonfreeways.com/) (http://houstonfreeways.com/))
The downtown plan was refined in 1957, and at that time the connections between the freeways and downtown streets were greatly enhanced.
The purpose of Spur 527 appears to have been defined in 1957. It is to distribute inbound traffic onto Travis, Louisiana and Brazos Streets. It also collects traffic from outbound Milam, Smith and Bagby. It's designed to be a collector/distributor from/to downtown, which is why it is short.
I wonder if they originally thought they would be doing partial movements on the 527-75 and 59-75 interchanges (similar to what you see in the Northeast, the Schuylkill Expressway comes to mind), but once Interstate money became available after 1956 and the Four-Level interchange in LA proved that you could do compact urban interchanges with all movements, they scrapped that idea while keeping the downtown distributor.