Let me ask if anyone knows of interstates or freeays that were once arterials?
I can start it out here by listing some I know about.
Florida-
FL 528 from Exit 8 to Exit 13 used to be a four lane divided arterial known as McCoy Road. McCoy Road is now severed, but parts are the service road for FL 528 on the north side.
New Jersey-
I-78 from Exit 11 to Exit 18 in Hunderdon County was an upgraded US 22 that looked like it does east of Exit 18 to Somerville.
I-295 near Woodbury was a preexsiting part of US 130 from Exit 13 to Exit 23. The section from NJ 44's northern terminus to the I-295- US 130 split was a Jesey Freeway like NJ 4 in Bergen County a freeway with driveways and side streets.
South Carolina-
I-95 north of Ridgeland was a four laned US 17 (hence the duplex) that was converted over. Parts still exiist around Coosawatachie, SC where the new freeway was made to bypass and leave alone the original US 17.
Virginia-
I-95 from Jarrat to Petersburg was a four laned US 301 causing the new I-95 to take two of its lanes. That is why at Jarrat where US 301 stops being I-95's service road the highway widens imediately!
I-64 near Williamsburg was four laned VA 168 that is now truncated at Norfolk. From VA 143 to VA 30 only the original EB VA 168 carrigeway exisists as a service road. The WB VA 168 bed was chopped up to make the exsisting I-64 there.
Puerto Rico-
PR 26 in San Juan was made into freeway from a arterial named Baldiority Castro Avenue, but now is the Baldiority Castro Expressway.
I know that there are more out there.
I saw one map suggesting there was a Major Deegan Blvd. a couple years before I-87 in NYC, but it may have just been the result of part of the freeway opening sooner. Bruckner Blvd. became I-278. Drumgoole Rd. became Richmond Parkway. Harding Blvd. became I-495/Long Island Expwy. You also have the reverse case where I-478 became West St.
Large parts of I-40 overlay US 66. Large parts of I-25 overlay US 85. I-95 overlays US 301 in southern VA.
Let's not forget I-86 as it gets upgraded, overlaying some arterial sections of former NY 17.
A gap of TCH-20 between St-Hyacinthe and St-Redempteur as built overlay former PQ-9. A-20 in Dorion and Montreal West Island was known as Montreal-Toronto Boulevard and former PQ-2.
A-520 (Côte-de-Liesse) was once Côte-de-Liesse Road
In the eastern part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Loop 101 freeway runs from Chandler to Scottsdale along what used to be Pima Road in Scottsdale and Price Road in Tempe and Chandler. Price and Pima Roads still exist as one-way frontage roads. And before I-17 through Phoenix was built, there was the Black Canyon Highway and I think it was also Arizona 69.
Northeast of Scottsdale Airpark, the aforementioned Loop 101 bends 90 degrees to the west and follows the Beardsley Road corridor; Beardsley is now the frontage road. Just west of 75th Avenue in Peoria, Arizona, Loop 101 bends back to the south, but Beardsley Road continues west through Peoria. When the freeway was first built in the late 1990s, there were no connectors to the continuation of Beardsley, but even as I'm typing this, ADOT is almost finished with some nice new connectors to Beardsley and Union Hills Road.
I-96 between MM 20 and MM 24, built on top of Ironwood Dr, which exists on both sides of this stretch. In fact, Exit 24 leads to Ironwood Dr.
Did US-16 use Berlin Fair Dr and Hayes St to go through Marne? If that is the case, I-96 would have only been built on top of US-16 from MM 20 to roughly MM 22.
Many rural stretches of Interstate in western Texas.
Sepulveda Boulevard once connected the north end of the S.F. Valley to Sylmar before I-405 and I-5 were built. Evidence of this still exists as there is a very short Sepulveda Blvd. in Sylmar that today serves as a frontage road.
QuoteI-64 near Williamsburg was four laned VA 168 that is now truncated at Norfolk. From VA 143 to VA 30 only the original EB VA 168 carrigeway exisists as a service road. The WB VA 168 bed was chopped up to make the exsisting I-64 there.
For clarification, this only applies to the segment north of VA 143/Camp Peary to about a mile north of the SR 607 interchange. From VA 143/Camp Peary southeast to VA 143/Jefferson Ave (near Patrick Henry Mall) was not built until the mid-60s, and the segment southeast of Jefferson Ave to the HRBT was custom-built as freeway to begin with.
As for others...
- I-20/59 through Meridian fits the bill (originally US 11/US 80/Tom Bailey Dr).
- VA 28 from I-66 north to VA 7 was all arterial (albeit limited-access) until the recent interchange projects made most of it a freeway.
- MD 5/Branch Ave has been effectively converted to freeway between I-95/495 and Surrats Rd.
- US 52 from 55th St NW in Rochester, MN northwest to Oronoco is a recent arterial-turned-freeway conversion.
- MN 100 began as an at-grade arterial. A process which wound up taking 40 years culminated in the 2004 removal of the last traffic signal...it is now fully a freeway between I-494 and I-694.
- Likewise, US 10/US 61 through Newport, MN was an arterial, recently converted to a freeway as part of the I-494 Wakota Bridge project.
- MN 36 started off as an arterial, but has by and large become a freeway between I-35W and US 61.
I-55 in Illinois was built on top of the old US-66 in 1956 from IL-129 (Exit 238) to IL-59 (Exit 251) and from IL-126 (Exit 261) to Joliet Road (Exit 276 C).
IL-83 is an arterial that has been upgraded to freeway in parts of DuPage County (mostly from 63rd Street to 22nd Street).
US-26 in Portland, OR, between the Vista Ridge Tunnel and the OR-8 (Canyon Road) interchange was actually part of Canyon Road itself (then OR-6, even earlier, OR-2) until the construction of the tunnel. It originally connected into SW Jefferson Street, and that segment still exists as the ramps for Exit 73. There's also a short parallel stretch between the Oregon Zoo and Sylvan known as SW Canyon Court.
The new US-97 bypass in Redmond, OR uses a good bit of the alignment of Canal Blvd, though that's more of a RIRO expressway than a full freeway. There's still a segment of it that runs parallel.
U.S. 50/301 in Maryland was converted to freeway (though it is not part of I-595) between Ritchie Hwy. (Md. 2/450) in the Annapolis area to the 50/301 split in Queenstown. It had been a high-speed, six-lane (?) arterial with traffic signals in about a half-dozen locations along the length.
The San Bernardino Fwy (I-10) used to be Ramona Blvd before being upgraded to a freeway.
Around Detroit, the Jeffries Freeway (I-96) was Schoolcraft Road and the Southfield Freeway (M-39) was Southfield Road.
I-155 in Illinois between Peoria and I-55 and incorporated almost all but a few miles of 2 lane Illinois 121
I reserve the right to be wrong on this one, but I think at least portions of I-405 in Washington were originally built as non-freeway. Also, a lot of I-5 from Bellingham to the border was directly upgraded from US 99 (also a stretch between Olympia and Tacoma I believe).
Quote from: hm insulators on April 30, 2011, 03:23:30 PM
In the eastern part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Loop 101 freeway runs from Chandler to Scottsdale along what used to be Pima Road in Scottsdale and Price Road in Tempe and Chandler. Price and Pima Roads still exist as one-way frontage roads. And before I-17 through Phoenix was built, there was the Black Canyon Highway and I think it was also Arizona 69.
Northeast of Scottsdale Airpark, the aforementioned Loop 101 bends 90 degrees to the west and follows the Beardsley Road corridor; Beardsley is now the frontage road. Just west of 75th Avenue in Peoria, Arizona, Loop 101 bends back to the south, but Beardsley Road continues west through Peoria. When the freeway was first built in the late 1990s, there were no connectors to the continuation of Beardsley, but even as I'm typing this, ADOT is almost finished with some nice new connectors to Beardsley and Union Hills Road.
Do you have any pictures of what Price Road looked like before the Freeway was built?
Are we differentiating between arterials and expressways here?
Illinois
* I-72 between IL 106 (Exit 1) and I-172 was originally an expressway grade US 36
* Part of I-72 on the south side of Springfield between Wabash Avenue and I-55 was originally built with signalized intersections as the South Bypass
* There was a brief expressway section of I-72 between I-55 and Exit 104 (note the two roads angling in towards I-72 that dead end now on Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=39.803529,-89.585502&spn=0.003383,0.008256&t=k&z=18 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=39.803529,-89.585502&spn=0.003383,0.008256&t=k&z=18)
Indiana
* At least some of I-65 north of I-465 was built on top of US 52
Missouri
* I think I-29 inside of I-435 was built over US 71
* Parts of I-44 directly overlaid US 66
* Parts of I-55 in southern Missouri overlaid US 61
* A lot of I-70 across Missouri was built on top of US 40
* MO 367 between US 67 and I-270 was a signalized route with outer roads before it was upgraded.
* The depressed section of I-70 was an at grade multiple-lane surface street; see the 1958 views on Historic Aerials
* MO 94 in St. Charles County is seeing parts of it upgraded from a signalized expressway to full freeway as part of the Page Avenue Extension
Nebraska
* US 6/West Dodge Expressway was a major surface street before it was upgraded
* Parts of US 75 south of Omaha will be made into a freeway from an arterial
Parts of I-215 in Henderson were once part of Lake Mead Drive.
-Large sections of I-94 between Milwaukee and Madison, WI were originally two-lane WI 30.
-Several parts of I-43 in northern Milwaukee County, WI were previously Port Washington Rd, a four-lane suburban surface boulevard (US 141).
-Several sections of US 41 in the Appleton and Oshkosh, WI area were originally two-lane surface roads, ditto large sections of I-39 north of Portage, WI were originally two-lane US 51.
-I-94 in Racine and Kenosha Counties (WI) was originally two-lane US 41.
-The US 54 freeway in eastern Wichita, KS was originally Kellogg Ave, a normal surface street.
-I-394 in Minnetonka, MN was originally surface US 12.
Mike
The northern end of the DE 1 freeway is on top of old DE 7, and a couple pieces of it further south ate old US 13.
I-280 near Toledo (from the "old" drawbridge to the turnpike)
I-75 between exits 167 (Oh 18) and 171 (Oh 25) was built litterally over (then) US 25
Oh 315 between the I-70/71 west split and I-670 was built over Sandusky Street in Columbus
If I am not mistaken, part of US 11/52 in the Wytheville, Va. area was converted to freeway for the completion of I-77/I-81.
Also, part of US 421 in the Wilkesboro/North Wilkesboro, NC area was converted to freeway.
And don't forget US 40's conversion to I-68 in western Maryland, between Cumberland and Hancock.
As far as I am aware, all urban freeways in Nevada were built on completely new alignments, with one exception:
Quote from: AZDude on April 30, 2011, 09:38:42 PM
Parts of I-215 in Henderson were once part of Lake Mead Drive.
The first 6 miles of I-215 beltway, from the terminus at I-515/US 93/US 95 to NV146/St Rose Pkwy, was built directly on top of the SR 146/Lake Mead Drive right of way--at the time, that portion of SR 146 was still mostly a busy, two-lane highway.
Other parts of the beltway follow portions of arterial roadway alignments, but none of those arterials (that I know of) were actually constructed or in major use when the beltway was built in those areas.
That one little section on I-88 in the Binghamton, NY area appears to have been dug out of a surface street.
Mike
More California:
CA-13 (Warren Freeway) was built on top of Warren Boulevard.
I-280 was built on top of parts of both Skyline Boulevard and Canada Road.
CA-237 was built on top of Mountain View-Alviso Road and Alviso-Milpitas Road.
US-101 through San Jose and the Peninsula was originally built as the Bayshore Highway (US-101 BYP) then upgraded to freeway.
The section of I-405 that is multiplexed with CA-22 was built on top of Garden Grove Boulevard.
CA-55 was built on top of Newport Boulevard.
I have forgotten some too that I now remembered.
In Pennsylvania the whole entire I-78 and US 22 duplex was a four lane divided with a concrete strip in the middle instead of double line and with rumple strips before freeway. It was a newer alignment for US 22 that was once a narrow two lane road you can still find nearby. It had intersections and driveways (the Roadside America Little Village in Shartlesville had entrances from US 22 before I-78) that were removed. Only the Grimes Interchange (Exit 12) is the only intersection that was not given an overpass, but changed into a right in and right out as you can see was once a complete intersection. That also explains why no wide median here.
In Texas, the current I-35 and US 83 duplex was a arterial in Laredo and north of there it was a two lane road. Both carried US 81 and US 83 as US 81 made it to the Rio Grande before I-35. I also think that many other freeway parts of US 83 were converted, especially between Pharr and Brownsville.
In New Jersey as we speak, Hoes Lane in Piscataway is being upgraded to be NJ 18.
Virginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd
New York:
-Parts of streets in downtown Rochester were absorbed by the Inner Loop
-Ridge Rd/NY 104/Veterans Bridge - this was absorbed by the NY 104 freeway; recently when a fire destroyed a row of houses along NY 104 just to the west, the DOT used the opportunity to upgrade the section from Ridgeway Ave to Maplewood Dr to a full freeway.
-Not sure if the Thousand Islands Bridge counts or not.
Quote from: roadfro on May 01, 2011, 03:06:10 AM
The first 6 miles of I-215 beltway, from the terminus at I-515/US 93/US 95 to NV146/St Rose Pkwy, was built directly on top of the SR 146/Lake Mead Drive right of way--at the time, that portion of SR 146 was still mostly a busy, two-lane highway.
I can still remember when it used to be like that. The city had not developed in that area yet. It was still open desert (save for the first few miles west of I-515). I watched as the freeway was gradually built over the years. I remember when parts were still under construction. Traffic would have to stop at every future off ramp. Now its hard to believe the road was once a two lane highway through that area.
The US 77 Bypass on the west side of Lincoln originally was an at-grade 4-lane arterial.
I-76 in Colorado W. of Fort Morgan was built on top of US 6. In fact, some maps used to label I-76 in the Keenesburg area as 4-lane non-controlled access expressway into the 1990s. Much of I-70 W. of Denver was also built on top of US 6.
One I've wondered about is I-44 in Tulsa. With its frontage roads filled with businesses and being designated as the non-freeway sounding Skelly Drive, I've wondered if it was ever a non-freeway arterial. I also have a map from the 80s that shows the E-W portion of I-44 in OKC that follows old US 66 as 4-lane non-freeway arterial.
Quote from: mgk920 on April 30, 2011, 09:43:02 PM-The US 54 freeway in eastern Wichita, KS was originally Kellogg Ave, a normal surface street.
Not just east Wichita--Kellogg Avenue (US 54) is now a full freeway all the way from 111th St. W. (west side) to Cypress Avenue (east side, just shy of the ramps to the Turnpike). There is essentially only one mile on each end of the freeway segment where US 54 is still in urban Wichita but is not yet a freeway. Frontage roads are being built on the west side for future extension of the freeway, and the Webb Road/Turnpike interchange renovation is in final design.
We still call our US 54 freeway Kellogg Avenue. It is signed accordingly at the I-135/US 54 turban, which has brand-new signing since the exit ramps were modified in 2009-2010 to add option lanes. Kellogg Avenue receives its name from Milo Bailey Kellogg (http://www.wichitaphotos.org/graphics/wpl_wpl936.jpg), Wichita's first postmaster, who was born in upstate New York, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, came to Wichita shortly before 1870 when the city was founded, and eventually moved on to California and Washington state. Late in life he received a war disability pension because he had been captured by the Confederates and sent to the Andersonville POW camp, where he suffered from sunstroke. Kellogg never returned to Wichita after he left, but his son did, and was astonished to discover that what was then already the city's busiest street was named after his father.
A-20 in Vaudreuil is currently an arterial street, and is in the process of being converted to a freeway. In Western Montreal, it used to be that way as well.
QuoteVirginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd
Not really a freeway, despite what some maps suggest.
DE 141 from the DE 41 junction south to I-95/295/495 was originally a surface street.
Parts of the US 15 freeway (Future I-99) north of Williamsport follow the old non-freeway alignment.
The short stretch of PA 309 (North Cross Valley Expressway) between the Kidder Street exit and I-81 near Wilkes-Barre, PA was a four lane arterial and used to become Kidder Street.
Also, part of I-24 over Monteagle Mountain was overlaid over old US 41-64 ROW.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4447.0
I-10 through New Orleans was built over Pontchartrain Blvd and N Claiborne Ave.
Quote from: froggie on May 01, 2011, 10:58:22 PM
QuoteVirginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd
Not really a freeway, despite what some maps suggest.
Well, past VA 237 there aren't any at-grade intersections... how is that not a freeway?
Independence Boulevard in Charlotte comes to mind; the part from Uptown to the old Coliseum has been a freeway since 1996 or so.
Quote from: froggie on May 01, 2011, 10:58:22 PM
QuoteVirginia:
-US 50/Arlington Blvd
Not really a freeway, despite what some maps suggest.
So do you think VA 28 north of Centreville would count?
QuoteWell, past VA 237 there aren't any at-grade intersections... how is that not a freeway?
Closer to Lynn St, yes...but at Courthouse is very debatable for eastbound traffic. That, however, will change with an upcoming construction project.
QuoteSo do you think VA 28 north of Centreville would count?
North of Ellanor Lawrence Park (about a mile north of I-66) to Waxpool Rd (SR 625), yes...which is why I included it on my own list (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4533.msg99300#msg99300).
Allegheny County
US 22 between PA 130 and Business US 22.
Former PA 60 and former Business PA 60 between Montour Run Road (current I-376/Exit 58) and Thorn Run Road (Business Loop 376) and former Business PA 60 between Flaugherty Run Road and the PIA maintenance facilities. Originally the entire length of Business Loop 376 was to become an expressway when the old Greater Pitt terminal was located at the intersection of 60 and Beers School Road (now University Boulevard). Ironically, more of Business PA 60 was upgraded to an expressway after the Midfield Terminal opened.
Berks County
US 222 between PA 272 and Business US 222.
Parts of I-5/Santa Ana Freeway in northern Orange County towards Norwalk appear to have directly supplanted the old Firestone Boulevard/1934-1957 Route 10, though other parts became frontage road (when the freeway was still being built as US 101).
I-10 in Lake Charles uses what used to be the US 90 arterial (and the old Calcasieu River Bridge) from just west of Westlake to near the old Southern Pacific (now UP/BNSF) railyard.
Anthony
Quote from: akotchi on April 30, 2011, 07:13:30 PM
U.S. 50/301 in Maryland was converted to freeway (though it is not part of I-595) between Ritchie Hwy. (Md. 2/450) in the Annapolis area to the 50/301 split in Queenstown. It had been a high-speed, six-lane (?) arterial with traffic signals in about a half-dozen locations along the length.
I remember those days from early (young?) vacations to Ocean City... I remember it being the
opposite of "high-speed", in part because of the signals but mostly because of the Bay Bridge. (It can still get REAL backed up as a freeway too). I remember one summer it was so bad my uncle ran out of the car he was riding in, got take out from a fast food joint, and got back in the car just a little further down the road. I think it might have only been 4-lanes then, but I can't say I remember that with certainty.
On the Kent Island side, though, not only where there more signals, but they still had the lower drawbridge on the other side of Kent Island. It's a lot better now (not counting the Bay Bridge), but they need to continue freeway-ing it down to at least MD-404.
Quote from: PAHighways on May 03, 2011, 12:21:14 AM
Allegheny County
Also, I believe PA 28 from Etna to Millvale counts... and in 2014 it will be Etna to I-279/North Shore.
Cline Ave (912) in NW Indiana is a full freeway (its name gives away the fact that it used to be a surface street)
The northbound lanes of I-69 in Michigan north of Charlotte used to be the southbound lanes of US-27. The northbound lanes of former 27 were converted to a 2-lane road and new southbound lanes were built for I-69 (around MM63 Lansing Rd passes under 69, but the same concept is used north of that). I believe this was done north (east) of Lansing as well with M-78.
Quote from: pianocello on May 06, 2011, 04:42:20 PM
The northbound lanes of I-69 in Michigan north of Charlotte used to be the southbound lanes of US-27. The northbound lanes of former 27 were converted to a 2-lane road and new southbound lanes were built for I-69 (around MM63 Lansing Rd passes under 69, but the same concept is used north of that). I believe this was done north (east) of Lansing as well with M-78.
Between Charlotte and Potterville, NB I-69 was SB US-27 and between Potterville and just south of I-96, SB I-69 was NB US-27. Old 27 is still divided highway through Potterville as I-69 bypasses it to the south.
Northeast of Lansing (from roughly MM 95 to MM 103), EB I-69 was WB M-78 and the former EB lanes were converted to a two lane road.
Quote from: pianocello on May 06, 2011, 04:42:20 PM
Cline Ave (912) in NW Indiana is a full freeway (its name gives away the fact that it used to be a surface street)
Actually, north of the Indiana Toll Road, the north-south part of original Cline Ave (the Gary-East Chicago border) is the freeway's west frontage road. South of the Toll Road, the Cline Ave freeway is on the original surface road/street grade. I know this from researching the Yellowstone Trail, which used the original Cline Ave between US 12 and King Drive in East Chicago.
Mike
Quote from: AZDude on April 30, 2011, 09:37:04 PM
Quote from: hm insulators on April 30, 2011, 03:23:30 PM
In the eastern part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Loop 101 freeway runs from Chandler to Scottsdale along what used to be Pima Road in Scottsdale and Price Road in Tempe and Chandler. Price and Pima Roads still exist as one-way frontage roads. And before I-17 through Phoenix was built, there was the Black Canyon Highway and I think it was also Arizona 69.
Do you have any pictures of what Price Road looked like before the Freeway was built?
Been a while since I've been on this website, so my apologies. :colorful: Anyway, no pictures, but I did find a 1977 Thomas Guide of Phoenix at a garage sale a couple of months back that shows Price Road as a major (though probably two lane) road.
No worries, I wonder if there were any stores/businesses through there before the freeway was built.
VA-28 was a two-lane road (passing over the center line) in the not-too-distant past. That area was far enough out that the road wouldn't have qualified as "arterial" in the minds of many people, primary route number notwithstanding. It's a fine example of the explosive growth in Northern Virginia over the past 30 years.
Of course, this being Virginia, the speed limit on that nice six-lane expressway is the same 55 mph that was posted on the old two-lane road.
4+ miles of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard northeast of I-285 outside of Atlanta was converted from a six-lane arterial in stages to a four-lane freeway with frontage roads during the 1980's and 1990's.
Quote from: mgk920 on May 06, 2011, 09:47:19 PM
Actually, north of the Indiana Toll Road, the north-south part of original Cline Ave (the Gary-East Chicago border) is the freeway's west frontage road. South of the Toll Road, the Cline Ave freeway is on the original surface road/street grade. I know this from researching the Yellowstone Trail, which used the original Cline Ave between US 12 and King Drive in East Chicago.
Mike
I was not aware of that.
I know the M-5 freeway outside of Farmington, MI was like that, and other Detroit area freeways probably were too.
The Beltline in Madison, WI was once merely a divided highway around the south side. It was upgraded in piecemeal to freeway, with overpasses and frontage roads eliminating side road and driveway access.
Quote from: roadman65 on May 01, 2011, 12:41:28 PM
In Pennsylvania the whole entire I-78 and US 22 duplex was a four lane divided with a concrete strip in the middle instead of double line and with rumple strips before freeway. It was a newer alignment for US 22 that was once a narrow two lane road you can still find nearby. It had intersections and driveways (the Roadside America Little Village in Shartlesville had entrances from US 22 before I-78) that were removed. Only the Grimes Interchange (Exit 12) is the only intersection that was not given an overpass, but changed into a right in and right out as you can see was once a complete intersection. That also explains why no wide median here.
All true. PennDOT District 5 decided to construct I-78 on the US 22 alignment; District 8 decided on an all-new alignment. The line between the two districts is the Lebanon-Berks county line, precisely where I-78 veers away from US 22 (travelling westbound).
Part of the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge, NJ was US 9 where the toll road ran to the sides of US 9. When NJ 440 was built it was reversed to its current configuration. The New Brunswick Avenue Interchange was originally with the GSP and US 9 was in the middle of it with no connections.
How about Exit 89 on the Garden State Parkway? It has a hook ramp exiting SB to another road and from WB CR 528 to NB GSP you have a jughandle.
I-95 from VA 35/VA 156 to just north of Jarratt was built out of part of US 301; specifically, I-95's southbound lanes are the former northbound lanes of a previously 4-lane divided US 301.
The West Babylon to Shinnecock Hills portion of NY 27 was converted from an arterial to a freeway in the 1980s and 1990s.
I am not sure on this one, but I think the NB I-95 local lanes in Fort Lee, NJ were once the westbound lanes of NJ 4 in the pre-interstate days.
The US-80 freeway east of Dallas was originally a 4-lane arterial from Big Town Blvd. in Mesquite to somewhere east of Forney before later being upgraded to a freeway.
In general, many sections of Texas freeways were just upgrades of existing arterials. The most notable sections were US-66 east of Amarillo, which became I-40, and US-80 west of Abilene, which became I-20. US-59 north of the Houston airport to north of Splendora was also built as an arterial with frontage roads, and was gradually upgraded to a freeway beginning in the late 70s, with the last project finally completed in 2009 to close the crossovers between Porter and Splendora.
The most famous example in Texas, though, is the Gulf Freeway (I-45) between Houston and Galveston. Although completed in its entirety by 1952, it was an arterial from just south of I-610 the rest of the way to Galveston. The freeway upgrade wasn't complete until the late 70s. Supposedly, there were no traffic lights the entire length - I'd have to imagine some of those crossings must have been pretty scary.
Quote from: MeanMeosh on July 11, 2011, 07:34:01 PMSupposedly, there were no traffic lights the entire length - I'd have to imagine some of those crossings must have been pretty scary.
in this case, we are looking at a "freeway which was once an expressway" - slightly different than previously being an arterial, though in practice both styles of road get upgraded.
US-101 and US-99 in California were originally built as a mix of expressway and arterial. I believe the last traffic light on 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles was in Gilroy and removed around 2002. it is, however, still expressway in particular places, with some at-grade crossings.
the last traffic light on 99 between Sacramento and I-5 was taken out sometime around 1998, but there are still a few at-grade crossings, especially around Atwater. Nowhere near as many as on 101, though. I believe 99 south of San Francisco is a freeway for all but about a 30 mile segment of its length.
another road that is receiving this treatment is 395 north of the 14 split. I think the upgrade is intended to go up to Reno eventually, but right now north of Lee Vining or so the majority of the road is two-lane. Even south of there, there are still several isolated two-lane segments, maybe 15 miles total, (Olancha comes to mind) and traffic lights (Independence, Bishop, etc).
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 11, 2011, 07:42:19 PM
I believe 99 south of San Francisco is a freeway for all but about a 30 mile segment of its length.
If I'm not mistaken, the only remaining at-grades are just south of Merced for about 10 miles.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 11, 2011, 07:42:19 PM
US-101 and US-99 in California were originally built as a mix of expressway and arterial. I believe the last traffic light on 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles was in Gilroy and removed around 2002.
The Gilroy bypass (South Valley Freeway) was complete by the late 1980s though there are some CalTrans-standard signs left on Monterey Road in Morgan Hill when this was still not entirely completed.
IIRC, the last stoplight on 101 between I-5 in Los Angeles and Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco was removed in 1992 in Santa Barbara. I recall reading that in the 1980s, there were signs alerting drivers to turn off their engines in that section due to the extreme backups that existed at the time.
Quote from: NE2If I'm not mistaken, the only remaining at-grades are just south of Merced for about 10 miles.
Correct (I drove by there in October 2008). There's also a very awkward left-exit interchange near Atwater (due to a lack of right of way created by a parallel railroad).
Overhead view of the at-grade area, over the community of Athlone:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Athlone,+CA&hl=en&ll=37.208047,-120.356941&spn=0.020576,0.040083&sll=37.207329,-120.35913&sspn=0.020576,0.040083&t=h&z=15
I was looking at a map and was reminded that back during the 1980s, a portion of I-295 in New Jersey for several miles north of the US-130 split near Gibbstown was an arterial highway despite the I-295 designation; I seem to recall there were a number of businesses that fronted directly on the highway with driveways and the like. It's since been upgraded.
As noted by Hot Rod Hootenanny, the West Innerbelt (then at least partially OH 782, thence I-71, now OH 315) was built over Sandusky Street, which reportedly was the main drag of the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. One block of Sandusky Street remains just east of OH 315, between Rich Street and Town Street, serving primarily as a connecting road in a split-diamond interchange. Furthermore, it looks to me as though the portion of the South Innerbelt (now I-70/71) where it crosses the Scioto River evolved out of some kind of Mound Street viaduct.
Circa 1952, US 33 was realigned for a few miles west of Dublin, and between Canal Winchester and Carroll. Apparently the road on these new alignments was only two lanes. The section west of Dublin is now a full freeway, upgraded circa 1968. The section between Canal Winchester and Carroll is now a 4-lane expressway (or divided arterial, depending on a judgement call), upgraded circa 1959. There is an ongoing effort to remove at-grade intersections from this section, to make it a full freeway. Both of these cases have the advantage of being fairly new, if not necessarily access-controlled, roads at the time a freeway/expressway upgrade was implemented.
From circa 1970-1974, OH 161 was upgraded-in-place to expressway grade from just west of OH 3 to Big Walnut Creek, just east of Sunbury Road. Except for an at-grade crossing with a residential street (which may or may not have existed initially, but did by 1978) that section would be a full freeway. (Interestingly, the 1969 Ohio Map shows a proposed OH 161 bypass around New Albany, which disappeared on future editions of the map, eventually being built about 30 years later.)
Finally, it looks to me like a chunk of I-75 on the north side of Dayton was built over something. Whatever it was, however, it wasn't US 25.
The Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia used to be a 12-lane boulevard between 16th Street and Franklin Square (eastbound traffic to the Ben Franklin would get diverted to Race Street for two blocks and was four lanes wide, westbound was on Vine Street and was four lanes). The inner six lanes are now the sunken freeway and the outer lanes are the arterials and two lanes wide.
Quote from: Henry on May 02, 2011, 09:50:25 AM
Independence Boulevard in Charlotte comes to mind; the part from Uptown to the old Coliseum has been a freeway since 1996 or so.
Wasn't the northern side of I-277 part of Brookshire Blvd?
Quote from: vtk on July 14, 2011, 12:01:29 AM
Finally, it looks to me like a chunk of I-75 on the north side of Dayton was built over something. Whatever it was, however, it wasn't US 25.
Which part? I don't see anything here, though it could predate whatever was built: http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.asp?fname=Dayton06sw.jpg&state=OH
I-88 between NY 7 (exit 1) and Port Crane used to be just NY 7 as a local road.
Quote from: NE2 on July 14, 2011, 01:57:41 AM
Quote from: vtk on July 14, 2011, 12:01:29 AM
Finally, it looks to me like a chunk of I-75 on the north side of Dayton was built over something. Whatever it was, however, it wasn't US 25.
Which part? I don't see anything here, though it could predate whatever was built: http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.asp?fname=Dayton06sw.jpg&state=OH
Thanks for that picture. It really sheds some light on the situation. It looks to me like, from just southeast of Ebenezer to just east of Chambersburg, I-75 runs exactly halfway between two section lines, one of which is US 25. There are a couple of short roads on that map following this midway line, which very likely forms property boundaries almost everywhere. It's quite possible that by the 1950's there were more roads built along that line, which would have eventually been torn up to make room for the Interstate. This is what I see when I try to interpret the present situation.
Voila! There was a four-lane surface expressway up to US 40 (the extreme south end survives as Keats Drive): http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=7.73527831156564E-05&lat=39.8027596950786&lon=-84.189578459976&year=1956
And it was US 25, according to the ODOT maps from 1946 on: http://web.archive.org/web/20100803161217/http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/TransSysDev/Innovation/Prod_Services/TransMap/Pages/default.aspx
Quote from: roadman65 on May 01, 2011, 12:41:28 PM
In New Jersey as we speak, Hoes Lane in Piscataway is being upgraded to be NJ 18.
This is not going to be a freeway. Its simply going to be upgraded to meet state highway standards. Would have been nice if that highway was built as planned, the routes between US-22 and I-287 through Piscataway/North Plainfield all stink.
Quote from: NE2 on July 14, 2011, 06:28:39 PM
Voila! There was a four-lane surface expressway up to US 40 (the extreme south end survives as Keats Drive): http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=7.73527831156564E-05&lat=39.8027596950786&lon=-84.189578459976&year=1956
And it was US 25, according to the ODOT maps from 1946 on: http://web.archive.org/web/20100803161217/http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/TransSysDev/Innovation/Prod_Services/TransMap/Pages/default.aspx
That line style on the 1946 map doesn't necessarily mean it was an access-controlled expressway -- I don't know if ODOT even had any access control practices at the time -- but given that it was on a new alignment there were probably very few (if any) direct frontage accesses, and any that did exist were probably removed by the mid-50's. That roundabout on the south end of this "new" roadway is interesting; I didn't know ODOT ever built roundabouts like that in the mid-20th century. (Actually, the junction of routes 257 and 750 may have originally been a roundabout, closer in size to a modern one...) Anyway, it's nice to see an answer to why SB exit 57B is the way it is. I still think there may have been a residential street on the alignment of that 1946 "expressway" for at least a short distance near its south end where the road is aligned with the residential blocks that crowd it.
I doubt they would have made any changes between 1946 and 1956, especially because in the 1956 aerials you can see the full freeway being built north of US 40.
Quote from: vtk on July 14, 2011, 12:01:29 AM
As noted by Hot Rod Hootenanny, the West Innerbelt (then at least partially OH 782, thence I-71, now OH 315) was built over Sandusky Street, which reportedly was the main drag of the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. One block of Sandusky Street remains just east of OH 315, between Rich Street and Town Street, serving primarily as a connecting road in a split-diamond interchange. Furthermore, it looks to me as though the portion of the South Innerbelt (now I-70/71) where it crosses the Scioto River evolved out of some kind of Mound Street viaduct.
You are correct. When the original Mound-Sandusky interchange was constructed in the 1950s, the "original" Mound Street bridge was incorporated into the approach to the interchange, being used for WB traffic, while a new bridge was built for east bound traffic.
When the interchange was rebuilt in the early 70s (to allow for I-70 to continue through) the Mound Street bridge was demolished and the current I-70(71) bridge for WB traffic was built.
Quote from: vtk on July 14, 2011, 12:01:29 AM
From circa 1970-1974, OH 161 was upgraded-in-place to expressway grade from just west of OH 3 to Big Walnut Creek, just east of Sunbury Road. Except for an at-grade crossing with a residential street (which may or may not have existed initially, but did by 1978) that section would be a full freeway. (Interestingly, the 1969 Ohio Map shows a proposed OH 161 bypass around New Albany, which disappeared on future editions of the map, eventually being built about 30 years later.)
Plans for the widening of Oh 161 (Dublin Granville Rd) were first mentioned in the Dispatch back in 1967, again in 1970, and one last time in September 1971, never to be heard about again for another 20 years (until Les Wexner and friends brought it back as part of his Easton/New Albany development).
Those last articles from 1971 were about shifting funding from constructing the New Albany bypass to widening (and realigning) Oh 161 from Cleveland Ave to Sunbury Road.
Soon after the OPEC oil embargo and resulting recession of 1973/4 seemingly wiped the 161 bypass (and arterial route into Licking County) off the books.
Rude...
Quote from: RoadWarrior56 on May 19, 2011, 12:16:45 PM
4+ miles of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard northeast of I-285 outside of Atlanta was converted from a six-lane arterial in stages to a four-lane freeway with frontage roads during the 1980's and 1990's.
I was on that freeway a couple months ago and it actually has been upgraded to six lanes(at least to the Tilly Mill Rd exit), I'm not entirely sure east of there but I think it is.
Also I'm not sure people in Myrtle Beach proper would want to count US 501 between SC 31 and US 17.
Quote from: Hot Rod Hootenanny on July 16, 2011, 12:38:07 AM
Quote from: vtk on July 16, 2011, 12:09:36 AM
Were you going to actually say something?
Yes. Don't interupt me when I'm writing.
I wasn't aware the "preview" button caused an incomplete post to become visible to other users. Or are you not in the habit of using that handy little button?
Quote from: Hot Rod Hootenanny on July 16, 2011, 12:01:06 AM
Quote from: vtk on July 14, 2011, 12:01:29 AM
As noted by Hot Rod Hootenanny, the West Innerbelt (then at least partially OH 782, thence I-71, now OH 315) was built over Sandusky Street, which reportedly was the main drag of the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. One block of Sandusky Street remains just east of OH 315, between Rich Street and Town Street, serving primarily as a connecting road in a split-diamond interchange. Furthermore, it looks to me as though the portion of the South Innerbelt (now I-70/71) where it crosses the Scioto River evolved out of some kind of Mound Street viaduct.
You are correct. When the original Mound-Sandusky interchange was constructed in the 1950s, the "original" Mound Street bridge was incorporated into the approach to the interchange, being used for WB traffic, while a new bridge was built for east bound traffic.
When the interchange was rebuilt in the early 70s (to allow for I-70 to continue through) the Mound Street bridge was demolished and the current I-70(71) bridge for WB traffic was built.
Quote from: vtk on July 14, 2011, 12:01:29 AM
From circa 1970-1974, OH 161 was upgraded-in-place to expressway grade from just west of OH 3 to Big Walnut Creek, just east of Sunbury Road. Except for an at-grade crossing with a residential street (which may or may not have existed initially, but did by 1978) that section would be a full freeway. (Interestingly, the 1969 Ohio Map shows a proposed OH 161 bypass around New Albany, which disappeared on future editions of the map, eventually being built about 30 years later.)
Plans for the widening of Oh 161 (Dublin Granville Rd) were first mentioned in the Dispatch back in 1967, again in 1970, and one last time in September 1971, never to be heard about again for another 20 years (until Les Wexner and friends brought it back as part of his Easton/New Albany development).
Those last articles from 1971 were about shifting funding from constructing the New Albany bypass to widening (and realigning) Oh 161 from Cleveland Ave to Sunbury Road.
Soon after the OPEC oil embargo and resulting recession of 1973/4 seemingly wiped the 161 bypass (and arterial route into Licking County) off the books.
I should have said this sooner: thanks for contributing this interesting information. I was amused by your unconventional progressive posting procedure, and I wanted to share that amusement with the forum. Sorry if it came out snarky. Anyway, I was wondering if you could clarify something about Mound Street. On the MORPC website, there are historic aerial photos available (link) (http://www.morpc.org/info_center/dataport/aerials_histric.asp) from 1958 showing that Mound Street had an EB-exit/WB-entrance interchange with Whittier Street. Because the photos are poorly-stitched, I can't tell how Mound Street meshes with the city grid east of there, but I don't think I see the various ramps at Front & 2nd Streets that existed later. That Whittier Street half-interchange, however, persisted for some time after the Innerbelt was constructed, according to state highway maps. Here's what I'm getting at: in the 1958 imagery, land was still being cleared for the Mound-Sandusky Interchange, but the Whittier Street ramps appear finished. Were those ramps at Whittier Street conceived as part of a greater plan for the Innerbelt, and just finished early in the overall project, or had the Mound Street bridge, including those ramps, predated plans for the Innerbelt?
My response was drafted as such so I could address each point of your post seperately (while leaving in what you wrote) seperately instead of one large clump of responses at the bottom
The cloverleaf loops from the "Mound Street Expressway" to Whittier St. were conceved as part of the original innerbelt plans for Columbus.
http://www.roadfan.com/bergend.html (3rd image down)
Also see http://www.photohio.org/collections/cj/ and type in Mound-Sandusky.
Quote from: huskeroadgeek on May 01, 2011, 02:44:37 PM
One I've wondered about is I-44 in Tulsa. With its frontage roads filled with businesses and being designated as the non-freeway sounding Skelly Drive, I've wondered if it was ever a non-freeway arterial. I also have a map from the 80s that shows the E-W portion of I-44 in OKC that follows old US 66 as 4-lane non-freeway arterial.
Interstate 44 is an interesting case through Tulsa. It was originally planned to go through downtown, similar to the routing of I-244 today, but city leaders didn't want it built in-town. as a result, it was built along the then-southern city limits.
I-44 was built in sections. The first was the 51st Street Bridge over the Arkansas River, which opened in 1951. The section from the Turner Turnpike to the river bridge was opened in 1953 as an expressway with at-grade crossings (grade separations at 33rd W. Ave., Union Ave. & Elwood Ave.) This section was rebuilt as a full freeway in the late 1970s.
The remainder, from the river to the Will Rogers Turnpike, was opened as a full freeway with two-way frontage roads in 1958. The frontage roads were made one-way in the 1960s. In addition, the stretch from the river east to Utica Ave. was built over the existing 51st Street. As for why it's Skelly "Drive" insted of "Expressway", the most likely reason was to de-emphasize its being a freeway. Similar to how the original section of the Gilcrease Expressway out by the Airport was called Gilcrease "Drive".
In Oklahoma City, parts of what were to become I-35 and I-44 were originally built as the US 66 expressway in the 1950s. The section from Grand Blvd. to Lincoln Blvd. was built as a freeway, but the section from Western to I-35 had at-grade intersections and business access. The section of I-35 from US 66 to the Turner Turnpike had grade-separated interchanges at Wilshire Blvd., Britton Rd. and Hefner Rd., but there was some cross-traffic and business access.
The business access to I-35 was blocked in the 1970s, but the crossovers remained in place until the section was rebuilt into a full freeway in the late 1980s. The Lincoln-to-I-35 section remained an expressway with signalized intersections at Eastern Ave. and Kelley Ave. until it, too, was rebuilt in the late '80s.
Additionally, parts of I-35, I-44 and the Hefner Pkwy. were built on top of Grand Blvd., which was a boulevard loop around the city built in the 1910s-20s.