Can any of you think of highways that were upgraded (widened, made limited-access) only to be bypassed by an all-new highway within a short period of time, say less than 20 years?
God bless and Merry Christmas!
CKB
the Ridge Route (US-99 across the Grapevine in California) was built in 1913, and then bypassed in 1933. it was upgraded from a three-lane undivided road to a four-lane expressway in 1951, before I-5 bypassed an entire segment of it in 1968.
Would the Bayshore Freeway count? That segment of US 101 became full freeway by the 1960s, but with I-280 bypassing most of it in the mid-1970s.
The US-66 bypass of Joliet. US-66 was moved to what is now IL-129, I-55, IL-59, and IL-126 in 1940. By 1956 the route had been moved to a freeway.
US 33 in Lancaster, Oh (SE of Columbus), though we'd be talking a 40 year period between the first rerouting/widening (Columbus Ave to Memorial Dr.) to the current bypass east of town.
Windsor, CT:
- CT 159 (old US 5A): widened to 4 lanes divided, 1941
- I-91 (new US 5A): constructed by 1958
I don't know whether any of these qualify, but I wonder about some of the interstates that are closely paralleled by US routes that are 4-lane. For example, US 40 is 4-lane almost all the way across Indiana-I don't know how long it was 4-lane before I-70 bypassed it.
A short section of QC-132 was upgraded to expressway in Delson in the early 2000s, then got bypassed last year. They were originally planning to make it an expressway through the city.
Does anyone know how old the US 13/US 70 freeway in Goldsboro, NC is? It's slated to be bypassed in the next couple of years by what will temporarily be NC 44.
IN 930 seems to be a mid-60s expressway bypass of downtown Fort Wayne (as US 30), before US 30 was moved onto I-69 and I-469.
I think the diagonal part of OH 158 might count. Built as I-70 / US 40 in the 60's (connecting on the west end to a section of US 40 that had been 4-lane divided for about 20 years IIRC) it was bypassed a few years later when I-70 was extended westward (from the southeast end of the stretch I'm talking about) and became OH 158.
As for 4-lane US 40 across Indiana and Ohio, I think in most places it's about 20-25 years between upgrade and bypass.
In Chicagoland, the one example i can think of is Route 53 and I-355. 53 used to be 2 lanes between Royce Rd in Bolingbrook and Warrenville Rd in Lisle. Now i dont recall which happened first but (355 being opened Christmas of 1989 or the widening of 53 in the section above) but they both were absolutely needed.
US 301 from Carson to Emporia, Virginia was originally two lanes. Then when I-95 was built it was left with an un-opened stretch between these two points. VDOT decided to widen US 301 between the ending points to handle the overspill until finally in the 1980s, that was decades later, the interstate was completed.
Then, the whole thing was reversed when I-95 took away US 301's northbound addition (the SB lanes were the original US 301) to make the freeway. That explains why US 301 is the frontage road of I-95 from Jarrat to Carson and at the point where US 301 splits from I-95, the old US route becomes 4 lanes southward through Jarrat and into Emporia.
This was only a temporary fix until VDOT decided to finally build the missing link of I-95.
Further south the same took place in Jasper County, SC where US 17 was widened to four lanes from two south of Hardeeville only to have I-95 opened only a few years later.
US 77/81 at Hillsboro, TX - upgraded mid 50's, bypassed mid 60's, leaving an un-nessessary expressway south of town.
In S.W. Portland - Taylors Ferry Road was replaced by Capitol Highway in the early 1910s, to be replaced by Barbur Boulevard (the Pacific Highway) in the 1930s, to be replaced by the Baldock Freeway (Interstate 5) in the 1950s and 1960s.
And all four of these routes actually come together at one point, with Barbur and Capitol joining at a traffic light on top of an overpass with I-5 passing underneath it, and Taylors Ferry just a block away, however due to I-5's route traffic has to use Capitol to get from the western to eastern segments of Taylors Ferry.
Here's one I didn't think about but fits:
US 101 was upgraded to the Montgomery Freeway in southern San Diego County in the 1940s and 1950s
After the Montgomery Freeway was added to I-5 in the early 1960s, I-805 was constructed in the 1970s as an eastern bypass
A few years ago, 805 was then given its own bypass route, the Route 125 extension.
Quote from: TheStranger on January 12, 2012, 02:03:11 PM
After the Montgomery Freeway was added to I-5 in the early 1960s
don't forget that part of the freeway was downgraded to Harbor Blvd (surface arterial) when I-5 was built a tad further inland in 1966 or so.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 08, 2012, 04:55:06 PM
US 301 from Carson to Emporia, Virginia was originally two lanes. Then when I-95 was built it was left with an un-opened stretch between these two points. VDOT decided to widen US 301 between the ending points to handle the overspill until finally in the 1980s, that was decades later, the interstate was completed.
Then, the whole thing was reversed when I-95 took away US 301's northbound addition (the SB lanes were the original US 301) to make the freeway. That explains why US 301 is the frontage road of I-95 from Jarrat to Carson and at the point where US 301 splits from I-95, the old US route becomes 4 lanes southward through Jarrat and into Emporia.
This was only a temporary fix until VDOT decided to finally build the missing link of I-95.
Actually the parallel roadway on that section of US-301 was funded and built in the mid-1950s, just before the 1956 federal highway act that funded the Interstate highway system. It was an upgrade of a busy inter-state highway, before there was an approved plan to build I-95 or any Interstate highway.
The decision on how to build I-95 there, whether on new location or along US-301, wasn't made until the 1970s. About 16 miles was built along US-301, and 12 miles was built on new location (1.5 mile at Carson and 10 miles Jarratt to Emporia).
Quote from: agentsteel53 on January 12, 2012, 02:13:35 PM
Quote from: TheStranger on January 12, 2012, 02:03:11 PM
After the Montgomery Freeway was added to I-5 in the early 1960s
don't forget that part of the freeway was downgraded to Harbor Blvd (surface arterial) when I-5 was built a tad further inland in 1966 or so.
That's the one thing I wonder - Harbor Drive north of I-5 from National City to the San Diego city limit, how much of that was really a "freeway" the way we think of it now?
It seems at today's Civic Center Drive (where the I-5/Harbor split occurs), it was at-grade in 1953, and 8th Street seems to have been at-grade as well:
http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=4E-06&lat=32.6696437557451&lon=-117.113403&year=1953
If all goes right WRT funding, the section of US 10 between Amherst Junction, WI and I-39 in Stevens Point, WI, including the part east of the Portage County 'J' interchange that was upgraded to a full-speed four lanes 'expressway' within the past few years, will be bypassed with a new-ROW full freeway before the end of the decade.
Mike
Does the defunct Rocky Mount/ Wilson Super Loop (I-95 Business) in North Carolina count as one? If you notice that from the I-95 interchange in Kenly to NC 4 at Battleboro US 301 is four lanes. Plus NC 4 is four lanes from US 301 to I-95 at Gold Rock.
Between Kenly and Gold Rock on I-95 was incomplete until the early 80s and for several years all traffic used NC 4 and US 301 where it is divided and four lanes. I am assuming that US 301 was widened to temporarily accomodate the I-95 fallout until the Kenly to Gold Rock freeway part was completed. Both sides of that unbuilt freeway is two lanes on US 301.
The I-95 Business Freeway was built when I-95 was constructed north of Fayetteville and until the Fayetteville Bypass was opened, both I-95 Business and I-95 were one continuous freeway as the current north terminus (a directional interchange with I-95) was constructed with the bypass.
I-40 in Greensboro was expanded to 6 lanes and improved, only to be by-passed (temporary at the least) by the southern side of "Painter Blvd." "Improved 40" was downgraded to Green I-40, but enough junkies complained, and since the by-pass was a few miles longer, 40 was changed to its old route within months! LOL
Quote from: jcarte29 on February 03, 2012, 01:05:41 AM
"Improved 40" was downgraded to Green I-40, but enough junkies complained,
Why? Were the drug shipments taking longer on the new route?
Quote from: NE2 on February 03, 2012, 01:21:05 AM
Quote from: jcarte29 on February 03, 2012, 01:05:41 AM
"Improved 40" was downgraded to Green I-40, but enough junkies complained,
Why? Were the drug shipments taking longer on the new route?
Probably should have re-phrased, basically meant there was enough confusion by motorists, and complaining of noise by homeowners on the new portion...that the change was made...
Does Dennison, TX count? There is what appears to be a US 75 bypass east of town, and the current US 75 runs west of town. I think the original bypass lasted more than 20 years though.
US 61 east of Cloquet, MN, is a 4-lane divided highway, as of 1949 with a bridge completion in 1954, and I-35 went past there I would say around 1980.
QuoteDoes Dennison, TX count? There is what appears to be a US 75 bypass east of town, and the current US 75 runs west of town. I think the original bypass lasted more than 20 years though.
Yes, there were two re-alignments of US 75 at Denison.
I'd have to look through alot of maps to try to nail down the dates, however.
Maps:
https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map4873.jpg (https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map4873.jpg)
https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map5147.jpg (https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map5147.jpg)