Vincennes, IN US 50/ US 41 Bypass

[Brandon]

IMHO, US-50 was way too far north for I-64, too close to I-70.  Even now, I-64 could still be a bit further south.  The current route doesn't go near much other than Mount Vernon, away from the main population center of Egypt (that being Marion, Herrin, and Carbondale).
Personally, I'd have routed it south of US-460 toward Pickneyville, Herrin, West Frankfort, and then due east to Evansville.
(Any more, and it's over to Fictional Highways.)

[mukade]

IMHO, US-50 was way too far north for I-64, too close to I-70.  Even now, I-64 could still be a bit further south.  The current route doesn't go near much other than Mount Vernon, away from the main population center of Egypt (that being Marion, Herrin, and Carbondale).
Personally, I'd have routed it south of US-460 toward Pickneyville, Herrin, West Frankfort, and then due east to Evansville.
(Any more, and it's over to Fictional Highways.)

I agree on the US 50 routing being too far north, and I have always thought that I-64 should have been built a few miles further south than it was also, but that document from Purdue explains why it was routed the way it was - at least in Indiana. I didn't see where Indiana and Illinois had any disagreement on routing. The only disagreement was between the north route and south route proponents in both states.

[3467]

Illinois also appeased the north and south groups with supplemental freeways which were only partially built. Now it looks like expressways between Olney and I-69 and Carbondale to Pickneyville

[RoadWarrior56]

I have downloaded the document on the history of Interstates in Indiana and already read parts of it.  I didn't realize until now that the decision to relocate I-64 to its current corridor was basically made as early as 1958, but that it took another two or three years until it was official.  I am now reading up on other interstate corridors in Indiana and how they assumed their current locations.  I didn't realize how close I-65 came to be located on the west side of West Lafayette, for example.  I also didn't realize how serious the discussions were in the 1960-61 period about routing I-24 to Evansville.  Finally, there were more public hearings and location studies than I realized, even though NEPA wasn't around.  Although their focus was more engineering and economic rather than environmental.

In any case, a very interesting read.  I wonder if similar documents have been compiled for other states.  I would be interested in reading similar histories for Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and Illinois.

[3467]

I have seen the corridors that Illinois proposed as early as 1944 in their annual report. Those exist mainly in the state libarary and some of the depositories
Most of those corridors ex 64 are almost exactly the same. I had heard old stories about 74 going closer to 67 or closer to Kewanee however the IDOT documants always had it in the corridor it now exists in .
The may have been confusion with the later supllemental freeway system plan which has its own thread.
I too am interested in the original corridor studies as well as post interstate plans of other states

[RoadWarrior56]

On further thought, what makes that Indiana interstate document even more interesting is that it was written over 30 years ago, and it was a historical document even then.  Many of studies that were referred to in that document and decisions made were made by people are likely dead or will be before too much longer.  And I do suspect that in most states, nobody took the time to comple all of that information at a time when people were still around and documents were readily available.

This system of roadways throughout the country that affects everybody's daily life is based on a history that I suspect is largely forgotten.  At least in Indiana, it is possible to find out why these roadways are located where they are and how they came about.  For that reason, I am eternally grateful for its author.

[mukade]

This system of roadways throughout the country that affects everybody's daily life is based on a history that I suspect is largely forgotten.  At least in Indiana, it is possible to find out why these roadways are located where they are and how they came about.  For that reason, I am eternally grateful for its author.

Perhaps one of us should write an addendum that covers I-69 south of Indy as well as the US 20, US 24, and US 31 projects so the history will be complete for future generations.