Cities that completed their freeway network

[6a]

There might have been a fanciful drawing or two out there early on, but I believe once the serious planning started, Columbus finished its plans.  Took 30-some years, but it got finished.

[Alex]

I would think all of the freeways ever formally planned for Baton Rouge are complete (considering also that the proposed loop 410 evolved into the spur 110). Of course the freeway system was designed for a much smaller city so that isn't saying much.

The original plan for I-410 was never completed per this 1961 map:

[cl94]

From what I can tell, Columbus, OH is either completed or darn close to it with the exception of I-73 (which would have just used I-270)

[GaryV]

Actually, I can only think of Flint, MI, because I have never seen any proposals for additional freeways, even with the wide spot on I-75 near Flushing Rd.

I believe every city in Michigan except Detroit completed their freeways.  Some places took a little longer than others and they were not completed exactly as first proposed (Lansing, I'm looking at you) but the overall functionality was completed.

[Sonic99]

Phoenix has all-but completed their system. The loop 303 will open within the next month or so and, with the exception of the South Mountain Freeway (basically Phoenix's version of the 710/South Pasadena clusterfuck), will be complete (from the original 1985 Master plan). Only outright cancelled freeway was the Paradise Parkway, which would have been a mid-town east/west freeway. Looking at the grid now, it honestly would have been great as there is IMO a big gap there, with very congested surface streets as your only east/west options there.

[OCGuy81]

Phoenix has all-but completed their system. The loop 303 will open within the next month or so and, with the exception of the South Mountain Freeway (basically Phoenix's version of the 710/South Pasadena clusterfuck), will be complete (from the original 1985 Master plan). Only outright cancelled freeway was the Paradise Parkway, which would have been a mid-town east/west freeway. Looking at the grid now, it honestly would have been great as there is IMO a big gap there, with very congested surface streets as your only east/west options there.

Wasn't there a plan for an I-410 at one point?  I recall seeing a picture on here of a 70s era state highway map that had I-410 in Phoenix, though I can't recall how it was laid out and where.

[Alex]

Phoenix has all-but completed their system. The loop 303 will open within the next month or so and, with the exception of the South Mountain Freeway (basically Phoenix's version of the 710/South Pasadena clusterfuck), will be complete (from the original 1985 Master plan). Only outright cancelled freeway was the Paradise Parkway, which would have been a mid-town east/west freeway. Looking at the grid now, it honestly would have been great as there is IMO a big gap there, with very congested surface streets as your only east/west options there.

Wasn't there a plan for an I-410 at one point?  I recall seeing a picture on here of a 70s era state highway map that had I-410 in Phoenix, though I can't recall how it was laid out and where.

Along what is now I-10 north of I-17:

[agentsteel53]

there was even field signage for 410, briefly.



wish we had a better photo; that's all we've got ...

[OCGuy81]

Wow, I didn't realize they had the signs out for it and everything.  Approximately when was that on the map/signed?  70s?

[Sonic99]

I believe it was either late 60's or early 70's.

The numbers in Phoenix got kind of messed up when they changed the original plan for 10/17. Originally the east/west part of 17 was supposed to be 10, with 10 continuing west at the Durango Curve, and 17 beginning there. When 10 got rerouted through downtown and what is now the Deck Park tunnel, 17 got that extra little E/W segment on a N/S interstate.

Also, what is now the 51 was originally designated 510, and the 202 was originally 210. Not sure if either ever actually got signed,  or if those were scrapped before the 1985 plan was passed by the voters.

[agentsteel53]

IIRC the film still is from 1971.

[Henry]

Charlotte, NC (with the completion of I-485 and possibly the Independence Expressway)...and hopefully, all the other major cities in the state will follow suit.

[Revive 755]

I'm pretty sure all of the freeways that were planned in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City area were built. I think the same is true for Des Moines.

Besides IA 100, there had been studies for a freeway for US 151 that would have passed around the south side of Downtown Cedar Rapids.

Des Moines had a north-south route cancelled between I-235 and I-35/80 , as well as an L-shaped route that was built as Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

As for Phoenix, this map from a document entitled "City of Phoenix Then And Now Transportation" may help:


And it appears Salt Lake City had a cancellation of a route that would have run eastward from the northern I-15/I-80 interchange and eventually southward to end at what was then I-415.  From Volume II of Salt Lake Area Transportation Study (April 1965)

[jp the roadgeek]

Wilmington, DE, unless you count DE 141.  Scranton looks pretty complete too.

[adventurernumber1]

Wilmington, DE, unless you count DE 141.  Scranton looks pretty complete too.

There is no doubt in mind Scranton is complete 

[mgk920]

Then South Dakota I do not think had any other plans for freeways other than its two primaries and the two three digit city routes.

I think an x90 spur to Pierre was once planned, which resulted in four-laning U.S. 83. I don't know how far the freeway proposal got to reality though.

Was/is I-229 planned to eventually circle back to I-29 north of I-90?

Mike

[Anthony_JK]

I would think all of the freeways ever formally planned for Baton Rouge are complete (considering also that the proposed loop 410 evolved into the spur 110). Of course the freeway system was designed for a much smaller city so that isn't saying much.

Well..there is that pesky Baton Rouge Loop proposal, as well as the BUMP proposal that would incorporate that segment of Airline Highway (US 190/US 61) that would have been covered by that original I-410 proposal.

[NE2]

You'll probably find a lot of mid-sized cities that were too small during the Moses days to get ridiculous plans.

Going down the list of largest metro areas and listing those that aren't an obvious no or mentioned earlier in this thread:
Dallas
Denver
Orlando
Charlotte? there were probably more planned
Columbus? this may be the largest, but there was probably at least a plan to connect US 33 directly to I-70 in the southeast
Las Vegas? not completed yet, but have any serious proposals been canceled?
San Antonio
Raleigh
Nashville? presumably more of SR 155 was to be freeway (and of course SR 840, but that's far outside the city)
Norfolk
Greensboro? again it's not all finished yet, but was anything canceled?
Jacksonville: eastern and western extensions of the 20th Street Expressway across the St. Johns and to I-295
Louisville
Grand Rapids?
Greenville? presumably at least I-185 and I-385 were planned to connect
Oklahoma City?
Now it's getting to smaller cities that may have never had plans other than the Interstates.

[froggie]

Norfolk

http://www.vahighways.com/hr-notes/1985plan-summary.htm

In short, there were several freeways planned for the Hampton Roads area that were never built.  I'll cover them on the never got built thread.

[Molandfreak]

Was/is I-229 planned to eventually circle back to I-29 north of I-90?

Looks like it may have been a possibility (judging by the design of the interchange) but I don't think anything was planned.  It wouldn't get a ton of traffic and there's very little greater Sioux Falls development north of I-90, so I think it would just be a massive money waster.

[Revive 755]

Las Vegas? not completed yet, but have any serious proposals been canceled?

I believe there was an east-west facility considered south of I-515 but inside the I-215 loop in one of the Las Vegas Transportation plans (which I don't seem to have a scan of).

Since it was mentioned upthread, here is page from the 1978 Kansas City Transportation Plan that shows the evolution of the freeway/expressway system in the KC area:

[6a]

Columbus? this may be the largest, but there was probably at least a plan to connect US 33 directly to I-70 in the southeast

If there was, I've never seen it. All the old plans I know of have no mention of 33 at all, other than the fact there's an exit there. Part of me wonders if that was due to the weird intersection of bend-in-the-freeway, creek, and rich neighborhood to the north.

[NE2]

Found this, which shows US 23 as a freeway outside I-270 and US 33 implicitly connecting to I-70.

[roadfro]

Going down the list of largest metro areas and listing those that aren't an obvious no or mentioned earlier in this thread:
...
Las Vegas? not completed yet, but have any serious proposals been canceled?

I believe there was an east-west facility considered south of I-515 but inside the I-215 loop in one of the Las Vegas Transportation plans (which I don't seem to have a scan of).

I am not aware of this, and hadn't heard any mention of this until now.

If there was such a concept, I don't even know where it would have gone.  My only thought is that I seem to recall an idea around the mid-late 1990s to extend the freeway-like section of Desert Inn Road (aka the Desert Inn Superarterial) beyond its east end at Paradise Road and the west end at Valley View Blvd. I don't know if that was a serious proposal, but all I can remember coming from that was a brief extension east from Paradise (sinking below the Convention Center parking/walkways) and a widening & resurfacing of a few miles of Desert Inn west of Valley View.


The only other concept that got some consideration, but never made it into a serious planning phase, was building an eastern leg of the 215 beltway to make the route a nearly full loop beltway. The price tag for right of way was going to be way too high (since it would be going through established parts of town, whereas most of the rest of the beltway was routed through still-developing areas), so that idea has been shelved for at least a decade. (It is worth noting that an eastern beltway corridor would have made a much better alternative for a potential I-11 routing than the current potential alignment alternative east of Las Vegas through Lake Mead NRA.)

One other concept that has been discussed is building an outer belt along the northern part of the valley. This was proposed when the north end of the valley was booming. This idea has lost traction (but isn't necessarily dead) due to the recession and housing market slowing down.


Instead of these ideas, I think NDOT is trying to concentrate on upgrading I-15 (Project Neon, in particular). They've removed virtually all mention of widening I-515 from their website (including widening/reconstructing the downtown viaduct)...if I-11 gets routed straight through the middle of town, NDOT will need to dust off this project.

[GCrites]

Found this, which shows US 23 as a freeway outside I-270 and US 33 implicitly connecting to I-70.

I bet the apartments to the SE of the current interchange hadn't been built yet. There probably wasn't any development at all there at the time. So they probably assumed that nothing was going to get in the way of it except maybe on the NE corner.