Maryland

[Roadsguy]

If nothing was supposed to continue across downtown, what would the expressway connecting the stubs at 95 and Moravia over to the Beltway have been?

[NE2]

If nothing was supposed to continue across downtown, what would the expressway connecting the stubs at 95 and Moravia over to the Beltway have been?

An expressway connecting I-95 to the beltway.

Unrelated: I-83 was originally proposed to continue east from downtown to the stubs at Boston Street.

[froggie]

The ramp this sign is on wasn't built until sometime in the 1980s, after when "I-170" was built and long after the decision to end I-170 where it did.  It's possible it was built in the early '80s as part of I-83's extension to Pleasant St.  Otherwise, it was likely built after I-83's cancellation, as part of the connection of I-83 to South President St, in which case it was built in the mid-80s.

I'd hazard a bet that it was an overhead sign guiding motorists to "I-83 North".

[1995hoo]

If nothing was supposed to continue across downtown, what would the expressway connecting the stubs at 95 and Moravia over to the Beltway have been?

Look at a map and you'll get a sense for how the road NE2 mentions (the Windlass Freeway) would have run. Note where I-695 passes near Batavia Park and then curves sharply to the south. The road from the ghost ramps you mention would have tied in right around the point where what is now I-695 curves there. I-695 itself was originally supposed to follow a different route further to the southeast along what is now Route 702 and would have turned southwest somewhere further down that peninsula. This explains why, when you look at a map or a satellite view, I-695 appears to have a form of a TOTSO maneuver in the vicinity of Essex.

[froggie]

Kozel mentions that on his website.  It was certainly one of the options for I-695, but of the old planning maps I've seen and perused, I have yet to see anything that definitively states that I-695 was to follow the Essex peninsula.

Whatever the early plans, it appears that by 1964, I-695 was proposed more or less along its current alignment:

[Henry]

I'd hazard a bet that it was an overhead sign guiding motorists to "I-83 North".

I'm thinking the same thing!

[The Ghostbuster]

I read on Wikipedia (not the most accurate website) that there are plans to demolish Interstate 83 in Baltimore between Fayette Street and Edgar Street, but that it would not happen until at least 2020. What do you think of this proposal?

[Zeffy]

I read on Wikipedia (not the most accurate website) that there are plans to demolish Interstate 83 in Baltimore between Fayette Street and Edgar Street, but that it would not happen until at least 2020. What do you think of this proposal?

Not sure where Edgar Street is, but I don't like the idea of ending an Interstate by a simple transition of freeway to non-freeway. I'd rather see it end at a more major road (like US 1) with an interchange.

[NE2]

I read on Wikipedia (not the most accurate website) that there are plans to demolish Interstate 83 in Baltimore between Fayette Street and Edgar Street, but that it would not happen until at least 2020. What do you think of this proposal?

I'm not seeing this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_83

[Zeffy]

I'm not seeing this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_83

I think he's referring to this article, which is in the "References" section (item #10):

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-05-17/business/0905160106_1_elevated-expressway-jones-falls-expressway-east-side

[1995hoo]

I read on Wikipedia (not the most accurate website) that there are plans to demolish Interstate 83 in Baltimore between Fayette Street and Edgar Street, but that it would not happen until at least 2020. What do you think of this proposal?

Not sure where Edgar Street is, but I don't like the idea of ending an Interstate by a simple transition of freeway to non-freeway. I'd rather see it end at a more major road (like US 1) with an interchange.

I read on Wikipedia (not the most accurate website) that there are plans to demolish Interstate 83 in Baltimore between Fayette Street and Edgar Street, but that it would not happen until at least 2020. What do you think of this proposal?

I'm not seeing this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_83

I think he misspelled Eager Street, which does cross under I-83 a short distance before the sharp curve to the left near the Amtrak station. Look in the "Future" section of the article NE2 linked. It discusses tearing down part of the "JFX" (a local Baltimore term for the portion of I-83 inside I-695) and extending President Street to the north.

[NE2]

That explains why I didn't find anything searching for Edgar.

[1995hoo]

That explains why I didn't find anything searching for Edgar.

I found an Edgar Terrace in Baltimore, but it wasn't anywhere near the relevant area.

[NE2]

I mean that I searched for Edgar in the article.

[cpzilliacus]

Not sure where Edgar Street is, but I don't like the idea of ending an Interstate by a simple transition of freeway to non-freeway. I'd rather see it end at a more major road (like US 1) with an interchange.

I-83 comes to an end at a signalized intersection at East Fayette Street now. 

Beyond making some anti-freeway activists happy, I am not sure what the proposed freeway removal will accomplish.

[1995hoo]

I mean that I searched for Edgar in the article.

Ah. When I couldn't find "Edgar Street" on a map, I looked at the article and found the paragraph in question, noted it said "Eager Street," and then went back to the map.

[Zeffy]

Being the death-place of Edgar Allen Poe, I would've thought there would be such a street named for Mr. Poe in Baltimore! But when I searched I just came up empty.

[cpzilliacus]

Being the death-place of Edgar Allen Poe, I would've thought there would be such a street named for Mr. Poe in Baltimore! But when I searched I just came up empty.

Poe Homes, maybe the oldest public housing in use in Baltimore City, can be found on West Lexington Street.

[The Ghostbuster]

Sorry for the confusion. According to google maps, Eager Street is the portion where the Jones Falls Expressway changes from a depressed freeway into an elevated freeway. Personally, I would leave the freeway as is.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: Months of traffic congestion expected in Baltimore as I-95 construction begins anew

Commuters and other travelers along Interstate 95 in Baltimore should expect heavy traffic congestion during peak travel times for the next eight months, as construction forces a second year of complicated lane closures from Caton Avenue to the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

The work is part of a two-year, $60 million project to replace worn decking and joints on the 4.4-mile stretch of highway and the ramps that serve it, which are used by more than 200,000 drivers per day.

A total of 13 shifts in traffic patterns last year caused major headaches for commuters, and state transportation officials are warning this year will be far worse – with 29 such shifts scheduled between March 29 and Thanksgiving.

"People need to plan ahead or plan to sit in traffic. It's really that straightforward," said Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn.

The problems could be so severe that Rahn called on employers in the Baltimore area to allow workers to change their hours to avoid peak travel periods, which are from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: Maryland traffic fatalities hit 66-year low

There were 442 traffic fatalities in Maryland in 2014, the lowest number since 1948 and little more than half the 872 fatalities seen in the state's deadliest year of 1968, state transportation officials announced Tuesday.

The most recent decline continues a relatively steady downward trend seen for decades, despite the fact that the annual number of vehicle miles driven in the state has increased by the billions.

In the early 2000s, for instance, annual fatalities fell closer to 650, though motorists in the state were traveling several billion miles fewer per year.

[Roadsguy]

MD 390/16th Street north of Silver Spring has a stub where it ends at MD 97/Georgia Ave, as if it were meant for some kind of interchange on the surface street. I know a spur from the North Central Freeway was planned here, but judging by this design, the spur would have obliterated the existing setup rather than used the stub at all. What was this meant for?

[cpzilliacus]

MD 390/16th Street north of Silver Spring has a stub where it ends at MD 97/Georgia Ave, as if it were meant for some kind of interchange on the surface street. I know a spur from the North Central Freeway was planned here, but judging by this design, the spur would have obliterated the existing setup rather than used the stub at all. What was this meant for?

What is the mainline of 16th Street was to continue to the north and east as the Northern Parkway.

It would have passed under I-495 (a bridge was there for years, it was removed in 2001) then continued north parallel to Sligo Creek, across Md. 193 (University Boulevard West), across the east side of Wheaton Regional Park, to an interchange with the Outer Beltway (Md. 200 now) between Md. 182 and Md. 650, then potentially north into Howard County.

About  a year ago, the Around The Corners blog (mostly about the Four Corners area of Montgomery County) ran a pretty good article about the Northern Parkway.   

The article is online: The Northern Parkway.

Have you ever crossed under the Beltway while using the Sligo Creek Trail?  If you have, you will know that there is a nice grassy area north of the Beltway between Forest Glen Road, Holy Cross Hospital, and the creek.  If you have lived in Four Corners a long time, you will remember that the bridge carrying the Beltway over the Sligo Creek Trial used to be ridiculously large for the size of the trail it crossed.  If you've lived in the area for a really long time, you will remember when the Beltway had exit numbers that were sequential instead of mileage based.  Georgia Avenue used to be Exit 23, and Colesville Road used to be Exit 21.  So what was exit 22?

The large bridge that carried the Beltway over the trail (before being replaced in 2001) was not built to carry the Beltway over a path; rather, it was built to carry the Beltway over a six lane limited-access highway.  That grassy area next to the hospital is not there by accident; it was supposed to be the site of an extensive freeway interchange.  The omission of Exit 22 was not a mistake; it was supposed to be the future exit number for the Northern Parkway.

[cpzilliacus]

Images from the Baltimore Sun archives:

Annapolis Road in the Westport area of Baltimore City in 1962:



and recently:

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: A wrong turn at the NSA can bring trouble

The driver, identified by the FBI as 27-year-old Ricky Shawatza Hall of Baltimore, was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger was shot in the chest and taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center; the passenger's identity and condition have not been available.

Authorities have released few details of the incident, but the FBI was quick to rule out terrorism. Police say Hall and the passenger were traveling in an SUV that was reported stolen from a man at a motel in nearby Elkridge shortly before they arrived at the NSA gate off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway Monday morning.

The electronic eavesdropping agency is among the most secretive in the government, and signs at the parkway exit warn unauthorized motorists away.