Obvious alignment changes

[roadman65]

In this here photo you will see a shift in the alignment ahead as it appears that the original waterway crossing ahead was removed for the current one placed to the right of the straight line. 

Any more places where its quite obvious the road was realigned in a certain place or where a contractor failed to cover it up.  I doubt there is anything they could have done to make this look better, but some places do make it not so obvious there was a change.  I am looking for one like this photo where you can tell in one look.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

A lot of places where the road lines up perfectly with a road in the distance before the road you're on suddenly veers away and intersects the "other" road.

[roadman65]

A lot of places where the road lines up perfectly with a road in the distance before the road you're on suddenly veers away and intersects the "other" road.

Of course, that is why the discussion.   For people to comment on photos they have like mine, or to mention some they know about in their area or region.

[Max Rockatansky]

US 1 in the Florida Keys.  The older rail bridges are obvious but what might not be in the Lower Keys is the old alignments of FL 4A.  An example:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Little+Torch+Key,+FL+33042/@24.689231,-81.3922801,1307m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88d0fd846129c8f7:0xba9098df170f1abc!8m2!3d24.6656384!4d-81.3906275?hl=en

In the picture above you can see a dark line in the water running straight across from Little Torch Key to Big Pine Key.  This is where the original 4A would have been as it aligned itself north on Little Torch before crossing to Big Pine to head to the No Name Key Ferry.

Here you can see an obvious road cut and spans where bridges once were just north of US 1:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Little+Torch+Key,+FL+33042/@24.6635384,-81.4032013,1305m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88d0fd846129c8f7:0xba9098df170f1abc!8m2!3d24.6656384!4d-81.3906275?hl=en

And this goes on and on until Sugarloaf.  Even out here in California I noticed a suspicious cut on CA 41 south of Kettleman City the other day that was obviously part of the original highway:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9286132,-120.0220505,1125m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Of course one of my favorites is US 89 north of Prescott and north of Flagstaff due to the obvious older alignments just to the east of the modern highways. 

If you're going to dig into US 66 however...prepare for a lot of research.  There is countless alignments often that are stacked next to each other, especially out west.  It's actually pretty fun trying to find them all but going to see actually see them is often incredibly difficult except on foot nowadays.

[sparker]

Of course one of my favorites is US 89 north of Prescott and north of Flagstaff due to the obvious older alignments just to the east of the modern highways.   

US 95 between Beatty and Hawthorne, NV, also features older visible alignments, again mostly to the east of the current route, but occasionally switching to the other side.  The segments vary in length; the longer segments mostly extend along largely unoccupied territory, but there are several shorter segments that appear to have served ranches or mining facilities that are now abandoned.  Most of the segments to the west of the present highway fit into the latter category.

[Max Rockatansky]

Of course one of my favorites is US 89 north of Prescott and north of Flagstaff due to the obvious older alignments just to the east of the modern highways.   

US 95 between Beatty and Hawthorne, NV, also features older visible alignments, again mostly to the east of the current route, but occasionally switching to the other side.  The segments vary in length; the longer segments mostly extend along largely unoccupied territory, but there are several shorter segments that appear to have served ranches or mining facilities that are now abandoned.  Most of the segments to the west of the present highway fit into the latter category.

Speaking of Nevada there is a good one starting at Contact near the Idaho state line on US 93:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7675279,-114.7549431,1091m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[freebrickproductions]

Know of several here in Alabama. AL 20/Alt. US 72 in Courtland, for example:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6752085,-87.3151105,5302m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
You can easily see that Jefferson Street was the old alignment of the road.

Though a bit less obvious, just to the east there's a stretch of pavement that was the former alignment for at least the eastbound lanes of the highway, though it's now just used by NS as a pull-off for vehicles to drop off any new crews for trains that have to stop at Wheeler Siding for a crew change:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6540996,-87.2559779,279m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Then you have this section of the former AL 20 alignment that got cut-off when I-565 was built:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6292951,-86.885197,1956m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Wall Triana Highway here in Huntsville has also had the alignment changed over the years, with a few stretches of old pavement where it's obvious where the old road used to go:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6199444,-86.7539914,347m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
This stretch of pavement is now used by the airport to test paint striping, it seems:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.631598,-86.7603364,490m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
And on the northern side of the intermodal terminal, James Madison Drive is the former alignment of Wall Triana Highway:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6581688,-86.7539184,1164m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Walker Street appears to have been the former alignment of US 72 in Gurley, AL as well:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6961504,-86.3700898,997m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Apparently Court Street used to be the former alignment of AL 24 through Moulton, AL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4872258,-87.2842526,2523m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

And Sparkman Street appears to be the former US 31 alignment through Hartselle, AL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4411358,-86.9321546,5055m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

I'll probably dig up more later, though a bit of an interesting fact about Hartselle is that most of Railroad Street south of Hickory Street is built on top of the ROW of the former mainline of the present-day CSX S&NA North Sub. A portion of the old mainline is still used as a spur (accessed via switch-back) for a business along it, but everything else from the former mainline was torn-up.
End of the spur:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4380073,-86.9305796,3a,60y,10.6h,82.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suDcN07h9KrXWG1xdYn7mHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
First part of Railroad Street:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4333828,-86.9267462,1441m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
Second part:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4235085,-86.9222663,1020m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
Un-used section of ROW:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4158072,-86.9171522,1212m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[texaskdog]

I always love when you can tell where the old road is without actually knowing

[1995hoo]

How about that segment of the Jersey Turnpike past the Joyce Kilmer Service Area where you can see the old abandoned northbound carriageway from back before they extended the quad-carriageway system south to Exit 8A?

(Satellite view)
https://goo.gl/maps/pBWJdD13nT92



Edited to add: This one would be less obvious if you haven't lived in Northern Virginia for a long time. To the left of where I've dropped the pin, there's a dead-end street with a short double yellow line. That used to be Old Courthouse Road. When they reconfigured that area and widened the roads in the 1980s, Old Courthouse was truncated to the west, but this stub of the old road remains. (Prior to the reconfiguration, what is now Old Gallows Road was just Gallows Road, and Gallows Branch Road didn't exist.)

https://goo.gl/maps/SD1roXBrPRS2

[Thing 342]

VA SR-730 veers to the right in order to avoid its old crossing of Walker Creek:
https://goo.gl/maps/A7VwatufmxL2

[capt.ron]

Know of several here in Alabama. AL 20/Alt. US 72 in Courtland, for example:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6752085,-87.3151105,5302m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
You can easily see that Jefferson Street was the old alignment of the road.

Though a bit less obvious, just to the east there's a stretch of pavement that was the former alignment for at least the eastbound lanes of the highway, though it's now just used by NS as a pull-off for vehicles to drop off any new crews for trains that have to stop at Wheeler Siding for a crew change:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6540996,-87.2559779,279m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Then you have this section of the former AL 20 alignment that got cut-off when I-565 was built:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6292951,-86.885197,1956m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Wall Triana Highway here in Huntsville has also had the alignment changed over the years, with a few stretches of old pavement where it's obvious where the old road used to go:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6199444,-86.7539914,347m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
This stretch of pavement is now used by the airport to test paint striping, it seems:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.631598,-86.7603364,490m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
And on the northern side of the intermodal terminal, James Madison Drive is the former alignment of Wall Triana Highway:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6581688,-86.7539184,1164m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Walker Street appears to have been the former alignment of US 72 in Gurley, AL as well:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6961504,-86.3700898,997m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Apparently Court Street used to be the former alignment of AL 24 through Moulton, AL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4872258,-87.2842526,2523m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

And Sparkman Street appears to be the former US 31 alignment through Hartselle, AL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4411358,-86.9321546,5055m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

I'll probably dig up more later, though a bit of an interesting fact about Hartselle is that most of Railroad Street south of Hickory Street is built on top of the ROW of the former mainline of the present-day CSX S&NA North Sub. A portion of the old mainline is still used as a spur (accessed via switch-back) for a business along it, but everything else from the former mainline was torn-up.
End of the spur:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4380073,-86.9305796,3a,60y,10.6h,82.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suDcN07h9KrXWG1xdYn7mHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
First part of Railroad Street:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4333828,-86.9267462,1441m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
Second part:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4235085,-86.9222663,1020m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
Un-used section of ROW:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4158072,-86.9171522,1212m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Another good one is the former ALT-72 / AL 20 alignment that briefly starts out as 4 lane divided and quickly goes to a 2 lane towards Leighton, AL. (former alignment starts at Arnold's Truck Stop)
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.7016762,-87.6323097,15.75z

[epzik8]

The current northern terminus of U.S. Route 1 Business at mainline U.S. 1 north of Bel Air, Maryland. An extension of the Bel Air Bypass called the "Hickory Bypass" opened around late 2000/early 2001 and Business Route 1 was extended through the community of Hickory, which is north of Bel Air, at that time. The Hickory portion of Business 1 (Conowingo Road) was formerly part of mainline U.S. 1, and there was a long curve north of Hickory at the point where the Hickory Bypass and Business Route 1 come together today. Today, now-Business 1 has a smaller curve and then a T-intersection at mainline U.S. 1 here. The former right-of-way of Conowingo Road from before the Hickory Bypass, however, is still visible next to this intersection. Also, before the Hickory Bypass, the Bel Air Bypass curved to a T-intersection at Conowingo Road at what was then the Bel Air Roller Rink. Today, there's a cross intersection slightly to the north of that point at mainline U.S. 1 and Business 1 where mainline U.S. 1 changes from the Bel Air Bypass to the Hickory Bypass, with mainline U.S. 1 diagonally oriented. But the former right-of-way of the Bel Air Bypass when it curved to an end at the old roller rink is still visible today.

[wanderer2575]

Probably thousands of instances where a curve was constructed to eliminate a 90-degree turn from one road to another.  In some instances, the old alignments were left abandoned.

https://goo.gl/maps/9q6hmMYeRuF2

[vdeane]

Interesting on on NY 189: https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9984215,-73.9388534,270m/data=!3m1!1e3

The old road was used as a driveway and the NB lane is blocked off since Canada removed their customs station.

[capt.ron]

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2612407,-90.6749492,2374m/data=!3m1!1e3
Newer bridge on US 64 with the a slight bend in the road before and after the bridge. The old bridge was a narrow pony truss bridge I think..

US 64 previously had a sharper curve here (realigned probably late 1950's / early 1960's
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2821153,-91.2648056,1411m/data=!3m1!1e3
A similar 90 degree curve on US 64 west of Beebe
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0953751,-91.9626199,840m/data=!3m1!1e3

[GCrites]

And on the northern side of the intermodal terminal, James Madison Drive is the former alignment of Wall Triana Highway:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6581688,-86.7539184,1164m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

What is the racetrack-looking thing just to the east of there? It looks small and has no paddock area so I'm assuming it's for go-karts or is a test track.

[briantroutman]

And on the northern side of the intermodal terminal, James Madison Drive is the former alignment of Wall Triana Highway:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6581688,-86.7539184,1164m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

What is the racetrack-looking thing just to the east of there? It looks small and has no paddock area so I'm assuming it's for go-karts or is a test track.

[freebrickproductions]

Another obvious US 72 realignment in Alabama, this time through Barton and Cherokee, AL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.7456077,-87.9144514,8011m/data=!3m1!1e3

[roadman65]

Its obvious to me in Orlando, FL that FL 482 (Sand Lake Road) was two lanes by looking at the jog east of the Kirkman Road interchange.  The EB lanes of Sand Lake line up perfectly to the WB lanes as the EB lanes when added probably were acquired from ROW obtained on the south side of the original two lane road east of Kirkman.  Through the interchange, its most likely that the original company that is now Lockheed Martin, did not want to give up their property to widen the road even though they built the FL 482 & FL 435 interchange to allow access to their facility even when Sand Lake and Kirkman both had no real traffic back in the pre Disney days.

Plus the land west of Tangelo Park, on the north side was more likely to be obtained then so their FDOT (if it was called FDOT back then) did it the way they did it.

[Bitmapped]

A couple examples of where a bridge was replaced next to its predecessor and the road's alignment shifted:
1. SD 48/Big Sioux River Road near Akron, IA was shifted when the Big Sioux River bridge was replaced: https://goo.gl/maps/B8HG1x9j18C2
2. WV 5 near Creston, WV was realigned when the Little Kanawha River bridge was replaced: https://goo.gl/maps/9ipkw2W5QeN2
3. WV 20 over the Bluestone River near Hinton, WV: https://goo.gl/maps/UPukXkbw6Hw

[intelati49]

My favorite is I-44 in Newburg, MO.

There's a freaking house in the old ROW

(From 2005 I guess. I would have liked to see some pictures and crash figures from this section)

[jp the roadgeek]

If you look to the left in this picture, you can see where the old alignment of I-84 (then I-86) used to pass over Sunset Ridge before the I-384 interchange was built.  The ramp from I-384 west to I-84 west occupies some of that space now.
https://goo.gl/maps/U1QFUHk93kD2

Next up: CT 9 through Berlin.  When the old CT 72 expressway ended there, it used to bend to the left to meet the frontage road that is now CT 372.  https://goo.gl/maps/yF5p17Gbz352

CT 175 in Newington.  Follow the telephone poles and that was the old road before building the 4 lane climb up Cedar Ridge to the Berlin Turnpike.  https://goo.gl/maps/VmyMvgkkoiC2

CT 68 in Wallingford.  Road to the right was bypassed by a 4 lane portion. https://goo.gl/maps/3REyBqHESHr.

The ghost ramp original west end of the Mass Pike before NY built the Berkshire Connector.   https://goo.gl/maps/j4DuuvceByP2

[paulthemapguy]

It's pretty fun and easy to trace the old alignments of US21 in Ohio, US16 in SD/MN, US23 in Michigan, US12 in Michigan, and US10 west of Fargo.

Here's a lesser-known one.  Old State Road marks the old alignment of IL-64 in DeKalb County.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0022732,-88.7417063,14.25z
There's also the remnants of an old bridge over the Kishwaukee River--I wonder if that used to carry the highway in years past, too.  https://www.google.com.au/maps/@41.997233,-88.7241937,3a,75y,352.96h,99.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spv-1mam-FG1N2gN0vF9SwA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[NE2]

I-90 was obviously going to go diagonally across Chicago but instead it takes a horrible incomplete alignment.

[texaskdog]

I-90 was obviously going to go diagonally across Chicago but instead it takes a horrible incomplete alignment.

I-90 should have gone in a straight line from Madison to Chicago around the area of US-12.  It still could when 12 inevitably gets upgraded, since I-39 covers the other stretch and the rest could be I-139 or even a I-65 extension.