Ground broken on future I-781 in NY

[vdeane]

Got another picture, this time on I-81 north:

[Quillz]

Are there any actual "Future I-781" shields yet, or is the freeway being built on totally new alignment?

[Henry]

If and when they build I-98, will it use part of I-781, and if so, where will it branch off that road?

[Alps]

Are there any actual "Future I-781" shields yet, or is the freeway being built on totally new alignment?

New road. I-98 would likely be farther north, but it's so pipe-dream that there's no telling whether it could use 781.

[Henry]

Are there any actual "Future I-781" shields yet, or is the freeway being built on totally new alignment?

New road. I-98 would likely be farther north, but it's so pipe-dream that there's no telling whether it could use 781.

Just as I had suspected!

[froggie]

Are there any actual "Future I-781" shields yet, or is the freeway being built on totally new alignment?

Except for the entrance to Fort Drum itself, it's all new alignment.

[Quillz]

This is the first Interstate I can think of in quite some time to be built on a completely brand new alignment.

[froggie]

Offhand, I can think of 5 other segments done within the past 10 years, 3 of them in the Greensboro, NC area.  The other two are I-485 around Charlotte, NC and the I-355 IL extension.

[hbelkins]

This is the first Interstate I can think of in quite some time to be built on a completely brand new alignment.

Are you talking about an entire interstate, or segments thereof? Because if you are not talking about a completely new built-from-scratch entire interstate, I would submit I-26 north of Asheville in North Carolina.

[Quillz]

When was I-26 built? And yes, I was referring to an Interstate where every single mile of it is built atop brand new alignment. I remember I-70 in Utah was like this, as it didn't parallel any major US Route.

[froggie]

I-26 opened in 2003, so that's one more within the past 10 years.  Yes, it had a parallel US route, but it was on new alignment and not on top of the old US route (at least north of where US 19 splits off).

[NE2]

When was I-26 built? And yes, I was referring to an Interstate where every single mile of it is built atop brand new alignment. I remember I-70 in Utah was like this, as it didn't parallel any major US Route.

I-781 does parallel other routes (NY 342); it's just on a new right-of-way.

[agentsteel53]

there are very few interstates that don't parallel older routes.  I-80 in Pennsylvania comes to mind. 

[mgk920]

there are very few interstates that don't parallel older routes.  I-80 in Pennsylvania comes to mind. 

I-781 bypasses a congested, inconvenient section of US 11.

Also, I-70 blazed a new path through virgin territory across a large part of central Utah.

Mike

[NE2]

there are very few interstates that don't parallel older routes.  I-80 in Pennsylvania comes to mind. 

US 62, US 322, US 220, US 11, US 611 - a little indirect in places, but no farther from I-80 than I-5 and old US 99.

Also, I-70 blazed a new path through virgin territory across a large part of central Utah.

It more or less replaced SR-10; you just had to cut north to Price before I-70 was built.

[agentsteel53]

there are very few interstates that don't parallel older routes.  I-80 in Pennsylvania comes to mind.  

US 62, US 322, US 220, US 11, US 611 - a little indirect in places, but no farther from I-80 than I-5 and old US 99.

apart from 322 (and an argument can be made for 62), none of those routes are intended to be east-west.  it's a coincidental sequence of parallels, with gaps in between.  this as opposed to US-99, which diverges only south of Stockton.  Elsewhere, it keeps coming back.  Even 322 ends up diverging, though it does have a long segment where I-80 parallels it.

the Westside Freeway (I-5 between Wheeler Ridge and approximately Stockton) is also an example of an interstate built on entirely new alignment.  it was never intended to replace US-99, but rather to complement it.

[NE2]

If you're looking at overall direction, you might as well include I-75 in the Upper Peninsula, which replaced US 2.

[agentsteel53]

If you're looking at overall direction, you might as well include I-75 in the Upper Peninsula, which replaced US 2.

yes, but it parallels it closely with the intent of following it.  I-80 has a significantly long gap between 611 and 11, again between 11 and 220, yet once more between 220 and 322, then once more between 322 and 62.  at some of those points it follows alignments approximated by various short state highways, but between US-15 and Carroll (between 11 and 220) there is a substantial gap where the only road nearby is a forest service route.  I'd driven that road before, thinking it had to be an old alignment of something - it was not. 

I-80 connects sufficiently tenuously to sufficiently many independent and diverging US routes that it can be reasonably considered its own alignment.

same with I-5 between Stockton and Wheeler Ridge.  At times it approximates CA-33, but for most of the distance (especially around the south end) it's a good 5-10 miles away, and I don't think was ever intended as an upgrade to 33 as much as just a brand new freeway through rural areas where local traffic would not interfere with its intended use as a long-haul truck route.  I-80 matches that description exactly.

[vdeane]

I'm really regretting not having my camera with me in the front seat yesterday.  New posts for signs are up on I-81 in both directions.  I-81 itself is down to one lane in the area with all-new pavement.  The bridge for I-781 has been installed and ramps are currently under construction.

[Alps]

I'm really regretting not having my camera with me in the front seat yesterday.  New posts for signs are up on I-81 in both directions.  I-81 itself is down to one lane in the area with all-new pavement.  The bridge for I-781 has been installed and ramps are currently under construction.

Guess you'll have to come to the meet.

[vdeane]

Already was planning on it, but I don't believe we head that far north on I-81 (nor was I planning on going by there either; my trips to/from the meet are my change to clinch state highways in the area).

[hbelkins]

Already was planning on it, but I don't believe we head that far north on I-81 (nor was I planning on going by there either; my trips to/from the meet are my change to clinch state highways in the area).

I thought the purpose of the meet was, in part, to see new I-781 construction.

[Dougtone]

The purpose of the meet is to see I-781 construction.  The I-81 interchange construction with future I-781 seems to be best viewed from a nearby overpass, at least for the purposes of a road meet.

[cu2010]

Construction Moving Along On Fort Drum Connector

Completion still targeted for August.