Railroad grades that parallel highways for miles

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

US 23's bypass of Delaware, Ohio follows an old railroad right-of-way for several miles.
In Columbus;
I-670 from the Convention Center out to 5th Ave was railroad till the late 1960s.
I-71 from Hudson St. to Eleventh Ave was a former railroad right-of-way.

[Duke87]

one fairly unique example: a stretch of OK 51/US 64/Broken Arrow Expressway in Tulsa was built along both sides of a railroad in between I-44 and I-444, and today the rail line runs down the median.

Even more unique example: part of A-20 in Montreal runs on either side of an active rail line... with the carriageways flipped (i.e., in both directions you're driving with the tracks to your right)

[deathtopumpkins]

Almost the entire Massachusetts Turnpike ROW was purchased from the now-defunct Boston & Albany Railroad, and the portion between the I-95 and I-93 interchanges still runs next to those tracks, which are now part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail lines.

What the crap? The old Boston and Albany is the CSX line from Boston to (duh) Albany. The two are nowhere near each other outside 128.

(You may be thinking of the never-finished Southern New England Railway, but that's also unrelated to the Masspike, except that its grading can be seen in at least one place.)

Maybe he was referring to the Hampden Railroad, whose right-of-way was used for a few miles of the Springfield Bypass that itself was used for the Mass Pike according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Turnpike#History

[kphoger]

The BA in Tulsa has a railroad running down the middle for a few miles.  I read on someone's highway page that the railroad isn't in use, but I have personally driven next to a moving train on the highway.

[jwolfer]

I used to live right near the CSX tracks next to US 17( Roosevelt Blvd) in Jacksonville.  I used to like seeing the Amtrack AutoTrain going by

[Dr Frankenstein]

I don't think these could be more parallel to the streets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwUXmEDZMhM (9th St, Erie PA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7UpEDD2hA4 (Walker St, Watsonville CA)

Yes, this is a left turn lane on the second one.

[mgk920]

I think that the better subject for a thread in here is 'Street running', like with the mainline railroad that uses the city street that passes though Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.

In Wisconsin, there is street trackage for a few blocks on CN's ex CNW Green Bay-Marinette line in Oconto, WI.  CN's ex WC western Canada-Chicago mainline also uses the median of Broad St on two separate sections in Oshkosh, WI.  This section of track in Oshkosh was also originally a section of a CNW line.

Mike

[mightyace]

I don't think these could be more parallel to the streets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwUXmEDZMhM (9th St, Erie PA)

The one in Erie (actually 19th Street) was removed in 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie,_Pennsylvania

The mainline of the Norfolk Southern Railway, originally built by the Nickel Plate Railroad, also travels through Erie. At one time Norfolk Southern trains ran down the middle of 19th Street, but were removed in 2002.

[qguy]

It's been noted that I-95 follows the Northeast Corridor in New York and Connecticut. It also closely follows the Corridor as it passes through northeast Philadelphia and lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from just north of Exit 27 to just north of Exit 37.

When it was constructed in 1958, the PA 309 Fort Washington Expressway was built on the alignment and ROW of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Fort Washington Branch (abandoned in 1954) between Willow Grove Avenue and Valley Green Road.

When US 202 Section 400 (Swedesford Road to I-76 Schuylkill Expressway) was widened, reconstructed, and reconfigured in 2003, a new multi-lane ramp was created for direct travel from US 202 NB and US 422 EB to I-76 EB. This ramp used the alignment and ROW of the former Philadelphia & Chester Valley RR (later the PRR Chester Valley Branch, abandoned in 1989). It also effectively enclosed an office park within the expanded I-76/US 202 interchange.

One Mr. Kitsko has a good page on his PAHighways site here: < www.pahighways.com/us/US202.html >  The page includes photos of Section 400 supplied by me when I worked at PennDOT. In some of the aerial photos, the ramp may be seen under construction. In the diagram, the ramp is seen as the long horizontal red line across the bottom.

[Darkchylde]

From LA 433 in Slidell to LA 41 in Pearl River, US 11 parallels a railroad pretty close, diverting from the parallel only to overcross it. It leaves the parallel for good in LA when it overcrosses it to join its concurrency with I-59.

From just north of Hammond to the LA/MS state line (if not farther,) US 51 does the same.

LA 21/Business US 190's segment in Downtown Covington is one block over from Gibson Street, which used to have a railroad running down the middle. That rail line was removed over the 90's and early 2000's to make way for Covington's Tammany Trace section.

[Rick Powell]

I think that the better subject for a thread in here is 'Street running', like with the mainline railroad that uses the city street that passes though Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.

In Wisconsin, there is street trackage for a few blocks on CN's ex CNW Green Bay-Marinette line in Oconto, WI.  CN's ex WC western Canada-Chicago mainline also uses the median of Broad St on two separate sections in Oshkosh, WI.  This section of track in Oshkosh was also originally a section of a CNW line.

Mike

Go to railpictures.net and search for "street running" and those examples, plus other famous ones like the CSX thru LaGrange, KY and the South Shore line thru Michigan City, IN will pop up in pix.

[qguy]

In Delaware, I-495 runs next to the Northeast Corridor, similarly to I-95 in Philadelphia. Along both the driver can often be swiftly overtaken by Amtrak Acela trains. Makes you feel slow.

When I was a teen, one could still see passenger trains on the Corridor (next to I-95; I-495 didn't exist yet) pulled by the famed Raymond Loewy-designed GG1, in service incredibly from 1935 to 1983. To watch one pace your vehicle was always a treat.

BTW, I-195 in Richmond (noted by the OP) is very interesting. I've ridden Amtrak up the median twice. It's quite a head-turner having a freeway full of vehicles running on both sides of the rail car.

[goobnav]

US 301 in VA and NC parallels the CSX mainline which was the old Atlantic Coastline double track main in which the daily Tropacana juice trains still travel from Florida to New Jersey.

[brownpelican]

US 90 parallels a railroad throughout Mississippi. You can say the same about US 49 from Jackson to Gulfport (though I'm not sure if the railroad is in use anymore), US 51 and US 80 when it isn't concurrent with I-20 (all in MS).

[D-Dey65]

I believe I remember US 13 in Virginia along the Delmarva Peninsula having a railroad right next to it for a while.

It still does from what I remember the last time I was there.

[roadman65]

I forgot about this one living in New Jersey for decades, I should have known this right away.  NJ 28 follows the Raritan Valley NJ Transit Line for miles between Dunnellen and Elizabeth.  From Dunnellon to its western terminus in Bridgewater it even runs within a few miles of the line as well.  Actually NJ 28 in its entirety follows near or close to this defunct CNJ Railroad mainline that once carried freights in addition to passenger trains since the day that all NE US railroads went belly up in the Vietnam War era.

[Takumi]

US 460 parallels a railroad from near Suffolk to Petersburg, then picks up following that same railroad to at least Farmville.

[golden eagle]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a railroad that runs closely with I-40 and US 70 through NE Arkansas.

There is also a railroad that follows closely with I-55 in Mississippi. I remember over 20 years picking up a relative at an Amtrak station in Durant (which is off I-55). The Amtrak route has been since rerouted to go through Yazoo City and Greenwood.

[cpzilliacus]

Md. 260 in Anne Arundel and Calvert Counties runs on the bed of the former Chesapeake Beach Railroad, which ran between Seat Pleasant (near the D.C. border) and the Chesapeake Bay.

Most of Md. 704 in Prince George's County runs on the bed of the former Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway.

[D-Dey65]

BTW, I-195 in Richmond (noted by the OP) is very interesting. I've ridden Amtrak up the median twice. It's quite a head-turner having a freeway full of vehicles running on both sides of the rail car.

Oh, I've done that myself. You mentioned the Northeast Corridor which contains Acela speeding by I-495 in Delaware, but on the opposite end of that spectrum, there's US 17 in Florida which runs parallel to a CSX line between Palatka and Green Cove Springs. This line also serves a lot of Amtrak Silver Service line trains, but whether it's freight or passenger trains, they all run slow as hell. You can drive faster on US 17, which is legally 60 MPH. If there was a grade crossing between US 17 and the tracks(besides at Palatka Union Station, of course), you could very easily beat any train.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I-10 in Texas out towards Plateau, Michigan Flat and Boracho Station has a rail line running parallel a distance to the north. One of those exits on Street View has a train on it.