Shortest and longest "life" for an interchange

[johndoe]

I think someone here previously mentioned the service interchange at Loop 375 @ Spur 601 in El Paso, TX.  On Historic Aerials it looks like it was open around 2010 (as a TUDI).  It was opened as a DCD on Sept 2, 2014.

[rickmastfan67]

I-40 and I-77 interchange in Statesville for longest (since late 1960s). It's getting replaced right now.

And then again, only part of it is getting replaced in Phase 1 since Phase 2 wasn't funded.

[mvak36]

I-40 and I-77 interchange in Statesville for longest (since late 1960s). It's getting replaced right now.

And then again, only part of it is getting replaced in Phase 1 since Phase 2 wasn't funded.

In one of the threads for the Southeast region, they posted a link to a press release for accelerated transportation projects in North Carolina. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18.msg2106759#msg2106759

One of the projects listed in that press release was the Statesville Interchange (Construction and ROW scheduled for '18). All of this is pending approval by the Legislature in NC, of course.

Press Release: http://governor.nc.gov/press-release/governor-mccrory-announces-accelerated-timelines-major-transportation-projects

(Draft) List of Projects: http://www.ncdot.gov/strategictransportationinvestments/download/Highway_Projects_STIP_Amendment.pdf

[ekt8750]

Thankfully it's finally being taken care of now but the I-295/I-76/NJ-42 interchange lasted way too long in its original form. There was no reason for it to be built the way it was with 295 being disjointed and having to merge onto 76/42 creating traffic bottlenecks not to mention dangerous weaving patterns. On top of all of that there are a pair of movements missing to/from 42 to/from the southern leg of 295 which means you have to improvise if you're on 42 North and need to get to 295 South or on 295 North and need to get to 42 South (both require you to utilize US-130 in some fashion which isn't a freeway or even an expressway in that area).

[jeffandnicole]

Thankfully it's finally being taken care of now but the I-295/I-76/NJ-42 interchange lasted way too long in its original form. There was no reason for it to be built the way it was with 295 being disjointed and having to merge onto 76/42 creating traffic bottlenecks not to mention dangerous weaving patterns. On top of all of that there are a pair of movements missing to/from 42 to/from the southern leg of 295 which means you have to improvise if you're on 42 North and need to get to 295 South or on 295 North and need to get to 42 South (both require you to utilize US-130 in some fashion which isn't a freeway or even an expressway in that area).

I could only imagine that they believed the population growth was going to be to the south in Gloucester County, rather than to the north in Camden & Burlington Counties.

Remember also: At the time, there was the Walt Whitman & Ben Franklin Bridges, as well as the Tacony & Burlington Bristol Bridges.  There was no Commodore Barry (and Betsy Ross), so traffic coming from the south had to come up to the Walt or Ben, or use a ferry crossing into PA - either a vehicle ferry for US 322 or a passenger ferry from West Deptford to the Navy Yard. 

Combine that with the perceived interstate system around Philly (much larger than just the Schuylkill Expressway and 95) and Route 42 was either not built yet or just opening, and I can kinda see what the thinking process was...a little.

Granted, it shouldn't have taken another 60 years to build the missing links between 295 & 42 either...and even that should've been built about a decade ago.

However, you don't need to use 130 at all to get between the 2 highways.  Many motorists will take 295 North to 76 West (Now Exit 27) to Exit 1C, Market Street, which allows you to re-enter 76 East to 42 South.  295 North to 168 North (Exit 28) to 295 South to 42 South works also.  And many will take Exit 21 to Delaware Street thru Woodbury into Deptford, and pick up 42 from there.

[lepidopteran]

The "Crossroads of America" interchange of I-70 and I-75 was a cloverleaf, with tight loop ramps and no C/D lanes, for far too long, considering its importance.  It was probably built in the late '50s, and was pretty much its same, underpowered self, until about the year 2000, when construction began to covert it to the wide, 3/4 mixing bowl it is today.  In fact, an older sign north of the interchange might have helped show its age; instead of the control cities of Indianapolis and Columbus (OH), it listed Richmond (IN) and Springfield (OH), suggesting that I-70 didn't go as far at the time.  That sign was replaced when the section of I-75 to the north underwent a major upgrade, I think sometime in the late '80s.

For a shorter life example, consider where I-670 meets I-71 in Columbus.  An interchange was built there in the early '90s (to be fair, it was really sort of an extension to an earlier "innerbelt" highway, which did have a connection to I-71, but only going to/from the west).  About 20 years later, the interchange was completely reconstructed. 

[GCrites]

^And was just redone again.

[cl94]

Most interchanges on I-70 and I-71 in the Columbus area are original, and parts of I-71 date to 1959 I think.

When the New Albany Bypass opened circa 2000, did it have a half diamond at Little Turtle Way? If so, it was modified circa 2007, braided with the Sunbury Rd ramps and extended I-270 ramps.

Looks like it according to Historic Aerials. I remember it being like that.

Yeah, it did. That area was a nightmare between then and the new stuff opening. New Albany expanded more and a lot faster than any of the planners expected.

Elsewhere in Columbus, I-71 Exit 121. Was first built in the 1990s and was completely reconfigured in the mid-2000s. Also, I-670 at the airport. Expressway opened in the 90s and the airport ramps were reconfigured, braided, and grade-separated within the past decade.

[vtk]

Also, I-670 at the airport. Expressway opened in the 90s and the airport ramps were reconfigured, braided, and grade-separated within the past decade.

Actually, that stretch of I-670 had previously existed as solo US 62 since the 70s. I'm not sure when the exits at Cassady Ave and Stelzer Rd were replaced by the International Gateway interchange, though.  When International Gateway was grade-separated from Stelzer Rd (a project which finished in 2009) most of the interchange with I-670 was left untouched.

[HurrMark]

The majority of Route 9 west from Boston...especially in Newton and Wellesley. Not a modern example of a limited access highway, but probably could be considered as one for the most part. am not sure of the exact dates, but most are probably from the 30s. Doubt many were improved since.

[GCrites]

Also, I-670 at the airport. Expressway opened in the 90s and the airport ramps were reconfigured, braided, and grade-separated within the past decade.

Actually, that stretch of I-670 had previously existed as solo US 62 since the 70s. I'm not sure when the exits at Cassady Ave and Stelzer Rd were replaced by the International Gateway interchange, though.  When International Gateway was grade-separated from Stelzer Rd (a project which finished in 2009) most of the interchange with I-670 was left untouched.

US62 slowly worked it's way west to, then past, the airport before joining surface streets at Lenoard Ave. It was then added to the Interstate system before the connection through the railyard at I-71 was finished.

[cwf1701]

One of the shortest life for a interchange in Metro Detroit was the 11 Mile interchange at I-94. The interchange was opened with i-94 in 1965 and was similar to the interchanges at 9 Mile, 10 Mile, and 12 Mile. It was replaced in the early 1970s by the interchange that is today I-696.

[cl94]

I-81 and I-90. The interchange was effectively reflected about I-90 when the intersection immediately to the south was grade-separated. I don't know when the current interchange went in, but Historic Aerials from 1972 shows the current interchange with no evidence of construction. If one looks closely, grading for the old interchange can be seen from the air.

[lepidopteran]

The interchange of I-70 and OH-202, a.k.a Old Troy Pike, in Huber Heights.  In the mid-1980s, the overpass was modified in two ways: (a) the span was widened by placing new, taller piers on both sides of the existing ones (each had 2 columns with extending pier caps), and (b) placing rectangular blocks atop the existing pier cap, one corresponding to each column, to match the new height.  Also, the ramps of the folded-diamond interchange were straightened at least a little bit, though I'm not sure if the rather tight loop ramps were modified.  And where there none before, traffic signals were added to the two surface intersections on US-202.  Then, about 20 years later, the whole overpass was reconstructed from scratch, with the folded-diamond converted to a conventional diamond with wider ramps (it looked like they merely turned the arrow around 180° on one of the BGS's pointing to the loop ramp when this opened).  Getting rid of the folded diamond was long overdue, IMHO, for all the warehouses at that exit, along with a truckstop or two that appear to be gone now.

[JREwing78]

US-127 (north) at I-94 in Jackson, MI
https://goo.gl/maps/aLFZSiGiWYS2

It's been around since the 1950's, connecting two freeways (poorly), and jammed up against a major shopping area. MDOT has been putting band-aids on the overpasses over US-127 for decades. The only free-flowing movement is WBD I-94 to NBD US-127.