Unbuilt Evidence

[Hellfighter]

At the west end of the M-59 freeway, it ends but was suppose to continue west to US-23.

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&gl=us&om=0&ie=UTF8&ll=42.641788,-83.282933&spn=0.005809,0.018024&z=17

[vdeane]

Here's a ghost ramp that connected NY 96 and I-90 back when the Thruway was (believe it or not) free: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.012673,-77.445159&spn=0.00386,0.006899&t=k&z=17

I don't think that the Thruway was ever free in that section.  I think that is the ghost ramp from the time before I-490 was built.  If you look closely you can see a line where the toll booth may have been.

In any case, good catch!

It wasn't the Thruway.  It was built between Rochester and Canandaigua in 1951 with the designation NY 96A before being assimilated into the Thruway.

[mightyace]

Here's a ghost ramp that connected NY 96 and I-90 back when the Thruway was (believe it or not) free: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.012673,-77.445159&spn=0.00386,0.006899&t=k&z=17

I don't think that the Thruway was ever free in that section.  I think that is the ghost ramp from the time before I-490 was built.  If you look closely you can see a line where the toll booth may have been.

In any case, good catch!

It wasn't the Thruway.  It was built between Rochester and Canandaigua in 1951 with the designation NY 96A before being assimilated into the Thruway.

Ah, you learn something new every day.

[Revive 755]

Found a stub on NB US 41/Lake Shore Drive around downtown Chicago that I'm guessing was for the I-494 (Lakefront Route) turn to connect to I-90/I-94:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=41.890803,-87.614014&spn=0.001509,0.00515&t=k&z=19

Street level view of the stub:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=41.890462,-87.614315&spn=0,0.0103&t=k&z=18&layer=c&cbll=41.891109,-87.613771&panoid=oLZqI2zWFJg33m6p6V4A2A&cbp=12,177.91,,0,2.23

[D-Dey65]

For generations Suffolk County left a stub west-to-northbound off-ramp at the end of Suffolk County Road 99(Woodside Avenue) and Suffolk County Road 19(Patchogue-Holbrook Road). I always saw this as a relocation of the ramp before they extended CR 99 to southbound Nicoll's Road.




The last time I drove through that area, I could still see the stub from Patchogue-Holbrook Road, and I wish I had gone onto Woodside Avenue just to take my own picture of the stub.

[nyratk1]

On LI, there's also the SOB Expwy (NY 135) at Jericho Tpke. (NY 25) and the LIE's eastern terminus at Suffolk CR 58.

[D-Dey65]

On LI, there's also the SOB Expwy (NY 135) at Jericho Tpke. (NY 25) and the LIE's eastern terminus at Suffolk CR 58.

Oh, there's much more than that on Long Island. Not only does the SOB Expwy have stubs at NY 25, but at Merrick Road. Plus the widened median between Exits 8 & 9 was for an interchange with the abruptly ended Bethpage State Parkway.

Near Yaphank you can find the formerly proposed Central Suffolk Highway beneath Patchogue-Yaphank Road(Suffolk CR 101) on the south side of the bridge over the main line of the LIRR. You can also find the westbound lane of the Central Suffolk Highway along Furrows Road in Holtsville between Nicoll's Road(Suffolk CR 97) and Waverly Avenue. Other unbuilt lanes can be found along Montauk Highway between Frowein Road(Suffolk CR 98) and "downtown" Eastport, and along NY 102 beneath the Meadowbrook State Parkway. And I'm pretty sure I'm missing plenty of others.

[Brandon]

Found a stub on NB US 41/Lake Shore Drive around downtown Chicago that I'm guessing was for the I-494 (Lakefront Route) turn to connect to I-90/I-94:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=41.890803,-87.614014&spn=0.001509,0.00515&t=k&z=19

Street level view of the stub:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=41.890462,-87.614315&spn=0,0.0103&t=k&z=18&layer=c&cbll=41.891109,-87.613771&panoid=oLZqI2zWFJg33m6p6V4A2A&cbp=12,177.91,,0,2.23

I doubt it was ever meant for I-494.  Those were built in the 1990s to replace the old S-Curve.  That may have been for a proposed ramp to westbound Grand to avoid the Navy Pier area just off to the right.

[english si]

'Ski ramps' in Glasgow - the land clearance to the South is for a new motorway performing a slightly different function to the one which teh ski ramps are for.  (also note carriageway flaring, where the plans were to be slightly different, with the road from the north taking the outer carriageways, and the road from the east taking the inner ones), and outer carriageways being shunted onto slip roads - that'll change when the new motorway opens next year.

Stub ramps in Glasgow for unbuilt motorway. Would have been a directional-T here - the main carriageways dip and rise over/under slip roads.

Slip roads come griding to a halt - road opens out massively for overblown junction - unfinished motorway ring road...

Obviously missing over/underpass in Blackburn - the original plan was for the motorway to go through the town (incredibly rare thing in the UK), rather than round. You can see that the road is made of slip roads.

Motorway heading down slip roads because the mainline wasn't built. The bridge was removed a few years ago and the original plans modified so that the original route's corridor is served by what was meant to be a spur.

Yucky! Roundabout at a non-junction, on a new road (which even has some overbridges, then a link road, with a roundabout on this new main road, rather than ramps)

Road narrows, as widening scheme south of there hasn't gone ahead - not missing bridge.

Lots of hatching and a bridge that's too wide and skewed - there was once a plan to have a second bridge here. Now the plan is for a new one upstream, with the one here used just for local traffic.

Just a few different things dotted about Britain.

[agentsteel53]

what is a slip road?

[TheStranger]

what is a slip road?

Sounds like British terminology for what we'd consider collector/distributor lanes...though I've also seen that word used Stateside to refer to frontage roads.

[Truvelo]

A slip road is what we call a ramp. Collector/distributor lanes are the same in all counties, we sometimes shorten it to C/D road.

Another form of unbuilt evidence are bridges built to accommodate a second carriageway like this.

[english si]

Yes, slip roads are ramps - the Blackburn one would have been a roundabout interchange - four ramps down/up (I think down, looking at the topology here) to the big roundabout (in fact, looking at it, there's stubs where they planned to build the flyover over the roundabout - but on the bits built when the mainline was diverted to the south). The other time I mentioned slip roads, it was for the unfinished Fork/Y-interchange.

Hereis an unfinished diamond - they didn't build the road to the west, but built the road through the junction. An embankment was built with a temporary road, producing a roundabout, giving more capacity. As the roundabout uses some of the ramps, it's rather weird, as it's on a slope. You can see the half-built road in the middle too.

Perhaps my favourite bit of evidence. For an unbuilt junction, the bridges exist, 1/3 of the roundabout does and, most fun - the pedestrian underpasses under the unbuilt slip roads. This junction was going to be finally built, pre-recession, however it wasn't going to be according to the original plan, and about the only thing being used was one of the bridges!

One of many unbuilt services areas on the UK motorway network. This one got further. This one even got the stubs kitted out with roads!.

[triplemultiplex]

Found a stub on NB US 41/Lake Shore Drive around downtown Chicago that I'm guessing was for the I-494 (Lakefront Route) turn to connect to I-90/I-94:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=41.890803,-87.614014&spn=0.001509,0.00515&t=k&z=19

That's right next to where the Chicago Spire was supposed to be built.




Read through the whole thread and I see Milwaukee's stub ends and ghosts ramps have yet to make an appearance.

I-43/894 at the southern terminus of the canceled Stadium South Freeway:
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=42.96350,-87.96478&z=16&t=S&marker0=42.96140%2C-88.01259%2Cgreenfield\%2C%20wi
Would have roughly followed 43rd St on up to what was then County Stadium (now Miller Park, of course).  Probably would have been US 41 had it been built.

If we keep heading north we come to the north end of the Stadium Freeway at North Ave.
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.05909,-87.97210&z=16&t=S&marker0=42.96140%2C-88.01259%2Cgreenfield\%2C%20wi
Also note some of the r/w cleared for the Park West Freeway between here and I-43 is still visible immediately north of North Ave.

Have to turn back the clock to some '00 DOQ's to see the old Hillside Interchange on I-43 at WI 145 now.
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.05334,-87.92408&z=16&t=O&marker0=42.96140%2C-88.01259%2Cgreenfield\%2C%20wi

More recent view shows how the interchange has been simplified and of course the removal of the Park East Freeway:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=43.050742537225815~-87.92290069162846&lvl=16&sty=a

Chris Bessert's excellent Wisconsin Highways page has cool information including this diagram of the Park West Freeway as it was proposed in the 60's:


We also have evidence for the northward continuation of the Lake Freeway at the elbow in I-794:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=43.034872140850155~-87.89887882769108&lvl=17&sty=a
The extra wide northbound ramp to Lincoln Memorial Dr. was meant to accommodate a Lake Freeway exit to Michigan St.  Consult the Downtown Milwaukee inset in any Rand McNally atlas prior to like 2005 to see the never-built Lake Freeway/Michigan St. interchange.

Lastly we have the only evidence that Milwaukee once planned on having a beltline.  The Mequon Rd overpass at US 41/45 in Germantown.

Just enough extra r/w for a half semi-directional interchange.  The overpass itself spans extra space on either side of the freeway to accommodate the merging lanes of the "Belt Freeway".

[nyratk1]

On LI, there's also the SOB Expwy (NY 135) at Jericho Tpke. (NY 25) and the LIE's eastern terminus at Suffolk CR 58.

Oh, there's much more than that on Long Island. Not only does the SOB Expwy have stubs at NY 25, but at Merrick Road. Plus the widened median between Exits 8 & 9 was for an interchange with the abruptly ended Bethpage State Parkway.

Near Yaphank you can find the formerly proposed Central Suffolk Highway beneath Patchogue-Yaphank Road(Suffolk CR 101) on the south side of the bridge over the main line of the LIRR. You can also find the westbound lane of the Central Suffolk Highway along Furrows Road in Holtsville between Nicoll's Road(Suffolk CR 97) and Waverly Avenue. Other unbuilt lanes can be found along Montauk Highway between Frowein Road(Suffolk CR 98) and "downtown" Eastport, and along NY 102 beneath the Meadowbrook State Parkway. And I'm pretty sure I'm missing plenty of others.

And there's plenty of stubs for the unconnected portions of the Sunrise service roads particularly in my neck of the woods from East Patchogue to Brookhaven.

[froggie]

A slip road is what we call a ramp. Collector/distributor lanes are the same in all counties, we sometimes shorten it to C/D road.

We'll occasionally shorten it to C/D road as well.

You'll also occasionally hear the term "slip ramp" in the US, too.

[3467]

LSD above is S Curve but Stony Island off the Bishop Ford is the Old 494 or 694
There used to be ramps for teh Western Ave Expressway on the Kennedy but thye have been removed

US 50 is a strange mix of US50 supplemental Freeway and original I 64 Most of Original I-64 is east of 57 Some of that is being studied for 4 lane mainly Olney east and I-64 to Lebanon is funded for a 3 lane

[D-Dey65]

On LI, there's also the SOB Expwy (NY 135) at Jericho Tpke. (NY 25) and the LIE's eastern terminus at Suffolk CR 58.

Oh, there's much more than that on Long Island. Not only does the SOB Expwy have stubs at NY 25, but at Merrick Road. Plus the widened median between Exits 8 & 9 was for an interchange with the abruptly ended Bethpage State Parkway.

Near Yaphank you can find the formerly proposed Central Suffolk Highway beneath Patchogue-Yaphank Road(Suffolk CR 101) on the south side of the bridge over the main line of the LIRR. You can also find the westbound lane of the Central Suffolk Highway along Furrows Road in Holtsville between Nicoll's Road(Suffolk CR 97) and Waverly Avenue. Other unbuilt lanes can be found along Montauk Highway between Frowein Road(Suffolk CR 98) and "downtown" Eastport, and along NY 102 beneath the Meadowbrook State Parkway. And I'm pretty sure I'm missing plenty of others.

And there's plenty of stubs for the unconnected portions of the Sunrise service roads particularly in my neck of the woods from East Patchogue to Brookhaven.

Well, you can find those everywhere east of East Patchogue. You can also find them everywhere on the Long Island Expressway east of Exit 66 in Yaphank. Before the other on and off ramps at Exits 66 and 67 were completed, you used to be able to see where the westbound off-ramp became Long Island Avenue and then the service road restarted west of Yaphank Avenue.

From what I gather, you can still see the formerly proposed eastbound service road east of Exit 63 in Farmingdale onto Waverly Avenue in Medford.

[JREwing78]

US-31 @ Napier Ave near Benton Harbor, MI. Previously intended to continue due north to the I-94/I-196 interchange, now being planned to tie into the I-94 Business Loop exit to avoid Pipestone Creek because of the endangered Mitchell's Satyr butterfly.

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=42.08810642937652~-86.37343903606791&lvl=15&sty=h&where1=Benton%20Harbor%2C%20MI

More info: http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/US-31Freeway_Berrien.html

[Alex]

More of Wa here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unused_highways_in_Washington

Quoting the Wikipedia article on unused highways in Washington, what was the intent of the area used for breakdown lanes north of the Seneca Street off-ramp along the Alaskan Way Viaduct?

Short ramp stubs exist on the Alaskan Way Viaduct near Safeco Field[19], only a short distance west from the Interstate 5/Interstate 90 interchange it was to connect to[20] [20], and where the Viaduct crosses over University Ave [21]. This has been turned into a breakdown area, as seen here.

[3467]

If you look just east of Illinois 50 between the Kennedy(90/94) and the Stevenson (55) you will see the ROW or part of the ROW for the Crosstown(494). Chicago would still like to do something there but cannot decide what.
Perhaps someone might have a suggestion. I know we have experts here that can measure that ROW.Will a 4 lane tollway fit?

I think US 50 is S. Illinois has been discussed. Some 4 lane may be done there . There are some other 2 lanes on 4 lane ROW like US 34 in Knox County.

[mgk920]

There are not a lot of unbuilt 'stubs' on the highway system in Wisconsin outside of metro Milwaukee, but one of the more interesting ones, IMHO, is along I-39/90 a bit southeast of Madison:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.961102,-89.100752&spn=0.018121,0.043945&t=k&z=15

This is where the incomplete US 12 freeway (the one running from Elkhorn to the Illinois state line, plus the partially-complete Whitewater Bypass) was originally planned to end.

The current end of the US 12 freeway at Genoa City, WI:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=42.498523,-88.317804&spn=0.018257,0.043945&z=15

The south end of the visible ROW is the Illinois state line.  I am unsure of the current status of plans to extend this freeway into Illinois as either a freeway or tollway.

(some of its proposed ROW is visible on the north side of McHenry, IL:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=42.36292,-88.266563&spn=0.018297,0.043945&z=15 )

The current other end of the US 12 freeway at Elkhorn, WI:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.698302,-88.543239&spn=0.018199,0.043945&t=k&z=15

From there to the Whitewater Bypass the proposed routing of the US 12 freeway is completely clear and except for in the Kettle Moraine area near Whitewater is entirely pool-table flat wide-open countryside.

The east end of the two-lanes on four lanes ROW US 12 Whitewater, WI bypass:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.819423,-88.69915&spn=0.018163,0.043945&t=k&z=15

The west end of the bypass (note the reserved ROW for the interchange):

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.844066,-88.782063&spn=0.018156,0.043945&t=k&z=15

There is also preserved ROW and some grading for two additional interchanges on that bypass.

-----------------------

Elsewhere in Wisconsin, this is I-39 just south of County 'HH' in the Stevens Point/Plover, WI area:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=44.490597,-89.51746&spn=0.017664,0.043945&t=k&z=15

Note the curve in the roadway in that commercial area on the east side of I-39 - that traces the ROW for the planned US 10 east interchange, which is expected to be built in the next 10-20 years and will extend a new US 10 freeway from the planned high-speed free-flow junction at I-39 to the existing four-lanes just west of Amherst Junction, WI.

-Here is the east end of the approach freeway to the US 2 Richard Ira Bong bridge at Belknap St in Superior, WI:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=46.721991,-92.120318&spn=0.008488,0.021973&t=k&z=16

The original plans were to continue this freeway on a somewhat serpentine routing from there to feed into the US 2/53 freeway at the city's SE corner.  I am unsure if there are any remaining plans for that anymore.

-This is on US 53 between Rice Lake and Haugen, WI:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.58317,-91.760645&spn=0.034661,0.087891&t=k&z=14

The 1960s-era US 53 freeway ended here until the late 1980s.  The original plan was to continue US 53 northward as a continuation of the highly-engineered, fully interstate compatible freeway to the south, but the extension was downgraded to a lesser-engineered 'surface' expressway all the way to US 2 near Superior when the four lanes finally received funding (note the change in the highway's design standards at that 'S' curve) - the original plan was to continue the freeway northward with a very gentle, highly-engineered curve east of the highway that was ultimately built.

-This is US 14 at Oregon, WI:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.917024,-89.367857&spn=0.018134,0.043945&t=k&z=15

The plan is to extend this US 14 'super two' to the south and upgrade it to four lanes as this area grows as a Madison suburb.  Note how the development just south of this interchange traces the ROW.

One more-

-This is on the southwest side of Kaukauna, WI (just east of Appleton):

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=44.262704,-88.286004&spn=0.008867,0.021973&t=h&z=16

Note the odd angle of these streets.  Fieldcrest Dr was built on the proposed ROW of the never-built WI 55 freeway that was proposed to bypass the city to the west, cross the Fox River and continue along the Kaukauna-Little Chute border back to current WI 55 north of town.  This freeway was shown as 'proposed' in plans from about 1960.

Mike

[SteveG1988]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Burlington+NJ&sll=43.011798,-77.446736&sspn=0.002287,0.005681&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Burlington,+New+Jersey&ll=40.110236,-74.806809&spn=0.004784,0.011362&t=k&z=17

Former location of a toll both for the NJ Turnpike Pennslyvania Extension.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Burlington+NJ&sll=43.011798,-77.446736&sspn=0.002287,0.005681&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Burlington,+New+Jersey&ll=40.104837,-74.796016&spn=0.004784,0.011362&t=k&z=17

And the former  East Bound only exit for US-130 that required you to navigate secondary roads.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Burlington+NJ&sll=43.011798,-77.446736&sspn=0.002287,0.005681&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Burlington,+New+Jersey&ll=40.104837,-74.796016&spn=0.004784,0.011362&t=k&z=17

Both were replaced with a new exit and toll plaza a few miles east that provides a direct link to US-130, for both directions.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Burlington+NJ&sll=43.011798,-77.446736&sspn=0.002287,0.005681&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Burlington,+New+Jersey&ll=40.098723,-74.78121&spn=0.009569,0.022724&t=k&z=16

Technicaly i would say, Deconstructed Evidence, instead of Unbuilt.

[Revive 755]

There seems to be stubs for the once-proposed ped overpasses connecting the Gateway Arch over I-70 in downtown St. Louis:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.624966,-90.186266&spn=0.000792,0.002064&t=h&z=20

[PAHighways]

Stubs on both sides of the southern approach to the Birmingham Bridge in Pittsburgh for the cancelled Oakland Crosstown Freeway.