Top 10 Road Geeking Spots in your state

[Alex]

My submissions for Delaware:

• Wilmington viaduct - Interstate 95, including the feeder ramps from DE 48 and Downtown.
• Rising Sun Bridge - truss bridge in Wilmington...the only full truss bridge in the state.
• C & D Canal Bridge for the SR 1 Turnpike and the adjacent St. Georges Bridge for US 13.
• Reedy Point Bridge - DE 9 over the C & D Canal. The only two lane crossing of the canal in Delaware.
• Charles W. Cullen Bridge - newly built cable stayed bridge for DE 1 over Indian River Inlet
• Battery Park in New Castle - affording a view of the Delaware Memorial Bridge from one of the few publicly accessible locations along the Delaware River in the First State. Some old Eagle traffic signals located in the New Castle street grid nearby too.
• The remaining DE 2 and 4 cutouts in Wilmington - the last still posted within the state.
• Abandoned sections of US 13 in New Castle County bypassed by the SR 1 Turnpike
• DE 34 through Brandywine Springs Park - the state road lowers significantly to cross over both the creek and the Wilmington & Western Railroad from between DE 41 and Centreville Road.
• The megachange where I-95/295/495 split northbound, the massive partition of traffic for those headed to New Jersey versus those heading to Wilmington and Philadelphia.

[roadman]

My nominees for Massachusetts (in no particular order):

Boston - O'Neill Tunnel and Zakim Bridge - the principal components of the "Big Dig" project.  Some pretty impressive engineering.  Also, at $21 billion (and still rising), most expensive highway project in country to date
Boston/Chelsea - Tobin Bridge.  One of the last 1950s/1960s era "erector set" bridges still in service
Revere - US 1 at MA 60 interchange.  Ghost ramps to unbuilt Interstate 95 alignment
Newburyport - Original Interstate 95 alignment now bypassed and abandoned
Beverly to Gloucester - MA Route 128 - original divided highway from 1940s with neat stone and concrete arch bridges
Orange to Phillipston - MA Route 2 - Unique "super two" freeway
Sterling - Interstate 190 - Unique "extra wide" shoulders - painted green - due to environmental considerations
Attleboro - I-295 and Canton - I-95 - Unique diagrammatic signs to reflect 'cloverleaf' ramp configurations
North Adams - MA Route 2 Hairpin Turn - 180 degree turn at bottom of steep downgrade on two lane road
Newton - Interstate 90 (MassPike) under Star Market building and Crowne Plaza Hotel - among first examples of 'air rights' development above highways

[Henry]

Stub ends are cool! You can use your imagination on where they would lead to. I-95 in MD alone has four such locations for these stubs:

• Exit 27, where I-95 was to continue south into DC instead of going around the east side of I-495
• Somewhere between Exits 50 and 51, where I-70 was to meet I-95
• Exit 57, where I-83 was to end
• Exit 60, where the western section of the Windlass Freeway was to tie into Moravia Road

Also, old I-70 inside I-695 and the inner-city US 40 expressway/old I-170 are other good places to put your imaginations to use, although (sadly) the western end of I-170 is gone now.

Same with NC, except for new construction on I-73, I-74, I-295, I-840, etc.

My list for WA:
Seattle Floating Bridges
Western end of I-90
US 101's wrong way section from Port Angeles to Olympia
Northern end of I-5
North Spokane Connector
Alaskan Way Viaduct/Tunnel
I-405/WA 520 interchange
I-82
I-5 Freeway Park in Downtown Seattle
I-90/I-405 interchange

Those are good, but how about:
Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Hood Canal Bridge
I-90 Snoqualmie Pass, western approaches and construction on the eastern side
I-5 express lanes south of downtown Seattle, where they were squeezed into existing ROW
Convention Center I-5 lid
Mercer Island I-90 lid
Mt. Baker Tunnel
Columbia River I-5 Bridge, look quick before the next earthquake but don't risk driving over it

I like those suggestions too!

[DaBigE]

I should have no problem coming up with 10 roadgeeky things for Wisconsin.

US/I-41 concurrency for starters.
A tour of the stub ends of MKE freeways.
The vacated r/w from the Park East Freeway and its gradual redevelopment.
Quadruple US highway concurrency on the Madison Beltline.
The Zoo Interchange reconstruction (if reading too late for that, I'm sure another MKE freeway will be in major rebuild)
WI 131 in the Kickapoo Valley and the effects of the aborted La Farge Dam project.
Not one, but two triple interstate concurrencies (or "triplemultiplexes" if you may )
While it's not something you can really go and see, the whole "putting numbers on roads" thing started here.
Stand at the south end of the US 12 freeway in Genoa City and sigh dejectedly.
Visit the spot where NE2's avatar photo was taken and laugh like Beavis & Butthead.

That's a good list...don't know what I'd take out of your list, but my version would have to include:
-the Merrimac ferry
-the button copy corridor of I-39, north of the interchange near Portage
-the Verona Rd/beltline SPUI, when complete (could be combined with the quadruple concurrency visit)

[triplemultiplex]

-the button copy corridor of I-39, north of the interchange near Portage

Oh yeah, good one.  I was pleased they didn't replace any of those signs when they redid the pavement ~15 years ago.

[Big John]

-the button copy corridor of I-39, north of the interchange near Portage

Oh yeah, good one.  I was pleased they didn't replace any of those signs when they redid the pavement ~15 years ago.

But I saw this year most of the southbound signs were replaced but most of the northbound signs still exist.

[TheStranger]

Other California thoughts:

- MacArthur Maze and Bay Bridge, due to the complexity of the junction as well as the Bridge's checkered history

- crooked section of Lombard Street in San Francisco, only a few blocks from US 101

- Cabrillo Freeway (Route 163/former US 395) through Balboa Park in San Diego, a 1940s artifact that ends in a 1960s partial stack at Interstate 5

- 101 overall between Los Angeles and the Golden Gate Bridge - while not as scenic as Route 1, the inland route has a pre-Interstate feel even where upgraded to freeway in the stretch between Santa Barbara and Gilroy.  (And the freeway segments bookending those two are themselves interesting: the historic, constrained Santa Ana and Hollywood Freeways, the tech corridor Bayshore, the surviving portion of the Central Freeway funneling drivers to trendy Hayes Valley, and the brand new Presidio Parkway/Doyle Drive).

- the Sacramento River Delta car ferries along Route 84 in Rio Vista and Route 220 near Ryer Island

- Terminal Island Freeway (Route 103) near Long Beach, unusual isolated route constructed in the 1940s that has been mostly used for movie filming due to the 710/47 junction being completed (and is being downgraded in parts)

- La Cienega Boulevard through the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in Los Angeles - the only portion of the Route 170 extension to have ever been built

- I-10's abrupt ending at Route 1 & Route 2 right before the beach in Santa Monica (and the historic tunnel Route 1 uses past there), not far from the historic west terminus of US 66

- Pacific Highway (former US 101) in San Diego, 1940s freeway originally built to provide access to the now-relocated Lindbergh Field terminals and the former Convair aircraft factory

- North Sacramento Freeway/Route 160 (former US 99E and US 40), late-1940s freeway with uniquely tight right-on/right-off ramp configuration.  (Honorable mention to the portion of Business 80 a few miles northeast with the substandard 1940s-era ramps at Howe Avenue and Bell Street)

- Colorado Street connector (former Route 134) in Glendale, short freeway from the 1950s.  Also related: former Route 118 (Oak Grove Drive) interchange with Woodbury Road in Pasadena

- Route 204/Business Route 99 (former US 99 & US 466) in Bakersfield, 1950s/1960s spur freeway into downtown which also leads to the old pre-1950s surface street alignment of 99 (i.e. Garces Circle, Union Avenue)

[hbelkins]

Are there any other rest areas with a trumpet interchange?

Sideling Hill service area on the PA Turnpike.

And, I think, the Allentown service area on the NE Extension.

[Brandon]

Are there any other rest areas with a trumpet interchange?

Sideling Hill service area on the PA Turnpike.

And, I think, the Allentown service area on the NE Extension.

DeKalb Oasis on I-88.

Funk's Grove rest area on I-55 (just south of Bloomington-Normal).

[OCGuy81]

My nominees for Massachusetts (in no particular order):

Boston - O'Neill Tunnel and Zakim Bridge.  At $21 billion (and still rising), most expensive highway project in country to date
Boston/Chelsea - Tobin Bridge.  One of the last 1950s/1960s era "erector set" bridges still in service
Revere - US 1 at MA 60 interchange.  Ghost ramps to unbuilt Interstate 95 alignment
Newburyport - Original Interstate 95 alignment now bypassed and abandoned
Beverly to Gloucester - MA Route 128 - original divided highway from 1940s with neat stone and concrete arch bridges
Orange to Phillipston - MA Route 2 - Unique "super two" freeway
Sterling - Interstate 190 - Unique "extra wide" shoulders - painted green - due to environmental considerations
Attleboro - I-295 and Canton - I-95 - Unique diagrammatic signs to reflect 'cloverleaf' ramp configurations
North Adams - MA Route 2 Hairpin Turn - 180 degree turn at bottom of steep downgrade on two lane road
Newton - Interstate 90 (MassPike) under Star Market building and Crowne Plaza Hotel - among first examples of 'air rights' development above highways

Would you include the "Big Dig" in this, the tunnel to Logan?  That was a pretty large scale project.

[kkt]

My nominees for Massachusetts (in no particular order):

Boston - O'Neill Tunnel and Zakim Bridge.  At $21 billion (and still rising), most expensive highway project in country to date
Boston/Chelsea - Tobin Bridge.  One of the last 1950s/1960s era "erector set" bridges still in service
Revere - US 1 at MA 60 interchange.  Ghost ramps to unbuilt Interstate 95 alignment
Newburyport - Original Interstate 95 alignment now bypassed and abandoned
Beverly to Gloucester - MA Route 128 - original divided highway from 1940s with neat stone and concrete arch bridges
Orange to Phillipston - MA Route 2 - Unique "super two" freeway
Sterling - Interstate 190 - Unique "extra wide" shoulders - painted green - due to environmental considerations
Attleboro - I-295 and Canton - I-95 - Unique diagrammatic signs to reflect 'cloverleaf' ramp configurations
North Adams - MA Route 2 Hairpin Turn - 180 degree turn at bottom of steep downgrade on two lane road
Newton - Interstate 90 (MassPike) under Star Market building and Crowne Plaza Hotel - among first examples of 'air rights' development above highways

Would you include the "Big Dig" in this, the tunnel to Logan?  That was a pretty large scale project.

The "big dig's" official name is the O'Neill Tunnel.

[OCGuy81]

My nominees for Massachusetts (in no particular order):

Boston - O'Neill Tunnel and Zakim Bridge.  At $21 billion (and still rising), most expensive highway project in country to date
Boston/Chelsea - Tobin Bridge.  One of the last 1950s/1960s era "erector set" bridges still in service
Revere - US 1 at MA 60 interchange.  Ghost ramps to unbuilt Interstate 95 alignment
Newburyport - Original Interstate 95 alignment now bypassed and abandoned
Beverly to Gloucester - MA Route 128 - original divided highway from 1940s with neat stone and concrete arch bridges
Orange to Phillipston - MA Route 2 - Unique "super two" freeway
Sterling - Interstate 190 - Unique "extra wide" shoulders - painted green - due to environmental considerations
Attleboro - I-295 and Canton - I-95 - Unique diagrammatic signs to reflect 'cloverleaf' ramp configurations
North Adams - MA Route 2 Hairpin Turn - 180 degree turn at bottom of steep downgrade on two lane road
Newton - Interstate 90 (MassPike) under Star Market building and Crowne Plaza Hotel - among first examples of 'air rights' development above highways

Would you include the "Big Dig" in this, the tunnel to Logan?  That was a pretty large scale project.

The "big dig's" official name is the O'Neill Tunnel.

Thank you! I've only been to Boston's airport, and I'm not the most up to date on the roads there. My mistake.

[1995hoo]

I'm having trouble coming up with ten for Virginia. The following came to mind, in no particular order other than the first two. I don't know Southwest Virginia (beyond Roanoke) very well at all, so there might be something down there that merits inclusion.

–Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
–Springfield Interchange
–Shirley Highway reversible roadway (HOV and HO/T lanes)
–The Varina-Enon cable-stayed bridge on I-295
–Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway
–The three closely-spaced interchanges on US-50 with (west to east) Gallows Road, I-495, and Fairview Park Drive, simply to see the tangle of ramps twisted all over the place, although in fairness this works better from the air or via a satellite view online. My father thinks the guy who designed it was drunk.
–Longtime members of this forum might appreciate the so-called "I-366" segment of VA-28, though without the forum-related aspect it's not too special

That's seven. Not sure what I might list for the other three. I thought about I-77 over Fancy Gap, but upon reflection I don't think it's necessarily interesting for road-related reasons. I also figured since one bridge-tunnel was listed there was no reason to list the other two.

[DTComposer]

An additional possibility for California:

-Shoreline Drive in Long Beach - it looks like a freeway, but is easily shut down (they do it every year for the Grand Prix), so the average television viewer probably sees it at least once a day in commercials, shows and movies. I would say it's more ubiquitous (if not as recognizable) as the 6th Street viaduct into downtown Los Angeles, or the Colorado Street bridge in Pasadena.

[Jardine]

Here's my Top 10 for my county, Harrison, in Iowa.

1) Fulton Avenue,  yeah, it's dirt, be careful when you go.  North end also has the infamous 6 degree angle off 138th Trail

2) Medford Avenue, specifically, the bridge over Willow Creek.  Scariest bridge left in the area.  Low traffic, if you want to park and walk over it, feel free

3) Easton Trail, specifically, west bound from Pisgah to Little Sioux.  You might want to hurry, I think there is a chance it might be closed soon as there are scary cracks forming in the road surface

4) Laredo Avenue from Magnolia to Easton Trail, it's like driving thru a Grant Wood painting

5) 111th Street (F14) over Willow Creek.  Yes, IANMTU, that bridge was originally on Highway 101 in California.  REALLY.

6) 335th Street from Missouri Valley to Beebee Town, hills and curves, beautiful rural vistas, drive by an abandoned nuclear missile base too

7) Parker Trail from Orient Avenue to Highway 30, drive under a surprisingly rickety railroad overpass, and drive over a noticeably 'bent' Bailey Bridge

8) Highway 44 from highway 30 to county line.  Invariably induced vomiting in my sister, hills and curves in abundance

9) Ideal Avenue  scary dirt road, claustrophobic tree growth, steep, deeply cut into terrain, dangerous mosquitoes (West Nile Fever hotspot)

10) Kennedy Avenue, dirt road thru Sawmill Hollow.  Amazing piece of road, make sure it's passable before you go

[Mapmikey]

I'm having trouble coming up with ten for Virginia. The following came to mind, in no particular order other than the first two. I don't know Southwest Virginia (beyond Roanoke) very well at all, so there might be something down there that merits inclusion.

–Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
–Springfield Interchange
–Shirley Highway reversible roadway (HOV and HO/T lanes)
–The Varina-Enon cable-stayed bridge on I-295
–Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway
–The three closely-spaced interchanges on US-50 with (west to east) Gallows Road, I-495, and Fairview Park Drive, simply to see the tangle of ramps twisted all over the place, although in fairness this works better from the air or via a satellite view online. My father thinks the guy who designed it was drunk.
–Longtime members of this forum might appreciate the so-called "I-366" segment of VA-28, though without the forum-related aspect it's not too special

That's seven. Not sure what I might list for the other three. I thought about I-77 over Fancy Gap, but upon reflection I don't think it's necessarily interesting for road-related reasons. I also figured since one bridge-tunnel was listed there was no reason to list the other two.

Other potential Virginia items:

unpaved VA 91
Smart Road
Snickersville Tpk
I-95 at VA 150/895
VA 16 from Marion to Tazewell
old unpaved (still) US 58 routing via SR 650 west of VA 16


Lots of niche things in Virginia if one were into cutouts or errors or state facility routes

Mike

[briantroutman]

Are there any other rest areas with a trumpet interchange?

Sideling Hill service area on the PA Turnpike.

And, I think, the Allentown service area on the NE Extension.

Sideling Hill and Allentown (and Hickory Run further north) have the same ramp layout, but they're not trumpets. Each direction has a separate pair of ramps. This was necessary to keep the two directions of travel segregated (the parking areas are separated, too) and prevent anyone from making a U-turn at the service plaza.

An interesting side effect: the overpass serving motorists on the opposite side of the road is a wrong way configuration, although it is separated by a Jersey barrier.

[hbelkins]

If you're looking for things to add to Virginia's list from the southwest part of the state (colon)

The new US 460 bridge under construction at Breaks will be the highest bridge in the state once done.

US 460 split alignments between Glen Lyn and Narrows.

I-77 between the WV state line and Wytheville (including two tunnels). IMHO much more scenic than Fancy Gap.

Wrong-way concurrencies of I-77/I-81 and US 11/US 52 at Wytheville.

Natural Bridge that carries US 11.

[iowahighways]

My choices for Iowa, in no particular order:

• The interchange of I-74/US 6 and US 67 in Bettendorf, where I-74/US 6 run north-south but are signed east-west and US 67 runs east-west but is signed north-south. This is because of how the Mississippi River runs east-west through the Quad Cities area.
• The volleyball interchange of I-380 and IA 100, with Blairs Ferry Road, 42nd Street, and Center Point Road thrown in, in Cedar Rapids
• The three-direction concurrency of US 30, US 151, and US 218 in Cedar Rapids
• The Reed/Niland Corner in Colo -- the junction of the Lincoln Highway (old US 30) and Jefferson Highway (US 65) that happens to be Iowa's oldest interchange, dating back from the late 1930s
• The I-29/80 concurrency in Council Bluffs, which is emerging into a "dual, divided freeway" that will have Iowa's first express lanes on a freeway.
• Both of the "mixmaster" interchanges of I-35, I-80, and I-235 in the Des Moines area
• Downtown Dubuque, where you can see trailblazer shields for four US highways (20, 52, 61, and 151) at some intersections
• The Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing, a 1930s steel-grid deck bridge in the heart of the Driftless Area that also happens to be the mutual end for IA 9 and IA 26 -- with signage for WI 82 on the Iowa side
• The stretch of US 30 west of Logan where three scenic byways are signed together (Lincoln Highway, Loess Hills, and Western Skies)
• The north end of US 77 in Sioux City. The interchange itself may have been recently downgraded from a "volleyball" setup to a standard diamond, but US 77 still ends just as soon as it crosses the river.

[dfwmapper]

Texas:

North Texas:

3. High 5
4. US 75 inside of LBJ, with the frontage roads cantilevered over the main lanes

Central Texas:

10. Double-deck portion of I-35 in Austin
11. SH 130 segments 5/6, 85mph speed limit

[wphiii]

I couldn't come up with 10 for PA, but there's a few interesting spots I can think of:
* The famous view emerging from the Fort Pitt Tunnel in Pittsburgh
* The abandoned section of the PA Turnpike that can now be walked and bicycled
* The ruined portion of PA61 south of Centralia
* PA43 Mon-Fayette Expressway, just for the experience of one of the emptiest freeways in the northeast.
* Breezewood (grudgingly), the infamous traffic-lights-on-an-Interstate scenario
* The Millersburg Ferry


And a handful for Maryland:
* Sideling Hill road cut
* Casselman River Bridge State Park (you can see three eras of bridges from one vantage point the original Braddock's Road bridge that the State Park is centered around, the National Road U.S. 40 bridge, and the I-68 bridge).
* The whole Old National Road itself.
* The woefully below-standard portion of I-68 through Cumberland
* The weird ~1 mile pseudo-freeway part of U.S. 40 in western Baltimore.
* This is cheesy but I personally really enjoy the sign near the eastern beginning of I-70 that gives the distance to Cove Fort.
* Bay Bridge

[Henry]

Ahem, the CBBT is in VA! The crossing in MD is just the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Also, I would include on the MD list all three Baltimore Harbor crossings (Harbor and Fort McHenry Tunnels, and the Francis Scott Key Bridge).

[wphiii]

Ahem, the CBBT is in VA! The crossing in MD is just the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Duh! Total brain fart there.

[JCinSummerfield]

I don't know if I can come up with ten, so I'll just start throwing things out for Michigan.

I-75 over the Mackinac Bridge
I-75 over the Zilwaukee Bridge
M-22
M-119
The Mixing Bowl - interchange of I-696, I-96, I-275 & M-5
M-1 (Woodward Ave) during Dream Cruise weekend
US-41 in Keewenaw Peninsula

[PHLBOS]

The "big dig's" official name is the O'Neill Tunnel.

Actually only the I-93 Tunnel is the O'Neill Tunnel.  The Big Dig network comprises of the following:

-Zakim Bridge (I-93)

-O'Neill Tunnel (I-93)

-Ted Williams Tunnel (I-90, originally known as the Third Harbor Tunnel in planning/design documents linking downtown to East Boston/Logan Airport)

-Liberty Tunnel (I-90, short tunnel segment linking the Mass Pike & Ted Williams Tunnel; this was the tunnel that had that ceiling collapse killing a passenger in a passing car circa 2006)

-Elevated viaducts between Mass Ave. & O'Neill Tunnel entrances (I-93, not sure of such has a new/current name but these structures replaced the old Pulaski Skyway viaducts)