Consecutive 'incomplete' interstate interchanges

[Jardine]

Since coming here have been trying to notice more about the roads around here and their quirks and commonalities.

Occurred to me yesterday that we have 3 consecutive 'incomplete' interchanges in Council Bluffs, IA, on Interstate 29.

35th street has NB I-29 able to exit and 35th to go north, the SB lanes have neither.

The next interchange, Avenue G, has SB exit to G and G can enter and go SB on I-29 (with an immediate opportunity to go westbound on I-480) but NB I-29 can not exit to G and G cannot go NB on I-29.

And then the big interchange of I-29, I-480 and West Broadway is famously incomplete; NB I-29 cannot exit to EB Broadway, SB I-29 cannot exit to EB Broadway, WB Broadway can neither go NB or SB on I-29.

So, thanks to AARoads, I noticed something!

How rare is it to have 3 consecutive 'incomplete' interchanges along an Interstate?

[Jardine]

And I should add, Council Bluffs has another incomplete on I-29, the interchange with North 16th.  NB 16th cannot go west on I-29, and NB I-29 cannot exit to SB 16th.

The I-29 and 25th street intersection between 16th and the 3 noted above is (thankfully) a full service provider.

[SD Mapman]

I think in South Dakota we have one incomplete interchange in the entire state (Exit 88 I-90), so that's not helpful at all.

[Jardine]

Yeah, it struck me as something that might be pretty rare.  And then having 4 of them in 5 consecutive interchanges might be really getting out there.

The proximity of Ave G and 35th street does make for a complete interchange if your willing to drive a few blocks. 

As for Broadway/I-29, I seem to recall at the time it was built they were unwilling to condemn enough land to build a full interchange there.

As far as I know, the upcoming reconstruction of that interchange won't include changing that, either.

[TheStranger]

The old Interstate 480 (later State Route 480) in San Francisco had this through its entire routing: offramps to Mission Street, Washington Street, and Broadway, but onramps only for each of those.

Interstate 80 in SF is an interesting case because of the way 1950s ramps were braided to accommodate the former beginning of the Bay Bridge approach from 1936 (now the 5th Street offramp from westbound 80).  i.e. from westbound, there are offramps to Harrison Street, Fremont Street, and 5th Street in succession, but onramps only going eastbound for 5th Street, Bryant Street, and Essex & 1st Streets.  (The 5th Street ramps could be considered paired with the 4th Street eastbound offramp/westbound onramp though)

Along Interstate 280 between San Bruno and Millbrae there's the Crystal Springs Road (Exit 42) southbound offramp/northbound onramp from the original Junipero Serra Boulevard, followed by Route 35 (Exit 41) southbound onramp/northbound offramp.  Then Larkspur Avenue (Exit 40) which is a southbound offramp/northbound onramp only (though whether it is a true incomplete interchange is debatable - it is paired with the Millbrae Avenue interchange 3/4 mile to the south)

[1995hoo]

Virginia's I-66 inside the Beltway has only one complete interchange (Exit 66 for VA-7). Twinned partial interchanges generally, though not always, serve as though they were diamonds the rest of the way, but they're definitely partial interchanges. I count 11 straight partial interchanges as I run through it in my head:

–Dulles Access Road Extension (EB entry/WB exit)
–Westmoreland Street (EB exit)
–US-29 in Falls Church (EB exit/WB entry)
–Sycamore Street (EB entry/WB exit)
–Fairfax Drive (signed as Glebe Road but requires a turn to reach same) (EB exit/WB entry)
–Glebe Road (EB entry/WB exit)
–US-29/Spout Run Parkway (EB exit/WB entry)
–US-29/Rosslyn (EB exit/WB entry)
–US-29/Rosslyn going the other direction (EB entry/WB exit)
–VA-110 (EB exit/WB entry)
–US-50/GW Parkway (EB entry/WB exit)

[Mapmikey]

I-895 in Baltimore has 9 straight incomplete interchanges before coming to Exit 12

Mike

[Jardine]

As George Carlin said:

You can get off and get on, or you can get on and get off.

[peterj920]

The Tri State Tollway (I-94/I-294) has quite a few incomplete interchanges.  About half of them are.  The most in a row is 3 between IL 58 and Touhy Ave.  There have been improvements over the years so it isn't as bad as it was.  There were numerous hotels I stayed at that were hard to get to due to the incomplete interchanges.

[Tom958]

The proximity of Ave G and 35th street does make for a complete interchange if your willing to drive a few blocks. 

It's odd that they didn't sign both Ave G and N 35th St at both offramps. 

[DandyDan]

Yeah, it struck me as something that might be pretty rare.  And then having 4 of them in 5 consecutive interchanges might be really getting out there.

The proximity of Ave G and 35th street does make for a complete interchange if your willing to drive a few blocks. 

As for Broadway/I-29, I seem to recall at the time it was built they were unwilling to condemn enough land to build a full interchange there.

As far as I know, the upcoming reconstruction of that interchange won't include changing that, either.

The Riverfront exit on I-480 in Council Bluffs is incomplete as well.  There's also quite a few on the Nebraska segment of I-480 as well, but I have a hard time keeping them all straight.  I do think some of them allow for a complete setup in the final analysis.

[Jardine]

It occurs to me perhaps I should have divvied query into 2dis and 3 dis.

As for Council Bluffs, the one I cuss the most is Broadway being shorted to/from I-29.

I wonder if judged by traffic counts, if the I-29/Broadway omission of ramps is notable nationwide ??


What other major hiways are crossed by an interstate and not connected ??


"Sorry son, you can't get there from here . . . "

[Brandon]

The Tri State Tollway (I-94/I-294) has quite a few incomplete interchanges.  About half of them are.  The most in a row is 3 between IL 58 and Touhy Ave.  There have been improvements over the years so it isn't as bad as it was.  There were numerous hotels I stayed at that were hard to get to due to the incomplete interchanges.

ISTHA used to have more consecutive ones.  They've upgraded a fair number of them to full interchanges over the years.

Between Naperville Road and the Tri-State Tollway, I-88 used to have incomplete interchanges at IL-53 (still is), Highland Ave (upgraded), Midwest Rd (still is), IL-83 (still is), Spring Rd (still is), and York Rd (still is).  That was six at one time, cut back to four currently.  IL-59 also used to be an incomplete interchange, as did Peace Road.

The Tri-State was a big offender as well.  The following used to be incomplete, but have been upgraded: Buckley Rd (IL-137), Town Line Rd (IL-60), Half Day Rd (IL-22), Willow Rd, 95th St (US-12/20), and 159th St (US-6).

The Northwest Tollway also had its fair share that have since been upgraded to complete interchanges: IL-47, IL-59, Arlington Heights Rd, and in the process of being upgraded, Elmhurst Rd.  There are plans for Barrington Rd to become a full interchange as well.

The North-South Tollway also had one, Boughton Rd.  It's since been upgraded, and now is the only tollway with no partial interchanges.

[PHLBOS]

If the OP's referring to partial-movement interchanges; I-95 in Peabody & Danvers, MA (the stretch that runs near/parallel to US 1) has several consecutive incomplete/partial interchanges:

Exit 46 (US 1): southbound exit/northbound entrance*
*the original plan for this interchange was for the opposite movements (northbound exit/southbound entrance) but was dropped when the decision not to build I-95 inside of MA 128 (extension of the Northeast Expressway/Lynn Woods segment) was made

Exits 47A-B (MA 114): northbound exits/entrances to both directions**
**entrance ramp to I-95 southbound was added during the 1990s

Exit 48 (Centre St.): southbound entrance & exit only

Exit 49 (MA 62): northbound exit/southbound entrance

Note: the missing movements can be done by using nearby US 1.

[jeffandnicole]

4 in a row on I-295 in NJ:

Interchanges 26 (I76/NJ 42), 25 (NJ 47), 24B (CR 551) & 24A (NJ 45) are all incomplete.

Not Interstate, but at least 4 consecutive interchanges are incomplete on NJ 42 (Exits 8 - 10A).  And there's a whole bunch on the Garden State Parkway but they have been completing a number of them.

[noelbotevera]

GSP gets 11 max, from exit 155 to the NY state line. I count the missing movement at the I-80 interchange as an incomplete one.

[bzakharin]

GSP in Atlantic County:
1. Exit 29: Northbound exit / southbound entrance
2. Exit 30: Southbound exit / northbound entrance
3. Exit 36: You get all movements, but not serving the same roads (northbound exit serves Fire Road both directions, Tilton Road only indirectly. Southbound exit serves Tilton Road East and indirectly Fire Road South)
4. Entrance only: from Black Horse Pike West to GSP north
5. Exit 37:  Southbound exit / northbound entrance

[Sub-Urbanite]

I-5 in Portland:

• Ramp stubs to the Mt. Hood Freeway at the east end of the Marquam Bridge
• Phantom lane bulb-outs on the Morrison Bridge
• Ramp stubs at the I-84 interchange
• The Rose Quarter interchange appears to have been built to design
• Ramp stubs at the northern I-405/I-5 interchange

So that's 4 out of 5.

[Chris19001]

I count 7 in a row in Philly on the Schuylkill Expressway/Walt Whitman Bridge Approach (I-76).  Everything south or east of the "South Street" exit is in incomplete between there and New Jersey.
The Broad Street exit and the Passyunk/26th Street exit are close to being complete, but missing movements.

[GaryV]

I-94 in western Detroit has 5 in a row at Wyoming, Weir, Addison (exit 210B), Lonyo (exit 211A) and Cecil (exit 211B).  The first two are unnumbered, as there is an eb entrance ramp only.

[roadman65]

I know the Gowanus has two in a row in Brooklyn.  The Belt Parkway west terminus is Westbound off and EB on, and then the 39th and 38th Street ramps are missing a lot.  You cannot get onto the Gowanus from either streets and you could only go one way off the ramps.  WB you can only go WB on 39th and EB you could only go EB on 38th.

I never could figure out how you can get off the highway, but not even back on it to the other direction, but leave it to the engineers who built the Gowanus to do that one.

[jeffandnicole]

I count 7 in a row in Philly on the Schuylkill Expressway/Walt Whitman Bridge Approach (I-76).  Everything south or east of the "South Street" exit is in incomplete between there and New Jersey.
The Broad Street exit and the Passyunk/26th Street exit are close to being complete, but missing movements.

Actually, you can extend this to 10 in a row on I-76.  Starting beyond the South Street exit, include your 7, then in NJ add the Exit 354/2 Interchange (no 76 West to 76C East movement), Interchange 2 (No 76 East to 130 North) and Interchange 1 (No 42 North to 295 South & 295 North to 42 South)!

[pianocello]

Depending on how you look at it, the Chicago Skyway has 7 or 8, due to the technicality that considers it a toll bridge with really long approaches. (FWIW, I count 7 by including its western terminus with the Dan Ryan, and excluding the interchange with Indianapolis Ave.)

[davewiecking]

Similar to the Skyway, none of the interchanges along the Baltimore Tunnel Thruway are complete.

[Beeper1]

The Mass Pike in Boston has 4 in a row (21,22,22A,23).  All only allow entry to WB and the only one that has an exit ramp at all (22) is only from EB.