Freeways that never got built

[TheOneKEA]

Here are some freeways in Maryland that never got built:

- Interstate 70 from the Baltimore City line to Interstate 95
- Interstate 170 from I-70 to US 1 in West Baltimore
- Interstate 83 from Fayetteville Street to I-95
- Perring Freeway from I-695 to US 1 south of Bel Air
- Windlass Freeway from I-95 to I-695 and from I-695 to MD 43
- Baltimore Beltway from MD 150 back to the Patapsco Freeway south of Exit 41
- MD 10 from I-695 to I-95/I-895 and from MD 2 to US 50
- I-95 from I-495 to the D.C. Line

At one time you could have included the ICC, but thankfully that finally got built.

In my opinion, out of all the freeways on this list, the only one that could ever be built now in the current environment would be the rest of I-83, and even then it would probably be a tolled facility.

[roadman65]

In Florida you have many freeways that were, and never got built.

The northern extension of the Florida's Turnpike to US 19/98 at Lebanon Station.
The original FL Tpk to Jacksonville.
The Central Connector from FL 408 at Downtown Orlando to FL 528.
The Wekiva Parkway (which is trying to get built, but until I see it I will consider it one).
The Veteran's Expressway northward extension that was supposed to connect to I-275 near Lutz.
The Lee Roy Salmon Expressway extension to the Gandy Bridge.

[NE2]

The Lee Roy Salmon Expressway extension to the Gandy Bridge.

Selmon.

[civilmaher]

What about I-278 from Elizabeth to Springfield and ultimately  Morristown the only remains to this are the wide medians on I-78 from exit 48-49 and a grading for I-78 East to I-278 East ramp on the current exit 49A ramp
http://www.nycroads.com/roads/I-278_NJ/
 

Don't forget the grading at US 1! But that may go away if they complete that interchange.

I know I'm a bit late to this topic...but PANYNJ is indeed looking to complete the missing movements at this interchange (I-278 & US 1&9) if they can get NJDOT on board with the project. A few of the concepts that we submitted tore into the graded median

[roadman65]

The Lee Roy Salmon Expressway extension to the Gandy Bridge.

Selmon.

Minuetman strikes again!

[Revive 755]

Not sure if it's been mentioned before here, but I've found a mention for unbuilt freeways in Fort Wayne, IN in a newspaper article on I-469.  It mentions an "Anthony Wayne Expressway" and later a north-south and east-west expressway through Fort Wayne
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080720/LOCAL/807200426/1002

[Avalanchez71]

Tops on my list is the "cow pasture expressway"
i.e. The graded but never completed PA 23 expressway northeast of Lancaster, PA.

Also in Pennsylvania:
The original ideas for what became I-80 across PA (both toll and free) ran parallel to US 6 instead of its actual alignment.

New Jersey
How can we forget about the never completed section of I-95 that was supposed to run northeast towards the NJ Turnpike near I-287.

Connecticut
On some old atlases of mine I-384 east of Hartford and US 6 around Willimantic were supposed to be I-84 running eastward.  To Providence?  What's now I-84 from Hartford to the Mass Pike was I-86.

DC - Maryland
I-95 Through the city.

Maryland
In Baltimore: I-83 meeting up with I-95 east of Fells Point, I-70 running eastward to meet I-95 southwest of the Inner Harbor.  Also, the part of I-795 that was supposed to run inside the I-695 beltway.

Massachusetts
I-95 was supposed to be (was?) the central artery and split off onto a partially built freeway that is currently signed US 1 but was never completed northeastward to close the gap.

Tennessee
The north loop of TN 840 may never be built.

I-40 through Memphis. (instead of around)

The TN SR840 proposal is dead and many did not want that to be built anyway.  It was pointless and would have been a waste of taxpayer monies. 

[silverback1065]

Tops on my list is the "cow pasture expressway"
i.e. The graded but never completed PA 23 expressway northeast of Lancaster, PA.

Also in Pennsylvania:
The original ideas for what became I-80 across PA (both toll and free) ran parallel to US 6 instead of its actual alignment.

New Jersey
How can we forget about the never completed section of I-95 that was supposed to run northeast towards the NJ Turnpike near I-287.

Connecticut
On some old atlases of mine I-384 east of Hartford and US 6 around Willimantic were supposed to be I-84 running eastward.  To Providence?  What's now I-84 from Hartford to the Mass Pike was I-86.

DC - Maryland
I-95 Through the city.

Maryland
In Baltimore: I-83 meeting up with I-95 east of Fells Point, I-70 running eastward to meet I-95 southwest of the Inner Harbor.  Also, the part of I-795 that was supposed to run inside the I-695 beltway.

Massachusetts
I-95 was supposed to be (was?) the central artery and split off onto a partially built freeway that is currently signed US 1 but was never completed northeastward to close the gap.

Tennessee
The north loop of TN 840 may never be built.

I-40 through Memphis. (instead of around)

The TN SR840 proposal is dead and many did not want that to be built anyway.  It was pointless and would have been a waste of taxpayer monies.

What exactly is the point of that road? it's so far away from the city it seems like noone would want to use it anyway

[Brandon]

Tennessee
The north loop of TN 840 may never be built.

The TN SR840 proposal is dead and many did not want that to be built anyway.  It was pointless and would have been a waste of taxpayer monies.

What exactly is the point of that road? it's so far away from the city it seems like noone would want to use it anyway

It's a bypass of Nashville for I-40 and to/from I-40 and I-65 and I-24 on the south side of Nashville.  The eastern part was actually fairly busy when I took it at the end of March.

[Bruce]

Almost all of Seattle's entire planned expressway network was canceled in the 1970s, most notably the Empire (later R.H. Thomson) Expressway:


Source: Arterial thoroughfare plan, 1957 by Seattle Municipal Archives, on Flickr

[ElPanaChevere]

Non-built Georgia Interstates:

I-485: Would have connected SR 400 with I-675 and US 78 (Stone Mountain Freeway).

I-420: Was to begin at I-20, near Douglasville, and continue along SR 166 (Langford Parkway) to around Gresham Park. The only portion to be built is antiquated Langford Parkway/"Lakewood Freeway."

I-175: Was to connect I-75 with Albany, starting at Cordele (SR 300 - Georgia-Florida Parkway). Currently, SR 300 is a divided highway that goes through several small towns en route to Albany, Georgia.


Be well,

Bryant

I was going to add that Freedom Parkway is also a remnant of I-485 (it'd connect with US 78/Stone Mountain Freeway).

[robbones]

Sam Cooper Blvd in Memphis was supposed to be the original I 40 alignment, but either protests or petitions to save Overton Park caused the alignment to move on unsigned 240 in the northern part of the city

[Revive 755]

It appears there may have been a north-south freeway in Little Rock, Arkansas, between I-430 and I-30 that never got built and was called the "Midtown Freeway."  It is referenced in the EIS for I-630 which mentions consideration of using this Midtown route for connecting I-630 to I-30, or possibly north to I-40 IIRC, but there's no map of these alternatives.

EDIT:  Found further mention of this route in these two documents:
See Page 50/64

See Page 43/51

[Revive 755]

Louisville, Kentucky had three corridors that never got built according to a map from the Metropolitan Louisville Transportation Report of January 1969:


1) The Southwest Radial, which would have had run from the current I-64 interchange with Roy Wilkins Avenue to KY 841 around Manslick Road.

2) The Crosstown, which would have been a partial loop inside the I-264 loop (hard to see on the map above)

3) The Southeast Radial, which would have run from the Crosstown to US 31E near the Salt River Bridge.

[TheStranger]

Louisville, Kentucky had three corridors that never got built according to a map from the Metropolitan Louisville Transportation Report of January 1969:
1) The Southwest Radial, which would have had run from the current I-64 interchange with Roy Wilkins Avenue to KY 841 around Manslick Road.

In addition to the interchange of 64/Wilkins (a semi-directional T), I wonder if another vestige of this proposal is the SPUI/overpass that 9th Street has with Oak Street.  (Seems like some of this route would have followed a rail right of way)

[NE2]

In addition to the interchange of 64/Wilkins (a semi-directional T), I wonder if another vestige of this proposal is the SPUI/overpass that 9th Street has with Oak Street.  (Seems like some of this route would have followed a rail right of way)

Doubtful, since that part of 9th didn't exist until 2003 (check topos - there simply was no road). I suppose it's possible that land had been acquired or something.

[froggie]

Related to a comment in another thread, here's a list of freeways that were never built in the Hampton Roads area.  Unless otherwise noted, these appeared on the 1965 plan:

Metropolitan Loop:  was to have completely encircled downtown Norfolk and downtown Portsmouth, in part utilizing (going clockwise), the Martin Luther King Fwy and extension, an expanded Midtown Tunnel, a freeway on the block between 26th and 27th, a crossing of I-264 and the river near Ballentine Blvd, and a high-rise Jordan Bridge replacement (similar in concept but still different from the one Chesapeake built a few years ago).

Waterfront Drive:  was to have connected I-264 with the Midtown Tunnel through downtown Norfolk.  From I-264/Waterside Dr, it would have followed the waterfront, decimated the Freemason neighborhood, then followed Brambleton Ave from The Hague (that waterway Brambleton crosses over) to Hampton Blvd.

Tidewater Freeway:  freeway upgrade of US 13/58/460 from Suffolk to Bowers Hill.  Was 6-laned but never got the at-grade intersections removed.

Chesapeake Bay Freeway:  freeway upgrade of US 13/Northampton Blvd from I-64 to the CBBT.

Outer Banks Toll Road:  I have seen references to a proposed "Outer Banks Toll Road" that would have connected Virginia Beach to the NC Outer Banks by going right along/near the shoreline.  The 1965 plan proposed the Virginia Beach end of this toll road near today's General Booth Blvd/Nimmo Pkwy intersection.  There were no freeways planned to connect it to I-64 or I-264.

Northern Connector Freeway:  not on the 1965 plan, but appears on the 1969 plan.  Would have run from the northeast corner of the Metropolitan Loop (described above) to the I-64/Tidewater Dr interchange, which suggests the connections between 64 west and Tidewater Dr South were intended for this freeway.

South Suffolk Bypass:  also not on the 1965 plan, but is on the 1969 plan.  Would have completed a freeway loop around the middle of Suffolk.  The interchange at the east end of the existing bypass was built to accommodate the South bypass.  Shortly after the Southwest Leg was finished in 2003, the southeast leg was permanently cancelled.

North-South Freeway:  proposed in 1964 for Newport News, this freeway would have begun at I-64 just south of the Bland Blvd overpass, and paralleled the Norfolk Southern tracks into downtown Newport News (west side of the tracks from J Clyde Morris Blvd to Center Ave, east side of the tracks otherwise).  The freeway was to end at 21st St with provision for a potential future extension south...at the time, neither I-664 nor the MMBT were planned.  By the time planning for I-664 and the MMBT began (by 1972), the North-South Freeway was planned to interchange with I-664 at 35th St.

[WNYroadgeek]

With speculation about a new stadium for the Bills increasing once again, the Buffalo News posted a gallery of past stadium proposals in the area, which include a few highways that never saw the light of say:

http://galleries.buffalonews.com/default.aspx?id=3522#/2 (Amherst; I-990 routed further west, North French Road interchange also further west and intended to be a cloverleaf, additional interchange directly connecting I-990 to the stadium planned)

http://galleries.buffalonews.com/default.aspx?id=3522#/7 (Lancaster; Expressway planned to run parallel to modern NY 78 and connect to Thruway at modern Exit 49)

http://galleries.buffalonews.com/default.aspx?id=3522#/9 (Blasdell, proposed Mile Strip Expressway w\ interchanges at McKinley Parkway and Thruway at modern Exit 56)

[bugo]

US 67/167 going Northeast out of Little Rock was supposed to be added to the Interstate system.  I've even got an old Little Rock map from the 60s that show it as I-30, so apparently someone was talking about that way back then.

Could you take a picture or scan that map?

AHTD refers to US 67 as "Future I-30".

I saw a document referring to the US 67 freeway as an x40, I-140 IIRC. I don't know why it was never given an interstate designation.

[kylebnjmnross]

There is a topic, created long before I got here unfortunately, that shows part of the routing for Harrisburg's cancelled West Shore Expressway. I still wonder how it would've connected to I-83 at the York Split, and if the interchange would have been reconfigured or added on to.

[froggie]

Probably this thread.

[Revive 755]

It appears South Carolina had a lot of cancelled freeways:

Columbia

* North-South Freeway:  Appears it would have continued SC 277 south to I-77 somewhat parallel to the Congraree River. (EIS description)

Greenville

* Gantt Freeway

* Downtown Loop Freeway

* Reedy River Freeway (a partial map can be found in this document, EIS description can be found here

[lepidopteran]

Here are some freeways in Maryland that never got built:

- Interstate 70 from the Baltimore City line to Interstate 95
- Interstate 170 from I-70 to US 1 in West Baltimore
- Interstate 83 from Fayetteville Street to I-95
- Perring Freeway from I-695 to US 1 south of Bel Air
- Windlass Freeway from I-95 to I-695 and from I-695 to MD 43
- Baltimore Beltway from MD 150 back to the Patapsco Freeway south of Exit 41
- MD 10 from I-695 to I-95/I-895 and from MD 2 to US 50
- I-95 from I-495 to the D.C. Line

I think there was also a plan at one point to build a freeway to parallel busy MD-3 between US-50 and I-97.  (I-297?)  There were two proposals:

• Upgrade MD-3 to freeway, probably with frontage roads for much of the way.  But it was determined that about 1500 residences would be subject to the noise and such.
• Build a separate freeway to the west, presumably from connections to MD-3.  While this one would only affect some 25 residences, it would have required an elevated section of about 3/4-mile because of a wetlands.

Of course, neither plan happened, and a few signals have since been added to MD-3, along with some channelized lefts (one triple-lane), some widening, and what seems to be a modified Michigan Left, complete with a BGS, at Waugh Chapel.  There may still be plans on SHA's website to convert at least some of the at-grade intersections to interchanges.

South of US-50, I distinctly remember seeing a blueprint for a full-scale T-interchange between US-301 and MD-197.  I doubt that one's even still in the running, but I think there are still some plans for a freeway bypass of Waldorf further south.  Something about plans to make the US-301 corridor a freeway, or an eastern bypass of the DC area, all the way from US-50 to the Nice Bridge.  There are, what, 60-odd traffic signals on that route now?

[froggie]

and what seems to be a modified Michigan Left, complete with a BGS, at Waugh Chapel.

I recall when this was built...it actually has far more in common with NC's "Superstreet" concept than it does a "Michigan Left".

[Bickendan]

Oregon has its fair share of axed freeways.

- I-505 was to run along the present US 30's split with I-405 to NW Yeon Ave.  A short distance, but it did appear on at least one map, from what I've seen.

Not to Yeon; that's what the US 30 freeway does now. I-505 was going to go along NW Thurman and Vaughn Streets to Mongtomery Park, then up St Helens Road toward the St Johns Bridge, with long range plans going to Astoria.

- I-305 running along the Salem Parkway (Business OR 99E) connecting I-5 with downtown Salem.

And crossing the Willamette into West Salem. This crossing is being revived, but likely not as a full freeway.

- The Mt. Hood Freeway, though I'm not as familiar with this one.  If I recall correctly, it was to go through SE Portland along what is now US 26.  Maybe somebody can shed more light on that one.

The Mt. Hood Freeway was part of Robert Moses' freeway plans for Portland--just about none of which got built.  It indeed was planned to run roughly in the area of SE Powell Blvd and was apparently going to connect into the current I-84 east of I-205.  It was originally planned to be the alignment of I-84 (then I-80N) instead of the Banfield. 

There's also a sort of "ghost divided highway" section of US 26 out near Boring as well, which was apparently going to connect into the Mt. Hood Freeway somehow.

The Mt Hood was never one of Robert Moses' ideas. That was all CRAG (Columbia River Area Government, now Metro). The closest Moses had to do with the Mt Hood was utilizing the Ross Island Bridge for the downtown freeway loop.

The Mt Hood itself was to run from the Marquam Bridge southeast to SE Ivon St, then east to around 50th, then southeast to Powell, and east again toward Gresham (I-205's routing hadn't been finalized before the Mt Hood was planned). A later phase would have skirted south of downtown Gresham starting around 182nd Ave and connected into the expressway between Gresham and Sandy.

- Naito Parkway (former OR 99W) was at one time going to be a freeway skimming the riverfront, but was axed in favor of the waterfront park (which I'm greatful for as I run in this park a few times a week!)

When the Eastbank Freeway and Marquam Bridge were complete, Harbor Drive was demolished and 99W relocated onto Front Ave (now Naito Pkwy), and ramps from the Steel Bridge to I-84 removed.

I-205: Yellowbook route (Tualatin-Lake Oswego-Oak Grove-Laurelhurst Freeway)
I-205: Johnson Creek Freeway (Burlingame-Johns Landing-Sellwood-Johnson Creek Blvd)
I-205: Laurelhurst Freeway (52nd Ave, 50th ave)
I-205: 112th Ave
I-205: West Side Bypass; Rivergate Freeway (Tualatin-Sherwood-Bull Mountain-South Beaverton-Aloha-Tanasbourne-north Bethany-St Johns-Rivergate-Vancouver-Fruit Valley-Hazel Dell)
OR 43: Macadam Ave (Lake Oswego-Portland)

Parkrose Freeway: Fremont Bridge-Parkrose via Prescott St
Going Expressway: Swan Island-Parkrose Freeway
St Johns beltway: A beltway around St Johns, looping from the proposed I-205 Willamette River crossing back to the Rivergate Freeway
Multnomah Expressway: Tigard?-Multnomah Village-Burlingame