Projects you thought would be done by now....

[xonhulu]

The Newberg-Dundee bypass in Oregon.

[Beeper1]

CT 11!  Every time it looks like progress is being made, it gets killed again as the state decides to spend the money allocated for it on other projects.

Also, US 6 between Bolton Notch and Willimantic.  Though at least they have done a good job upgrading the existing road so it's a lot safer than it used to be.

[AZDude]

The South Mountain Freeway (Loop 202).

[kj3400]

I-70 extension to I-95 in Baltimore like it should've been done 40 years ago.

[Henry]

I-70 extension to I-95 in Baltimore like it should've been done 40 years ago.

Actually, I'm glad they never did that, mainly because of the destruction of a heavily-wooded city park it would have created.

And while we're in that area, I'd say the eastward extension of I-83 to I-95, as well as I-95 through the northern sections of DC.

[hobsini2]

1) Converting WI 30 and Aberg Dr into a true freeway to connect I-39/90/94 with the Dane County Airport in Madison.
2) Elgin-O'Hare Expressway. Finish it!
3) US 12 freeway between Elkhorn and Madison and from the WI/IL Line to Lake Cook Rd.  Damn Long Grove NIMBYS!
4) Redo the Weber Rd interchange on I-55 in Bolingbrook IL.  The current diamond is ALWAYS backed up esp if you are going South on Weber getting on I-55 North.  Give me an interchange designed like US 51 on I-90 near Madison (Exit 132).
5) Upgrading US 51 between Bloomington and Decatur (and eventually Salem) to a full limited access highway.  Too many lights and crossovers esp north of Decatur.

[thenetwork]

Things that jump out in my mind:

1) A C-, E-, I-,....oh hell, just ANY 470 link between I-70 and the Northwest Parkway in Denver.  Getting from I-70 west of the Mile High City to Boulder or Fort Collins and vice-versa is such a pain.  Damn NIMBYs.

2) One single electronic tolling system compatible with ALL U.S. Toll Roads & Bridges.

[kj3400]

I-70 extension to I-95 in Baltimore like it should've been done 40 years ago.

Actually, I'm glad they never did that, mainly because of the destruction of a heavily-wooded city park it would have created.

And while we're in that area, I'd say the eastward extension of I-83 to I-95, as well as I-95 through the northern sections of DC.

That's what tunnels are for.....I'm not being cruel here....after all I do live 2.5 miles from the end of I-70.
But your 1st suggestion would destroy Canton and Fells Point. We can't have that.

[agentsteel53]

I don't suppose there's a chance of accidentally leveling some fatcat senator's office while building this tunnel?

[wandering drive]

The diamond interchange at US-169 and I-494 in Bloomington, MN as well as the crossing on US-169 immediately south of that.  It should have been a first priority up there with the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge when they decided to reroute US-169 through Bloomington.  The project is so underfunded right now that the "project schedule" for the US-169 corridor dates 2001-2002.

[PAHighways]

Mon-Fayette Expressway (the original incarnation was to have been completed about 30 years ago)

I-95/I-276 interchange (original completion date was sometime in the last decade)

[J N Winkler]

My personal favorite:  the LBJ tunnels on IH 635 in northern Dallas.  One of the documents released as part of the CDA procurement (before the current construction program) was compiled in the late 1990's and envisioned a 2007 opening date for the tunnels!

[Revive 755]

* The revised/updated EIS for the Avenue of the Saints bypass of Hannibal, MO

* Some sort of fix for the bloody-awful 20 mph left ramp from NB I-55 to WB I-44

* Revisions to the I-44 interchange at Pacific, MO

[bulldog1979]

1) The northern end of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway, aka the US 31 freeway in Berrien County. Just pick a plan and built it already.

2) The US 127 freeway between Ithaca and St. Johns. The interchange for M-57 is there, just need to start the freeway.

[kj3400]

I don't suppose there's a chance of accidentally leveling some fatcat senator's office while building this tunnel?

I wish.

[SP Cook]

The twin to the Dunbar-South Charleston Bridge in WV.  The orignal was built in 15 months in the 1972-3.  The twin openned last October after 11 years of construction, now they are at least a year behind on the planned 24 month refurbishment of the original.   A simple replacement of the bridge, containing the needed extra lanes, followed by a removal of the original, would have cost less and taken far less time. 

[DeaconG]

The Wekiva Parkway (Toll SR 429) that would complete the beltway around Orlando.  They've finally got the lawsuits settled and now they're expecting to start in the 2012-14 timeframe...

[vdeane]

Lots of cancelled ones in NY:
-A complete rebuild of NY 390 between I-490 and NY 104, including reconstruction of the interchange with I-490; the reconstruction of the interchange got pushed back 15 years, and the rebuild was cancelled completely.
-Likewise, a complete rebuild of NY 590 between Norton St and Titus Ave; the DOT was looking into this as well as building the two missing ramps 10 years ago; looks like that was cancelled too.
-Also, I would have thought work would have started on the NY 531 extension (though an interchange with NY 36 and stub ramps are still planned)

Here's some stuff that hasn't been cancelled:
-I-86 east of Elmira
-The Williamsville toll barrier reconstruction on the Thruway
-The project on I-81 to replace the Bartell Rd bridge (seriously, NYSDOT: is the left lane of I-81 closed just for fun?)

There's also the project to repave some streets in my neighborhood; one's been done, the other should have been done by now, and the other two need it but aren't going to have anything done.

[Brandon]

1) Converting WI 30 and Aberg Dr into a true freeway to connect I-39/90/94 with the Dane County Airport in Madison.
2) Elgin-O'Hare Expressway. Finish it!

Parts of this are in the plans for the western O'Hare bypass.

3) US 12 freeway between Elkhorn and Madison and from the WI/IL Line to Lake Cook Rd.  Damn Long Grove NIMBYS!

Long Grove needs to politely fuck off, IMHO, and realize it would be better with the freeway/tollway than without.

4) Redo the Weber Rd interchange on I-55 in Bolingbrook IL.  The current diamond is ALWAYS backed up esp if you are going South on Weber getting on I-55 North.  Give me an interchange designed like US 51 on I-90 near Madison (Exit 132).

Good luck getting IDiOT to address this.  They'd rather spend money in that sinkhole we politely call Cook County.  A six ramp parclo (loop off, left turns on) would go a long way.

5) Upgrading US 51 between Bloomington and Decatur (and eventually Salem) to a full limited access highway.  Too many lights and crossovers esp north of Decatur.

Should be I-39 south to I-57, IMHO.

[roadfro]

I-580 Extension from southern Reno towards Carson City. They've been working on this for a while now, and despite the first contractor quitting and the project being re-bid, it sure seems like this should've been done two years ago.

I-80 through the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. That seems to have been under some kind of re/construction every summer for the last six or so years...

[J N Winkler]

I-80 through the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. That seems to have been under some kind of re/construction every summer for the last six or so years...

I can remember contracts for pavement rehabilitation being advertised in 2003, and the Truckee bypass reconstruction started a few years before Caltrans started putting construction plans online (in 2001), so it has been going on for quite a while.

[nexus73]

On the south coast of Oregon, US 101 used to run from Coos Bay to Coquille to Bandon prior to 1961, which is when a new section was built that directly connected Coos Bay to Bandon.  The original US 101 route was built as a narrow concrete two lane road, small sections of which still remain today.  After World War II ended, it was time to begin the modernizing of US 101 in our area, so a 4 lane expressway that began it's construction in 1947, was built from North Bend to Coos Bay and then almost to Coquille, coming within 4 miles of our county seat.  That's where the 4-lane ended.

Since that time we have seen the 1961 US 101 section open, the Greenacres Curve and intersection get a total redo as well as seeing the same thing to the section of highway running through Millington.  ODOT put in a 4-lane bypass in the early 1990's of Coquille that connected with the 4-lane to the east of that town and that section of 4-lane runs to Myrtle Point, which was built in the 1970's.  ODOT classified the 101/42 Coos Bay-Coquille Highway as an expressway a bit over 10 years ago.  It's not like we have been totally ignored down here even though we are a long ways away from the PDX-Salem area but we have been waiting for over 60 years to get those last few miles of 4-lane highway built!

This kind of piecemeal approach to roads fails to see the whole road as a system.  There's a rule in convoys that says you can only have the convoy go as fast as the slowest ship.  A road as a whole is only as good as it's worst sections.  One need only look at CalTrans and their decades of dawdling over US 101 and US 199 for bringing those roads to a modern standard in California.  Instead we in this section of the West Coast suffer with sections that are so subpar that Federal-standard trucks cannot drive on them.  Where are we left due to this when I-5 is closed due to snow?  Stuck.  That's where.  Tourists whiteknuckling along 101 and 199 don't want to come back after gettings a good scare from the overly narrow sections, which are bracketed by modern freeways and expressways.  They're there to fool the innocents into thinking things will be fine until they get into northern Mendocino County...LOL!  After that it's "Good luck Chuck!".  We need high grade roads for commerce and tourism as well as the regular local yokel traffic but between ODOT and CalTrans, it seems like we in the region that is also known as the State of Jefferson get the short end of the stick compared to the metro areas even though if there was a lack of an alternate to I-5, things could get mighty messy for those city slickers if they can't get their food and other stuff in as well as ship their products out.

Good roads are a necessity and it should not take the better part of a century to get them.  Dribs and drabs, the hit and miss approach, a lick and a promise.  Is it any wonder that our nation is in decline?  During World War II we built the whole damned Alaska Highway in less than a year, yet we can't handle filling in the gaps from the obsolete Novato expressway 101 section all the way to the Oregon border with today's much more modern machinery in 4 or less years?  We have let procedure and politics win.  The people and economy lose.  The lawyers for the enviros and NIMBY's are laughing all the way to the bank though!

Yeah, I know we out here aren't as big a deal as those affected by the incomplete I-95 section that's infamous but we are hurtin' for certain nonetheless.  Reading this thread shows just how much this nation is hampered by bad or non-existent planning and goalsetting when it comes to our transportation infrastructure.  We did get those stimulus package Obama sidewalks though...LOL!  

Sorry for rambling on in my first post so much but I am quite passionate about transportation and it's importance to a modern nation.  It looks like some of those Chinese feel the same way too.  

Rick

[xonhulu]

Sorry for rambling on in my first post so much but I am quite passionate about transportation and it's importance to a modern nation.  It looks like some of those Chinese feel the same way too.  

No need to apologize; I enjoyed the ramble.  Good history of the Coos Bay-Myrtle Point highway.  Overall, I'd say OR 42 is a pretty good road, but I agree that US 101 in Oregon does still have a lot of substandard sections.  For example, the section between Pacific City and Tillamook is atrocious.  Some of it is due to geography, but some is just plain neglect.

Speaking of Coos Bay-area things I thought would be done by now:  have they ever signed OR 540 (the Cape Arago Highway)?  As important a tourist road as it is, and since it is now indicated on the official Oregon State Highway map, I would think they'd have put up highway shields on it by now, but it still wasn't marked last summer.

[nexus73]

We have no 3-digit state route signs in this area at this time Xonhulu unless you want to count the old section of US 101 that is now signed as state route 42S.  Turistas have to try to wend their way through North Bend and Coos Bay, using signs with Charleston and/or State Parks as control points to guide them through all the turns.

The Cape Arago Highway used to be numbered as 240 BTW.

My first trip over the part of US 101 from the Pacific City turnoff to where the good road resumes south of Tillamook was in the later 1970's.  "How can they call this a US Highway?" ran through my mind.  The North Coast's neglect is inexcusable, especially given the amount of traffic that comes from PDX/Salem to the coast that turns popular places into traffic jams.  Seaside's NIMBY folks put an end to any talk of a bypass so add in the locals to ODOT for people to blame when you have to deal with that part of 101.

There's a reason I like to drive at night...LOL!

Rick 

[Bickendan]

By the time any upgrades begin to work on US 101 in any appreciable degree, the 10.0 earthquake that Portland's been expecting will have drowned the Oregon Coast with tsunamis, rendering it moot!

...

And will have stranded and killed many potential evacuees because the road was substandard prior to the quake.