A non-roadgeek's road photos across America, 2010-

[wphiii]

There are some spots near here (and possibly one along 130 real close by) where, if you can see between the trees (or there is a clearing), and it's a nice crisp, clear day, you can see the USX & Mellon Towers on the horizon (and even more downtown Pittsburgh buildings if you have binoculars).

I've always found this moment to be fairly breathtaking, you burst out of the woods and suddenly there's quite an expansive view ahead. I don't recall ever having noticed seeing the skyscrapers from here (though I wouldn't have been keeping an eye out for them), but it strikes me as a spot where it might be possible, if anywhere along 130 is.

[wphiii]

Thanks in no small part to El Niño, the weather in much of the northeastern U.S. has remained passable long past the usual seasonal sell-by date. A mild and dry forecast gives me the itchiest of feet, and I've been lucky to sneak away for two separate spur of the moment pick-a-direction-and-go day trips over the past month-plus.


PA 68 through the hamlet of East Brady



PA 59 crossing the confluence of Kinzua Creek and the Allegheny Reservoir



This really has nothing to do with roads, but I just wanted to plug Kinzua Bridge State Park because it's got to be one of the coolest and most unheralded public spaces in this part of the country. In short, a 100-year-and-change-old railroad bridge was destroyed by a tornado a little over a decade ago and rather than do something silly like clean up the resulting mess, PA DCNR decided to leave it as is and let people wander amongst the wreckage at their leisure. Must-see for anyone who happens to find themselves on the PA Northern Tier at some point.



PA 120, arguably the state's "loneliest road" as it traverses the physiographic region called "The Deep Valleys."



PA 120 entering Renovo, a town so lost it didn't even have cell service until 2011.

[wphiii]

Hancock Ave (PA 66 Alt) through the old company town of Vandergrift



Coming down PA 66 towards the outskirts of Kittanning and the U.S. 422/PA 28 bridge.



Split-level portion of U.S. 219 north of Ridgway, PA



Another non-road plug of a (somewhat more renowned) must-see state park, Letchworth in New York. This trestle over the Upper Falls of the Genesee River is 140 years old and is slated to be demolished in the very near future as Norfolk Southern builds a new span.



Losing light on NY 242



Road sign art outside the PennDOT office in Meadville


Bonus footage - last weekend as I was driving home from DC, I was treated to a rarely amazing sunset along I-70 in Maryland:

[vdeane]

Another non-road plug of a (somewhat more renowned) must-see state park, Letchworth in New York. This trestle over the Upper Falls of the Genesee River is 140 years old and is slated to be demolished in the very near future as Norfolk Southern builds a new span.

Very near is right.  It starts going down this Thursday.

[wphiii]

Very near is right.  It starts going down this Thursday.

Wow, I just made it. I read it was offered to be turned over to the State but the State didn't want to deal with it, which is a shame because if made appropriately safe it could have made for an awesome overlook/easier means for crossing between the trails on opposite sides of the gorge.

[Mr_Northside]

I've always found this moment to be fairly breathtaking, you burst out of the woods and suddenly there's quite an expansive view ahead. I don't recall ever having noticed seeing the skyscrapers from here (though I wouldn't have been keeping an eye out for them), but it strikes me as a spot where it might be possible, if anywhere along 130 is.

Once you're that far down off the ridge (even though your still high up enough for that view), you're too low to see downtown PGH.  It's up higher in the wooded section (so you have to peer thru the trees).  You can also see the taller buildings from the top of Three Mile Hill on PA-31 as well.



I've been meaning to check out the Kinzua Bridge SP ever since the tornado.
I'd been up there and walked across the bridge a couple of times before it was destroyed, but just haven't been that far north since.

[Pete from Boston]

I've always found this moment to be fairly breathtaking, you burst out of the woods and suddenly there's quite an expansive view ahead. I don't recall ever having noticed seeing the skyscrapers from here (though I wouldn't have been keeping an eye out for them), but it strikes me as a spot where it might be possible, if anywhere along 130 is.

Once you're that far down off the ridge (even though your still high up enough for that view), you're too low to see downtown PGH.  It's up higher in the wooded section (so you have to peer thru the trees).  You can also see the taller buildings from the top of Three Mile Hill on PA-31 as well.



I've been meaning to check out the Kinzua Bridge SP ever since the tornado.
I'd been up there and walked across the bridge a couple of times before it was destroyed, but just haven't been that far north since.

I've been there twice, but still haven't walked across the valley floor.  I am filled with awe and dread there, though less so now that the park interpretive program has shifted to embrace the destruction. 

[wphiii]

I've been there twice, but still haven't walked across the valley floor.  I am filled with awe and dread there, though less so now that the park interpretive program has shifted to embrace the destruction.

I was frankly astonished that there's basically no restriction on where people can walk around. I could have spent another hour or two there but didn't want to run out of daylight with that much driving left to do.

[D-Dey65]

Very near is right.  It starts going down this Thursday.

Wow, I just made it. I read it was offered to be turned over to the State but the State didn't want to deal with it, which is a shame because if made appropriately safe it could have made for an awesome overlook/easier means for crossing between the trails on opposite sides of the gorge.

Could you still grab the railings without the risk of them breaking off in your hands?

And I thought I was on shaky ground walking on the turntable of Greenport LIRR station back in September.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greenport_Freight_House_from_Turntable-3.JPG
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greenport_Turntable-3.JPG

[empirestate]

Another non-road plug of a (somewhat more renowned) must-see state park, Letchworth in New York. This trestle over the Upper Falls of the Genesee River is 140 years old and is slated to be demolished in the very near future as Norfolk Southern builds a new span.

Very near is right.  It starts going down this Thursday.

Wow, I had no idea that was happening! I remember discovering the scary way that the bridge was still in use. Rather a Stand By Me moment, if you can imagine...

[wphiii]

It hardly even feels like we had a winter this year; while the larger-scale ramifications of this may be cause for some concern, I'm not going to complain about how easy it's made it to stay on the road over the past few months.


Main St, Akron (1/16)



OH 39 through Amish country (1/16)



OH 39 still, in the vicinity of Mechanicstown (1/16)



5th St, East Liverpool, OH (1/16)



I don't think it gets much more Pittsburgh than this view down Itin St (2/16)



PA 286 through quaint Saltsburg (2/16)



PA 253/453 somewhere in Clearfield County (2/16)

[wphiii]

And then this past weekend, having to drive my roommate to the airport at 6 a.m. inspired me to seize the day and just keep driving. Completely traversed West Virginia and ended up in DC 15 hours later, it turned out to honestly be one of my favorite insane day drives ever.



Foggy Pennsylvania Ave in Monaca, PA



WV 2 through Weirton passes right through the middle of the old Weirton Steel plant, which is now operates at like 1/6 of its former capacity



The Market St Bridge across the Ohio into Steubenville in the fog



WV 2 through downtown Wheeling



Main St on the south side of Wheeling, with the I-470 bridge in the distance



There is a Hare Krishna temple in the middle of nowhere in Marshall County, WV, viewed here from McCreary's Ridge Rd



U.S. 250, starting to really feel like West by-God Virginia



Yup



U.S. 119 constituting Morgantown's High St



WV 32 descending into the Canaan Valley



U.S. 33 approaching the Seneca Rocks



More U.S. 33



Finally out of the mountains and into the Shenandoah Valley, ridgeline of Massanutten in the background



U.S. 33 through Harrisonburg, VA



Saturday night on I-395 heading into DC



Soup-like fog on PA 160 on the way home Sunday afternoon

[kkt]

Thanks for posting the pics!  Far too much of my driving is city crawling and I-5.

[wphiii]

Big dump! From the last seven months' worth of driving.


U.S. 22 eastbound, approaching the back side of the Allegheny Front (5/16)



U.S. 22 descending into Altoona (5/16)



Coming into Downtown Scranton on the Scranton Expressway (5/16)



Spruce St, Downtown Scranton (5/16)



Philadelphia skyline from the western end of the Ben Franklin Bridge (5/16)



Storm clouds over Blue Mountain and the PA Turnpike near Carlisle (5/16)

[wphiii]

WV 218 through the patch town of Idamay (7/16)



U.S. 119 entering Grafton, WV (7/16)



U.S. 119 (Main St), Grafton (7/16)



Corridor H westbound near Elkins, WV (7/16)



Drawbridge in Milwaukee where the entire section of road just raises up - I don't remember ever having seen one like this before, as opposed to the ones that part in the middle and incline (7/16)

[wphiii]

Rainy Pittsburgh from I-376 (10/16)



PA 844 in West Middletown (10/16)



Expansive vista from PA 231 (10/16)



Putnam St, Marietta, OH (10/16)



OH 833 following the Ohio River towards Pomeroy (10/16)



U.S. 33 bridge over the Ohio River (10/16)



U.S. 50 somewhere in Ritchie County, WV (10/16)

[wphiii]

PA 31 at the top of Three Mile Hill in Westmoreland County, facing west - note that you can pick out the U.S. Steel Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on the horizon, roughly 30 miles away (10/16)



I-270 and the lights of Frederick at twilight (10/16)



The constellation of Uniontown from U.S. 40 atop Chestnut Ridge (10/16)



PA 136 through West Newton at night (10/16)



Following Rondout Creek on Peekamoose Rd in the back woods of the Catskills (10/16)



NY 214 through the Catskills, snow in the upper reaches of the mountains (10/16)



Tannersville had gotten some snow (10/16)



NY 23A, hiking along the shoulder to get to the Kaaterskill Falls trailhead (10/16)

[wphiii]

U.S. 9 through Lake George, NY on a brisk, quiet morning (10/16)



NY 9N near Ticonderoga (10/16)



Montcalm St crossing La Chute River into Ticonderoga (10/16)



NY 22 southbound (10/16)



More NY 22 (10/16)



Lincoln Highway (U.S. 30) west of Gettysburg, PA (10/16)



Lincoln Highway again (10/16)



PA 31, the Glades Pike (10/16)



Glades Pike still (10/16)