Old/Unused Freeway/Interstate Alignments that are still visible today?

[thisdj78]

What are some old freeway/interstate alignments that are still visible today?

The two that come to mind for me are along I-44 in Missouri and Oklahoma:

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=37.936684,-91.949644&spn=0.036961,0.051413&gl=us&ui=maps&t=k&z=14

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=36.177445,-95.740013&spn=0.035888,0.051413&gl=us&ui=maps&t=k&z=14

[Henry]

The abandoned PA Turnpike is another great example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike

[thisdj78]

The abandoned PA Turnpike is another great example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike

Interesting!

On a side note: what a weird intersection for 70/76 at Breezewood, looks like 70 traffic has to drive through town to get on 76.

[1995hoo]

This might be covered by this old thread:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=932.0

The abandoned PA Turnpike is another great example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike

Interesting!

On a side note: what a weird intersection for 70/76 at Breezewood, looks like 70 traffic has to drive through town to get on 76.

[thisdj78]

This might be covered by this old thread:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=932.0

Oops, I did a search for old freeways, old alignments and didnt come across it. Mods can delete if necessary.

The abandoned PA Turnpike is another great example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike

Interesting!

On a side note: what a weird intersection for 70/76 at Breezewood, looks like 70 traffic has to drive through town to get on 76.

Old news?

[leroys73]

Interesting. I thought I was the only strange  dude who was interested in old, unused highways other than US66.  I am glad to know I am not alone. I am old so maybe that is the reason I am interested. But come to think of it I don't remember when I wasn't. Uh, can't remember     Old

[agentsteel53]

I'd be okay at keeping this as a separate thread so that we can review freeways without them getting lost in the endless lists of two-lane old alignments.  I'd expand it slightly to dual-carriageway expressways, since they are still fairly rare and interesting to see.

there is a bit of US-99 expressway in the Grapevine.  one can drive it from the Templin Highway exit up to a barrier, at which point one can walk/bike another 2-3 miles.

there's US-66 expressway in Cajon Pass - two lanes still in use; two lanes have been barricaded off.

[Signal]

Two junctions come to mind.
1. I-295 in Short Pump, VA
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=&ll=37.655481,-77.604815&spn=0.006056,0.011362&fb=1&gl=us&hq=short+pump&cid=0,0,2003172028521955311&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A

2. I-278 in Staten Island, NY
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=&hl=en&ll=40.61019,-74.110433&spn=0.00584,0.011362&t=h&hnear=Staten+Island,+Richmond,+New+York&z=17

3. Then, there is Centralia PA, in which everything is abandoned. The last 10 residents lost their appeal in court and are now being forced to leave. I find the story very interesting. All but a few houses & businesses have been demolished, leaving nothing between the blocks of streets.
http://goo.gl/maps/a0sFH
http://goo.gl/maps/0ddg3
If you look in the trees around it, you can see the outline old streets even more neglected.
http://goo.gl/maps/nTF4a
Then, of course, there is the charred and heavily graffitied abandoned section of PA 61
http://goo.gl/maps/hw0z0

[jp the roadgeek]

Manchester, CT:  I-84 (I-86) used to follow the path of the I-384 to I-84 W ramp. The ramp itself is where the eastbound carriageway used to be, the westbound followed the gap in the trees to the left. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.773872,-72.586327&spn=0.000512,0.338173&t=m&z=12&layer=c&cbll=41.773868,-72.585985&panoid=ZSon5eUnqW2SrM-59lvSHw&cbp=13,90.34,,0,-2.56

Berlin, CT:  Before the section of CT 9 from the Berlin Turnpike to I-91 was completed, CT 72 (as it was then) used to turn a little left here (as shown in the picture) and connect with the frontage road on the left, which is now CT 372.  There was an interchange with the Berlin Turnpike that incorporated the current CT 9 southbound exit 21, the ramp from northbound Berlin turnpike to CT 372, and a ramp slightly north of CT 9 for CT (3)72 east. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.625965,-72.743912&spn=0.055689,0.338173&t=m&z=12&layer=c&cbll=41.625922,-72.74382&panoid=TZPC7WysdSJn5pVJzcyMiw&cbp=11,86.53,,0,0

Plainville, CT: Used to be ramps for Exit 34.  EB from Woodford Ave in the middle where the wide grass strip is. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.670395,-72.841072&spn=0.003478,0.021136&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=41.670395,-72.84107&panoid=sg3e7W-TjuteMu5FtDJHAQ&cbp=11,270,,0,0

[1995hoo]

This might be covered by this old thread:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=932.0

Oops, I did a search for old freeways, old alignments and didnt come across it. Mods can delete if necessary.

Not a big deal. I don't like the idea of "search Nazis" who harp about every old thread. Often whether you find an old thread depends heavily on the search terms you used and the terminology used in the prior thread. The thread I linked says "Abandoned Freeways," for example, whereas you said "Old/Unused." So that's a reason for not finding the old thread. Since I was aware of it, I thought I'd mention it simply as a convenient way of adding more information without having to repeat things I'd said before.

The abandoned PA Turnpike is another great example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike

Interesting!

On a side note: what a weird intersection for 70/76 at Breezewood, looks like 70 traffic has to drive through town to get on 76.

Old news?

Breezewood is rather notorious! The term "breezewood" (with a lowercase "b") is quite common on this forum to denote a place where you connect from one freeway to another via what you might call a "surface street." Another example in Pennsylvania is the connection from I-76 to I-81 (requires use of US-11); an example in Florida is the connection between I-95 and the Turnpike at Fort Pierce, where you have to drive a short distance on FL-70.

[NE2]

Two recent ones near Orlando:

http://openstreetmap.org/?lat=28.55437&lon=-81.27924&zoom=15&layers=M
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.551467,-81.268616&spn=0.028988,0.056691&gl=us&t=k&z=15
408 originally cut the corner at "Frontage Road" to end at 50. Until a couple years ago that roadway remained as two of the ramps at the 408-417 interchange.

http://openstreetmap.org/?lat=28.64973&lon=-81.53836&zoom=15&layers=M
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.648622,-81.538188&spn=0.014481,0.028346&gl=us&t=k&z=16
429 used to cut through the brownfield to 451.

[Alps]

www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/nj_58 - stub of what became I-280 through Newark
www.alpsroads.net/roads/ma/i-95/2.html - former I-95 NB in northern Mass.

[vtk]

Check out the diagonal portion of OH 158 near Kirkersville.  Originally, for a few years in the 60s, it was US 40 and I-70.  There was, at the time, an interchange where it meets the existing US 40.  Then I-70 was extended west to Columbus, and US 40 moved back to the old road, and this diagonal bit of freeway became part of OH 158.  Although no longer smoothly tied in with I-70, this part of OH 158 remained a short freeway with an interchange at US 40 for many more years.  Now only the former eastbound lanes are still in use (as two-way, two-lane OH 158) and only a bit of grading remains from the old interchange at US 40.  Somewhere I've got pictures taken from a bridge over the former freeway.

[mgk920]

There are several bypassed old alignments of autobahns in Germany that are pretty stark, too, especially a couple of lengthy sections of the A4 just east of the former Iron Curtain border crossing that were recently realigned.

Mike

[BrianP]

There are several bypassed old alignments of autobahns in Germany that are pretty stark, too, especially a couple of lengthy sections of the A4 just east of the former Iron Curtain border crossing that were recently realigned.

Mike

I've found a former two lane piece of autobahn in southern Germany on google maps.  It bypasses Gebrazhofen. 

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=47.781126,9.955544&spn=0.022839,0.038581&t=h&z=15

It looks like part of the old highway has been reused as a local bypass of the town. 

[lepidopteran]

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unused_highways and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unused_highways_in_the_United_States

Note that some of the items there need updating.  For example, the 3-level interchange for the Richmond Parkway --> Korean War Veterans Parkway terminus at the Staten Island Expressway (I-278) was finally demolished last year, after standing unused for decades.

What about the infamous "Goat Path" in Lancaster County, PA?

[briantroutman]

I've found a former two lane piece of autobahn in southern Germany on google maps.  It bypasses Gebrazhofen. 

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=47.781126,9.955544&spn=0.022839,0.038581&t=h&z=15

It looks like part of the old highway has been reused as a local bypass of the town.

Interesting.

If you look at the map overlay, it appears they have removed the overpasses at K7905 and K7907. And if you pan off to the East, it appears the BMVBS has actually broken up and removed the pavement beyond the new at-grade intersection with Zollstraße.

Other than in a sensitive natural area or urban space (such as what is happening now with Doyle Drive in the Presidio) can you think of any examples in the US where bypassed rural highway pavement was actually taken out?

[NE2]

Other than in a sensitive natural area or urban space (such as what is happening now with Doyle Drive in the Presidio) can you think of any examples in the US where bypassed rural highway pavement was actually taken out?

The two Orlando-area examples I gave above. Also I-44 in Missouri where the frontage roads remain.

And if you don't need a freeway, there are many cases of realignments, as well as places where the local government has removed pavement to save on costs (most notably parts of old US 10 in ND).

[Alps]

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unused_highways and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unused_highways_in_the_United_States

Note that some of the items there need updating.  For example, the 3-level interchange for the Richmond Parkway --> Korean War Veterans Parkway terminus at the Staten Island Expressway (I-278) was finally demolished last year, after standing unused for decades.

What about the infamous "Goat Path" in Lancaster County, PA?

I haven't been by Staten Island since the demolition - I think the stub still remains to the south, just not the ramp structures themselves. But for both examples - these are not old freeway alignments, they're unbuilt extensions.

[mgk920]

A chunk of the original 1960s-era WI 29 freeway in Chippewa Falls, WI was bypassed in the early '00s' and repurposed as a local street.  It's the part between the interchange an roundabout:

http://goo.gl/maps/erhpZ

Mike

[bugo]

Interesting. I thought I was the only strange  dude who was interested in old, unused highways other than US66.  I am glad to know I am not alone. I am old so maybe that is the reason I am interested. But come to think of it I don't remember when I wasn't. Uh, can't remember     Old

Trust me, you're far from the only person who cares about abandoned highways.  Many if not most of the members of this forum are into abandoned highways.

The abandoned stretch of the Will Rogers Turnpike (I-44) in Catoosa was the showcase of the Tulsa roadmeet I hosted a few years ago.  Unfortunately, the Fart Smock bridge has been demolished.

[3467]

Just to the east of Illinois 50 (Cicero Ave) you can see Railroad tracks that were to be the ROW of the Crosstown Expressway. It was to be a huge 8 lane project with a city in the median but its later version was some sort of 4 lane rout that could fit in that ROW so that is why some thought about doing something keeps coming up and some sort of project exists in the MPO plan just in case
You can see the ROW for part of the Elgin Ohare and IL 53 but those will be built.
In its more visionary days IDOT bought a 4 lane ROW when it rebuilt a 2 lane . You can see it on US 34 near Galesburg and parts of US 50. There are of course tons of the old replaced 2 lanes

[KEVIN_224]

Are we talking IL Route 50 (South Cicero Avenue) by the Bedford Park city line, a few blocks south of Midway Airport (MDW)? I've walked over a huge railroad bridge in that area a couple of times.

[3467]

You are thinking of the big overpass on IL 50. That is just south of where the crosstown would have turned east. The old and still current ROW is just to the east of Cicero. If you use Google Maps satellite you can go to say IL 50 and the I-290 and looks about 2 to 4 blocks east and you can see it. It looks like it is being used partially by the Railroad now

[NE2]

I'm confused. Those railroads have been there for many decades.