First northbound shield for I-795. Photo taken December 16, 2007. I had the chance to check out and clinch the new Interstate 795 this week in North Carolina. With the early sunsets and low sun angle, I almost missed out, but for a preview of the northbound side of the freeway, see our new Interstate 795 guide. And for some photos covering the south end, see U.S. 70 [...]
This past weekend afforded me with the opportunity to check on the status of some upper Gulf Coast road projects related to the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The August 29, 2005 landfall of the historic storm not only devastated the New Orleans and Mississippi coastal area homes and businesses, but also washed out several key stretches of highway infrastructure. Included in the storm's fury was the destruction of the U.S. [...]
Officials hoped to open Interstate 99 on December 2, but a delay in the installation of highway signs pushed that date back to a time between December 12 and 19. When it opens, northbound drivers will be able to seamlessly travel from Bald Eagle to State College Skytop / Port Matilda along new freeway. Southbound drivers however must wait until mid-2008 to fully use the freeway, as crews continue to [...]
It was 1992 when I first noticed large mounds of dirt rising within the cloverleaf ramps of the Interstate 95 interchange with Delaware 7 and then fledgling-Delaware 1. The mounds were created in anticipation of a planned interchange upgrade between the Delaware Turnpike and new SR 1 Turnpike. 15 years later, the mounds remain, covered with vegetation and even a growing tree if I remember correctly. Delaware 1 [...]
I've spent the last 6 weeks or so working through a mammoth backlog going back to 2004 in an effort to update existing pages and create new sections of the website. Now online is a fledgling Michigan page with a handful of photos from our Interstate 80 trip in September 2005 and Carter Buchanan's November 2004 Midwest trip. These trips also represent the bulk of the Ohio updates that now [...]
Interstate 355 (Veterans Memorial Tollway) opens to traffic on Monday November 12, 2007 between Interstates 80 and 55. The 12.5-mile freeway was built in three years after more than 10 years of delays caused by legal and funding issues. The 2005 toll increases throughout the Illinois Tollway network helped pay for completion of the $738 million route that includes a 1.25-mile Des Plaines River Valley bridge, the second longest span in the state. [...]
Denied before, North Carolina again sent their request to add an Interstate designation to a stretch of U.S. 264 and U.S. 117 between Wilson and Goldsboro at the recent AASHTO Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This time, the application was approved. Among the benefits of a new Interstate for Goldsboro, North Carolina, the designation allows trucks exceeding 48 feet in length to legally drive the U.S. 117 freeway between the [...]
Since our friends decided to leave early, we followed suit and made a day out of it on the way back south. Decided on Interstate 89 south to check out the Barre Connectors first, both of which appear as freeways on maps sometimes, but really are expressway-like roads with no private driveways. Vermont 62 spurs east from Exit 7 into northern Barre, complete with a connector leading to U.S. 302. [...]
Spent our final full day in Vermont visiting Burlington and the University of Vermont. As always with this trip, we took convoluted routes to see more of the area. Departing Interstate 89 south via Exit 16 (U.S. 2 & 7), we traveled through Winooski, an old mill town situated along the north banks of the Winooski River. Redevelopment of the downtown area is phenomenal when compared to previous visits in [...]
Lubbock, Texas is a city of about 250,000 smack on the middle of the Caprock - an oil and agricultural rich perfectly flat region in West Texas. The city is also in the process of getting its third freeway, named for retired Texas Tech basketball coach Marsha Sharp. What's the deal with naming freeways after people who are still alive? I thought you weren't supposed to do that. Click any [...]
