America's Abandoned Freeways
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 чер 2023
- Go to strms.net/factor75_beavergeog... and use code FACTORSE37015 for my special Factor75 discount and to support my channel! #ad
✵ America's Abandoned Freeways
strms.net/factor75_beavergeog...
for 50% off your first box and 20% off the next 4!
✵ Today we're talking about America's various abandoned Freeways and the stories behind them.
✵ Help Out The Channel And Become A Member With Awesome Perks!
/ beavergeography
✵ Socials:
Discord Server: / discord
Twitter: / beavergeography
Shorts Channels: / @beavergeographyshorts
Minecraft Channel: / beaverman1
TikTok: / beaver_geography
✵ Contact Me!
beavergeography@gmail.com
✵ Thumbnail Maker:
/ @bradwhitegolf
/ bradwhitegolf
strms.net/factor75_beavergeography
for 50% off your first box and 20% off the next 4!
live viewer retention graph reaction
If you ever plan to make a part 2, you should talk about the abandoned sections of Pensilvania Turnpike
Yeah I’m through that area a lot it’s really cool
I visited the abandoned PA Turnpike tunnel near Breezewood, PA last summer. It was very cool and people can even walk thru the mile long tunnel.
@@gannon3816 Tunnel is spooky being so long and you can't see the exit until you are a ways down it.
The Abandoned Turnpike was actually used to film the movie The Road, based on a novel of the same name.
Valley Forge expressway in Bridgeport PA south east of Norristown. Was that going to be a turnpike feeder or a toll section?
One famous abandoned freeway is a segment of I-70 in Baltimore. Originally it was supposed to connect downtown with I-695, the westside beltway, and a 2.3-mile stretch was built near downtown as a depresssed roadway; this has been marked at times as both I-170 and US-40, and there are plans to demolish it. Out by the beltway a short portion was built eastward but this now dead-ends at a park-&-ride lot and I-70 effectively ends at the beltway interchange.
I remember there was a "ramp from nowhere" (elevated ramp) merging into I-95 Southbound. That was going to be the on-ramp from I-70 to I-95 South.
@@scottdowney4865 they tore it down and made it into parking for the west Baltimore train station
Also In Tulsa, the DOT decided to create an interstate along the eastern bank of the Arkansas River to link DT and suburbs to the north and east with I-44. It ran into an extremely wealthy subdivision of old money who got a temporary injunction. Undeterred the DOT continued to build and actually completed a bridge. The Money won and this bridge is the middle of nowhere saving the subdivision and a riverside parkway that is 6 miles long on both banks of the river and a parkway used by thousands of people a week.
It's insane how much you guys destroyed Tulsa '-'
talking about the bridge at the north end of riverside?
You could probably do an entire video just on the abandoned portions of the Overseas Highway in the Florida keys, including the abandoned 7 Mile bridge and the Bahia Honda bridge.
Please do this video!!!
Interstate 93 in Boston has a little abandoned piece you’re able to see on the lower deck traveling southbound. I believe it was originally going to be an inner city belt loop that luckily never happened. There may be other parts too that could’ve been intended for I-95 proposal of going directly through Boston where US-1 is rather than further around
Yes, I believe it was going to be called 695.
Yes o was going to mention that as well. You can also see ramp stubs at the route 60/Route 1 interchange north of Chelsea for what was suppose to be the Northwest expressway (I-95) and you can s as also see it in Westwood at the 95/93 interchange for the south west expressway (I-95). New England is full of Avon done highways as a number of freeway revolts happened there.
The Inner Belt was to be I-695. Its radial connections that were not completed were state route 2, and the southwestern expressway section of I-95. The northeast expressway section through Saugus Marsh was graded but not completed and the Lynn Woods section was cancelled. Given the traffic loads, it would have been beneficial if all of Bostons programmed sections had been completed. The central artery could have been rebuilt and depressed earlier, perhaps mid seventies, when the waterfront was decrepit and the cost would have been far less.
There is an abandoned section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Breezewood. They by passed a tunnel that was one lane in each direction. It was decided to be cheaper to reroute than boring another tunnel.
If I remember correctly. When you take the exit for US 30, the ramp goes past where the road used to travel through. You can see it from the ramp. There is also an abandoned travel plaza a few miles away on the abandoned section.
Another big one in Illinois is the Elgin-O’hare Expressway. They eventually renamed it to IL Route 390 because it didn’t take you to Elgin OR O’Hare…
They’re finally extending 390 to O’Hare but I don’t think it’ll ever go to Elgin
It's possible they extend the road west but only a few county highways to the west because route 20 interchange is a nightmare during rush hours.
The funniest part of the Elgin-O'Hare is that it never reached either destination.
And now we're left with a toll go brrr highway
Ayd Mill Road in St. Paul, MN, formerly "Short Line Highway" because it parallels a railroad track called "The Short Line" between St. Paul and Minneapolis, has often been proposed as a feeder highway off of I-35E, and even a direct connection to I-94. Although the divided highway is grade-separated from the streets, it is mostly accessed by little two-way access ramps, with an at-grade intersection on both Ayd Mill Road and the street to which it connects. It is one of at least three "Roads to Nowhere" in St. Paul that are so disconnected from major highways that they only serve local needs, having fallen out of state highway planning decades ago.
As a Southern California native I feel like I'm obligated to nominate the I-710 gap between Alhambra and Pasadena but, since someone else already did, I'm going to offer up two others:
-The CA Route 2 stub that was supposed to plow through Silver Lake, interchange with U.S. 101 in East Hollywood (hence the big separation between the northbound and southbound roadways of that freeway between the Virgil and Melrose overpasses), and continue west toward Santa Monica as the Beverly Hills Freeway.
-CA Route 126 between I-5 and CA Route 14, which would have roughly followed the path of Newhall Ranch Road and the Santa Clara River to the area of the Via Princessa interchange with SR-14. The elaborate flyovers for the NB 14 to Sierra Highway offramp and Sierra Highway to SB 14 onramp were clearly built to be transition roads to and from the never-built 126 freeway, while a lot of the grading for the EB 126 to NB 14 and SB 14 to WB 126 ramps is still visible.
In New Orleans, there was a plan to build an elevated riverfront freeway between the French Quarter and the River. The proposal might have come from Robert Moses. The public quickly decided such a monstrosity would be an eyesore in an important tourist and heritage setting, so it died. But some of it was built - underground. A convention center, called Rivergate, was built in the 1960s. As a convention center, Rivergate was made obsolete by a much larger complex, so the site was redeveloped - as a casino, appropriately - in the 1980s. But, in the basement of Rivergate a segment of the freeway was built, and is still under the casino (operated by Harrah's today). It is used for parking and storage. About 10 years ago, a "temporary bulkhead" built of wood in anticipation of the future extension of the freeway collapsed, creating a sinkhole in the middle of Canal Street. I recall plans to rebuild that bulkhead with permanent materials. Canal Street has been repaired, no worse for the wear, so that was probably completed.
In the suburbs of Jefferson Parish, west of New Orleans, a freeway was built with plans to extend to the international airport. Called Earhart Freeway or Earhart Extension, it followed a disused railroad corridor to a nondescript spot. It sat for decades waiting for extension until the 20-teens, when a new plan was developed to connect it to Airline Highway, the original connection from the City to the Airport. Somehow - but in Louisiana, it's unsurprising - these plans were developed despite the construction of a new airport passenger terminal on the I-10 side of the airport property and the abandonment of the old terminal on Airline Highway. I first heard about the renewed interest in this project about ten years ago, but in the absence of any right-of-way clearing in that time, I suspect this project is dead, again.
In eastern New Orleans, three cloverleaf interchanges were built with the original I-10 construction in anticipation of future private development. This was done, in Louisiana style, in apparent ignorance of plans to designate the surrounding land as a protected wetland and wildlife refuge, making it off-limits for future private development. So, today, one interchange is open, but greatly underused, and the other two are gradually being reclaimed by the swamp.
There is a bridge over the Mississippi River near the town of White Castle. For decades, that bridge would have been a great subject for this series, because it had no approaches - again, Louisiana-style - and, traffic couldn't get to the bridge. But some time ago, the approaches were completed, making this bridge useful.
Oh my lord google please reduce the characters limit on youtube and this has been pissing me off for years and I'm not rude to people that post comments this long
@@alexthemtaandr211weatherfa2 tl:dr
@@jakurdadov6375s you agree with me with Google needs to decrease the characters limit.
I-95 was supposed to go through downtown Washington, DC, but now uses the eastbound half of I-495, the Capital Beltway, instead. The southern half of I-95 inside the Beltway was built well before the Interstate system existed as the Shirley Highway, and it is now I-395. The road was extended thru the city, including a tunnel in front of the Capitol Building, but it was stopped just north of there and the portion connecting it with the northside Beltway was never built.
The same thing happened in Boston.
I-380 in San Bruno, California (just south of San Francisco) was slated to extend west from its current terminus at I-280 to Highway 1. That part wasn't built but the ramps through the I-380/I-280 interchange were, including some pretty beefy bridges over the I-280 south to I-380 east ramp that were to carry the I-380 mainline. Today, the whole site is used for Caltrans equipment storage.
Fun fact: This site were on (UA-cam) is headquartered just to the southeast of the I-380/I-280 interchange.
I380 in the SF Bay Area was originally supposed to be extended all the way to the coast. It currently splits into north and southbound I280, but there’s still a small stub of constructed roadway that’s used for CalTrans storage and, onc3 in a great while, as a hiding spot for CHP to watch for speeders from southbound 280 ro eastbound 380.
Also, following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the I-480 spur was finally closed (it'd suffered damage, and calls for its closure and demolition had been made since it'd opened), and the demolition work was completed by 1998. There had also been proposed much more extensive freeways through the City going back to the 1940s, which explains the strange I-280 parallel alignment, just east of US 101, until they intersect and 280 crosses the City near its southern border, crossing finally into Daly City and going down the Peninsula through the foothills. That was only possible in the late 1950s because much of the Peninsula was still a string of small towns along the Bayshore, with a great deal of fruit orchards and much CHEAPER real estate. There's NO WAY it could ever be built again with today's Bay Area RE prices!
@selfdo Actually, 280s alignment is not strange at all. Is was built as a replacement to State Route 82. 82 still exists. It is known as El Camino Real. In SF, it becomes Mission St. The SF portion of 280 follows an abandon rail line.
Btw in Houston there is a failed freeway expansion project of hwy 225 which is a highway that exists to serve both cities such as Pasadena and deer park but was to extend all the way to downtown Houston but a freeway revolt left the freeway ending westbound onto residential roads with a noticeable ramp stud and mounds that are evidence of a planned hwy 225 expansion known by planners as the “Harrisburg freeway”.
Part 2? With all the pork highway projects over the last 125 years, you probably can make 249 more parts and still only do the top layer of pavement.
Not on the abandoned topic, but one very interesting highway is the BQE in NYC (the interstate route escapes at the moment). The story about that could give you an hour, and still only go into a brief history. (Never mind the beloved/loathed Robert Moses!) It might be too NYC centric for the rest of the audience, which is understandable.
It could be a "future-long-run-maybe-one-day" episode 😂
The BQE is I 278
@@elbarto4394 thanks! 👍
You can't make a highway that's made out of pork 😊
Old Hwy 98 in Wake Forest, NC is pretty interesting. A bunch of the old highway left over just goes through very haunting parts of the woods. When they flooded the area to create Falls Lake a lot of the highway ended up completely submerged so there are parts where you can see the road just go straight into the water.
I would love to see a history of the US-31/I-196/I-94 interchange in SW Michigan, and how an endangered species prevented its completion.
I just drove on that section earlier today and figured out that it took 30 to 40 years to build 20 miles of road. I remember the road ending at around exit 3 when I was a kid and is now joins I-94 at something like exit 25 or so. I think they've finished as much as they ever will now.
It's finished now, but not with the originally planned configuration. There's no abandoned stretch anymore.
The completed interchange isn't interstate standard, though, so it's one of several impediments to creating I-67.
These abandoned freeways are lost and confused. Won’t you find it in your heart to consider adopting a highway?
A suggestion for if/when you do a part 2: Connecticut's Route 11. It gets nicknamed 'Route 5.5' because it was only half built. There's a longer story behind that.
Excellent observation with IL-6's proposal for becoming a northern shortcut from Interstate 80 to Peoria. Not only would it assist the traffic but also potential growth. As an arterial cartographer, I know basic roadmaps of the United States need major shortcuts to cities, which involve the interstates partially or not at all. That shortcut, if it existed would be mapped, and would draw more people to Peoria, seeing it wouldn't be so much an isolated metro.
P. S. For Part 2, would you consider Interstate 76 in the Appalachian Mountains? There are several sections which were abandoned, due to iteration. The largest stretch is from Breezewood to Hustontown, Pennsylvania. It even includes abandoned tunnels. Although no longer in use for car travel, it became a biking trail.
One of my favorites is GA-166 in south Atlanta it was supposed to be I-420 but it was only partially finished, and there is a ghost interchange on the east end.
The Lakewood Freeway!
While everyone is talking about the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike, there is PA Route 23 that stretches from Lancaster to US Route 1 (City Line Ave.) in Bala Cynwyd (Montgomery County side of US Route 1). Two highways, the famed "Goat Path" in Lancaster County, would have seen an east-west highway from Lancaster, via US Route 30 to New Holland, while in King of Prussia (Upper Merion Township), the Schuylkill Parkway would have connected US 202 in Bridgeport, PA with US 422 near Valley Forge; only a small "highway to nowhere" was completed and the roadway abruptly terminates near the Dannehower Bridge (US Route 202 South) that crosses over the Schuylkill River.
This, IMO, is one of the most idiotic abandonments as the PA 23 expressway was mostly complete IIRC. It was graded but hadn't yet been paved.
Unfortunately, not surprising. It almost seems like a perverse competition to see if PennDOT or the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) can get the most high level officials sent to prison for corruption. I was born and raised in PA so I know a lot of this first hand.
Check out the abandoned I-755 in St. Louis. The proposed distributor would have completed the intended connections around downtown, but it was met with fierce resistance due to the sheer volume of buildings torn down during the first phase of interstate construction. Now there's only a huge looping interchange to nowhere at I-55 & I-44 and interstates that don't connect to each other. There's a good article by nextstl written in 2015, but it's dated now as the large I-64 future interchange was officially abandoned and the ramps torn down to make way for the soccer stadium.
Not an interstate per se, but a fascinating abandoned highway is the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan, IL. It was supposed to be a lake front highway connecting several north shore suburbs. Waukegan built their portion, but nobody else did. So now there’s this 2 mile stretch of interstate level expressway that runs along downtown Waukegan.
It hasn’t gone to total waste as numerous movies have used the stretch to shoot highway scenes (Blues Brothers, Groundhog Day, Batman Begins).
In Essex County in Massachusetts there's an abandoned freeway next to I-95 near a side street called Old Scotland Road. It was the original stretch of freeway when the state abandoned it and built the present 8 lane I-95 on a new alignment. The old highway is now used as a maintenance yard or a road pavement marking test ground.
As a child growing up in north-eastern Ontario, long trips always involved me staring out my window finding previous incantations of the current highway built in the 20's, 30's and 40's hidden in the landscape. Back then the highways had to follow the contours of the Canadian Shield. But in the 50's onward, a lot of dynamite was used to blast through the pre-Cambrian rock to make travel easier and faster. But the old roads, and sometimes even houses that used to be alongside it, are still there.
For Part 2, you could discuss I-291 in Connecticut. There is a partially abandoned 4 stack interchange in Farmington that is kind of cool (or creepy). There are also a couple of ramp stubs off of I-84 in Hartford (Specifically Exit 46, Sisson Ave). Thanks for covering I-189, it's nice to hear about my own state once in a while as we are so often overlooked.
that bridge in east st louis is such a good highlight of the mismanagement of the city/state govt versus missouri. Missouri has an asset management program for bridges, meaning that elevated bridge would have been re-purposed for an applicable location in the metro. But because its the illinois side its destined to just sit and rot.
Michigan used to have a big ghost interchange at US-31 and Napier Ave in Benton Harbor. The connection to I-94 was finally completed in Nov 2022. In Indianapolis, there were abandoned ramps on the North Split (I-65/70) that were intended to be used for the 'Northeast Freeway' or I-169. That project was never built, and the ramps were demolished last year.
You forgot to add the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan Illinois. It's about 2 miles long and famous for being the filming site of the police chase scene in Batman Begins.
You missed a chance to mention the worlds tallest filing cabinet in Burlington, VT, built as a sculpture to hold all the lawsuits related to the Champlain Parkway b
Here are a few you could maybe explore in the future:
- Both ends of NY SR 135 (Seaford Oyster Bay Expy) in long Island NY
- Multiple abandoned sections of the PA Turnpike (though that was before the interstate system)
- i-95 at the i-95/i-93 interchange in Canton MA
as a kid, I recall the Seaford / OB expressway being started around 1963.... and we'd ride out bikes on it during weekends when nobody was around.
You should do the partially abandoned stack interchange in Farmington Connecticut on I-84. It’s huge and one whole side was never used
Texas 225 in Houston goes west from a stack interchange at I-610 as a stub road originally intended to be the Harrisburg Freeway into downtown Houston. It ends shortly after the ramps from 610 end and the frontage roads go less than a mile.
Wait, that last St. Louis bridge used to be open to vehicle traffic? Drove by it all the time, just assumed it was all for train traffic and was just excessively big.
I think a few interesting ones for part 2 would be interstate 70 west of Baltimore abandoned cloverleaf interchange, interstate 84 stack interchang(1 fourth abandoned) in Ct, route 11 abandoned bridges and blown up mountains in Ct, abandoned route 57 exit in Springfield mass, the end of 495 in long island( probably original route to connect Long Island to Boston) but I think there needs to be another video on Ct alone due to its high ambitions towards highways and all of the unfinished infrastructure still around today
CT could easily fill several videos, just 11 alone could be a video.
I'm still trying to understand how you don't realize that a rock cut will sink the budget before you finish blasting. Because they terminated the highway before the cut it seems like they should have simply not done the cut.
I understand that you can't know exactly what the rocks are in advance, but you can get some good estimates and blasting takes time so it should he possible to determine the full cost before it finishes so you can call it off and save some money for getting the same final product. (A highway to "nowhere")
@@jasonreed7522 I've heard from my dad who grew up in Connecticut that Route 11 was going to go through a sacred place for the Mohegans, one of the two federal nations in Connecticut.
MA 57 is actually in my hometown of Agawam and that is a pretty good story to tell. Not too mention, the town bought the houses down the road from my parents house because 57 was supposed to go through there and now they are sitting abandoned. This project has been going on since the 1960’s and they only managed to get it to 187 when that section opened in 1995.
495 on Long Island at one time was actually planned to connect properly to its parent, 95, at both ends. The cross Manhattan expressway was to carry it through the island of Manhattan. The north fork extension out on Long Island was the programmed path towards a projected Sound crossing to Connecticut.
Former resident of Hennepin here. I don't know if I'd say 180 is completely abandoned; it's still the best route for Putnam County's 5,000 or so residents to access Princeton, which is 1 of 2 small cities with a good grocery store, the other option being LaSalle-Peru. Every time I've driven it recently, it's been quiet, but not abandoned. It should also be noted it would be quite a ways to get across the river if it weren't for I-180.
Several UA-camrs have mentioned the San Mateo Peninsula's I-380, so I'll go to the East Bay and mention the Foothill Freeway. You can see obvious signs of the beginning of a freeway in both Hayward and Fremont, and looking at a map, they could potentially match up. That was indeed the intent. Whether due to problems with eminent domain, developers building over the freeway route, lawsuits from environmentalist wackos, or the State of California running out of money, nothing was done to the Foothill Freeway since the late 1960s. It's likely to never be built.
You nailed it with saying Central Illinois has weird road infrastructure. I live in the area. There is a neat little abandoned interchange north of Decatur on I-72, where I-39 was supposed to connect into I-72. The project was abandoned due to public outcry. The area where the interchange was supposed to be is now a sort of forested area, with 3 lanes of traffic and a larger shoulder due to the interchange not being finished.
US219 from Buffalo to Salamanca. Expressway part ends just south of Springville in a phantom interchange. I remember seeing signs to "The Bridge To Nowhere" when I was making trips to Virginia.
Please do I-687 in part 2!
I love seeing all the vestiges of what was supposed to be in Albany NY. Especially how the Dunn Memorial bridge just suddenly ends, or how on Google maps you can see where Route 9 heading into Albany was starting when the project was abandoned.
My favourite abandoned freeway is the Goat Path in Lancaster, PA.
I will admit tho, the former Route 66 bridge in East St. Louis plus the fact that it's a railroad bridge makes it all the better, it looks cool while crossing the Poplar
A couple of obvious ones: the abandoned 710 project between Pasadena and Alhambra, CA, and in Sacramento, a segment of freeway that was converted into a light rail station…
I was going to mention this too.
US 11/15 has an interchange with US 522 near Selinsgrove, PA. The highway was supposed to continue on but it was abandoned but the exit sign is still up where your forced to go and the road that was supposed to continue is covered in spilled paint
@beavergeography
why’d you un-highlight my comment
@@noahcappabianco1032Penndot is in the process of obtaining right-of-way for route 11/15 past the interchange with 522. When that stretch of highway is finished it's supposed to connect with the interchange of PA 147 and US 15 and complete the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway
In Atlanta, there was supposed to be another north-south freeway paralleling I-75/85. If you look at a map of the city, it was supposed to connect GA-400 to the north with I-675 to the south. What is now Freedom Parkway was supposed to connect to this road as I-485. In fact, that road was supposed to continue east to connect with the Stone Mountain Freeway.
There is a portion of below-grade highway through West Baltimore that was built to connect I70 (which terminates at the west side of the Baltimore Beltway) to I95 near the Baltimore Harbor. The project was abandoned, leaving this section of highway to exist as a fast route between Downtown Baltimore and the West Baltimore neighborhood of Edmonson Village. When it was built, dozens of neighborhoods through West Baltimore were cut in half causing a great deal or turmoil and grief. Rumor is the abandoned highway is going to be destroyed and reclaimed by the neighborhoods. You know, using all the extra money Baltimore has laying around.
Peorian here, and I like your work. Here's some additional information about Route 6 and I-180...
What you said about I-180 is 100% accurate. It's not entirely useless, as there are small communities besides Hennepin on the north side of the metro area that use it to access I-80 directly instead of driving the back roads to get to I-39 to go north, and then exiting to I-80 to go to Chicago. It should probably be stripped of it's shielding and simply serve as a continuation of state route 29, but then the state would pay to maintain it solely; I suspect it remains part of the Interstate system so it still receives some federal funding.
Route 6 ends in Mossville, just short of the Caterpillar plant. There may have been plans to extend I-180 all the way down at some point, but it doesn't stop there (literally and figuratively speaking). You made the tongue and cheek comment that "it's Illinois, and things just don't work." In this particular case, the lack of continuation of Route 6 is entirely democracy working as it should. There have been many proposals to continue Route 6 and shoot it across the Illinois River on the north side of the metro area. It would then pass through the some of the northeastern towns like Metamora, Germantown Hills, etc... until it would eventually connect to the I-474 bypass. The finished Route 6 would then be shielded I-474, and I-474 would be turned into a ring road/beltway. A highway spur could then be used to shoot northeast from the beltway to I-55, I-80, or I-39 that would allow us to go directly to Chicago.
There have been a few incarnations of this plan and every time it's proposed people within the communities and the state legislature complain and shut it down for various reasons. They call it waste of money, say it would destroy the economies of the small towns, claiming it wouldn't be used very much, etc... (Some of these people then go on to complain later in the conversation because there's no good way to get across the river on the north side of the metro area unless you come south directly to Peoria, or go extreme north to the Village of Lacon, but I digress.) It is democracy at work, it's just people voting to their detriment or benefit, depending on your own perspective. Some of us think a beltway with a spur could be useful, but honestly we already have a corridor to Chicago. I-74, which goes directly through Peoria, connects to I-39 and I-55 in Bloomington/Normal (which is not that far). A beltway, or beltway with a spur wouldn't really shave that much time off the trip. So in a way it would be a lot of money spent for no good reason.
Another one that comes to mind even tho it’s not an interstate is US 31 in Michigan. It used to come to a sudden end where all freeway traffic ends at napier ave . After 20 years they finally completed the end of it where it was originally supposed to connect with I 94 and I196. Finally got completed November 2022. It used to literally just come to a sudden hault where all traffic was forced to end. All because of a butterfly 😂. I’m glad it’s finally complete tho
Actually the original intent of US 31 was to connect directly with I-196 with a couple of ramps going to where it presently goes. The route completed WAS one of the alternatives, so you're right about things being completed.
Route 252 in California is an interesting one. It was intended to serve as a short connector through National City between I-5 and I-805 (running from the Wabash Blvd, now SR 15 interchange east to I-805). The only constructed portion was the interchange with I-805, which today serves 43rd St. The freeway was objected to by San Diegans, but National City (or at least their transportation officials) wanted the freeway to alleviate congestion on their roads. A lawsuit occurred over the issue, and San Diego was obliged to pay National City for road improvements on their behalf in exchange for the freeway not being built. The original intent is obvious in multiple areas:
- The I-805 interchange is obviously built in freeway-to-freeway style, plus a rather wide right-of-way at the intersection with 43rd St.
- On a column at the interchange in the median for the I-805 NB to 252 WB, there reads text saying "JCT LT LNS 252", a clear reference to the old route.
- The I-5/SR 15 interchange has its ramps spaced out far and wide, evidently to make room for SR 252's ramps.
If one goes to the right time frame on Google Earth (90s might be good? Not 100% sure), the right-of-way where the freeway was supposed to go will be much clearer than the same area today.
There were a couple other cancelled freeways in San Diego as well. One was SR 171 (whose remnants are much less clear, but still implied at the Pershing Dr interchange with I-5), which was supposed to run from downtown San Diego through Switzer Canyon to I-805 near the modern interchange with SR 15. This had especially strong objection from locals, and the freeway was (thankfully) never built. SR 157, meanwhile, was supposed to travel from a point near the I-805/SR 94 interchange to the SR 54/SR 125 interchange. This freeway was soon seen as irrelevant to future needs, and no physical remains of SR 157 exist to my knowledge.
not sure if you mentioned it in a previous video, but I-990 in buffalo ny is a 5 mile spur route that basically only serves a college about a quarter mile from the I-290 interchange, before ending at millersport highway. there, it has a couple hundred feet of unused concrete highway after the forced exit where it was intended to continue up to Lockport and along the lake ontario coast i think.
It was going to connect with the outer beltway (also not built) from the LaSalle Expressway in Niagara Falls to Milestrip in the Southtowns. They also planned to extend 990 beyond Lockport to the incomplete Lake Ontario State Parkway, which is up there with 180 in Illinois as most unless highways in America
I759 in Alabama is only partially completed. Was supposed to bypass Gadsden completely to the south but ran into issues obtaining property, from what I gather. It is now just a 4 mile spur route
Since you didn't mention the cancelled i695 (Massachusetts) anywhere in this video, I think it deserves a special place as its own topic since there are none on UA-cam.
*_I don't personally know much about it,_* but Wikipedia has a great article about all the details. Basically from what I know during the construction of Boston's Big Dig and the Leonard P Zakim bridge, they wanted to make another inner belt highway starting from southwest part of the end of the Zakim via i93 spinning around Cambridge crossing the Charles River eventually working its way through Sound End of Boston connecting to i95. Supposedly it was cancelled because of protesters surrounding neighborhoods in Cambridge understandably not very happy to learn about an elevated highway being directly above their houses, ultimately repeating the orange line's former 'L' line that is now buried underground.
While it was ultimately cancelled, the only thing that was ever built hinting the start of the construction was indeed the southwest piece of bridge cliff off the end of Zakim that is barricading normal traffic on i93, to which you can still see today for yourself, with a common signature graffiti plastered on "BDUB" and "LIMO". You will easily notice this going both towards Zakim via i93S and by taking exit 18 towards Storrow shortly before Zakim. You can also barely notice the start of it going i93N on the left lane as the bridge curves to the right towards Sullivan, facing the same tracks you'll see a tiny remanence of road before the ending of the bridge (though I highly don't encourage looking away from the road on a busy highway). It's weird because it looks like from other angles it doesn't belong there giving the illusion a car can just "drive off of it".
m.ua-cam.com/video/0MIbGxdTDWw/v-deo.html&pp=ygUwaW50ZXJzdGF0ZSA2OTUgImJvc3RvbiIgLW1hcnlsYW5kIC1iYWx0aW1vcmUgLW1k
That bridge in St. Louis could turn into a walkway/observation point of some sort
In Lansing Michigan, on the west side, where I-496 meets with I-96 I-69 you'll see the beginnings of a four leaf clover interchange that was never finished. You'll see the base for an east bound lane that goes under Canal Road. I-69 was supposed to go to the north just west of Charlotte(rhymes with Car Lot), and then turn eastbound due west of the aforementioned interchange Vocal opposition of the loss of land due to the wideness of I-69 between Marshall and Charlotte ended that part in the mid-70s. It was finally finished right next to the old "temp I-69.
Near Benton Harbor Michigan in South Western Michigan they're finally finishing the part of US 31 from Niles Avenue to I-94 and Benton Harbor. This has been planned for decades and there were two options. One of them would've had US 31 continue straight north to the existing interchange between I-94 and US 31 connecting directly to the present US 31 expressway. Between the loss off habitat of an endangered moth, there was also the issue of loss of lots of wet lands and entire neighborhoods. US 31 will now connect with the old business loop that connected I-94 with Benton Harbor. It's a much more direct connection with far less loss of homes. Prior to this there has been a half mile stretch of abandoned freeway.
West of Detroit near Novi I-275 was supposed to continue up to I-75 at Clarkston. There are two signs of this extension that never got built. There was fervent opposition due to the sheer amount of wetlands, tons of lakes, and Oakland County Airport. The first major sign is Route 5, which had been build as a divided highway to Pontiac Trail and even a bit beyond with overpasses and interchanges planned. If you look at I-75 at Clarkston you'll notice that there's a very wide median on I-75 at Dixie Highway. This was the north terminus of I-275.
East of Jackson Michigan US-127 heading south from I-94 was the planned I-73 that never got passed much more than planning. You'll see traces of an eastern lane. There, at least 30 years ago, bridges and improvements meant to be the expressway. That was finally cancelled after much opposition for numerous reasons. That part of Michigan is called "The Irish Hills" for a reason. Putting an expressway through there would've means lot of very wide digs with tons of loss of land. On top of that I can tell you from personal experience having made the trip from that part of Michigan to Ohio countless times on US 23, to I-94 to home, or US 23 to US 223. Going from US 23 to I94 via US 223 and Us 127 only saves about 30 minutes, at the most. During the holidays it might save you a bit more. It's been basically abandoned with little chance of it every being built. I-73 would've continued on US-127 being converted, and extended, to full Expressway status to at least Clare.
The interchange of I-690 and I-481 in Syracuse is something I never see discussed. It was originally supposed to show I-690 continue eastward into the villages of Minoa, Kirkville, Chittenango and Canastota. It was abandoned because of local opposition, however in hindsight, decades later with it's only connections being local routes through the small communities and the New York State Thruway (a toll road), the eastern area now suffers because of a lack of a connection to the Syracuse Metropolitan area and its surrounding suburbs.
That's kinda cool, there's one in Michigan they literally just finished (I-94 and US-31) late last year after being halted since 2004 that started back in 1972. I just wish you talked more about these because cutting out end, start and ad there's only 6 and a half minutes when there's so much to talk about the examples you gave. For example, I-189 has part of the unfinished interstate used as parking!
Another abandoned highway is in port huron before you get onto the Bluewater bridge. While its not a freeway, it is a two laned ramp. Today, That exits is moved to water street, but the roadway remains for emergency vehicles.
Also Route 9 in Connecticut (West Hartford/ Farmington) is a famous abandoned highway that was a project where the contractors built in the wrong direction… 😂
NYC gives so many with the Moses legacy.
- Eastern end of Korean War Vets Parkway (Richmond Parkway) in Staten Island.
- Southern end of MLK Expressway (Willowbrook Expressway) in Staten Island.
- Southern end of West Shore Expressway in Staten Island.
- Prospect Expressway in Brooklyn.
- Nassau Expressway eastern end in Brooklyn.
- Clearview Expressway (77th Infantry Division Expressway) southern end in Queens.
- former Sheridan Expressway in Bronx that former Gov Andrew Cuomo replaced with Sheridan Blvd.
Probably many others I did not list.
Not an original Moses idea but he almost modified it, the Jackie Robinson (Interboro) Parkway in Queens.
One freeway that you should add should be the Stadium Freeway in Milwaukee.
Also US-12 from Genoa City to Elkhorn in Wisconsin.
US 12 is so sad. Illinois really ruined that dream
Thanks!
Lancaster PA Goat Path deserves a spot. The route 23 bypass was almost completed then they covered it in top soil and leased it to farmers because of local disinterest.
Since you like Illinois, check out Illinois 137 (Amstutz Expressway) as another half-abandoned project, the expressway portion wholly in Waukegan IL with one exit midpoint (but the route continues as a local road to the Wisconsin State Line). It might not be used as much as IL I-180 it still has served purposes in movies!
It is a bonafide expressway as well as IDOT has implemented the necessary signage at the entrances.
Another fun fact, it is one of a few, or perhaps the only, signed route in IL that is officially signed in all 4 cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
In Branson, Mo there is the Ozark Mountain High Road. It’s “abandoned” while it does get major use connections highway 65 with Silver dollar city. It was never finished.
There are abandoned parts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, aka the Penna Pike. The most famous part is the part that runs through Ray’s Hill and Sidling Hill but there are other parts that were bypassed to eliminate the more dangerous curves.
And there may be an abandoned part in the future, the commission wants to bypass the Allegheny mountain tunnels but it will be a few years before that happens
Need to cover all the abandoned and canceled freeways in Washington, DC area. Very large and complicated history.
San Diego has some fascinating ghost ramps. The 43rd Street exit off I-805 is a prime example - it's a towering set of flyovers that end at a neighborhood shopping center that was originally slated to be a connection between I-805 and I-5 south of downtown, but never got built past the ramps. There are also interesting ghost ramps on CA-163 through Balboa Park.
As a st louisan the rt 66 bridge is just for pedestrian traffic now I believe
In Central NY you have a nimber of ghost roads that were never built or extended as intended. I690 was supposed to run from the NYS Thruway through Auburn to Syracuse then to Fayetteville and meet the Thruway again near Canastota
You could probably do an entire video just on the abandoned/unfinished freeways in Hartford, Connecticut. I’ve heard before that the city has more miles of canceled freeways than completed ones. They even have the only four-level stack interchange in New England, which was completely unused for about 25 years and even today only serves as a 3-way interchange.
Here’s an idea that you can probably use someday. I think it would be nice for you to examine highways in video games. Like GTA, Watch Dogs, etc. I know that road design isn’t the main focus of those type of games and you usually make videos about real life highways, but I think it’s a fun idea.
i live near illinois route 6. that ghost ending always fascinates me when i go by. i doubt it will ever get extended
surprised you didnt mention the long stretch of abandoned PA turnpike that used to go through the Sideling Hill Tunnel near Breezewood. there is a shorter abandoned section near Somerset as well
You should check out Tri Stations road in sacramento. It clearly was supposed to be a connector at some point. It's not abandoned, but they turned it into an awkward 1.5 mile long narrow parking lot. Also right next to tri stations road is SR 144, which was supposed to be a I80/50 spur route. They built a short portion but then the project fell through and now its an extremely long overbuilt freeway exit. You can see the exact route it would have taken down Eastern Ave to HWY 50.
I'm interested in these freeway stubs too. Maybe even you could talk about the I-70 in downtown Baltimore? Also in my area, there was supposed to be an outerbelt freeway (Western New York) around Buffalo, but only two stubs of it exist.
Suggestion: cancelled highways with built portions that end at an abrupt cliff. There are several existing examples in and around Albany, NY, and one that existed for decades in Baltimore before it was changed during a rail project that ultimately got canceled.
IL-390 is one that I can think of right away. It ends right where it meets US-20 in Streamwood, IL. I'm not sure if they'll ever expand it or not but it's finished in the way that it seems like they have plans for future expansion. Same as US-12 right at the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. On the Wisconsin part US-12 is a interstate standard freeway but it ends right at the Illinois border. Or abandoned sections of Pennsylvania's Turnpike, especially the part by Breezewood stuck in my memory as I drove past it at least twice a week there. Working as a truck driver has its perks, I can think of so many places like this. And that's a real shame they are abandoned!
Very cool, thanks for sharing. Now I want to see about utilizing the McArthur bridge as a bike/ped option like the Chain of Rocks Bridge has become. :]
Also, hopefully we can start abandoning MORE freeways in this country in favor of more rail lines.
In West Virginia near the Kentucky border there is a couple miles of freeway I saw while looking around for houses on Zillow, not sure exactly where now. It was labeled something like King Coal highway and appeared to be not in use
This vid made me think of an abandoned portion of the old Bankhead Highway that ran through Texas among other states. There's a state historical marker at a rest stop off Interstate 20 in Eastland County at Ranger Hill. An abandoned stretch of the highway runs by the rest stop.
You should definitely include the "highway to nowhere" in Baltimore, MD if you do a part 2. Ever since it was abandoned they have talked about what to do with it. Plans range from a greenspace to a light rail line.
you should include in your next list us80 freeway from Tuscon Arizona to phoenix its a pretty big stretch of freeway abandoned from what i understand it was built on Indian land and that's why it was removed my dad use to go out and explore it
Surprised you didn’t mention the abandoned Pennsylvania turnpike! Its huge and there are multiple portions of it throughout the state
"Its in Illnois and things dont work"....that sums it up.
As someone who used to drive for a living as a OTR trucker I have seen a lot of weird roads and orphaned interchanges including one in this video. But that statement about Illinois is a sentiment I heard a lot from people in that state who are not from Chicago
Suppose you’re familiar with “Forgottonia” then? The entire central piece of the state, west to the Mississippi River. Lobbyists from there, were able to get I-72, and the less than ideal IL-336 corridors built.
There is a few instances of unfinished expressways in Western New York, the most notable being the sudden change of US Route 219 near ellicottville, where the highway turns into a two-lane road after being a 4 lane expressway all the way north to the buffalo metro area where it meets I-90. You can see the unfinished freeway sitting there rotting while the highway is routed off one of the planned exit ramps. There is even a billboard noting it for tourists "the highway to nowhere". Another instance is I-990 in the suburbs north of Buffalo, where the useless spur route serves to connect the University at Buffalo directly to the Interstate system, and it is clear the expressway was meant to continue to the northern city of Lockport, but was never finished and just connects to the already established NYS route 263 which already serves to connect the university to I-290 and connect Lockport to the main metro area of Buffalo. Just some things I know from growing up in the area, hope to see it in a video someday!! Love the content, I always tune in on my breaks at work
The NJ turnpike had a handful of abandoned parts of the road created when they extended the car/ cars& trucks lanes to about exit 5. They added 3 lanes in each direction slightly rerouting the road.
There's another interesting one in eastern Ohio, there's an incomplete interchange north of Alliance and a short stretch of highway to the east in Salem that goes nowhere. From what I can tell the highway was supposed to continue from the interchange in Alliance to the stretch of highway in Salem and was likely going to connect with route 11.
New Jersey only built a few miles of I-95 before ultimately deciding to rename already-existing roads. For many years it appeared on maps with dotted lines and in parantheses "Proposed" -- it was supposed to run several miles to the west of US 1....
Lately I've been commuting to a new job in the far West side of the Phoenix metro area, and I use an unnumbered freeway built to interstate standards called Northern Parkway. I'd love to see you do a video about unnumbered freeways, and why it and any others like it are without highway nunbers.
@OmarRodriguez-vl2tq thanks for that. I’m very familiar with the sad history of SR-50 Paradise Parkway, and I really wish it had been built, at least between I-17 & Loop 101 to the West.
I was unaware Northern Parkway was an MCDOT project and not ADOT. There’s some City of Glendale decorative stuff around the interchange at Reems Road, so I was thinking perhaps it was a Glendale city streets project built to Interstate standards. That explains the lack of a highway number that I’ve been so curious about. Unlike other counties that number their roads with blue county road numbers, Maricopa County doesn’t.
In Seattle, there was supposed to be another north-south freeway paralleling I-5 to its east. The only portion built was an interchange with WA-520, just west of the floating bridge, when that roadway was built in the early 1960s. The interchange is still in use but only connects with local streets.
For sure, I-380 near San Francisco International Airport. It was originally supposed to extend to the coast and connect with SR-1. It was also discussed as potentially a (never built and probably never will be built) bridge between the Bay Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge. Some road anoraks want that built so that it could connect to I-238 in the East Bay and that the interstate portion of 238 could be renumbered as part of I-380, thus soothing a common sort spot amongst road enthusiasts.
I-530 from Pine Bluff to Monticello is one that’s pretty weird in Arkansas. It’s abandoned but used still.
Just a few miles from me in Farmington, Michigan, is Michigan Highway 5. It has an interesting setup in that half of it was originally going to be I-275 and half of it was going to be I-96. The northern part above I-696 was going to be 275 before a freeway revolt ended it just 5 miles above 696, and about 16 miles short of where it would have rejoined I-75 in Springfield Township. The main reason being there's like 100 lakes and wetlands it would have had to snake thru and the locals weren't having that.
And the southern, really southeastern part, through Farmington was going to be 96 before I think political lobbying got 96 moved more south thru Livonia. But not before again a 5 mile stretch up to Interstate standards was built connecting West 96 to Grand River Avenue. It was planned to twin Grand River Avenue into Detroit.
I-40 through Mamphis, that was abandoned due to civil rights. The finished portion is now Sam Cooper Boulevard that goes quite a ways into Mamphis before ending at the Overton Park.
There are two of these near my house! One of them is in the process of being removed, and the other is being extended 3 miles. The one being removed is 62T near Alliance, Ohio. The bridge was due for replacement, and they knew it wasn't going to be extended. So it was completely removed and will be replaced with a road on a mound of dirt.
The other is the US-30 Freeway near East Canton, Ohio. This has been in the works for nearly 50 years, and it has slowly been added to. Eventually it's supposed to be upgraded all the way to Pittsburgh, but that will probably be another 100 years! They're adding about three miles of freeway to bypass the town.
Great Video! Let's see. There's Baltimore (I-70 and I-83), DC (i-95 at the northern part of the beltway), and I-690 meeting I-481 outside of Syracuse, though who knows what might happen to that with the rerouting of I-81 onto I-481.
US Route 30 in Canton, Ohio could be on here. They had plans to extend the highway to Pittsburgh but stopped. You can see where they prepared to keep going.
Once upon a time, I-95 was to be routed through downtown Boston, before heading north along what is now US-1. It would diverge from US-1 and continue on a completely new right-of-way, north of Route 60 in Revere. Local opposition was successful in having that highway cancelled in 1978, nut not before the interchange for I-95 with US-1 and Route-60 was constructed.
It is a "Massachusetts Rotary" style interchange (perhaps a topic unto itself) which remains in-service today, with ghost bridges and ramps for the unbuilt freeway. The unpaved embankment and ROW for I-95 is still visible going north for about a mile through a now-protected tidal marsh.
This really would have been a terrible routing of I-95, and it was rightly defeated by communities both north and South of Boston in the 1970's. It's another important story in highway history, and part of the reason we have the roads (and transit) we do today.