I like this thread, and I anticipate it being awesome.
#1
I did a search, though half the search terms end up excluded when I search old roads, Route 6, Route 66, etc.Whether abandoned, bypassed, cut short, or re-routed, old roads have always fascinated me. A few examples were mentioned as part of the abandoned tracks thread, but I think they deserve a home of their own; so this is a sort of sister thread to the one on abandoned tracks.
To start, one in the LA area:
There's a stretch of San Francisquito Canyon Road north of Santa Clarita that was partially washed out by a flood in 2005 and was later bypassed and barricaded off. It's possible to walk the old section, and there's a wide area to park at the upper end of the abandoned section.
Perhaps the most common reason to visit this section of road is to see the remains of the St. Francis Dam, built by the LA Department of Water and Power in the mid 20s, which in March of 1928 catastrophically collapsed having just reached its maximum capacity. ( Here's some more on the dam. If you live in LA I'd encourage you to read about the disaster. )
Here's a map -- the white road labelled "San Francisquito Canyon Rd" is the abandoned section; the blue placemark is the dam site.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...&z=16I've walked the area twice, once back in October, and again just yesterday. A few photos:
Here's the dam circa 1926:
Then after the collapse:
And here's the dam site as it appears today (really yesterday):
——
I don't want to limit this to just abandoned roads, though. Post old routes, as well.
Another LA example: Foothill Blvd. was the main route from Altadena to Sylmar prior to the construction of the 210 freeway:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...&z=12
edit for a map of Foothill:
Modified by Entwerfer des Audis at 7:22 PM 1/17/2010
#2
I like this thread, and I anticipate it being awesome.
club Grim Water in 010
FS: 74 Karmann Ghia
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Parting out 1990 Calypso GLI 16V
Originally Posted by gearhead64
#3
Quote, originally posted by VegasJetta » I like this thread, and I anticipate it being awesome. x2! unfortunately, i have nothing constructive to add
#4
This thread needs music. Nelson Riddle's tune has blown my mind since I was 8 years old. Close your eyes, and you're on the road:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcZ1k4d02KA
Forget it's a Chevy commercial, and listen to the lyrics, and the way Dinah Shore makes you just want to hit the road in anything. If car advertising was this uplifting today, there would be lines outside showrooms.
#5
Those are some pretty cool looking places. Have anymore photos to post?
Well it is the Players Special
Players gonna play...lovers gonna love.....
#6
I used to travel on the US-60 and SR-74 out in AZ all the time when I was in college. Something straight out of "Cars" as half of the time the towns could have doubled for Radiator Springs. I-10 came through, and almost shut down the local highways. Only thing out there is limited agriculture, and very little cross country travel.Nothing is weirder than stopping in the middle of the highway, being able to see nothing but straight road for 40 miles, and know that nothing is going on around you.
Driving that road often enough made me sell my MkII and get something new, as after one break down out there, I didn't want to have it happen again.
Example pic of the US-60
Most remnants of civilization are boarded up or just abandoned, and everything has a Scooby Doo ghost town look to it. A few towns (Brenda, Wenden, Hope, Salome) and a few trailer parks are all the line it for a few hundred miles, and most towns take about 2 minutes to drive through.
Brendan Dolan
Shady - Team My Little Pony
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Volkswagen l Nissan l Chevrolet l Lotus
My Nissan LEAF Blog.
#8
Awesome thread so far. I have nothing to add, but it's funny because I just put Cars in the dvd player.
#10
old highway 1, between san clemente and oceanside, CA. made unnessesary by I-5
#11
Quote, originally posted by azn » x2! unfortunately, i have nothing constructive to add.
Love the thread, great idea. More pics.
#12
Glad to see this is off to a good start.
Quote, originally posted by daytonaboogie » old highway 1, between san clemente and oceanside, CA. made unnessesary by I-5 That's old 101, too. I'd also like to add the rest of highway 1 beyond Santa Monica and 101 past downtown LA.
Here's 1 from Santa Monica to San Clemente. I haven't driven this one yet, but it's on the list.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...&z=10
Modified by Entwerfer des Audis at 6:01 PM 1/16/2010
#13
US 20 runs from Boston to Buffalo. Up until the 1960s it was the major route for east west travel across upstate NY. It was made obsolete as I90 now runs the same route only slightly north. With the exception of Albany, it does not go through any major towns or cities. It runs miles south of Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse and Buffalo.
I travel a 40 mile strip of 20 between Schenectady, NY and Cooperstown, NY for work. Its a 4 lane divided highway, with many on/off ramps, designed for much heavier traffic back in the 30s, 40s and 50s before I90 was built. Lots of old dinners, gas stations, hotels and tourist spots lay abandoned and falling apart.
Sharon Springs, NY was a major resort town back in the 20s and 30s, attracting the wealthy elite from NYC, Boston and Philadelphia. The town is now a virtual ghost town. The stately 150 bed Hotel Adler stands abandoned on a hill at the end of town. If you wander down a residential street some signs of life still exist, but more than half of the structures are empty and being reclaimed by nature.
Also, a fair amount of Amish start popping up once you get out near Springfield. There is a farm on the north side of Rt 20 about a mile east of rt 80 that is Amish run. You can see them out there plowing fields with horses and stuff. There is a good sized Amish population north of here in Fort Plain and Canajoharie.
Stolen from google maps:
Modified by Mabe at 9:22 PM 1-16-2010
#15
Quote, originally posted by Mabe » [img]
US 20 runs from Boston to Buffalo. It was made obsolete as I90 now runs the same route only slightly north.route 20 goes west well beyond buffalo
#16
Quote, originally posted by bootyon4 » route 20 goes west well beyond buffalo
Cool, google says it goes to the Pacific in Oregon. I did not know that.
#17
Quote, originally posted by Buickboy92 » Those are some pretty cool looking places. Have anymore photos to post? I do, the issue is Flickr/Photobucket space and bandwidth.
#18
This thread is already full of win....I can't wait to see more
#19
The closed section of Route 61 in Centralia, PA:
wikipedia it, it inspired the Silent Hill games.
#20
Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike is one the best roads for this thread
This road including tunnels.Search on google.
sorry for my english
#21
I have no pic but, if you check out old garrison road, fort erie. It ends in a small loop. Originally it went onto garrison road. One night I was riding with my friend back to the cottage when I directed which road to take. Well, we drove south toward old garrison road and turned east onto it. Little did we know that the road ended, the fog at the end helped too. All of sudden we were riding through tall grasses then up the embankment onto garrison road. It shook us up because even though we were driving through tall grass, it still felt like pavement.kind of like this
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Modified by WolfsburgGTR at 7:36 PM 1-16-2010
Modified by WolfsburgGTR at 7:36 PM 1-16-2010
#22
Growing up in Orange County California, we used to pass through this quaint intersection (#1; and red lines on map) every time we went to Irvine. The realigned roads moved the intersection to #2, but you can still see the old one on Streetview.
#23
Glad to see I inspired a spin-off.
Here are a few contributions. First, we start near VIRginia International Raceway. VA/NC Rt. 62 ("Milton Highway").
First, some aerial views. This is in North Carolina. You're looking at the Dan river. You can see the abandoned right-of-way that once lead to an older river crossing.
Further north, you can see the old right-of-way peeking out next to the driveway on the south side of the road. We're in Virginia at this point.
And finally, a street view shot where you can see the above right-of-way peel off. Ignore the driveway going almost due south (right of frame). The old road creeps out from under the existing pavement and heads behind the trees just right of the roadway up ahead. The lighting isn't great, but if you look closely you can see some of the old asphalt is still there.
And now, to Maryland. MD Rt. 2 has lots of sections like the above. There's a good one here on the east side:
Here's that intersection in Street View, where you can see the old right-of-way crossing the driveway.
And here's a view looking right up the old road from the current route. This is the southern section of that first aerial shot.
Up to Annapolis now. This one is a little different because the "nubs" of the old road are still utilized. In the process of improving old US 50, the original extension of Old Mill Bottom Road was cut off from its northern route. There's no direct connection between the two spurs anymore, but you can see where it used to cut straight across.
And one more Rt. 50 orphan: Rt. 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd). It still meanders up from the Naval Academy Bridge alllll the way up toward Baltimore, just as its name states, but much of the old right-of-way is now under Rt. 2 from the R.t 50 interchange all the way to I-695. The old connection was essentially obliterated by the new interchange built for U.S. 50, as can be seen here:
Too bad this isn't the Train Lounge. I could go on for hours about the old railroad right-of-ways around Annapolis.
Geek? Me? Naaaahhhh.
Modified by PassSedanGLX at 4:15 AM 1-17-2010
http://www.speedsportlife.com
Press vehicle this week: 2011 Ford Fiesta SE Hatchback
#24
The countries 1st parkway/dedicated automobile road, Motor Parkway. Its banked turns were home to the vanderbilt cup races & beloved by rum runners during prohibition (private toll road = no 5-0). Closed in '39 but bits and pieces can still be found all over Long Island from Queens to Ronkonkoma.
Quote » ...built by William K. Vanderbilt Jr., a great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the railroad tycoon. “Willie K” wanted a race-road for him and his tycoon friends. The annual Vanderbilt Cup soon drew an international field and crowds of 300,000. The private 45-mile highway from Flushing, Queens, to Lake Ronkonkoma was built between 1908 and 1911. The architect was John Russell Pope, who later went on to design the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Washington’s National Gallery of Art. The parkway closed in 1938, and parts are run by the city’s Parks Department as a path for walking and biking and enveloped by a woodsy canopy. Although it is surrounded by busy roads like Union Turnpike and the Grand Central Parkway, it’s handsome banks and curves pull the eye off into the distance, back to an earlier time of sporting chaps in gloves and caps, driving chugging motorcars. The drama and danger of the open-road motorcar races; how rum-runners used the parkway because it was privately owned and not patrolled; how Mr. Vanderbilt had dramatic jurisdictional showdowns over rights of way with Robert Moses, who was building the Grand Central Parkway; the 1910 race that drew 300,000 people and killed several mechanics and spectators; how Mr. Vanderbilt’s vision changed Long Island’s roadways and the shape of the automotive world
When it opened, there had never been anything like it in the world. It had more reinforced concrete than all the rest of the roads in the US...Combined
source:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes....-warp/Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...rkwaySite dedicated to the racing history:
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/site/
Banked turn in the distance...
Modified by Lankyleo at 1:14 AM 1-17-2010
#25
There are some abandoned roads in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park
As for just plain old roads, I love to travel on US 42 between Columbus and Cincinnati. Takes longer for sure but I'm never stressed and really enjoy the journey.
#26
Bridge to Nowhere
http://kcet.org/local/shows/hu....html
Edit: fixed broken image link.
Modified by MuddyMudskipper at 9:41 PM 1-18-2010
#27
Quote, originally posted by MuddyMudskipper » Bridge to Nowhere
That is unbelievably cool — we should do a SoCal TCL group hike up there sometime.
#28
old highway 1.enter on the north side of bixby creek bridge and come out just above big sur. this was the original hwy 1 before bixby creek was put in.
it's now used by locals who live off of it... it's graded dirt road, not paved...
it's a ball with some incredible views
#30
I drove over sections of the 1915 Ridge Route north of Castaic a few years ago (paralleling I-5 north of Los Angeles). I don't think much of it is open anymore.
Modified by Lwize at 9:58 PM 1-16-2010
James Bond he will drive speed boats from Spain at the bank of the dimension of bill, the river Thames in London..........
#31
I absolutely love this thread. I wish I had something to add.
There is no greater sorrow than to be mindful of the happy time in misery
~ Dante Alighieri
#32
I'm a geek for the "old road"...I'm always pointing out old road beds and bridges to my wife when we're driving places...
I'll have to think about some of the better old roads in the area
MADSPEED
two things I will never understand - butch lesbians and veggie burgers
#33
Quote, originally posted by Lwize » I drove over sections of the 1915 Ridge Route north of Castaic a few years ago (paralleling I-5 north of Los Angeles). I don't think much of it is open anymore.
Modified by Lwize at 9:58 PM 1-16-2010Just after the aqueduct was completed, too, before the San Fernando Valley was developed. At that point it was all orange groves. Amazing what a couple hundred thousand acre-feet of water and corrupt city offices can accomplish, eh?
When I can find the time I'd like to drive the ridge route, which I originally found out about while researching US/CA 99. According to Google Maps it's still open, though it says the same about Mulholland Dr. west of the 405.
Well, here's what the Ridge Route Organization has to say:
Quote, originally posted by ridgeroute.com » Ridge Route Status As of Sept 2, 2009
The only section of the Ridge Route that is open for public access is a 7 mile section from Hwy. 138 south to the historic Tumble Inn site where you will encounter a locked Forest Service gate. Hwy. 138 is the Lancaster-Palmdale road and is located south of Gorman.
The good news is the Federal Highway Administration has finished repairing
the Ridge Route .
The bad news is the pipeline contractors have not finished replacing the temporary above ground lines with new pipe on new rights-of-ways distant from slide areas. The entire process to repair the damaged lines as a result of the 2005 rains is wrought with complex issues having to do with government regulations and environmental restrictions. Additional complications come into play due to limited “windows of opportunity” to access Angeles National Forest (ANF). Work is suspended during the summer months because of extreme fire danger. In the cooler months rains can force a work stoppage.
It is disheartening to report that the recent “Osito” fire in the latter month of July 2009 had an impact on the old Ridge Route . The intensity of the fire involved aid from L. A. County to help ANF fire crews fight the blaze. Due to a glitch in communications a bull dozer used the road causing some damage to portions of the newly repaired concrete. A section of original historic curbing was also destroyed. The Ridge Route Preservation Organization (RRPO) met with ANF to address the above issue and make sure bull dozers would not use the road in the future unless it was absolutely necessary. ANF agreed to repair the damaged areas and develop a “Memorandum of Understanding” with L. A. County to make them aware the old Ridge Route is basically off limits for heavy equipment. The heavy equipment policy has been enforced with the pipeline repair contractors.
It is difficult to predict when the road will reopen. It was thought it would open in June of 2009. Eighty five to ninety percent of the pipelines have been repaired. If crews are allowed into the forest this fall there is a chance the road could open in the first quarter of 2010. The one caveat is once they are finished, the road has to be inspected to see if any repair activity has damaged the road (the road was purposely covered with dirt to protect it in areas of repair activity). If so, contractors will be held accountable to make the necessary repairs which could further delay opening the road.
So perhaps a TCL cruise would be possible once it reopens.
#34
I'm hoping clutch_dust will chime in at some point, seeing as how he works on an old road.
#35
Kind of a varience on the theme, but this is an abandoned road project. It's in lancaster, pa about 3 miles from where i currently live. Route 23 goes east from marietta, pa on the susquehanna river to philadelphia. Going through the city of lancaster it's two different one way streets that are a block apart, but as it comes out of the east end of the city, the two directions come together and it starts to look like a highway. but, before you really get anywhere, it very abruptly ends.
Above view of the sudden dead end http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...&om=1
Drag the street view man out there, you'll see how abrupt it is.Even more interestingly, there were overpasses built in the fields beyond the dead end for a road that doesn't exist
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...&om=1And an interchange was built a little beyond that which would have been the next exit
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...&om=1Aparently the project was abandoned in 1977 because of public outcry and fear of increased traffic. It's a shame because most of the roads here are way too small to handle the traffic due to a huge population increase in recent years. This place is so ass backwards.
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