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Updates and recent changes

5/17/2019

US 611, US 541, Charleston, US 129, US 192, US 231, US 331, Chicago, Detroit, US 270, US 48, US 48 [i], US 29, US 240, US 138, US 60, US 120, US 22, US 25, US 127, US 219, South Sioux City, US 730, US 197, US 99, US 150, US 160, Bay Area, US 79, US 275, US 90, US 169, US 377, US 340, US 61, US 54, US 431, Walterboro, US 224, US 301, US 119, US 183, US 191, West Memphis

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Historic US 85-87 bridge in Colorado Springs

5/5/2019

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The original bridge over Cottonwood Creek in this area was the 1887 stone arch bridge for the ATSF railroad. A parallel auto road was also built right along the west side of the RR. This became one of the most important early auto routes in Colorado, running north-south along the Front Range (in other words, a precursor to today's I-25). In fact it was designated "State Highway #1" in the 1920s. A new bridge for this road was built in 1923-24, just downstream (west) of the RR bridge. This is the same bridge that still stands today. It has long since been surrounded by the urban expanse of Colorado Springs, but back in 1924 this area was still quite rural. It was not yet a part of the Springs and the road was probably not yet referred to as Vincent Drive. This photo was taken from a vantage point on the stone arch bridge (now "New" Vincent Drive), looking west down Cottonwood Creek towards Pikes Peak. The 1924 bridge which carried "Old" Vincent Drive is visible just beyond the rec trail bridge in the foreground:

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Updates and recent changes

1/29/2019

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US 54, US 431, Walterboro, US 224, US 301, US 48, US 119, US 183, US 191, West Memphis, Niagara Falls, US 40, US 189, Long Beach, US 66, US 641, US 401, US 32, US 163, US 491, US 28, US 8, US 20, US 23, US 31, US 67, US 81, US 131, US 166, US 177, Covington, St. Ignace, US 22, US 185, US 241, US 45, US 87, US 221, US 85, Bay Area, US 219, US 422, US 10, US 35

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Updates and recent changes

11/3/2018

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Bay Area, US 219, US 422, US 10, US 35, Key West, US 183, Junction, US 151, US 122, US 189, US 195, US 74, Chattanooga, US 28, US 277, Detroit, US 311, US 411, US 411 [ii], US 241, US 311, Rouses Point, US 165, US 8, US 97, US 131, US 163, Monticello, Portsmouth, GeoCenter, Denvers, Springfield, Kansas City, US 400, US 154, US 156, US 270, US 73, US 159

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US 311 should have been decommissioned in 1934; why is it still around?

6/30/2018

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The following map shows US 311 and other relevant routes as they existed just prior to the changes that were implemented in 1934:

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US 400: its number is not the only error

4/11/2018

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The easternmost of US 400's many overlaps with other US routes.

On a recent roadtrip along US 400, my son asked me, "Isn't 400 kind of a weird number for a highway?" Apparently even non-roadgeeks sense that there is something wrong with the US 400 designation. But it goes beyond that. This post examines all of the things that are wrong with US 400: not only its number, but also its purpose, its implementation, its intra-state nature, its collateral damage, and its amount of concurrent mileage with other US routes. But I'm getting ahead of myself; let's start from the beginning...

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Updates and recent changes

4/5/2018

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Denvers, Springfield, Kansas City, US 400, US 154, US 156, US 270, US 73, US 159, US 281, US 283, US 183, US 36, US 371, US 75, US 421, US 17, US 13, US 34, US 87, Montgomery, US 16, US 169, US 277, US 36, US 666, US 275, US 79, US 830, US 202, US 6, US 71, Madison NC, US 280, US 23, US 441, US 129, US 123, US 341, US 35, Chicago, US 180, US 411, Chattanooga, Springer, Trinidad

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Old US 285 along Speer Boulevard in Denver

3/10/2018

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I have always been fond of this perspective of downtown Denver: this is looking southeast on Speer Blvd, coming down out of the Highland neighborhood:

Sanderson, Mar. 2018

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My Mom, Miss Missaukee at Mackinac

11/1/2017

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1958 postage stamp

Michigan's two peninsulas are separated by the four-mile-wide Straits of Mackinac*, which is the body of water that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. In the 19th century passenger ferries transported people between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, and in the 1920s, the state implemented car ferries so that people could get their automobiles across the Straits. Immediately there was great demand for this service, and soon there were reports that the lines of cars waiting to board would sometimes be backed up as much as 15 miles! Clearly there was a need for a bridge. This represented a monumental challenge, in terms of both engineering and expense. But in November 1957, the new Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic. At the time it was the costliest stretch of road in the world, and it remains one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.

*Pronounced MACK-ih-naw. Some locations spell it more phonetically - such as Mackinaw City - but both spellings are pronounced the same. The word is a French corruption of an Ojibwa name for a division of their tribe, early inhabitants of the area.

The website mackinacbridge.org has lots more information, history, facts, and figures about the Bridge itself... but the focus of this page is the Mackinac Bridge Dedication Festival, which took place the following summer.