Update on the Branan Field-Chaffee Expressway, well not much has changed, construction has progressed a little on the future freeway connector and interchange between Florida 23 and Interstate 10. This scene however, looks identical to December 2007. Touted as Segment 2 of the overall project, work began January 16, 2007 and is expected to be completed by next fall.

For those who have wondered, it appears that U.S. 23 still ends at U.S. 1 & 17. Signage posted on U.S. 1 & 17 (Main Street) south at State Street includes U.S. 23 shields and a new U.S. 23 shield assembly is posted along State Street west of Laura Street.

The Southside Connector freeway is now fully open to traffic, including the interchange with Florida 115 (Arlington Expressway) at Regency Square Mall. The freeway provides a direct connection from Florida 9A (Dames Point Bridge) southbound to the Arlington Expressway for interests to central Jacksonville.

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What began as a local river crossing in 1935, the Interstate 74 & U.S. 6 bridges (Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge) across the Mississippi River between Moline and Davenport are reaching the end of their life span. Though never built to Interstate standards, the 1935-northbound bridge and 1959-built southbound span were added to the Interstate system in 1974. Each suspension bridge carries two lanes without left or right-hand shoulders. The safety issues alone warrant a change, but the bridge design does not allow for any expansion, with a pony truss style siding constructed along east side. Additionally the bridge was already over capacity by 1998, with 74,000 vehicles per day (vpd) crossing a span that can only adequately handle 64,000 vpd.

Picture of the Illinois-Indiana Memorial Bridge from the north banks of the Mississippi River at Bettendorf. A levee system protects the downtown area of Bettendorf from the river. Along the barrier is a walk/bike path, boat ramp, park area, and the Isle of Capri Casino.

Forward to May 23, 2006, the Iowa and Illinois Departments of Transportation held a joint public meeting to select the recommended bridge type for the Interstate 74 replacement. Four designs were considered until the end, the first consisted of a basket handle true arch twin bridge, essentially spans side by side with arches that converge at the top. Second on the list was a modified basket handle tied arch bridge design, with vertical pier and hangers. This configuration is similar in design to what is used for Interstate 280’s crossing of the Mississippi River west of Rock Island, with cross members joining two sets of arches on each span. Design three was similar to the basket handle design but with tied arches. The final design consisted of a cable stayed sing bridge with a semi-fan stay arrangement, essentially a cable-stayed bridge with three support towers. View the designs for yourself here.

The Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge travels 66 feet above the Mississippi and is 5,148 feet in overall length. Its name honored the veterans of World War I during its dedication (northbound span) on November 18, 1935. The southbound bridge was built for $8.1 million in 1958, with both open for traffic after a 1959 closure of the original for repairs on January 20, 1960.

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Peoria includes two Interstates, the main route through the city, I-74, and the bypass route, I-474. Lets take a look at the two and more…

Interstate 74 cuts a swath through the downtown area, meandering along a curved path from junction Interstate 474 & Illinois 6 northwest of the city to a brief depressed section of freeway near the central business district. A high-level cantilever bridge carries the freeway across the Illinois River into East Peoria. Once across, the road bisects hills on a southeastern trajectory to Interstate 474, Interstate 155, and Morton.

Interstate 74 descends toward the Perry Avenue under crossing through the eastern outskirts of downtown Peoria. U.S. 24 & Illinois 29 meet the freeway ahead.

Road work recently saw completion on a multi-year project to upgrade Interstate 74 through the Peoria metro area. Begun in 2002 with reconstruction of the North Street and Forrest Hill Bridges, work continued through Fall 2007.

Every bridge over Interstate 74 was reconstructed or replaced and now features ornamental columns. Pictured here is the Forest City Avenue overpass at the Gale Avenue (Exit 90) off-ramp of I-74 east.

Highlights of the near $500 million work included the construction of new ramps at Sterling Avenue, the raising of the Adams Street bridge over Interstate 74, rebuilding of both freeway carriageways, landscaping, and other improvements. Work affected 11 miles of roads, 32 bridges were either removed or replaced, 8 bridges were widened or reconstructed, and two tunnel ramp tunnels were built. Additionally the interchange with the Industrial Spur was reconstructed from a trumpet into a directional interchange near the east end of the Murray Baker Bridge.

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Dubbed the Congestion Relief Project, the Illinois Tollway system, an integral part of Chicagoland’s highway network, is a series of construction projects aimed at modernizing and expanding the multiple-route system in northern Illinois. The overall project was approved in September 2004.

Interstate 355 northbound at Illinois 171.

One of the main aspects of the project was the modernization of the 20 main line toll collecting facilities. Work involved the conversion of the conventional toll booth barriers into a hybrid of high-speed electronic toll collection, called “open road tolling” and newly built attended toll booths for cash and coin based payment. The open road tolling works with I-Pass, a prepaid toll program that works with transponders affixed to car’s windshields that are read by sensors as drivers pass under pass readers at normal freeway speeds. Account holders may bypass the conventional toll booths, which were relocated to outside carriageways, on the tollway mainlines. Additionally I-Pass account holders are charged reduced rates.

Reaching the Des Plaines River Bridge on Interstate 355 north. Monuments are posted at each bridge end with “Veterans Memorial Tollway” inscribed on the columns.

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Continuing with our I-49 corridor theme, it’s time to look at Shreveport’s non interstate-interstates. The Clyde Fant memorial parkway runs southeast from downtown along the Red River. It goes through miles of parkland and passes by the city’s major hospital and it’s major tourist attractions (the casinos). The view below looks north at downtown Shreveport from the Parkway. Click any images for a larger view.

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Most of our Tennessee coverage is now online, including more photos of Interstate 40 east of Knoxville and Interstate 75 north of Knoxville, all courtesy of Carter Buchanan in 2005. Also for those unaware, Interstate 40 is set to close for 14 months near downtown Knoxville as part of the SmartFix project. Smartfix is a complete reconstruction of an almost two-mile stretch of freeway and viaduct. Some information regarding that project and an associated redesign of three full-cloverleaf interchanges on Interstate 275 in the city was added.

…And for those unaware, the closing of an entire freeway to rebuild it is a concept gaining steam. The concept was proven to be efficient and cost-effective when one direction of Interstate 95 in northern Delaware was closed for three months at a time in 2000. This resulted in the removal of 1961-concrete, replacement of it with new asphalt, and a lowering of the roadway under several key bridges. Presently a portion of Interstate 64 in St. Louis is closed, and so is a 1.5-mile section of Interstate 75 at junction Interstate 96 in Detroit…

A recent request made of us was to create guides for the Garden State Parkway. It is one phenominal road that deserves attention, and we’ve been sitting on photos of the road for almost three years now. Thanks to the urging of one of our viewers, I have created three of four pages covering the road northbound between I-195 and I-78 and southbound between I-87/287 and I-280, with further coverage continuing the tour southbound to I-95.

Finally, a project Matt Strieby has been working off and on for many months, has finally come together enough to debut on WestCoastRoads - a Portland, Oregon focus page. Matt plans on adding more detailed histories of the many cancelled freeways in the Rose City, and new and expanded guides of the existing roads over the coming months.

Behold - Texas’ new style of signing FM road junctions along major routes. I like!

Interstate 540 is a two-parter. The southern section runs from the Oklahoma state line and bypasses Fort Smith and runs over the wide Arkansas River to end at I-40 northeast of the city. The newer, northern section, runs north from I-40 to the state’s northwest metro area. Continuing on our future-Interstate-49 trend, lets take a look at I-540 in Arkansas.

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Adding another new state to the Midwest section, North Dakota @ AARoads covers photos taken last April in and around the Fargo area. Coverage mainly focuses on Interstate 29 & U.S. 81, Interstate 94 & U.S. 52, and Business Loop Interstate 94 & U.S. 10.

Both freeways expand to six lanes through Fargo, with the expansion project of Interstate 29 still underway that includes a redesign of the 52nd Avenue South interchange in south Fargo. Additional work is slated for Interstate 94 in the form of a new interchange with 9th Street East at West Fargo.

Now, if someone can get over to Interstate 194 and check that out…

We’ve updated our South Dakota highway guides to include photos taken last April in southeast and northeastern parts of the state, including the city of Sioux Falls. New guides cover 100 miles or so of Interstate 29, Interstate 90 east from I-29 to Minnesota, some of the Business, or “Downtown”, Loop and Spurs in Sioux Falls, and the Interstate 229 loop freeway.

The new guides join the original Rapid City and Deadwood area coverage on AARoads itself. See South Dakota @ AARoads for the new pages.

Next up: Fargo, North Dakota!