While a blizzard dumps one to two feet snow on the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, here’s a look at some of the updates at AARoads this week.
Contributor Peter Johnson sent in some photos he took this week of Wisconsin 172, which we combined with some photos we took of the state trunk highway back in 2011 for a new guide. The short east-west route forms a freeway between I-41 and I-43 to the south of Green Bay. Work at the exchange with I-41 [U.S. 41] underway currently redesigns some of the ramps to tie into new collector distributor roadways along the north-south freeway.
Carter offered to take some updated photos of Greenville and Spartanburg area roads last week. We took him up on that and he reshot parts of Interstates 85, 185, 385 and 585. We added the northbound set for I-85 and will be adding the remainder in the next week or so. Subsequent updates to pages on the Interstate Guide to follow. In related news, major construction gets underway at month’s end to revamp the interchange between Interstates 85 and 385.
While preparing to update the SC highway guides for I-85, we also completed revising northbound I-85 pages through Georgia. Of note here, the portion through Franklin County is designated the Ernest Vandiver Highway. Researching Vandiver, who was Governor of Georgia from 1959 to 1963, led us to a 2005 article outlining an early reroute of the I-85 corridor. We in turn expanded the history section of the Interstate Guide page for I-85 and scanned a map showing the former proposed corridor.
Lastly, Thomas Decker sent in a set of photos covering the Hoosier Heartland Highway along Indiana 25 in northwestern Indiana. The expressway grade road replaced a two-lane alignment of Indiana 25 from Lafayette to Logansport with work completed just last year.
Some other road news articles of interest from around the country include the opening of three miles of new toll road for the Wekiva Parkway in Lake County, Florida and acceleration of the time table to 2023 for the I-26 Connector in Asheville.
And about that blizzard…
Significant freezing rain/sleet expected in parts of VA today. Travel is expected to be treacherous. Keep an eye on current conditions.
— VDOT (@VaDOT) January 22, 2016
Far too many vehicles still out on the road with snow starting to fall heavily in many areas. Please take this warning seriously. db
— MD State Highway Adm (@MDSHA) January 22, 2016