List of unused highways in Pennsylvania

An unused highway may reference a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed but was unused or later closed. An unused ramp can be referred to as a stub ramp, stub street, stub-out, or simply stub. The following is a list:

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

• At the interchange of Interstate 95 and the western approach to the Betsy Ross Bridge, stubs can be seen for the unbuilt Pulaski Expressway, intended to connect to the Roosevelt Expressway (old USGS Terraserver image, courtesy Alex Nitzman and construction in process). Some have, in 1999, been rebuilt to connect local roads in the city's Port Richmond section. However a stub still remains just prior to reaching Aramingo Avenue and is planned to extend to Torresdale Avenue via a connection to Adams Avenue. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2005. Stubs also remain on the mainline of Pennsylvania Route 90 mainline headed north and on the Aramingo Avenue ramp from I-95 southbound. An unused bridge exists under these elevated stubs aligned with E Thompson Street. 19

• South of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, signs of the cancelled Crosstown Expressway (Interstate 695) exist as a wide median for exit 20. I-695 would have connected Interstate 95 at the Philadelphia International Airport with I-95 on the Delaware waterfront, bypassing the Philadelphia Sports Complex. 20

Feasterville Trevose

• A freeway section of Pennsylvania Route 63 ends in a stub near an industrial area. 21. This freeway was originally intended to extend to The Intersection of Byberry Road and Philmont Avenue in Lower Moreland Township and then later approved to connect to the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 276, linking the Turnpike with Interstate 95 (the Turnpike and I-95 still have yet to directly connect). Budget problems have postponned the start of any project until at least 2010.

Doylestown

• Both ends of the Doylestown Bypass (U.S. Route 202) have stubs. The east end is half of an unfinished diamond interchange. 22, and the west an unfinished cloverleaf at Pennsylvania Route 611. 23 The Federal Highway Administration approved an extension southwest from PA 611 to Pennsylvania Route 63 in 1998 as an expressway, but current plans have it as a two-lane parkway, with construction set to begin in 2008. Residents of Bucks County opposed the extension of U.S. 202 expressway northeast to New Hope such that the Pennsylvania Department Of Transportation withdrew funding for the extension in 1977. There are no current plans to revive talks of the extension.

Norristown

• The abandoned remnants of the failed Schuylkill Parkway/Pennsylvania Route 23 expressway can be seen, with some elements of an interchange linking this expressway with U.S. Route 202 south (at the Dannehower Bridge) can be seen. 24

Pittsburgh

• A small ramp stub, just north of Mellon Arena, exists in the Interstate 579 and Pennsylvania Route 380/Bigelow Boulevard interchange. It is part of a ramp from I-579 south to PA 380 east that was never completed. 25

• North of Pittsburgh International Airport, there are ramp stubs at the interchange between Pennsylvania Route 60 and PA 60 Business. These are for the missing direct connections between PA 60 and PA 60 Business. 26

• The Birmingham Bridge has stubs on the southern approaches to the bridge. These were to connect to the unbuilt Oakland Crosstown Freeway which was canceled by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in the mid-1970s. The bridge itself was built to hold the freeway. 27

• The Industrial Highway was proposed and partially built in the 1960s and 70s. It was to have run from Pennsylvania Route 60 north to Pennsylvania Route 51 but was only completed between Roswell Drive and Beechnut Drive. 28 29

Clairton

• There are ramp stubs at the current northern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 43. Traffic is funneled onto the ramps of Exit 54 (Pennsylvania Route 51). If the Mon-Fayette Expressway is completed, these stubs will eventually carry the highway to Pittsburgh and Monroeville. The project is now in the "Final Design" phase, which will be followed by right-of-way acquisition in late 2007. 30

Leechburg

• The Kiski Valley Expressway was to be an outer beltway of Pittsburgh but was cancelled like other Pennsylvania expressways due to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation near bankruptcy. Remnants of this exist at South Leechburg Hill Road, where traveling west on Pennsylvania Route 56, drivers are forced to exit onto South Leechburg Hill Road to continue on PA 56 and vice-versa. 31

Butler

• An incomplete cloverleaf exists near the western end of the U.S. Route 422 Butler Bypass. The interchange makes up the Pennsylvania Route 356 exit. 32

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

• A proposed extension of Pennsylvania Route 23 to be known as the "Lancaster-Norristown Expressway" was partially constructed to varying degrees, beginning in 1975. The project was killed in 1977. The now-abandoned alignment is colloquially known as the "Goat Path". The West end, ghost bridges, and a ghost interchange of the cancelled expressway. East of the interchange with Pennsylvania Route 772, the exact route is not clear.

Marshall Township, Allegheny County

• A stub exists on the exit ramp to U.S. Route 19 north from Interstate 79. This ramp was to connect with Brush Creek Drive and Thornhill Industrial Park. The ramp in use is the only direct connection I-79 north has to U.S. 19 north in the area. 33

Morgantown

• Interstate 176, since its inception in 1963 (as Interstate 180), never directly connected to its parent. Accessing I-176 required travelers to exit Interstate 76/the Pennsylvania Turnpike (former Interstate 80S) at Pennsylvania Route 10 and travel through Morgantown on PA 10 and Pennsylvania Route 23 to the I-176. This changed in 1996 when a direct connection was built to I-76/the Turnpike. The PA 10 exit, a trumpet interchange, was abandoned but is still paved and is visible. The former terminus of I-176 is now a set of on-and off-ramps for PA 10 and PA 23. Here is the old design and the new one and a close up of the abandoned trumpet.

East Cocalico Township

• Old exit 21 on Interstate 76/the Pennsylvania Turnpike was partially abandoned. Part of the interchange is used as a local overpass for Pepperidge Parkway, but the footprints of ramps are still visible. 34 Here is the old design.

Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

• U.S. Route 15 has mainline stubs where it meets U.S. Route 522 north of the city. Northbound traffic is directed off before the bridge onto U.S. 522 to continue on U.S. 15. Traffic going south on U.S. 15 first crosses under the bridge and circles onto it by a cloverleaf interchange crossing the bridge. The highway continues past the bridge before dying off in the grass. There is also grading seen for more parts of the cloverleaf interchange. 35 36 Currently, there is a project to utilize the stubs. In 2003, the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway project was approved. Extending the bypass is only part of this project, but it is set to be and expressway that ties into the Pennsylvania Route 147 expressway just across the Susquehanna River. 37

Somerset, Pennsylvania

• U.S. Route 219 has a stub at the southern end of its freeway. Southbound traffic exits just south of Somerset, where it can continue southward on the non-freeway Route 219. Meanwhile, an unused stub of the freeway continues half a mile from the exit. PennDOT plans to upgrade the remaining sections of Route 219 to freeway to the Maryland border in coming years.

See also

• List of unused highways in the United States
• List of unused highways
• list of ghost towns

External links

• Unsung Monuments in "The Monument City" - photographic essay of Baltimore area stubs