There use to a fairly famous failed housing just outside Branson, MO called Indian Ridge Resort. Nearly completed mini mansions where abandoned in various stages of completion. They stood there until just a few years ago when they demolished everything after so many people kept going there to see them.
I-78 in NJ once had a stretch of freeway that abruptly ended in the Watchung Reservation . For about 20 years there was about a 2 mile stretch of unused roadway that teenagers on motorcycles would ride up and down. Also some serious drag racing went on there back in the 70s . Finanally got completed in the 1980s, where today no one would ever know what once went on there. Great time back then!
Lasalle Expressway and Milestrip Expressway, two short highways that were supposed to connect as part of an outer beltway around the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area...
Thanks for doing pa 23! I always wondered where that was supposed to go. Having that conplete with an interchange at 422 would be a godsend to local traffic in the area
You are wrong about route 219 in NY. Route 219 wasn't supposed to be built from West Seneca to Pennsylvania all at once. They road was done in phases.they have done 4 parts of the highway so far. The section from Springville to End of road was just completed in 2020. Was called the Springville bypass. When more funding becomes available the 5th part of the highway will start construction most like to Ellicottville NY. So basically, they ended the highway where it was today was the plan all along. I live in the area and use the highway regularly.
219 is a US route not just a state highway. Was at one time part of a “continental one” vision that was supposed to extend south. One of its major backers was the late Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania.
One in my home state, Massachusetts, is the abandoned I-95 path to Boston. Along with a few others like the ghost intersection on I-93 (now partially exit 18) and the unfinished project where I-95 was supposed to go north of Boston. These were mainly canceled due to protests. I-95 now runs like a beltway bypassing Boston. That section is called the Yankee Division which is basically MA-128.
I was about to suggest Ozark Mountain High Road but evidently u already covered it in the first video. Watching it after this one is over. Great content.
I've never understood how I-75's intended terminus at I-95 was canceled due to local opposition, yet highway 924 currently is a freeway that essentially picks up from where 75 instead currently ends, and traverses the remaining 7 or 8 miles of what would've otherwise been I-75, to I-95.
There's a failed development called Newfields to the West of Dayton, Ohio that was going to be constructed along the western leg of the planned I-675 project. When the western leg of I-675 was canceled (it never got off the planning stage) the Newfields project died and the majority of the land was sold to the state to became Sycamore State Park. A small portion of the land was developed on Sycamore Woods Blvd.
That's a cool one, that I hadn't heard of before! Looking at it on google maps now... neat how it sorta dead ends at the railroad overpass with the other flyovers above it
There's Exit 5-A on I-90 in Albany, NY. It was supposed to be a connector to I-687 that was never built. Or Exit 6 that was supposed to tunnel under Washington Park to a connection with I-87 at Exit 23.
As a resident of the Toronto area. The Lake Ontario State Parkway would have probably seen more Canadian drivers than American drivers if it were completed. I know a lot of Canadians in the Toronto and Southern Ontario areas would have appreciated the quick and easy access to Rochester. Not to mention avoid paying the tolls on the I-90.
I am not familiar with many roads outside of Florida that are not interstates. More specifically, main interstates and not the spur routes. Many Floridians view the Suncoast Parkway as a road to nowhere that should not have been built. This list (and the previous list) are great examples of roads to nowhere.
Under at least one proposal Interstate 710 would have wiped out my great-grandparents' house and machine shop, both of which were in South Pasadena. The shop (which was really two converted houses encircled by a fence) is long gone, but the house is still there. My suggestion for your next video is not so much a failed residentail development, but a mostly failed city development: California City, CA. Hundreds of miles of streets laid out, graded, and even named, but only a tiny percentage of them play host to housing (or any development).
Not sure how glamorous it is, but Louisiana State Highway 1141 in Cameron LA is completely disconnected from the mainland (but still technically under state control). The ferry service to Monkey Island got washed out by Hurrican Rita in 2005 and never got restored. There's also TX highway 87 between Port Arthur and Galveston whose entire middle section is just... gone. If you drive west from Port Arthur it just stops. Washed out by erosion and never rebuilt. Funny because the signs still mark the bypass route as a TX 87 "detour."
At this time the Champlain Parkway is open from Home Av to Lakeside Av and they're working on the I-189 connection. Four signalized intersections in a little over half a mile, with room for all of them to have been roundabouts, is traffic engineering malpractice IMO.
The projects in Breezy point Queens that were never built. They managed to put up steel skeletons of the buildings before public outcry halted the project. When the residents knew they wouldn't be finished and had to be torn down they all gathered and cheered when they were blown up and demolished.
There's an unused freeway stub in greater Boston, a short section of the Northeast Expressway over Copeland Circle, Revere. Originally built as part of I-95, today it's a dead end spur off of Route 1.
The US literally spends billions of dollars on highways like these, and even widening others (which doesnt even help traffic), yet we call high speed rail projects, especially CAHSR an "overbudget waste of money". Funny thing, people even called it a "Train to nowhere" when the central valley it goes through literally is home to 6 million people.
If you want an idea for a failed residential housing project, Pruitt-Igoe is probably the most infamous. Lots of famous names in the design and build: the main architect was Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the Twin Towers. But the finished property at Pruitt-Igoe was such a disaster that it was imploded less than a quarter century later. It had become such a visual shorthand for urban blight by then, that it was prominently featured in "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982), both before and during its demolition. Parts of the site remain vacant to this day. It's widely blamed for ending Modernism as an architectural style.
Salamanca area, NY. A whole video discussing battles with the tribe there could be made. Meaning disputes over first NY 17 upgrades to limited access (86) and also the US 219 proposals.
We may soon have a train to nowhere if they do not finish the California High Speed Rail project. So far, only the middle part connecting some central valley agricultural cities is being built.
I wouldn’t consider it a highway to nowhere. It connects Lowell, a city of 80k people with a major university, to the interstate system and to closer suburbs of Boston. I know it was supposed to extend further into Dracut, but just because it didn’t get the full extension doesn’t mean it doesn’t fulfill a purpose.
A recent update on the Route 219 project. The Federal Highway Administration is not expected to make a final approval of the Route 219 project to connect Route 219 to I-68 in Maryland until summer 2025. The estimated completion date of the project is 2031, with an estimated cost of $250 million in Pennsylvania. Last year, PennDOT earmarked $136 million in its 12-year transportation plan for Route 219 with the rest funded by multiple grant programs the road is eligible for. Maryland will get $85 million to complete its side of the Route 219, but funding also falls short, and Maryland is hopeful that grants will fund the remaining $65 million needed for the roadways completion.
I-180 is AWESOME and it's not a "highway to nowhere", it's a highway to somewhere you don't like! totally weird this wound up on the list. 180 had a purpose, it was built for it, and still exists, despite its purpose evaporating. every other dumb road on here is a total FAILURE. if you were going to talk about a FAILURE highway in rural Illinois what about Route 6, which was supposed to be part of a Peoria ring road called 474 that only got half-built.
Its not that I have anything against where it goes, just stating the facts that it is one of the least traveled interstates in the country ... and that the mill, one of the big reasons why it was built in the first place, doesn't exist anymore.
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There use to a fairly famous failed housing just outside Branson, MO called Indian Ridge Resort. Nearly completed mini mansions where abandoned in various stages of completion. They stood there until just a few years ago when they demolished everything after so many people kept going there to see them.
That's a wild one! Crazy how far along some of those houses got before the project fizzled out
I-78 in NJ once had a stretch of freeway that abruptly ended in the Watchung Reservation . For about 20 years there was about a 2 mile stretch of unused roadway that teenagers on motorcycles would ride up and down. Also some serious drag racing went on there back in the 70s . Finanally got completed in the 1980s, where today no one would ever know what once went on there. Great time back then!
Yeah I-78 through Watchung is quite the impressive road since it's 6 interstate lanes cut into the side of a mountain instead of the usual 4.
That stretch was held up in court by environmentalists activists sued the government to stop it held it up those years
Lasalle Expressway and Milestrip Expressway, two short highways that were supposed to connect as part of an outer beltway around the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area...
Appreciate the ideas, I'll definitely look into those ones for a future video!
Hello fellow buffalonian!
You also have to include the unfinished I-990 project.
I always wondered why milestrip was divided that way! Any idea where it would have routed going north/south?
i drive on 135 every day, it gets a lot of traffic, its a major north south route on Long Island from the LIE to Sunrise.
Thanks for doing pa 23! I always wondered where that was supposed to go. Having that conplete with an interchange at 422 would be a godsend to local traffic in the area
I honestly had no idea that NY-219 just ended like that! I guess I never made it that far south.
You are wrong about route 219 in NY. Route 219 wasn't supposed to be built from West Seneca to Pennsylvania all at once. They road was done in phases.they have done 4 parts of the highway so far. The section from Springville to End of road was just completed in 2020. Was called the Springville bypass. When more funding becomes available the 5th part of the highway will start construction most like to Ellicottville NY. So basically, they ended the highway where it was today was the plan all along. I live in the area and use the highway regularly.
219 is a US route not just a state highway. Was at one time part of a “continental one” vision that was supposed to extend south. One of its major backers was the late Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania.
Was about to call this the east coast edition til you threw in IL and CA. 😂
Haha true 🤣 I’ll make sure I add a little more geographic diversity in to the next video
One in my home state, Massachusetts, is the abandoned I-95 path to Boston. Along with a few others like the ghost intersection on I-93 (now partially exit 18) and the unfinished project where I-95 was supposed to go north of Boston. These were mainly canceled due to protests. I-95 now runs like a beltway bypassing Boston. That section is called the Yankee Division which is basically MA-128.
I was about to suggest Ozark Mountain High Road but evidently u already covered it in the first video. Watching it after this one is over. Great content.
Appreciate it, glad you're liking the content!
NJ Route 18 ends abruptly in Wall Township. It has an interesting story and if completed would make driving in that area a breeze.
You should take a look at Miami's unbuilt expressways, I even made an interactive map of them all w/ exits and info included.
I've never understood how I-75's intended terminus at I-95 was canceled due to local opposition, yet highway 924 currently is a freeway that essentially picks up from where 75 instead currently ends, and traverses the remaining 7 or 8 miles of what would've otherwise been I-75, to I-95.
Ayyyy RT219 made it!
There's a failed development called Newfields to the West of Dayton, Ohio that was going to be constructed along the western leg of the planned I-675 project.
When the western leg of I-675 was canceled (it never got off the planning stage) the Newfields project died and the majority of the land was sold to the state to became Sycamore State Park. A small portion of the land was developed on Sycamore Woods Blvd.
There’s the abandoned portion of I-22 in Birmingham Alabama at an interchange with I-65
That's a cool one, that I hadn't heard of before! Looking at it on google maps now... neat how it sorta dead ends at the railroad overpass with the other flyovers above it
There's Exit 5-A on I-90 in Albany, NY. It was supposed to be a connector to I-687 that was never built. Or Exit 6 that was supposed to tunnel under Washington Park to a connection with I-87 at Exit 23.
As a resident of the Toronto area. The Lake Ontario State Parkway would have probably seen more Canadian drivers than American drivers if it were completed. I know a lot of Canadians in the Toronto and Southern Ontario areas would have appreciated the quick and easy access to Rochester.
Not to mention avoid paying the tolls on the I-90.
its NY so if it was finished you can bet they would slap tolls on it.
I am not familiar with many roads outside of Florida that are not interstates. More specifically, main interstates and not the spur routes. Many Floridians view the Suncoast Parkway as a road to nowhere that should not have been built. This list (and the previous list) are great examples of roads to nowhere.
Thanks!
These are really fun videos by the way.
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying them!
Under at least one proposal Interstate 710 would have wiped out my great-grandparents' house and machine shop, both of which were in South Pasadena. The shop (which was really two converted houses encircled by a fence) is long gone, but the house is still there.
My suggestion for your next video is not so much a failed residentail development, but a mostly failed city development: California City, CA. Hundreds of miles of streets laid out, graded, and even named, but only a tiny percentage of them play host to housing (or any development).
Hey! Akron! L I’ve just down the road from here.
Not sure how glamorous it is, but Louisiana State Highway 1141 in Cameron LA is completely disconnected from the mainland (but still technically under state control). The ferry service to Monkey Island got washed out by Hurrican Rita in 2005 and never got restored.
There's also TX highway 87 between Port Arthur and Galveston whose entire middle section is just... gone. If you drive west from Port Arthur it just stops. Washed out by erosion and never rebuilt. Funny because the signs still mark the bypass route as a TX 87 "detour."
At this time the Champlain Parkway is open from Home Av to Lakeside Av and they're working on the I-189 connection. Four signalized intersections in a little over half a mile, with room for all of them to have been roundabouts, is traffic engineering malpractice IMO.
Appreciate the update on the progress!
2:33 - When building/planning a new highway/road, encountering a railroad to cross creates a complication.
The projects in Breezy point Queens that were never built. They managed to put up steel skeletons of the buildings before public outcry halted the project. When the residents knew they wouldn't be finished and had to be torn down they all gathered and cheered when they were blown up and demolished.
The Lake Ontario highway I think is so funny to me the first time I made it to the end I was like what the hell? It Jist stops lol?
should check out Allen Rd in Toronto
Will do!
I think if a highway has zero work done outside stasis maintenance after 25 years it should he demolished and handed back to nature.
The mother of all failed housing projects is California City located in the Mojave desert!
Yep! just made number 1 on the most recent video I put out!
There's an unused freeway stub in greater Boston, a short section of the Northeast Expressway over Copeland Circle, Revere. Originally built as part of I-95, today it's a dead end spur off of Route 1.
I'm from that area. It is one of the most important roads to the city northeast of Boston.
The US literally spends billions of dollars on highways like these, and even widening others (which doesnt even help traffic), yet we call high speed rail projects, especially CAHSR an "overbudget waste of money". Funny thing, people even called it a "Train to nowhere" when the central valley it goes through literally is home to 6 million people.
Two in Florida, to Tallassee and Gainesville.
If you want an idea for a failed residential housing project, Pruitt-Igoe is probably the most infamous. Lots of famous names in the design and build: the main architect was Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the Twin Towers.
But the finished property at Pruitt-Igoe was such a disaster that it was imploded less than a quarter century later. It had become such a visual shorthand for urban blight by then, that it was prominently featured in "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982), both before and during its demolition. Parts of the site remain vacant to this day. It's widely blamed for ending Modernism as an architectural style.
Well, the twin towers were also eventually imploded some time later
US-219 starts at I-90 and goes south, but comes nowhere near I-86. You say it starts at I-86 (NY-17)?
Salamanca area, NY. A whole video discussing battles with the tribe there could be made. Meaning disputes over first NY 17 upgrades to limited access (86) and also the US 219 proposals.
We may soon have a train to nowhere if they do not finish the California High Speed Rail project. So far, only the middle part connecting some central valley agricultural cities is being built.
It will certainly be interesting to see if/how it turns out!
All highways to nowhere eventually lead to Flint, Michigan 😂
Please look at the Lowell connector in Mass
I wouldn’t consider it a highway to nowhere. It connects Lowell, a city of 80k people with a major university, to the interstate system and to closer suburbs of Boston. I know it was supposed to extend further into Dracut, but just because it didn’t get the full extension doesn’t mean it doesn’t fulfill a purpose.
A recent update on the Route 219 project. The Federal Highway Administration is not expected to make a final approval of the Route 219 project to connect Route 219 to I-68 in Maryland until summer 2025. The estimated completion date of the project is 2031, with an estimated cost of $250 million in Pennsylvania. Last year, PennDOT earmarked $136 million in its 12-year transportation plan for Route 219 with the rest funded by multiple grant programs the road is eligible for. Maryland will get $85 million to complete its side of the Route 219, but funding also falls short, and Maryland is hopeful that grants will fund the remaining $65 million needed for the roadways completion.
Appreciate the update!!
Pennsyltucky has notoriously wasted inordinate sums on useless roads while not building sorely needed roads like a bypass around Breezewood.
I-180 is AWESOME and it's not a "highway to nowhere", it's a highway to somewhere you don't like!
totally weird this wound up on the list. 180 had a purpose, it was built for it, and still exists, despite its purpose evaporating. every other dumb road on here is a total FAILURE.
if you were going to talk about a FAILURE highway in rural Illinois what about Route 6, which was supposed to be part of a Peoria ring road called 474 that only got half-built.
Its not that I have anything against where it goes, just stating the facts that it is one of the least traveled interstates in the country ... and that the mill, one of the big reasons why it was built in the first place, doesn't exist anymore.
I hope this is forcing the Secret Service to get their act together. Also, with all those guns around, you'd think Americans would be better shots!