2017 Midwest Vacation - St. Louis Roads and Busch Stadium

During our two days in St. Louis, much of our driving would take place on Missouri Route 364, Interstate 270, 170, 64 and Page Avenue (County Route D). For photos from the road in St. Louis, head here on flickr.

Missouri 364:

Maggie's cousins live off of Missouri 364 so we were on this road the most. Though, our exposure was of the highway from Harvester Road east to Interstate 270, I was impressed at what I saw of the route.

One of the standout features of Missouri 364 are the twin arch Veterans Memorial Bridges. A bike and pedestrian path also share the bridge.

From what I saw, Missouri 364 certainly appears to be Interstate standard, and there seems to be some inclination that it will or can become Interstate 364 whenever MODOT petitions for it. The MO 364 freeway was built over three phases from the early-2000s to 2014. The route runs just over 21 miles from Interstate 64 in Lake St. Louis to Interstate 270 in Maryland Heights. East of I-270, it continues as Page Avenue.

We get an advance warning for the end of Missouri 364.

Missouri 364 ends at Interstate 270. Page Avenue continues straight ahead.

Page Avenue (County Road D):

Missouri 364 continues east towards Interstate 170 and eventually St. Louis as Page Avenue/County Road D. Just east of I-270, the road has some expressway features before turning into an arterial east of Lindbergh Blvd. Below are some shots along Page Avenue.

Missouri 364 will begin at the I-270 Interchange.

Interstate 270:

Of everything I saw along I-270, I thought the interchange with MO 340 (Olive. Blvd.) was the most unique. The interchange here is a SPUI (Single Point Urban Interchange) but the overpass that carries Olive Blvd at the interchange includes a small well landscaped parklet on both sides.

Interstate 170:

We weren't on Interstate 170 much - just from Page Avenue to Clayton where we visited Charles A. Shaw Park on Saturday morning.

The Olive Blvd. interchange on I-170 is rather basic compared to Interstate 270.

Interstate 64:

I-64 was what we were on the most on the way to the Zoo and to the Cardinals game. Traffic was much heavier on this highway than the other St. Louis freeways.

Overhead sign assemblies on I-64 East approaching Interstate 170.

Downtown St. Louis and Busch Stadium:

For the entire set from the Nats/Cards game click here.

On Friday evening, we went to Busch Stadium for the Cardinals/Nationals game. This was my first time to Busch Stadium (it is one of four major league stadiums I have been to). The view from behind home plate gives an awesome view of downtown and of the Gateway Arch. One of the things I love about downtown ballparks are the various angles of a city's skyscrapers and other noteworthy buildings.

One of my favorite things about Busch Stadiums is the neon clock and cardinals in right field.

Busch Stadium is a great venue and the Cardinals won 8-1. It was a promotional give away night celebrating the 1967 World Series Champions and the team was giving away promotional beer steins.

All in all, a very good night at the ballpark. Unfortunately, we didn't get to explore downtown St. Louis as much as we had originally anticipated. The 4th of July parade downtown would make for it to be difficult to get downtown and also get to the arch, so we made alternate plans for the next morning. That's ok though, we plan on going back in a few years. The boys will be older and we'll be able to go to other places in the area. We really enjoyed our time in St. Louis and the next blog entry will cover our drive from St. Louis to Indianapolis.

Paper Highways; California State Route 1 through the Lost Coast

For all the accolades and praise that California State Route 1 gets for being a top notch coastal highway one fact tends to get overlooked; the highway was never finished! In this edition of Paper Highways we look at the failed path of California State Route 1 through the Lost Coast.

Part 1; the history of Legislative Route 56 and California Route 1 through the Lost Coast

The Lost Coast region consists of the undeveloped coastal areas of Humboldt County, Mendocino County, and the King Range. The Lost Coast region roughly spans from near Rockport in Mendocino County north to Ferndale of Humboldt County. The Lost Coast region is known for having rugged terrain which rivals what is seen in Big Sur. The Lost Coast has several small communities such as; Shelter Cove, Whitehorn, and Petrolia.

In 1933 Legislative Route 56 was extended south to LRN 2 (US 101) near Las Cruces and north to Ferndale to LRN 1 (also US 101). Prior to 1933 the legislative description of LRN 56 had it's nort…

Where the hell is Hill Valley? (US Route 8 south/US Route 395 east)

Recently I made a visit to Universal Studios near Los Angeles. While on the back lot tour I came across a piece of infamous movie-borne fictional highway infamy; the location of town square of Hill Valley, California on US Route 8/US Route 395.

The above photo is part of the intro scene to the first Back-to-the-Future movie which was set in 1985. To anyone who follows roadways the signage error of US 8 meeting US 395 in California is an immediately notable error. For one; US 8 doesn't even exist anywhere near California with present alignment being signed as an east/west highway between Norway, Michigan and Forest Lake, Minnesota. To make matters worse US 8 is signed as a southbound route and US 395 (a north/south highway) is signed as an eastbound route. At minimum the cut-out US 8 and US 395 shields somewhat resemble what Caltrans used in the 1980s.

Assuming Hill Valley is located on what would have been US 395 by 1985 what locales would be a viable real world analog? US 39…

US Route 99 to Visalia?...

Something that I noticed awhile back while doing map research regarding US Route 99 in Fresno was that the highway intended to be originally routed through the City of Visalia.

The early originally planned alignment of US Route 99 in Visalia

To be clear US 99 was never actually routed through Visalia and ended up bypassing the City in favor of a direct route from Goshen southeast to Tulare. US 99 within San Joaquin Valley was aligned over Legislative Route 4 which in turn was added to the State Highway System as part of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act. LRN 4 for a time was aligned through Visalia via; Mineral King Avenue, Main Street, and Mooney Boulevard. This early alignment of LRN 4 through Visalia can be seen on the 1924 Division of Highways State Map.

The initial draft of the US Route System was approved by the Secretary of Agriculture during November of 1925. The US Route System with in California was approved by California Highway Commission with no changes recommended…

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