Skip to main content

SWPA Roads Project

Image
By

Pittsburgh is a city of unique personalities and entertaining stories.  The same can be said about its transportation history.  Pittsburgh is more than the "City of Bridges."  It is said throughout the region that "you can't get there from here." And perhaps it's true. 

However, it is all those quirks, those idiosyncrasies, the leftovers, and the plans that never were that make Pittsburgh's transportation history so unique.  The SWPA Roads Project tells stories that range from the mundane to the colorful, the obscure to the controversial, and everything in between.

⚡ Recent Project Updates

  • August 29, 2026: New page on the former PA Route 909.
  • August 15, 2026: New page on the former PA Route 908.
  • May 23, 2026: The Belt System is complete! New Page on the Blue Belt debuts!

Ride The Belt System

Uniquely Pittsburgh, this post-WWII relic connects the endless municipalities within Allegheny County.

City Beautiful Boulevards and More

They are the Boulevards we all know and love (or complain about) by name.

The Pittsburgh That Could Have Been

The endless proposals and plans for highways and transit that just never came to be.

Unique Stories

Colorful, bizarre, or distinctive corridor events and history.

Gone or Completely Forgotten

Abandoned, torn down, or just plain forgotten infrastructure landmarks.

Lost Routes

Tracing long-lost state highways that, decades later, still leave hints of their existence.

  • PA 884
  • PA 908 - Northeastern Allegheny County
  • PA 909 - Passes Oakmont Country Club
Have photos, stories, or information to share - just drop a line in the comments or send me a note!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more