12-13-2002: Updates to "Fort McHenry Tunnel" - updated obsolete links, added some new links, and made keyword, cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
12-7-2002: Updates to "Springfield Interchange Project (I-95/I-395/I-495/VA-644)" - updated costs, added link to USDOT OIG audit report, and made keyword, cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
Updates to "Baltimore Central Light Rail Line", and sublinked "Baltimore Central Light Rail Line - Photos 1-6" and "Baltimore Central Light Rail Line - Photos 7-10" - updated obsolete links, added some new links, and made keyword, cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
Updates to "Articles and Links about Roads and Transportation" - updated obsolete links, added some new links, and made keyword, cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
12-1-2002: Added 6 new photos of Route 895 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in September, 2002, on new article - "Route 895 Construction - September 2002". Added 27 new photos of Route 895 at the opening day of September 20, 2002, on new article - "Route 895 Opening - September 2002". These articles are accessed by hyperlink from my article - "Route 895 - Pocahontas Parkway".
12-1-2002: Added 6 new photos of Route VA-288 beltway construction near Richmond, Virginia, photos taken in October, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - October 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
11-14-2002: Revisions to article - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)". I made a number of additions to various detailed factual details.
11-11-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". I updated the "Woodrow Wilson Bridge - Construction" page with a link to an Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine article that discusses the bid opening on the Bascule Span Contract. I also updated a lot of links that became dead when the WWB official project website was revised and reformatted.
11-8-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". I updated the "Woodrow Wilson Bridge - Construction" page with information about the MDOT SHA bid opening on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Bascule Span Contract, and the bid opening one one of the major contracts for the I-295 interchange.
11-1-2002: Added 9 new photos of Route VA-288 beltway construction near Richmond, Virginia, photos taken in September, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - September 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
11-1-2002: Updated article "Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway (I-95 and I-395)". The updated article is about 8 times larger than the original article, and I added whole new sections: Henry G. Shirley - Commissioner of Virginia Department of Highways, Shirley Highway Early History, Pentagon Road System, Summary of Original Shirley Highway Openings, Shirley Highway in the 1950s - Early Years of Completed Highway, Shirley Highway in the 1960s - Planning and Beginning the Reconstruction, Transfer of Pentagon Road System From Federal Government to Virginia, Shirley Highway Today, Sources, Links to External Websites, Links to My Website Articles. I’ve added a lot of historical information, especially from the early years of planning the Fort Belvoir Bypass (the planning name of the highway), and designing and constructing the original Shirley Highway 1941-1952. This includes in-depth biographical information about Henry G. Shirley, with a photo of him. Also included is information about the development of the Pentagon Road Network in the 1940s, and its eventual transfer to the state of Virginia, and map images of the Pentagon Road Network and of the route of Shirley Highway. While not the focus of my article, I’ve also included some information about the locating of and the development of the Pentagon Building itself, including the current Pentagon Renovation Program, and I’ve included some external links to sites about those topics. I have information about the planning for and the reconstruction of Shirley Highway to Interstate standards 1965-1975, plus the widening and extension of the HOV roadway from Springfield to Dumfries 1989-1997, plus the development of and the operation of the Shirley Highway HOV/busway system. I also added a number of external links about the various topics. Updated linked articles "Mixing Bowl Interchange Complex" and "Shirley Highway Busway/HOV System", keyword, cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
10-21-2002: Updated US-29 Charlottesville Bypass article - made keyword, cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
10-16-2002: Updated "Chesapeake Bay Bridge" article. Updated some obsolete external links, added a couple newspaper article links, and made cosmetic and 'new format' changes. Updated "Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk" article, and made cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
10-13-2002: Updated "Baltimore Metro Subway" article and sub-linked article "Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System". Updated some obsolete external links, made cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
10-12-2002: Updates to my article "Interstate 664 History". I added additional information about the Bowers Hill - Belleville Connector and Bowers Hill Interchange, with an image of a plan view of the Bowers Hill Interchange area, plus history cites from the 1987 VDOT Location Public Hearing brochure for the Bowers Hill - Belleville Connector.
10-12-2002: Updates to my article "New River Gorge Bridge (US-19 Corridor "L")". Updated obsolete external links, added some information. Made cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
10-5-2002: New website article - "West Virginia Turnpike Photos". Four photo images of the West Virginia Turnpike, offered to this website by Rush Wickes of Blacksburg, Virginia. Three of the photos are from the 1950s.
10-5-2002: Route 895 Pocahontas Parkway near Richmond, Virginia. Added information about the increase of the speed limit, which is in the new section, "Route 895 Speed Limit to be Mostly 65 mph", with news articles from VDOT and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. These are on my updated article "Route 895 - Pocahontas Parkway".
10-1-2002: Updates to article "Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel". Added additional technical details, and added new sections - Bay Ferry Becomes Fixed Crossing, An Engineering Wonder, Bridge-Tunnel Tolls, Parallel Trestle Project, Parallel Tunnel Project, and Links to External Websites. I also rescanned the photos that I had posted from August 1997 on the page "Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel - August 1997 Photos", with the new images being larger and denser. Made cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
10-1-2002: Added 15 new photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in August, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - August 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
10-1-2002: Updates to my article "Interstate 664 History". I added additional information about the Belleville Connector and Bowers Hill Interchange, the opening dates of the various sections, plus cites from three recent newspaper articles about the 10-year anniversary of I-664's completion. Made cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
9-22-2002: Update to "Interstate 81 and Interstate 77" article - I added material from the VDOT news release, "VDOT Returns Five PPTA Proposals for Projects Across the State", of August 2, 2002. I added material from the VDOT news release, "VDOT Calls for I-81 Proposals", of September 19, 2002. I fixed some external links that had changed and I made cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
9-21-2002: Route 895 Pocahontas Parkway near Richmond, Virginia. Added information about the completion of the highway, with news releases from VDOT and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. These are on my updated article "Route 895 - Pocahontas Parkway".
9-19-2002: I've made updates to my website article "Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel". I added additional technical details, plus links to recent newspaper articles about the crossing, plus a link to a larger nautical chart of the area, plus cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
9-16-2002: Updates to my article "14th Street Bridge, the Air Florida Crash and Subway Disaster" with cosmetic and 'new format' changes. Updates to my article "New Jersey Median Barrier History" with cosmetic and 'new format' changes.
9-2-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)", with cosmetic and 'new format' changes. I updated the "Woodrow Wilson Bridge - Construction" page with information from a Washington Post article and an Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine article, about the revision of the bidding schedule for the third of the three contracts that comprise the superstructure of the new Potomac River Bridge.
9-1-2002: Added 13 new photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in July, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - July 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
8-17-2002: "Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (I-664)" article - made cosmetic and 'new format' changes, added information from newspaper articles and VDOT news release published on the 10-year anniversary of the MMMBT, rescanned the photo "North portal of the I-664 tunnel", added more technical details about the MMMBT tunnel, and added more technical details about the MMMBT South Trestle. "Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel - Aerial Photos" article (which is linked from the above article) - made cosmetic and 'new format' changes, and sharpened the photos with Adobe PhotoDeluxe.
8-1-2002: Added 26 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in June, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - June 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction". I also added two photos of the highway several days after it opened to traffic, to the main article in the "Opening of Route 895 Pocahontas Parkway" section; plus added a "Route 895 Road Trips" section to the main article that discusses driving on the new highway.
8-1-2002: Added 6 new photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in June, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - June 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
7-15-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". I updated the "Woodrow Wilson Bridge - Construction" page with the MDOT SHA Woodrow Wilson Bridge Bascule Span Contract bid advertisement on July 2, 2002.
7-13-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". I updated the "Woodrow Wilson Bridge - Construction" page with two photos of foundations construction on the Virginia overland portion of the new bridge and the portion in the Potomac River, taken on May 28, 2002, from the top (8th) floor of the now-vacant Hunting Towers apartment building that is next to the Beltway and which will soon be demolished for the new right-of-way for the widened Beltway. The new photos are about 1/3 the way down the page.
7-1-2002: Added 18 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in May, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - May 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction". I also added two photos of the highway several days after it opened to traffic, to the main article in the "Opening of Route 895 Pocahontas Parkway" section; plus added a "Route 895 Road Trips" section to the main article that discusses driving on the new highway.
7-1-2002: Added 4 new photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in May, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - May 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
7-1-2002: "US-58 Widening and Bypasses in Mecklenburg County" - article updated with new information about segment completions of the dualization between Clarksville and South HIll, plus new photos. I have a new photo of the dualization process on the main page, and I have set up a "drill-down" feature; by clicking the photo with the cursor and mouse, it will link to successively later versions of the same photo vantage point.
6-26-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". I updated the project cost and funding information and added a title "Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Cost and Funding" to the section with the information. Provided a link to the current WWB project financial plan, and presented cost summary data in two tables, "Project Cost Estimate by Segment Table" and "Total Project Cost Estimate by Element".
6-21-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". A decision has been made by MDOT SHA, FHWA and the WWB Design Center as to how to reconfigure the Main Bridge Contract - Potomac River Bridge. It will be divided into three separate contracts and the three contracts will be advertised for bids soon, with the contract for the bascule spans to be advertised July 2, 2002. I added information, and a link to a WWB Design Center news release, and a link to an Engineering News-Record article.
6-1-2002: Added 3 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in April, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - April 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction".
6-1-2002: Added 4 new photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in April, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - April 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
5-12-2002: Updates to my article "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway}". Added discussion about Future Ramp F, which is the elevated loop ramp from I-95 southbound to Route 895 eastbound.
5-12-2002: Construction updates to my article "Parallel Midtown Tunnel / Port Norfolk Connector / Martin Luther King Freeway Extension", with information about the award of the construction contract for the Pinners Point Interchange (Port Norfolk Connector) portion of the complex, from a March 7, 2002 VDOT news release.
5-5-2002: Update to "Interstate 81 and Interstate 77" article - added link to VDOT news release, "PPTA Process Will Drive Virginia I-81 Widening Proposal", April 29, 2002.
5-1-2002: New article - US-29 Charlottesville Bypass - about the existing US-29 bypass and the proposed northerly extension of the US-29 bypass, and the issues surrounding the proposed bypass extension.
5-1-2002: Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia. Added information about the plans for the opening of the highway, with news releases from VDOT and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. These are on my updated article "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)".
5-1-2002: Added 20 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in March, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - March 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction".
5-1-2002: Added 16 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in February, 2002. These are on my existing article - "Route 895 Construction - February 2002" (added to the 12 photos that were posted there on 3-31-2002), which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction".
5-1-2002: Added 8 new photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in March, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - March 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
4-14-2002: Update to "Interstate 81 and Interstate 77" article - STAR Solutions now has a project website on-line, that extensively discusses their public-private proposal to widen Virginia's 325 miles of I-81 to 8 lanes with separation of cars and trucks. I added their link to my article.
4-8-2002: Update to "Interstate 81 and Interstate 77" article - I added a Roanoke Times cite from April 7, 2002, called "Warner signs bill that paves the way for debate on I-81". Gov. Mark Warner signed legislation enabling state officials to consider a plan to widen Interstate 81 to eight lanes and separate commercial truck traffic from passenger vehicles. Warner signed a bill (HB 1373) that amends Virginia's Public-Private Transportation Act to allow for tolls on trucks using the interstate.
4-7-2002: I've made updates to my website article "Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (I-64)". I added information and links about Fort Wool, which is on a manmade island known as Rip-Raps, created beginning in 1818, which was pre-existing land when the HRBT south tunnel portal island was built in 1954-1957, with a small earthen causeway that connects Fort Wool to the HRBT south portal island. The question has come up in the past, about why the HRBT tunnels are so long. The twin tunnels are each 7,479 feet long, and the roadway is 108 feet below sea level at the lowest point. I added the explanation, as I see it, from reviewing a nautical chart; and an image of a nautical chart of the area around the HRBT. I have small, medium and large versions of the image.
4-4-2002: Updates to "Interstate 81 and Interstate 77" article - I added information about the truck toll lane proposal for I-81, where private investors would finance the planned expensive widening of I-81 in Virginia with at least partial private financing, with tolls to recoup the investment. In January 2002, under PPTA (Virginia's Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995), a consortium filed an unsolicited project proposal to build this project, with VDOT. The billions of dollars in costs would be financed through bonds and retired through tolls assessed electronically on large trucks, and the project wouldn't utilize state or federal tax funds. The PPTA Evaluation Panel is examining this proposal.
3-31-2002: Added 12 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in February, 2002. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - February 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction".
3-31-2002: Updates to "Springfield Interchange Project (I-95/I-395/I-495/VA-644)". Added image depicting the Springfield Interchange as originally constructed in 1964, from Page 596 of A Policy on Geometric Design of Rural Highways, also commonly known as the "AASHO Blue Book", by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), published in 1965.
3-31-2002: I have 6 February photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia. There are four photos of the construction of the VA-288 James River Bridge and approaches, seen from the Goochland County (northern side) of the river. There are two photos of the heavy excavation for the construction of the VA-288 roadways, near VA-650 River Road in Goochland County. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - February 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
3-31-2002: "The Roads of Northern Virginia (by Mike Hale)" - Mike sent me more new and updated files, and I've uploaded them. There are updates to the pages for VA-620 Braddock Road, VA-28 Sully Road / Centerville Road, VA-7100 Fairfax County Parkway, and VA-7900 Franconia-Springfield Parkway.
3-16-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". Added information and link to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, Independent Review Committee Report, was completed by consultants and released by the WWB Project Coordination Committee on March 12, 2002. This is the report that MDOT SHA requested to be prepared, concerning the determination of what to do about the rejected huge, sole bid for the Main Bridge Contract - Potomac River Bridge, which was opened on December 13, 2001. Also, links to a Baltimore Sun article and an Engineering News-Record article.
3-9-2002: Updated article - "I-64 Widening Projects in Newport News and Hampton". I have added three photos of the widened highway to the article. Two are looking westward onto I-64 from the Hampton Roads Center Parkway (HRCP) overpass, and one is looking eastward onto I-64 from the HRCP overpass.
3-3-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". Added information about the official MDOT SHA determination of what to do about the rejected huge, sole bid for the Main Bridge Contract - Potomac River Bridge, which was opened on December 13, 2001. Added two photos of foundations construction on the Virginia overland portion of the bridge.
3-1-2002: The Springfield Interchange Project is in Fairfax County, Virginia, 10 miles from Washington, D.C. The project involves reconstructing what is actually two interchanges: 1) The interchange between Shirley Highway and the Capital Beltway. Shirley Highway is I-95 south of the Beltway, and is I-395 north of the Beltway. The Capital Beltway is I-495 throughout, and carries I-95 also east of Shirley Highway. 2) The interchange between I-95 Shirley Highway and VA-644. VA-644 is Franconia Road east of I-95 and is Old Keene Mill Road west of I-95. This is my new article - "Springfield Interchange Project (I-95/I-395/I-495/VA-644)".
3-1-2002: Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia. Added detailed information about - The planned predecessor to what became Route 895; the Laburnum Avenue Extension. The toll structure. The Route 895 Airport Connector Road, which was just approved by the CTB for construction, which will begin in Fall 2002. Project location map included. Discussion about the route number designation for Route 895, which will be state primary and not Interstate. Added 7 more external links to Route 895 articles. These are on my updated article "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway}".
3-1-2002: Added 4 new photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia, taken in mid January, 2002. Photo of the toll collection related signs for westbound traffic approaching the mainline toll plaza. Photo of the directional route signing on the highway for eastbound traffic. Photo of the directional route signing on the highway for westbound traffic. Photo from Charles City Road overpass, looking north onto Interstate Route I-295, and construction of the deceleration lane and acceleration lane for Route 895. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - January 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction".
3-1-2002: Added 4 new aerial photos of Route 895 Connector construction near Richmond, Virginia. The aerial photos on this page were taken in October 2001 by VDOT, and they have given them to me and have permitted me to post them here. Photos are of the I-95 interchange, the mainline toll plaza, and the Laburnum Avenue interchange. These are on my new article - "Route 895 Construction - October 2001 - Photos 25-28", which is accessed by hyperlink from this article - "Route 895 Construction - October 2001", which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)" and "Route 895 Construction".
3-1-2002: I-77 in Virginia crosses over the New River and US-52 on twin high-level bridges, in Wythe County, 5 miles south of Fort Chiswell and 2 miles north of Poplar Camp. Here are 5 photos of the bridge under construction in 1977 and 1978. These photos were taken by personnel of the Hillsville Residency Office of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and I am using them by their permission. These are on my new article - "Interstate 77 New River Bridge Construction", which is accessed by hyperlink from "Interstate 77 New River Bridge".
3-1-2002: This article mainly concerns the 8-lane widening with HOV lanes, on the 10.7 miles of I-64 from 0.5 mile west of Bland Boulevard in Newport News, to the I-664 westerly ramps with I-64 in Hampton. There is also some side discussion of the earlier I-64 widening projects to the east of the current projects, to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT); and the future I-64 widening projects to the west of the current projects, to Richmond. I have construction and planning updates to the original article that was published 10 months ago - "I-64 Widening Projects in Newport News and Hampton".
3-1-2002: This article has links to photos of various parts of the Baltimore Metro system. These are the stations on the article -- Charles Center Station Photos - 5 photos; Shot Tower Station Photo - 1 photo; Johns Hopkins Hospital Station Photos - 4 photos. This is on my new article - "Baltimore Metro Subway - Photos", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Baltimore Metro Subway".
3-1-2002: I have 8 January photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia. The first four photos are of the construction of the VA-288 James River Bridge and approaches, seen from the Goochland County (northern side) of the river and the Powhatan County (southern side) of the river. One photo shows heavy excavation near River Road in Goochland County. The second four photos are of the dualization of the existing 2-lane VA-288 in Goochland County. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - January 2002", which is accessed by hyperlink from - "Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
2-17-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". Added information about the rejection of the huge, sole bid for the Main Bridge Contract - Potomac River Bridge, which was opened on December 13, 2001. Added information about the two land projects under construction in Maryland.
2-1-2002: I have 10 new December photos of Route 895 construction near Richmond, Virginia. These are on my new article - Route 895 Construction - December 2001, which is accessed by hyperlink from these articles - "Route 895 Connector" and "Route 895 Construction".
2-1-2002: I have 6 December photos of Route VA-288 construction near Richmond, Virginia, showing construction of the 3,642-foot-long VA-288 James River Bridge, and a major earthwork cut on the north side of the river, taken from the north side of the river. These are on my new article - "Route 288 Construction - December 2001", which is accessed by hyperlink from - Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)".
2-1-2002: Updates to my article "Hampton Roads Crossing Study" - added map of selected Corridor 9 of the Third Hampton Roads Crossing, map of Corridor 9 proposed staging of construction, typical sections of proposed tunnel designs, and map of I-564 Intermodal Connector project. Added lots of information about the Third Hampton Roads Crossing including a proposal for private funding of the project, and information about the Intermodal Connector; with cited information from VDOT news releases and Draft EIS, the Virginian-Pilot and Engineering News-Record.
1-20-2002: Updates to my article "Interstate 295 in Virginia" - information about interchange improvements to the eastern I-64/I-295 interchange, near Sandston, Virginia; a new semi-directional ramp from I-295 southbound to I-64 eastbound was completed and opened in June 2001, a project to provide a 2-lane high-speed ramp to replace the existing loop ramp for this movement.
1-20-2002: Updates to my article "I-270 and I-370 in Maryland" - information about the Frederick-to-Baltimore highway route, the original US-40 Baltimore National Pike, and I-70N and I-70 which replaced US-40 as the principal highway there.
1-18-2002: Updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)". No construction updates. I added a new section "High-Level Bridge and Tunnel Alternatives", which provides an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of those alternates during the planning process, added a paragraph at the end of the section "Woodrow Wilson Bridge Improvement Study" discussing why the existing bridge will be removed, added an official cite in the section "Woodrow Wilson Bridge Ownership", added the definition of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in the section "Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Construction Program", and added the definition of "closed shop", "union shop" and "open shop" in the latter section.
1-14-2002: Construction updates to my article "Parallel Midtown Tunnel / Port Norfolk Connector / Martin Luther King Freeway Extension", with information about the award of the construction contract for the Pinners Point Interchange (Port Norfolk Connector) portion of the complex, with a plan view of the project.
1-12-2002: Construction updates to my article "Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495 and I-95)", with information from an MDOT SHA news release from Dec. 21, 2001. An engineer in the D.C. area pointed me to it; I didn't see it before because I always go to the main MDOT website for news releases, and the official WWB website didn't have it either; it is on the SHA website. It came out just 8 days after the bid opening, and it has information about what MDOT SHA plans to do about the bid on the Main Bridge Contract - Potomac River Bridge, which only had one bid, which was 70% over budget.
1-6-2002: New article - Interstate 77 Fancy Gap Photos - I-77 makes a six-mile hill-climb of over 2,000 feet, commencing one mile north of the North Carolina border, with a third northbound truck-climbing lane. The top of the climb on I-77 is a summit called Fancy Gap, and is over 3,100 feet elevation. The northern 6 miles of this section traverses heavily mountainous terrain, and involved over 18 million cubic yards of excavation, making it one of the largest excavation projects in the history of the Interstate system. Southbound on the long grade, there are 3 emergency escape ramps for runaway trucks. I have 15 photos, on 3 webpages, taken along I-77 in 2001, with 5 photos per webpage, and the sequence is 5 photos southbound starting just beyond the summit, and then two sets of 5 photos northbound starting just beyond the start of the hill-climb. Also, once you are on the "Interstate 77 Fancy Gap Photos" article, I have a link to an article where all three webpages are combined onto one single webpage, for those of you who have the speed of Internet connection and computer power to handle it.

Website Change Log (2001) - Roads to the Future

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