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131-454: Like many railroads in the northeast already financially vulnerable from the expanding U.S. Interstate Highway System , the line was severely weakened fiscally by the extent, duration and record flood levels due to Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It would never recover. Most of the corporation's holdings became part of Conrail in 1976, ending its sixteen years as an independent operating railroad company. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved

262-734: A Bombardier MultiLevel Coach into Erie Lackawanna colors. Interstate Highway System [REDACTED] The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways , commonly known as the Interstate Highway System , or the Eisenhower Interstate System , is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States . The system extends throughout

393-535: A concurrency or overlap. For example, I‑75 and I‑85 share the same roadway in Atlanta ; this 7.4-mile (11.9 km) section, called the Downtown Connector , is labeled both I‑75 and I‑85. Concurrencies between Interstate and US Highway numbers are also allowed in accordance with AASHTO policy, as long as the length of the concurrency is reasonable. In rare instances, two highway designations sharing

524-651: A 28-year-old brevet lieutenant colonel, accompanied the trip "through darkest America with truck and tank," as he later described it. Some roads in the West were a "succession of dust, ruts, pits, and holes." As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act). This new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $ 75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for

655-563: A Pennsylvania subsidiary corporation, the Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad , to bring coal to the Delaware and the new canal. This cable railroad would grow in importance and become the far-flung class I railroad, the Delaware and Hudson Railway. In the early 1820s, Philadelphia merchant William Wurts, who enjoyed walking about along Amerindian paths, and what today what is termed taking nature hikes, had heard of possible anthracite in

786-476: A change in the numbering system as a result of a new policy adopted in 1973. Previously, letter-suffixed numbers were used for long spurs off primary routes; for example, western I‑84 was I‑80N, as it went north from I‑80 . The new policy stated, "No new divided numbers (such as I-35W and I-35E , etc.) shall be adopted." The new policy also recommended that existing divided numbers be eliminated as quickly as possible; however, an I-35W and I-35E still exist in

917-609: A heavy debt burden. Therefore, it initially declined interest in joining the Consolidated Rail Corporation ( Conrail ) takeover of the other major bankrupt eastern lines. The preliminary (PSP) and final (FSP) system plans for Conrail showed the EL being merged into the Chessie System . Also, by 1975, the economy in the eastern United States was gravely affected by the 1973 oil crisis , quashing any hopes of

1048-715: A line from Albany southwest to Binghamton , while the Lackawanna and Susquehanna split from that line at Nineveh , running south to the Jefferson Railroad at Lanesboro. Also leased in 1870 was the Schenectady and Susquehanna Railroad , connecting the Albany and Susquehanna at Duanesburg to Schenectady , opened in 1872 (reorganized as the Schenectady and Duanesburg Railroad in 1873). On March 1, 1871,

1179-582: A number of ways that anthracite coal could be successfully ignited and burned. The fuel had been seen more as a way to put out a fire than a fuel to build one up, so its use also had to overcome prejudice. White and his partner Erskine Hazard founded the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company , creating the Lehigh Canal , and inspiring the exploitation of anthracite deposits found by William Wurts in and around Carbondale, Pennsylvania , which led to

1310-589: A numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes which branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself is funded by a combination of a federal fuel tax and transfers from the Treasury's general fund. Though federal legislation initially banned

1441-402: A program of " urban renewal ". In the two decades following the 1956 Highway Act, the construction of the freeways displaced one million people, and as a result of the many freeway revolts during this era, several planned Interstates were abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores. Construction of the original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from

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1572-559: A report called Toll Roads and Free Roads , "the first formal description of what became the Interstate Highway System" and, in 1944, the similarly themed Interregional Highways . The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy that drove in part on

1703-409: A single digit prefixed to the two-digit number of its parent Interstate Highway. Spur routes deviate from their parent and do not return; these are given an odd first digit. Circumferential and radial loop routes return to the parent, and are given an even first digit. Unlike primary Interstates, three-digit Interstates are signed as either east–west or north–south, depending on the general orientation of

1834-801: A speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) because it is a parkway that consists of only one lane per side of the highway. On the other hand, Interstates 15, 80, 84, and 215 in Utah have speed limits as high as 70 mph (115 km/h) within the Wasatch Front , Cedar City , and St. George areas, and I-25 in New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas along with I-20 in Texas along Odessa and Midland and I-29 in North Dakota along

1965-460: A speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h). Other Interstates in Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming also have the same high speed limits. In some areas, speed limits on Interstates can be significantly lower in areas where they traverse significantly hazardous areas. The maximum speed limit on I-90 is 50 mph (80 km/h) in downtown Cleveland because of two sharp curves with

2096-474: A suggested limit of 35 mph (55 km/h) in a heavily congested area; I-70 through Wheeling, West Virginia , has a maximum speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) through the Wheeling Tunnel and most of downtown Wheeling; and I-68 has a maximum speed limit of 40 mph (65 km/h) through Cumberland, Maryland , because of multiple hazards including sharp curves and narrow lanes through

2227-613: Is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States . In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&;H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP, which would itself become part of Canadian Pacific Kansas City in 2023, operated D&H under its subsidiary Soo Line Corporation, which also operates Soo Line Railroad . D&H's name originates from

2358-543: Is also commonly believed the Interstate Highway System was built for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of nuclear warfare . While military motivations were present, the primary motivations were civilian. The numbering scheme for the Interstate Highway System was developed in 1957 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The association's present numbering policy dates back to August 10, 1973. Within

2489-539: Is to have the highway route extend from Tamaulipas , Mexico to Ontario , Canada. The planned I-11 will then bridge the Interstate gap between Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada , and thus form part of the CANAMEX Corridor (along with I-19 , and portions of I-10 and I-15 ) between Sonora , Mexico and Alberta , Canada. Political opposition from residents canceled many freeway projects around

2620-645: The Canadian National Railway in 1929. The D&H incorporated the Napierville Junction Railway in 1906 to continue the line north from Rouses Point to St. Constant Junction near Montreal , Quebec , from which the D&H obtained trackage rights over the Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal. This line opened in 1907, forming part of the shortest route between New York City and Montreal. In 1912,

2751-474: The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, and an I-35W and I-35E that run through Minneapolis and Saint Paul , Minnesota, still exist. Additionally, due to Congressional requirements, three sections of I-69 in southern Texas will be divided into I-69W , I-69E , and I-69C (for Central). AASHTO policy allows dual numbering to provide continuity between major control points. This is referred to as

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2882-636: The Erie Canal , opened in 1821, creating news coverage) would also tie the developing industries along the Delaware to the Hudson, which helped raise financing. At the time, nearly all the eastern cities were experiencing energy cost increases and difficulty in getting large quantities of fuel, as most nearby timber stands had been used up, often for charcoal production enabling foundries to start up, which now needed fuel to stay in business. This general condition around most long established cities and towns in

3013-552: The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways , informally known as the Yellow Book , mapped out what became

3144-555: The Grand Forks area have higher speed limits of 75 mph (120 km/h). As one of the components of the National Highway System , Interstate Highways improve the mobility of military troops to and from airports, seaports, rail terminals, and other military bases. Interstate Highways also connect to other roads that are a part of the Strategic Highway Network , a system of roads identified as critical to

3275-592: The Grand Trunk Railway continued each of the two branches north to Montreal . The D&H obtained trackage rights over the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad in 1886, extending the main line southwest from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre . On July 11, 1889, the D&H bought the Adirondack Railway , a long branch line heading north from Saratoga Springs along the Hudson River. Upon gaining control of

3406-499: The Hudson River . The northeast's railroads, including the EL, were all beginning to decline because of over-regulation, subsidized highway and waterway competition, commuter operations and market saturation (i.e., too many railroad lines competing for what market was remaining). The closure in the 1960s of old multi-story factories in the eastern cities, followed by the decline of the domestic automobile and steel industry in

3537-529: The Lincoln Highway , the first road across America. He recalled that, "The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways... the wisdom of broader ribbons across our land." Eisenhower also gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he

3668-704: The Norfolk Southern Railway completed acquisition of the D&H South Line from CP. The D&H South Line is 282 miles (454 kilometers) long and connects Schenectady, New York , to Sunbury, Pennsylvania . The D&H South Line consists of two rail lines, the Sunbury Line and the Freight Line. The Nicholson Cutoff is located on the Sunbury Line, which was the former mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad . By

3799-572: The Norfolk and Western Railway , which had bought the railroad. On April 1, the assets were transferred as a condition of the proposed but never-consummated merger between the N&;W and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway . Dereco also owned the Delaware & Hudson Railway at the time. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes destroyed many miles of track and related assets, especially in northeastern Pennsylvania and New York State's Southern Tier. The cost of repairs, and

3930-625: The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company in 1871, new repair shops were built north of Albany, New York at Green Island. The following year, shops and a locomotive terminal were added midway between Albany and Binghamton at Oneonta. For 40 years the Green Island Shops and Oneonta Shops were the primary back shops for the system. Some company directors questioned the wisdom of acquiring extensive rail systems in northern New York. A direct line to Albany existed for many years through

4061-668: The Troy Union Railroad from this lease. On March 1, 1873, the D&H got the New York and Canada Railroad chartered as a merger of the Whitehall and Plattsburgh Railroad and Montreal and Plattsburgh Railroad , which had been owned by the Rutland Railroad . This provided an extension , completed in 1875, north from Whitehall to the border with Quebec ; a branch opened in 1876 to Rouses Point . Lines of

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4192-506: The US Department of Defense . The system has also been used to facilitate evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An option for maximizing traffic throughput on a highway is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side of a divider so that all lanes become outbound lanes. This procedure, known as contraflow lane reversal , has been employed several times for hurricane evacuations. After public outcry regarding

4323-470: The US Highways , which increase from east to west and north to south). This numbering system usually holds true even if the local direction of the route does not match the compass directions. Numbers divisible by five are intended to be major arteries among the primary routes, carrying traffic long distances. Primary north–south Interstates increase in number from I-5 between Canada and Mexico along

4454-553: The West Coast to I‑95 between Canada and Miami, Florida along the East Coast . Major west–east arterial Interstates increase in number from I-10 between Santa Monica, California , and Jacksonville, Florida , to I-90 between Seattle, Washington , and Boston, Massachusetts , with two exceptions. There are no I-50 and I-60, as routes with those numbers would likely pass through states that currently have US Highways with

4585-691: The contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii , Alaska , and Puerto Rico . In the 20th century, the United States Congress began funding roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , and started an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 . In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established, creating

4716-695: The right-of-way for the canal was used by the Ellenville and Kingston Railroad , a branch of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway , chartered in 1901 and opened in 1902. In 1903, the D&H organized the Chateaugay and Lake Placid Railway as a consolidation of the Chateaugay Railroad , Chateaugay Railway , and Saranac and Lake Placid Railway . In conjunction with the Plattsburgh and Dannemora Railroad , which had been leased by

4847-524: The 1790s, industrializing eastern population centers were having increasing troubles getting charcoal to fuel their growing kilns, smithies, and foundries. As local timber was denuded, efforts to find an alternative energy source began. During a fuel shortage in Philadelphia during the War of 1812 , an employee at the direction of industrialist Josiah White conducted a series of experiments and discovered

4978-543: The 1823 New York state corporation charter listing "The President, Managers and Company of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co." authorizing an establishment of "water communication" between the Delaware River and the Hudson River . Nicknamed "The Bridge Line to New England and Canada," D&H connected New York with Montreal and New England . D&H has also been known as "North America's oldest continually operated transportation company." On September 19, 2015,

5109-579: The 1960s until April 30, 1971, when Amtrak thereafter assumed most long-distance passenger-train service. After more than three years of lapsed service, Amtrak introduced the daytime Adirondack over the D&H line on August 6, 1974. In 1964, Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) filed an application to purchase the Nickel Plate Road and the Wabash Railroad . The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) approved their purchase, under

5240-688: The 1970s, eroded much of the EL's traditional traffic base. Also, due to government regulation policy formulated in the late 19th century, the EL and other railroads could not immediately abandon long-distance passenger runs, despite the fact that competition from airlines , bus lines and the private automobile made them unprofitable. However, the EL did post profits in the mid and late-1960s through heavy cost-cutting (reduction of parallel services), equipment modernization, suburban industrial development, increased piggy-back trailer traffic and steady reduction of long-distance passenger train service, which ended on January 6, 1970. Also, additional rail traffic

5371-436: The Albany and Susquehanna, agreeing in 1866 to jointly build an extension to Nineveh and subsequently ship coal across the entire line. The two companies then entered into an arrangement whereby the Delaware and Hudson perpetually leased the Albany and Susquehanna for $ 490,000 per year. The connecting Lackawanna and Susquehanna Railroad , chartered in 1867 and opened in 1872, was also absorbed. The Albany and Susquehanna provided

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5502-599: The Chateaugay Railroad, this formed a long branch from Plattsburgh west and south to Lake Placid . In 1906, the D&H bought the Quebec Southern Railway and South Shore Railway , merging them into the Quebec, Montreal and Southern Railway . This line ran from St. Lambert , a suburb of Montreal, northeast to Fortierville , most of the way to Quebec City . The D&H sold that line to

5633-576: The Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50,000-mile (80,000 km) system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes. The system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $ 25,000 per mile ($ 16,000/km), providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. In 1919, the US Army sent an expedition across

5764-662: The D&H and the Pennsylvania Railroad incorporated the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad , creating an interchange between the two lines at Hanover Township, Pennsylvania , thus avoiding going through downtown Wilkes-Barre. Opened in 1915, this line runs north 6.65 miles to the D&H main line at Hudson , crossing the Susquehanna River twice. Also in 1912, a new shop site was constructed to handle larger locomotives on

5895-525: The D&H for bankruptcy, and they disbanded all of the D&H's operations and assets. Guilford stated that the D&H's assets were worth $ 70 million at the time of the bankruptcy. Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, officials purchased the Carbondale-Scranton route, and it later began to serve a growing number of industries in the valley under the auspices of the designated operator, Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad . The ICC opted to arrange for

6026-456: The D&H leased the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company , which, along with its leased lines, provided a network stretching north from Albany and Schenectady to Saratoga Springs , and continuing northeast to Rutland, Vermont , as well as an eastern route to Rutland via trackage rights over the Troy and Boston Railroad west of Eagle Bridge . The D&H also obtained a quarter interest in

6157-466: The D&H line, instead of its aging SD40-2 models. This is an indication of the increasing importance of reliable service. Also, major signal and track projects are underway to modernize the former D&H lines. As of 2012, various trackage and haulage rights were assigned to Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) over the D&H between Sunbury and Mechanicville, New York, as was a connection to Canadian National via Rouses Point, New York. NS incorporated

6288-698: The D&H started to act as a bridge line , carrying large amounts of freight between other connecting lines. After the Second World War the D&H, like all railroads in the United States, gradually curtailed passenger service. By 1957, the D&H had ended service between Albany and Lake George (via Fort Edward) and between Albany and North Creek (via Saratoga Springs) in the southeast part of Adirondack Park . The D&H had also ended service on its branch between Plattsburgh and Lyon Mountain during this period. By 1960, service consisted of

6419-532: The D&H to be absorbed into Conrail. Walter G. Rich, the president and CEO of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W), quickly lobbied against the arrangement, since the D&H had a contract in place to jointly operate intermodal trains with the NYS&;W and CSX Transportation . The federal bankruptcy court agreed to appoint the NYS&W to assume control of the D&H, until another buyer could be found. CSX provided financial support for

6550-525: The D&H trackage was upgraded, and excess trackage was ripped up. The D&H briefly became profitable under CPR ownership, but by 1996, they experienced financial losses again. CPR quickly placed the D&H and other unprofitable trackage in the eastern U.S. and Canada into a separate subsidiary called the St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway . In 2000, the St.L&H was absorbed into CPR. The D&H operates in some of

6681-483: The D&H's first locomotive , the Stourbridge Lion , made history as the first locomotive to run on rails in the United States. Westward extensions of the railroad opened access to new mines at Archbald in 1843, Valley Junction in 1858, Providence in 1860, and Scranton in 1863. Passenger service began west of Carbondale in 1860. The canal was a successful enterprise for many of its early years, but

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6812-496: The D&H; being a more level and direct route to Scranton, this acquisition allowed the D&H to abandon its famed Penn Division between Carbondale and their former Erie/EL connection at Jefferson Junction. The success of this action has often been discredited, since the D&H was too small to compete with the services provided by Conrail, and the railroad doubled in size by gaining trackage rights over Conrail to Newark, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Washington, D.C. . The remainder of

6943-443: The EL being able to independently compete with government-rehabilitated Conrail lines. Therefore, the EL petitioned and was accepted into Conrail at the last minute. In 1976, much of the company's railroad assets were thus purchased by the federal government and combined with other companies' railroad assets to form Conrail. An independent Erie Lackawanna Estate continued in existence for several years thereafter. This estate liquidated

7074-510: The EL's Employees Timetable Number 3, New York Division, showed its fastest comparable schedule to be 28 hours and 45 minutes. By 1973, the Penn Central's fastest piggyback service between these points was shown in the Official Guide to be 26 hours and 15 minutes, while the EL's Employees Timetable Number 4 showed that the EL's fastest comparable schedule was 29 and 1/2 hours. After its 1972 bankruptcy, EL management attempted to plot an independent course, anticipating financial reorganization without

7205-581: The EL's marginal non-railroad assets and distributed the railroad purchase funds to satisfy much of the large debt burden that the EL and its predecessors had accumulated. The EL's creditors gained more by selling the line's assets than by continuing its traditional business operations. The Erie Lackawanna's former commuter services are operated by NJ Transit and Metro-North ; non-electrified service operates to and from Hoboken Terminal; electrified lines use both Hoboken Terminal and Pennsylvania Station as terminals. Metro-North and NJ Transit share operation of

7336-403: The Erie and the DL&W, started to consolidate facilities on the Hudson River waterfront and across southern New York State in 1956, four years before formal corporate merger. The Lackawanna route was severely affected by the decline of anthracite and cement traffic from Pennsylvania by the late 1940s. The Erie was burdened by the continuing loss of high-tariff fruit and vegetable traffic from

7467-419: The Erie's Pennsylvania Coal Company railroad at Hawley . The Jefferson Railroad (and through it the Erie) obtained trackage rights over the D&H between its two sections, and the D&H obtained trackage rights to Lanesboro. The other part of the main line was the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad , which the D&H leased on February 24, 1870. The Delaware and Hudson already had a history of working with

7598-407: The Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson , who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953. Some sections of highways that became part of the Interstate Highway System actually began construction earlier. Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that

7729-424: The Interstate Highway program. The Interstates of Alaska and Puerto Rico are numbered sequentially in order of funding without regard to the rules on odd and even numbers. They also carry the prefixes A and PR , respectively. However, these highways are signed according to their local designations, not their Interstate Highway numbers. Furthermore, these routes were neither planned according to nor constructed to

7860-436: The NYS&W's takeover, and they underwrote all financial losses from the D&H. In 1991, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) purchased the D&H for $ 25 million to provide a connection between Montreal and the New York City area, for their transcontinental system. The CPR assumed all operations of the D&H system and eventually phased out the use of the D&H name and logos on locomotives or rolling stock. Under CPR,

7991-439: The Penn Division from Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, to Nineveh, New York, was abandoned after the Belden Hill tunnel was enlarged in 1986. In 1984, Guilford Transportation Industries purchased the D&H as part of a plan to operate a larger regional railroad from Maine and New Brunswick in the east, to New York City and the Midwest in the west, Montreal in the north, and the Philadelphia and Washington metropolitan areas to

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8122-450: The Port Jervis and Pascack Valley Lines, while NJ Transit operates the Main, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, Bergen County, and Gladstone Lines. Track reconstruction is underway that could restore regular service along the Lackawanna Cut-Off from Port Morris Junction, New Jersey to the Pennsylvania border at the Delaware River (28.45 miles) and extend service into northeastern Pennsylvania, possibly as far as Scranton. The Erie portion of

8253-429: The Schenectady, New York, to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and Delanson to Voorheesville, New York, segments for $ 217 million. On September 19, 2015, NS assumed ownership and operations of its newly-purchased portion of the old D&H mainline. The Delaware and Hudson was one of the longest-operating class I railroads in American history. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression , D&H President L.F. Loree ordered many of

8384-506: The US to determine the difficulties that military vehicles would have on a cross-country trip. Leaving from the Ellipse near the White House on July 7, the Motor Transport Corps convoy needed 62 days to drive 3,200 miles (5,100 km) on the Lincoln Highway to the Presidio of San Francisco along the Golden Gate . The convoy suffered many setbacks and problems on the route, such as poor-quality bridges, broken crankshafts, and engines clogged with desert sand. Dwight Eisenhower , then

8515-423: The United States is one reason so much venture capital was raised for coal and coal transportation projects after 1823 and into the early 1840s, once Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company had blazed a way forward steadily increasing annual shipping to over a remarkable 28,000 long tons (28,000 t) by 1825. The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company originates from the 1823 New York corporation charter listing

8646-631: The United States, including: In addition to cancellations, removals of freeways are planned: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has defined a set of standards that all new Interstates must meet unless a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is obtained. One almost absolute standard is the controlled access nature of the roads. With few exceptions , traffic lights (and cross traffic in general) are limited to toll booths and ramp meters (metered flow control for lane merging during rush hour ). Being freeways , Interstate Highways usually have

8777-464: The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. Most trackage in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois is a thing of the past. In September 2015, Norfolk Southern revealed EMD SD45-2 1700, which had been painted back to its as-built Erie Lackawanna color scheme at Chattanooga, Tennessee . This is the second unit from an NS predecessor painted back into its original colors. In 2019, as part of its 40th anniversary, New Jersey Transit wrapped ALP-45DP 4519 and

8908-413: The act was signed, and paving started September 26, 1956. The state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, and is nicknamed "Grandfather of the Interstate System". On October 1, 1940, 162 miles (261 km) of

9039-654: The area, so took a trip to explore the sparsely settled regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania . Finding coal outcrops, he immediately realized the value of the extensive anthracite deposits. Returning to Philadelphia, he successfully interested his brothers in backing the idea of building a canal to make easier transporting coal to New York City. The city was still feeling the effects of the depletion of stands of woodlands providing heating and cooking firewood and also squeezed by continuing post- War of 1812 import restrictions on British bituminous coal , on which it had once been relying. The canal he proposed (the first sections of

9170-417: The bias, as did the beginning of mine output reaching the Delaware basin markets due to the long delayed completion of the Schuylkill Canal . Wurts was a large thinker, and inspired his brothers to back forming a company to deliver the new fuel, anthracite, to New York City by building an ambitious canal to connect the Hudson River and the Delaware River, and both to the Coaldale coal deposits by chartering

9301-432: The canal and river system, so most of the coal markets in the area were already accessible. These concerns were overruled by the majority, who believed great benefit would accrue to having an all-rail route to Upstate New York that was not nearly as vulnerable to winter weather as the canal. Avoiding situations in which the company would have to rely on other railroads to reach its markets also would be desirable. The effort

9432-798: The canal ran northwest on the New York side of the Delaware River, crossing into Pennsylvania on Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct at Lackawaxen and running on the north bank of the Lackawaxen River to Honesdale . To get the anthracite from the Wurts' mine in the Moosic Mountains near Carbondale to the canal at Honesdale, the canal company built the Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad . The state of Pennsylvania authorized its construction on April 8, 1826. On August 8, 1829,

9563-481: The canal was opened to navigation in October 1828. It began at Rondout Creek at the location known as Creeklocks, between Kingston , where the creek fed into the Hudson River , and Rosendale . From there, it proceeded southwest alongside Rondout Creek to Ellenville , continuing through the valley of Sandburg Creek, Homowack Kill, Basha Kill , and Neversink River to Port Jervis on the Delaware River. From there,

9694-684: The cancellation of the Somerset Freeway . This situation was remedied when the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project started in 2010 and partially opened on September 22, 2018, which was already enough to fill the gap. However, I-70 remains discontinuous in Pennsylvania , because of the lack of a direct interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at

9825-617: The city. In some locations, low speed limits are the result of lawsuits and resident demands; after holding up the completion of I-35E in St. Paul, Minnesota , for nearly 30 years in the courts, residents along the stretch of the freeway from the southern city limit to downtown successfully lobbied for a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit in addition to a prohibition on any vehicle weighing more than 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) gross vehicle weight . I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park in northern New Hampshire has

9956-401: The collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads , either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of Interstates in some cases. As of 2022 , about one quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which has a total length of 48,890 miles (78,680 km). In 2022 and 2023,

10087-421: The company's management realized that railroads were the future of transportation, and began investing in stock and trackage. In 1898, the canal carried its last loads of coal and was drained and sold. The next year, the company dropped the "Canal" from its name. The remaining fragments of the canal were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. As railroads grew in popularity, the canal company recognized

10218-555: The condition that they take over the D&H and the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL). The N&W subsequently placed the EL and D&H under their new holding company, Dereco, and the D&H company was reorganized as the Delaware and Hudson Rail way . Following the bankruptcy of numerous northeastern U.S. railroads in the 1970s, including D&H and EL, N&W lost control of Dereco stock. After several merger plans fell through, EL petitioned for and became included in

10349-507: The construction and improvement of highways. The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of Engineering News-Record , presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at

10480-407: The contiguous United States, primary Interstates—also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates—are assigned numbers less than 100. While numerous exceptions do exist, there is a general scheme for numbering Interstates. Primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, while shorter routes (such as spurs, loops, and short connecting roads) are assigned three-digit numbers where

10611-549: The development of Scranton . By 1824, the mills of White and Hazard, and the regular large boatloads of anthracite they proved they could supply, tipped the prejudice against anthracite in Philadelphia when the Lehigh River was damaged by flooding. The news of its rapid repair and restoration together with the fact anthracite stocks had for a time run down, but not out, establishing the reliable sourcing finished off

10742-623: The discontinuity, but they have been blocked by local opposition, fearing a loss of business. The Interstate Highway System has been expanded numerous times. The expansions have both created new designations and extended existing designations. For example, I-49 , added to the system in the 1980s as a freeway in Louisiana , was designated as an expansion corridor, and FHWA approved the expanded route north from Lafayette, Louisiana , to Kansas City, Missouri . The freeway exists today as separate completed segments, with segments under construction or in

10873-448: The dissemination of public information. As a result, the 2005 evacuation of New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina ran much more smoothly. According to urban legend , early regulations required that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. There is no evidence of this rule being included in any Interstate legislation. It

11004-496: The eastern end of the concurrency near Breezewood . Traveling in either direction, I-70 traffic must exit the freeway and use a short stretch of US 30 (which includes a number of roadside services) to rejoin I-70. The interchange was not originally built because of a legacy federal funding rule, since relaxed, which restricted the use of federal funds to improve roads financed with tolls. Solutions have been proposed to eliminate

11135-450: The economy. Not just as a public works measure, but for future growth. Clay's committee proposed a 10-year, $ 100 billion program ($ 1.13 trillion in 2023), which would build 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of divided highways linking all American cities with a population of greater than 50,000. Eisenhower initially preferred a system consisting of toll roads , but Clay convinced Eisenhower that toll roads were not feasible outside of

11266-522: The enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 . Unlike the earlier United States Numbered Highway System, the interstates were designed to be all freeways, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage. While some older freeways were adopted into the system, most of the routes were completely new. In dense urban areas, the choice of routing destroyed many well-established neighborhoods, often intentionally as part of

11397-492: The existing, largely non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald , chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote

11528-426: The federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. With few exceptions , all Interstates must meet specific standards , such as having controlled access, physical barriers or median strips between lanes of oncoming traffic, breakdown lanes , avoiding at-grade intersections , no traffic lights , and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use

11659-411: The first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were state-funded and maintained, and there were few national standards for road design. United States Numbered Highways ranged from two-lane country roads to multi-lane freeways. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed a proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in

11790-467: The first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956. The first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44 . On August 13, 1956, work began on US 40 (now I-70) in St. Charles County. Kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before

11921-614: The first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing , former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during

12052-715: The following trains: the daytime Laurentian and overnight Montreal Limited between New York City and Montreal, unnamed local trains between Albany and Rouses Point and Albany and Binghamton, and a commuter train between Albany and Saratoga Springs. The D&H discontinued the Rouses Point locals in July 1960, the Albany–Saratoga commuter train in late 1962, and the Binghamton train on January 24, 1963. The Laurentian and Montreal Limited remained in operation through

12183-413: The formation of the federal government's nascent Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). The D&H was left out of Conrail to maintain a semblance of competition in the northeast. While the D&H was still owned by N&W, they were given financial support and told to "sink or swim" as an independent railroad again. In 1980, Conrail sold their former DL&W main line from Binghamton to Scranton to

12314-568: The former Albany Main from Delanson, New York, to Voorheesville, New York, up for sale. Voorheesville Track is operated under contract by SMS Rail Services. Under the purchase agreement, CPR D&H would retain the lines from Mechanicville, New York, to Mohawk Yard and Rouses Point, New York, to Albany, to retain lucrative Bakken crude-oil traffic. The majority of the current traffic on the offered routes already consisted of NS Intermodal Containers and Auto Rack trains bound for Ayer, Massachusetts , via Pan Am Southern . On November 17, 2014, NS acquired

12445-577: The former bridge-line route into its "Patriot Corridor", and the majority of the traffic on the D&H became that of the NS. In 2017, CPR finished installing an updated signaling system on the line. In 2018, CPR started doing extensive work on the line, possibly in preparation for increased traffic. In October 2014, Canadian Pacific's Delaware & Hudson put a portion of its lines south of CP's Mohawk Yard in Glenville, New York, to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and

12576-465: The gravity railroad that served it. In January 1825, following a demonstration of anthracite heating in a Wall Street coffeehouse, the D&H's public stock offering raised a million dollars. At the time, the Lehigh Canal had established a reliable flow of increasing annual tonnages, and the industrial and heating uses of 'rock coal' were well established. Ground was broken on July 13, 1825, and

12707-556: The highest speed limits in a given area. Speed limits are determined by individual states. From 1975 to 1986, the maximum speed limit on any highway in the United States was 55 miles per hour (90 km/h), in accordance with federal law. Typically, lower limits are established in Northeastern and coastal states, while higher speed limits are established in inland states west of the Mississippi River . For example,

12838-553: The highly populated coastal regions. In February 1955, Eisenhower forwarded Clay's proposal to Congress. The bill quickly won approval in the Senate, but House Democrats objected to the use of public bonds as the means to finance construction. Eisenhower and the House Democrats agreed to instead finance the system through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself would be funded by a gasoline tax. In June 1956, Eisenhower signed

12969-617: The highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle . The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes, a reference to turnpikes . Milestones in the construction of the Interstate Highway System include: The initial cost estimate for the system was $ 25 billion over 12 years; it ended up costing $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 425 billion in 2006 or $ 618 billion in 2023 ) and took 35 years. The system

13100-568: The importance of replacing the canal with a railroad. The first step of this was the Jefferson Railroad, a line from Carbondale north towards New York, chartered in 1864, built by the Erie Railroad in 1869 and opened in 1872. This was a branch of the Erie, running south from the main line at Lanesboro to Carbondale. Also built as part of this line was a continuation from the other side of the D&H's gravity railroad at Honesdale southeast to

13231-459: The inefficiency of evacuating from southern Louisiana prior to Hurricane Georges ' landfall in September 1998, government officials looked towards contraflow to improve evacuation times. In Savannah, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , in 1999, lanes of I-16 and I-26 were used in a contraflow configuration in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd with mixed results. In 2004, contraflow

13362-431: The last two digits match the parent route (thus, I-294 is a loop that connects at both ends to I-94 , while I-787 is a short spur route attached to I-87 ). In the numbering scheme for the primary routes, east–west highways are assigned even numbers and north–south highways are assigned odd numbers. Odd route numbers increase from west to east, and even-numbered routes increase from south to north (to avoid confusion with

13493-623: The loss of revenue, forced the company into bankruptcy , filing for reorganization under Section 77 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act on June 26. The completion of the Interstate 80 highway across Pennsylvania and New Jersey by 1971 added to the Erie Lackawanna's financial problems, as it diverted piggyback traffic previously garnered from less than truckload shipping companies such as Navajo and Cooper-Jarrett. EL

13624-454: The mainline. Some auxiliary highways do not follow these guidelines, however. The Interstate Highway System also extends to Alaska , Hawaii , and Puerto Rico , even though they have no direct land connections to any other states or territories. However, their residents still pay federal fuel and tire taxes. The Interstates in Hawaii, all located on the most populous island of Oahu , carry

13755-753: The maximum speed limit is 75 mph (120 km/h) in northern Maine, varies between 50 and 70 mph (80 and 115 km/h) from southern Maine to New Jersey, and is 50 mph (80 km/h) in New York City and the District of Columbia. Currently, rural speed limits elsewhere generally range from 65 to 80 miles per hour (105 to 130 km/h). Several portions of various highways such as I-10 and I-20 in rural western Texas, I-80 in Nevada between Fernley and Winnemucca (except around Lovelock) and portions of I-15 , I-70 , I-80 , and I-84 in Utah have

13886-573: The merger on Sept. 13, 1960, and on Oct. 17 the Erie Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad merged to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. The EL struggled for most of the 16 years it existed. The two railroads that created it were steadily losing passengers, freight traffic and money, and were heavily-burdened by years of accumulated debt and extensive, money-losing commuter operations. These two historic lines,

14017-427: The most rural areas of New York, and very few industrial customers between Binghamton and Rouses Point remain. However, the railroad's current prognosis is arguably better than it has been in a long time. Along with the New York City connection, haulage agreements with other railroads are greatly increasing traffic. CPR has been steadily using its high-power alternating current traction locomotives on its road trains on

14148-475: The north side of Albany at Watervliet. Known as the Colonie Shops, they were constructed on 1,100 acres of land for $ 2.5 million and eventually employed 2,500. Thereafter the obsolete repair facilities at Green Island were downgraded. On April 1, 1930, the property of the Delaware and Hudson Company was transferred to the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corporation , incorporated December 1, 1928. In 1938,

14279-404: The number of fatalities on the Interstate Highway System amounted to more than 5,000 people annually, with nearly 5,600 fatalities in 2022. The United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an ad hoc basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , which provided $ 75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for

14410-484: The official Interstate Highway standards . On one- or two-digit Interstates, the mile marker numbering almost always begins at the southern or western state line. If an Interstate originates within a state, the numbering begins from the location where the road begins in the south or west. As with all guidelines for Interstate routes, however, numerous exceptions exist. Delaware %26 Hudson Railway The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) ( reporting mark DH )

14541-465: The original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards . The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 618 billion in 2023). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and many future Interstate Highways are currently either being planned or under construction. Though heavily funded by

14672-538: The original Mainline between Port Jervis and Binghamton is operated by the CNYK . The Lackawanna Railroad mainline west of Portland is operated by the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad to Scranton ; then by Norfolk Southern north to Binghamton. Norfolk Southern also operates from Binghamton to Buffalo on the Erie mainline, with the former Chicago mainline that heads west at Hornell operated by

14803-656: The planning phase between them. In 1966, the FHWA designated the entire Interstate Highway System as part of the larger Pan-American Highway System, and at least two proposed Interstate expansions were initiated to help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Long-term plans for I-69 , which currently exists in several separate completed segments (the largest of which are in Indiana and Texas ),

14934-411: The prefix H . There are three one-digit routes in the state ( H-1 , H-2 , and H-3 ) and one auxiliary route ( H-201 ). These Interstates connect several military and naval bases together, as well as the important communities spread across Oahu, and especially within the urban core of Honolulu . Both Alaska and Puerto Rico also have public highways that receive 90 percent of their funding from

15065-411: The railway's larger locomotives to be taken off the main line and serviced with the sole reasoning being to keep men working so they did not lose their jobs. Most of these engines were in excellent condition and did not need repairs. Also in 1939, the railroad experimented with welded rail before many other railroads. The branch of the D&H that ran between Lake Village and Glens Falls, New York ,

15196-537: The route, without regard to the route number. For instance, I-190 in Massachusetts is labeled north–south, while I-195 in New Jersey is labeled east–west. Some looped Interstate routes use inner–outer directions instead of compass directions, when the use of compass directions would create ambiguity. Due to the large number of these routes, auxiliary route numbers may be repeated in different states along

15327-419: The same numbers, which is generally disallowed under highway administration guidelines. Several two-digit numbers are shared between unconnected road segments at opposite ends of the country for various reasons. Some such highways are incomplete Interstates (such as I-69 and I-74 ) and some just happen to share route designations (such as I-76 , I-84 , I‑86 , I-87 , and I-88 ). Some of these were due to

15458-503: The same roadway are signed as traveling in opposite directions; one such wrong-way concurrency is found between Wytheville and Fort Chiswell , Virginia, where I‑81 north and I‑77 south are equivalent (with that section of road traveling almost due east), as are I‑81 south and I‑77 north. Auxiliary Interstate Highways are circumferential, radial, or spur highways that principally serve urban areas . These types of Interstate Highways are given three-digit route numbers, which consist of

15589-436: The south. Guilford paid for the D&H for $ 500,000, a price that reflected the D&H's poor financial problems and the poor condition of its physical plant. At the time of the purchase, the D&H had little remaining freight traffic, relying on federal and state money to continue operations. Guilford's plans for expanded operations did not come to fruition. On June 20, 1988, following two intense labor strikes, Guilford filed

15720-410: The state of New Jersey during the late 1960s for adequate subsidy and for the purchase of new engines and coaches. The EL also gained a lucrative contract with United Parcel Service in 1970, which led to the operation of five dedicated intermodal trains daily between New Jersey and Chicago. The Erie Lackawanna Railway was formed on March 1, 1968, as a subsidiary of Dereco, the holding company of

15851-421: The unusual name of "The President, Managers and Company of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co." authorizing an establishment of "water communication" between the Delaware River and the Hudson River . The D&H was chartered by separate laws in the states of New York and Pennsylvania in 1823 and 1826, respectively, allowing William Wurts and his brother Maurice to construct the Delaware and Hudson Canal and

15982-440: The war, complied by submitting a detailed network of 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map . A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement

16113-684: The western states into the New York City region as highways improved in the 1950s. Both lines were also affected by the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959, which allowed ocean-going cargo ships to travel between European, African and South American ports and cities on the Great Lakes , such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Duluth, Chicago, etc. The DL&W had previously carried much traffic to and from ocean ships, having its own port facilities at Hoboken Terminal on

16244-598: Was able, however, to land large contracts with UPS because of its ability to move piggyback traffic between Chicago and the New York metropolitan area more reliably, although not faster than Penn Central (and formerly, New York Central ). For example, in 1971, the Penn Central advertised a 24 and 1/2 hour piggyback service from Metro New York to Metro Chicago in the Official Guide of the Railways , while

16375-727: Was converted to the Warren County, New York bikeway in several phases, starting in 1978 and finishing in 2000. Amtrak 's Adirondack and Ethan Allen Express trains also operate over former D&H trackage. The Lyon Mountain Railroad Station at Lyon Mountain, New York , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and the Mediterranean Revival style Delaware and Hudson Passenger Station (1909–1911) at Lake George

16506-551: Was employed ahead of Hurricane Charley in the Tampa, Florida area and on the Gulf Coast before the landfall of Hurricane Ivan ; however, evacuation times there were no better than previous evacuation operations. Engineers began to apply lessons learned from the analysis of prior contraflow operations, including limiting exits, removing troopers (to keep traffic flowing instead of having drivers stop for directions), and improving

16637-508: Was helped by a report that estimated necessary upgrades to the canal would cost $ 300,000, an expenditure that would not be needed if rail routes could be purchased or leased. The canal was last used on November 5, 1891, and the gravity railroad closed January 3, 1899. On April 28, 1899, the name was changed to the Delaware and Hudson Company to reflect the lack of a canal, which was sold in June of that year. Between Port Jackson and Ellenville ,

16768-457: Was listed in 2013. The city of Delson in Quebec was named in honor of the D&H, which runs through the town. The origin of the name Delson comes from a contraction of "DELaware and HudSON". The Village of Delanson, New York , through which the D&H's Susquehanna Division ran, was also named in honor of the D&H. The name was coined by D&H Superintendent C.D. Hammond in 1893 from

16899-422: Was proclaimed complete in 1992, but two of the original Interstates— I-95 and I-70 —were not continuous: both of these discontinuities were due to local opposition, which blocked efforts to build the necessary connections to fully complete the system. I-95 was made a continuous freeway in 2018, and thus I-70 remains the only original Interstate with a discontinuity. I-95 was discontinuous in New Jersey because of

17030-494: Was serving as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II . In 1954, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay to head a committee charged with proposing an interstate highway system plan. Summing up motivations for the construction of such a system, Clay stated, It was evident we needed better highways. We needed them for safety, to accommodate more automobiles. We needed them for defense purposes, if that should ever be necessary. And we needed them for

17161-520: Was temporarily diverted to the EL because of service problems on the troubled Penn Central lines, which the EL largely paralleled. The EL built a state of the art diesel engine repair facility in Marion, Ohio , and upgraded a large car repair shop in Meadville, Pennsylvania . As to its money-losing suburban passenger train services in the New York City metropolitan region, the EL had come to terms with

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