Paving Appalachia

Highway Corridors A to X

New highways promoted by the Appalachian Regional Commission, an intergovernmental effort of federal, state and local agencies.
Trillion Dollar Highway Plans
= Multiple Bypass Surgery
a state by state list
High Priority Corridors
specified by Congress in 1991, 1995, 1998, 2005, 2012
NAFTA Superhighways
Corridors of the Future
J. Edgar Hoover Parkway: transportation surveillance,
mileage taxes, RFID & video tolling
Paving Appalachia:
Corridor A to X in AL, GA, MD, MS, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV
Alabama Nebraska
Alaska Nevada
Arizona New Hampshire
Arkansas New Jersey
California New Mexico
Colorado New York
Connecticut North Carolina
Delaware North Dakota
Florida Ohio
Georgia Oklahoma
Hawai'i Oregon
Idaho Pennsylvania
Illinois Rhode Island
Indiana South Carolina
Iowa South Dakota
Kansas Tennessee
Kentucky Texas
Louisiana Utah
Maine Vermont
Maryland Virginia
Massachusetts Washington
Michigan Washington, D.C.
Minnesota West Virginia
Mississippi Wisconsin
Missouri Wyoming
Montana  


Interstate 68, western Maryland -- giant road cut through Sideling Hill Mountain
Appalachian Corridor E

 

A few of these highway projects have been extremely controversial due to severe ecological damage at great cost. Corridor H in West Virginia was fought by local opponents for many years (who ultimately lost their legal fight). One of their arguments is building a four lane expressway would divert resources away from maintaining existing roads, which will still be needed even with the new road. Corridor H slices through some of the most rural, steepest terrain in the eastern US and its construction cost was grossly underestimated by the highway department. Traffic levels on the completed segments have been very low.

Corridors B (I-26 in North Carolina) and E (I-68 in Maryland) have some of the deepest cuts of any roads in the US. Road construction is a form of "mountaintop removal" as permanent as stripping mountains to get the (increasingly thin) coal seams underneath. The Appalachians have some of the oldest geology on Earth. Destroying mountains for highways and strip mines are permanent alterations that will long outlast the fossil fuel era.

 

Opposition efforts:

 

http://potomacstewards.com/corridorh
Stewards of the Potomac Highlands - page on Corridor H construction

 

Corridor K in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee

www.southernenvironment.org/cases/corridor_k

 

Corridor X-1 - Birmingham, Alabama Northern Beltline

www.southernenvironment.org/cases/northern_beltline

 

 

official reference site for the Appalachian highway corridors:

www.arc.gov/adhs

Appalachian Development Highway System

 

www.arc.gov/program_areas/ADHSApprovedCorridorsandTermini.asp

List of Approved Corridors and Termini

   Termini  
Corridor State From To Existing Route
A Georgia
North Carolina		 I-285 north of Atlanta, Georgia I-40 near Clyde, North Carolina US 19, SR 5
US 64, US 19A
A-1 Georgia Corridor A south of Cumming, Georgia Intersection SR 53 north of Dawson and Forsyth County line US 19
B North Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
Kentucky
Ohio		 Intersection of I-26 and I-40
Asheville, North Carolina		 Corridor C north of Portsmouth, Ohio US 23
US 52
SR 348
SR 73
B-1 Kentucky
Ohio		 Corridor B near Greenup Dam, Kentucky Corridor B north of Portsmouth, Ohio US 23
C Ohio Corridor B north of Portsmouth, Ohio I-270 south of Columbus, Ohio US 23
C-1 Ohio Corridor D near Jackson, Ohio Corridor C at Chillicothe Ohio US 35
D Ohio
West Virginia		 I-275 east of Cincinnati, Ohio I-79 near Bridgeport, West Virginia SR 32
SR 124, US 50
E West Virginia
Maryland		 I-79 near Morgantown, West Virginia I-70 near Hancock, Maryland SR 73
US 40
F Tennessee
Kentucky		 I-75 near Caryville, Tennessee Corridor B near Jenkins, Kentucky US 25W, SR 63
US 25E, US 119
G Kentucky
West Virginia		 Corridor B near Pikesville, Kentucky I-64 near Charleston, West Virginia US 119
H West Virginia
Virginia		 I-79 near Weston, West Virginia I-81 near Strasburg, Virginia US 23
US 220, SR 55
I Kentucky Corridor F near Whitesburg, Kentucky I-64 near Winchester, Kentucky SR 15
J Tennessee
Kentucky		 I-124 near Chattanooga, Tennessee I-75 near London, Kentucky SR 8, SR 53
SR 61, SR 90, SR 80
K Tennessee
North Carolina		 I-75 near Cleveland, Tennessee Corridor A near Dillsboro, North Carolina US 64
US 19, US 19A
L West Virginia I-77 near Beckley, West Virginia I-79 near Sutton, West Virginia US 19
M Pennsylvania I-70/I-76 at New Stanton, Pennsylvania I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania US 22
N Maryland
Pennsylvania		 Corridor E near Grantsville, Maryland Corridor M at Ebensburg, Pennsylvania US 219
O Maryland
Pennsylvania		 Corridor E near Cumberland, Maryland I-80 near Belfonte, Pennsylvania US 220
O-1 Pennsylvania Corridor O at Port Matilda, Pennsylvania I-80 near Clearfield, Pennsylvania US 322
P Pennsylvania I-80 near Mackeyville, Pennsylvania I-80 near Milton, Pennsylvania SR 147
US 220
Q Kentucky
Virginia
West Virginia		 Corridor B near Shelbiana, Kentucky I-81 near Christiansburg, Virginia SR 80
SR 609
US 460
R Kentucky Corridor I near Campton, Kentucky Corridor B at Prestonburg, Kentucky KY Mountain Pkwy.
S Tennessee I-81 north of White Pine, Tennessee Corridor F south of Harrogate, Tennessee US 25E
T Pennsylvania
New York		 I-90 east of Erie, Pennsylvania I-81 near Binghamton, New York SR 430
SR 17
U Pennsylvania
New York		 Corridor P near Williamsport, Pennsylvania Corridor T near Elmira, New York US 15, SR 328
SR 328
U-1 Pennsylvania
New York		 Interchange with PA 328 SR 17/I-86 US 15
V Mississippi
Alabama
Tennessee		 I-55 near Batesville, Mississippi I-24 west of Chattanooga, Tennessee SR 6, SR 24, I-565
US 72
US 72
W South Carolina
North Carolina		 I-85 near Greenville, South Carolina I-26 near Hendersonville, North Carolina US 25 Bypass
US 25
X Mississippi
Alabama		 Corridor V near Fulton, Mississippi I-59 near Birmingham, Alabama US 78
US 78
X-1 Alabama I-459 near Birmingham, Alabama
 I-20 near Leeds, Alabama
 New Location