Gribblenation

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Hawaii Route 21 was the one of the original Big Island State Routes designated in 1955.  The highway followed mostly Wainaku Street from Hawaii Route 19 near Wainaku south to Hawaii Route 20 in downtown Hilo.  Wainaku Street prior to 1950 was part of the larger Mamalahoa Highway (Hawaii Belt Road).  The early importance of Wainaku Street can be seen in the form of the 1919 era Wailuku River Bridge (pictured as the blog cover) which was one of the first arch concrete spans in Hawaii.  Hawaii Route 21 was ultimately deleted in the 1960s after it was removed as a Federal Aid corridor.   Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 21 and Wainaku Street Wainaku Street was the original main road north out of downtown Hilo over the Wailuku River.  The street was also part of the wider Mamalahoa Highway (Hawaii Belt Road) which circled the entire Big Island.  Nearby Bridge Street (now Puueo Street) provided a secondary road crossing of the Wailuku River.   Mamalahoa Highway was declared by royal decre

The Station Road Bridge and Brecksville-Northville High Level Bridge are historic alignments of Ohio State Route 82 over the Cuyahoga River in Pinery Narrows.  The Station Road Bridge is an iron truss span which was opened to traffic 1882.  The Brecksville-Northville High Level Bridge as an arch span which opened in 1931.  The Station Road Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is now part of trailhead in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.     Part 1; the history of the Station Road Bridge and Brecksville-Northville High Level Bridge Both the Station Road Bridge and Pinery Narrows Bridge span the Cuyahoga River in near the site of Brecksville Station in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Both spans are located in Pinery Narrows which is the slimmest point in Cuyahoga Valley.   During 1880 Valley Railway service began which included a stop at Brecksville on the western banks of Cuyahoga River.  During 1881 the Station Road Bridge (an iron truss design) was con

Echo Valley Road is an approximately three mile connecting highway through the Gablian Range in the Prunedale area.  The corridor begins at Monterey County Route G12 at San Miguel Canyon Road and extends east to an interchange located at US Route 101.  Echo Valley Road originated near the founding of Prunedale during the 1890s but did not become a modernized roadway until the middle of the twentieth century.   Part 1; the history of Echo Valley Road Echo Valley is located in the community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agriculture in the area consisted of Plum Trees which failed due to a lack of irrigation.   What is now modern Echo Valley Road can be seen on the 1917 California State Automobil