Motorists for years, when leaving the Civic Arena or exiting off the Crosstown Expressway onto Bigelow Blvd., have wondered what exactly the ghost ramp in the above photo was for. Where was it to have come from? When and why did they stop? Will it ever be built?
The original plans for the Crosstown Expressway included a full interchange with Bigelow Blvd. However, these plans never came to fruition. The only ramps that were built were from I-579 North onto to the Blvd and from PA 380 West to I-579 South. The above ramp was to have come from I-579 South, over the existing roadway, and on to PA 380 East. It never came to be, and the HOV ramp to the Civic Arena has basically taken up any future plans for completing this interchange.
The two photos above show the ghost ramp and how it would have connected onto Bigelow. The below photo shows exactly how narrow the merge would have been.
The three photos below show how much work was actually done on the ramp, and how foliage growth has taken up most of the right of way.
The final photo shows how dead this project really is when a light pole is now in what would have been a ramp from the expressway on to PA 380.
Page Created: July 4, 2001
Last Updated: April 1, 2003
(C) 2001-03William Lawson