The Abandoned Highway

This. Fascinates. Me.

Seriously. It has become an addiction.

Every time I go to the grocery store or head towards the interstate, I pass by what I have taken upon myself to dub: The Abandoned Highway.  Almost every time I see this stretch of land, I stop and stare. Seriously, how can you not look at this and marvel and question? Why is this here? What is going on? Most of time I just ask myself:

How COOL is THIS?!?!?!?!?

When I first became infatuated with this section of road, I was unemployed and had plenty of time to waste, so began researching the highway. Turns out, The Abandoned Highway is an abandoned portion of I-189, which now exists solely to connect Burlington with South Burlington and I-89, all of about 200 yards away (1.4 miles in actuality but you get the point).

Originally, the connector was supposed to continue alongside Lake Champlain in an effort to detour traffic, and the congestion associated with it, from the down-town area. However, construction on the project ceased when it was discovered that the land that would have to be excavated to finish the road was highly toxic.

Because of my research, I now know that I am actually living directly across the street from the Super Fund site responsible for halting the construction on I-189. Sweet.

There is only so much you can read about something without wanting to get a closer look for yourself. So I hopped on my bike to bring you this week’s observation.

Just a hop, skip and a jump...

When I was a kid, they closed down Main Street (Route 20) in my hometown for a day. I remember walking out on the road and just laying down. I thought to myself, “when am I ever going to get to do this again?”

That’s how I felt when I mounted up on the Abandoned Highway. There is something very surreal about coasting on a bicycle, weaving back and forth aimlessly where you know traffic should be zooming past, relegating you to the side of the road (or a nearby ditch).

Today, parts of the Abandoned Highway look like it should be on the History Channel’s “Life After People.” Nature has begun to take it back.

However, humans have managed to put some of the highway to use. The Howard Center somehow has gotten approval to use a portion of the highway as a parking lot.

A far better use, in my opinion, can only be discovered by exploring the road. Almost exactly halfway down the road from the entrance point,  a small skate park has been erected.

Kick-flipped it once or twice, living in a Skater's Paradise

It’s simple, but it’s really kind of beautiful and features some pretty decent artwork. If I was a skater as a teenager, which I wasn’t, I would have loved to have had this. It’s out of the way and peaceful, plus you are still skating on the institution’s property. What else could a skater ask for?

Wait, I know what they could ask for: A couch.

After biking through the homemade park, which took all of about 3 seconds, I saw big wooden poles sticking out of the ground (which I failed to photograph) that would no doubt have been used to hold a sign up when the road was completed. If the signs had been placed, I bet they’d say: “Here lies the abandoned highway. Give a hoot, don’t pollute.”   Just a thought.

There should be a sign here: "Please Enter"

Another 30 seconds after the poles and the road abruptly comes to an end, first forming into a single-lane dirt road and then dead-ending into a barrier designed, by the looks of it, to keep no-body out.

Despite the easy access though, there there doesn’t seem to be much going on on the Abandoned Highway.

After thinking about it, I realized that even today, a clear, bright, breathtaking fall day, both the parking lot and the skate park were totally empty. It seems as if, for now at least, even the useful parts of the road have been abandoned.

Until next time,

A Stranger Observing Burlington, Vermont – Elek