Junction Fragments
Route 2
Abandoned: October 1952
West Junction Fragment
2013
At the end of Forest Lane, the common assumption I've seen is that Route 2 continued on to the east through the patch of scotch broom and "under" the freeway, emerging near the USFS facility on the south side... However, there are some old pavement traces in the area that seem to indicate a different alignment, though this could have been an old side road leading to the Oxbow Hatchery, relocated to its current location on Herman Creek in 1937.
The map below does seem to indicate a turn to the south at this point, but there is, obviously, not enough detail here to be sure...
July 24, 2020
Considering the apparent age of the pavement and the super-elevation of the curve here, obvious in these photos, Kirk is extremely confident that this is a fragment of the original Route 2 alignment. I believe that this is a pretty old piece of pavement, but I am still not convinced that it was ever the primary alignment of Route 2.
Here's why:
While all of the maps show the highway curving to the southeast around this point, to meet up with confirmed fragments further east, this fragment curves all the way to the southwest!
The super-elevation itself is problematic. This was a known technique when Route 2 was being constructed, but it was rejected by Lancaster and the other engineers in favor of building broader curves on the highway for the specific purpose of super-elevation not being required. I've got some quotes on this, probably in the first OHC report, that I will dig out and post here at some point in the future.
Again, fuzzy memories of sources that I need to track down again, but in 2013 I wrote, "the common assumption I've seen is that Route 2 continued on to the east through the patch of scotch broom and 'under' the freeway." This was a big deal to me back then, because I was hungry to prove the "experts" wrong with new research and field work, but over time I've come to believe that they may have been right about this.
Putting all of this together, I am still leaving this on the map as a yellow (Confirmed, Walkable) fragment, because clearly it has age and history relating to the Route 2 alignment through this area, but I am starting to think, as I mentioned before, it was a side road heading towards the hatchery or, more likely, a ramp onto the westbound lane of the Improved US 30 Water Level Route. That would explain the super-elevation well.
Unfortunately, I have yet to find any map evidence supporting either of these theories.
Above, pre-abandonment maps, below, post abandonment map showing both Forest Lane and the Improved US 30 Water Level Route.
East Junction Fragment
Unconfirmed
There are faint traces on the LIDAR image suggesting hidden roadbeds under the scotch broom...
July 24, 2020
I still strongly suspect that the primary alignment of the 1917 / 1918 highway followed a route close to, and probably was, this suspected East Junction Fragment, as I've explained in my notes on the West Junction Fragment, above.
We need some field work and further research to get this all sorted out. I wish I'd run across the way when Kirk and I were there in March, but these issues had sort of faded from my mind before getting deeper into the details during the site rebuild.
Kirk J. Poole, August 3, 2020
I looked all the way around it. It's going to be a severe bushwhack job. There's a partially, semi-open slit in the middle, but I couldn't see the ground from the overpass. I walked 3/4 of the way around. Nothing promising.
