Driving Through Time - The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway
See Larger Image
About this Item
Title | Road Construction |
Title Note | Flat Top Road |
Date | June 3, 1955 |
Description | Placing base stone on Flat Top Road, looking west from overpass. |
Commentary | For nearly the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway the road is constructed as an undivided two-lane road. Along most of the Blue Ridge Parkway the road is designed for a maximum speed of 50 mph, although grades and curves prevent most cars from reaching the Blue Ridge Parkway speed limit of 45 mph. The roadway itself is built with a compacted stone base, generally surfaced by modern asphalt. Typically, the road is 21' wide with 4.5' stabilized turf shoulders. A distinctive feature of the Parkway road system is its lack of roadside edge striping, which helps the road blend in with the landscape. Although the Federal Highway Administration has called for edge striping as a safety provision, thus far roadway planners have resisted its implementation, outside of tunnel approaches. |
Location |
Location Name: Section 2G Parkway Milepost: None
Latitude: 36.143989
Longitude: -81.717042 |
Creator Individual | F.S.W. |
Tags |
Construction
Flat Top Road (N.C.) Overpasses Photographs Road construction Roads Watauga County (N.C.) |
Credit | Courtesy of the North Carolina State Archives |