Speaking of federal highways built after WWII (potentially through communities), Interstate Route 80 runs through Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg. President Johnson mentions the recent completion of this highway in his letter to Stroudsburg’s mayor celebrating the borough’s sesquicentennial:
The recent completion of the Interstate Highways through the Poconos has made Stroudsburg and the communities around it more accessible than ever before. The Federal Government is proud to have played an important role in this acheivement.
Letter from President Johnson dated May 31, 1965
I do not know if any communities were demolished to build this interstate highway. It is likely that the presence of this interstate is part of the reason why some New Yorkers chose to relocate here following 9/11. It is certain that some of the local bridges owe part or all of their existence to this interstate. Many of the local bridges also owe their existence to the several creeks in the area.
The Seventh Street Bridge spans both Route 80 and McMichael’s Creek. (According to signs on this bridge it’s name is Sherrifs Forrest B. Sebring and Todd A. Martin Bridge, but the Pocono Record’s article on the renaming of this bridge highlights the controversy and public backlash to this renaming which was led by a State Representative.) Further east, the freeway and the creek are farther apart and so two separate bridges carry Broad Street over both obstacles. Heading back west, another bridge carries Main Street over Pocono Creek.
Pocono Creek and its bridge (the J. Summerfield Staples Memorial Bridge) appear to mark the western boundary of the historic core of town. On the other side of the bridge, there is an uptick in the number and frequency of auto-oriented uses and building designs.
Seventh Street Bridge
Broad Street Bridges
J. Summerfield Staples Memorial Bridge
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Fun story: when I was like 4 or 5 I got my head stuck between the concrete balusters of the original Seventh Street Bridge!
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Any time an Interstate is constructed, communities are impacted. I did not find exact numbers, but the Pocono Record archives from 1960-1970 had over 20 stories about the effects, including a heavily populated area west of Paterson NJ where the highway department faced delays due to trouble “buying the land and relocating the people living there.” “Houses–among the hundreds that will be obliterated by the freeway–are being carted away or wrecked.” Communities from Ft. Lee to Hackensack in NJ were impacted. The Englewood Golf Club was divided by the Interstate, the Pocono township resort had land condemned due to the freeway, water content in Pocono Creek due to erosion from highway construction impacted the spawning of trout, Dingman Township had 600 acres affected by construction, and the Scrotrun Water Works was directly impacted when a landfill created by the highway construction was located next to their reservoir. Rain caused mud to wash into the main feed lines of the reservoir, requiring maintenance and repair.
I am not saying we do not need highways and bridges, but there is always a human cost.
The human costs are often overlooked or discounted when development occurs whether it’s highways, bridges, buildings, or other infrastructure. Thank you for providing additional insights into the impacts Route 80 had in the region.