US 40 and the National Road in Western Indiana

The Jim Grey PageRoads


Washington Street Bridge

In the past few years, US 40 was routed around Indianapolis on I-465, just as US 421, US 31, and US 52 have been. I can understand how the state doesn't want to maintain roads that have become primarily local, but it's sad not to see shields along these routes anymore.

As you head west on Washington Street, the road curves sharply around White River State Park, which contains the Indianapolis Zoo and other attractions. In earlier days, Washington Street, US 40, and the National Road went straight through what is now the park -- and the bridge over the White River is still there, as the map shows. You can see the bridge from Washington Street as you drive toward it. Unfortunately, on this day Downtown was busy with Indiana Black Expo and a music festival that kept us from entering the park, or even stopping on Washington Street, to take photos.

As you can see, Windows Live Local, from which I got this map, still shows US 40 as running through town.

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Start • 1 Washington Street Bridge • 2 Six Points • 3 White Lick Creek • 4 Deer Creek
5 State Prison • 6 Pleasant Gardens • 7 Big Walnut Creek • 8 Indiana 340 • 9 Interurban
10 Downtown Terre Haute • 11 Toad Hop • 12 Illinois State Line

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Created July 2006. Last update 26 May 2007.
These pages, including text and photographs, are copyright 2006 by Jim Grey. (Replace # with @ if you click that link to send me e-mail.)
Maps are screen shots from Windows Live Local. All copyrights acknowledged.