# Historians - Do Roads Ever Change?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-do-roads-ever-change/731739>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 19, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-do-roads-ever-change/731739 "2015-09-19T05:51:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-do-roads-ever-change/731739/41 "2015-09-23T15:12:29Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Quoth the OP:
> 
> For that matter, Atlanta has some streets that almost predate human settlement; Peachtree Street is a game trail…

Which one?

On the point, there’s a road not too far from here named Fitch that crosses a railroad. It used to be a level crossing, until they looped the road around to the side where they could build a bridge over the tracks. Now, Fitch is the road that goes over the bridge, and the spur that’s left from before, minus the crossing itself, is called Old Fitch.

They’re in the process of doing the same thing with Stearns, another road that crosses the same tracks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RaffArundel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/87869e/32.png) [@RaffArundel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaffArundel)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-do-roads-ever-change/731739/42 "2015-09-23T15:32:19Z")

</div>

> [@bump](#):
>
> Funny, I always thought it went from about S. Main to Wayside. (Houston folks may get the joke…)

I do, and apparently it \*is \*part of the [OST](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spanish_Trail_(auto_trail)) that stretches from coast to coast. As an aside, I thought my grandparents were joking when they said it stretched to San Antonio, where my aunt lived. Apparently not a joke - but I would probably stick to I10 anyway.

As for other roads that change - wouldn’t Route 66 be an example? I’ve been on bits and pieces of it during various road trips and sections of it are definitely disappearing. Similarly, I recall various roads that fell into disuse when bigger and better roads (typically with bridges that weren’t falling apart) were built. I’m willing to speculate that has happened throughout history.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-do-roads-ever-change/731739/43 "2015-09-23T18:31:32Z")

</div>

> [@RaffArundel](#):
>
> As for other roads that change - wouldn’t Route 66 be an example? I’ve been on bits and pieces of it during various road trips and sections of it are definitely disappearing. Similarly, I recall various roads that fell into disuse when bigger and better roads (typically with bridges that weren’t falling apart) were built. I’m willing to speculate that has happened throughout history.

But the roads are still there, right? They’re just not the main path anymore.

That happens all the time- I’m reminded of US 290 between Houston and Hempstead- the old route ran about a half-mile south of where the current route is, and the old route went right through all the small towns, while the new route bypasses them entirely.

But the old route is still there as “Business 290” even if it’s not the main route any longer.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-do-roads-ever-change/731739.md?page=2)