Slaughter alley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sections of highway locally known for a high fatal accident rate are often known as "Slaughter Alley". Other names that may be used are "Blood Alley" or "Massacre Mountain". Many sections of roads have been known as "Slaughter Alley" and local residents may disagree on where "Slaughter Alley" actually is or was. Many famous "Slaughter Alleys" no longer exist as they have been replaced by new, safer sections of road.
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[edit] History
The United States began upgrading major highways to modern freeways in the 1950s. The freeways were much safer than the old highways. This is because the opposing lanes were separated by barriers or wide medians and grade-level crossings were eliminated by overpasses and underpasses. The significantly lower fatal accident rate on the freeways caused the busy older highways to become notorious as areas with high accident rates. Some older, narrow roads have not been widened to accommodate increased traffic over the years. These roads sometimes become notorious for high accident rates. In many regions, the most dangerous sections of these old highways became known as "Slaughter Alley" (or by other similar names) to the local residents. Over the subsequent decades many of these dangerous roads were bypassed or upgraded to freeway status. Around the world, notoriously dangerous roads get similar names, such as "El Camino de la Muerte" ("Road Of Death") for Yungas Road.
[edit] Existing "Slaughter Alleys"
Blood Alley: California State Route 138 (Pearblossom Highway) east of Palmdale and west of Interstate 15.[1]
Blood Alley: U.S. Highway 6 near Bolton, Connecticut. Efforts to improve the road near this town have continually failed due to unresolvable conflicts of interests between local, state, and federal officials; the state officially abandoned freeway plans in 2003 in lieu of safety improvements on the existing road.
El Camino de la Muerte (Road of Death): Yungas Road, a 38 to 43 mile road leading from La Paz to Coroico, in the Yungas region of Bolivia.[1]
Eyre Highway on the Nullarbor Plain in southern Australia, said to be the straightest, flattest road in the world. In this case it is the monotony of the straight, narrow road combined with long trucks (road trains, the air blast from which can cause auto drivers to lose control) that present the hazard.[1]
Highway of Death: Connecticut Turnpike (I-95) between New Haven and the New York state line. The route is one of two main commuter routes between Connecticut and New York City, and part of the main truck route along the Eastern Seaboard. These two factors contribute to its high fatality rate. Long-term construction is underway to address congestion and the high accident rate on this stretch of highway.
[edit] Famous former "Slaughter Alleys"
Slaughter Alley: U.S. Route 101 south of San Clemente, California (near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station). Bypassed by Interstate 5.
Slaughter Alley: U.S. Route 101 in Cloverdale, California. Bypassed in the mid 1990s.
Massacre Mountain: Old U.S. Highway 25E between Middlesboro, Kentucky and Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Now a hiking and nature trail, replaced by the Cumberland Gap Tunnel.
Blood Alley: U.S. Route 101 near San Jose, California. Last section upgraded to freeway status in the mid 1990s.
Blood Alley: Route 21 in Jefferson County, Missouri, also referred to as "Missouri's Most Dangerous Highway". The majority has been rerouted to a new freeway, with the southern part near Hillsboro, Missouri currently under construction.
[edit] Other meanings
Roads called "Slaughter Alley" for reasons other than high fatal accident rates include:
- Florida State Road 29, because of a high number of Florida Panthers killed there.
- The road from Kuwait to Basra (better-known as "Highway of Death") where the retreating Iraqi army was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War by American forces.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Featured in Dangerous World: Roads on the National Geographic Channel
