Southbound traffic is congested on Harvard Avenue at I-44 and 51st Street, which is a common site on weekday afternoons. Prior to August 1974, a traffic signal was located just south of the bridge, and this served the eastbound I-44 exit ramp to Harvard Avenue. As part of the 51st Street and Harvard Avenue intersection project, the ramp was relocated to 51st Street near Delaware Avenue, which eliminated the signal. However, traffic problems persisted in the left-turn lane, as there was an opening that allowed motorists to turn left, thus causing a break, and traffic wanting to enter the ramp often caused the the southbound left-turn signal at 51st Street to cancel. In 1982, the median gap was closed, and southbound Harvard Avenue motorists now wanting to go east on I-44 must travel east on 51st Street to Pittsburgh Avenue and follow it north to the I-44 frontage road. They then follow the frontage road through the Yale Avenue intersection and access I-44 at the Yale Avenue entrance ramp. The intersection area will undergo a major revision when I-44 is widened through the area, and this should eliminate much of the congestion that exists here today. However, this widening project likely will not occur for a long time. The "U.S. 66" sign is missing because U.S. 66 has been decommissioned, and the signs soon will be replaced with "S.H. 66" signs. Photograph taken October21, 1985.
