Extremely Wide Medians:

[roadman65]

For a local suburban arterial I would have to say NJ 23 in Newfoundland, NJ.  At La Rue Road the two carriageways deviate where there is even two separate traffic signals for both sides of Route 23. Though typical for interstates, not really for local highways in a non rural environment and especially NJ as its probably the widest for a NJ non freeway highway.

In fact the La Rue Road intersection could be used in an argument against jughandles in that state due to the fact that unobstructed left turns can be made there, the jughandle there at that location is useless.

[vdeane]

New Brunswick, Newfoundland... does NJ have a thing for naming towns after Canadian provinces?

[Rothman]

For a local suburban arterial I would have to say NJ 23 in Newfoundland, NJ.  At La Rue Road the two carriageways deviate where there is even two separate traffic signals for both sides of Route 23. Though typical for interstates, not really for local highways in a non rural environment and especially NJ as its probably the widest for a NJ non freeway highway.

In fact the La Rue Road intersection could be used in an argument against jughandles in that state due to the fact that unobstructed left turns can be made there, the jughandle there at that location is useless.

Makes me wonder about 9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires.  I thought it had one big median at one point in time, rather than just being 14+ lanes of pavement.

[CtrlAltDel]

Due to the odd curves here, it was hard for me to decide the "right way" to measure this median distance, but regardless of semantics, this is the largest median I can think of.


I-84 east of Pendleton, OR

How do they determine the center line and center line mileage in cases like this?

[roadfro]

How do they determine the center line and center line mileage in cases like this?

In many construction plans that I've seen, there is a construction stationing line for the overall facility ("center line", which isn't always in the center) and also a separate station line for each carriageway/ramp/etc.

Per MUTCD, the mileage measurement on a divided highway is to be made along the northbound or eastbound carriageway (i.e. direction of increasing mileposts), with the reference location signs for the opposite direction being placed directly opposite the official one. Some jurisdiction's route logs/center line diagrams catalog divided highways by keeping the overall route official mileage cataloged on the north/east side while using separate reference logging for the non-cardinal/secondary direction.

[vdeane]

In New York we use the MUTCD method.  In fact, many of our GIS shapefiles don't even HAVE the secondary direction!

[Rothman]

In New York we use the MUTCD method.  In fact, many of our GIS shapefiles don't even HAVE the secondary direction!

I thought Data Services was doing a lot of work getting reverse direction into their datasets now.

[vdeane]

They are; just not sure when they're planning to release it.  The 2015 Traffic Data Viewer doesn't have it, in any case (neither do the current shapefiles for RIS, which also don't yet have the local roads in them).

[Tom958]

It was essentially a tradeoff between one-time and accumulating costs.  Initial purchase of the right-of-way is a one-time cost.  In contrast, crossover accidents and nighttime headlamp glare are recurring costs, as are the maintenance and safety-related costs associated with fixed barriers, light screens, etc. where these are provided as mitigation.  Safety barrier design and economics, as well as glare screens, median landscaping, etc. were very active areas of research in the early 1960's, but they were also fixes to problems that state highway agencies were better off sidestepping altogether in favor of a zero-compromises design if land values would allow them to do so.

So, did the decision to go with a 100 foot median rather than 60 come out of a spreadsheet? If so, why didn't every state with low land costs do it? If not, did the Feds generally rubber stamp the extra right of way costs, or was there some pro-rata arrangement with the states?

(I'll be very impressed if anyone can answer these questions!)

[CtrlAltDel]

How do they determine the center line and center line mileage in cases like this?

Per MUTCD, the mileage measurement on a divided highway is to be made along the northbound or eastbound carriageway (i.e. direction of increasing mileposts), with the reference location signs for the opposite direction being placed directly opposite the official one. Some jurisdiction's route logs/center line diagrams catalog divided highways by keeping the overall route official mileage cataloged on the north/east side while using separate reference logging for the non-cardinal/secondary direction.

That's very interesting, thank you. Do you know which section of the MUTCD discusses this?

[roadfro]

How do they determine the center line and center line mileage in cases like this?

Per MUTCD, the mileage measurement on a divided highway is to be made along the northbound or eastbound carriageway (i.e. direction of increasing mileposts), with the reference location signs for the opposite direction being placed directly opposite the official one. Some jurisdiction's route logs/center line diagrams catalog divided highways by keeping the overall route official mileage cataloged on the north/east side while using separate reference logging for the non-cardinal/secondary direction.

That's very interesting, thank you. Do you know which section of the MUTCD discusses this?

Section 2H.05 - Reference Location Signs and Intermediate Reference Location Signs (see Standard statement at paragraph 12)

[TheStretchofFreeways]

I would think the widest median would be I-5 North of Los Angles, since traffic directions are flipped, the measurement would have to go across the entire world

SM-N915T

[Buffaboy]

When I was young I was impressed with the very wide median along parts of the New York State Thruway, between Buffalo and the PA line.

That's primarily a WNY thing?

Didn't know that. I thought it was prevalent throughout the country. I know when you get to the PA line it narrows a lot though.

[brycecordry]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37°42'17.2%22N+81°08'40.0%22W/@50.4572075,-106.8781371,13552m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d37.704769!4d-81.144433?hl=en

Highway 1 near Ernfold, SK.

At its widest point it is almost three miles wide.

[english si]

I would think the widest median would be I-5 North of Los Angles, since traffic directions are flipped, the measurement would have to go across the entire world

need a narrower wrong-way median than the mile that that gets to. eg, if this median was something more than two metal rods on the surface (one in the 'in' carriageway) then it would be 39,999,999.5m, rather than 39,998,400m that I-5 in that pass is.

[theline]

When I was young I was impressed with the very wide median along parts of the New York State Thruway, between Buffalo and the PA line.

That's primarily a WNY thing?

Didn't know that. I thought it was prevalent throughout the country. I know when you get to the PA line it narrows a lot though.

You have to understand my perspective. When I was young, so were freeways (early Sixties). Since there weren't that many of them, the Thruway median in western NY was wider than most. It comes nowhere near others that have been cited in this thread. I remember getting out the Kodak 8 mm movie camera and shooting some footage of the wide median. I got into a little trouble with Dad later. He couldn't understand wasting film on that.

[Buffaboy]

When I was young I was impressed with the very wide median along parts of the New York State Thruway, between Buffalo and the PA line.

That's primarily a WNY thing?

Didn't know that. I thought it was prevalent throughout the country. I know when you get to the PA line it narrows a lot though.

You have to understand my perspective. When I was young, so were freeways (early Sixties). Since there weren't that many of them, the Thruway median in western NY was wider than most. It comes nowhere near others that have been cited in this thread. I remember getting out the Kodak 8 mm movie camera and shooting some footage of the wide median. I got into a little trouble with Dad later. He couldn't understand wasting film on that.

I'm 45 years younger but when I was around the same age I used my Dad's Sony Handycam for the same thing  .

I can see how the medians were narrower thought the country. Maybe it had something to do with keeping the construction vehicles closer together, or RoW.

[Occidental Tourist]

That got me thinking.  I know the median on I-5 north of Los Angeles is also really wide.  The traffic lanes are flipped at this point with the northbound traffic on the left and the southbound traffic on the right due to the reuse of the old US-99 alignment. 

Does anyone have an explanation for why they flipped the lanes at this point?  Is it a downgrade issue?  Is the grade on the western lanes (which were converted from the old highway) steeper than in the new(er) eastern lanes?

[TheStretchofFreeways]

I would think the widest median would be I-5 North of Los Angles, since traffic directions are flipped, the measurement would have to go across the entire world

need a narrower wrong-way median than the mile that that gets to. eg, if this median was something more than two metal rods on the surface (one in the 'in' carriageway) then it would be 39,999,999.5m, rather than 39,998,400m that I-5 in that pass is.

If you are talking about wrong way roads in the UK, That most probably won't count since it is normal for traffic to be on the left side of the carriageway

[kphoger]

I would think the widest median would be I-5 North of Los Angles, since traffic directions are flipped, the measurement would have to go across the entire world

need a narrower wrong-way median than the mile that that gets to. eg, if this median was something more than two metal rods on the surface (one in the 'in' carriageway) then it would be 39,999,999.5m, rather than 39,998,400m that I-5 in that pass is.

If you are talking about wrong way roads in the UK, That most probably won't count since it is normal for traffic to be on the left side of the carriageway

The link goes to a GSV where traffic flows on the right.  In London.

How about this one, english si?  Narrow raised median in Mexico, traffic driving on the left.

[jakeroot]

Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport has left-hand traffic along the main boulevard. Much wider than the Mexican and British examples above, but much narrower than the Castaic example.

https://goo.gl/Wd75SC

[jbnati27]

I-24 West of Chattanooga has a fairly wide median:

[adventurernumber1]

I-24 West of Chattanooga has a fairly wide median:

Yes indeed. There is an even larger median going down the Cumberland Plateau.

I now know I am wrong, but when I was younger I actually thought the Interstate 24 median going down the Cumberland Plateau was the widest one ever. And since I genuinely believed it, in one of my road videos on my YouTube channel (I-24 East up-then-down the Cumberland Plateau) I actually added an annotation of what I thought was a fact, saying that it was the widest median. Oh well, I should probably fix that when I get a chance.


Also, I voted "all of them" on the poll, because as someone said earlier in the thread, a variety is good.

[Occidental Tourist]

Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport has left-hand traffic along the main boulevard. Much wider than the Mexican and British examples above, but much narrower than the Castaic example.

https://goo.gl/Wd75SC

I'm old enough to remember when it used to be configured for right side traffic.  They reversed it to eliminate some intersections and left turns.

[TheStretchofFreeways]

I would think the widest median would be I-5 North of Los Angles, since traffic directions are flipped, the measurement would have to go across the entire world

need a narrower wrong-way median than the mile that that gets to. eg, if this median was something more than two metal rods on the surface (one in the 'in' carriageway) then it would be 39,999,999.5m, rather than 39,998,400m that I-5 in that pass is.

If you are talking about wrong way roads in the UK, That most probably won't count since it is normal for traffic to be on the left side of the carriageway

The link goes to a GSV where traffic flows on the right.  In London.

How about this one, english si?  Narrow raised median in Mexico, traffic driving on the left.

The one in mexico would count since their traffic is also supposed to be in the right

SM-N915T