Places where there are more lanes than nessacary

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Two regular lanes per direction + two exits close together + a climb lane in one direction = this. A short 4+3 lanes section on Spanish A-2, at the Northeastern end of a 7 mile section that is actually 4.5 miles long . I don't think AADT reaches 20000 there.

[PHLBOS]

Because you're too young to have fully experienced NH/Maine-bound vacation traffic...

Or rush-hour traffic to/from the Greater Boston area.

I-495 north of Lowell has only 3 in each direction, and it passes through Lawrence and Haverhill, while I-95 between Peabody and the New Hampshire border does not have nearly as much population.

Keep in mind that the current configuration of I-95 in that area dates back to 1974-75 (prior to then, it was only a 4-to-6 laner) about a decade after I-495 in the Merrimack Valley was first built. 

And while the population along that particular portion of the I-95 corridor is less than that along I-495; it does carry interstate traffic to/from the Greater Boston area.  Had I-95 between MA 128 and US 1/MA 60 been built as originally planned; the 4-to-6 lane stretch of US 1 from Peabody to Revere wouldn't be the gridlocked basketcase it is now.

In my 39 years... the next time I see a traffic report for 95 between Peabody and Newburyport will be the first time.

If there's moving traffic (by moving, I mean at or close to the speed limit); you're right, it will likely not get reported other than a "Route *XX* between *YYY* and *ZZZ* is moving at or close to posted speeds." blurb.

However (I grew up in the North Shore & lived there until mid-way through 1990), there indeed have been incident-related traffic reports for that stretch of I-95 over the last 39 years.  Such incidents include: lane closures due to accidents or construction (been by the Whittier Bridge at the Merrimack River lately?) and at least once during the mid-to-late 1980s when a small plane, heading for Beverly Airport, made an emergency landing along I-95 South in Boxford (between Exits 52 & 53) during the mid-to-late 1980s.  The landing, no doubt, forced that stretch to be shut down; I'm sure WBZ and other stations gave a incident traffic report regarding that.

It's also worth noting that another reason why that stretch of I-95 does well traffic-wise (i.e. rarely hits LOS F) is due to a couple of state forests (Boxford & Georgetown/Rowley) that the highway either cuts through or is nearby.  Those forests and their immediate vicinities helps keeps large-scale development at bay.  That's one reason why traffic hasn't exploded there like it has along its southern counterpart along the 128 corridor; due to the adjacent site development (condos, office parks & shopping centers) that has taken place during the last 25 years or so.  The area further south has basically become saturated; but that's another topic for another thread.

[jeffandnicole]

Betsy Ross Bridge. 8 Lanes between 1976 and 1999. Instead of a zipper barrier they put in a normal Jersey Barrier due to the bridge not being as used as it was designed for, giving it 6 lanes and a shoulder. Only NJ-Philly bridge with a shoulder.

I think any bridge that gets underused like that would count, you could argue the Commodore Barry Bridge (US322) has a similar situation, but it does have a zipper barrier so it must get more use in theory.

The zipper barrier is used fairly often for construction related activity - if a lane is closed on the WB side for example, they'll have the barrier moved to still provide 2 lanes WB.  But it can probably stay in the same position for an entire week (or longer).

I can't recall an instance where the barrier was moved solely to accommodate traffic (not that I go over it all that often).  On a recent Friday afternoon, EB traffic into NJ was very heavy, but they still only had 2 lanes open. 

[kennyshark]

Similarly, I think I-75 between Flint and Saginaw, MI could have gotten away with only 6 lanes rather than the 8 that are currently there. I'm not too familiar with vacation traffic in that area, though.

That stretch of I-75 used to be 6 lanes.  However, all of the people escaping to Northern Michigan on Fridays and holiday weekends, and coming back on Sunday, probably prompted the other two lanes.  Plus, there's plenty of traffic for the Birch Run outlet shopping and Frankenmuth.

[shadyjay]

I-384 from it's start at I-84 to CT 85. 8 lanes to CT 83, then 6 lanes until CT 85.
Not needed for a town of 50,000, and it just ends at US 6/44.

Most likely built that way because it was supposed to be "so much more" (ie - go to Providence). 

Just like CT 25, which is 6 lanes (3 each way) through Trumbull, to its end, where it becomes a 2-lane surface road.  No need for more than 2 lanes each way north of the Merritt Parkway.

[cpzilliacus]

Because you're too young to have fully experienced NH/Maine-bound vacation traffic...

The dynamic is also different if the road is priced, and  in particular if it is priced to dampen demand at the peaks. 

I have been on the New Hampshire Turnpike part of I-95 in the summer when it is extremely busy, and also in spring in the early morning hours when the highway is effectively empty.

That might be the best-maintained part of all of I-95, but should it really be 8 lanes wide, when 6 lanes, with dynamic pricing, might do the job as well? 

And note that the $2 toll is a much better deal than the Delaware Turnpike (also a short tolled section of I-95), since New Hampshire does see fit to charge intrastate trips (with the tolls on the ramps at NH-101), and not $4 per car like Delaware (the configuration of the tolls on I-95 in New Hampshire probably reduce or eliminate shunpiking too, since the shunpike route is between 13 and 14 miles long via NH-33, NH-151 and U.S. 1).

[dvferyance]

Rural interstates in Kentucky. I get I-65 by Bowling Green but I think expanding it northward was overkill. As well as I-75 south of Lexington although I think the 3 lanes north to Cincinnati are necessary. I also saw no need for 3 lanes on I-64 from Lexington to Winchester.

[Rothman]

Rural interstates in Kentucky. I get I-65 by Bowling Green but I think expanding it northward was overkill. As well as I-75 south of Lexington although I think the 3 lanes north to Cincinnati are necessary. I also saw no need for 3 lanes on I-64 from Lexington to Winchester.

I find it stupefying to think that I-64 shouldn't be three lanes between Lexington and Winchester.  IIRC, it was two lanes back in the late 1970s and decently busy then when I was a kid.  Going back to that would not be wise at this point given the decent growth that has happened in the area.

[7/8]

The 401 between Windsor and Tilbury, ON is a 6-lane freeway with an AADT of about 22 700. Meanwhile, 2-lane highway 6 through Morriston is 27 700. They upgraded the 401 here to improve safety (adding a concrete barrier and wider shoulders), and I guess they figured it would make sense to widen it while doing the other work. It's still crazy though how low the AADT is for such a wide freeway!

[slorydn1]

I think arguments could be made that there are no places where there are too many lanes.
Yes there are places where it may seem that the 3rd or 4th lane in the same direction are overkill-but watch what happens when events conspire to take those other lanes out of service: instant back ups.

[vdeane]

I think arguments could be made that there are no places where there are too many lanes.

Naypyidaw says hi.  So does North Korea.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/myanmar/articles/neglected-naypyidaw-burma-s-deserted-super-city/

[slorydn1]

I think arguments could be made that there are no places where there are too many lanes.

Naypyidaw says hi.  So does North Korea.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/myanmar/articles/neglected-naypyidaw-burma-s-deserted-super-city/

I bow to you vdeane. I really need to get out of the country every once in a while lol.

[JJBers]

I think arguments could be made that there are no places where there are too many lanes.

Naypyidaw says hi.  So does North Korea.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/myanmar/articles/neglected-naypyidaw-burma-s-deserted-super-city/

Those cities are just outright eerie. With all those empty lanes, I-95 would be great.

[PHLBOS]

That might be the best-maintained part of all of I-95, but should it really be 8 lanes wide, when 6 lanes, with dynamic pricing, might do the job as well?

That stretch of I-95 was 8-lanes decades before dynamic pricing was even an idea.  Heck, I don't believe that any tolled facility in New England does such.

More on the actual topic at hand: I-95 through the Philadelphia International Airport interchange expands to a 11-to-12 lane dual-carriage roadway.  Such was in anticipation of the originally-planned connection with I-695 (Cobbs Creek Expressway) that was never built.  While I-695 was killed off when the interchange was finally built and opened in 1985; PennDOT did not downsize nor reconfigure the interchange (thank goodness).  If one looks hard enough; one can see one of two ghost-ramp traces for I-695.

[Roadgeekteen]

I think arguments could be made that there are no places where there are too many lanes.

Naypyidaw says hi.  So does North Korea.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/myanmar/articles/neglected-naypyidaw-burma-s-deserted-super-city/

Those cities are just outright eerie. With all those empty lanes, I-95 would be great.

good place to learn how to drive.

[LM117]

Similarly, I think I-75 between Flint and Saginaw, MI could have gotten away with only 6 lanes rather than the 8 that are currently there. I'm not too familiar with vacation traffic in that area, though.

That stretch of I-75 used to be 6 lanes.  However, all of the people escaping to Northern Michigan on Fridays and holiday weekends, and coming back on Sunday, probably prompted the other two lanes.  Plus, there's plenty of traffic for the Birch Run outlet shopping and Frankenmuth.

Can confirm. My aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins live in Westland and have a place just outside of Saint Helen, near the lake. We went to their house in Wayne, where they lived previously before moving to Westland, and from there, we all went up north for a week. Traffic was pretty heavy on I-75.

[Flint1979]

I've always wondered why the stretch of I-73 in Greensboro is 8 lanes between I-40 and I-85.

Similarly, I think I-75 between Flint and Saginaw, MI could have gotten away with only 6 lanes rather than the 8 that are currently there. I'm not too familiar with vacation traffic in that area, though.

I live in Saginaw and am in Flint quite often as well so I've traveled between the two cities quite a bit. That stretch of I-75 gets very heavy weekend traffic in the summer with everyone from the Detroit area heading up north on Friday's and then heading back to Detroit on Sunday's. There is also a lot of commuter traffic between Flint and Saginaw. It's eight lanes from the northern junction with I-475 to two miles south of the southern junction of I-675 and it should be eight lanes all the way to I-675 at least, the traffic heading south gets clogged up for some reason just before the fourth lane starts. In fact it's only six lanes to the north end of the Zilwaukee Bridge then it's eight lanes to the M-13 connector where it narrows down to four lanes. It should be six lanes at least to the US 127 split south of Grayling.

[Flint1979]

3 lanes on the Indiana Toll Road between Lake Station and East Chicago. Hardly any traffic at all.

This is sarcasm right?

The Chicago Skyway only has an average of about 50,000 vehicles a day. The free route into downtown on the Borman Expressway sees most of the traffic in that area.

[gcjdavid]

I used to live close to a ten-lane highway which was quite far from Singapore's central area. Here's GSV.

https://www.google.com.sg/maps/@1.3583538,103.7006486,3a,75y,52.18h,97.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFX01SdXR_kgVb_-ZnPbPVQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[CapeCodder]

Mo-364. I think it is 10 lanes (5+5)

[CNGL-Leudimin]

V-23 North of Valencia, Spain (not A-23, that is a different freeway which happens to branch off V-23). 2x3 lanes for an AADT of only 17,000. 2x2 would have been enough.

[Truvelo]

V-23 North of Valencia, Spain (not A-23, that is a different freeway which happens to branch off V-23). 2x3 lanes for an AADT of only 17,000. 2x2 would have been enough.

Spain has a lot of over-engineered roads, especially when it comes to upgrading older free to use roads running next to tollways.

We also have some excessively wide sections such as this which was widened from 2x2 to 2x4 around 20 years ago. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4719203,-0.2844812,3a,75.8y,172.55h,81.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sA05jHLC06hzd7CrCFBg97A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[westerninterloper]

Minor example, but I-80/90 Ohio Turnpike from the I-280 intersection SE of Toledo to US 20 SW of Toledo. Some of this was recently expanded to six lanes from four and I don't know why; traffic drops off significantly at I-280 and I-75.

[1995hoo]

There's a weird very short four-lane median-separated segment of US-50 just west of Middleburg, Virginia, that seems utterly pointless. At one point in the past few years there was a plan to narrow it by severing the eastbound side for use solely for local property access. I don't know if that's still planned. The segment can be a useful,place to pass slowpokes, but it has the unfortunate side effect of causing some eastbound passers to go way too fast approaching Middleburg, where the speed limit drops to 25 mph.

[Plutonic Panda]

I think arguments could be made that there are no places where there are too many lanes.
Yes there are places where it may seem that the 3rd or 4th lane in the same direction are overkill-but watch what happens when events conspire to take those other lanes out of service: instant back ups.

I agree. I'd rather have more lanes than necessary than not enough.