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Peak hour congestion returns to I-235 in West Des Moines

Started by Revive 755, December 20, 2010, 01:58:32 PM

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Revive 755

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101220/NEWS10/12200313/-1/ENT05/Stretches-of-congestion-snarl-I-235-ramp-meters-considered

At least it made it three years before peak hour congestion started returning, much better than I-64 in the St. Louis area, which congested within a month due to a similar failure to widen the road during the major rebuild.


Chris

The traffic volumes are not exceptionally high though... Of course it depends on hourly volumes and I/C value, but the daily volumes can already give you some indication. Freeways with as much as 170,000 vehicles on 6 lanes are known..

Maybe they should've 8-laned it all the way to the I-35/I-80 interchange. Polk County is growing quite rapidly, and modest widenings are not future-proof if your metro area grows 10 - 15% per decade.

froggie

However, Iowa is growing pretty slowly.  Slow enough to where they'll be losing a Congressional seat given the state-level Census numbers released yesterday.

Chris

Is there any chance Iowa is experiencing a "rural flight"? Des Moines metro area grows pretty fast (15% per decade), while Iowa as a whole is growing slowly (2 - 5% per decade).

Truvelo

I have a few points to make about I-235. First of all I have never driven in that part of Iowa so I can't comment from actual experience but looking at it on Google Maps the first thing I see is how closely spaced the exits are. Is it possible to close some of them to increase the distance between those remaining without affecting traffic on the surface streets?

Another option is to add C/D lanes. Even though the local NIMBY's would object to it I suspect it's the same NIMBY's who are complaining about being stuck in traffic on their way to and from work. Community opposition - reminds me of the original plans to build freeways so it looks like we're having a second round now the original freeways are struggling to cope with the demands of modern traffic levels.
Speed limits limit life

3467

Chris is right it is rural flight. Our just out census puts Iowa's growth at 4.1% this last decade. Local areas are not out yet but due to massive farm consolidation rural areas are shrinking and urban Iowa is growing. Small towns to the west of the Mississppi were mostly farming based and in decline. The towns to the east to Ohio were more manufacturing based and in decline for that region.
We shall see how bad it was in a few months.
Iowans dont tolerate traffic well. They think a traffic jam is anything below limit or in their way. IL DOT has studied traffic tolerences between Chicago and Downstate and  indeed there is  difference in perception

iowahighways

Bumping this old topic to note that the Iowa DOT just announced that ramp meters are coming to parts of I-235 in 2024:

https://iowadot.gov/desmoinesicm/Ramp-Metering
The Iowa Highways Page: Now exclusively at www.iowahighways.org
The Iowa Highways Photo Gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/iowahighways/



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