Clusterfucked interchanges

[D-Dey65]

His location says "Delaware," so I assume the Wilmington area.

Yes I am thank you kp. I wish they would realize that lack of transportation in delaware is the reason it isnt growing as fast. Maybe the new 301 highway will change things.

I don't know about that.  I think the bigger issue is lack of population and no attractions for increased move-ins in the Slower Lower.  Building larger roads will not fix those conditions.

301 can be viewed as a reliever route for I-95, though. I took that to get to a film festival in Middletown back in 2015, and on my most recent road trip to NYC, I took that way both north and south. I'm kind of disappointed I didn't stop at that restaurant in Port Royal Crossroads, Virginia on my way up, but I wasn't that hungry at the time.


Anyway, getting back on topic, how about I-87-287-NY 17 in Suffern, New York. Did I mention that I liked it better before? I think I have.

[noelbotevera]

What are some interchanges in your state/city that always seem to be completely clusterfucked?

ColossalBlocks, what are your your examples?

Thanks, now I know it's not just me that finds the daily "post-thread-and-runaway" tactic a bit annoying.

I'll admit, I have done it before. I should post more often in my threads, but my posts aren't terribly substantial and arguments I make are weak.

Let's give it up for...the Eisenhower Interchange in Harrisburg!

[Arkansastravelguy]

I'll nominate the 55 cloverleaf at Crump Blvd for Tennessee


iPhone

I was under the impression that that interchange was in the process of rebuilding (unless for some reason TNDOT pulled the funding) with through lanes for 55.  For several years in the early '00's I was on that very road on trips to Atlanta and -- just like anyone with any sense -- found the arrangement almost laughable in either direction.  I certainly hope the project is still active and underway!

Since I've been there (about a month ago) it's just a 2 lanes cloverleaf 55 northbound. Which if a semi is taking is really one lane.


iPhone

[jlwm]

The 610 West Loop/ I-69/US59 Southwest Freeway interchange.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7298623,-95.4569902,16.29z

It's an early 4-level stack completed in 1962. It was Houston's first stack interchange that's remained relatively unchanged over the last 55 years save a few modifications. Since it originally opened, it's become one of the state's largest bottlenecks, complicated by the fact that it's in close proximity to the Galleria and Uptown, the nearby terminus of the Westpark Tollway, sharp ramps with not enough capacity, and weaving issues caused by exit and entrance ramps to and from nearby Chimney Rock Blvd. on 69/59.

There's a fix coming soon. Over the next few years, the interchange will be rebuilt to eliminate many of the problems. Construction is slated to start later this year and wrap up in 2021.
http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/houston/59-610.html

[roadman65]

I think this whole thread, though interesting topic for discussion, is pretty ambiguous as pretty much every urban interchange could be classified as that.  I-4 at Florida's Turnpike is one that backs up on to WB I-4 through a trumpet interchange, thus making traffic merging onto I-4 from Conroy Road have to wait in stand still traffic.  The weaving between the merge and exit and the double lane drop causes that of course, but the reason for the slowdown around the trumpet is a mystery.

The ramp is not a high speed flyover, but not one where you need to slow down to 5 mph either, although traffic does slow to a creep.  It is volume but then again even with the large amounts of cars and the fact the road is wide open after the curves and its not like every human is over paranoid to drive the trumpet its a mystery.  If it were the fact the volume of traffic, that would only account for a jam leading into the interchange not inside it.

Right now the I-4 ultimate is only doing some work to relieve it.  There are no plans to braid the ramps to stop the traffic problem from Conroy to WB I-4 which really needs, so its clusterfucked for a long time this one.  Maybe inside the ramp we will see improvements though, but not as long as you have the two ramps so close the before hand weave bottleneck won't go away.

I guess its which clusterfuck stands out more, so in Orlando that one takes the cake unless there are some on other freeways I have not yet discovered, but still one to be mentioned anyway.

[JMoses24]

I present for your consideration, the I-71/Ridge Road/Norwood Lateral interchange. ESPECIALLY northbound.

https://goo.gl/maps/E9fq7xoNreJ2

Why? Mainly, this.

https://goo.gl/maps/HsDZUguWUWq

The two right lanes drop (although exit 8C is a not-insignificant distance past exit 8B), causing weaving as people realize too late that they are in an exit only lane. That leads to the requisite cluster-foxtrot every afternoon around, oh, 4:30pm or so.

[kphoger]

I present for your consideration, the I-71/Ridge Road/Norwood Lateral interchange. ESPECIALLY northbound.

https://goo.gl/maps/E9fq7xoNreJ2

Why? Mainly, this.

https://goo.gl/maps/HsDZUguWUWq

The two right lanes drop (although exit 8C is a not-insignificant distance past exit 8B), causing weaving as people realize too late that they are in an exit only lane. That leads to the requisite cluster-foxtrot every afternoon around, oh, 4:30pm or so.

That reminds me of where NB I-635 hits SB I-29 on the north end of Kansas City (a useful bypass of downtown if following I-35).  Two lanes of 635 traffic enter the highway, and then both of those lanes are exit-only at the next exit.  Fortunately, there's about a mile between the two points and traffic isn't super thick.

[RobbieL2415]

I-95 and the Hutchison River Pkwy, Bronx, NY.

[roadman]

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, I'll add I-95 (MA 128) at I-93 in Woburn/Reading/Stoneham (MA).  Failing a complete rebuild, which was first proposed in the early 1990s but has been stalled by the NIMBYS on one side and the Woburn politicians on the other side ever since, there are actually two relatively simple things MassDOT could do to improve traffic flow through this area.

First would be to extend the fourth lane on southbound I-95 (128), which currently begins at the end of the ramp from I-93 southbound, to the on-ramp from Route 28 southbound.  By adding an additional lane through the interchange, this would reduce much of the current conflict between southbound through traffic and traffic weaving to/from I-93 north and south.

Second would be to extend the added lane on northbound I-95 (128) between the ramps from I-93 northbound and Route 28 southbound to north of both Route 28 ramps.  This would give the traffic coming from the right "exit only" lane (former shoulder) between Montvale Avenue and I-95 north additional area to merge with the mainline traffic.  Of course, I-95 (128) should really be widened to four lanes each way between Stoneham and Lynnfield anyway, but that's a different subject altogether (that's a different subject).

[freebrickproductions]

The I-65 and I-20/I-59 interchange in Birmingham, AL will be one of these once ALDOT's done with it.

[lordsutch]

I'll nominate the 55 cloverleaf at Crump Blvd for Tennessee

I was under the impression that that interchange was in the process of rebuilding (unless for some reason TNDOT pulled the funding) with through lanes for 55.  For several years in the early '00's I was on that very road on trips to Atlanta and -- just like anyone with any sense -- found the arrangement almost laughable in either direction.  I certainly hope the project is still active and underway!

It was supposed to have started already but they delayed it to study doing the rebuild under traffic - originally the plan was to close the adjacent "old bridge" entirely during construction so it could be done faster and cheaper. Apparently there were also some problems with the traffic estimates, according to the project website.

A few years ago they did widen the NB loop ramp to two lanes and close the loop from EB Crump to NB Riverside, so it's no longer a full cloverleaf, which has helped a little bit.

[RestrictOnTheHanger]

My vote is the Kew Gardens interchange in Kew Gardens, Queens, NY. The Grand Central Parkway, Jackie Robinson Parkway, Van Wyck Expressway (I-678),  and Union Turnpike all intersect here.

Van Wyck Expy
Van Wyck Expy, Jamaica, NY 11435

https://goo.gl/maps/YXuzh5E4CTA2

[Roadsguy]

• The Mid-County/Norristown Interchange on the Turnpike
• Not in my state, but this mess at the Newark Airport
• Also not in my state, but I don't think anyone's mentioned the Springfield Interchange in Virginia yet

[hotdogPi]

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, I'll add I-95 (MA 128) at I-93 in Woburn/Reading/Stoneham (MA).  Failing a complete rebuild, which was first proposed in the early 1990s but has been stalled by the NIMBYS on one side and the Woburn politicians on the other side ever since, there are actually two relatively simple things MassDOT could do to improve traffic flow through this area.

First would be to extend the fourth lane on southbound I-95 (128), which currently begins at the end of the ramp from I-93 southbound, to the on-ramp from Route 28 southbound.  By adding an additional lane through the interchange, this would reduce much of the current conflict between southbound through traffic and traffic weaving to/from I-93 north and south.

Second would be to extend the added lane on northbound I-95 (128) between the ramps from I-93 northbound and Route 28 southbound to north of both Route 28 ramps.  This would give the traffic coming from the right "exit only" lane (former shoulder) between Montvale Avenue and I-95 north additional area to merge with the mainline traffic.  Of course, I-95 (128) should really be widened to four lanes each way between Stoneham and Lynnfield anyway, but that's a different subject altogether (that's a different subject).

That section of 128 is really bad during rush hour, but outside of rush hour, it's fine.

[Roadgeekteen]

It's not there anymore, but the Peobady interchange between I-95 and 128 used to make me carsick.

[roadman]

It's not there anymore, but the Peabody interchange between I-95 and 128 used to make me carsick.

I presume you mean when you had to use US 1 between Lynnfield and Danvers to get from I-95 to 128, before there was a direct interchange between the two roads.

[Roadgeekteen]

It's not there anymore, but the Peabody interchange between I-95 and 128 used to make me carsick.

I presume you mean when you had to use US 1 between Lynnfield and Danvers to get from I-95 to 128, before there was a direct interchange between the two roads.

No, ment between I-95 and 95.

[capt.ron]

I'll nominate the 55 cloverleaf at Crump Blvd for Tennessee


iPhone

Argh... I HATE that interchange with the intensity of 1000 suns! A while back TNDOT bandaided the interchange by adding a lane from NB i-55 to the bridge section but still, the interchange was a POS to begin with.

[formulanone]

I-476 and I-81 in Scranton strikes me as an elegant exercise in bureaucracy with all the tangled complexity of my vas deferens.

For sure, there's topography to get around; yet it seems like either a planned extension of I-476 just never occurred, somebody didn't want to give up the sweet lucre by installing a time-wasting tollbooth at the end, and nobody wanted it to connect directly to I-81 and US Route 11 for fear of missing Scranton by a mile.

Or something else? I'm not an expert in this area.

I-476 was indeed planned to extend north, all the way to NY along what is now I-81.  Thus, "exit" 131 was originally intended to, in fact, be a true exit (with US 6/11).  The connection to I-81 was grafted on later.  There are plans to fix this as part of the "Scranton Beltway" idea.  Could take a while to get done though.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for that.

[capt.ron]

Not exactly a clusterf**k but a crappy design to begin with: The I-15 / I-40 interchange in Barstow. For some reason, there is NO direct ramp from I-40 westbound to I-15 northbound. Why Caltrans after all these years didn't put one in is beyond me. The interchange dates back to the mid 60's!

[Roadgeekteen]

Not exactly a clusterf**k but a crappy design to begin with: The I-15 / I-40 interchange in Barstow. For some reason, there is NO direct ramp from I-40 westbound to I-15 northbound. Why Caltrans after all these years didn't put one in is beyond me. The interchange dates back to the mid 60's!

there is little reson to go that way. Only the residents of a few select towns would use it.

[hm insulators]

The I-405 interchange with US 101 in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley and I-605 and I-5 in I think it's Santa Fe Springs or Whittier or something like that. I-10 at the I-605 used to be another "clusterfuck" but didn't they do some construction work on that or is it still just a mess?

[PHLBOS]

It's not there anymore, but the Peabody interchange between I-95 and 128 used to make me carsick.

I presume you mean when you had to use US 1 between Lynnfield and Danvers to get from I-95 to 128, before there was a direct interchange between the two roads.

No, ment between I-95 and 95.

I think you need to elaborate regarding "not there anymore" (your words).  Both the direct-connection between I-95 & MA 128 (opened circa 1988) and the once-temporary/now permanent, partial-movement I-95/US 1 connection in Peabody built circa 1974 that Roadman referred to are still there.

If you were referring to the I-95 (MA 128)/US 1 interchange built circa 1962 at the Peabody/Lynnfield line; that one's still there as well.

[Roadgeekteen]

It's not there anymore, but the Peabody interchange between I-95 and 128 used to make me carsick.

I presume you mean when you had to use US 1 between Lynnfield and Danvers to get from I-95 to 128, before there was a direct interchange between the two roads.

No, ment between I-95 and 95.

I think you need to elaborate regarding "not there anymore" (your words).  Both the direct-connection between I-95 & MA 128 (opened circa 1988) and the once-temporary/now permanent, partial-movement I-95/US 1 connection in Peabody built circa 1974 that Roadman referred to are still there.

If you were referring to the I-95 (MA 128)/US 1 interchange built circa 1962 at the Peabody/Lynnfield line; that one's still there as well.

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I clearly remember a big loop to stay on 95 north that is now gone.

[hotdogPi]

It's not there anymore, but the Peabody interchange between I-95 and 128 used to make me carsick.

I presume you mean when you had to use US 1 between Lynnfield and Danvers to get from I-95 to 128, before there was a direct interchange between the two roads.

No, ment between I-95 and 95.

I think you need to elaborate regarding "not there anymore" (your words).  Both the direct-connection between I-95 & MA 128 (opened circa 1988) and the once-temporary/now permanent, partial-movement I-95/US 1 connection in Peabody built circa 1974 that Roadman referred to are still there.

If you were referring to the I-95 (MA 128)/US 1 interchange built circa 1962 at the Peabody/Lynnfield line; that one's still there as well.

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I clearly remember a big loop to stay on 95 north that is now gone.

There is a 120° change in direction, but a large angle by itself doesn't mean anything in terms of traffic.