Yokohama is about 30 miles south of Tokyo and is Japans' second largest city. The two cities, the nations' largest, were connected by one freeway until the late 1980s. The government could not figure out where to put a reliever route, so in true Japanese fashion, they built one in the coolest way possible - my making a bunch of islands connected by cable stayed bridges, tunnels, and 10-story high [...]
Let's enjoy the last day of daylight saving time and take advantage of the 6:48 sunset. On the agenda, the elevated Express lanes of the Tampa Crosstown Expressway (Florida Toll 618), Brandon, and whatever else catches our desire. The drive begins with a pass through the Florida 60 (Memorial Highway) and Florida 616 (Spruce Street) construction project. Underway is the upgrading of the current substandard interchange serving Tampa [...]
A new stretch of freeway opened in northern Mississippi this month, and much to our surprise, it's signed as Interstate 69! Interstate 69 presently travels between Indianapolis, Indiana and Port Huron, Michigan. The highway has been that way for years, but since the late 1990s, a proposal to extend the freeway south to Laredo, Texas slowly works toward fruition. Some states are taking a lead in the process, while others [...]
US 1 through the Florida Keys, from Key West to Homestead, FL is one of America's great drives - and now its covered extensively on AAroads. Alex and I went down there in March and May of this year and took a ton of photos. Check them out, on the Florida Keys pages.
Presenting: The Aqua Line! Little known outside of Japan and civil engineering circles, it is one of the coolest things in Japan to see. Not just because of the road, but because of the amazing view. The Aqua-Line is a bridge-tunnel complex that spans Tokyo Bay. It's a very important part of the regional road network because it connects the country's major international airport at Narita in Chiba Prefecture (east) [...]
For those of you who follow the happenings with AASHTO, they are meeting on October 26, 2006 to review a handful of U.S. highway numbering changes, which is a regular occurrence for members on their committee. Of the items on the agenda are two pertaining to the state of Florida. The first is the elimination of U.S. 98 Alternate at Panama City Beach in Bay County on the panhandle. The [...]
Day 5 was probably the shortest with regards to roadding in the Northwest, but nonetheless full with the things that we did see. The main goal of the day was to drive Interstate 5 northward to the International Border and be back in time for dinner. From Burien we pretty much took Interstate 5 up and back, with a couple of side detours thrown in for good measure. As mentioned previously, [...]
While most of Japan is served by "National Routes" with the upside-teardrop shape (see the previous Japan post) Tokyo's Expressways are called "Shuto Expressways" and are managed by a different company, and have different route markers and different construction styles, different signs, all that. The routes even have their own numbering system. You can get a good map here (click) - it's in Japanese but as maps go, it's fairly [...]
After two marathon days of driving, we got together with Chris and tooled around the Seattle and Tacoma area during day 4, and then rendezvous with Andy's cousins in Burien. The day started off with some typical Seattle weather, even with it being late August. A rainy mist converted into light rain and then a solid sheet of rain as we ate breakfast at a local diner in Shoreline, Washington. [...]
I got to spend the last week and some in Japan, mostly Tokyo but with some time in rural Chiba and Kanagawa Prefectures. The freeway system in Tokyo is subpar for being the largest city in the world (or one of them) - but what's there is astounding. Lots of double decker elevated jobs winding through skyscrapers. There will be 6 Japan posts, this one is just a primer on [...]
