(Mods, if this isn't the right place for this thread, feel free to move it elsewhere)
With all the talk on adding exits on roadways near us, I'll toss the opposite at you: What exits on freeways/interstates in your area could be done away with? For my neck of the woods, several comes to mind on I-40 between Asheville and Statesville (not every wide-spot-in-the-road needs an exit, and they damn sure don't need multiples in some cases)........off the top of my head, exits 73, 75, 94, 96, 98, 106, 107, 111, 118, 121, 133, 138, 141 and 144 could probably all go along 40 and nothing of major significance would be lost
I-43 exit 131 Rowe Rd. :bigass:
2014-2016 thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11669)
I've mentioned this before, but I think there's a pretty strong case for removing NY 590's Exit 6 (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1497269,-77.5399266,829m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu) for Blossom Rd, located just north of the infamous Can of Worms interchange. It notably provides access to NY 590 NB from the East Ave Wegmans area, but otherwise doesn't serve much purpose aside from redundancy to Exit 7. That latter feature is important at peak times, especially during morning rush hour when it's an alternate to I-590 SB that avoids the notoriously congested SB stretch from Exit 7 to Exit 5, but it doesn't provide access to I-490, which defeats much of the purpose. The second-biggest problem with it is the NB weave, which notoriously backs traffic up onto I-490 WB. An auxiliary lane extended to Exit 7 instead of exiting at Exit 6 would be a huge improvement - though to be fair, this could probably be done with or without Exit 6 being there.
I-85 doesn't really need exit 226 or 229 in Warren County, North Carolina. I-95 could do without exit 17 and exit 24 in southern Virginia.
I noticed that State Street in Chicago has an onramp to NB I-55 and an offramp from SB I-55. This isn't needed IMO, because it's near the Interstate's literal end at Lake Shore Drive!
Exit 116 on I-35 in Iowa just north of Ames could be removed. It doesn't connect to anything including US 69 three miles to the west.
Exit 2 on I-35 in Minnesota could be easily eliminated. It defaults into a gravel road a mile west of the interchange. It heads east and north into Glenville, which has Exit 5 for its NB exit.
A number of exits on I-95/Connecticut Turnpike should be removed or redesigned.
Quote from: planxtymcgillicuddy on December 14, 2023, 05:46:22 PM
(Mods, if this isn't the right place for this thread, feel free to move it elsewhere)
With all the talk on adding exits on roadways near us, I'll toss the opposite at you: What exits on freeways/interstates in your area could be done away with? For my neck of the woods, several comes to mind on I-40 between Asheville and Statesville (not every wide-spot-in-the-road needs an exit, and they damn sure don't need multiples in some cases)........off the top of my head, exits 73, 75, 94, 96, 98, 106, 107, 111, 118, 121, 133, 138, 141 and 144 could probably all go along 40 and nothing of major significance would be lost
I can agree with most of these, except for 73, since it allows for access to Old Fort to and from the east. If anything, I'd get rid of 72, since it has a similar AADT but only partial access. I'd also keep 94 mostly for connectivity reasons. But past that, yeah, they put in exits for some really little roads in that stretch.
The northeasternmost interchange on US 151 in Waupun, WI (WI 26 street access in the city) strikes me as being a total waste of time and money to build and maintain and, IMHO, should be removed and re-engineered into a straight across street crossing.
Mike
Quote from: DandyDan on December 16, 2023, 05:51:39 AM
Exit 2 on I-35 in Minnesota could be easily eliminated. It defaults into a gravel road a mile west of the interchange. It heads east and north into Glenville, which has Exit 5 for its NB exit.
Exit 47 on I-90 (a half-diamond with Nobles CSAH 3) seems similarly if not even more pointless. The orientation of the ramps don't even make sense to me. If they were WB exit/EB entrance, sure, you couild avoid backtracking through Worthington to get to CSAH 3 and I would get having that half-diamond a little more, but...
Virginia just eliminated part of an interchange, the two ramps between I-395 and Boundary Channel Drive near the Pentagon on the south side of said interchange. They built a roundabout on Boundary Channel Drive and all traffic now uses the two ramps on the north side of the interchange. Part of the reason for this was that mapping software was telling people to enter the highway and then immediately cut across all four lanes of traffic to the left-side exit for US-1 in an exceptionally short amount of road. If you search @Statter911 on Twitter, you'll find videos of this sort of thing.
In terms of an interchange that could probably be removed with no major effects, the Eisenhower Avenue Connector interchange on the Beltway in Virginia is one. It was built to spur development in the Eisenhower Avenue corridor, but it didn't really do that to any great effect (there is a big vacant office building that the TSA tried to move to until someone protested the contract because the building was bigger than the TSA was authorized to rent). I use that interchange occasionally to go to the glass recycling place on Eisenhower if the traffic light on Van Dorn Street is red when I approach the Beltway, but for the most part it doesn't seem like an essential interchange in any way.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 17, 2023, 04:50:39 AM
Quote from: DandyDan on December 16, 2023, 05:51:39 AM
Exit 2 on I-35 in Minnesota could be easily eliminated. It defaults into a gravel road a mile west of the interchange. It heads east and north into Glenville, which has Exit 5 for its NB exit.
Exit 47 on I-90 (a half-diamond with Nobles CSAH 3) seems similarly if not even more pointless. The orientation of the ramps don't even make sense to me. If they were WB exit/EB entrance, sure, you couild avoid backtracking through Worthington to get to CSAH 3 and I would get having that half-diamond a little more, but...
Superficially, I agree with you on that. However, I am inclined to believe that exit exists as a byproduct of the weigh station west of there. I suspect they make MN 60 traffic use that weigh station whenever it is operational. Once they are done, they turn around at that exit to go back to MN 60. At least that's my theory about that exit.
Quote from: DandyDan on December 18, 2023, 07:33:46 AM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 17, 2023, 04:50:39 AM
Quote from: DandyDan on December 16, 2023, 05:51:39 AM
Exit 2 on I-35 in Minnesota could be easily eliminated. It defaults into a gravel road a mile west of the interchange. It heads east and north into Glenville, which has Exit 5 for its NB exit.
Exit 47 on I-90 (a half-diamond with Nobles CSAH 3) seems similarly if not even more pointless. The orientation of the ramps don't even make sense to me. If they were WB exit/EB entrance, sure, you couild avoid backtracking through Worthington to get to CSAH 3 and I would get having that half-diamond a little more, but...
Superficially, I agree with you on that. However, I am inclined to believe that exit exists as a byproduct of the weigh station west of there. I suspect they make MN 60 traffic use that weigh station whenever it is operational. Once they are done, they turn around at that exit to go back to MN 60. At least that's my theory about that exit.
They doi force I-90 truck traffic to continue to the weigh station when open (a fairly common practice in MN at least that I can't say for sure about other states). That probably makes the most sense to have the turnaround or for trucks to just go north on County 3 to TH 60 if they're going east on that route.
Exit 342 off I-75 in Michigan.
Quote from: JCinSummerfield on December 19, 2023, 12:27:50 PM
Exit 342 off I-75 in Michigan.
Is that the one that is only for a Yugo? :-/
This one (https://maps.app.goo.gl/hXwmVUnF3rkPcQrA9)
I win.
Whenever I see this thread pop up, I think: All of them! On-ramps only! bwahahahaha :evilgrin:
The I-295 & US 130 overlap in Gloucester County, NJ has many that could be removed or consolidated with other interchanges. It was a preexisting expressway for US 130 originally before becoming an interstate so it has the old US 130 character still.
I don't remember who first said this, but about a decade ago I read a suggestion somewhere, for the on-ramp from Edgewood Av to I-75/85 SB to be closed (the one that corresponds to Exit 248B NB). That was about 1 to 1.5 decades ago and it's still a valid suggestion today. Edgewood onramp traffic weaves with exiting traffic to both M. King Dr (SB exit 248A) and I-20 (SB exit 247), which causes traffic to slow down on that part of I-75/85 for most of the day.
From Edgewood, traffic can easily turn NB on Piedmont Av, then right on Ellis St, then right onto I-75/85 SB. Or, NB on Boulevard, then left on Lewis Freedom Pkwy, then take the ramp onto I-75/85 SB.
Another suggestion is that in Athens GA on SR 10 Loop, access to Old Hull Road could be removed from the interchange with US 29.
Quote from: JCinSummerfield on December 19, 2023, 12:27:50 PM
Exit 342 off I-75 in Michigan.
I dunno but I always go straight when I'm on the Mackinac Bridge.
Exit 15 off I-78 in PA (Grimes) could easily be eliminated. It's a RIRO interchange with township roads with no immediate access across I-78 and no tractor trailers allowed. What little traffic uses this exit could easily use Exit 13 (PA 501, Bethel) or Exit 16 (Midway).
Quote from: Crown Victoria on December 23, 2023, 01:03:15 PM
Exit 15 off I-78 in PA (Grimes) could easily be eliminated. It's a RIRO interchange with township roads with no immediate access across I-78 and no tractor trailers allowed. What little traffic uses this exit could easily use Exit 13 (PA 501, Bethel) or Exit 16 (Midway).
I hate exits like that.
Quote from: Flint1979 on December 26, 2023, 10:04:16 AM
Quote from: Crown Victoria on December 23, 2023, 01:03:15 PM
Exit 15 off I-78 in PA (Grimes) could easily be eliminated. It's a RIRO interchange with township roads with no immediate access across I-78 and no tractor trailers allowed. What little traffic uses this exit could easily use Exit 13 (PA 501, Bethel) or Exit 16 (Midway).
I hate exits like that.
They should really connect the two RIRO with an overpass while eliminating the ramps.
However, my trip to Colorado in 2001 revealed plenty of those interchanges on I-25 from Trinidad to Denver.
Half to two-thirds of the exits on I-95 in Connecticut.
In fairness, the phenomenon of everyone agreeing that there are too many exits, but not wanting *their* exits closed, plus limited capacity on surface streets along the corridor, is an understandable reason why this has not and probably will not ever happen.
Quote from: roadman65 on December 26, 2023, 10:14:12 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on December 26, 2023, 10:04:16 AM
Quote from: Crown Victoria on December 23, 2023, 01:03:15 PM
Exit 15 off I-78 in PA (Grimes) could easily be eliminated. It's a RIRO interchange with township roads with no immediate access across I-78 and no tractor trailers allowed. What little traffic uses this exit could easily use Exit 13 (PA 501, Bethel) or Exit 16 (Midway).
I hate exits like that.
They should really connect the two RIRO with an overpass while eliminating the ramps.
However, my trip to Colorado in 2001 revealed plenty of those interchanges on I-25 from Trinidad to Denver.
I don't recall too many of them around me. Jamet Street (the most northern lower peninsula exit) is like that.
A consolidation of exits 18-21 on I-290 (IL), the Avenues. Many of these are outdated and could do with a redo/removal. Who knows if we'll see that happen though.
I would add Exit 12 for I-35, the current north end of US 65, to this list. There isn't anything there you can't just as easily access from Exit 11, the old US 16 exit. Also, if you are going NB on I-35, but wish to eventually exit onto I-90, the next exit north, you have to watch for traffic from US 65. It strikes me as potentially dangerous.
Exit 12 on I-95 in Virginia. This is the former transition from the longtime temporary end of I-95 to US 301 NB. It has an AADT of under 500. Exit 13 is a 1/2 mile further and accomplishes the same thing. They did remove access from US 301 SB to I-95 SB. Eliminating this ramp would also make it so that the 301 SB overpass of this ramp wouldn't have to be replaced (65+ years old) when it gets decrepit.
Quote from: Henry on December 14, 2023, 10:07:03 PMI noticed that State Street in Chicago has an onramp to NB I-55 and an offramp from SB I-55. This isn't needed IMO, because it's near the Interstate's literal end at Lake Shore Drive!
While that is true, with the new Wintrust Arena and the McCormick Place West buildings nearby, it is a quicker way for traffic to/from Lake Shore Dr instead of taking 31st St or Roosevelt Rd which are the only access points besides 55 over the railroad tracks for vehicles.
There are plenty on I-94 in North Dakota.
Exit 322 on I-94 in North Dakota looks pretty pointless. There are exits 2 miles to the east and west that both serve minor unincorporated communities on county highways, but Exit 322 doesn't serve anything. The sign says the exit is for Absaraka, another very minor unincorporated community. But the road doesn't even connect Absaraka with I-94—unless a two-track grass path between two fields counts as a connection. Anyone going to Absaraka would likely use Exit 324 to the east as that's a paved county road.
Exit 310 is another seemingly useless exit. Exit 310 serves no county highways or towns, the sign just says 'No Services'. It's 2.5 miles east of the exit for Tower City and 4.5 miles west of the exit for Buffalo, neither of which are large enough towns to warrant a second exit. This could just be an overpass.
There's a pair of 'No Services' exits east of Valley City where one could easily be removed: 296 and 298. I vote Exit 296; it's pretty close to the Valley City exits whereas Exit 298 is equidistant from Valley City and the Oriska exit to the east.
Exit 281 connects the small town of Sanborn with the Interstate with a 2 mile long paved road, but it's 1.5 miles west of the exit for ND 1 northbound, which gets even closer to Sanborn. Just a bit redundant.
Exit 245 is yet another 'No Services' gravel road exit 2.5 miles east of the exit for Windsor, a small unincorporated community. Could be an overpass.
There are tons of other 'No Services' exits for small gravel roads, but they're spaced out just enough where their existence is justified IMO. Sure, it's nice to have a nearby Interstate exit if you live in the middle of the countryside, but I feel like these would mostly all be overpasses in Minnesota.
You sure those aren't for ranch or other private property access?
That is a good point, it looks like the farms south of Exit 245 would be a hassle (but still possible) to reach without an exit. However, as far as I can tell all of the other exits are just slightly more convenient for the five people who live near them.
Quote from: flan on March 28, 2024, 10:56:12 AMExit 310 is another seemingly useless exit. Exit 310 serves no county highways or towns, the sign just says 'No Services'.
I agree with your assessment, but I have to say, I like it's style:
(https://i.imgur.com/dsEegJp.png)
Haha, yeah I've always liked the way it looks. It's also one of the relatively few times I-94 isn't just straight east and west in ND.
Quote from: Crown Victoria on December 23, 2023, 01:03:15 PMExit 15 off I-78 in PA (Grimes) could easily be eliminated. It's a RIRO interchange with township roads with no immediate access across I-78 and no tractor trailers allowed. What little traffic uses this exit could easily use Exit 13 (PA 501, Bethel) or Exit 16 (Midway).
My understanding is that this exit exists because of a politician.