Worst single lane ramps to/from a non-freeway

[webny99]

Most of the worst single lane freeway to freeway ramps are well documented on this forum. What about single lane ramps between a freeway and a non-freeway? This could be an entrance or exit ramp.

I struggle to find one worse than NY 441 WB to I-490 WB in Brighton, NY. This stretch of NY 441 is six lanes divided with a short series of traffic signals and has an AADT just shy of 38k per day. The ramp to I-490 WB carries about 15.5k per day and I would estimate at best 3.5k of that is coming from NY 441 EB. So that's 12k of 19k in the WB direction that is squeezed into one of three lanes, or in other words, roughly 63% of traffic in one lane while the other 37% is split between two lanes. The result is the right lane being bogged down for sometimes in excess of a mile in approach to this ramp, and people cutting in all the way to the last second slowing the line down even further. Given the challenges of adding a through lane to I-490 itself beyond the ramp, this should at minimum be an option lane with a zipper merge on the ramp.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Although it quickly widens to three lanes, the ramp from southbound I-95 to Franklin Street in downtown Richmond qualifies. This exit serves basically all the state government offices and facilities, and it's just a 1000-foot ramp that regularly backs up onto I-95 during rush hour, and during off-peak hours people will fly off I-95 at high speed onto the city streets (the ramp becomes South 15th Street after reaching Franklin Street). VDOT added an additional lane for drivers turning into the VCU parking lot nearby, but it hasn't helped.

[Max Rockatansky]

US 101 to CA 25, especially from northbound 101.  101 technically is an expressway and the antiquated 1950s era design makes it almost impossible to get onto southbound 25 in traffic.

[MATraveler128]

MA 128 Exit 39 in Peabody. I always avoid taking this way on my travels due to stopped traffic in the middle of the expressway with people flying past other cars stopped in rush hour trying to get to Salem. I wish there was the room to completely redo this interchange or really the entire Peabody/Danvers stretch.

[1995hoo]

I dislike the ramp from Edsall Road to southbound I-395 in Fairfax County, Virginia. The problem isn't necessarily the ramp itself so much as it is how the ramp connects to the highway. Traffic using the ramp winds up in the far right lane of five, which in turn defaults onto an exit ramp heading for northbound I-495 (the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway). Ramp traffic wanting to head to southbound I-95 must immediately get over to either of the two far left lanes (changing lanes across at least two lanes of traffic) in a relatively short amount of space right as a lot of the traffic already on southbound I-395 is heading to the right to exit onto the Beltway. When I pass through there southbound, I'm usually on I-395 heading to the Beltway's Outer Loop and I'll be in the correct lane for where I need to go (the middle lane of five, which splits) and I always have to have my head on a swivel to watch out for entering traffic bombing across from the right and other people coming from the left who ignored the signs and didn't get into the correct lanes.

The ramp in question carries more traffic than it used to because there used to be a cloverleaf-style loop ramp carrying traffic from Edsall Road, but it was demolished a few years back. The problem it caused was that there is also a loop ramp exiting southbound I-395 and there has never been a C/D road there, so the weave area was in the travel lanes and it caused congestion and accidents. I sometimes wonder whether a better option would have been to remove the other loop ramp that exits the highway instead.

[jmacswimmer]

The offramp from unsigned I-595/US 50 EB & US 301 NB to MD 450/West Street in Annapolis MD comes to mind - a sharp turn off the mainline signed for 15 MPH, then minimal space for the turn lanes ahead of the intersection with MD 450.  I've never personally observed it when driving by, but judging by this sign 3/4 mile away and the double-solid line approaching the exit, backups extending onto the mainline seem to be a recurring issue.

[JCinSummerfield]

A local exit for me.  SB US-23 in Michigan at exit 13.  The exit is very short, and you have to really lay on the brakes to stop at the end of the exit.  It's short because of a railroad overpass just north of the exit.  Hopefully if they ever need to work on the railroad bridge, they will widen it to 3 lanes so there is more space given for deceleration.

[jdbx]

The left exit for Treasure Island from eastbound I-80 right ahead of the Yerba Buena tunnel from the Bay Bridge comes to mind for me. That exit is terrible, you have an immediate sharp 15 MPH left-turn right after exiting with no deceleration lane, no shoulders, and no margin for error. To take the exit safely, you need to begin slowing down in the mainline, and hopefully the people behind you are paying attention.

[wanderer2575]

All four loop ramps at the US-24/M-102 cloverleaf thing on the Detroit/Southfield border.  Not only tight ramps but a STOP sign at the end of each one, and the alignments require that your head be on a swivel to be able to turn it 180 degrees to look back.  (Will be converted to a DDI this year.)

Eastbound M-5 ramp to 9 Mile Road in Farmington.  Short ramp, sharp downhill curve, short sight distance because of the curve and foliage.  This needs a posted advisory speed, even though there is no deceleration lane before the exit.

But still the winner and champeen:  Jackson Road to eastbound I-94 in Ann Arbor.  Almost like a 90-degree surface street turn and little acceleration lane.

[Flint1979]

A local exit for me.  SB US-23 in Michigan at exit 13.  The exit is very short, and you have to really lay on the brakes to stop at the end of the exit.  It's short because of a railroad overpass just north of the exit.  Hopefully if they ever need to work on the railroad bridge, they will widen it to 3 lanes so there is more space given for deceleration.

Doesn't US-23 overpass the railroad? They should have widened the bridge there. The next exit south of there exit 9 is almost the same way.

EDIT: I want to add that this is only 2 miles from the stupidest exit in the state IMO anyway. The Lloyd Road exit off US-23 that has an off ramp for NB and 1 mile south of there has an on ramp to SB US-23 from Dixon Road.

[Flint1979]

Anyone from Michigan would know about the Jamet Street exit (last NB exit/first SB exit in the Lower Peninsula on I-75).

[CovalenceSTU]

I-5 Exit 278 SB is an (non)favorite, it's a short single-lane ramp that used to stop at a 5-way and backs up often enough that there's VMSs for it. It'd be better if there were separate turn lanes, but the road can't be widened without replacing the overpasses.

They realigned Bents Rd and added a NB second lane + queue space recently, but nothing for SB.

[epzik8]

The offramp from unsigned I-595/US 50 EB & US 301 NB to MD 450/West Street in Annapolis MD comes to mind - a sharp turn off the mainline signed for 15 MPH, then minimal space for the turn lanes ahead of the intersection with MD 450.  I've never personally observed it when driving by, but judging by this sign 3/4 mile away and the double-solid line approaching the exit, backups extending onto the mainline seem to be a recurring issue.

That whole interchange is pretty wacky, especially with the movements required to get between 2 and 450 without going onto 50.

[-- US 175 --]

Would this count?
The ramp to get on WB Pulaski Skyway (US 1/US 9, or "1-9" or "1&9") from Tonnele Circle.  Narrow, very blind spot, and worse.  I know it's old (age and technology-wise), but still, I've seen nothing like it.  I guess I could have taken my chances with the truck route, but I figured it would have been clogged with trucks to/from the ports.

[roadman65]

FL 429 SB to Orange County Road 535 in Winter Garden, FL was like this as it would back up onto the freeway and effect through SR 429 traffic.  I believe when another exit ramp was built in 2018 that allowed the traffic heading west on Stoneybrook West Parkway that used the CR 535 ramp as well, to use the new ramp lightened the load a bit.

Don't know if the new Stoneybrook West ramp has effected the CR 535 ramp or not, but it was a bad single ramp before.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I can't say it's the worst, but the exit from I-35 south to Dakota CSAHs 5/50 in Lakeville, MN always catches me off guard for how short it feels when coming off a 70 MPH freeway.

[webny99]

I can't say it's the worst, but the exit from I-35 south to Dakota CSAHs 5/50 in Lakeville, MN always catches me off guard for how short it feels when coming off a 70 MPH freeway.

Funny, I know exactly what you mean and thought the same thing to myself last summer. The alignment is very strange too. It's almost like you shift to driving on the shoulder prior to exiting, which would theoretically prompt you to slow down but it's still not enough. You get past the gore and are suddenly at the traffic light.

[webny99]

But still the winner and champeen:  Jackson Road to eastbound I-94 in Ann Arbor.  Almost like a 90-degree surface street turn and little acceleration lane.

Very odd that it is such a sharp curve given that the property it curves around looks vacant. Even if there was something there years ago, it is very fixable now.

[kphoger]

It's almost like you shift to driving on the shoulder prior to exiting

If you look at older GSV, it's more obvious that that's exactly what you're doing:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bahXaKHUo2HeTekX6
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bc2SoDfGfN5QpiY56

[Flint1979]

The curve is sharp at Jackson Road and I-94 but the acceleration lane is pretty close to 1,000 feet long it just seems short because of the sharp curve. For reference I looked at the Ann Arbor-Saline Road exit and there is more room on the ramp to accelerate because of the sharp curve not being there. At Jackson you have to slow down to 20-25 mph to make the curve and then speed back up, at Ann Arbor-Saline you can speed on while on the ramp without having to slow down to 20 mph.

[Rothman]

Would this count?
The ramp to get on WB Pulaski Skyway (US 1/US 9, or "1-9" or "1&9") from Tonnele Circle.  Narrow, very blind spot, and worse.  I know it's old (age and technology-wise), but still, I've seen nothing like it.  I guess I could have taken my chances with the truck route, but I figured it would have been clogged with trucks to/from the ports.

I thought there was an even worse on-ramp to the Pulaski Skyway, but it was removed when the bridge was rehabbed.  Can't remember where exactly it was.

[GaryV]

Has everyone missed "non-freeway" in the thread title?

[Rothman]

Has everyone missed "non-freeway" in the thread title?

Did you miss "to/from"?

[GaryV]

Has everyone missed "non-freeway" in the thread title?

Did you miss "to/from"?

If there's a freeway, it's not to or from a non-freeway.

[kphoger]

Has everyone missed "non-freeway" in the thread title?

If there's a freeway, it's not to or from a non-freeway.

Did you miss the OP's example, which is a ramp to the clearly-a-freeway I-490?