Grade your city's road network

[Hurricane Rex]

Spinoff of the microthread: Grade your transit system.

Grade your area's (or one you know well) or state's road network on an A to F scale (or Z- if its that bad) on the following categories:

Speed/efficiency (put tolls here), and curve it up 1/2 grade (so a efficiency of C by a DOT would be a B- or C+)
Design/completeness
Capacity
Bypass options (bypass tolls here)
Quality of roads (potholls, age, smoothness, etc.)

Then give an overall grade.

I will do Corvallis sometime today or tommorow.


LG-TP260

[Ben114]

Massachusetts:

The state's highway network is probably almost complete (about 90%). There are a couple of missing pieces, like MA 146 in Sutton and Millbury, MA 240 should be modified, same with MA 57, and MA 2 between 495 and 95 needs some work.

For capacity, most major highways are 3 lanes and minor ones are 2 lanes. Backups only really happen during rush hour and Cape Cod on summer weekends.

There is always an alternative. I-90 has US 20, 495 has many (28, 140, and more), 95 has US 1, and so forth.

The tolls of the Mass Pike are fairly cheap, only 25 cents with an MA EZ pass, and 35 cents for other EZ passes.

Most highways here we're roughly built around the same time and MassDOT is good at repaving then every once in a while. Most speed limits are between 55-65 on highways and it works real good (not bumpy from high speed).

As an overall grade, I'll say a B since signage is really outdated and is some of the oldest in the Northeast.

[Roadgeekteen]

Boston gets a 60% because that's how much was completed.

[webny99]

I'm sure we've done this before, but, frustratingly, I can't find the old thread(s).

[Hurricane Rex]

I'm sure we've done this before, but, frustratingly, I can't find the old thread(s).

I searched for it too and found nothing.

LG-TP260

[Tonytone]

Ahh Delaware,

The highways in the area, are completed, but Delaware likes to do things in phases, so its really never completed I-95/De-1 Grade:B

Major and minor roads still need alot of updating from this era, some are still pre-2002 while others are updated from 2009 & up. There are a few that still have 90's designs to them. The major roads that connect to highways tho, phew dont even go that way during rush hour. Grade C-

Now local Neighborhoods are used as roads & connected, so Deldot puts 100 speed bumps in everyone, even neighborhoods without an outlet. Grade D

Overall Delaware gets a Overall grade of D. They are finally fixing issues & building new roads, but for such a small state they should handle it a little better IMHO.



iPhone

[Max Rockatansky]

Fresno...

Speed/efficiency
-  I'd give Fresno a B+ in this regard.  The surface streets have a reasonably quick pace and the freeways have appropriate speed limits.  Things are wonky on downtown streets largely due to the older grid design based off the original rail siding plot.

Design/completeness
-  I'd give Fresno a B.  The freeway network is pretty complete but not having a completed CA 65 as bypass northeast of Clovis definitely is a negative.  My biggest complaint probably be as a pedestrian since there are a ton of county islands where side walks disappear.  Fresno doesn't seem to have much of a standard for pedestrian access even within it's corporate limits.

Capacity
-  I'd give Fresno an A.  The only bottleneck point that is a minor problem is the CA 41/CA 180/CA 168 interchange.  All the freeways have plenty of capacity as do most of the surface streets.

Bypass options (bypass tolls here)
-  I'd have to give Fresno an F.  This is where not having CA 65 definitely hurts since CA 99 is the normal through route for most people.  CA 41 only works as a through route if you're heading towards Yosemite or CA 49.  I-5 is too far away to have much of an affect unless you are avoiding the entire main population corridor of the Central Valley.

Quality of roads (potholls, age, smoothness, etc.)
-  I'd give Fresno a D.  The Caltrans maintained roads vary wildly in quality with very poor on CA 99 to very good on CA 168.  The surface roads are generally crumbling and have way more pot holes than one might expect for such a dry climate.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'm sure we've done this before, but, frustratingly, I can't find the old thread(s).

We had a thread where we rated our city based on roadgeeky qualities a few years back.

[webny99]

Rochester, New York, United States

Speed/efficiency
18 of 20 (90%/A-)
Much of the network was built during the 1950's, when the region was fast-growing and suburbia was exploding. We have an almost-complete beltway and several key feeder arterials which together make for a very efficient network. Once you get on the freeway (which, granted, can take a while from the exurbs!), downtown is very easily accessible. Getting from suburb to suburb can be slow, but aside from the southeast, routings are almost always straightforward enough to be considered "efficient".

Taking "speed" a bit more literally, the freeways move well outside of peak hour, and most even move well during peak times.
High numbers of left-lane campers are a factor of left exits at key junctions, but that aside, you can count on being able to move at whatever speed you want. You'll have plenty of company, even at rush hour, going 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. You may even get passed by people doing 80 mph. Except in cases of pre-existing congestion, there's usually at least one lane moving at 70 mph or better.

Design/completeness
16 of 20 (80%/B+)
The network is very well laid out. It doesn't "feel" incomplete, although there have been several cancelled projects, most notably the extension of I-390 rougly along this corridor. I believe NY 104 was also supposed to be completed as a freeway on the west side, and NY 531 was supposed to extend to Brockport, among other projects. Most of these would have only been needed if the population kept growing, but it tanked in the second half of the 20th century, so said projects, for the most part, have not been sorely missed by those of us remaining! 

Capacity
19 of 20 (95%/A+)
As far as the system's ability to get high volumes of commuters into and out of the downtown core, it really has the capacity of a much larger city. I-490 is full inbound in the AM and full outbound in the PM, but it moves. Extended slowdowns are always the result of an accident or construction project, not because of a capacity constraint alone. No freeways are operating grossly above capacity (well, with one suburban exception!). Where there are some capacity problems is with some of the main arterials connecting to the freeway network: NY 441, NY 31, NY 286. But absolutely zero complaints once you get to the freeway (other than a few minor lane realignments - no large-scale widenings needed).

Bypass options
19 of 20 (95%/A+)
Need I say more? 
The Thruway is tolled, obviously, but it is cheaper than the Penn Turnpike and for a higher-quality road as well. I will note we are lucky in that there is no long-distance north-south traffic. Lake Ontario channels all long-distance traffic through either Buffalo/Niagara or the Thousand Islands, avoiding Rochester completely. The only situation where it might be awkward to get through or around Rochester is, say, Medina to Wolcott - too far north to use the Thruway, and there are no good alternates to the north, so your best bet is to go right through downtown. The nice thing is that very little long-distance traffic is stuck using NY 104 in Greece, since any traffic collected from west of Clarkson can simply take NY 260 down to NY 31 and catch the NY 531 freeway, easily avoiding the aforementioned.

Quality of roads
17 of 20 (85%/A)
Considering the effect our winters have on the roads, I can hardly complain. The Thruway is incredibly well-maintained, as are most of the local freeways. Some of the arterials could use better maintenance. NY 404, for example, was a nightmare for many years. Recent improvements have helped with the condition of the road, but it is still over-capacity during peak times. NY 286 is very bumpy -- having never been paved within my memory and possibly not even within my lifetime! Generally speaking the county seems to have a good paving program in place, while the state seems to lack funding for anything that's not a freeway.

Overall grade
89 of 100 (89%/A)
Aligns nicely with my original suspicion, which was mid-to-high 80's!

[kphoger]

I'm sure we've done this before, but, frustratingly, I can't find the old thread(s).

I was about 62% sure, but I couldn't find anything either.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I *know* we did, but I looked all through the first two pages of threads and found nothing.

[sparker]

San Jose (CA):

Design:  Literally all over the map.  South part fans out from downtown, with barely adequate lateral arterials that tend to run into one another, leaving whole neighborhoods without access to others nearby.  Downtown grid pattern is the only stable element, carried out across US 101 to the eastern foothills.  North, south, and west are seemingly random, exacerbated by the tech-related development on the north featuring enough curving streets to accommodate the "campuses" favored by the tech firms (who do, for better or worse, pay the bills and thus dictate terms.  Overall grade: C-/D+
Capacity: Freeways at LOS "D" or "F" consistently during peak commute hours (expected), generally LOS "C" otherwise, except for I-880 between I-280 and CA 237, which can slide into "D" even at mid-day.  Surface streets tend to be congested more in the northern industrial/office zones, but ease a little south to about CA 85; most everything south of there in terms of arterials gets crowded, as those arterials lead SE to Morgan Hill, the Almaden Valley, and even toward CA 17 over the hill to Santa Cruz.  In other words, if it's in a commuter path, it's congested.  Overall grade: another C-/D+.
Bypass options: That's what CA 85 was originally intended to be, but instead it's just another congested commuter pathway (connecting all the others, that comes as no surprise).  The newest freeways, CA 87 and CA 237, traverse downtown and the heart of newer corporate tech facilities respectively (no bypass capability there).  The reality is that there's no room for an effective bypass without heading up into the hills, which is prohibitive in terms of cost as well as political feasibility.  Overall grade: a solid "D".
Road quality:  Six years ago when I moved here it was really dismal -- but both the city and county have made a concerted effort to improve the street conditions (sometimes as part of "road diet" measures); progress is slow but steady;  my own neighborhood, snarkily termed "Willow Glen Adjacent" by some, is one of those still with multiple potholes, crumbling curbs, and really shitty tree maintenance (many, many blind intersections as a result) -- but one day that actually may improve as well.  Despite tax dollars from corporate residents, it all seems to go to projects in the newer northern commercial regions -- with a sop to the older residential neighborhoods.  But I'll give the city/county a partial pass -- they're trying to get as much done as possible while keeping the $$ rolling in from the tech sector.  Let's call it a solid "C".

Overall grade: you guessed it, C-/D+.  (a 1.50 for all you numerical fans).

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I found it.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=22851.msg2361809#msg2361809

[webny99]

^ Yep, that's the one. Thank you, sir!

[Hurricane Rex]

Corvallis/Philomath:
Speed/efficiency: B-(76): For a city of 55,000, its ok, but if you want to get anywhere north or south, you have to go through downtown, and if your coming from the east, the speed limit drops from 50 to 25 before you hit downtown (its truly like 65 to 25 based on flow of traffic. However all of the collected and artiels rarely have congestion, even 9th street (the commercial strip) meaning you can get from corner to corner in about 10 minutes. You can say goodbye to this on game day though (all roads to from OSU are 2 lanes, including the main way in out US 20/OR 34)

Design completeness: B+ (85): Design would be an A+, as there is an underposted perimeter road (25-35 speed limit when the flow is 45 in the city) with 4 lanes. All the collectors are about every 8 blocks in a grid style, yet they remain efficient. The bypass is not competed though depsite being there for a long time, making higher speed travel not easy/impossible. Getting on to go to Albany via US 20 from downtown/OSU is a hassle though, and poorly signed (no reassurance till after you leave the city) with it feeling like a residential road. Minimal expressways though despite game days being an additional 35,000 people.

Capacity: D+ (61): All the through routes are either incomplete, not enough lanes or have a bottlneck with the exception of 53rd/walnut (which is well designed). The Van Buren bridge immideatly docks 12% off just because the road (OR 34 bus (not listed or signed, thats my name for it)) goes from 3 lanes EB to 1, then back up to 2 immediately after the bridge. The traffic levels drop from 15,000 to 10,000 AADT so its not a significant drop either (enough to warrent 1 lane ending though). WB is 2 lanes so I guess that is a little better. This is the way out of town if your coming from downtown/northern sections and headed east or far north/south. As for US 20/34 (AADT 18,000-30,000) the fact that this isn't even being planned in the near future to have 4 lanes is just baffling, considering this is the main road to/from OSU and their sporting events. 2 isn't even cutting it. I can run faster than the traffic. As for 99, who's bright idea was it do design 99W for 4 lanes but for a 1/3 mile segment drop it to 2 (its 4 lanes on each side of that)? Its so dumb, another -12%. Thankfully its being fixed in the medium term (the bridge is short term). US 20 is ok, not great design, but good capacity. The Corvallis bypass is 1. Only 1/2 a bypass as its only useful if your coming from OSU or W/S Corvallis, but there are plans to finish it. Only thing is that there are going to be making it 2 lanes total instead of 4, and everything else will be expressway quality. 2 lanes on a bypass that will have more traffic than predicted ia just plain dumb. Thankfully no collectiors or walnut street have capacity issues or this would be worse. At least Portland has common sense when they do design a road except in the Rose Quarter.

Bypass: C (68): for about 65% of traffic, you can bypass (Philomotth to north/east of Corvallis being 20% to/from OSU being 45%) but heading N from the east or south and vice versa and your skrewed As the Corvallis bypass is a half bypass.

Road quality: B+ (85): smooth minimal potholes, except Harrison Blvd west of 40th, and 9th (the commercial areas)

Overall: B-------- (75) A little better than I thought, but still some room for some major improvments.

LG-TP260

[Hurricane Rex]

I found it.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=22851.msg2361809#msg2361809

Thank you for posting, a lot closer than what I was thinking as well. At least I use differnet criteria as an accidental differation.

LG-TP260