20 miles in 30 minutes challenge…

[tradephoric]

The basic challenge is to drive a route (driving the flow of traffic) through an urban area where you drive 20 miles in under 30 minutes.  The rules are that 30 traffic signals must be crossed and you must be at least 15 miles away from the initial starting point.  The route can include freeway sections as long as the 30 traffic signal criteria is met.

Video doesn't have to be posted (great if it was though!) but just a description of the route with the starting/ending points, date and time of drive, and the total travel time it took.

To get things started...

Urban Area: Metro Detroit
Date/Time:  12/23/12 @ 4PM
Starting point: Dixie Hwy & White Lake Road
Ending point:  Telegraph Road & Northwester S.D. (just s/o 12 Mile)
Traffic signals crossed: 42
Distance: 20.0 miles
Travel Time: 27 minutes 0 seconds

[agentsteel53]

I'm pretty sure I've done this before, on one of my 2am LA explorations.  Figueroa between 405 and 10 participates heavily, and after that throw in approximately Pico and Sepulveda, with some freeways as well.

if absolutely necessary, I can attempt to replicate the feat early morning of January 5th on the way to Sacramento.

[Alps]

Through Newark on the NJ 21 corridor. I often jog over to Broad St. instead. Include your favorite 17.5 miles of freeway on either side to get up to the 20.

[Ian]

Through Newark on the NJ 21 corridor. I often jog over to Broad St. instead. Include your favorite 17.5 miles of freeway on either side to get up to the 20.

I'll be driving along 21 through Newark tomorrow. I'll have to try this.

[Brandon]

20 miles, 30 minutes?  I can do that, but it involves rural 2-lane roads.  otherwise, around Chicagoland, you're SOL.

[StogieGuy7]

20 miles, 30 minutes?  I can do that, but it involves rural 2-lane roads.  otherwise, around Chicagoland, you're SOL.

Meh, I can easily do 20 miles in 30 minutes around Chicagoland.  Even during rush hour.  How?  I hop on the Tri-State Tollway (a 5 minute drive from my house) and can pretty much do 70+ mph all the way south to ORD.   Unless there's a wreck, I can make it to the O'Hare exit in less than 30 minutes and that's 32 miles from my home in Lake County.   In fact, I occasionally need to go to Bolingbrook for work (63 miles from home, via 94 -> 294 -> 55) and that routinely takes me 1:05.  I leave home at 6:30 am and arrive there just after 7:30. 

The knuckleheaded drivers on I-55 provide the only slowdown.  Must be a south side thing......     

[Brandon]

20 miles, 30 minutes?  I can do that, but it involves rural 2-lane roads.  otherwise, around Chicagoland, you're SOL.

Meh, I can easily do 20 miles in 30 minutes around Chicagoland.  Even during rush hour.  How?  I hop on the Tri-State Tollway (a 5 minute drive from my house) and can pretty much do 70+ mph all the way south to ORD.   Unless there's a wreck, I can make it to the O'Hare exit in less than 30 minutes and that's 32 miles from my home in Lake County.   In fact, I occasionally need to go to Bolingbrook for work (63 miles from home, via 94 -> 294 -> 55) and that routinely takes me 1:05.  I leave home at 6:30 am and arrive there just after 7:30. 

The knuckleheaded drivers on I-55 provide the only slowdown.  Must be a south side thing......     

The additional part is that you have to go through 30 signals as well, which requires substantial use of surface streets.  I don't pass through 30 signals on my way to work or using I-355 up to Schaumburg.  My way to work involves a total of 16 signals each way (it's 30 minutes/20 miles each way).  When I go up to Schuamburg twice a week, it's a total of 15 signals each way (45 minutes/43 miles each way).

I've never been able to go 20 miles in 30 minutes around Chicago while going through 30 signals.  IDOT, CDOT, the counties, the municipalities just don't time signals that way.  If IL-59 was timed and set up like Telegraph Rd (US-24), a trip to Fox Valley from home might take 30 minutes.  But, as the signals are not timed, and IDOT is, IMHO, incompetent, it takes 45 minutes - the same time as it takes to go to Schaumburg via I-355.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Challenge accepted. However the traffic lights in Zaragoza are not timed very well, so it may be hard, starting at Emperador Carlos V tram stop, go through the train station, the Z-30 up to Avenida Academia General Militar and out to exit 316* of A-23 in half an hour. That route is 20 miles long, and I'm sure there are at least 30 traffic lights, all in the first 5.5 miles.

* This number is km-based, would be exit 196 in the US.

[agentsteel53]

I'm pretty sure I've done this before, on one of my 2am LA explorations.  Figueroa between 405 and 10 participates heavily, and after that throw in approximately Pico and Sepulveda, with some freeways as well.

if absolutely necessary, I can attempt to replicate the feat early morning of January 5th on the way to Sacramento.

never mind.  going to Seattle this weekend and throwing Sacramento into that trip.  maybe on the way back from Sacramento, early Monday morning.  unless I just wanna get home. 

[kphoger]

20 miles, 30 minutes?  I can do that, but it involves rural 2-lane roads.  otherwise, around Chicagoland, you're SOL.

Meh, I can easily do 20 miles in 30 minutes around Chicagoland.  Even during rush hour.  How?  I hop on the Tri-State Tollway (a 5 minute drive from my house) and can pretty much do 70+ mph all the way south to ORD.   Unless there's a wreck, I can make it to the O'Hare exit in less than 30 minutes and that's 32 miles from my home in Lake County.   In fact, I occasionally need to go to Bolingbrook for work (63 miles from home, via 94 -> 294 -> 55) and that routinely takes me 1:05.  I leave home at 6:30 am and arrive there just after 7:30. 

The knuckleheaded drivers on I-55 provide the only slowdown.  Must be a south side thing......     

The additional part is that you have to go through 30 signals as well, which requires substantial use of surface streets.  I don't pass through 30 signals on my way to work or using I-355 up to Schaumburg.  My way to work involves a total of 16 signals each way (it's 30 minutes/20 miles each way).  When I go up to Schuamburg twice a week, it's a total of 15 signals each way (45 minutes/43 miles each way).

I've never been able to go 20 miles in 30 minutes around Chicago while going through 30 signals.  IDOT, CDOT, the counties, the municipalities just don't time signals that way.  If IL-59 was timed and set up like Telegraph Rd (US-24), a trip to Fox Valley from home might take 30 minutes.  But, as the signals are not timed, and IDOT is, IMHO, incompetent, it takes 45 minutes - the same time as it takes to go to Schaumburg via I-355.

North Avenue in the western suburbs might be a possibility, depending on the time of day.  Northwest Ave (I-294 frontage road) to 10th Ave–Saint Charles is exactly 20 miles, but I haven't counted the stoplights.

[Alps]

You can also go 18 miles on freeway into NY (this can move at certain times/directions - I've had some good luck coming out of CT late on a Sunday night), then drop 2 miles down one of the avenues that has signal progression.

[Revive 755]

North Avenue in the western suburbs might be a possibility, depending on the time of day.  Northwest Ave (I-294 frontage road) to 10th Ave–Saint Charles is exactly 20 miles, but I haven't counted the stoplights.

I count 17 alone between I-355 and I-290 (not including the signals at the I-355 interchange).