Will AZ have to give up using Los Angeles on I-40?

Started by roadman65, June 08, 2016, 07:46:02 PM

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rte66man

Quote from: mrsman on June 15, 2021, 07:22:24 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 14, 2021, 04:42:11 PM
Quote from: TheStranger on June 14, 2021, 04:39:59 PM


Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 14, 2021, 04:34:41 PMGallup, Kingman, and Barstow are way too small. Most of I-40's traffic isn't going to these places.

Using that logic, should Caltrans not use Needles as the eastbound control then?  They've had it used since the 1960s when that road uses to be US 66/I-40 just east of Barstow.

Flagstaff at least works as an analogue for Grand Canyon access.



SM-G973U1
Caltrans should not use Needles. They should use Flagstaff. The only reason I know Needles exists is that Spike lived there in the Peanuts comics.

I think this is exactly the point.  If you are signing based on using large well known cities, you will only have ABQ-Flagstaff-LA.  Without any apologies.  Are you skipping some decent mid-sized towns like Gallup and Kingman? Yes.  But those aren't likely destinations for a lot of the traffic.  ABQ and LA are large cities, Flagstaff is representative of the whole Grand Canyon region.  LA is also representative of all of Southern CA.  Most of the WB i-40 traffic within CA is probably heading to the LA area, even if the trjectory of the road is headed to Bakersfield.  As stated a little while ago, Caltrans doesn't give Bakersfield its due as it replaced all those signs on I-5 in the LA area in favor of Sac.  I-40 is absolutely a major truck route from the LA ports to the northern South (northern parts of AZ, NM into TN, KY, VA), even though the road does not go to LA directly.

Let's look at it a different way.  If you were in Flagstaff, ABQ, OKC or Memphis, how would you drive to LA?  Would you take the N-S interstate to 10 (or 20) and then head west, or would you take 40 to 15?  40 to 15 is shorter and faster as it goes through smaller cities (avoiding Dallas, Houston, Phoenix).  It is simply the way to LA, and as there is no sizable city west of Flagstaff, despite some important junctions in Kingman and Barstow, it should be the control city.

Depends on the season.  From OKC to Barstow to LA is way better. IN the winter, you might be better off to go I44/US277/I20/I10 to avoid the snows around Flagstaff.
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra



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