I have no idea where to put this - the concept is to write a trip blog that will make it onto my site, but not have to upload it every day, or start at a blog site just for one trip. So I'm just going to blog here and take the result (and possibly witty commentary or Q&A) and make it a feature on my site.
Day 1: The first few paragraphs were recorded as I crossed the Delaware and crossed into Pennsylvania. Sorry, Penna, I hate you. Nothing personal, just PennDOT and bad history. Okay, maybe that's personal.
Airplane flew out on a northern arc, looped down near the Raritan River then WNW along I-78, crossing it and slowly heading north away from it (above Washington, NJ) before straightening out. The plane made some weird beeping/squeaking noises just before starting takeoff, and then they said "enjoy your flight on this 737." Given what just happened with Southwest, I was less than thrilled. Takeoff was steeper than I thought possible, but we made it so clearly they knew what they were doing.
Let me tell you, I was really glad to be sitting next to a quiet couple who were reading, watching TV, and sleeping. The waiting area was full of young kids screaming...
I figure truss bridges aren't very photogenic at 20,000 feet, so instead of nabbing the 22/old 22 Delaware crossings I went for a pic of PA 33 transitioning to its newer section south of 22. It's a lot more visible from the air (pavement change) than the ground. The photo also has the 22 trusses in it, so I'll see how it comes out. A lot of photos I could say that about, I guess. As I'm writing, we're already passing the Allentown airport. Planegeeking gets you there so much faster than roadgeeking...
Looks like everything from PA 100 westward is clouds. The pilot told us to blame Cleveland for the weather before takeoff. I intend to do so.
Random thought as I'm doing the airplane crossword: Clue - Lock opener. First thought - How do I fit "pick" into three spaces? That's an MIT education for you - it opens doors. After the crossword, I did the Sudokus and carefully replaced the magazine in the seatback so that the next person can be upset. Later on I got done editing all of the Rhode Island photos for the next update before my laptop was ready to die. More than two hours of graphics work - not bad at all. Could have used a larger seat though, I'm pretty sure they narrowed up the rows beyond what can physically fit adults. My elbows were jammed behind my seat and into the person next to me (sorry), I was getting shoulder cramps from having to look straight down at the laptop, and any time the person in front of me moved I was in danger of a crunched screen.
Somewhere after the clouds broke, we crossed two large rivers in close succession. I think the first one was the Mississippi, no way to be sure. Either it's surrounded by lakes, or there's been a bad flood. (If there's another large river up that way that's flooded, then that's where I was.) All around that and the next river, instead of being divided into neat farming squares, there are intricate, lacy networks of dark lines against the pale tan ground, tracing every little stream on its journey toward the big river. It's amazing how farmers have plowed every available corner of land against such a densely woven matrix of waterways. As I'm writing this, we pass over one township that screwed up its platting for six miles - the grid is slightly wider and skewed to the west, then reverts back to where it was to the north and south.
Later on, there's a transition from the red sand of the desert to white, and I get excited for the White Sands. Turns out it's too expansive, doesn't quite look like the White Sands area, and is too close to California to be in New Mexico. So, there's actually quite a bit of snow on the ground out here! Guess I'll be prepared for it on the next legs of my journey. That's some crazy blinding white out there. Interesting fact: In highly white conditions, the eye's cones shut down - stare at a sunny white surface for five minutes, then turn to something with color in a regularly lit room and try to see any of it. Glad I have sunglasses, not glad that when I tried to adjust them just a little bit to fit my face the lenses popped out. Took me more than 10 minutes to get them back in, and the whole thing's cheap plastic and Chinese metal. Hoping that doesn't happen again, though at least I know how to do it now.
Speaking of things that break, my camera's zoom is very finicky. My best bet to get it to work is to shake the camera first. Oh, I have some great parenting skills developing. Of course, within the first five photos, I need to use it. Black button-copy one way sign on a side street leading from the rental car area to I-5! Zoom worked for me, thank goodness. No time for zoom after that, the freeways have an INSANE amount of button copy still. California has a very long way to go to replace their signs. I took at least 600 photos of button copy, total both directions. 800 photos total in about 4 hours of driving. I know most of the trip won't be that crazy, but Monday has a lot of freeway legs until I get to Santa Monica (old 66), then it's just sporadic bits of 15 and 40 out to and through Arizona. Next Tuesday, though, I'll drive every freeway in Phoenix, then out on I-8 to San Diego and every freeway there. Is it possible to get a callus on my wrist? I know I'll get one on the pinky that has to hold the camera in position. I can hot swap batteries out without missing a photo; I may have to attempt to hot swap out a memory card given how densely rich the photographic opportunities are here. Hopefully I'm not taking more than 2000 photos in a day, but I honestly have to expect anything, especially for the day that I'm driving around Phoenix.
Route (CA): Harbor Drive-Grape Street-5 SB-15 NB (brief detour on El Cajon Blvd)-10 EB-Etiwanda Ave-60 WB-71 NB-57 NB-210 WB-5 NB-126 WB-150 WB
Clinched: CA 15, I-15, I-210
Notes: Someone on the rental car bus pointed out the Coronado Bridge. Closet roadgeek? The old one-way sign is on Belt St. at Hawthorn St., just before Harbor at Grape. Totally visible. Within 3 minutes I saw that sign and an original-spec state name shield, and I was grinning from ear to ear at what California had in store. I've also seen an original porcelain BGS (or BBS, seemed to be black rather than really dark green). There are rogue I-15 signs along CA 15, not that it matters too much (along connecting streets as much as the highway itself). The widest I-15 got was seven thru lanes NB. Incredible. Development continues more or less nonstop from San Diego to Ontario, although it gets a little sparser in the hills around Rainbow.
The original plan was 10 EB-210 WB to clinch CA 210, but there was a nasty-looking rainstorm in the foothills that started hitting me as I got to I-10, so I decided to outflank it along sunny CA 60. Worked like a charm, except CA 71 through Pomona had a nasty backup thanks to a temporary-looking signal at (I'm sure there was always a signal there, but they're building an interchange now, and the signal that I encountered definitely had issues. The interchange is needed.) I trusted the map that I-210 begins at CA 57, and I was rewarded with my final clinch of the day (and plenty of button copy). The only other traffic I hit was a lot of slow volume WB on I-210 in Pasadena. Once I got near the CA 134 junction it all cleared out (since I-210 heads away from L.A. at that point) and the rest of the trip was uneventful. I highly recommend CA 150 east of Ojai to anyone with a motorcycle or sports car. Sunset was okay, but not what I expected - maybe sunrise is better on this road? CA 126 is practically a freeway except for a traffic light outside Piru and the lack of a Fillmore bypass. Four lanes at 55-60 mph, center striped island. No map shows how good that road really is. I was expecting it to be two lanes and hilly.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 10, 2011, 02:06:55 AMI've also seen an original porcelain BGS (or BBS, seemed to be black rather than really dark green)
they're green, trust me. I know of only two black overhead signs left in CA - both are in Oakland.
Alps, with a name like yours, I wonder if you ever drove US 189 between Provo and Heber in Utah? The mountainous terrain was tamed to the point a freeway was put in there despite opposition from Robert Redford, who owns the Sundance ski resort. For an alpine engineering feat, it's the best one I have seen plus when driving on this road in the summer, you cool off 20 degrees from what the Utah Valley is going through! Now it's time to see how long it takes UDOT to do the easy part from Heber to just north of the Deer Creek Dam so it's all freeway from the I-80/US 40 interchange to the northern outskirts of Provo. The route is important for the trucking industry as they get to Vegas/Phoenix/SoCal much easier when they avoid Emigrant Pass and Salt Lake City's congestion. The scenic attributes are a bonus!
Rick
@Jake thanks.
@nexus it's my name/nickname :P
Day 2: Family time. Casual wandering around fragrant citrus groves (oranges, lemons, and these wonderful bites of deliciousness known as pixie tangerines). One of my favorite moments was following everyone in a line through tall grass. "Follow me so you don't get bitten." "Bitten by what?" "Rattlesnakes. It's okay, they usually bite the second person." Ah, okay. Weather was low to mid 70s, which was pants and jackets weather around Ojai, but perfect to me. So I played some Ultimate. There's no setting like mountains on two sides, palm trees on the third, and a sunny valley on the fourth. Enjoyed fresh-off-the-tree produce and overall a wonderful time.
Not much road-related, though there was the amusing sight of a tree growing in a road shoulder. I don't have any idea why the tree wasn't removed when the road went in - my guess is that it was widened somewhat more recently and developed as a neighborhood, and by that time the few people who already lived on the narrow road had some sort of attachment to the tree. It has a "keep left" sign and reflectors on it, and a band of white paint, but just like the Polish photo that has circulated here before, there is in fact a tree in the road. I'm currently on a ranch where two out of the three access points are creek crossings (paved) - I was told that after a heavy rainstorm, you have to go all the way down private orchard roads to get to the only bridge. Sometimes people can't even get to work.
Downtown Ojai is all Mission-style architecture, all built in the early 1900s, thoroughly beautiful. Charming town, lovely scenery, and tomorrow I leave all that for the desert. Route 66, ho!
I'll have to look through my Phoenix area photos to see if there's anything interesting to check out. Here's a few photos that come off the top of my head, even though I plan on looking further.
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Cutout AZ 202 shield near Sky Harbor Airport.
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A few bridge photos from Tempe Beach Park, which is easily reached from AZ 202.
I also spotted a lot of Phoenix area button copy signs near freeway interchanges along the surface roads they intersect with.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 10, 2011, 02:06:55 AMNo time for zoom after that, the freeways have an INSANE amount of button copy still. California has a very long way to go to replace their signs.
Their heart isn't in it, frankly, though there is considerable variation between districts. District 8 (basically, the Inland Empire) let several contracts a few years ago to change out massive numbers of signs on I-10, I-40, and I-15--each contract had between 30 and 40 sign design sheets covering mostly rural lengths of freeway. District 4 did a huge sign replacement contract several years ago for San Mateo County, District 3 has had one or two large sign replacement contracts, Districts 1, 9, and 10 have few freeway signs to replace, District 5 has done one medium-sized sign replacement, and District 11 did a large sign replacement in 2002 and again several years later. Meanwhile, Districts 7 and 12 have been sitting on their hands. I have seen little to no activity out of District 12, but District 7 tends to let small chickenfeed signing contracts (just three or four panels per contract) at infrequent intervals. The most ambitious signing work District 7 has done recently (which also, incidentally, makes Jake very angry) is actually more to do with restoration of the Arroyo Seco Parkway designation on Route 110 north of the Four Level than a sheeting upgrade.
In contrast to Caltrans footdragging, TxDOT is more or less completely changed out now. To accomplish that they let multiple signing contracts at a rate of about one per month for about five or six years. My collection of TxDOT sign design sheets recently passed the 10,000 mark and I would estimate that at least one-third of that is from the early-noughties sign sheeting upgrades. The Houston District alone did its sheeting upgrades in two major contracts, each of which had over 200 sign design sheets.
@ Doug thanks for the heads up. I may check with you again from New Mexico next week.
@ J N, I noticed that replacement has happened in many long stretches, such as I-40 near the border, but generally for exit signs. Signs on ramps are often missed, or signs that aren't exit related such as distance signs, highway names, weigh station, etc. I've noticed a surprising number of LGS - non-reflective background with reflective letters, as opposed to button copy. They get mixed with small BGS at some interchanges, often fooling me.
Day 3: I've gotten enough kicks for one day. I dodged some traffic bullets heading down into L.A. on a Monday morning. The 10 flowed clear through the 5 and past the 110. In fact, the only traffic I did hit was on the Figueroa stretch of the 110 as I headed south toward the harbor. It eventually cleared up at the 5 interchange. No way will CA 110 ever be I-110, by the way, so don't ask. It's a crazily fun old-school freeway from the 1930s, barely updated (still some 5 MPH ramps), barely any signs to tell you where to go. It's reminiscent of NY parkways with even more curves. I just wish it was 30 miles longer so I could keep enjoying it. Wasn't expecting a bridge on CA 47. What a bridge! I'm so glad the tolls are gone now (obvious where they were on the east side).
Wait, now there's traffic on, of all roads, old 66 (CA 2) at the 405. Meanwhile, every place I crossed the 405, it was free-flowing, What kind of topsy-turvy world is this? (It's 11:30 when I'm writing this). In general, I've been driving slowly, especially by my standards, to capture all the signs and scenery I can in both directions. Yet somehow, I'm ahead of schedule at this point. I get a special surprise - button copy street signs and old CA 2 shields in Beverly Hills of all places, where you'd expect every sign to be new and shiny. Best coincidence ever: Shortly after thinking the song to myself, I tune to 98.7 FM in the middle of Beverly Hills and the eponymous Weezer song has just started. That is just freaky.
The open road tries to start where Pasadena ends, but it keeps getting bogged down again and doesn't really open up until after San Bernardino. It's incredible how far out Route 66 stays plugged up with commerce and traffic. All these traffic lights are wearing on me even more because I still have a sun exposure headache from Sunday. (It slowly faded over the course of the day, thankfully.) After eating at In N Out I'm now 30 minutes behind schedule and falling fast. I sure hope I built in enough slack at the end of the trip. Don't get me wrong, I love every minute I'm spending, but I don't want it to get dark before I've seen everything I want to.
People in California drive a lot like New Jerseyans - all different speeds (as much as 20+ over or 10+ under the limit), in any lane they want. I feel at home, which is not the point of a vacation. There is a slight difference - Californians seem to have no idea when they need to turn or what lane they need to be in, often cutting across three or more lanes with little notice.
Once I leave San Bernardino, the trip speeds up considerably and by Victorville I'm back on track again. Traffic finally disappears by Hodge, and pretty much never returns to the Mother Road. I set my cruise control to an appropriate 66 MPH for the remainder of the day (a bit more for the parts on I-15/40 where the old road is a long dead-end or untraversable). Outside Barstow, in Lenwood, Route 66 widens to four lanes. Just as it does so, a hobo throws a stick at my car. Thank goodness for the Loss/Damage Waiver. Pays for itself in peace of mind.
Did I mention the scenery is amazing in eastern California? The scenery is amazing. There. I noticed one of the famous berms east of Chambless where people leave their names spelled out in bleached rocks on the side. I decided I had to do the same, since I'm never coming back this way. Not seeing any ready sources of bleached rocks, I walked a bit to the nearest former message that was hopelessly ruined, picked it apart and assembled ALPS. I decided it would be too much time to make ROADS next to it, given that the sun was starting to set. Besides, my hands were dusty and I had a couple of small cactus spines in there from the dirt. (Just a fact of handling dirt/rocks in California, doesn't bother me.) If you come by that way, let me remind you to watch where you step. Rattlesnakes could hide behind rocks or in dense brush, but there are also a lot of holes in the ground. They could be gophers... or scorpions... or something else. Steer clear, there are plenty of paths up to the berm. It's really eerie to turn off your car, step onto Route 66, and hear nothing but the wind. No animals, no other cars. Face the mountains and you will discover yourself a little more.
I'm assuming there are no police on Route 66 except in towns, so I probably could have gone any speed I damn well pleased. I tried 75 MPH for a spell until I started seeing cars again (east of Amboy) and decided 66 was less risky just in case. I figured I had the time to spare (actually, turns out maybe I could have used another 10 minutes of daylight), and also, I saved just enough gas at 66 MPH to be able to fill up in Arizona tomorrow morning. $$$ One final thanks to AAA maps, which showed an alignment of Route 66 heading up to US 95 north of I-40. I was going to go straight on National Trails Highway, which is the more modern route (40s or 50s) that has been mostly overlaid by I-40. The original route is in much rougher condition but avoids 17 miles of boring, un-historic freeway. So, thanks, AAA!
Route (CA): 150 EB-126 WB-U turn at US 101-118 EB-210 EB-future/proposed 710 stub-over to 110 SB-47 NB-710 NB-10 WB-Santa Monica Pier-old 66 EB (brief stints on I-15 and I-40 as needed)
Clinched: CA 110, 118, 126; old US 66 in CA; I-110, I-710
Notes: CA 110 is signed with a reassurance right where it used to begin (at old 66). The next sign correctly says "TO." I-110 is really freaking wide. 4-5 lanes each way, full shoulders, HOV lanes, train tracks. Has to be at least 200 feet overall, and all elevated. There is one CA 66 shield eastbound (appears to be a city job) and an EAST banner without a 66 shield underneath. That's it. Is CA 66 a dead route now?
East of Barstow, old 66 does something I've never seen before. I guess because it rains so infrequently out here, rather than have culverts or short bridges the road just dips down into the wash and back out again. (There are a few stretches of 66 with short wooden bridges, though, such as down toward Amboy.) The dips are highlighted by the railroad next to it, which crosses a bridge every thousand feet or so. Noting where the bridge is tells you where the next dip in the road is. Most of the dips can be traversed at 55+ MPH, but at least one was signed at 40 MPH. Railroad crossings are signed at 20 MPH when you can go 40, but there's one at 10 MPH that you'd better go 10 over.
yep, you took Goffs Road heading into Needles.
also, Collision Damage Waiver comes free if you rent with a Visa card. Look it up!
I looked it up. I didn't see anything.
I've had it since I got my first credit card in 2006- I've never made a claim with it though (and don't know anyone who has), so I'm not sure how well it works
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/benefits/bft_dmg_waiver_personal.html
Good luck with your trip, Steve! Hope your photos will make it onto Alps Roads!
several weeks of paperwork. might need access to a fax machine. there is a fairly large hold on your card while it is resolved. otherwise, not too much of a hassle.
I think I'm happy with LDW the way I have it. Especially with the things getting spilled in the interior (In N Out, red Arizona dirt) and the stick-throwing hobos and the things I keep hitting apparently (I hear them, I don't see them even if I stop and get out). And all the back roads will kill the suspension, and an oil change will be overdue by the end of the trip.
Day 4: Holy crap, the scenery. Holy crap, a road with a WHITE CENTER STRIPE. Old 66 delivers on every account. It makes my day when I get a train to whistle at me, so count two consecutive made days. As soon as I get into Arizona, I see the first roadrunner on this trip. Way to be predictable. It's not too long before I see a tumbleweed, either. Later on, a tumbleweed closes a ramp all by itself, daring anyone to challenge it and get to the overpass.
The road starts curving east of Oatman in a rather dire way. Oatman is kitschy, the curves are surreal. I'm more than 15 minutes late coming out of just the first leg of the trip thanks to all those curves, but I'm okay with that. It's an amazing mountain/canyon road with spectacular scenery and challenging curves that need to be ridden hard. The 15 minutes can basically be attributed to stopping for more and more photos of canyons, mountains, and buttes. Hehehe, "buttes." Now, why didn't NM build the road in the flats where I-40 now runs?
AZ 66 has an incredibly long straightaway from Kingman northeastward. It could challenge the record for longest, especially for longest without traffic control (anything past the airport is free-moving). At least 20 miles all told, starting from downtown.
After Hackberry, the road climbs up the Cottonwood Cliffs. It's clear the road will only continue to (slowly) climb from here, on up past a mile in elevation. Welcome to the plateau! The scenery to the north looks like the Grand Canyon - not surprising because it's just on the other side of the Music Mountains.
AZDOT erected fake Burma-Shave signs on old 66, for dozens of miles east of the end of AZ 66 (Yavapai County line) on a few different open sections. I like the idea, but the implementation ruins it by preaching safe driving instead of being funny. Hire Gilbert Gottfried? AZDOT also annoys me by using demountable copy on newer signs, which has a tendency to look like button copy from long and short distances. My camera's always at the ready and I snap a number of photos that I have to then reject once I see there are no reflectors. If you're going to use demountable letters, go the full monty and make them button copy.
I SEE SNOW! It snowed Sunday night across the plateau of Arizona and New Mexico, so there's still a coating on the ground despite temperatures in the 50s. Tastes good, fun to throw. My first immersion in it is along I-40 near Williams, which is at least 6,000 feet in elevation (Williams is at 6,762' and other towns are above 7,000'), and then it's all along the dirt part of US 66 after it splits off. I owe a shout-out to Avis for giving me a free upgrade for no apparent reason - I hate to imagine what it would be like to operate a Focus at this altitude, given how much the Galant engine is feeling the effects of thinner air.
Ah, the dirt part of US 66. It's east of Exit 167 and runs for several miles through the pine trees. With a red dirt road, green pines, white snow, and a blue lake, the scenery is closer to Maine than Arizona. I stopped my car and got that same eerie feeling of loneliness I did east of Chambless, although in this case there was a distant hum of traffic from I-40. I shouldn't have stopped to write my impressions in the one spot along the lake with a horde of flies... (Note: Route 66 was not a dirt road. Dirt sections such as this are flanked by asphalt or concrete sections. It seems pretty clear that the original pavement was simply torn up. In this case, the dirt road is county-maintained, so it's easier and cheaper for the county to rip out pavement and regrade it every so often versus trying to keep up concrete quality and eventually having to regrade that.)
The directions said to visit Walnut Canyon and U-turn. I couldn't see anything from the road really, so I decided to stop into the visitor center and see what was to be seen. After hearing what I was missing, I decided to pay my money and time and take a quick jog around. (Do not attempt jogging unless you are in extremely good shape. 200 stairs up and down.) It was worth the $5 and 45 minutes to see not just a beautiful canyon (though no match for others in the state) but also ruins of former native dwellings carved into the hillside. I'm a fan of parks that let you go in and experience things without guiding you away from real ruins into fake replicas, so this was a perfect diversion and I still made Albuquerque in plenty of time before sunset.
The miles of nothing east of Winona are mind-expanding. Every few hours brings something new in terms of scenery that further validates every reason I had to take this trip with this itinerary. Around every turn, I'm exclaiming aloud, "This is extraordinary! This makes the trip! I can't beat this scenery!" If I went back to California, I might yawn now after what I've seen in Arizona and New Mexico.
Blake's does a good job pretending to be an old Route 66 fixture, but once I saw two of them I realized they're just a chain. Now I'm annoyed. I had in my notes that Winslow, AZ has fake button-copy US 66 signs. I've seen photos, too, but I sure didn't see any on my trip through, and I drove all three old 66s (EB, WB, and the original alignment to the south).
Now, in eastern Arizona, that there isn't button copy on every sign, I find myself wishing there still was. As tired as my hand and arm were getting in California, at least I got a lot of good photos out of it. Never take reflectors for granted. The NM/AZ border area is criminally beautiful. It's worth a day trip for anyone remotely close just to see the canyon scenery on I-40/old 66 in that area (Exit 359 in AZ at the Welcome Center). Well, actually, the beautiful scenery extends over 100 miles into New Mexico, almost up to Albuquerque. Well, actually, it extends back in Arizona too to the beginning of the Painted Desert. Make it a full weekend trip.
In the middle of following I-40 to Exit 149 west of Albuquerque, there was a Route 66 sign for Exit 140 to the historic Rio Puerco Bridge. Now, I like historic bridges, so this was a no-brainer. Problem was, there was no sign on the exit ramp, just a roundabout and a casino. I made my way into the casino-branded travel center and asked the clerk where I might find such a bridge. The friendly shopper in line explained that I had to cross over the highway toward I-40 west, but turn right instead of left onto the highway, and I'd see the bridge. Still not sure what I was going to be able to see, as he made it sound likee there were just a few remnants, I obediently went over the bridge and looked to my right, and saw a beautiful shiny metal truss sitting alone between the frontage road and I-40. Thank you, NMDOT, you made my day. Well, along with train whistles and scenery. This is the best truss of the trip so far, and probably will be outside of Oklahoma. I have high hopes for the several trusses planned for Friday.
Route (AZ-NM): Old 66, strung together by I-40 as necessary.
Clinched: AZ 66, NM 118, NM 122, NM 124; old US 66 in AZ
Notes: Maps still show old 66 east of Flagstaff as US 180, but it's definitely not anymore. If you couldn't tell from signage, the pavement condition is a dead giveaway. Bicycles are allowed on I-40 in Arizona, at least east of Exit 355 (where there was a sign as such). I'm not sure if that's ever been a discussion topic in this forum, but it's come up in my own sphere before from Michael Summa's Utah photos, where bikes can use the Interstate because I-25 took over US 85/87. Well, in this case, I-40 took over US 66, so same deal. Old 66 widens in Gallup to four lanes with a double-wide center left turn lane. I wonder if this was either once six lanes or had a median, because this is much larger than a standard five-lane road. I'd guess 6 lanes, given that Route 66 has some 6-lane stretches still in some not-too-large cities.
The stretch of old 66 that heads east from NM 124 in Lagune will be one of the highlights of my road exploring life forevermore. It proceeds as the northern frontage road to I-40 for a few miles, winding sharply around colorful sandstone walls before settling in parallel to the WB side of 40. But it doesn't stay there for long - it crosses over on a diagonal. That's where the fun begins. The road curves left on the south side of 40 and starts to diverge. At this point, you have some very broken pavement with a layer of dirt and gravel on top. Peer through that layer, and you'll see a faded dashed line in the middle. Obviously, a center passing stripe, but it seems to be white. As you continue, the stripe comes into greater prominence until you're certain it's white. Then, as you come toward a hillcrest, a yellow solid center stripe kicks in next to the dashed line and there is now proof that it was white, because it sure isn't yellow like the stripe. So, yes, here is one road still existing with a white center stripe, just because no one has touched old 66 in this area since the 1960s at the latest. I wouldn't bring a regular car on this road if you own it, but a rental car or anything with body-on-frame construction would beg you to take this. Be warned that the last mile west of NM 6 widens out into a four-lane road, but it's all rutted, grooved gravel. I was able to take the badly cracked paved road at 55 MPH, but had to slow to about 35-40 for the end. There's supposedly an old bridge a mile east of NM 6, but the road looked like it became someone's driveway at that point, and may have been chained across. My Mitsubishi Galant is not about to attempt tire ruts for a bridge that isn't even visible above scrub grass. Even with LDW.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 12, 2011, 12:42:41 AM
East of Barstow, old 66 does something I've never seen before. I guess because it rains so infrequently out here, rather than have culverts or short bridges the road just dips down into the wash and back out again. (There are a few stretches of 66 with short wooden bridges, though, such as down toward Amboy.) The dips are highlighted by the railroad next to it, which crosses a bridge every thousand feet or so. Noting where the bridge is tells you where the next dip in the road is. Most of the dips can be traversed at 55+ MPH, but at least one was signed at 40 MPH. Railroad crossings are signed at 20 MPH when you can go 40, but there's one at 10 MPH that you'd better go 10 over.
I saw a lot of that on US 95 between Blythe and Needles as well. Those washes had concrete shoulders, on a road where the shoulders are otherwise soft and sandy, so they were good places to stop for "roadside relief" when (as usual) no water is flowing over the road.
Day 5: No Internet tonight, the price I pay for staying in San Jon (where there is only one motel) instead of the more populous but further west Tucumcari. (More on Tucumcari later.)
I was going to spend some time at Old Town but it's about 98% shopping and restaurants, and not an old town at all. 10 minutes was all I needed, and I was done before it opened at 9. I was going to see the Atomic Museum, but not only were the clerks inside pushy, it's $8 for a bunch of written history and reproductions of atomic bomb casings. Surprised it stays afloat with a price like that. So the first real stop was the Coronado Monument on US 550. It's interesting - a 1930s reproduction of a 16th century pueblo that was not maintained, so it's actually weathered into ruins itself. Since I'm into legitimate old things, the only interesting part to me was the original murals lifted from the kiva (underground meeting room) walls, transferred to a semi-permanent wall. There were layers of paintings, each one covered by more mud plaster and then painted again - on the order of 100 layers with on the order of 15 paintings per kiva. Many murals were lifted intact from one kiva and are on display here. That in itself may be worth the $3, but what definitely justified the admission was talking with Deborah. She enlightened me about the history of the Pueblo people, the settlement, and the murals. The time spent talking to her about the exhibits far outweighed the value of the exhibits alone - which was not insignificant.
After that, I still had over an hour left on my hands from the failed attempt at Old Town. Deborah had mentioned some things to see farther north, and two that caught my eye were Gilman Tunnels (former rail tunnels blasted into cliffsides) and the Valles Caldera (a gigantic volcanic caldera in the middle of New Mexico). I estimated the time difference and decided that the northern loop would just about fit into my schedule, so off I went. I do recommend seeing those two sights. The tunnels are a few miles up NM 485 in a beautiful if small canyon, and you can hike or bike the trail further beyond its end. The caldera is along NM 4 and there are plenty of photo opportunities. It's really obvious when you're in it - the scenery changes and you have miles of open space where trees can't grow. There was definitely more to see along NM 4 than by poking around Albuquerque or Santa Fe for an extra hour, at least the way I value my time. Once again, I saw amazing and unique things that continued to excite me.
New Mexico is so high up, I filled up with 86 octane twice today - on NM 4 and again in San Jon. The latter one made me pause just a bit, but even traveling east below 5,000 feet, I'm still (typing this from Texarkana) well above 3,000 and probably was above 4,000 when I refilled with 87. I thought the altitude and cold temperatures resulted in a faulty low tire pressure reading, but it turned out I had a small leak. Somehow I drove the whole day and still wasn't sure that was the case. Some nice Indian truck stop owners helped me out while I ate their food (it's the only restaurant in San Jon, I think) and so far the patch is holding - never seen anything like it, though. I was supposed to spend another half hour sightseeing in Santa Fe, but I never wrote down what there was to see, so I never ended up spending that time. Was I supposed to go into the capitol? Or get out and see St. Francis Cathedral? Or walk around the square at the Palace of the Governors? Oops. Hope I didn't miss anything special.
East of Albuquerque, the scenery degenerates into a monotonous, yellow, grassy plateau plain. There are peaks rimming the horizon, but nothing worth photographing. They're not even close enough to come out if I wanted to photograph them. On the plus side, the land is so flat that radio waves travel for a hundred miles from the source, so I can latch onto a station and get a good ride out of it. There's plenty of time to fiddle with the radio and write short blog blurbs (blurgs?) because I have nothing to pay attention to. Oh, wait, the road. The scenery does return to some degree well east of Santa Rosa with some colorful bluffs, and the dry grass and brush (essentially desert) is starting to become grazing pastures. That's how I know I'm getting near to Texas - the cattle are visibly dense. Santa Rosa has some scenery of its own - a "blue hole" fed by underground springs (or an aquifer, not quite sure) - but I only found out about it on the radio as I was passing through and didn't have time to detour. Without SCUBA equipment, looks like I wouldn't have had much to do there anyway.
Clines Corners has a trail of painted ponies. This instantly catches my interest - ponies! - but then I start seeing sign after sign for this "world famous" stop. It's looking like another South of the Border so I wave goodbye to the ponies and ride on by. (Now that I've googled them, it's just a bunch of figurines. Oh, am I so glad I didn't stop for that.) Then I see it's just the size of an ordinary truck stop, or even somewhat smaller. Talk about overhype. Flying C Ranch at the next exit east also tries to overplay their (very similar) hand, but their ads are a muted tan instead of outrageous yellow, so I judge them the loser. Why can't there just be a plain old truck/rest stop? There must be plenty of demand, as there are no other services at any of the exits. Speaking of exits with services, I-40 has reduced Tucumcari to nothing more than a series of chains on the east side of town. The actual original town of Tucumcari, spread out for miles along old Route 66 / current Business 40, is pretty much entirely dead at this point. Write it off. The town only has one commercial radio station. Hope you like pop-country-rock. At MP 320 of I-40 I notice my odometer is also reading 320. Pity I have to leave the highway again.
Route (NM): Looped through the I-40/25 interchange (Big I)-Old 66-NM 556-NM 313-US 550-NM 4-NM 485-Forest Road 376-back to NM 4-NM 5002-US 285-Santa Fe-NM 14-I-40-Old 66 (including NM 333)
Clinched: NM 4, 14, 333, 485, 556; old US 66 in New Mexico
Notes: Albuquerque has well-designed freeways. I-25 and I-40 have so many lanes, it seems impossible to have a traffic jam during rush hour except for a backup leading into an exit ramp (40 EB-25 NB in the morning).
I was able to make good time on NM 4, which is a fun road with plenty of curves and hills to be driven at 50+ MPH. Pass liberally. There are many more opportunities to pass than there are passing zones - passing zones are designed for the speed limit (55), while tourists are driving around 30-40 MPH on average. It's up to you what you choose to use.
Route 66 disappears for long stretches in New Mexico, either overlaid by I-40 or ending up in someone's ranch as a private, gated road. I noticed at one point (Exit 284) that cows were actually grazing on old 66! Stop eating the road! So I'm spending a lot of the afternoon on I-40, noticing that some exits like 239 just have a 1-mile advance sign and a gore sign, not even a regular exit sign. There's no street name, so no indication whatsoever of what's at this exit, just a number. I wonder if ranch addresses read "#2318 Interstate 40, Exit 239, NM" or "#2 Exit 239, Westbound, Nowhere, NM."
Did you go into downtown Santa Fe? I was there in December and thought that was really something else- I drove straight into the middle of it with no map and a 10 foot trailer behind me. It took a while to get out!
Day 6: This is the night I reserved to see Eve 6 perform at Weatherford, OK (SWOSUpalooza at SW Oklahoma State). They had two opening bands, Green Corn Revival (local) and Bleu Edmonson (out of Texas). Now the Revival sounds like a fun band and totally appropriate as an opener to Eve 6 (they describe themselves as "cowpunk" and would fit with a band like Blue Flannel). Bleu is a country/rock synthesis with a growly voice, screechy microphones (i.e. unfamiliarity with the equipment) and a guitarist who could resurrect the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Oh, and apparently Jesus is their fourth man for some songs. I gathered I was in the South/Bible Belt by having a country music act open for a rock band... Eve 6 was their usual rocking selves. I was angling for the handwritten set list but the guy who pocketed it (stage crew) didn't understand what I wanted, so he gave me a drumstick. Oh, I'll take that prize. Then the band came out and I was able to get my photo taken with them. Who needs autographs? I have memories and proof I was there. Anyway, there were nearly 12 hours of non-music:
Right off the bat, I almost got into an accident at one of the Interstate ranch driveways in Texas. I know they're supposed to be allowed only because they're used so infrequently, but at sunrise every rancher is in his or her truck and driving to town, so I actually saw three different driveways in use. One of them had someone pull right into my lane in front of me... The Texas panhandle smells like cow. This goes for the Exit 110 area on I-40, and for the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon, and for the campus of West Texas A&M (Canyon, TX on Spur 48). I don't mean beef or leather.
After lots of near-misses, I finally centerpunch a tumbleweed and discover I can take them. It does leave a lot of gory bits scattered across my grille. There's apparently 40 mph wind driving them across the road, but I didn't notice it until I got out of the car to relieve myself. Yes, definitely 40 mph plus gusts. I wonder why I don't feel the wind here compared to most other drives - maybe because it's a northerly wind and thus perpendicular to my direction of travel? Doesn't make sense why that would help, though.
Missed the leaning water tower in Groom, where I discover I'm in a light-grade dust storm that fortunately doesn't get any worse for the rest of my trip - at least I can still see scenery, signs, and well enough to drive. Apparently it's not the town's water tower, it's a different one not on 66 at all. But when I drove over to the seemingly upright (and yes, it is) water tower, I saw some yellow yield signs. So many that I passed a couple on the way out without detouring. This must be where the good signs go after they die. Also missed the Rattlesnakes sign east of McLean, probably because I had just locked my keys in the car and was too worried about lost time (and amused at my own incompetence) once I got them back to read the trip notes properly. The trifecta is that I missed the Texola jail. I missed Texola entirely, though I did recognize I was in a ghost town that could well have been it, but there was no visible change that signified a state border. The Texas side is theoretically Spur 30, so I thought it was still actively state-maintained, but I get the impression it's not a state highway to the border. (Lots of road notes today, apparently.)
While I was looking for the Devil's Rope museum in McLean (never really got to see the barbed wire exhibits because my car keys were ready so quickly), I accidentally first stumbled into the McLean-Alanreed Museum, which I had crossed off my list of attractions while planning the trip. I never should have crossed it off - in addition to all the interesting artifacts of 19th-century and early 20th-century life, the caretakers and the other guest were engaging. Turns out I found a kindred spirit traveling Route 66, albeit at his own pace (one week in Needles instead of one night, for example). He was seeing a lot more of the depth of the road and nearby attractions, whereas I'm just touching on things as I maintain my Northeastern (frenetic) pace. Rather than spend 45 minutes learning about barbed wire, which is still better than 45 minutes eating or driving, it's far better yet to spend 45 minutes talking to interesting people and sharing experiences. Speaking of Devil's Rope, which I did go into (while waiting for car key rescue), I spied in the Route 66 corner of the museum a map showing just the alignments of 66 that went through just the central part of the Texas panhandle. There were as many as 4 (if not 5) parallel alignments in many places, from the original dirt (and often impassable or disappeared) road through the frontage roads and modern I-40 freeway. Suffice it to say, I would have to spend at least an extra week to trace the rest of the alignments and REALLY declare myself as having clinched Route 66. But so far I've done the best I can to clinch at least one alignment from L.A. to Tulsa.
Everyone drives a pickup in Elk City. Literally everyone. I am not exaggerating. Oh, look, there's ONE car. It stands out because every other vehicle is a pickup.
Route (TX-OK): Old 66 (I-40 frontages)-27 SB-60 WB-217 EB-Park Road 5-217 WB-Spur 48 NB-87 NB-27 NB-Western/Bell Aves.-BL 40-old 66 to El Reno (I-40 to Weatherford and back for the concert)
Clinched: TX 217, Spur 48, Park Road 5; Amarillo BL I-40; Old 66 in TX
Notes: Texas I-40 overpasses, or at least most of them, have six spans: two for the I-40 roadways, two for the frontage roads, one for the railroad that paralleled US 66 (now just an embankment), and one for the separation between the railroad and 66. Really, the frontage roads ought to just intersect the overpass road, especially now that the railroad is gone (these seem to be newer overpasses). Curve them out, it's okay because no one's using them, and in a few locations TxDOT seems to have actually done this, which saves a lot of money. With the six-span approach, the frontage roads have to have separate connectors to the overpass road (a one-quadrant interchange). Of course, everything's bigger in Texas.
As I reflect on my day, waiting for my favorite band to play, it comes to me that I am probably the farthest traveler to see a band play in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Come to think of it, I've probably driven the longest distance and for the longest time (2,000 miles over four days). Of course, it wasn't all for them...
Old 66 follows frontage roads for many miles, and I didn't have to yield to on- or offramp traffic until Exit 57 (truck stop). (In Texas, no matter whether a frontage road is one-way or two-way, traffic yields to the offramp. Onramp traffic also has right of way over the opposing direction on a two-way frontage.) So it was almost as fast as staying on the Interstate, and a lot less hassle dealing with trucks passing other trucks. I may have lost 5 minutes, but I gained at least that much more lifespan without the stress. Given that side roads have speed limits of 70 in Texas, I imagine the only reason to sign the frontage road at 55 is to provide an incentive to stay on the highway. Heck, when Route 66 peels off a frontage and heads on its own alignment, the speed limit goes up even as the road quality goes down. However, Oklahoma raises the speed limit to 65, and perhaps coincidentally, there's also more traffic on the frontages.
This was my most flexible day in terms of routing - I kept seeing signs for or obvious traces of old alignments and changing my route to drive over them. Often, this meant avoiding I-40 for a certain number of miles, or a quick check down a stub I hadn't noted (probably hadn't noticed it when trip planning). In Amarillo, as I was tooling along Business 40 I saw that Historic 66 went right. Signs continued right up to the blocked end of the road at US 70/87/287 (which I've traveled before on at least two of the four possible roads). I assumed that 66 turned there and went back to Business 40, so I decided later on (after Palo Duro Canyon) to go back to BL 40/9th St. (at Bell St.) and clinch BL 40. When I got to 70/287/87, Old 66 magically reappeared, basically confirming my suspicion.
Historic 66 tends to only get signed on well-paved through roads, such as FM 2161 where I was when writing this note. It would be nice to have it signed on every alignment, perhaps with some sort of difficulty scale (1 = paved and through, 2 = dirt or broken pavement and through, 3 = tire tracks, 4 = dead end or private road). This would also help trace the changes in the route over the years - Oklahoma City and Los Angeles both do this with years below the 66 shield, but I haven't seen that anywhere else yet.
Google signs TX Spur 555 through McLean and Spur 556 on the next BL 40, but these routes aren't posted. Are these secret designations that every business loop has (and for that matter, is the first one in the state Spur 551), or is this a Googlism?
In Oklahoma, old US highway alignments are amazingly well preserved. (I've determined it's not just US 66 where this is the case.) You can tell which frontage road or nearby parallel road is old 66 by which one has the original 1920s concrete with integral sloped curb. If your road has it and loses it, chances are it picked up on the other side of I-40. I used this rule to find old alignments I hadn't documented, altering my trip to minimize Interstate and maximize 66. You can pretty much follow 66 without a map between this and the occasional signs. (There's one dogleg in Amarillo from 9th St. - which I didn't know was 66 until I saw the sign - to follow US 87/287 up to Business 40 and turning east again. The turns are unsigned.) In Weatherford, a sign points old 66 to the left (Washington) just before BL 40 merges back into I-40. I followed it, but there was no sign as to where Old 66 continued. I guessed a right turn on Davis, because I felt like I was going north with no return. Turns out I was right, so yeah, Oklahoma needs to sign some more turns before you can get by without a map. Would be nice if US 66 were signed as a complete route, with both turns and junctions.
The Exit 57 onramp to I-40 EB has absolutely no merge area. That damn near killed me as a truck came up in the right lane and I was getting up to speed on the ramp. The MUTCD should require warnings for such situations. I don't recall a yield sign, either, though it could have been knocked over at the time. It really needs a stop sign - or a full acceleration lane. Truck was from PA, of course - I always watch out for Pennsylvania drivers, but even in Oklahoma? On old 66, the long stretch from Weatherford to El Reno, I again almost die a couple of times because trucks come flying around corners straddling the center line. The problem is that I'm also straddling the center line and flying down straightaways. There's not a lot of room on the road, and the center line is only defined by the pavement slabs. Locals are used to being the only ones here, sorta like the crazy Hawaii pickup drivers.
Old 66 has an amazing crossing over the Lower Canadian River with US 281. At least 25, possibly up to 40 pony trusses strung together, and the actual river could have fit under one of them. I guess when there are spring storms and flooding, the entire basin gets used. It's always nice to see an old truss still in use, but surprising for it to be on a current US highway.
Quote from: corco on April 15, 2011, 11:56:19 PM
Did you go into downtown Santa Fe? I was there in December and thought that was really something else- I drove straight into the middle of it with no map and a 10 foot trailer behind me. It took a while to get out!
I was there with plenty of planning, so I just followed the prescribed turns and went through and came back out. I can easily see how it's impossible otherwise.
Day 7: Reaching the halfway point after nearly 3,000 miles on the car (and more of the same on the return trip). Was it Jake who had to get the oil changed in his rental? Yesterday's trip ended with windmills on Old 66, today's began with windmills on OK 37. I like windmills. This made me happy. I was unhappy upon leaving Atoka, though, where the devastation from the Tushka tornado that killed 2 the night before (6 deaths reported across the state from all the storms, 17 total from the next day's continuation in MS and AL) was still raw across a narrow swath of OK 3. This really pointed up the power of a tornado - complete wreckage strewn everywhere for a couple hundred feet, everything else intact on either side. A few houses are gone, all the possessions scattered, and who knows if the people are alive? I was heartened to see dozens of cars parked on the roadside, in the grass, anywhere they could fit. Clearly this was a community coming together for its victims. I have faith they will pull through.
You know the pace of life is slower here when people don't pass a camper doing 50 in a 65 with at least half a mile of completely clear straightaway. I got around all three cars easily. It was a refreshing pace, though, when I stopped for lunch in Haworth. I spent time talking to the business owners in the little market across from the high school. They were interested to meet a highway engineer and road enthusiast, and said they take long roadtrips every year (last year was the Grand Canyon and Utah national parks). Although lunch took about 20 minutes, we had plenty of good chatter and the woman said she liked the idea of my BBQ chicken sub, which I guess just isn't obvious to people who usually deal in beef and cold cuts. (There was no chicken listed on the menu because people can't redeem food stamps for warm sandwiches - now how does that make sense? Temperature is a commodity?) I love stopping at local establishments and getting the local flavor, and I think they appreciate having someone from as far away as NJ stopping by and telling a new tale. You can't do that at a McDonald's.
Definition of irony: There are no gas stations in Oil City (at least on LA 538, old Highway 1).
How to move to Louisiana, part 576: "Bossier" rhymes with "closure," but only when capitalized.
Route (OK-TX-LA-AR): 81 SB-37 EB (old 62 truss)-44 WB-277 SB-76 SB-74B EB (Walnut Creek truss)-74 SB (Walnut Creek truss)-74 NB (former 9 bridge)-35 NB-9 EB-3W EB-old 3-3 EB-AR 32-41 SB-TX 8-59 NB-77 EB-LA 1-538 SB-Clyde Fant and Teague Parkways-20 WB-49 SB-3132 EB-3132 WB-220 EB-20 WB-71 NB-3049 NB (detours for I-49)-71 NB-549 NB-245 NB-67 NB-old 67-108 WB-30 WB-State Line SB-TX 151-51 NB-30 EB
Clinched: OK 74B, TX 8, Loop 151, LA 538, 3049, 3132, AR 245, 549; Fant/Teague Parkways; I-220
Notes: Unfortunately for all of you, I will not walk on trusses missing large, jagged pieces of deck, out of concern that more deck may follow suit when I'm on it. That rules out the 1913 Walnut Creek bridge. I will also not bypass one "police take notice" barricade to get to a bridge, only to come to another barricade in full view of the Interstate, and then go around THAT as well. (Onto a questionable wooden deck.) That rules out the old US 62 bridge. The others were crossable. Oh, yeah, I also tend to avoid trespassing. Sorry. Not.
The OK 9/3W/US 177/270 interchange is confusing from the ground, maybe because three of the four legs are just two-lane roads. It looks more reasonable from the air, though there's no EB-NB connection. Apparently there's an old alignment of OK 3W that I never noted. It bore off to the left, hit a removed bridge, then started to veer further left (east). At that point I decided to head on over, forsaking my trip on 3W/177. After all that time on Route 66, darned if I'm not following an old concrete road when I see it. 15 minutes and one truss bridge later (overgrown with trees but passable), I'm still on it, but unfortunately it ends south of Highway 39. For the record, do not attempt to travel south of 39. There are large bumps that seem to have been put there by residents (2 dirt, 1 paved) that are not signed in advance and are much larger than you think. I am very glad I have a rental car, but was still worried for a time that I wasn't going to be able to drive it back out. It's a dead end, and just not worth your trouble. I can't fault residents for not wanting people speeding down the street, but for God's sake, put up a warning sign. (As I check a map, this old alignment continues around the west of Tecumseh as 13th St., labeled by Google as Highway 18, clearly the original number.)
I was going to follow old 3 out of Atoka (Court St.) but discovered that 3 now bypasses the town entirely, taking over the last mile of 7. Signage is iffy - this is alternately signed as regular 3 and By-Pass 3, and there are still signs for 3 along the old route (and 7 along the new route up to US 69). US 75 still follows the old route of 3. I'm assuming this was built as a bypass and ODOT later decided the whole thing is 3 (with signage lagging), but maybe someone out there knows otherwise? Further east, it looks like 3 is getting realigned with a new bridge or two. It's just east of the end of the 4-lane, but I don't think this is twinning work for two reasons: 1) It's only for a short distance, and 2) the old road that would become the EB lanes in a twinning project isn't just blocked off, but completely grassed over. ODOT wouldn't go through the trouble of grassing over a future alignment.
There's also dualization at the Pushmahata County line (not shown on the ODOT map), very new and for a short distance. Why doesn't it connect to anything? The road is schizophrenic here, jumping from 2 lanes to 4 divided lanes, back to 2 lanes, back to 4 divided lanes, down to 4 undivided lanes. Between divided sections, the old road is a frontage road on the north side where you'd expect WB lanes. So why not just stripe it as a divided highway? I guess it's because the old road's vertical alignment is quite substandard. The second dualized section shows that the new roadway is aligned to fit between the old road and the modern road (future EB lanes), so I guess the old road would remain as a frontage instead of being reconstructed.
Based on signage at the Indian Nation Turnpike, which still has the old circle shields, 7 and 3 were multiplexed east of Atoka to Antlers. Research says 7 was truncated from Broken Bow to Atoka in 1985 - so are the shields at this exit really that old or is OTA just very slow to adapt?
I noticed an old alignment of 3 near Pine Creek Lake where the old road continued straight, and now the old bridge over the lake has become a fishing pier (east side). If it weren't for the four slow cars and trucks I'd just passed, I would have taken a little time to explore it, but no way was I going to try to pass them again. Besides, it just looks like a garden variety highway bridge.
There's a park in the middle of Clyde Fant Parkway in Shreveport. It's a Parkway, so I guess there can be a Park there, but it's unusual to have recreation in a highway median. Fant and Teague Parkways on either side of the river are both very nice and scenic drives with very little traffic, but they don't connect anything to anywhere. At least Fant Pkwy. goes past the downtown casino. Both highways have stubs at the southern end, and both just disappear at the northern end. Shreveport should have built one parkway in its entirety instead of two half-roadways. It's somewhat reminiscent of Lake Ontario State Parkway in NY. On another Shreveport note, I-20 desperately needs 3 thru lanes in either direction, both downtown and in the suburbs. Even with I-220, there's just too much traffic on 20 to get by with the two there now on an antiquated freeway with vertical and horizontal curves and high interchange density. In that sense, 20 is like I-95 in Wilmington, DE.
I have I-49 updates for you, but those are going in the I-49 thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=3124.msg97482#msg97482). Click on over. I checked out every crossing I could because of the meet postponement, and also ran down old US 67 to the northeast of town. Neat old road, but doesn't compare to old 66 or even old 177 in Oklahoma. I-130 interchange construction is looking very good at I-30, but not even a blip on the radar on AR 245. In order to build a freeway, it needs to have two ends... by the time I-130 is actually completed, it may well just be numbered I-49 due to the progress north of Shreveport. (Again, see the I-49 thread.)
Concerning Business Routes in Texas-
All business routes in Texas used to have a hidden LOOP or SPUR designation. The highway desigation files say "to be signed as Business(XX). These hidden designations were removed in 1991 I think, so they are now officially designated as they are signed.
Quote from: Brian556 on April 16, 2011, 01:11:58 PM
Concerning Business Routes in Texas-
All business routes in Texas used to have a hidden LOOP or SPUR designation. The highway desigation files say "to be signed as Business(XX). These hidden designations were removed in 1991 I think, so they are now officially designated as they are signed.
Useful info, thanks. Now the question remains, given that 555 and 556 are numbered consecutively, were the loops/spurs of I-40 numbered beginning with 551 and counting eastward, or is this just a coindence?
Day 8: My puppies are barking after 12 miles of walking. And a good part of my skin is on the way toward medium well. But the relaxation and the amazing sights of downtown will soothe me just a bit. I may need a cold shower for the rest. Texas Blvd. could use sidewalks. Some of downtown Texarkana has them, but a good portion does not, surprising on a major street like Texas Blvd. (former US 59, now Spur 14). Could not ask for better weather - low 70s and cloudless with a light breeze. What a break from 50s and rain in NJ.
In Texas, pie can be fried. It's possibly mandatory, and usually tasty.
Got some light jogging in, instead of walking, to try to make the Ace of Clubs House 2 PM tour, only to find out the tours were at 1:30 and 3. So I went down to the local museum and spent 40 minutes inside. Not a bad deal. The Ace of Clubs House looked disappointing inside so I didn't splurge for the $6 tour - the outside is the most interesting part, especially from above, and the inside is just another historic house.
Abandoned Union Station (railroad) is next to the state penitentiary. Enough doors were open and the street was deserted enough that I was able to slip in and climb around for 10 minutes photographing every angle. Apparently the emptied, cavernous, two-story rooms are used to host the occasional party, though a lot of the old station is falling apart. I found one dark staircase connecting to the second and third stories - I have to think there are other ones that are more accessible, unless they've been torn out. I wonder, though, given that I heard voices and given that this is technically private property (I'd imagine), wouldn't it be an easy transfer next door if I was caught? It has to be extra fun at night with a flashlight and friends who believe in ghosts.
After a "No to Alcohol Sales in Our Neighborhood" rally, downtown emptied out and was dead. I could walk down the middle of practically any street that's not a US highway, even State Line Ave. south of 6th St., which I did just to be in two states at once. Toward the end of my tour, having plenty of daylight to kill after not touring the Ace of Clubs House, I decided on a whim to walk toward the Salvation Army, shown on my tourist map as an attraction even though I couldn't imagine what there was to see there. Turns out the cardinal hopping about was the most interesting sight on the way. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a historic building that wasn't on the map. This was the Municipal Auditorium, where legends as famous as Elvis serenaded the city. The regional museum had an exhibit that said the auditorium was at 3rd and Wood, and all that was there were empty lots, so I assumed the auditorium was torn down. Nope - it's still the Municipal Building, which includes a fire station and City Hall. I'm really surprised a historic building that serves such an important function isn't on the map! From there, I was still wandering in the direction of any building that looked historic, and ended up at the auto museum that I wasn't planning to see. Good thing I did things exactly as I did - though it was past closing time, a Texarkana family drove by as I walked past it, and the museum owner chased them down and said he'd let them in. I tagged along and got my fill of old cars and signs (there's a US 59 shield that you'll want to see), and got to talk to the museum owner for a bit. You know from my previous post how much I enjoy talking to locals. I even got my thirst quenched after so much walking. Leaving there, heading toward a few churches and historic homes on the map, I happened upon the Miller County Courthouse - another beautiful old building with an important purpose not on the map. Texarkana, what are you thinking? The most beautiful buildings of all and I would have missed them if I didn't wander down toward the Salvation Army. Just color the whole area down by Olive, Ash, Broad, and 3rd orange and put a big star there.
On the way back, I passed a "Driver Control" sign on the side of the State Revenue Office. There were four parking spots in front, and one had a busted curb. I guess one out of the four drivers failed the control test.
There are lots of liquor stores on the Arkansas side of State Line Ave., including the convenience stores and gas stations. It's because the Texas side is a dry county. Well, that's a dumb idea. Now everyone's alcohol revenue goes to Arkansas, and Texas ought to know they won't get cooperation on having an Arkansas dry county given the revenue coming in. At least limit dry counties to where there's an adjacent "wet" county in the same state so that you keep the taxes at home. Arkansas I'm sure supports the alcohol ban in Texas...
This trip has been incredibly relaxing and the scenery has been amazing. I'm smiling and laughing almost all the time. I needed this vacation desperately and the weather has been cooperating with that. So glad I still have a week left - I'll treasure it. Hopefully without another sunburn, though. Enough! (Which should rhyme with "though.") This is definitely the best trip I've taken on my own.
Why do truckers turn their lights off and on as acknowledgment when passing? I thought they're supposed to flash high beams, but lately (last several months) I've seen all the trailer lights and sometimes even the headlights go off and on a couple of times. Why not stick to a code that doesn't involve losing visibility or scaring other drivers?
Route: Spur 14 SB-82 WB (food)-82 EB-downtown wandering-71 NB (State Line) walking. 30 WB-93 SB-59 NB-30 WB to Mt. Pleasant (driving).
Clinched: TX Spur 14, TX 93
Notes: Noticed that the Texas side of State Line Ave. (which is all concrete) has a Texas-style lane stripe: black contrast striping on either side of the white stripe. The Arkansas side does not have that. I would have thought they'd have an arrangement more similar to MD/DE 54 where each agency maintains the entire road for a stretch here or there, rather than dividing it straight down the middle. Given what I saw up at I-30 with the overpass replacement, I assume the agencies are able to work together on more important projects. It raises the question, what happens when State Line needs to be repaved? Does each agency do its own side separately (and possibly at different times) or do they get together on it?
Numbers are mismatched along State Line due to different street grids. For example, 20th St. (2000 block) in Arkansas lines up between 27th and 28th Streets (2700-2800 blocks) in Texas. #2002 would be across from #2719 (roughly). Why not at least get the numbers lined up? Even better, get the street numbers lined up on both sides. I know they're lined up downtown!
Decided to take a video of the US 59 freeway because I already had taken it northbound, thanks to the traffic jam the previous day. (Originally I was going to take it southbound Friday and not at all Saturday, but then I added a TX 93 clinch.) The video lasted 4 minutes and managed to start just as a song started on the radio (Tesla's "The Way It Is"). Somehow, not only did that coincidence grant me a seamless audio for the video, but the song happened to be over 4 minutes long, which is far from a given. This whole trip has had a lot of luck falling my way and very little crossing me. Hope that mentioning it doesn't jinx it. Sending thanks on up above.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 16, 2011, 08:39:29 PM
Quote from: Brian556 on April 16, 2011, 01:11:58 PM
Concerning Business Routes in Texas-
All business routes in Texas used to have a hidden LOOP or SPUR designation. The highway desigation files say "to be signed as Business(XX). These hidden designations were removed in 1991 I think, so they are now officially designated as they are signed.
Useful info, thanks. Now the question remains, given that 555 and 556 are numbered consecutively, were the loops/spurs of I-40 numbered beginning with 551 and counting eastward, or is this just a coindence?
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/search/query.htm 550 to 556 were all assigned in 1985 (replacing US 66 of course). Going sequentially in both directions, you'll find other former U.S. Route alignments.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 16, 2011, 08:39:29 PMNoticed that the Texas side of State Line Ave. (which is all concrete) has a Texas-style lane stripe: black contrast striping on either side of the white stripe. The Arkansas side does not have that. I would have thought they'd have an arrangement more similar to MD/DE 54 where each agency maintains the entire road for a stretch here or there, rather than dividing it straight down the middle. Given what I saw up at I-30 with the overpass replacement, I assume the agencies are able to work together on more important projects.
I-30 through Texarkana is a TxDOT-administered project even on the Arkansas side. Unlike the case with some other projects TxDOT has done in cooperation with DOTs in bordering states, AHTD didn't insist on its engineer seals or drawing chopblocks on the plans dealing with work in Arkansas. I can't remember at the moment whether AHTD had concurrence signatures on the title sheet.
QuoteIt raises the question, what happens when State Line needs to be repaved? Does each agency do its own side separately (and possibly at different times) or do they get together on it?
I suspect that they negotiate an intergovernmental agreement where one agency administers the work (design, construction supervision, etc.) in exchange for a contribution toward the construction cost and administrative overhead. To my knowledge there is no standard form for such an agreement, though typically the host state DOT has an interest in retaining rights of design approval and future maintenance may be included in the agreement if the guest state DOT proposes to install infrastructure in the host state which is not compatible with the host state DOT's standards. (One example, which Richard Moeur related in a "war story" in MTR years ago, concerned Arizona DOT wanting to install button-copy signs to Caltrans standards but with retroreflective sheeting on I-8 in California. I believe the signs involved in that particular story were later replaced, again by Arizona DOT.)
Concurrent administration of construction contracts is also possible but, in my experience, is rare. Even though the Wilson Bridge project had a bi-state coordinating body to resolve major design issues, the individual construction contracts themselves were handled either by one state or the other--never both.
On State Line Av, north of Loop 14, I noticed an incorrect sign. It says NORTH US 71/59. This is incorrect because 59 had been rerouted to the west. Also, normally the low number is on top. On this assembly 71 is on top.
Quote from: Brian556 on April 16, 2011, 10:39:14 PM
On State Line Av, north of Loop 14, I noticed an incorrect sign. It says NORTH US 71/59. This is incorrect because 59 had been rerouted to the west. Also, normally the low number is on top. On this assembly 71 is on top.
I got confused enough by the different routes swapping positions around town that I didn't question anything on State Line. Too late now.
Just realized that none of the other signs I saw around town had 59s - there are three OTHER 2dus's there. Quite confusing. Also added some more observations to Day 8 in this very color.
Day 9: I knew this would happen sooner or later, but when I open both front windows and the back right window, the car gets so breezy everything flies around - and one of my note sheets flew out of the car into the New Mexican desert. Luckily the main sheet was saved, and I remembered (a miracle given my brain) all three notes. So I soldier on with the update. (Why were all the windows open? Besides for clearer photos, it was over 90 degrees in some areas. In April. I'm really glad I'm not doing this trip in summer.) The car has hit 5,000 miles, and the trip is just about to hit 4,000 miles.
The morning sun was surreal. It rose well above the treetops and was still a faded red as if it were a refraction of the actual sun below the horizon. I was convinced the real sun was still below the mountains until the red sun (you could look right at it with no trouble) suddenly turned blazing orange. Welcome to the Southwest.
I started my trip 15 minutes late, thinking that the later legs of my trip were overestimated timewise. Well, after the first leg of the trip, I was already 30 minutes ahead of schedule. At this rate, I'd have to make a decision - get a head start on tomorrow's route, or drive some extra roads today? While ahead of schedule, I decided to drive Loop 288 around famously bland Denton. I can now say I've experienced as much of that city as anyone, since living there doesn't really give you any more to experience. After that, I suddenly noticed that my trip time estimates were right on - I now recall that I downgraded the time for each segment from 4 hours to 3:45, which ate up my expected time savings. So no more loops for fun.
I saw one Amarillo 72 ounce steak ad, just inside Wise County before the twinned section and presumably for US 287. I'm glad I didn't see any other, because I had more than enough following old 66/I-40 through New Mexico into Texas. Every few miles they were trying to get you into their subpar steakhouse in the hopes of distracting you from your mediocre meat to watch a 72 ounce eating spectacle. (Like the alliteration? "Mediocre meat" has a ring to it.)
In Oklahoma, I'd missed the tornadoes by half a day or 100 miles. In Texas, east of Graham, I skipped by wildfires that were within a mild or two. I smelled the smoke before I saw the haze distinct from the rest of the grayish sky. It's been really dry down here, which doesn't strike me as unusual for this part of the country, but there were several wildfires today. This one had a fire engine stationed on the road but visibility was not yet reduced. Makes me wonder if 380 had to be closed at any point for visibility issues or proximity of flames.
Lesson 2 in how to pass for a native: Lubbock is pronounced Lub Ock, not Lubbick.
Random, unrelated question that popped into my head - How many county seats have never had a US highway running through them? Pretty sure Bandera County, TX has never had any US highways anywhere inside, but most counties here do have at least one running through a seat. Another comment unrelated to anything - squeegee handles are really short out here. Unlike the East Coast, I can't reach all the way across the windshield with these. I'd never have thought of it as a regional thing, but the pattern is crystal clear.
Scenery starts to return as I get within about 100 miles of New Mexico, and really bursts into full bloom once I'm past Roswell. So do oil derricks, a staple of west Texas farms that sit right in the middle of crops. Taste the flavor! They also bleed over into eastern New Mexico (as do crops and cattle pastures), since geology and geography don't obey the politics of straight lines. Capitan Peak is visible for over 100 miles, since it rises nearly a full mile above the rest of the plateau landscape. Nothing else really pokes up until well west of there - the San Mateo Mountains, for example, which I'm now sitting in the shadow of but which I saw for a good 50 miles to the east. Visibility is so much farther out here than back East.
In Hondo, I saw a few deer cross the road. As I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw a deer crossing sign right where they had crossed. Never before seen deer actually obey the law. Maybe they've evolved into the dominant species in this area.
Earlier in the trip, I made the mistake of writing that I was lucky enough to have never encountered a train at a rail crossing. A mile from the end of US 380, I finally found one. It was moving quickly enough that I had a less-than five minute wait, compared to the half hour or more I've experienced at some Midwestern crossings in my life. Then I got across to find out the Owl Bar is closed on Sundays. Guess I'll have to get breakfast there in the morning and hope that doesn't ruin my day's schedule (it opens at 8, an hour after I really wanted to be on the road, but I have slack time built in for the next few days).
I wouldn't say I'm the only person to have driven the length of US 380 in one day, especially if you count the pre-Interstate era, but there can't have been that many given the start and end points. This is by far the longest route I've ever clinched in a single day's drive, handily beating out NS 4 or I-69. It changes very gradually from east to west, as the forest fades into farmlands, into grasslands, then the bluffs begin and the grass (and cattle) disappears, replaced by sand. But if you compare the eastern end of 380 to the western, mountainous end, the difference is striking. My timing gave me sunset behind the San Mateo Mountains as I cruised into San Antonio, NM (and lost my auxiliary note sheet), so I couldn't have played that better. That could be the only sunset I see, although tomorrow is a possibility if I eat at the Owl Bar in the morning. I generally try to drive only during well-lit hours (6:30 or 7 to 7 or 7:30).
Route (TX-NM): 30 WB-Old 67 SB (WB?)-FM 499 WB-302 Spur WB-69 SB-Business 69 NB-302 Spur WB-380 WB; loop back to 380 via 75 SB-Exchange Pkwy. EB-5 NB (old 75)-possible Spur 359 WB; loop via 35 SB, 35E SB, Loop 288, 35 SB.
Clinched: FM 499, TX Loop 288, Spur 302, Spur 359?, US 380 (TX-NM) - the question mark is because Spur 359 is completely unsigned, and I can't find any evidence to either suggest it's still a state highway or ever was
Notes: FM 499 just keeps going and going - it starts at the frontage, reaches Texas 24, is actually signed as a multiplex (that's quite rare for a Farm or Ranch Road), then breaks away again and comes back to the frontage, turns onto it (this is getting more and more unusual), then leaves again before ending at 302. It truly encompasses all of the old alignment of US 67, but it's so long, why not just put 67 back on it? I-30 can live on its own. Speaking of which, the short part of former US 67 in Brashear not only had all of the US 67 signs intact (so how long ago was it moved onto I-30?), but they were signed East-West. That's the predominant directionality of 67 in Texas and matches the pair with I-30, although 67 is an odd number. (67-30 being the only odd/even US/I pair.)
I-30 exit numbers are all tacked on, missing on one exit sign and not part of any of the gore signs. I presume this is because of the I-20 rerouting south of DFW that caused I-30 to get extended.
US 380 has one button copy sign. That's how rare it is in Texas at the rate they replace signs. It's the WB exit gore sign at US 81/287 NB. If you live near there, go now, it'll be gone Tuesday (rough estimate). Dualization along 380 is in fits and starts. For example, there's a new stretch 10 miles east of Farmersville that's being extended to Greenville over a new railroad track crossing (not yet open), but then there's a long two-lane section between that new stretch, which wasn't even on the 2009 TxDOT state map, and the older dualized Farmersville section. There's another new section being constructed in Wise County, and an open one not on the 2009 map west from Decatur to Bridgeport. It ends at TX 101/114 due to a railroad overpass on 114/380 that hasn't been improved yet. I imagine that's somewhere in TxDOT's plans.
New nomination for the widest center turn lane, possibly anywhere in the world - over 40 feet on US 281/380 for a good 3,000 feet or so. Probably more like 50 feet. Forget turn lane, you could use this for two rows of parking and tailgating and still have enough room for left turn traffic to squeeze by. Speaking of wide roadways, I missed a turn for US 380 in Post and ended up on Main Street, around the Garza County Courthouse and west. Check it out - it's nearly 200 feet wide and has no lane stripes. You could break the speed limit driving in circles in the middle of the road. You could probably build houses down the middle and have a lane on either side with parking. I have no idea how cars are supposed to use that much pavement or why it was all paved instead of mostly grassed. I also have a new contender for longest straightaway - US 380 west of Caprock, NM.
Texas definitely uses Botts dots for more than just construction, though I'm not sure that TxDOT itself does. The ones I saw as a permanent installation were on Exchange Pkwy. in Sherman. In that same area, note that when US 75 and TX 121 split, the Sam Rayburn Tollway is only signed by name and not as Toll 121 - but it's signed as 121 from the frontage road. What? US 380 has awful signal timing through McKinney coming up to US 75. It's a shameful display of trying to slow traffic down, IMO - it would be easy to get a signal progression going given how close many of the lights are.
The I-35E/35W split heavily favors I-35E. It's only two lanes in each direction, which I have to think is a problem during rush hour, and both lanes go to/from 35E. 35W is treated as an exit that then widens to two lanes - I didn't catch the NB merge but I presume it again favors 35E in a similar way. Fort Worth can't be too happy with that arrangement. 35W doesn't really count as a mainline based on lane count.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 18, 2011, 12:20:54 AMTexas definitely uses Botts dots for more than just construction, though I'm not sure that TxDOT itself does. The ones I saw as a permanent installation were on Exchange Pkwy. in Sherman. In that same area, note that when US 75 and TX 121 split, the Sam Rayburn Tollway is only signed by name and not as Toll 121 - but it's signed as 121 from the frontage road. What?
There has been a lot of churn in how NTTA infrastructure is trailblazed. When I started following NTTA contract lettings in 2004, there were still individual marker designs for each facility, and some of the sign blank shapes involved were unusual. Then, a few years later, NTTA decided to move to the same style of rectangular marker for all of its facilities, with the differentiation being done through facility name on the marker rather than other design features. There has also been a marked tendency to suppress signing by shield on guide signs. When the IH 35E/PGBT stack was being built about 10 years ago, the original construction plans called for "PGBT" to appear within the standard Texas state route shield (in much the same way as "OSR" for Old San Antonio Road, which is an unnumbered state highway), but this was altered by change order to read "President George Bush Turnpike" in white on green. Similarly NTTA started with SH 121T shields for both the Sam Rayburn Tollway and the Southwest Parkway, but is retreating from this and will probably sign them by name without shields.
I believe the PGBT is on TxDOT's books as SH 190 and the NTTA contracts dealing with the PGBT and its extensions have TxDOT CCSJs corresponding to SH 190, but so far as I am aware, SH 190 shields appear only on the frontage roads--never the main lanes.
Quote from: Brian556 on April 16, 2011, 10:39:14 PM
On State Line Av, north of Loop 14, I noticed an incorrect sign. It says NORTH US 71/59. This is incorrect because 59 had been rerouted to the west. Also, normally the low number is on top. On this assembly 71 is on top.
There's another assembly just north of the 71/67/82 junction.
EDIT
There's also this oddball a few miles north:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm6.static.flickr.com%2F5287%2F5216599384_2227e888fe_d.jpg&hash=96f7e11b5fd14f2dbc6ede4db8b161f4530a5695)
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 16, 2011, 10:57:22 PM
I got confused enough by the different routes swapping positions around town that I didn't question anything on State Line. Too late now.
The route shields are different. Texas uses the 80's style, Arkansas uses 60's style:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3163%2F3059238332_19bbb35fd5_z_d.jpg&hash=1b1fca58a78ebf863e6ec2bcb1cc0a2ef369cba1)
Texas-style
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3213%2F3058402119_d3e989d8c0_z_d.jpg&hash=1643591902507f6f4fdc7ae2589a6813d645d35c)
Arkansas-style
70s style. 1970 specification. yep, that abomination has been around for over 40 years now. kinda helps explain why it's so easy to find.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 18, 2011, 12:10:56 PM
70s style. 1970 specification. yep, that abomination has been around for over 40 years now. kinda helps explain why it's so easy to find.
Texas uses it almost exclusively. There were some 60's specs in Sulphur Springs a couple years ago, but they've been replaced.
Quote from: US71 on April 18, 2011, 01:03:30 PM
Texas uses it almost exclusively. There were some 60's specs in Sulphur Springs a couple years ago, but they've been replaced.
I think Texas switched over around 1976.
there's one on I-10/US-85 just north of El Paso, and a few in Houston on Alt 90, and that's all I remember offhand.
Steve-
You drove through territory that is very familiar to me (I live in Lewisville TX, just south of Denton,) so I can help you with many of your questions.
Spur 359 in Mckinney is signed on US 75 BGS's and there is a reassurance sign east of US 75. I have pics of these.
Spur 399 is the old SH 121 from US 75 to SH 5 in McKinney.
If you ever need to know if a highway is still on system, just check the Highway Designation Files on the TxDOT website.
Did you take pics of the Abandoned bridge on Us 380 north (west) of Graham?http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.153763,-98.599453&spn=0,0.021887&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=33.153763,-98.599453&panoid=iDMyuUO7oEAEis_axToW2Q&cbp=12,22.17,,0,0 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.153763,-98.599453&spn=0,0.021887&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=33.153763,-98.599453&panoid=iDMyuUO7oEAEis_axToW2Q&cbp=12,22.17,,0,0)
Concerning the Sam Rayburn Tollway- The FR's are TX 121, The mainlanes are Sam Rayburn Tollway. The mainlanes were originally signed as 121 TOLL, but that changed when NTTA took them over from TxDOT.
I noticed the lack of a TX 121 shield on the NB US 75 overhead. I have a pic of it.
As for the I-35 merge at Denton, I-35W narrows to one lane and merges into I-35E. This causes backups on I-35W.
I have pics of several of the situations you discussed. If you private message me your email adress, I would be willing to provide you with any that you request.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 18, 2011, 01:35:43 PM
Quote from: US71 on April 18, 2011, 01:03:30 PM
Texas uses it almost exclusively. There were some 60's specs in Sulphur Springs a couple years ago, but they've been replaced.
I think Texas switched over around 1976.
there's one on I-10/US-85 just north of El Paso, and a few in Houston on Alt 90, and that's all I remember offhand.
I do happen to be at Exit 11 of aforementioned highway right now (I-10/US 85). I could theoretically go find said old shield. If you could tell me where it is?
Quote from: Brian556 on April 18, 2011, 07:16:25 PM
Steve-
You drove through territory that is very familiar to me (I live in Lewisville TX, just south of Denton,) so I can help you with many of your questions.
Spur 359 in Mckinney is signed on US 75 BGS's and there is a reassurance sign east of US 75. I have pics of these.
Spur 399 is the old SH 121 from US 75 to SH 5 in McKinney.
I was following Virginia Ave. and didn't see a trace of signage along it or any evidence of it being a state highway. Was I on the wrong road?
QuoteIf you ever need to know if a highway is still on system, just check the Highway Designation Files on the TxDOT website.
Did you take pics of the Abandoned bridge on Us 380 north (west) of Graham?http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.153763,-98.599453&spn=0,0.021887&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=33.153763,-98.599453&panoid=iDMyuUO7oEAEis_axToW2Q&cbp=12,22.17,,0,0 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.153763,-98.599453&spn=0,0.021887&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=33.153763,-98.599453&panoid=iDMyuUO7oEAEis_axToW2Q&cbp=12,22.17,,0,0)
When I saw that thing, I made sure to walk out across it. You bet.
Quote
Concerning the Sam Rayburn Tollway- The FR's are TX 121, The mainlanes are Sam Rayburn Tollway. The mainlanes were originally signed as 121 TOLL, but that changed when NTTA took them over from TxDOT.
I noticed the lack of a TX 121 shield on the NB US 75 overhead. I have a pic of it.
That makes sense with the 121 shield being on the frontage road. I want to say I did see a Toll 121 shield somewhere in the mix but I was going by quickly and it was far off the mainline.
Quote
As for the I-35 merge at Denton, I-35W narrows to one lane and merges into I-35E. This causes backups on I-35W.
I have pics of several of the situations you discussed. If you private message me your email adress, I would be willing to provide you with any that you request.
I believe you can just click on my name and see my email address. If not, it's posted in several places on my website.
Day 10 - Two Socorros, one cup time zone. Feeling kinda tired so I'll leave most of the writeup for tomorrow. I'm also leaving the last hour of driving for tomorrow from here to Columbus, because I was running a bit too much out of daylight by the end. Just know that gypsum gets into everything. Everything. I still feel like I need to absorb ten pounds of water.
I get the first direction of the day wrong, following the frontage road past NM 1 until it dead ends. Well, now I know it'll be a great day. Back and forth it goes. The temperature is perfect at 8 AM, which means broiling by midday. I enjoyed the quick descent and ascent into and out of Nogal Canyon on 1, and I can now say "I got gas in Elephant Butte," but maybe not with a straight face. Then I find out NM 195 is closed. Then I find out US 70 is open through White Sands all day. Then I find out the old S curve on NM 185 is inaccessible from either side. Back and forth...
The Rio Grande valley is basically the only fertile part of New Mexico. Old US 85 followed it the whole way, which I am now doing on the former pieces. There are a lot of small towns and farms south of Truth or Consequences, and thus plenty of local traffic the whole way. It just doesn't match my impression of the rest of the state - seems more like East Texas or even the California valleys. I had an enjoyable time at Fort Selden talking with the staff there and walking around the fort's ruins. Very knowledgable, and informed me about Radium Springs. Hopefully someday that opens back up, but the owners right now have no interest in that (whereas the old owners did but weren't able to get the permits in order). Why not make it a state park?
The best fortune of the day was Old Mesilla. I loved entering La Posta - it felt like I walked into an open-air Mexican rainforest villa. The food is very reasonably priced and the atmosphere is wonderful. The town square in Mesilla is also enjoyable and historic - a 180 from "Old Town" in Albuquerque that was anything but.
Continuing on the road, San Agustin Pass on US 70 east of Las Cruces was beautiful. The road just starts climbing and climbing, then drops and drops, with panoramic views on either side. National Park Week, which I wasn't aware of (the dates, not the existence) meant a free ride through the dunes of White Sands. That's something else you have to see in New Mexico - they're even whiter than you could imagine. The isolation when you walk out on them (assuming you're not near other people doing the same) is baffling. Imagine crossing the desert for days and coming upon such bleakness with no water in sight. Well, somehow, our early pioneers made it across this part of the country, and natives lived in this very desert for hundreds of years before that. The country gets bigger and bigger the more places I visit. The silver lining in not being able to walk around Radium Springs was being able to take more time at White Sands.
El Paso is very Hispanic. Many signs are entirely in Spanish, and many of the English signs are for Mexican insurance (required to cross the border). I did find "downtown", all block or two of it, north of the ends of US 62/85. No one was there; they must have all been across the border for the day (that's a joke). There seems to be no police force monitoring roads (speeds) - just Border Patrol at every turn.
Route: NM 1 SB-25 SB-181 SB-195 SB-179 SB (forced turn)-51 WB-Bus 25 SB-187 SB-26 EB-185 SB-Mesilla-70 EB-old 54/70 NB/EB-54 SB/WB-110 SB-62 WB-Loop 375-20 NB-Spur 37 EB-10 EB
Clinched: NM 1, 179, 185, 187, 195; TX I-110, Loop 375, Spur 37
Notes: NM 1 takes an unsigned turn right away. NM 195 appears to now end at NM 179 because it's blockaded for most of the rest of its length over a pair of dams (I assume for security reasons). Had I known, I might have stuck with 181. NM has a lot of old JCT signs but very few old zia shields - I finally found two on NM 185 late in my journey, but add that to zero for my trip across Old 66. I'll see what happens tomorrow on NM 9 but it seems unlikely I'll find any more. The first one I found was right after coming out of the failed attempt to visit the old Radium Springs bathhouse, and wanting to get a photo of the typo Fort Seldon (instead of Selden) sign on 185 SB. So I turned north, and right there was the old zia shield before I U-turned. The old US 85 S-curve is completely inaccessible; the top half is on private ranch land (active use), and the bottom half is also on private land (passive use) behind several fences and too much barbed wire to cross. Old US highways in general in the west, not just 66 but now also old 85, have dips at washes instead of bridges. That would mean pre-Interstate, a good rain might force traffic to detour hundreds of miles or wait it out for a couple of days, cutting off the two sides of the country. Amazing that this was designed like this.
I saw my first immigration checkpoint on NM 185 NB, but I was going SB. Obviously they would all be heading away from Mexico. Later on I do finally get caught in one on US 70, but it goes very quickly. They clearly know what they're looking for, and it's not me.
More candidates for longest straightaway - I counted US 70 through White Sands to be 23 miles long (finally it clicked that I should count the length), and I then forgot to count US 54 north of the Texas border but I believe it's even longer than 23 miles. What's interesting about both cases is that they are angled instead of following a north-south or east-west grid. Every few miles through White Sands Missile Range, US 70 has portable toilets. I guess it's better than having people wander off the side of the road and aiming in the direction of unmarked, unexploded ordinance.
Add a fourth state to the Botts dots list - New Mexico! Found them used on the left turn arrows in the median of Main St. between NM 28 and US 70 in Las Cruces. And TxDOT does use them in permanent applications: US 54 west of FM 2529 in El Paso. Speaking of US 54, who decided that its exit numbering should start at 20? And the EB side has button copy! (I later found a full set of button copy signs for the Zaragoza Bridge on Loop 375 EB.) US 62 ends silently downtown and turns into US 85 - your only clue is looking sideways at the end to see the shields facing the side streets. I've now seen both ends of 62, a few hundred of the northeasternmost miles starting in KY, and scattered areas in TX and AR. Starting to think of finishing this road as a long-term goal.
Whatever road is on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande has a lot of trucks and seems to be freeway grade. Loop 375 is mostly cars and gets quite backed up. The new north-south freeway that extends all the way up to US 62/180 is built to be six lanes wide (extra-wide left shoulder) and let me tell you, it's already ready for that restriping. I did hit El Paso during rush hour, so maybe my perception is skewed, but the east-west part of Loop 375 ran the slowest with some actual near-stopping conditions; it cleared up around Zaragoza Bridge, the first border crossing or any exit that goes somewhere from the EB side. At least the north-south part kept moving, if thickly and sluggishly up to FM 659. The 2009 TxDOT map suggests Loop 375 was all divided or undivided surface road instead of a freeway. If the map was accurate (and I couldn't say it would be), that would be some hellacious traffic. There are stubs for extending the freeway past Railroad Ave. (Business 54 area) on west toward US 54, but unlikely to result in a full freeway US 54 interchange anytime soon.
El Paso has a new freeway, Spur 601, not on the 2009 map. It serves the airport and is mostly freeway except for the Loop 375 interchange. Why does TxDOT keep doing this? Why end a freeway at a diamond?
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 19, 2011, 12:29:10 AMThe 2009 TxDOT map suggests Loop 375 was all divided or undivided surface road instead of a freeway. If the map was accurate (and I couldn't say it would be), that would be some hellacious traffic. There are stubs for extending the freeway past Railroad Ave. (Business 54 area) on west toward US 54, but unlikely to result in a full freeway US 54 interchange anytime soon.
Nope, a freeway interchange
is going to be built. The contract was let just this month and was one of three Loop 375 contracts in the TxDOT April 2011 letting. Loop 375 will go straight through what is now the volleyball at US 54, so it will be full freeway starting at the Border Patrol museum and running east.
The official TxDOT saddle-blanket map has historically not differentiated between freeways and at-grade divided highways except for Interstates, which get their own line style, and this is one reason it is not that useful for urban navigation.
QuoteEl Paso has a new freeway, Spur 601, not on the 2009 map. It serves the airport and is mostly freeway except for the Loop 375 interchange.
SS 601 is an odd bird--the construction procurement was handled (apparently) by the El Paso district as a DBFO rather than being processed through the TxDOT letting as usual. I think BRAC funding was involved somewhere.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 19, 2011, 12:00:43 AM
I do happen to be at Exit 11 of aforementioned highway right now (I-10/US 85). I could theoretically go find said old shield. If you could tell me where it is?
mainline southbound but I do not remember where, other than it is much closer to El Paso than Anthony. Exit 10 is approximately correct, I think.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 19, 2011, 11:19:58 AM
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 19, 2011, 12:00:43 AM
I do happen to be at Exit 11 of aforementioned highway right now (I-10/US 85). I could theoretically go find said old shield. If you could tell me where it is?
mainline southbound but I do not remember where, other than it is much closer to El Paso than Anthony. Exit 10 is approximately correct, I think.
Did not see one. For those following along, my internet is very borrowed so I won't be updating till tomorrow. Hopefully.
QuoteI was following Virginia Ave. and didn't see a trace of signage along it or any evidence of it being a state highway. Was I on the wrong road?
You were on the right road. I drove Spur 359 eastbound from US 75 a few months ago. It was signed well from that direction.
I was going to keep blogging this but I just can't. It was a fun idea at first but it became too much - I need more relaxation with my downtime. Some of the notes I've written will show up in the webpages I eventually get to.
Thanks for what you did post Alps. They have been fun to read!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on April 21, 2011, 11:27:12 AM
Thanks for what you did post Alps. They have been fun to read!
Rick
Appreciate it. I brought the remaining notes home just in case I'm so inclined to post them at a later date. I have very few notes from Thursday and none from today (just flying home over canyons), which was my vacation from blogging. :P I might actually start to flesh these ideas out and create a book down the road - obviously with some photos from the road.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on April 18, 2011, 12:20:54 AM
Random, unrelated question that popped into my head - How many county seats have never had a US highway running through them?
Goodness, Kentucky has a bunch.
A new installment of Alps on the Road starts today!, chronicling my long weekend centering around the upcoming Wausau meet.
Day 1: Drive Slow, Ohio!
The Route: I-80 WB to US 220 NB, PA 150 WB, former PA 364 to Beech Creek Rd. and up to PA 144 NB. PA 120 WB to PA 555 WB (clinch), PA 255 SB and straight onto US 219 NB. PA 830 WB to PA 950 (clinch), US 322 WB to Fuller Rd. and up onto I-80 WB once more. Exit 62 to PA 68 SB, PA 58 WB all the way to US 19, and south all the way to US 40 WB. PA 18 NB to PA 844 WB to PA 331 WB (clinch), including the northern half of former 331 cut off by an abandoned bridge, and into WV. I took WV 67 (clinch), circled up to WV 27 (clinch), down Camp Ground Rd. to WV 67 and a few fractional routes: 3/2, 32/1, 11/1. Followed WV 88 SB (clinch - had been cut off by a fallen tree last time) to US 40 WB for an old I-70 shield, then east to the old National Road bridge at WV 88 SB for some photos. Finally I headed west on I-470 to US 40 all the way out to Columbus (including a few old alignments while 40/70 are multiplexed), then jumped on I-70 to Richmond, where I am now, for an Ohio clinch.
The Notes: Today was bracketed by torrential downpours. I left at 3:30 AM and dealt with blinding rain all through NJ. The next round hit me west of Dayton (thankfully, west of button copy as well) and had knocked out power in Richmond for a couple of hours. Fortunately, everything was working by the time I pulled in. The nice thing about heavy rain is that at least you get a lot of waterfalls when the road goes through rock cuts. The not-so-nice thing is that it leaves a lot of rocks on the road. First one I noticed was PA 120 at daybreak - some serious damage could have been done by those rocks! Get out there, PennDOT! I did come across several others over the course of the day, some of which were nowhere near rock cuts... but at least half of those situations may have been crabapples instead of rocks. Hard to tell when it's overcast.
Realized in PA that I'd forgotten to bring all my state maps with me for the trip. I already want to check every 5 minutes to see my progress. Guess I'll have to trust my directions and timings. As it turned out, my directions were spot-on, didn't get lost once, and arrived in Richmond down to the minute that I had originally anticipated (7:30). That last fact almost terrifies me. I guess I'm really good at trip estimating after so much experience. I gained time in a few legs, lost in one, and the last four legs were all within a few minutes of what I estimated.
Beech Creek Road quickly turned into dirt leaving old 364 (now just Monument Orviston Rd.), and it was a great ride for a few miles until the potholes set in. That made it more like NL 91, and while I didn't get flat tires, there were a lot of cringe-inducing moments as I made my way north. I definitely recommend it, but only if you have an SUV or similar. It was easy to follow northbound - my one note was "when in doubt, bear right".
I saved a lot of time on my first few legs. Taking Beech Creek at 40 mph, in particular, shaved a half hour off early. I needed every minute of that extra time thanks to US 19, which is a miserable ride from Cranberry almost down to Washington. I had written that Cranberry is an unnatural, unholy pestilence upon western Pennsylvania with high gas prices, until I found out that it's even worse south of Pittsburgh. So I definitely do NOT recommend trying 19 here. Check out Truck 19, maybe.
Google Maps is wrong - surprise, surprise. It has old PA 331 marked just fine, but not the new one. 331 is now signed north on 231 and west down Mt. Hope Ridge Rd., which is somewhat longer than going south on 231 and west along the riverbank, but has the distinct advantage of being state-maintained. Then again, all of 331 west of 231 is rather dubious as a state highway anyway, with no center line and 20-foot width. I had the same feeling about PA 58 between 368 and 338, except add 15 mph curves and a vertical alignment that would even make a horse seasick. This is a good argument to have county roads...
... as is Hukill Hill Rd. Nominally, it's CR 32/1 and state-maintained. What I noticed is that just after the steel grate bridge, it became a dirt road. More precisely, a wet mud road with a 15% upgrade and deep, slippery truck ruts. I gave it a good college try and slip-slid my way up the hill at 15 mph. Had someone else come the other way, I would have ended up sliding desperately backwards all the way down to the bridge, with disastrous results. After I got up the hill, there was a similarly steep but luckily short downhill that I shifted into first gear for. Yes, it was as hard to navigate as if it were ice-covered. So, right there, way to go WVDOH. But it gets better. When I got fully to the top of the hill, I passed a steamroller and had to stop dead as a bulldozer was working with a dump truck splayed across the entire 12-foot width of the road. For all the world, it looked like the bulldozer had picked apart the right half of the road (all 6 feet of it - I could barely fit on the rest) and was slowly loading it into the dump truck. Maybe by this time tomorrow there will be no more Hukill Hill on the road, and it will just dead end right there? After 5 minutes of waving politely, they finally picked up and let me get on through. They were very polite, pulling over more than once to let me by their vehicles hauling away massive quantities of state highway. Once I got past that patch there was GRAVEL, which was simply a godsend at that point. Make this another road I wouldn't recommend.
One other WV note - after all the square (state primary), circle ("county"/state secondary), and pentagonal ("driveway"/state tertiary) routes, I passed a TRIANGLE route 16 off of WV 27. Just how many shapes does this state have?? (I _think_ but am far from certain that the triangle was the predecessor to the pentagon.)
Guernsey County numbers locations on the Old National Road. Fairview, located just west of the I-70 onramp, is #1. Middlebourne, located just off the next I-70 exit, is #4. Presumably #2 and #3 are reachable east of Exit 193, but that stretch ultimately does not connect to the Fairview stretch. Speaking of National Road, there's a really neat dead end at Exit 204, reminiscent of old 66 near L.A.
Ohio drivers are every bit as miserable as they're made out to be. Even trucks will just sit in the left lane going the same speed as the right lane. I think it's a disease that's contagious to anyone entering the state. I've half-jokingly proposed Ohio Lanes: add a lane at the far left side of the freeway, set the speed limit at 40 mph, and limit occupancy to Ohio drivers. Guaranteed to operate at capacity all the time.
Saw a biker pulled over at the exit from a weigh station on I-70 (leave it to Ohio to actually have an open weigh station, they're always spoiling the party). I wonder: how do bikers and truckers get along? Are they great friends because they share a common cause of banding together and staying safe on the road? Are they enemies because the trucks always get in the way and the bikes always cut the trucks off? Or do they just treat each other like anyone else?
Passed a sign (and got a photo) saying "666 IMPASSABLE TO HEAVY TRUCKS." I know there's a good joke to be had in there. On another jocular note, "Licking" Township is a definite misnomer. There's nothing there except a traffic light. It should switch names with Boring, OR (which is far from boring).
US 40 notes: Oddly, OH 16 just ends multiplexed in the middle of Zanesville, not even at another cross route. I wonder what the genesis of that situation was. There's excellent signal progression heading outbound from Columbus in the PM, and I presume they'd do the same in the AM. I noticed that I was hitting every red light going into the city WB (against very heavy EB traffic). Through the middle of the city I moved very well, and then simply flew out the west side with a wave of green lights. The west side has nowhere near the traffic of the east side, for which I'm grateful - I only hit about 5 minutes of delay right at I-270, not the wave of traffic I noticed EB coming almost from Bexley. (Bexley, incidentally, is a beautiful town isolated in the middle of a bleh city. Quite a jewel in the rough. Wonder what the dynamics are with Columbus and downtrodden Whitehall.)
As I was exiting Columbus, I saw Schroedinger Funeral Services. Bad idea, because you don't know whether the body is dead or alive until you open the casket and observe it. And if you're not careful, there's a 50% chance they've stuck a cat in there as well. Again, gotta look inside...
Work on I-70 continues to 6-lane the highway between Columbus and Dayton - right now, the WB lanes are split with 1 lane on the EB side and 1 lane on the far left of the WB side in the OH 41 vicinity. It looks like it'll be ready in 2012, but there's still a good-sized stretch west of there with no work done yet.
P.S. Thanks to the recommendation of one of the hotel clerks I talked to, when I asked for a non-chain restaurant, I got to clinch OH 320 and also had some very good BBQ. If you're ever hungry at the OH/IN line near I-70, I recommend Baumbach's just south of New Paris on 320.
Good thing we didn't meet up today. I had to spend the afternoon unloading a truck of old newspapers and photos in Delaware.
The reason the west of Oh 16 is at the eastbank of the Scioto River (in Columbus, NOT Zanesville) is that Civic Center Dr. originally carried Oh 31 (forerunner to US 33).
Also, Bexley - 1st generation suburb, old money. Whitehall - Post WW2 suburb, "abandoned" in the early 1990s.
Thanks for the Boring OR mention Steve. Do you know why Oregon is so wet? Because it only has one Drain!
Rick
Quote from: Steve on September 29, 2011, 10:35:23 PM
One other WV note - after all the square (state primary), circle ("county"/state secondary), and pentagonal ("driveway"/state tertiary) routes, I passed a TRIANGLE route 16 off of WV 27. Just how many shapes does this state have?? (I _think_ but am far from certain that the triangle was the predecessor to the pentagon.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-turnbull/5904974529/ has some information on the triangular "delta" routes. Here's a photo: http://www.millenniumhwy.net/WV_trip_June_2002_Day_3/WV_trip_June_2002_Day_3-Pages/Image99.html
Quote from: Steve on September 29, 2011, 10:35:23 PMThe nice thing about heavy rain is that at least you get a lot of waterfalls when the road goes through rock cuts. The not-so-nice thing is that it leaves a lot of rocks on the road. First one I noticed was PA 120 at daybreak - some serious damage could have been done by those rocks! Get out there, PennDOT! I did come across several others over the course of the day, some of which were nowhere near rock cuts... but at least half of those situations may have been crabapples instead of rocks. Hard to tell when it's overcast.
I've been on PA 120 in a rainstorm in the middle of Summer and experienced the same thing; however, PennDOT plow trucks were out clearing the rocks off.
Quote from: Steve on September 29, 2011, 10:35:23 PMI needed every minute of that extra time thanks to US 19, which is a miserable ride from Cranberry almost down to Washington. I had written that Cranberry is an unnatural, unholy pestilence upon western Pennsylvania with high gas prices, until I found out that it's even worse south of Pittsburgh. So I definitely do NOT recommend trying 19 here. Check out Truck 19, maybe.
Not surprising considering it is the most urbanized pieces of 19 in Pennsylvania between those two points. Truck US 19 isn't much better, especially the McKnight (or McKnight-mare) Road section.
Quote from: Steve on September 29, 2011, 10:35:23 PMThen again, all of 331 west of 231 is rather dubious as a state highway anyway, with no center line and 20-foot width. I had the same feeling about PA 58 between 368 and 338, except add 15 mph curves and a vertical alignment that would even make a horse seasick. This is a good argument to have county roads...
PA 331 sounds a lot like PA 284. There are two counties in Pennsylvania with county roads, but neither are Washington.
I've seen, I think, four delta route signs still in the wild. One off WV 10, one off WV 49 down near the Kentucky border, one off WV 34 between the Kanawha River and I-77, and one off CR 857 between I-68 and the state line.
I have also seen some of the old delta routes on WV county maps that were not signed at all in the field.
Quote from: PAHighways on September 30, 2011, 02:16:28 PM....PA 331 sounds a lot like PA 284. There are two counties in Pennsylvania with county roads, but neither are Washington.
:-O
You learn something every day.... Which two counties? Are they (the county roads, not the counties) signed?
They're county maintained roads, not signed county routes. I believe they're Allegheny and Lackawanna (the former does sign the colored belts).
Allegheny and Westmoreland
Allegheny only identifies the route numbers in the corners of street signs, but Westmoreland does not acknowledge any of them except they are marked on PennDOT's Type-10 maps.
Lackawanna too: http://www.lackawannacounty.org/viewDepartment.aspx?DeptID=5
The Type 10 map labels "County Rd" on Main Street through Dickson City etc., and in several other places.
Montgomery County PA also has county-maintained roads also - Butler Pk, Ridge Pk (east of Norristown), Germantown Pk (west of Plymouth Mtg) and Swamp Pk to name a few.
Day 2 coming when I wake up. All tuckered out from a long day.
Quote from: NE2 on September 30, 2011, 12:52:52 PM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-turnbull/5904974529/ has some information on the triangular "delta" routes. Here's a photo: http://www.millenniumhwy.net/WV_trip_June_2002_Day_3/WV_trip_June_2002_Day_3-Pages/Image99.html
Okay, so they were there first, but not quite predecessors. Deltas are the Neanderthals to the pentagons' Homo Sapiens Sapiens. (Obscure enough?) I think I saw one other one somewhere once, but I don't recall having that photo on my site. Maybe it was the one on 857 and I haven't uploaded it yet? But I think they're all gone from 857 now thanks to WV 43...
Day 2: Call It a Working Vacation
The Route: I-70 WB (clinch in Ohio) to I-65 NB, 38th St. to I-465 to I-74 WB (clinch in Indiana). I-55 NB to I-39 NB (clinch in Illinois). When I got to I-90, rather than pay the toll for a highway I've already been on (though not since I-39 was signed on it, I still count it as completed), I exited for free at Business 20 and went northwest around Rockford on Perryville Rd. and Forest Hills Rd. to IL 251. I returned to I-39/90 beyond the tolls via IL 75 and headed up to Madison for a brief runabout: US 151 SB, with a brief detour to the old signs on University Ave. at Campus Dr., US 12/14 WB around the south side of the city, and back in on University. I call it a working vacation because I then stopped for a couple of hours at my company's office overlooking the Capitol before I headed up to Wausau on I-39 by way of WI 30, clinching both of those routes. Scott O. was kind enough to stop by on his way up through the area and we shared dinner and drinks while watching the most exciting playoff rain delay in years. If you hurry, you can still catch it for another few hours.
The Notes: I survived two rush hours relatively unscathed, and consider myself lucky. I went into Indianapolis around 8:30 AM, and didn't encounter any traffic, though traffic reports indicated I-65 SB had issues. Also, I left downtown Madison at 4:30 PM. Let's just say there are some problems heading northeast from Madison, but if you pick your lanes carefully, you can get out 10 minutes faster. Once I got out of the downtown area, travel became much easier, and I-39/90 stayed moving at 70 mph despite Northeast-style traffic (all lanes full).
There was construction on I-70 from Exit 96 west to I-465, which could have been widening? I couldn't tell from the overpass widths. It would make sense, although even rush hour traffic didn't have trouble getting through two lanes. Then again, I'm judging this from New Jersey standards, where anything that moves during rush hour is not just tolerable, but acceptable, and often impossible to achieve on a project. There was more construction on 38th St., which seemed to be geared toward replacing the median and curb. I'm guessing this is a drainage project first and repavement second, but not a widening. I liked 38th as an alternate from 70 WB to 74 WB versus the beltway.
One other Indy note: 103.3, the local rock station, for some reason was giving Chicago traffic reports. I started hearing about Dan Ryan and the Circle, and was convinced I was hearing crazy FM skip. Now that I know the truth, I'm amused.
Distance signs and entrance ramp signs on I-74 in Indiana list Peoria as the next major city westward. How about Bloomington or Champaign-Urbana? If Peoria is the next FHWA-listed destination, Illinois needs to get on the ball and request a few more cities.
No one sent IDOT (Illinois) the memo about how to do exit tabs. The newest signs (mostly Clearview) just have the thing sprawled across the top of the sign like Georgia. Anything older than, say, 2008 has the exit tab centered, which made me think every sign might be button copy. (Turns out I only found one the whole time, a 2-mile advance for the I-74/55 split.) IDOT must be fearful of The Right Way To Do Things.
As I got closer to Champaign-Urbana, I noticed that a wedge of blue sky started to appear on the horizon. See, back east, overcast skies gradually give way to clouds that start dissipating until you're left (eventually) with blue skies. I guess here in the Midwest, you just go straight from clouds to sun. It looked like the edge of the UFO in Independence Day, where you could see nothing but UFO for several miles, and then suddenly there was no more UFO. When I actually got to the boundary on the west side of the twin cities, there was perhaps 1,000 feet of partly cloudy sky, and then nothing for the rest of my trip in Illinois. (They came back right at the Wisconsin border to mock me.)
Yesterday, I'd passed a Chiefs fan driving to KC on I-70 with PA plates. Today, I passed a Green Bay fan from Florida on I-74. Given the other traffic I noticed (a lot of Wisconsin plates, especially on trucks), I-74 to I-39 seems like a very popular Chicagoland bypass for people from the Southeast. I'd also note that football, more than any other sport, brings out the travel bug in fans and gets them to roadtrip. That cements its status as my favorite sport for sure.
Exit 160 on I-74/55 (for US 150/IL 9) must have JUST been converted from a full cloverleaf to a parclo. The service signs have scars where the "A" and "B" were removed, and even the dividers between the two halves of the signs were removed. The old right of way has become overgrown but is very obvious from the line of trees outside the former loops. The new onramps now cut through the middle of the right of way instead of remaining on the outside of the removed loops.
For some reason, I'd always pictured I-39 as being a four-lane Interstate with a wide median and original concrete, and that's exactly what it was until Lee County. Then began a 20-mile construction zone where the old roadway is getting ripped up and replaced with asphalt. I cried inside, especially during the several-mile long one-lane construction zone I had to endure. Could have been worse, I could have been stuck behind a hog truck the whole time. The new surface layer is disturbingly shiny, almost luminescent green. After the construction zone, traffic ends up on old asphalt, which seems to be a surface layer over original concrete.
I-88/I-39 is a cloverleaf, despite I-88 being a toll road. It appears from aerials that I could go one interchange west or two interchanges east (but not one) and avoid paying a toll. I knew I'd be getting my free toll road on with the short connection on I-90, so I didn't need to see I-88, but maybe next time I'm back this way I'll try some free toll roads for fun.
I-39/US 20 seemed suspiciously like a stub interchange, the way the NB-WB ramp went straight and then looped - and the way the NB roadway was wide enough for an extra lane approaching and through the interchange. I checked, and sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed, but thankfully there's not much to photograph from ground level so I wasn't missing out. What were the plans for the continuation? Aha. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallenberg_expressway) I'll call it I-139 for fun.
One note in Rockford: Perryville Rd. is signed as part of the Veterans Memorial Beltway, with little flags on the street signs. The signals seemed to be coordinated SB for the first few miles, then NB after that. Confusing, because I came on at Business 20, which seems like it ought to be the dividing line for coordination. But I'm an outsider.
I found one for the triple lefts thread (though I don't care for the thread enough to post it there): I-39/90 NB/WB Exit 254 to CTH M/S. Something I learned just now: Wisconsin's lettered routes are county maintained, but Missouri's are state maintained. Clearly that's why MO doesn't have the word COUNTY inside.
I was told to find button copy on US 12/14 around Madison, but other than Exit 182 and a little bit near Exit 189, all of the signs are unfortunately new. At least they're not Clearview. I found more significant stocks of button copy on I-39/90 near the state line and on the old part of I-39 just north of I-90 (former WI 78, Portage bypass).
Northern Wisconsin reminds me of a cross between Montana and New York (specifically, between Buffalo and Utica). The trees (type and growth patterns) are very NY, the appearance of the farms is very Montana. The terrain is a mixture of both, and the people are unique here, very friendly and with that curious Canadian-tinged accent. (My friend at our Madison office was able to slip into fluent Canadian, using words like "beauty" and "eh", to my great amusement. I told him it must be that the Canadian influence just drips across the border like maple syrup.)
Wisconsin likes to use the word AHEAD at interchanges. For example, on I-39 at US 10/WIS 66, there are exits for East 10 and West 66. Then there's a pull-through BGS that says WEST 10 / EAST 66 / AHEAD. Any other state would have put I-39, US 51, US 10, and WIS 66 shields all together on the pull through instead, which would take more room. I'm not sure I like AHEAD, but I can't think of a better way to accomplish the same concept without larger and more cluttered signs.
P.S. Fried cheese curds are officially my new favorite food.
Day 3 was essentially what I posted in the meet recap, so on to:
Day 4: Leaves are Peeping, Frost is Biting.
The Route (somewhat simpler today): WI 52 EB (clinch) to WI 32 NB, US 8 EB to US 2 EB all the way across the Upper Peninsula. SB across the Mackinac Bridge (in daylight, finally) to US 23 SB all the way back to I-75. I then hopped up to the next exit for a U-turn, back along US 23 to M-13 SB (clinch) and east to Flint to my hotel.
The Notes (somewhat shorter today): Wisconsin clearly has high standards for its roads - after the "ROUGH ROAD NEXT 20 MILES" signs, the road was still very smooth. Only well after the 20 miles were up was there a bumpy stretch of road where the concrete joints still poke through the asphalt.
I looked it up - WIS 32 has red arrows because it's a memorial to the 32nd Infantry Brigade. Okay, fine. I still got the photo.
US 2/41 is divided north of Escanaba. Not only is it original concrete, but it may well be the only 65 MPH road on the Upper Peninsula. (I-75 would be 70 MPH.) However, I didn't see nearly as much traffic near Escanaba as I did near I-75, and nowhere enough to warrant more than four undivided lanes. Speaking of which, US 2 (and later US 23) have a different style of passing lane than I'm used to. Instead of a three-lane section with alternating passing lanes by side (such as Maritime Canada favors), Michigan takes the two-lane section and widens it to four lanes for a mile and a half or more, and then back to two for awhile. I wonder what the advantages are that Michigan may see.
Found a surprise lighthouse in Manistique at Lake Michigan Beach, where there were undertow warnings posted. Really? Who's going into the water? There should be hypothermia warnings posted if anything. Also, despite what I was expecting, the foliage really hasn't come out yet in the Upper Peninsula. So I was left with numerous views of Lake Michigan east of M-117 as the best scenery around.
Before leaving the U.P., I ate at Suzy's Pasties, as recommended to me. (It sounds like "past," not "paste.") They know how to make pasties and smoked fish up here, that's for sure. All of the pastie shops seemed to be located within 10 miles of the Mackinac Bridge, though. Speaking of which, there are some nice views along US 2. The best view is at the official-seeming bridge center just west of I-75 behind the Quality Inn. It's not easy to find and not particularly well signed, but a good stop.
US 23 has a long repaving and drainage project going on south of Cheboygan. In other construction news, I-75 SB has the left lane closed 2 miles south of Exit 188 (US 23), which led to a 2-mile delay right at the exit. I was taking the exit anyway (to get to the top of M-13), so my only annoyance was having to deal with all the diverted traffic from I-75 until they filtered their way back. Once I got down to Bay City, M-13 was again empty.
In Linwood, I looked around and realized I was the only foreign car on the road. That's part of being in Michigan. Whoops. Umm... buy American. Yeah. Also, Linwood smells like peanuts. Avoid M-13 if you're allergic.
I was surprised to find that M-13 is wide-open from Bay City to Saginaw, with no traffic or development. (I'd like to stop typing "Sagniaw" any sentence now.) Why did suburbs never develop between the Tri-Cities? M-13 is 55 mph into Saginaw and remains 50 mph until downtown, quickly coming back up to 45 and then 55 as soon as you get to the other side. Anywhere else, the road would be signed at 40 given the numerous driveways, railroad crossings, and sharp curves. Even the detoured I-75 traffic didn't slow M-13 down, so I ended up saving 15 minutes on this leg. Combined with 15-minute savings on several earlier legs, I made it into Flint at sundown (7:17) instead of 8:00. Which is exactly what I was aiming for when I left at 6:45 (Central).
While detouring to the covered bridge in Frankenmuth, I crossed Dixie Highway, former US 23. It's actually still striped as four lanes, although it has zero traffic. Literally zero traffic north of Curtis Rd. because the bridge is out over the Cass River - the same little river that the covered bridge crosses.
P.S. Flint is so dead, it's scary. I ran red lights to get back on the highway and far away from downtown before finding my hotel.
I don't care if you don't care. I still care. So, Day 5: Rainyd, eh?
The Route: Old M-21 east to Port Huron, on over to ON 402 (clinch), 401, 403. I dropped off 402 briefly to see old signs on former Highway 4 in Talbotville. From the 403 I took the QEW to 427 (clinch), circled around via regional roads to Airport Rd., and went around the terminals to get to Highway 409 (clinch). I U-turned on the QEW and took the 403 to clinch it, then dropped off onto local streets to get to Lakeshore Rd., which crosses the lift bridge next to the QEW Burlington Skyway. I snapped the requisite photos and continued on the QEW into Buffalo for food, then exited on NY 33 to I-90, picking up some more miles of my last NY Interstate to NY 96, which I clinched by following south to NY 434. I then went through Pennsylvania on PA 858, 706, 367, US 6, I-81, I-380, and I-80, with a little surprise detour thanks to a possibly errant VMS on I-380 that warned of a roadway closure ahead. So I ended up following PA 940, PA 314, and PA 611 to get to 80.
The Notes: Local roads seem to be more patch than pavement near Flint as I head east along former M-21. Avoid the town of Burton, as its lights are timed to hit every single one. Luckily, I seem to have budgeted enough time for that pithole of a town so that I still come out okay. 6 miles should not take 20 minutes to drive. Further east, old M-21 is clearly the lifeline of many communities still, like LaPeer. It should not have been decommissioned, not the least because I don't think it's been repaved since it was a state highway.
I wish American radio stations had the same Canadian content law as Canadian stations. That's some really good music. I get to hear subgenres that are delightfully different and usually more of an indie sound.
Saw an ad: "Is Grandma fading away? We can restore old photos." Sensitivity fail.
Ontario notes: Both sides of the Blue Water Bridge are reversible. Probably started with the first one being two-way, and now they have the availability to close one as needed. Lots of old signs on Highway 4/former 4, not just the one overhead. It's signed as Highway 4 from the 402, but then you get TO 4 once you're on the surface - because it was decommissioned within London. Seriously, Ontario, maintain your roads and stop dumping them off. Highway 402 is being repaved east of 4 to the end at 401. Drivers kept very good lane discipline on the 402 (as I've noticed on the 417), but did not attempt to do so on the 401, 403, or QEW, which I attribute to those durned furriners muddling everything up, except all of the offending drivers are Ontarian...
I have learnt (Canadian spelling, there) that the 401 isn't the only quad carriageway in the province - also see the 427 south of the 401. The 427 six-lane section needs to extend from Derry Rd. to the 407 for now, until it's extended beyond Zenway Rd. Regional Road 50 is under construction, appears to be widening to 6 lanes north of Queen St. (former Highway 7). How disappointing that Pearson Airport uses Clearview everywhere (starting to pop up around the province). Positive or negative contrast, letters or numerals, it's there.
Construction closed the Western Rd. NB onramp to the 401 WB, which I was planning to use as a U-turn. I had to use the next exit on Western Rd. and U-turn there to use the SB onramp. The same construction also snarled traffic on the 401 WB collector. (In Ontario, collectors are not distributors, although they really do serve both functions of course.) It appears to be a full-depth resurfacing of the collector, which I assume will slowly progress to or has slowly progressed from redoing the other roadways.
I found a remaining M-C Expressway shield on the 401 westbound just before the 403 split, between the two WB roadways. Unfortunately, being in the express lanes, there was no easy way to circle around for a photo, so I missed it. I'm posting the location so someone else can snag it for me (and submit to my site, pretty please?).
Ontario seems to have abandoned the flashing green in favor of the green arrow on new installations. I noticed that in different areas, pedestrian signals may count to 0 either at the end of green or yellow, which doesn't help me plan my approach to the signal (assuming I can make it through after 0 only to find it yellow on 4). It must be done town by town, if not regionally.
2-way left turn lanes in Ontario have the dashed line on the outside of the solid line, which makes a lot more sense than the American standard of the dashed line on the inside. After all, dashed line means you can cross, solid line means you can't, so how can you legally cross the solid line to enter the TWLTL in the US?
Back to America. Why do school buses open the front door when they stop at railroad tracks? They're able to stop at red lights and stop signs just fine without opening the door. When I was a pedestrian around Boston, I used to consider jumping onto a bus or school bus at the local railroad crossing for fun. If the bus did that at a toll booth, the door would jam or break something.
I lost my trip notes at this point, meaning I had no way back home beyond NY 96. Luckily, as I searched frantically, I dug up the backup copy that had been missing for the first four days. This is why I always print a backup and drop it in the car for safekeeping. Next time, maybe I'll drop it in a more memorable place.
I love my car's hill descent capability. I went downhill into Ithaca on NY 96 SB without touching the brake once - I even had to goose the gas a bit as the hill leveled out. The car in front of me rode the brakes for 2 miles, by comparison.
Into Pennsylvania. I've said it before, PA's state routes would barely qualify as county highways in other states. PA 858 was, if anything, worse than the NY county road that led to it. The roads in PA just follow wherever the landscape goes, instead of providing a smoother, straighter alignment like other states (particularly MD, though NY is good at this as well). There are no shoulders on many roads, or else no shoulder striping, and sometimes not even any center striping. Bear in mind I'm talking about primary, ostensibly signed state highways (though many of them are missing the most basic of reference markers, despite being chevroned to death), not just the 4-digit back roads. Oh, yeah, there are way too many (and unnecessary) warning signs on PA roads, which I'm sure anyone who's driven there knows. End rant.
All that said, PA 858 is devilishly fun to drive, as long as you don't run into any traffic on the way (I didn't). It has no centerline and follows the terrain, making it a challenge to go 60 mph the whole way. Oh, the speed limit is 40? That would be no fun at all. Only go 40 if you or someone you love has motion sickness, in which case you want to avoid PA anyway (among many other reasons). Does Pennsylvania underpost its speed limits? Consider that I took a 25 MPH posted curve at 55 MPH easily - on a road with a 45 MPH limit (that then went back down to 40). So, yes.
I-84 really needs to be extended west across Pennsylvania via the US 6 corridor. US 6 is two lanes with few passing zones, lots of trucks, and construction zone disasters that reduce the main artery in the region to one lane at a long traffic light. I wrote this note while traveling at an inhuman 10 mph. All part of what I hate about Pennsylvania. How can US 6/11 go from 4-lane divided (with a 45 MPH speed limit because PA sucks) to 2-lane undivided, 25 mph, through the center of Clarks Summit? Does PA have no concept of a through road or how to move traffic? Lessons from US 202, US 1, US 222, and many other roads suggest I'm on the money with that.
The VMS on I-380 warned that I-80 EB was closed at Exit 301. There is no Exit 301. I-80 EB wasn't closed, just one lane may have been. Nonetheless, I took my impromptu detour, only to find out that access from PA 611 to I-80 EB is closed. The detour goes via PA 191 and then curls back around backwards on 611 instead of continuing south. I just don't care. I want to get out of PA to get cheaper gas in NJ.
P.S. Final mileage: 2,800, maybe a tiny bit more.
Quote from: Steve on October 05, 2011, 10:56:50 PM
Back to America. Why do school buses open the front door when they stop at railroad tracks?
To listen for trains.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcondrenrails.com%2FIRM%2FStop-Look-Listen-sign-IRM-7-7-07.jpg&hash=356cc4b4e5bcf5bce4ef10bfa9de53c29935704f)
The school bus topic looks like a good subject - I split it off and moved it to General Highway Talk - https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=5409.0 - The focus here is Alps's on the road adventures.
Quote from: Steve on October 05, 2011, 10:56:50 PM
I found a remaining M-C Expressway shield on the 401 westbound just before the 403 split, between the two WB roadways. Unfortunately, being in the express lanes, there was no easy way to circle around for a photo, so I missed it. I'm posting the location so someone else can snag it for me (and submit to my site, pretty please?).
This photo has been online for a couple of years:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asphaltplanet.ca%2FON%2Fhwy_401_images%2F401_sign_MC_Mississauga.jpg&hash=4ccdaf43d60b4046af8f27dfa6ae6dfb3ac93901)
The lighting on the sign isn't fantastic, its a tricky sign to photograph, but if your desperate, you can use it on your site.
I'm desperate for someone to drive by during rush hour and snag a beautiful 12 MP closeup :-D
I tried last weekend and failed. Rain, dark conditions, fast traffic...