Unique about Something Common

[roadman65]

There are many things, practices, etc. relating to roads that are out there that are quite common.  There are also things that are quite rare or even unique in this vast network of asphalt as well.

How about combining both of these.  See if you come up with a rare instance used with a common practice.

I have one relating to a trumpet interchange on a toll road that requires you to use the toll booth twice within the interchange.  That is in Woodbury, NY on I-87/ NYS Thruway having EB to NB motorists between US 6 & NY 17 pay a cash toll and then enter the highway immediately  to grab a ticket for a closed ticket system.  It is the rare case where two toll methods are used at the same interchange as well as a discount applied to a posted rate to allow for previous payment of a toll.

I am sure you can think of something and I am sure have a little fun bragging about another unusual practice that is either rare or one of its kind that is right under everyone's noses.

[agentsteel53]

highways and railroads cross rivers pretty frequently, but here is the only instance I know of the two crossing each other, namely that the road and the railroad both end up on the other side of the river relative to where they started.

http://goo.gl/maps/MGX72

Feather River, on CA-70

[kphoger]

Other than the Panamerican Highway, are there cases of mileage signs for cities it's impossible to drive to?  Such as the distance to Alaska from Patagonia, when there is no road between the two?

[agentsteel53]

Other than the Panamerican Highway, are there cases of mileage signs for cities it's impossible to drive to?  Such as the distance to Alaska from Patagonia, when there is no road between the two?

North Korea's Unification Highway shows the distance to Seoul, which cannot actually be accessed due to the closed border.

[kphoger]

I imagine that situation exists in quite a few places around the world.  But the difference is that there does actually exist a road between the two–it's just closed.  Between Colombia and Panamá, there is no road.

[roadman65]

I believe, as it was pointed out in another necro thread that died because of one instance, that the Battery Park Underpass and the Brooklyn- Battery Tunnel cross each other underground.  Very common among roads and railroads, or railroads with other railroads, but this is only one such instance of two road tunnels that crisscross each other.

A rarity, though, is the tunnel under the front of the Philadelphia Art Museum.  It is one of the most narrow tunnels around and only is one lane and one way.  Looking at it on GSV even gives one clostraphobia even if tight spaces are something that someone is normally not affected by.

[empirestate]

highways and railroads cross rivers pretty frequently, but here is the only instance I know of the two crossing each other, namely that the road and the railroad both end up on the other side of the river relative to where they started.

http://goo.gl/maps/MGX72

Feather River, on CA-70

Topologically similar, if you consider MA 2 as the crossing road:
http://goo.gl/maps/NO2cL

[roadman65]

highways and railroads cross rivers pretty frequently, but here is the only instance I know of the two crossing each other, namely that the road and the railroad both end up on the other side of the river relative to where they started.

http://goo.gl/maps/MGX72

Feather River, on CA-70

Topologically similar, if you consider MA 2 as the crossing road:
http://goo.gl/maps/NO2cL

If you are referring to the Hoosack or Hoosick Tunnel and MA 2 far above it, yeah those are those rare things in that category.  I-78 & US 22 with NS Railway in Bethlehem Township, NJ is another one.  These two are more rare because you have the two running the same general direction, as like at Gallitizin, PA near Horseshoe Curve the street above and the old Pennsy below are two different directions.  Many cases of train tracks in tunnels perpendicular of roads on the surface.

[empirestate]

highways and railroads cross rivers pretty frequently, but here is the only instance I know of the two crossing each other, namely that the road and the railroad both end up on the other side of the river relative to where they started.

http://goo.gl/maps/MGX72

Feather River, on CA-70

Topologically similar, if you consider MA 2 as the crossing road:
http://goo.gl/maps/NO2cL

If you are referring to the Hoosack or Hoosick Tunnel and MA 2 far above it, yeah those are those rare things in that category.

I wasn't...the link should take you to the Charles River in Boston/Cambridge.

[roadman65]

highways and railroads cross rivers pretty frequently, but here is the only instance I know of the two crossing each other, namely that the road and the railroad both end up on the other side of the river relative to where they started.

http://goo.gl/maps/MGX72

Feather River, on CA-70

Topologically similar, if you consider MA 2 as the crossing road:
http://goo.gl/maps/NO2cL

If you are referring to the Hoosack or Hoosick Tunnel and MA 2 far above it, yeah those are those rare things in that category.

I wasn't...the link should take you to the Charles River in Boston/Cambridge.

Okay, I see the crossing.

[Alps]

highways and railroads cross rivers pretty frequently, but here is the only instance I know of the two crossing each other, namely that the road and the railroad both end up on the other side of the river relative to where they started.

http://goo.gl/maps/MGX72

Feather River, on CA-70

Topologically similar, if you consider MA 2 as the crossing road:
http://goo.gl/maps/NO2cL

Beat me to it, I only walked around that area for 5 years.

Also in that area, you often have toll interchanges around mainline plazas (Woodbury was mentioned in Post #1, then there's Triboro Bridge, etc.), but only in Massachusetts are three exit numbers assigned to a single interchange! (18, 19, and 20 are three toll plazas for the Allston/Brighton/Cambridge exit)

[roadman]

Actually, the Allston Brighton (or the 'AB' as locals often call it) is Exit 18 eastbound, and Exits 19-20 westbound, even though both off-ramps connect to the same place (Western Ave at Storrow Drive)  I've heard rumors to the effect that the numbering was originally done this way by the Turnpike Authority for accounting reasons - because of the multiple toll plazas at this location, but (so far) I've been unable to confirm or deny this.

I've been told that this "quirk" will be corrected to a single number for the whole interchange (any guesses as to which of the three numbers they'll keep) when the guide signs are replaced under the 2015 Millbury to Boston project.

[NE2]

Actually, the Allston Brighton (or the 'AB' as locals often call it) is Exit 18 eastbound, and Exits 19-20 westbound

??
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.355357,-71.118407&spn=0.014461,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.355274,-71.118371&panoid=HWKL6jts3AONHgYZbm9obg&cbp=12,339.21,,0,0.91

[empirestate]

Actually, the Allston Brighton (or the 'AB' as locals often call it) is Exit 18 eastbound, and Exits 19-20 westbound

??
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.355357,-71.118407&spn=0.014461,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.355274,-71.118371&panoid=HWKL6jts3AONHgYZbm9obg&cbp=12,339.21,,0,0.91

It's exit 18 eastbound, 20 westbound, and 19 is the toll barrier for through traffic.

The difference presumably is that the exit 18 toll pays for your use of the Boston Extension west of the interchange, exit 20 pays for that portion east of it, and 19 covers the cost for both portions (which theoretically should equal the sum of the exit 18 and 20 tolls, but in reality only equals one of them).

[Kacie Jane]

I've been told that this "quirk" will be corrected to a single number for the whole interchange (any guesses as to which of the three numbers they'll keep) when the guide signs are replaced under the 2015 Millbury to Boston project.

At the risk of veering this thread off-topic, any word on whether 130 (the milepost) is a likely candidate?

[1995hoo]

Driving on the right side of the road is common around the world. But Savoy Court in London is unique because it is the only street in the UK where all traffic is required to drive on the right.

[vdeane]

Actually, the Allston Brighton (or the 'AB' as locals often call it) is Exit 18 eastbound, and Exits 19-20 westbound

??
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.355357,-71.118407&spn=0.014461,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.355274,-71.118371&panoid=HWKL6jts3AONHgYZbm9obg&cbp=12,339.21,,0,0.91

It's exit 18 eastbound, 20 westbound, and 19 is the toll barrier for through traffic.

The difference presumably is that the exit 18 toll pays for your use of the Boston Extension west of the interchange, exit 20 pays for that portion east of it, and 19 covers the cost for both portions (which theoretically should equal the sum of the exit 18 and 20 tolls, but in reality only equals one of them).

You also have the barrier at the east end of the ticket system at the I-95 interchange - eastbound, the exit is 14 and the barrier is 15, while westbound the exit is 15 and the barrier 14.  This all stems from the fact that the Massachusetts Turnpike gave the barriers themselves exit numbers (I do not know of any other toll road that did this).

[NE2]

This all stems from the fact that the Massachusetts Turnpike gave the barriers themselves exit numbers (I do not know of any other toll road that did this).

The New Jersey Turnpike still does - 1, 6, 14, 14C, 18E, and 18W are all major barriers. Looking through my 1965 Rand McNally, I also see Florida (exit 1 was the south barrier toll, and it now appears in places as exit 0X), Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma (exit 7 is "State Line Toll Booth"), and Pennsylvania.

[agentsteel53]

Beat me to it, I only walked around that area for 5 years.

I had a vague recollection of it (having walked around that area for 5 years as well!), but that pair isn't as 'pretty' as the CA-70 example, because on CA-70, the two just abruptly cross the river rurally, for no other reason than what appears to be right-of-way optimizations. 

for the MA-2 example, the two are 'going where they need to go'.

[agentsteel53]

Actually, the Allston Brighton (or the 'AB' as locals often call it)

I've called it the ABC exit, because the third control city is Cambridge.  or has that changed since ~2004 when I last regularly drove that road?

[Brandon]

This all stems from the fact that the Massachusetts Turnpike gave the barriers themselves exit numbers (I do not know of any other toll road that did this).

The New Jersey Turnpike still does - 1, 6, 14, 14C, 18E, and 18W are all major barriers. Looking through my 1965 Rand McNally, I also see Florida (exit 1 was the south barrier toll, and it now appears in places as exit 0X), Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma (exit 7 is "State Line Toll Booth"), and Pennsylvania.

Yep.  The first "exit" on the Ohio Turnpike before the switch to distance-based numbers was the Westgate Toll Plaza, numbered as "Exit 1" (the Eastgate Toll Plaza was "Exit 17").  The first real exit was "Exit 2".  Ditto with the Indiana Toll Road.  The original Westpoint Toll Plaza was "Exit 1" mixed with an exit for US-41, and the Eastpoint Toll Plaza was "Exit 11".

[NE2]

I had a vague recollection of it (having walked around that area for 5 years as well!), but that pair isn't as 'pretty' as the CA-70 example, because on CA-70, the two just abruptly cross the river rurally, for no other reason than what appears to be right-of-way optimizations. 

A similar situation (but not quite crossing at the bridges): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Bridges

[agentsteel53]

I had a vague recollection of it (having walked around that area for 5 years as well!), but that pair isn't as 'pretty' as the CA-70 example, because on CA-70, the two just abruptly cross the river rurally, for no other reason than what appears to be right-of-way optimizations. 

to expand on this - I believe the railroad was put in first, and grabbed the optimal right of way (first on one side of the river, then the other).  when the highway came, the second-most-optimal available right of way was the other side of the river in each case, necessitating a bridge very close to the railroad bridge. 

that is really a narrow canyon - fitting two rights of way onto the same side of the river would have been far less optimal.

[kphoger]

I had a vague recollection of it (having walked around that area for 5 years as well!), but that pair isn't as 'pretty' as the CA-70 example, because on CA-70, the two just abruptly cross the river rurally, for no other reason than what appears to be right-of-way optimizations. 

to expand on this - I believe the railroad was put in first, and grabbed the optimal right of way (first on one side of the river, then the other).  when the highway came, the second-most-optimal available right of way was the other side of the river in each case, necessitating a bridge very close to the railroad bridge. 

that is really a narrow canyon - fitting two rights of way onto the same side of the river would have been far less optimal.

That explanation makes a lot of sense.

[vdeane]

This all stems from the fact that the Massachusetts Turnpike gave the barriers themselves exit numbers (I do not know of any other toll road that did this).

The New Jersey Turnpike still does - 1, 6, 14, 14C, 18E, and 18W are all major barriers. Looking through my 1965 Rand McNally, I also see Florida (exit 1 was the south barrier toll, and it now appears in places as exit 0X), Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma (exit 7 is "State Line Toll Booth"), and Pennsylvania.

I don't think they have anything as pervasive as MA.  Normally those barriers would be referred to by the same number as the interchange.  Many places give such barriers the same number as the next exit past it, as is the case for most PA and NJ barriers.  Exit 6 in NJ is typically numbered, as the exit is the spur branching off.  Ditto for 14.  Don't know much about other agencies, but having a distinct number for the barrier alone strikes me as the exception.  If MA did things like this, 14/15 would be 14, and 18/19/20 would be 17 (due to 14/15 being a single number).