Beltways That Work, and Beltways that Don't

[Bobby5280]

IH 610 in Houston definitely don't work. Too much traffic jams. Mostly an inner city route with all the sprawl concentrated along it.

Houston is so big I-610 seems more like an urban core loop. While I-610 doesn't enter the original downtown district it does pass through other zones with their own clusters of high rise buildings and major destinations. The Williams Tower stands out in the Uptown district.

In Houston the problem with the beltways (and other freeways in general) has more to do with the horribly outdated surface street grid. The main streets have every side street and driveway dumping traffic out onto them. The layout of surface streets don't show any contemporary traffic filtering designs until you get outside the Loop-8 beltway.

Many of the freeways in Houston can carry huge volumes of traffic. But getting off the freeway is the real trick. The jams often begin at the surface street level. The main arterials have too damned many traffic signals and other conflicts blocking the flow of traffic. Add the modern factor of too many inattentive motorists obsessed with the friggin' phones, not paying attention to the traffic lights. Vehicles just trying to exit the freeway can't do so. The jam builds backward up the exit ramp and into the main lanes of the freeway.

[webny99]

^ Regarding Houston, this seems pertinent:

https://twitter.com/stefondiggs/status/1787175184392225143

[Rothman]

IH 610 in Houston definitely don't work. Too much traffic jams. Mostly an inner city route with all the sprawl concentrated along it.

Your criteria's faulty.  I don't see how an inner city beltway "doesn't work," especially with Houston's concentric system.  Just because it jams?  Then most beltways "don't work" by that one, and, given how a bunch I can think of off-hand still keep traffic outside of a city core, I think they work.

[PColumbus73]

IH 610 in Houston definitely don't work. Too much traffic jams. Mostly an inner city route with all the sprawl concentrated along it.

Your criteria's faulty.  I don't see how an inner city beltway "doesn't work," especially with Houston's concentric system.  Just because it jams?  Then most beltways "don't work" by that one, and, given how a bunch I can think of off-hand still keep traffic outside of a city core, I think they work.

Well, does it, or the other two loops around Houston, save time or are otherwise preferrable versus staying on I-10, 45, or any of the other spokes all the way through downtown?

[OCGuy81]

Whenever I am transiting Chicagoland, I'll use I-94 through the city, except during the commuter times when I'll use the I-294 Tri-State Tollway around.  Most other people use the Tollway, though.


Mike

Best Chicago bypass?  I-39 to I-80. 

[SeriesE]

I-405 in CA is the classic beltway that doesn't work. Portions of it that weren't as developed when the freeway was originally built were subsumed by the LA metro area's explosive development, and it's not a viable bypass of anything.

I-405 bypasses downtown Los Angeles, especially the East LA Interchange, which can be congested even on Sundays

[Rothman]

IH 610 in Houston definitely don't work. Too much traffic jams. Mostly an inner city route with all the sprawl concentrated along it.

Your criteria's faulty.  I don't see how an inner city beltway "doesn't work," especially with Houston's concentric system.  Just because it jams?  Then most beltways "don't work" by that one, and, given how a bunch I can think of off-hand still keep traffic outside of a city core, I think they work.

Well, does it, or the other two loops around Houston, save time or are otherwise preferrable versus staying on I-10, 45, or any of the other spokes all the way through downtown?

It certainly makes getting around the inner ring a lot easier than if it didn't exist at all.

[mgk920]

Whenever I am transiting Chicagoland, I'll use I-94 through the city, except during the commuter times when I'll use the I-294 Tri-State Tollway around.  Most other people use the Tollway, though.


Mike

Best Chicago bypass?  I-39 to I-80. 

Or to I-74

OTOH, it you are driving  to or from  somewhere in the I-41 corridor in Wisconsin . . .

Mike

[bzakharin]

With regards to I-287:  Because the Somerset Freeway I-95 alignment was canceled and 95 moved to more of the Turnpike over time, the geometry is very different than originally planned (the Somerset route would have reached I-287 at its southwest corner if I am not mistaken) and thus cars on 95 go a few more miles out of the way now were they to try to go avoid NYC via 287 entirely.

If you're not a truck then GSP to 287 is the best way to bypass NYC on the I-95 corridor. It's not even as far out of the way as it seems because I-95 runs ESE through Manhattan and the Bronx, which I-287 roughly parallels further north.

[hobsini2]

I-840 in TN has to be the most useless beltway (or whatever it's supposed to be) I've ever encountered.

I am going to disagree. I have spent a fair amount of time in Nashville. It is much better going 840 vs 40. 40 can be a snail's pace like 65 even when it is not rush hour.

I wish they had a real bypass for I-65 though. That is brutal.

[MikieTimT]

I-229 in St. Joseph, MO.

MoDOT says it doesn't work.

[TheStranger]

I-229 in St. Joseph, MO.

MoDOT says it doesn't work.

Isn't that technically more a downtown loop with I-29 being the "belt"?

Kinda like what's currently going on with I-481 (future I-81) and I-81 (future Business I-81) in Syracuse.

[kramie13]

Obviously I-695 around Baltimore "doesn't work" right now after the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse.

If we're talking about "partial" beltways, I-295 in RI/MA works as a bypass around Providence, particularly when traveling south.  I always hit a gridlock on I-95 south approaching downtown Providence and can save time taking 295.  Going north though, it's less effective because at the northern end of 295, you have a single lane 270 degree loop ramp to rejoin 95 north.

In MA, I-495 doesn't work as a "bypass" around Boston, as it makes a rather wide loop around the metro area.

[webny99]

In MA, I-495 doesn't work as a "bypass" around Boston, as it makes a rather wide loop around the metro area.

I would say it works very well as a bypass, especially for traffic approaching from the west and headed to either New Hampshire/Maine or Cape Cod. It's a bit further from the city than most beltways, but it's still plenty useful given the sprawling nature of Boston suburbia/exurbia. It's even busy enough for 6+ lanes on most of it.

[JayhawkCO]

In MA, I-495 doesn't work as a "bypass" around Boston, as it makes a rather wide loop around the metro area.

I would say it works very well as a bypass, especially for traffic approaching from the west and headed to either New Hampshire/Maine or Cape Cod. It's a bit further from the city than most beltways, but it's still plenty useful given the sprawling nature of Boston suburbia/exurbia. It's even busy enough for 6+ lanes on most of it.

I think in this thread, there are some people talking about a "full bypass", and some people talking about a "partial bypass". In the OP, if you're coming from NC and going to DC, I-295 around Richmond is a good option. That's the full bypass. If you're going from Fort Collins to Limon, taking the NE quadrant of E-470 is a good option. That's the partial bypass.

I-495 isn't a good option coming from Maine and going to Rhode Island, but it is a good partial bypass.

[hotdogPi]

I-495 isn't a good option coming from Maine and going to Rhode Island, but it is a good partial bypass.

Google Maps shows I-495 as only five minutes slower than the fastest route from Portland to Providence.

[JayhawkCO]

I-495 isn't a good option coming from Maine and going to Rhode Island, but it is a good partial bypass.

Google Maps shows I-495 as only five minutes slower than the fastest route from Portland to Providence.

Fair enough. Was just going based on webny99's comment.

[Rick Powell]

Whenever I am transiting Chicagoland, I'll use I-94 through the city, except during the commuter times when I'll use the I-294 Tri-State Tollway around.  Most other people use the Tollway, though.


Mike

Best Chicago bypass?  I-39 to I-80. 

Or to I-74

OTOH, it you are driving  to or from  somewhere in the I-41 corridor in Wisconsin . . .

Mike

I'm not sure how much traffic on I-39 is "new" or just re-routed from the Chicago area, but back in the late 80s we typically had traffic counts of 7-8k along the 2-lane US 51 south of I-80. I-39 now carries 16-20k in the same stretch, while old US 51 (now IL 251) still has about 1-2k of residual traffic. It's not a ton of relief to the Chicago area but counts for something.

[TheStranger]

Re: Boston -

Isn't Route 128 the main inner beltway of that area, more so than I-495?  Even if it carries I-95 for part of its length (and part of I-93 as a followup consequence of the cancellation of inside-128 I-95)

I've only been to the area once (in 1998, in the midst of Big Dig construction) so I'm not sure what the traffic patterns are these days, specifically if people opt to do I-93/US 1 to go through town instead of taking 128.

[webny99]

I-495 isn't a good option coming from Maine and going to Rhode Island, but it is a good partial bypass.

Google Maps shows I-495 as only five minutes slower than the fastest route from Portland to Providence.

Fair enough. Was just going based on webny99's comment.

I was countering that I-495 is not a good bypass. Though it's most commonly used as a partial bypass, it's not bad as a full bypass either. In addition to Portsmouth<>Providence, it's also currently showing as the fastest route from Portsmouth to Bourne (Cape Cod). Though this is variable based on Boston traffic, it's very fair to say it has ulitity as a bypass for its entire length.

[webny99]

On the subject of bypasses, I-287 is pretty effective as a NYC area bypass, especially when coupled with I-87/I-84 to bypass southern CT. It's mostly 6+ lanes and has minimal recurring congestion outside of the Danbury area.

[roadman65]

Indianapolis' bypass is effective going from one interstate to the other. I found it handy to use from I-65 SB to I-74 EB from Chicago to Cincinnati.  I also found it handy to use from I-69 SB to I-70 WB into Downtown using the east side.