Key West Road Stuff

[agentsteel53]

traffic often moves at or below the limit.

oh, tell me about it.  Like the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1), it's one of those drives that you have to do precisely once, and then never again.  I'd even recommend doing it at night under full moon.  Driving slowly isn't a problem (see: speed limit 80 km/h in Norway).  Driving slowly with a behemoth of an RV in front of you ...

as they say, if you're not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.

[xcellntbuy]

Terrific picture of the old Bahia Honda bridge stub.  I have not driven further south than the Seven-Mile Bridge and hope to do so one of these days.

[njroadhorse]

Hey AARoads webmasters,

Would you like me to try and get some updates for FL 836 west, FL 826, US 1 on the mainland, and possibly FL 878 and the Homestead Extension? I'll be probably travelling over them anyway.

[realjd]

oh, tell me about it.  Like the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1), it's one of those drives that you have to do precisely once, and then never again.  I'd even recommend doing it at night under full moon.  Driving slowly isn't a problem (see: speed limit 80 km/h in Norway).  Driving slowly with a behemoth of an RV in front of you ...

as they say, if you're not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.

I disagree. I make the drive several times a year and still enjoy it. As long as you're patient and not in a hurry, who cares if you're stuck behind a slow RV? It's all about your mindset.

[agentsteel53]

I really like taking road photos, and vehicles directly in front of me are an aggravation. 

[realjd]

I really like taking road photos, and vehicles directly in front of me are an aggravation. 

Fair enough. I've never taken road photos but I can see how a large vehicle ahead would ruin those!

[Ian]

I really like taking road photos, and vehicles directly in front of me are an aggravation. 

Agreed

[hm insulators]

Those are some big, beefy power poles in your second picture! Are they concrete or unpolished metal of some sort?

I reedited both photos to 1024x768 pixels in width (scroll up; they are clickable for the larger size now). It appears those poles are concrete.

Most coastal areas in the southeast utilize concrete for the power poles due to the threat of hurricane winds.

Like Taiwan, then. I was there in 1992 and this insulator collector spent half the trip looking at the power poles on Taiwan, which are concrete, probably because of the typhoons.

[njroadhorse]

The U.S. 1 work at Jewfish Creek should be completed, and I'd like to see photos of that. Not much else has probably changed in the last four years.

I believe the whole stretch of U.S. 1 between Homestead and Key Largo has been rebuilt. When I was there last April, the Jewfish Creek Bridge was completed, and there was some widening work being done on the whole section north of it. OKRoads has some pictures of the completed bridges on http://www.flickr.com/photos/okroads/collections/72157611696256500, but I would like to see how the rest looks now.

The section between Jewfish Creek and Florida City is still being rebuilt, the entire stretch was  being done when I was there.

BTW, I'm slowly putting up my pictures from my trip as long as my computer cooperates.  I got some of US 1 from Jewfish Creek to Florida City, FL 821 from Florida City to FL 836, FL 836 from FL 821 to FL 953, and FL 953 from FL 836 to NW 31st Street.

[Lyle]

I hope they rebuild it as a 4-lane (2 in each direction) divided highway, but I doubt they will.