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TxDOT approves two toll removals

Started by MaxConcrete, July 27, 2017, 11:54:00 PM

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Bobby5280

Quote from: kphogerNow that we're already adrift of the topic...  Are there any plans to fix the roller coaster that is I-44 down by Lawton?

Pigs would probably learn how to fly before ODOT made any plans to do anything like that. Lawton is down at the bottom end of ODOT priorities. I assume you're talking about I-44 as it runs through Lawton since that has the most roller coaster-like ups and downs (such as the Cache Rd & I-44 interchange next to a railroad line and bridge crossing). Little if anything can be done about that other than a total re-build of the interchange and re-configuring the elevation of the I-44 main lanes. A couple or so years ago the old interchange was rehabilitated, but not replaced.

IMHO the biggest thing that needs to be addressed on I-44 thru Lawton is the sub-standard stretch cutting through Fort Sill. The lanes need to be rebuilt and configured with inner and outer shoulders that comply with current Interstate highway standards. The next thing would be re-building the short stretch of I-44 between the end of the H.E. Bailey Turnpike & US-62/281/277 split and the Medicine Park exit. That crap is rough. I-44 from the Medicine Park exit down to just North of the Fort Sill Key Gate exit was re-surfaced a few years ago.

Also, IMHO, the most pressing need in Lawton for improving highway safety is doing something about Rogers Lane (now with US-62 aligned on it). The road has no shoulders at all. There's hardly any lighting along it. Numerous blind spots exist, such as the intersection of Rogers Lane with 67th Street. Thanks to a big concrete wall blocking much of the sight triangle it's easy for Eastbound traffic on US-62 to T-bone anyone entering Rogers Lane from 67th Street. That intersection and the one at 38th Street should be converted to freeway style interchanges (like the ones at Sheridan Rd and Ft Sill Blvd). In a perfect world the whole thing would be converted into an Interstate spur. There's more than enough room to build it, now that the old Artillery Village housing area on Fort Sill has been removed and re-built elsewhere. But none of this matters. As I've said before in some other posts, it's going to take an extremely grisly fatal head-on collision with multiple deaths before ODOT realizes the problems on Rogers Lane exists.


kphoger

Quote from: Bobby5280 on October 23, 2017, 01:57:09 AM
Quote from: kphogerNow that we're already adrift of the topic...  Are there any plans to fix the roller coaster that is I-44 down by Lawton?

Pigs would probably learn how to fly before ODOT made any plans to do anything like that. Lawton is down at the bottom end of ODOT priorities. I assume you're talking about I-44 as it runs through Lawton since that has the most roller coaster-like ups and downs (such as the Cache Rd & I-44 interchange next to a railroad line and bridge crossing). Little if anything can be done about that other than a total re-build of the interchange and re-configuring the elevation of the I-44 main lanes. A couple or so years ago the old interchange was rehabilitated, but not replaced.

IMHO the biggest thing that needs to be addressed on I-44 thru Lawton is the sub-standard stretch cutting through Fort Sill. The lanes need to be rebuilt and configured with inner and outer shoulders that comply with current Interstate highway standards. The next thing would be re-building the short stretch of I-44 between the end of the H.E. Bailey Turnpike & US-62/281/277 split and the Medicine Park exit. That crap is rough. I-44 from the Medicine Park exit down to just North of the Fort Sill Key Gate exit was re-surfaced a few years ago.

Also, IMHO, the most pressing need in Lawton for improving highway safety is doing something about Rogers Lane (now with US-62 aligned on it). The road has no shoulders at all. There's hardly any lighting along it. Numerous blind spots exist, such as the intersection of Rogers Lane with 67th Street. Thanks to a big concrete wall blocking much of the sight triangle it's easy for Eastbound traffic on US-62 to T-bone anyone entering Rogers Lane from 67th Street. That intersection and the one at 38th Street should be converted to freeway style interchanges (like the ones at Sheridan Rd and Ft Sill Blvd). In a perfect world the whole thing would be converted into an Interstate spur. There's more than enough room to build it, now that the old Artillery Village housing area on Fort Sill has been removed and re-built elsewhere. But none of this matters. As I've said before in some other posts, it's going to take an extremely grisly fatal head-on collision with multiple deaths before ODOT realizes the problems on Rogers Lane exists.

I was actually speaking of the section south of Lawton.  I can't remember offhand if it's the stretch north or south of Walters, but it's just bouncy-bouncy-bouncy if you have any weight loaded onto your vehicle due to the undulating roadway.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Bobby5280

The concrete slabs and joints on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike South of Lawton are not great. It thump thump thumps pretty bad both North and South of the Walters toll gate. Once again, considering its location in Oklahoma, that stretch of road is a low priority (in this case a low priority for OTA). It was the last section of I-44 to get any median barriers, and that was when the cable barriers were standardized for other "free" Interstates. The rest of I-44 North/East of Lawton got the concrete Jersey barriers 20 years ago.

AFAIK the only improvement due for that part of I-44 is the replacement of the Walters Toll Plaza and rehab of the Walters Exit in the next year or two. That bridge over I-44 and over the top of the existing old toll gate is in horrible shape. But, yeah, much of the existing I-44 main lanes through there needs to be replaced.

lordsutch

Quote from: Chris on October 12, 2017, 03:34:08 PM
According to Wikipedia both border crossings opened in the same year (2000). It makes you wonder why they built two new border crossings at the same time. Is that based on the expectation that NAFTA meant Mexican trucks could enter the U.S.?

The other point (beyond kphoger's) regarding the relative failure of the Colombia crossing is that it was designed in part to give Nuevo Léon (the state Monterrey is in) a direct crossing into Texas, avoiding Tamaulipas, and help develop a new border city. Nuevo Laredo has nothing to do with the Colombia crossing and sees it as a rival (they don't want a situation like in the lower valley where Matamoros and Reynosa compete), hence why the NL bypass didn't go to Colombia and why NL is promoting a fifth crossing south of Laredo that would connect to the Colosio loop, despite Colombia being underutilized.

US 41

I had no idea that TX 255 had been converted into a free road. I was driving back from Monterrey (actually Mazatlan) and used the Colombia crossing on the way back. There was barely any traffic which was nice. I did get searched pretty thoroughly, but whatever. I ended up using the Mines Road free alternative. I guess it's nice to know that I can just shoot across on TX 255 now.

Hopefully Mexico does something to fix the interchange just south of the World Trade bridge. It was very backed up going northbound due to US customs and it required driving the wrong way (into oncoming traffic) to get around it. (For the record I just did what the other drivers were doing. Mexico at times can kind of be a free for all as long as you use common sense.) I'm kind of curious as to if that is the norm or if that was just a rare occurrence that day.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

MaxConcrete

I drove on Loop 375 last week and the conversion of the toll lane to a regular lane is complete. You can still see where the double line separating the tolled lane from the regular lane was erased. There are two or three overhead gantries missing signs, I'm assuming the structures had signage relating to the toll lanes.


The erased separator stripes for the toll lanes are easily visible in this image
http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/AARoads/20180402_12-0227-1600.jpg


This view shows two unused overhead sign structures, presumably the signage was related to the toll lanes and removed
http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/AARoads/20180402_12-0233-1600.jpg


This monument is just across the border. I don't remember it being there the last time I visited El Paso in 2007
http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/AARoads/20180402_12-0242-1600.jpg
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

triplemultiplex

Quote from: MaxConcrete on April 13, 2018, 05:16:37 PM
This monument is just across the border. I don't remember it being there the last time I visited El Paso in 2007


Da hell is that? It looks like the robot from Interstellar.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

Bobby5280

Maybe it's a big "X" for an adult video store.

TheArkansasRoadgeek

Quote from: Bobby5280 on April 16, 2018, 04:16:08 PM
Maybe it's a big "X" for an adult video store.
I was just about to say...

*fap* *fap* *fap* *fap* :-D :pan: :popcorn:

There is one in Fort Smith somewhere...
Well, that's just like your opinion man...

sparker

Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on April 16, 2018, 04:32:04 PM
Quote from: Bobby5280 on April 16, 2018, 04:16:08 PM
Maybe it's a big "X" for an adult video store.
I was just about to say...

*fap* *fap* *fap* *fap* :-D :pan: :popcorn:

There is one in Fort Smith somewhere...

Perhaps an adult video store is still a viable concept in Juarez, where cable/net access may be a bit more sporadic than across the border, but they're a bit passe' in most areas now that Pornhub and its competitors are a few keystrokes away.  But something tells me that advertising an adult store with a big fucking "X" in Mexico, which has a separate film rating system, would be pointless -- I'd think any store owners would come up with something graphic.  Question: has anyone taken the time to go to G.E. and see exactly what's on the site with the sign?  I'd guess some sort of retail establishment -- or even a mall of sorts. 

US 89


Bobby5280

X marks the spot. Makes me think of the "X" palm trees in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, now also out in front of any In-N-Out Burger location.

Quote from: sparkerPerhaps an adult video store is still a viable concept in Juarez, where cable/net access may be a bit more sporadic than across the border, but they're a bit passe' in most areas now that Pornhub and its competitors are a few keystrokes away.

Yeah, it would seem like those YouTube-style web sites would be completely ruining the business model for any brick and mortar adult video stores (not to mention ruining the business model for much of the adult entertainment industry). Yet there are still such stores in operation. I don't know how such stores can continue to operate. I wonder if they're fronts for less "legitimate" types of business. I know of a couple stores off US-287 in Texas. One is between Wichita Falls and Fort Worth next to the little town of Bellevue. Another is just outside Amarillo near the junction of US-287 and I-40. The "XXX" letters on what was a grain silo are visible from both highways. The stores much appeal to truck drivers and other long distance travelers.



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