Recent posts

#91

Road Trips / Re: Biggest Roadgeek/Trip Regr...

Last post by pderocco - Today at 03:00:06 AM

I have a lot of little regrets in the form, "I wish I had/hadn't done ____ back in the 1990s when I was doing lots of cross-country trips" because in those days, I wasn't conscious of clinching roads, or even keeping precise records (pre-GPS) of my route. For instance, I have a gap in I-90 that I will probably never fill because I detoured through Badlands NP. I could have driven past it, then come back through it, then driven that section of I-90 again. I also skipped a section of I-95 in Florida and went through Orlando for no discernible reason, and now I really have no desire to go back to Florida. But since I became more conscious of driving roads I hadn't been on before, I haven't made any real mistakes that I've regretted.

#92

Mid-Atlantic / Re: Francis Scott Key Bridge (...

Last post by Sonic99 - Today at 02:59:18 AM

The largest truss section of the bridge has been detonated by controlled demolition:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/controlled-demolition-baltimore-bridge-collapse-173332066.html

As a result, the Dali is finally cleared of the debris that had been resting on its damaged area for about a month and a half.

Did not know the ship's crew was still on board over a month later.

Looks like visa paperwork is one reason, and another to maintain regular duties on the ship. I also heard on a TV news report that seafarers typically are at sea for 6 to 8 months.

Why is the Dali ship crew still stuck on board in the Baltimore Harbor?

Why is the crew still on the boat?

On April 1, BBC reported that authorities said there were no plans to disembark the Dali's crew and it is unlikely any plan will be put in place unless the vessel is moved or taken out of the water. The Coast Guard said on March 29 that moving the ship is a second priority to reopening the Baltimore port and the shipping channel.

The BBC also reported that "even in normal circumstances, disembarking crews of foreign nationals from ships in U.S. ports requires significant paperwork." Twenty of the crew are citizens of India and one is from Sri Lanka.

The crew members would need visas and valid shore passes to allow them off the ship and require escorts to take them from the ship to the terminal gate, according to the BBC. It is not clear whether the crew has this required paperwork.

A representative from the Maryland Port Authority's Key Bridge response team told Futurism that the crew is also still "engaged in maintaining the current status of the ship" as the NTSB and Coast Guard continue their investigation.

"The crew is busy with their normal duties on the ship as well as assisting the NTSB and Coast Guard investigators on board," Dali management spokesman, William Marks, told the Washington Post.

Noticed the last couple days there's been a sudden outcry from people not at all familiar with international shipping in reference to the crew. "Oh my god, they made them sit there RIGHT NEXT TO THE EXPLOSION! They've been sitting there for TWO MONTHS!! They had their phones taken away (while ignoring that they were given replacements), they don't have internet access!!" Not to say that perhaps we should have some more compassion for this crew, as it seems apparent that they absolutely didn't do any of this on purpose. But man, when people decide to inject themselves into stuff they have no clue about, it just turns stupid.

#93

Road Trips / Re: Biggest Roadgeek/Trip Regr...

Last post by pderocco - Today at 02:48:36 AM

Someday I'd like to drive the Old Priest Grade instead of CA 120 on a Yosemite trip. But that can be a really tough sell when you have passengers. You'd need a roadtrip buddy or more with similar interests.

I've done it a couple of times, and my memory of it is that it is less winding, just steep, so it's not really difficult.

Now, Priest Street would be another story. That looks like a hell of a road, but I'm not sure it isn't gated somewhere.

#94

General Highway Talk / MOVED: Interstate 20 Eastern E...

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 01:36:20 AM

This topic has been moved to Fictional Highways.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=34826.0

#95

Central States / Re: US66 Pony Truss Bridge at ...

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 01:30:42 AM

Man, Oklahoma can really do some cool stuff when it feels like it. (Which makes it frustrating that they don't bother half the time.)

#96

Suggestions and Questions / Re: Theme Change?

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 01:28:30 AM

Could we potentially just change the background colors from white and navy blue to something greener as an interim solution?

That would be about as much work as redoing the theme entirely, honestly.

Which a couple of us are working on, just...stuff comes up.

Will the current theme still be the default for mobile users?

Button Copy 2 will be the default theme for all users. However, the revised theme will be based on the current theme (i.e. it's basically the current theme with different colors), so it will behave the same way as the current theme does, and not like the original Button Copy. (If, after all that, you prefer the current theme as it is, that will be available as an option.)

#97

Traffic Control / Re: Guess the exit number chal...

Last post by Great Lakes Roads - Today at 12:15:08 AM

Exit 43A on US 127. DDI interchange on I-94 in Jackson.

#98

General Highway Talk / Re: Beltways That Work, and Be...

Last post by mgk920 - May 16, 2024, 11:13:42 PM

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

#99

Sports / Re: General NBA thread

Last post by The Ghostbuster - May 16, 2024, 11:09:01 PM

Well, that was a surprise. The Denver Nuggets led the Minnesota Timberwolves 3 games to 2. Denver has won the last three games. Finishing off Minnesota should have been easy, right? Guess again. Denver really laid an egg, being blown out by the Timberwolves 115-70: https://www.nba.com/game/den-vs-min-0042300236/box-score. Game 7 is Sunday back in Denver. Will the Nuggets recover and advance to the Western Conference Finals, or will Minnesota upset them again and reach the WCF for the first time since 2004 (the only time they ever got that far in the playoffs).

#100

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: Update on I-69 Extension i...

Last post by westerninterloper - May 16, 2024, 11:08:42 PM

Of course any interstate will bring sprawl, what won't I-69 be different? Indy is a big city with a large metro area. Of course developers will take advantage of the I-69 corridor now it's being extended to build more mixed use developments.

Look at Muncie to the Northeast. I-69 fueled that city's growth providing a direct link to Indy and its closest suburbs. The Southwest side ain't any different.

As a more recent example, Fishers has grown by 1,000% since 1990 from less than 10,000 to around 100,000. Noblesville is up 400% in the same timespan, both fueled by access to Interstate 69. Anderson and Muncie have been in slow-steady decline, though I think Anderson will recover when Indy sprawl covers all the land between SR 37 and Anderson.

Shelbyville has been on 74 for what, 50 years(?), and has never experienced a population explosion. If I-69 was fueling growth in Fishers, why didn't Fishers explode in 1971 when the highway was built?

No doubt, Fishers and Noblesville benefit from I-69 but their growth has a lot more to do with being adjacent to the more populated and affluent part of Marion County.

I worked on a research project in Shelbyville about 25 years ago, and interviewed a lot of local leaders - all of them were talking about how to draw growth their direction; they lamented how the town's doctors all lived in Carmel, and the town had a "hick" reputation; no high-end housing being built there. We examined the community's reception to new Hispanic residents, it was quite eye-opening, but as I've learned over the years, nothing particularly unique to that town.