Virginia

[Stephane Dumas]

I checked the western end of the Danville Expwy on Google Maps and it showed a incomplete cloverleaf. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6039622,-79.5299596,7194m/data=!3m1!1e3 

Did VA DOT had once bigger plans for the Danville Expwy?

[kernals12]

I checked the western end of the Danville Expwy on Google Maps and it showed a incomplete cloverleaf. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6039622,-79.5299596,7194m/data=!3m1!1e3 

Did VA DOT had once bigger plans for the Danville Expwy?

They were going to expand it to serve the ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA

[Alps]

I checked the western end of the Danville Expwy on Google Maps and it showed a incomplete cloverleaf. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6039622,-79.5299596,7194m/data=!3m1!1e3 

Did VA DOT had once bigger plans for the Danville Expwy?

I wanna say it was going to be a loop but they gave up on the northwestern section.

[74/171FAN]

I checked the western end of the Danville Expwy on Google Maps and it showed a incomplete cloverleaf. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6039622,-79.5299596,7194m/data=!3m1!1e3 

Did VA DOT had once bigger plans for the Danville Expwy?

They were going to expand it to serve the ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA

  I guess Dr. Doofenshmirtz has an extra skyscraper in Danville, VA, now and forgot to tell Perry the Platypus.

[froggie]

I checked the western end of the Danville Expwy on Google Maps and it showed a incomplete cloverleaf. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6039622,-79.5299596,7194m/data=!3m1!1e3 

Did VA DOT had once bigger plans for the Danville Expwy?

I wanna say it was going to be a loop but they gave up on the northwestern section.

Not sure if Mike (mapmikey) had any better luck, but I never found anything to suggest that VDOT planned an entire loop.  Furthermore, that leg of the Danville bypass west of US 29 is fairly recent vintage...was not built until 2005.  As weird as it looks, I believe VDOT just intended for the end interchange to be that way.

We've speculated that perhaps they intended on a new alignment between the Danville and Martinsville bypasses, but there's nothing concrete to support that either (pun intended).

[plain]

VDOT has a habit of doing certain interchanges like that whether or not any future extension is even thought about. It's more of a "just in case".

Example: VA 895 at I-295, US 29 at US 460 (east of Lynchburg)

[kernals12]

VDOT has a habit of doing certain interchanges like that whether or not any future extension is even thought about. It's more of a "just in case".

Example: VA 895 at I-295, US 29 at US 460 (east of Lynchburg)

They did that in Massachusetts with the 290/495 interchange

[froggie]

US 29 at US 460 (east of Lynchburg)

This one's a different case.  VDOT very much had a plan for a full Lynchburg bypass for 29, including south of  460, where it would tie back into existing 29 near VA 24.  North of 460 was a higher priority so that got built first.  Not sure if south of 460 is still on the planning books.

[Takumi]

I once read (probably here) that 895 was built the way it was to potentially incorporate ramps to/from Charles City and Turner Roads, which are nearby the interchange with 295. However, I don’t think there have ever been any actual plans for that.

[Mapmikey]

US 29 at US 460 (east of Lynchburg)

This one's a different case.  VDOT very much had a plan for a full Lynchburg bypass for 29, including south of  460, where it would tie back into existing 29 near VA 24.  North of 460 was a higher priority so that got built first.  Not sure if south of 460 is still on the planning books.

This circa 2016 study suggests the US 29 bypass south of US 460 is unavailable short term due to cost and fixes along existing 29 were the entirety of the solutions set.

I have been trying without success to find either the project plans or at least the EIS for the Western Danville Bypass for US 58 that might explain why the interchange at the west end is the way it is.  Satellite views show it was not necessary to have the clover ramp setup based on exisitng conditins prior to construction.  Building for eventual extension of the freeway is plausible, though the VTrans 2035 highway improvement list does not include either a new US 58 alignment west of Danville, nor a continuation around to the northeast to connect back with US 29 (this seems implausible to me...this would be a very large loop around Danville that is not necessary in any way).

It seems to me they could have made a traditional diamond at today's US 311 where US 58 Business would be rerouted to meet there and US 58 would just curve around onto the existing highway heading for Martinsville.  This would also have preserved the ability to carry the freeway further west someday.

[sprjus4]

^ A new alignment for US-58 extending west of the existing end of the Danville Bypass is likely the way it would go... but unless there's a desire to create a limited access US-58 to Martinsville, there's really no need. The existing 4 lane divided highway has relatively few traffic signals, is 60 mph, and doesn't have any traffic issues. The only thing I could say would be to widen some of the shoulders.

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Little question here for those familiar with VA roadway standards from the past.
(Mixing Bowl construction, 1975)
Who remembers lane stripes being this long? Looking at aerials from the time this was something that stood out to me. Most examples seem to have been gone by the time the '80s rolled around. Why was this changed and implemented in the first place, and do any remnants exist today?

[Alps]

Little question here for those familiar with VA roadway standards from the past.
(Mixing Bowl construction, 1975)
Who remembers lane stripes being this long? Looking at aerials from the time this was something that stood out to me. Most examples seem to have been gone by the time the '80s rolled around. Why was this changed and implemented in the first place, and do any remnants exist today?

It's not loading for me but NJ Turnpike and Illinois use 25'/25' lanes, perhaps similar?

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Little question here for those familiar with VA roadway standards from the past.
(Mixing Bowl construction, 1975)
Who remembers lane stripes being this long? Looking at aerials from the time this was something that stood out to me. Most examples seem to have been gone by the time the '80s rolled around. Why was this changed and implemented in the first place, and do any remnants exist today?

It's not loading for me but NJ Turnpike and Illinois use 25'/25' lanes, perhaps similar?

Yes, and they were in use on all kinds of multi-lane roads in the state.

[plain]

Those were the regular length lanes, not the ones used on the NJTP/ITR/Illinois Tollway. They just look like that because of the angle the image was taken from.

[bluecountry]

Speaking of I-64, I was on it between I-295 and SR33 yesterday, no delays, but steady volume, I am always surprised given this is a rural area.  Why isn't it more like I-66 is west of Rt 15?

That segment of I-64 is always busy, lots of traffic traveling between Hampton Roads and Richmond / the I-95 corridor. During summer weekends, the highway is usually congested with rolling backups on the rural stretches. One accident and it's a mess.

VDOT has secured the funding needed and widening the remaining 29 miles between MM 205 and MM 234 to six lanes, and construction is planned to be complete on at least the next 10 miles west of Williamsburg by 2027-2028, meaning construction should begin within the next year or two. VDOT has already widened around 26 miles of this corridor since 2016 from four to six lanes.

Well I get summer weekend traffic, but weekday traffic?
Is it the 'funnel' effect of the Virginia Peninsula or the closeness of Richmond to HR, or both?

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Those were the regular length lanes, not the ones used on the NJTP/ITR/Illinois Tollway. They just look like that because of the angle the image was taken from.

I disagree, there is a clear difference between those and the ones used in VA today.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kqXvyk6CqxLwzUjN8
(1976 vs. 1990)

[plain]

Those were the regular length lanes, not the ones used on the NJTP/ITR/Illinois Tollway. They just look like that because of the angle the image was taken from.

I disagree, there is a clear difference between those and the ones used in VA today.
Here is a scene in 1976:
vs. 1990:

I can't see the images

[bluecountry]

Is it me or are there a LOT more state troopers out this weekend?

[74/171FAN]

Is it me or are there a LOT more state troopers out this weekend?

It is a pretty regular thing for police to step up their enforcement on holiday weekends.  Is your post meant to be VA-specific or in general?

[1995hoo]

Is it me or are there a LOT more state troopers out this weekend?

We saw multiple people pulled over just between US-29 near Falls Church (Jefferson District Golf Course) and Van Dorn Street. That's a small sample, of course, but we seldom see anyone stopped through there (one driver was stopped in the HO/T lanes; also, on the way over to the golf course, we saw a cop had stopped a tractor-trailer in the Outer Loop HO/T lanes).

Of course, the number of vehicles with Maryland plates being operated at 85+ mph was at least as high as usual...

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Those were the regular length lanes, not the ones used on the NJTP/ITR/Illinois Tollway. They just look like that because of the angle the image was taken from.

I disagree, there is a clear difference between those and the ones used in VA today.
Here is a scene in 1976:
vs. 1990:

I can't see the images

Fixed now, first try.

[bluecountry]

Is it me or are there a LOT more state troopers out this weekend?

It is a pretty regular thing for police to step up their enforcement on holiday weekends.  Is your post meant to be VA-specific or in general?

Yea I got fucked yesterday on US17 AND SR3!  I never see cops there, OMG.
So I gotta remember, Mem Day, 4th, Labor Day, Wipeout Wednesday, and New Years patrols are up; any other days?

[Rothman]

Wait...people don't know about increased enforcement on holiday weekends?

NYSDOT's new photo enforcement is going to nail a whole lot more people than they anticipated.

[famartin]

Wait...people don't know about increased enforcement on holiday weekends?

NYSDOT's new photo enforcement is going to nail a whole lot more people than they anticipated.

Lets be honest... Bluecountry doesn't seem to be aware of a lot of things, based on his posting history.