What do you like about your area's road network?

[webny99]

How about a nice refresher from all the negativity these days? What are some things that you really like about the road network that surrounds you?

Rochester is known as the 20-minute city, and I find that to be generally true. Very few trips made from day-to-day within the metro take longer than 20 minutes. We have a very convenient freeway network, it can be hard (or slow going) to get to the freeway, but once you're there, you can be anywhere you want in a very short time. We have a pretty good "spoke" system too, that provides every major suburb with either a freeway, or several major arterials that will get you to a freeway. Our idea of "congestion" would get us laughed out of the park in most East Coast cities. Five minutes is a horrific delay, and slowing to a complete stop is enough to make people consider rerouting altogether. I also really like having our 2-di (I-90) stay far away the city limits. All the thru traffic can whiz by at 80 mph on the thruway, and this allows the full capacity of our local freeways for commuter traffic. All this good stuff has me looking forward to my morning commute already

[Max Rockatansky]

I really like the rich and very well documented history of State Highways in addition to US Routes in California.  Most of them were so overbuilt in the mid-20th century that it is an absolute blast to go out and see how many alignments I can go find (see US 99 Fresno thread on the Pacific Southwest Board).  California also has some of the coolest mountain roads in the country which can range from 8-foot lane cliff face like Kaiser Pass Road out to incredible scenic vistas like the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.  Even the freeway designs can be something of a relic with designs from the 1950s and 60s still floating about on CA 99 like right-on/right-off ramps.

[hotdogPi]

Traffic lights are rarely red for more than a minute, as roads with multiple lanes in each direction are rare, at least in the outer suburbs.

Major roads connect town centers directly, not straight east-west or north-south lines. In addition, there are people living pretty much everywhere; it's not like other states where you're either in a city/town/village or you're in a place that has absolutely nobody (which can sometimes be just 1 mile away, if it's a small village or town).

Routes are not legislated, unlike some other states.

Routes keep their numbers across state borders, unlike many other states.

[TheStranger]

US 101 still being a critical route for much of California is neat (it's part of my daily commute) and while there are many times I wish the Central Freeway was completed, there is something to be said for the touristy aspect of having 101 run on surface streets in San Francisco for 3-4 miles.

As incomplete as SF ended up being, it's still easier to get through town than it is in a city that is only completing some semblance of a freeway network now (Manila).

[kphoger]

Street names in Wichita are very well signed.  I can't even think of a single corner offhand that isn't signed.

[epzik8]

The I-95 Express Toll Lanes northeast of Baltimore, the weird eastern terminus of I-70 in a parking lot, I-97 in general, and I-83 in general. Also, my stretch of U.S. Route 1, including the Bel Air/Hickory Bypass.

[doorknob60]

I like how ACHD is in charge of all non-state roads in the entire county, and all signals even on state highways. Means the roads are consistently designed between cities since I often travel between Boise and Meridian multiple times a day. Signal coordination benefits from this too. Also they are very good at communication, significantly better than the state or any other city or state I pay attention to.

Speed limits are generally reasonable, especially in Meridian. Arterials generally 40 or 35 MPH depending on build quality and number of driveways, 45 in some of the lighter developed areas. 50 and 55 on suburban state highways (which sometimes feels too high, particularly Eagle Rd, but I won't complain). Boise has a few odd lower limits (most notably 25 MPH on 27th St, and it feels like they flip a coin between 30 and 35 sometimes), but even just in the last couple months, I've seen three different streets in Boise raise their speed limits (one from 30 to 35, and two from 35 to 40). When I lived in Bend, it was the opposite and they kept lowering 45 MPH roads to 35. Enforcement doesn't seem terribly common either, and other than the freeway compliance is pretty good in most places.

Aggressive push to upgrade 2/3 lane arterials to 5 lanes. Just since I moved to the area, I've seen significant upgrades to Ten Mile Rd, Cloverdale Rd, Five Mile Rd, Ustick Rd, and possibly more, with more on the way. Also upgrading intersections to dual left turns + 2/3 thru lanes + right turn lane.

Flashing yellow arrows present at almost every intersection that doesn't have dual lefts. I've seen some instances where they changed the geometry of the intersection slightly just so the sight distance was good enough to add one (recently, Milwaukee and Westpark).

[corco]

I like how ACHD is in charge of all non-state roads in the entire county, and all signals even on state highways. Means the roads are consistently designed between cities since I often travel between Boise and Meridian multiple times a day. Signal coordination benefits from this too. Also they are very good at communication, significantly better than the state or any other city or state I pay attention to.

Speed limits are generally reasonable, especially in Meridian. Arterials generally 40 or 35 MPH depending on build quality and number of driveways, 45 in some of the lighter developed areas. 50 and 55 on suburban state highways (which sometimes feels too high, particularly Eagle Rd, but I won't complain). Boise has a few odd lower limits (most notably 25 MPH on 27th St, and it feels like they flip a coin between 30 and 35 sometimes), but even just in the last couple months, I've seen three different streets in Boise raise their speed limits (one from 30 to 35, and two from 35 to 40). When I lived in Bend, it was the opposite and they kept lowering 45 MPH roads to 35. Enforcement doesn't seem terribly common either, and other than the freeway compliance is pretty good in most places.

Aggressive push to upgrade 2/3 lane arterials to 5 lanes. Just since I moved to the area, I've seen significant upgrades to Ten Mile Rd, Cloverdale Rd, Five Mile Rd, Ustick Rd, and possibly more, with more on the way. Also upgrading intersections to dual left turns + 2/3 thru lanes + right turn lane.

Flashing yellow arrows present at almost every intersection that doesn't have dual lefts. I've seen some instances where they changed the geometry of the intersection slightly just so the sight distance was good enough to add one (recently, Milwaukee and Westpark).

ACHD is pretty cool, and definitely takes pride in their communication and public outreach process.

The internal policy right now is dedicated right turn lanes on all arterial widening, and speed limit increases to 40 as they are built to a five lane cross section.

The 27th Street thing has to do with encouraging traffic to use the new Whitewater Park Blvd, allowing 27th to revert to a more local type road.- seven years ago or so, 27th was a four lane road. In practice, it's still probably too wide to support that lower speed limit.

It's a neat arrangement though, and one that generally works well. The city of Boise absolutely hates it, but the other cities in the county love that they don't have to worry about transportation.

[RobbieL2415]

I honestly like how it moves traffic even though it wasn't completed as originally envisioned.  For how fragmented it is, rush hour really isn't that bad.

[US 89]

The internal policy right now is dedicated right turn lanes on all arterial widening, and speed limit increases to 40 as they are built to a five lane cross section.

I would love if every five lane road around here was posted at 40 mph. That's what most people drive anyway, but I find that the limit on these roads is typically posted at 30 or 35 mph (even 25 on one in downtown SLC). In at least one case, the city admitted that it was a speed trap but did nothing to change it (median traffic speed 42mph but posted 30 on 400 West between North Temple and 600 N). People think Utah has high speed limits. Sure, the freeways and rural highways do, but I find that the limits on local roads (especially city maintained ones) are often too low.

That said, I like that almost every major road around here is oriented almost exactly N/S or E/W and numbered on a coordinate grid system. Makes it pretty hard to get truly lost. I also like that UDOT has lots of planned road projects for the future and doesn't seem to be too afraid of NIMBYs and environmentalists. (Exception would be Legacy Parkway).

[Flint1979]

I like that I can get from Saginaw and Flint and vice versa pretty easily using I-75 which is eight lanes for 23 miles in between the two cities.

I would love for US 23 to be widened between Flint and the Ohio border.

For the most part I like the state highways around here, M-46, M-13, M-52, M-57, M-21, M-54, M-25 they are all nice rides. Except for the smaller towns you have to go through on M-46 west of Saginaw like Hemlock, Merrill, Wheeler (which isn't even really a town but you have to slow down to 45 mph), Breckenridge, St. Louis which seem like speed traps especially Breckenridge.

US 10 is a nice highway between Bay City and Farwell. It's an expressway with a 75 mph speed limit all the way.

For the most part the layout of the highways around Michigan seem fine but they lack on maintenance on a lot of them.

[cbeach40]

In terms of road quality and design, love it. In terms of signage and ITS, leaves room for improvement.

[doorknob60]

The 27th Street thing has to do with encouraging traffic to use the new Whitewater Park Blvd, allowing 27th to revert to a more local type road.- seven years ago or so, 27th was a four lane road. In practice, it's still probably too wide to support that lower speed limit.

Yeah makes sense. I definitely prefer Whitewater Park when I can. But my primary use of 27th is coming down from Hill Rd, I come down 28th St. (30 MPH, almost exactly the same design/feel as 27th), 1 block on State St, then down 27th to get to Main/Fairview or Americana. Whitewater Park is out of the way if coming from 28th. It has actually caused me to use 32nd St. between State and Hill so I can get to Whitewater Park, which hilariously has a 30 MPH speed limit despite being a fully residential road (no striping of any kind, on street parking, lined with houses, etc. Not to mention it doesn't have much in the way of sidewalks). There's no logical reason for 32nd to be 30 MPH and 27th to be 25 MPH. They definitely should swap the two limits there. Anytime I do use 27th now, the average speed people drive is still about 35 MPH.

These pictures say it all:

[Roadgeekteen]

I like that all the interstates around me are at least 6 lanes. I also like the continuity for state routes across borders.

[mrpablue]

I like the double-decked bridges, the wrong-way Eastshore Freeway, the MacArthur Maze, the useless 3dis, and the expressways in San Jose.

I wish there were good freeways in San Francisco proper: 280 extended to Bayshore Viaduct, GG Park Fwy for 80/101, etc. Also, upgrade E Sir Francis Drake Blvd to a freeway, just for fun.

I wasn't going to mention 238, but I couldn't avoid it. (It sucks. I hate it. I-480, anyone?)

Otherwise, the stuff 'round here isn't very interesting. Good night. (We need another interstate. I-3, please.)



If you want an easy, pleasant California SR to clinch, try SR160 in Sacramento and Contra Costa counties. Stop in Isleton.

[fillup420]

I love that Boone doesn't have an interstate. The closest one is I-40, which an hour drive south on US 221. I feel like the lack of interstate keeps the "passers-by"  out. We get a lot of tourists here, but they stay around for several days. It also feels like one must make a point to drive up to Boone, as it is not located on any real long-haul routes (though an argument could be made for US 421).

I also like how there are only 4 main routes in/out of town, and the concurrencies of those routes. Northwest out of town is US 321/421 N, East out of town is US 421 S/US 221 N, and Southeast is US 221/321 S, and Southwest is NC 105 S.

[roadman65]

I used to like Orlando's road network until the developers started building everyplace imaginable.  Of course I-4 was the exception as that freeway always sucked even before the sprawl, but every place else was fine.

Sad to say Orlando now has nothing nice to say about its roads anymore.

[TR69]

In the Louisville area I like how there is an inner loop (I-264) and an outer loop (I-265) (even though neither is a true, complete loop), and they are criss-crossed by N/S I-65 and E/W I-64.

[Max Rockatansky]

I used to like Orlando's road network until the developers started building everyplace imaginable.  Of course I-4 was the exception as that freeway always sucked even before the sprawl, but every place else was fine.

Sad to say Orlando now has nothing nice to say about its roads anymore.

All the brick roads in downtown are kind of neat.  FL 15 has a really weird configuration that is worth checking out at least once.