What do visitors say about your area road network?

Started by webny99, January 16, 2018, 09:07:04 AM

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webny99

This isn't necessarily an easy question to answer, but I think it should lead to some interesting discussion.

In my case, upon thinking about it, a few things come to mind that non-locals have said at least twice:
-The thruway needs to be widened
-We really don't have much congestion to speak of, meaning...
-Drivers tend to get aggravated for even a little slowdown (or, maybe, that just runs in my family  :-D but I think there is some truth to it)
-The roads are kept clear in the winter, despite heavy snowfall, almost unbelievably so to visitors from warmer climates
-Side roads in neighborhoods are very narrow (This is true, but only in certain areas)
-Two lane roads in suburban areas have very low speed limits


Hurricane Rex

Out of what I've heard (not a 100% complete list but plenty)

-How are your freeways not more than 3 lanes? And 2 thru downtown?
-You rely on MAX fixing all of your traffic problems?
-SPEED LIMIT 65T55 (now 65T60) in rural areas?
-SPEED 55 on 2 laners?
-Poor roadway design.
-A drawbridge on an interstate?
-NIMBY city? (okay, that is split but my Illinois family, when they come out, says that)
-Rushed drivers much? (improper English intended)
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.

1995hoo

#1 thing I usually hear is something along the lines of "how do you put up with all this."
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

jeffandnicole

Isn't this road/bridge already paid for?  Why do we still have to pay tolls?
Your roads suck.
Why do you have to turn left from the right lane?
I can't believe all of this traffic!


Max Rockatansky

Why are there one-lane highways?  That utterance was said upon taking family from Virginia to Big Basin State Park via CA 236 last year.  I guess they expected all freeways?...I think that's what most associate California with. 

21stCenturyRoad

This is what South Florida has to say:
- Traffic, Traffic and way more traffic.
- Express Lanes are way too expensive and congested
- Endless Construction
- Tolls Everywhere
The truth is the truth even if no one believes it, and a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it.

webny99

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 16, 2018, 12:06:38 PM
Why are there one-lane highways?  That utterance was said upon taking family from Virginia to Big Basin State Park via CA 236 last year.  I guess they expected all freeways?...I think that's what most associate California with.

I wouldn't expect all freeways, but I would expect all congestion :D

I've heard from family friends that I-5 between LA and the Bay Area is basically a solid wall of bumper-to-bumper 80 mph traffic, especially on weekends. Having never driven on I-5, I don't know if there's any truth to that.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 12:20:00 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 16, 2018, 12:06:38 PM
Why are there one-lane highways?  That utterance was said upon taking family from Virginia to Big Basin State Park via CA 236 last year.  I guess they expected all freeways?...I think that's what most associate California with.

I wouldn't expect all freeways, but I would expect all congestion :D

I've heard from family friends that I-5 between LA and the Bay Area is basically a solid wall of bumper-to-bumper 80 mph traffic, especially on weekends. Having never driven on I-5, I don't know if there's any truth to that.

Really that's the popular perception I think simply because most tourists or outsiders just visit the big cities.  A huge amount of California roadways are still rural or mountainous in nature.  Really if I were to rank a top 25 driving roads I'd probably speculate at least 10 would be in California. 

Pretty much the only way not to get run over by all the regular vehicle traffic.  I greatly prefer 5 over 99 since it has way commercial trucking on it and is much more rural in design.  The best roads to the Bay Area are off the grid though I'd recommend getting off on 198, taking it to 25, and up to 101 if I were traveling to the Bay Area from L.A. 

webny99

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 16, 2018, 12:31:42 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 12:20:00 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 16, 2018, 12:06:38 PM
Why are there one-lane highways?  That utterance was said upon taking family from Virginia to Big Basin State Park via CA 236 last year.  I guess they expected all freeways?...I think that's what most associate California with.

I wouldn't expect all freeways, but I would expect all congestion :D

I've heard from family friends that I-5 between LA and the Bay Area is basically a solid wall of bumper-to-bumper 80 mph traffic, especially on weekends. Having never driven on I-5, I don't know if there's any truth to that.

Really that's the popular perception I think simply because most tourists or outsiders just visit the big cities.  A huge amount of California roadways are still rural or mountainous in nature.  Really if I were to rank a top 25 driving roads I'd probably speculate at least 10 would be in California.

Of course, and I don't really have that perception myself. Having visited Muir Woods and Pacifica on my trip to San Fran, it just impresses you how diverse of a state it really is. CA 1, in particular, is a fun drive. And I haven't seen but a fraction yet.

Quote
Pretty much the only way not to get run over by all the regular vehicle traffic.

This does not seem to be a complete thought... are you referring to the need to drive 80 mph on I-5?

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 01:09:44 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 16, 2018, 12:31:42 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 12:20:00 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 16, 2018, 12:06:38 PM
Why are there one-lane highways?  That utterance was said upon taking family from Virginia to Big Basin State Park via CA 236 last year.  I guess they expected all freeways?...I think that's what most associate California with.

I wouldn't expect all freeways, but I would expect all congestion :D

I've heard from family friends that I-5 between LA and the Bay Area is basically a solid wall of bumper-to-bumper 80 mph traffic, especially on weekends. Having never driven on I-5, I don't know if there's any truth to that.

Really that's the popular perception I think simply because most tourists or outsiders just visit the big cities.  A huge amount of California roadways are still rural or mountainous in nature.  Really if I were to rank a top 25 driving roads I'd probably speculate at least 10 would be in California.

Of course, and I don't really have that perception myself. Having visited Muir Woods and Pacifica on my trip to San Fran, it just impresses you how diverse of a state it really is. CA 1, in particular, is a fun drive. And I haven't seen but a fraction yet.

Quote
Pretty much the only way not to get run over by all the regular vehicle traffic.

This does not seem to be a complete thought... are you referring to the need to drive 80 mph on I-5?

Yes, 80 MPH is a must on I-5 north of the Ridge Route. 

kphoger

I don't think I've heard any visitor mention our road network at all.  Must be fairly nondescript.
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.

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 01:37:26 PM
I don't think I've heard any visitor mention our road network at all.  Must be fairly nondescript.

I've always thought the routing of the Kansas Turnpike was kind of strange.

kphoger

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 01:37:26 PM
I don't think I've heard any visitor mention our road network at all.  Must be fairly nondescript.

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 01:47:01 PM
I've always thought the routing of the Kansas Turnpike was kind of strange.

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 08:52:38 AM
I have never been to Kansas

I've still never heard any visitor mention it.   ;-)

Besides which, what's strange about it?  It connects Kansas City, the state capital, Wichita, and Oklahoma City via Oklahoma's turnpike (oops).  Hard for me to imagine a more reasonable routing. 
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.

bzakharin

What's the difference between the Turnpike and the Parkway? Isn't it dangerous to have traffic lights on high-speed divided highways? You people have no idea how to drive in snow.

Doctor Whom

I keep hearing about the confusing road layout, the heavy traffic, and the poor response to snow. With regard to DC specifically, people complain about the confusing addressing system until I tell them to think of it in terms of Cartesian coordinates; then they typically get it.

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 02:07:14 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 01:37:26 PM
I don't think I've heard any visitor mention our road network at all.  Must be fairly nondescript.

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 01:47:01 PM
I've always thought the routing of the Kansas Turnpike was kind of strange.

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 08:52:38 AM
I have never been to Kansas

I've still never heard any visitor mention it.   ;-)

Besides which, what's strange about it?  It connects Kansas City, the state capital, Wichita, and Oklahoma City via Oklahoma's turnpike (oops).  Hard for me to imagine a more reasonable routing.

Because it serves the capital, it doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC. On balance, it's not really "strange" per se, but when you consider that thru traffic gets off, and then back on, and also the wonky numbering, then it's a bit strange.

pdx-wanderer

A friend I met in college who came from Alaska was duly impressed with how many freeways there were here, and how fast everyone drives. I sure wasn't expecting to ever hear that about anywhere in Oregon!

And then there's the guy from somewhere super rich in California who got at least three tickets for going 70+ on 50 or 55 mph stretches of freeway here...in his first year. 

kphoger

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 02:37:28 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 02:07:14 PM
Besides which, what's strange about it?  It connects Kansas City, the state capital, Wichita, and Oklahoma City via Oklahoma's turnpike (oops).  Hard for me to imagine a more reasonable routing.

Because it serves the capital, it doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC. On balance, it's not really "strange" per se, but when you consider that thru traffic gets off, and then back on, and also the wonky numbering, then it's a bit strange.

???  It doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC  ???

There's only a three-mile difference between taking the Turnpike between the two cities versus taking I-35.

Furthermore, when the Turnpike was built (1956), I-35 didn't exist yet.



And the plan before that (via US-81 and US-50) would have been approximately ten miles longer.

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.

J N Winkler

I suspect the Kansas SHC resisted routing the Wichita-KC Interstate connection through Topeka because that would have stranded US 50 in Johnson County, for which major upgrades were planned even back in the 1940's.  In the end the Turnpike was leveraged to leave Kansas with approximately the same amount of untolled Interstate mileage as would have existed if the currently tolled portions of I-35 and I-70 had been built through toll-free methods and the Emporia-Topeka connection via I-335 had not been built at all.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 03:24:15 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 02:37:28 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 02:07:14 PM
Besides which, what's strange about it?  It connects Kansas City, the state capital, Wichita, and Oklahoma City via Oklahoma's turnpike (oops).  Hard for me to imagine a more reasonable routing.

Because it serves the capital, it doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC. On balance, it's not really "strange" per se, but when you consider that thru traffic gets off, and then back on, and also the wonky numbering, then it's a bit strange.

???  It doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC  ???

There's only a three-mile difference between taking the Turnpike between the two cities versus taking I-35.

Furthermore, when the Turnpike was built (1956), I-35 didn't exist yet.

Forgive me for my stupidity. I was thinking of Salina for some reason, not Topeka, and I posted that without looking at a map. That's something one should never do, even a roadgeek.

Anyways, I'll concede that the routing is decent, but, my point still stands that the numbering is rather wonky.

kphoger

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 04:27:16 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 03:24:15 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 02:37:28 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2018, 02:07:14 PM
Besides which, what's strange about it?  It connects Kansas City, the state capital, Wichita, and Oklahoma City via Oklahoma's turnpike (oops).  Hard for me to imagine a more reasonable routing.

Because it serves the capital, it doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC. On balance, it's not really "strange" per se, but when you consider that thru traffic gets off, and then back on, and also the wonky numbering, then it's a bit strange.

???  It doesn't go directly from Wichita to KC  ???

There's only a three-mile difference between taking the Turnpike between the two cities versus taking I-35.

Furthermore, when the Turnpike was built (1956), I-35 didn't exist yet.

Forgive me for my stupidity. I was thinking of Salina for some reason, not Topeka, and I posted that without looking at a map. That's something one should never do, even a roadgeek.

Anyways, I'll concede that the routing is decent, but, my point still stands that the numbering is rather wonky.

Again, the Turnpike predates all of that.  It predates the I-335 designation by 31 years, for example, and I-70 wasn't I-70 yet west of Topeka when the Turnpike was built.
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.

Scott5114

I would suggest reading through the Kansas Turnpike article on Wikipedia, as it is one of the most complete sources of information on the road as anyone could put together.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

TheHighwayMan3561

A lot of roadgeek friends who have visited me in MN comment impressively on the large volume of freeways in the Twin Cities.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

webny99

Quote from: Scott5114 on January 16, 2018, 06:00:02 PM
I would suggest reading through the Kansas Turnpike article on Wikipedia, as it is one of the most complete sources of information on the road as anyone could put together.

If this is not sarcasm, then I will do just that, someday when I got lots of spare time :-P

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on January 16, 2018, 06:30:05 PM
A lot of roadgeek friends who have visited me in MN comment impressively on the large volume of freeways in the Twin Cities.

I second that. Two other things that stood out (on my first visit, anyways) were the high volumes of cloverleaf interchanges, and, down in Lakeville, the lack of signalized intersections, which has since become less noticeable.

hotdogPi

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2018, 08:35:28 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 16, 2018, 06:00:02 PM
I would suggest reading through the Kansas Turnpike article on Wikipedia, as it is one of the most complete sources of information on the road as anyone could put together.

If this is not sarcasm, then I will do just that, someday when I got lots of spare time :-P

Definitely not sarcasm. The Kansas Turnpike article is a featured article on Wikipedia for a reason. You should also check out Scott5114's Wikipedia userpage.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.



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