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I-77

Started by 74/171FAN, April 18, 2009, 05:55:15 PM

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SP Cook

Quote from: VTGoose on August 16, 2016, 02:36:06 PM
But this is about highways and more direct routes. I'm not asking for Georgia to build a new interstate just to ease my trip -- there are many people who probably would be more than happy to avoid Atlanta and I-26 and I-95 to travel from parts of the north to the western side of Florida.


No doubt 26 between 77 and 95, and most of 95 in the entire southeast is overburdened and in need of a good combination of thoughful alternates and more lanes. 

Because of the nature of the current crossing of the Appalachins, there is pretty close to a black letter line where one either uses 75 or 95 to get to Florida, no matter which side of Florida you need to be on, and does ones coast switching once one is already in Florida..   However another road between the two, well south of the mountains is not going to collect that much traffic. 

Really, what we need is an interstate grade road northeast from Atlanta towards Asheville, which would siphon off much 77-26-95 traffic that is headed for the Gulf side onto 75, freeing up capacity on 95 for Atlantic coast traffic.    And, Florida needs a traffic cop free interstate grade replacement for 301 from Jacksonville to Gainesville, and a road from Orlando to Naples.  Both would be great toll projects.

As to Georgia, really what Georgia needs is more effective bypasses of Atlanta as the city has grown out to and beyond its beltway.  Something connecting I-85 about 20 or 30 miles north of the beltway to somewhere near Macon, and something from I-75 also about 20 or 30 miles north of the beltway back to 75 about that far south. 


jwolfer



Quote from: SP Cook on August 17, 2016, 10:26:35 AM
Quote from: VTGoose on August 16, 2016, 02:36:06 PM...  And, Florida needs a traffic cop free interstate grade replacement for 301 from Jacksonville to Gainesville

Waldo has disbanded their police department, patrolled by Alachua County sheriff department, so the speed trap in Waldo is no more. Starke freeway bypass( truck route in Floridaese) is supposed to break ground next year. That will leave Lawtey as the speed trap

lordsutch

Quote from: SP Cook on August 17, 2016, 10:26:35 AM
Really, what we need is an interstate grade road northeast from Atlanta towards Asheville, which would siphon off much 77-26-95 traffic that is headed for the Gulf side onto 75, freeing up capacity on 95 for Atlantic coast traffic.

I-985 really should be extended up US 23 to Turnerville or so (the right-of-way is there and the existing alignment would be fine, it just needs full access control), and a new-location freeway should be put in from about Rabun County High School (south of Clayton) north to the state line, bypassing the substandard 2-4 lane facility through there. Something to bypass the commercial strip along 23/441 south of Franklin and the 35 mph zone in Dillsboro probably should be considered too. With that and some access management along the US 23/74 corridor to I-40 (and widening I-40 from Asheville to Clyde) you'd have a good high-speed alternative to divert traffic off 85. As-is it's not terrible but the portion from the state line south to Clayton is inadequate - and unfortunately GDOT's planned on-line upgrade of this section is pathetic but typical of how half-assed GRIP is.

Quote from: SP Cook on August 17, 2016, 10:26:35 AM
As to Georgia, really what Georgia needs is more effective bypasses of Atlanta as the city has grown out to and beyond its beltway.  Something connecting I-85 about 20 or 30 miles north of the beltway to somewhere near Macon, and something from I-75 also about 20 or 30 miles north of the beltway back to 75 about that far south. 

US 441 + 129 eventually will do this for an eastern bypass from 985 and 85 north to 75 south, although with some substandard bits (particularly through north/east Macon and the Madison sorta-bypass).

Any sort of proper second beltway of Atlanta, though, is a political non-starter even though it'd be a toll goldmine.

Quote from: jwolfer on August 17, 2016, 08:05:38 PM
Waldo has disbanded their police department, patrolled by Alachua County sheriff department, so the speed trap in Waldo is no more. Starke freeway bypass( truck route in Floridaese) is supposed to break ground next year. That will leave Lawtey as the speed trap

There's also Hawthorne and Citra and Orange Heights, all of which should be bypassed even if their local money-grubbing is less egregious.

sparker

Concerning an Atlanta to Asheville corridor, wouldn't a combined facility using I-575, GRIP-515, a relatively short new-terrain expressway facility along Spur-60 from Mineral Bluff to US 64/74 in NC, and the under-development expressway along US 74 to I-40 at Waynesville (and then east to Asheville) be just as effective as a corridor along US 23?  Most of it is built and/or in the process of such; the prospect of a single project connecting the two sections of such a corridor (albeit involving a joint effort of 2 states) would, IMO, be more feasible in both a political and practical sense than several separate projects bypassing currently substandard roadways and congested commercial areas.  I've actually used this routing to get from Atlanta to Asheville; even with the "slog" through the Nantahala Gorge, it was a surprisingly fast corridor; with the Gorge expressway bypass, it should be considerably more effective as a through route.     

jwolfer

#29
Quote

There's also Hawthorne and Citra and Orange Heights, all of which should be bypassed even if their local money-grubbing is less egregious.



Orange Heights and Citra are both unincorporated so it's just sheriff's office on patrol, they don't run speed traps per se.

I would like to see bypasses of the small towns. The state has built overpasses at SR 20 and 26,  but there are still traffic lights on 301 instead of on the cross roads.

The 301/i10 exit is being reconfigured, should be done in 2018. From i10 to Starke there is danger of suburban sprawl from Jacksonville..

The 301 bypass of Baldwin will link with 4 lane section thru Nassau County. So good outer bypass of Jacksonville for those going from 95 to Tampa Bay and SW Florida

I would like a better connection between 301 and 75, SR 326 @ i75 can't handle the volume and there are 2 or3 truck stops

lordsutch

Quote from: sparker on August 17, 2016, 09:35:50 PM
Concerning an Atlanta to Asheville corridor, wouldn't a combined facility using I-575, GRIP-515, a relatively short new-terrain expressway facility along Spur-60 from Mineral Bluff to US 64/74 in NC, and the under-development expressway along US 74 to I-40 at Waynesville (and then east to Asheville) be just as effective as a corridor along US 23?  Most of it is built and/or in the process of such; the prospect of a single project connecting the two sections of such a corridor (albeit involving a joint effort of 2 states) would, IMO, be more feasible in both a political and practical sense than several separate projects bypassing currently substandard roadways and congested commercial areas.  I've actually used this routing to get from Atlanta to Asheville; even with the "slog" through the Nantahala Gorge, it was a surprisingly fast corridor; with the Gorge expressway bypass, it should be considerably more effective as a through route.     

Depends on where you're going in "Atlanta" I suppose. 575/515 is probably easier to Cobb and Cumberland or to get to I-20 west; 985 is probably best for anywhere on 75 south or anything east of the downtown core; some routing using 400 is probably the easiest way to get downtown.

hbelkins

Interesting topic, since I just did much of the existing Atlanta-to-Asheville route and have been researching ADHS Corridor A for a post on that topic.

I was county-collecting, and overnighted Tuesday in Dahlonega. I needed to get Pickens County, so I backtracked south on US 19 to GA 53 and took that over to GA 5/515, then took 515 north to past Blue Ridge. For some reason, I thought the combination of GA 60, Spur GA 60 and NC 60 was part of the ADHS corridor, because North Carolina has five-laned its portion of NC 60 from the state line all the way to US 64/74. While it isn't part of the ARC system, and Georgia hasn't improved its portions of GA 60 and Spur 60 between US 76 and the state line, it's still not a bad drive.

When I attended the Atlanta meet eight years ago, I used US 23 south from Asheville through Franklin into Georgia. Portions of the route in Georgia were under construction then, and I did not mind the drive at all. Of course, not everything has to be an interstate and I don't mind a few traffic lights along a corridor -- there are more than a few of them along 515 through Ellijay and Blue Ridge, and I think I hit every light on US 23 in Pike County on the final leg of my trip -- but the US 23/I-985 corridor from Asheville all the way to I-85 is an easy drive.

At any rate, from Blacksburg, how about using US 220 south from Roanoke into North Carolina, and finding a way to connect with I-95 in either NC or SC?


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

VTGoose

Quote from: lordsutch on August 16, 2016, 09:49:33 PM
When the Fall Line (not a) Freeway opens south of Milledgeville this, uh, fall, you'll at least have a mostly-four lane option from I-520 in Augusta to I-16/75 in Macon to get over to I-75; there's still a two-lane section through Wrens that probably won't be fixed until a TSPLOST happens, a bit of suburban slog at both ends, and GA 24 west of Sandersville is probably a year or more from being done. The pie-in-the-sky I-14 proposal would make it a full freeway. Problem is that takes you a long way out of the way for non-panhandle Florida.

Most of the Freeway is now four lanes (with a section of two-lane where construction is still going on) with all towns from Wrens to outside Macon bypassed. I did a trip write-up in the Georgia thread -- and yes, it takes one a bit far west to make the route useful to get to the Gainesville and south part of Florida.

Bruce in Blacksburg
"Get in the fast lane, grandma!  The bingo game is ready to roll!"

orulz

The best alternative I can see that would take some traffic off of I-77 would be to put more long distance traffic onto I-26. I believe the below three improvements would accomplish that

(1) Make a more direct route to connecting from I-81 South to I-26 East with a new freeway connector between Bristol, TN/VA <-> Johnson City, TN
(2) Fix I-26 through Asheville (Already planned)
(3) Finally get SC to convert their portion of US 25 into a full freeway between Hendersonville, NC <-> Greenville, SC (the NC portion is already complete.)

I-26 between Asheville and Johnson City, TN is a very well-built and scenic highway - comparable to I-77 through WV in every respect - but it doesn't carry much traffic. The reason, as far as I can tell, is that it is not a very direct route for most long distance trips. For a hypothetical trip from Roanoke to Atlanta, a route using I-26 is 472 miles, compared with 434 miles when going via I-77. Most people I know aren't too keen on driving an extra 38 miles even if it means missing two major metropolitan areas (CLT and GSP) With the improvements above, you cut the I-26 route down to 438 miles and it becomes a legitimate alternative.

I understand that items 1 and 3 are not high on the list of priorities for their respective states, but when you take a broader look at priorities on a national level, especially congestion on I-77, I think it makes a lot of sense.

The Ghostbuster

What is the likelihood of options 1 and 3 actually getting constructed, even if they aren't high-prioities?

Gnutella

Quote from: Marc on August 10, 2009, 02:43:26 AM
Same can be said for many cities. San Antonio and Austin are pretty much "one" nowadays and as you head north out of Austin, there are plenty of towns that link Austin with DFW (Killeen, Temple, Waco). Once you get to the other side of Waco, you're not that far at all from the I-35E/W split. There aren't many two-lane sections of I-35 from Austin to DFW anymore.

Well that's good. Driving I-35 from Fort Worth to Austin in 2008 was frustrating to say the least. Glad to hear that most of it has been widened since then.

Strider

Does anyone have photos of I-77/I-40 interchange (or drove through it?) I heard the fly-under (as it went under, not over both I-40 and I-77 bridges lol) ramp is open. It is also marked complete on Google Maps (not in street view though)

wdcrft63

Quote from: Strider on December 07, 2016, 12:29:02 PM
Does anyone have photos of I-77/I-40 interchange (or drove through it?) I heard the fly-under (as it went under, not over both I-40 and I-77 bridges lol) ramp is open. It is also marked complete on Google Maps (not in street view though)
NCDOT lists the project as 90% complete, with final completion in the spring. The DDI at US 21 opened last weekend:
http://860wacb.com/another-traffic-shift-scheduled-for-statesville-interchange-project/

ARMOURERERIC

I drove from Morganton to Pittsburgh the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving and can confirm that the NB fly under from 77NB to 40WB is complete and open.  In fact I went to an SCA event in Boonesville in mid October and the ramp from 77 SB to 40 WB was closed to build the tie in and the detour was to travel the 3 loops.

OracleUsr

The new DDi at US 21 and I-40 is also open and operational (but the time I went there it was raining and I missed the cross-over lane).
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mvak36

Isn't there supposed to be a second part of the Statesville interchange that needs to be done? I think the project number is I-3819B. Last I heard, the ROW and construction had been moved up to FY 18.

http://governor.nc.gov/press-release/governor-mccrory-announces-accelerated-timelines-major-transportation-projects
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VTGoose

Quote from: Strider on December 07, 2016, 12:29:02 PM
Does anyone have photos of I-77/I-40 interchange (or drove through it?) I heard the fly-under (as it went under, not over both I-40 and I-77 bridges lol) ramp is open. It is also marked complete on Google Maps (not in street view though)

Came northbound on I-77 last week and there were signs about "New Traffic Pattern" and all I-40 traffic was to use the one exit. The bridges on I-77 over I-40 are still under construction.

Bruce in Blacksburg
"Get in the fast lane, grandma!  The bingo game is ready to roll!"

OracleUsr

I must say, the interchange is quite impressive.  I'm not sure the rationale behind using the left-hand ramp for Exit 152B westdound on 40 for US 21 instead of I-77 southbound, but being able to get to US 21 or I-40W from I-77N without contending with traffic going from I-40W to I-77S in the old cloverleaf is a plus.  I used to hate going to US 21N from work (we used to go to Staples until we got a corporate account and could get the stuff online) because of it.
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