Congestion in Rural America

[vdeane]

I'm pretty sure it's only in California where paint is considered a "median".

[cl94]

I'm pretty sure it's only in California where paint is considered a "median".

Yeah, same.

And Jersey barriers were specified, NOT temporary striping or cones. Either way, it's an undivided roadway.

[webny99]

And Jersey barriers were specified

... and said specification was retracted.

[mrcmc888]

US-113 south of Dover, despite being in the middle of nowhere, is always jam-packed on summer weekends as the beach traffic from Rehoboth, Lewes, and several other small resorts meet each other.   

DE-1 between Milford and Lewes is also packed, where it downgrades from a highway to a surface road.  The highway hasn't had an upgrade in 20 years and can't deal with all the tourist traffic being forced into one lane as it approaches US 9.

[Road Hog]

I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis is pretty damn rural and it's a perpetual convoy 24-7. C.W. McCall would be in heaven, except all the rigs are governed and there's no hammer down.

[jakeroot]

Contraflow (what everyone above is talking about) is not particularly common in Washington, but when it does occur, cones are often used to separate the directions (in lieu of re-striping). Although re-striping is not unusual.

In Sumner, WA, not that long ago, cones were used for some contraflow, but not throughout the length of the project. So two directions were divided by a single dashed white line. This isn't particularly common:

[MNHighwayMan]

I can't think of any year-round examples for Minnesota, but I-35 between the Twin Cities and Duluth and I-94 between the Twin Cities and St. Cloud is miserable on summer weekends when lanes are closed for construction projects. An Upper Midwest special is shutting down one side of the road and using the other carriageway as a two-lane road while the closed side is reconstructed.

There's two of them on I-35 south of the Twin Cities right now, and last Sunday they were absolutely miserable. I was completely stopped while approaching one of them for at least ten minutes. (I should've taken one of those "Alternate To" routes that are now marked! )

[SSOWorld]

Contraflow (what everyone above is talking about) is not particularly common in Washington, but when it does occur, cones are often used to separate the directions (in lieu of re-striping). Although re-striping is not unusual.

In Sumner, WA, not that long ago, cones were used for some contraflow, but not throughout the length of the project. So two directions were divided by a single dashed white line. This isn't particularly common:

[[snip]]

Are you sure it's not the Swift truck that caused it?

[AlexandriaVA]

Axioms on rural congestion:

1) Rural highways have lower capacity than urban highways
2) Rural highways are almost by definition remote, and by result, there often be much less auxiliary capacity nearby
3) The rural auxiliary capacity (e.g.frontage roads or side roads) may be lower than urban auxiliary capacity.
4) Rural slowdowns often occur because of a major incident (e.g. train derailment, truck explosion) rather than urban volume.
5) Rural authorities may have less experience or planning with slowdowns, particularly if you have an incident (axiom 4).

[Brandon]

I visited the 2nd-least populous state and got in 3 long awful traffic jams in one day.  Does Vermont have a road department at all?

From my visit through Vermont, I highly doubt it.  Their two-lane roads suck majorly, and would it kill VTrans to have passing lanes?  It would be nice to be able to pass the New Hampshire jackasses going 5-10 under the freaking underposted speed limit.

[roadman65]

In SC along I-95 in Jasper County which is rural for SC.  Do not know if that is rural by the OP, but it congests around Rigdeland and of course SC won't widen the roadway.  Usually along the US 17 concurrency it gets thick with people heading to FL almost to a dead stop.

The thing is I-95 in general needs to be six lanes all the way from the Savanah River to Petersburg, VA, however from the GA Line to at least Walterboro, those in Columbia should be pushing to get at least that part of the interstate widened. Heck the fact GDOT widened their part of I-95 right up the SC Line (and partly into it due to the State Line being in the middle of the river bridge that also is completely at six lanes) you think SCDOT would get the hint.

[Rothman]

I visited the 2nd-least populous state and got in 3 long awful traffic jams in one day.  Does Vermont have a road department at all?

From my visit through Vermont, I highly doubt it.  Their two-lane roads suck majorly, and would it kill VTrans to have passing lanes?  It would be nice to be able to pass the New Hampshire jackasses going 5-10 under the freaking underposted speed limit.

Amen.

[roadman65]

I visited the 2nd-least populous state and got in 3 long awful traffic jams in one day.  Does Vermont have a road department at all?

From my visit through Vermont, I highly doubt it.  Their two-lane roads suck majorly, and would it kill VTrans to have passing lanes?  It would be nice to be able to pass the New Hampshire jackasses going 5-10 under the freaking underposted speed limit.

Amen.

Vermont's only four lane divided highways are all freeways.  All the US and state routes really are pretty much two lane roads that just are given a number designations. In Vermont your rural off freeways are 50 mph while the interstates get 65 mph.  Only the super two US 7 gets 55 and I believe the same road gets the only undivided non freeway roads in the state.

[cl94]

I visited the 2nd-least populous state and got in 3 long awful traffic jams in one day.  Does Vermont have a road department at all?

From my visit through Vermont, I highly doubt it.  Their two-lane roads suck majorly, and would it kill VTrans to have passing lanes?  It would be nice to be able to pass the New Hampshire jackasses going 5-10 under the freaking underposted speed limit.

Amen.

Vermont's only four lane divided highways are all freeways.  All the US and state routes really are pretty much two lane roads that just are given a number designations. In Vermont your rural off freeways are 50 mph while the interstates get 65 mph.  Only the super two US 7 gets 55 and I believe the same road gets the only undivided non freeway roads in the state.

Incorrect. US 7 has a divided section south of Rutland that is not a freeway and VT 62 is divided near Barre.

The US 7 expressway is 55. Sections of US 2 and VT 279 are posted at 55.

And you pass the NH idiots by passing on a double yellow line. Legal in VT unless signed otherwise. I feel like I do a "Vermont pass" every time I'm in Vermont.

[jakeroot]

Contraflow (what everyone above is talking about) is not particularly common in Washington, but when it does occur, cones are often used to separate the directions (in lieu of re-striping). Although re-striping is not unusual.

In Sumner, WA, not that long ago, cones were used for some contraflow, but not throughout the length of the project. So two directions were divided by a single dashed white line. This isn't particularly common:

[[snip]]

Are you sure it's not the Swift truck that caused it?

Oh that's true. "Sure Wish I Finished Training", right?

[sparker]

CA 99 (functionally CA's "Main Street"), for the past 30+ years the site of specific congestion points around the larger (100K+) cities -- Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, and Stockton -- has gotten to the point where that congestion is spreading on a linear basis to the previously unaffected (or lightly affected) towns.  Part of that is due to distribution centers (mostly food-related) along or near that route; some actually process and pack crops for overseas consumption (one of the few positives in our trade deficits!).  Right now I'd consider anything between Turlock and Lodi to be more suburban than rural because of the incursion of Bay Area overflow/affordable housing -- with the inherent traffic problems associated with this sort of development; but with a few exceptions the remainder would be considered rural.  The freeway south of Fresno has been undergoing almost constant construction as far as the CA 198 junction; many of those distribution points have been located in the Selma/Kingsburg area with a few as far afield as Visalia -- hence the expansion to 6 lanes (and 8 near Fresno!) along that stretch.  And the congestion has extended southward; whereas for years it was free-moving starting about 5 miles south of Jensen Ave., now the congestion often extends to the CA 43 exit and even the Kings River bridge (construction efforts have, of course, exacerbated this issue) -- but it's clear that the 6+ lane expansion is warranted.  For the time being the 2+2 segment from Tulare south to Delano seems only to be affected during inclement weather (tule fog among the major culprits here) or when there are significant numbers of trucks functioning as "road boulders" -- the slow passing the slower -- the effects of which tend to extend to the rear and cause a general traffic slowdown.  But, so far, that segment seems to be too far afield to attract distribution center development -- although it's one of the oldest of the corridor's facilities and contains the most substandard features (low overheads, narrow bridges, short ramps, etc.).  But right now it's not enough of a "squeaky wheel" for Caltrans to prioritize it.   

But the agency does still maintain a "master plan" for the corridor that envisions a minimum of 6 lanes overall, with 8 or more (as needed) in the more urbanized sections.  However, like most such plans, it is largely unfunded and implemented sporadically.  With the increase in commercial attractiveness of the area (generally based on land prices lower than coastal areas plus the availability of relatively efficient rail and road corridors), this plan may well be revisited on a more near-term timetable.

[froggie]

I visited the 2nd-least populous state and got in 3 long awful traffic jams in one day.  Does Vermont have a road department at all?

From my visit through Vermont, I highly doubt it.  Their two-lane roads suck majorly, and would it kill VTrans to have passing lanes?  It would be nice to be able to pass the New Hampshire jackasses going 5-10 under the freaking underposted speed limit.

If you guys want to shovel more Federal highway money our way, we'd be happy to try and improve the roadways.  As it is now, our highway budget barely covers snowplowing, pavement repair, and some much needed bridge replacements.  Being the 2nd least-populous state means we don't have much of a funding base and have a high gas tax to boot just to get what we've got.

The US 7 expressway is 55. Sections of US 2 and VT 279 are posted at 55.

As is VT 63.

And you pass the NH idiots by passing on a double yellow line. Legal in VT unless signed otherwise.

Usually not recommended, though, because if VTrans stripes a double-yellow on a state highway, it's usually because visibility is restricted.  More allowable on the paved town highways, which do not have passing zones striped.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 99 (functionally CA's "Main Street"), for the past 30+ years the site of specific congestion points around the larger (100K+) cities -- Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, and Stockton -- has gotten to the point where that congestion is spreading on a linear basis to the previously unaffected (or lightly affected) towns.  Part of that is due to distribution centers (mostly food-related) along or near that route; some actually process and pack crops for overseas consumption (one of the few positives in our trade deficits!).  Right now I'd consider anything between Turlock and Lodi to be more suburban than rural because of the incursion of Bay Area overflow/affordable housing -- with the inherent traffic problems associated with this sort of development; but with a few exceptions the remainder would be considered rural.  The freeway south of Fresno has been undergoing almost constant construction as far as the CA 198 junction; many of those distribution points have been located in the Selma/Kingsburg area with a few as far afield as Visalia -- hence the expansion to 6 lanes (and 8 near Fresno!) along that stretch.  And the congestion has extended southward; whereas for years it was free-moving starting about 5 miles south of Jensen Ave., now the congestion often extends to the CA 43 exit and even the Kings River bridge (construction efforts have, of course, exacerbated this issue) -- but it's clear that the 6+ lane expansion is warranted.  For the time being the 2+2 segment from Tulare south to Delano seems only to be affected during inclement weather (tule fog among the major culprits here) or when there are significant numbers of trucks functioning as "road boulders" -- the slow passing the slower -- the effects of which tend to extend to the rear and cause a general traffic slowdown.  But, so far, that segment seems to be too far afield to attract distribution center development -- although it's one of the oldest of the corridor's facilities and contains the most substandard features (low overheads, narrow bridges, short ramps, etc.).  But right now it's not enough of a "squeaky wheel" for Caltrans to prioritize it.   

But the agency does still maintain a "master plan" for the corridor that envisions a minimum of 6 lanes overall, with 8 or more (as needed) in the more urbanized sections.  However, like most such plans, it is largely unfunded and implemented sporadically.  With the increase in commercial attractiveness of the area (generally based on land prices lower than coastal areas plus the availability of relatively efficient rail and road corridors), this plan may well be revisited on a more near-term timetable.

I-5 and 99 generally just avenues of misery in the Central Valley.  Generally I try to stick to; 33, 43, or 65 heading south and CA 59/J59 or 49 heading north. 

[sparker]

I-5 and 99 generally just avenues of misery in the Central Valley.  Generally I try to stick to; 33, 43, or 65 heading south and CA 59/J59 or 49 heading north. 

Don't know if you've ever used it on a regular basis, but multi-county J7 from Merced to Stockton is a very interesting alternative to 99 between those points.  With the disclaimer that I'm a railfan and about 75% of the route follows the BNSF main line, it pretty much gives the traveler the opportunity to see parts of the Valley -- for better or worse -- that one misses on the 99 corridor -- ranging from orchards, farmland, suburbs, some small town centers, and even monstrous food-processing facilities (east of Modesto).  As an alternative, highly recommended.  Did it last year coming back from Madera (signing some property-related shit with my ex! -- yecch!); except for more housing tracts in the Riverbank/Escalon area, hasn't changed much since I first used it in the '80's. 

[Bruce]

Much of the I-5 corridor between Seattle and Portland is rural and sees very high traffic volumes during weekends. Same goes for the Seattle-Vancouver BC corridor.

Some one-off festivals like the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival can push things to the extreme. Last year's solar eclipse was a fun one to escape...almost 9 hours between Salem and Seattle (most of it spent on the backroads leading to Portland).

[Beltway]

Axioms on rural congestion:
1) Rural highways have lower capacity than urban highways
2) Rural highways are almost by definition remote, and by result, there often be much less auxiliary capacity nearby
3) The rural auxiliary capacity (e.g.frontage roads or side roads) may be lower than urban auxiliary capacity.
4) Rural slowdowns often occur because of a major incident (e.g. train derailment, truck explosion) rather than urban volume.
5) Rural authorities may have less experience or planning with slowdowns, particularly if you have an incident (axiom 4).

I was driving from the early days of the Interstate system.  Volumes were so much lower that 4 lanes on rural Interstates seemed way overdesigned on most of the mileage.  I remember thinking that much of it should have been built as 2 lanes on 4-lane right-of-way, to increase the rate of mileage completion.  I thought this until at least 1975 or so.

I-95 thru the South needed 4 lanes from the outset.  Traffic was so light on I-81 TN-PA that I thought much should have been built with 2 lanes, as late as 1975 when it was all complete Knoxville-Harrisburg except the short 4-lane arterial at Wytheville.  Rural daily volumes in VA were in the 5,000 to 8,000 range, which could have been handled with 2 lanes.

Hard to believe now, but that is what 40+ years of slow but steady traffic growth will do!

Granted 2-lane freeways have their own inherent problems mainly the high rate of headon fatal accidents.

[Hurricane Rex]

Much of the I-5 corridor between Seattle and Portland is rural and sees very high traffic volumes during weekends. Same goes for the Seattle-Vancouver BC corridor.

Some one-off festivals like the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival can push things to the extreme. Last year's solar eclipse was a fun one to escape...almost 9 hours between Salem and Seattle (most of it spent on the backroads leading to Portland).

Let's just say Eugene to Vancouver as south of Portland has some pretty high numbers as well and sometimes higher.

LG-TP260

[sparker]

Much of the I-5 corridor between Seattle and Portland is rural and sees very high traffic volumes during weekends. Same goes for the Seattle-Vancouver BC corridor.

Some one-off festivals like the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival can push things to the extreme. Last year's solar eclipse was a fun one to escape...almost 9 hours between Salem and Seattle (most of it spent on the backroads leading to Portland).

Let's just say Eugene to Vancouver as south of Portland has some pretty high numbers as well and sometimes higher.

LG-TP260

Not coincidentally, one can almost always locate the West Coast rural areas featuring the most regularly congested roadways by the presence of paralleling regional Amtrak routes.  Eugene-Vancouver is the part of I-5 that is one of the most congested routes (on an overall basis) in the NW; the areas served by that route segment are also served by Amtrak's Cascade regional service. Further south, CA 99 and to a lesser extent I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley are themselves paralleled by the San Joaquin regional Amtrak service, supplemented by the Capitol service, which follows I-80 and I-880 quite closely.  All those routes are prone to regular congestion even in the segments not in urbanized or semi-urbanized areas.  I'd mention the SoCal Coaster Amtrak service -- but only the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo segment of that service even remotely qualifies as rural -- the ship sailed long ago on the remainder of that corridor south through L.A. to San Diego.