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Weekend trip to Tennessee

Started by hbelkins, May 07, 2018, 11:59:47 AM

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hbelkins

I took a short trip this past weekend to Tennessee to clinch US 11. I had planned to make this a part of my route home from the recent Louisana meet, but since I was unable to attend, I was not able to drive US 11 then.

To start, I had to make my way to the Chattanooga area. To do so, I went via Somerset and Albany, Ky., using US 127 to connect to TN 111. Eventually, when Kentucky finishes US 127 from Jamestown south to KY 90, there will be an improved route all the way from I-71 to Chattanooga (following KY 35, US 127 and TN 11) that will make a functional alternate route to I-75.

A Tennessee state trooper was running radar at the bottom of a hill just north of Livingston. He was mainly checking northbound traffic, as going south he was easy to spot. My V1 alerted me to him well ahead of time.

I think the new overpass for TN 84 was in place the last time I drove this route. I'm not sure if this is some sort of new route to Monterey, or a bypass of Livingston for one of the other state routes, or what the purpose of that road is, or when it was built. Perhaps some of our Volunteer State experts can fill us in.

A project to extend the four-lane of TN 111 up the mountain to Spencer is mostly finished, but between Spencer and Dunlop, there are still some two-lane sections.

Once I reached US 27, I didn't want to go all the way into Chattanooga and deal with I-24 to get over to I-75, so I used TN 153 to make the connection. I-75 was busy, but traffic thinned out pretty quickly and the drive up to Cleveland wasn't bad at all.

Still no mention of US 74 on I-75, including at the exit where it departs. that's signed only for US 64 By-Pass. You start seeing US 74 signage once you reach the bypass.

I exited at US 11 to pick up where I had left off on previous travels. I took the route that was signed at the split of US 64 and Business US 11 as By-Pass US 11. Other signage along the route was simply for US 11, so I'm counting the route as clinched even though I didn't double back and take the business routing.

Speed limits on Tennessee surface routes are maddening. Too many 40, 45 and 50 mph zones where they should be 55, but even then, lots of the traffic was moving slower than 55 so it was impossible to make any really good time.

The intersection of US 11 and US 70, which was under construction last year when I went to see the eclipse, has been realigned although there's some work left to be done.

Surprisingly, the route is well-signed in Knoxville. The number has been shifted in Knoxville to follow Neyland Drive, and all turns are well-marked. This means there is only a partial intersection with US 129, and no intersection whatsoever with US 441. Some of the route markers installed on guide signs look like they were imported from Pennsylvania.

Once I reached the split of US 11E and 11W, which I had previously clinched, I opted for 11W to head toward Kingsport, where I spend the night.

The trip back home Sunday was the usual route -- US 23 to US 119 to KY 15. I did notice that a new welcome center has been built on I-26 just north of I-81. This was not there the last time I was in the area.

The noise walls near the north end of the US 23 freeway just south of the state line have always fascinated me. I didn't realize there were that many homes in such close proximity to the freeway -- or that some older homes with backyards against the freeway ROW don't have the barriers. What was the determining factor in where they were installed?

Work is visible now on the next phase of the KY 15 widening in Hazard. Trees are being cut and some raised median has been removed at the KY 80/KY 550 interchange.

I've now completed US 11 in Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee (including E/W splits), Virginia (including E/W splits), West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


froggie

QuoteI exited at US 11 to pick up where I had left off on previous travels. I took the route that was signed at the split of US 64 and Business US 11 as By-Pass US 11. Other signage along the route was simply for US 11, so I'm counting the route as clinched even though I didn't double back and take the business routing.

For Travel Mapping purposes (and CHM before it):  on a route that splits into Business and Bypass segments, we consider the mainline to follow the bypass alignment.  The Business alignment is considered a totally separate route.

hbelkins

Quote from: froggie on May 07, 2018, 12:28:34 PM
QuoteI exited at US 11 to pick up where I had left off on previous travels. I took the route that was signed at the split of US 64 and Business US 11 as By-Pass US 11. Other signage along the route was simply for US 11, so I'm counting the route as clinched even though I didn't double back and take the business routing.

For Travel Mapping purposes (and CHM before it):  on a route that splits into Business and Bypass segments, we consider the mainline to follow the bypass alignment.  The Business alignment is considered a totally separate route.

Unfortunately, the Tennessee DOT official city map of Cleveland shows the bypass as only TN 2. US 11 is shown only on the business route. So I guess I don't have US 11 clinched after all.  :-| Guess I should have checked the official map before I went.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

oscar

#3
Here's what TM shows as the business route in Cleveland, following Ocoee St. and some others:

http://tm.teresco.org/hb/?units=miles&u=oscar&r=tn.us011buscle

Here's what TM shows as the regular US 11 through Cleveland, following Keith St. (not far from the business route):

http://tm.teresco.org/hb/?units=miles&u=oscar&r=tn.us011

You decide which one you took.

There's an outer bypass of Cleveland, TN 60. I don't see a TN 2 in the Cleveland area, TN 2 is an obscure route along I-24 near Kimball.

Assuming you indeed took the main US 11 route through Cleveland, all you need to do is take care of the part through New York. You decide how to deal with the border crossing at US 11's north end.

my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Mapmikey


hbelkins

Quote from: oscar on May 07, 2018, 07:39:44 PM
Here's what TM shows as the business route in Cleveland, following Ocoee St. and some others:

http://tm.teresco.org/hb/?units=miles&u=oscar&r=tn.us011buscle

Here's what TM shows as the regular US 11 through Cleveland, following Keith St. (not far from the business route):

http://tm.teresco.org/hb/?units=miles&u=oscar&r=tn.us011

You decide which one you took.

There's an outer bypass of Cleveland, TN 60. I don't see a TN 2 in the Cleveland area, TN 2 is an obscure route along I-24 near Kimball.

Assuming you indeed took the main US 11 route through Cleveland, all you need to do is take care of the part through New York. You decide how to deal with the border crossing at US 11's north end.

I took Keith Street.

I need most of US 11 in Mississippi and Alabama to finish it. In New York, I only have a few short isolated segments under by belt.

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 07, 2018, 08:36:43 PM
TDOT does show US 11 with TN 2 in Cleveland on this map:  https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/maps/functional-class-maps/co06a-functional-map.pdf

I referred to this map:

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/maps/city-maps/city-maps-a-d/map-city-Cleveland.pdf

It shows US 11 following Lee Highway/3rd Street, Ocoee Street (also posted as TN 74) and the one-way couplet with Broad Street. Keith Street is shown only as TN 2, which is the hidden state route designation for US 11.

Quote from: froggie on May 07, 2018, 12:28:34 PM
For Travel Mapping purposes (and CHM before it):  on a route that splits into Business and Bypass segments, we consider the mainline to follow the bypass alignment.  The Business alignment is considered a totally separate route.

As far as TM is concerned (and I have said before that I do not use TM or its predecessor because it's not clickable like Mob-Rule), if it uses bypass routings for all routes as the official through route, then there are errors in the way it handles Kentucky. Kentucky is inconsistent in how business and bypass routes are signed. There are a few places where split are signed for both "Business" and "By-Pass" but these are in error. Kentucky does not sign both routes the way North Carolina did its splits back in the 1960s.

Take US 127 for example. Coming from the south, the first split is at Albany. Main US 127 follows the new bypass route and the old route through town is signed as Business 127. There is also a split at Jamestown, but I'm not sure how it is posted.

In Danville, Harrodsburg and Lawrenceburg, however, the main route follows the old route through the downtowns. The bypasses are signed as such.

The official designations can be found in the KYTC SPRS listings. Signed business routes are noted as nnX (and in at least two places, signed as such with the X in the sign). Signed bypass routes are noted as nnB and posted with the "By-Pass" banner. If TM shows the route of a nnB route as the mainline, then it is incorrect.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

froggie

Quote from: hbelkinsAs far as TM is concerned (and I have said before that I do not use TM or its predecessor because it's not clickable like Mob-Rule), if it uses bypass routings for all routes as the official through route, then there are errors in the way it handles Kentucky. Kentucky is inconsistent in how business and bypass routes are signed. There are a few places where split are signed for both "Business" and "By-Pass" but these are in error. Kentucky does not sign both routes the way North Carolina did its splits back in the 1960s.

1) You'll just have to get over that TM is not clickable.  It's been pointed out to you in the past why it isn't and why it would be an immensely difficult thing to code given the all-volunteer force and the ever-changing route lists.  I'd also argue that, for longer clinched segments, it would be far easier to just type my begin and end point for a given route than it would be to individually click the many (in some cases dozens) individual route segments.

2) Even though you don't like the TM interface, there's nothing stopping you from joining the TM forum and providing insight into the Kentucky (and other) systems directly to the collaborators (who, in Kentucky's case, is rarely on the AARoads forum and has posted only once in the past 2 years).



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