Driving cross country in a few weeks - any issues?

[agentsteel53]

Most 2-lane roads out west are 65-75mph (Nevada will be a breeze). Texas is 70+ for all roads during daytime hours (unless in a city or there's a clear reason for a lower speed limit). Utah and New Mexico are 65.

some New Mexico are 65, others are 55, for no di$cernible rea$on.

US-54, for instance, between Carrizozo and Tularosa, is a vicious speed trap.  I saw about six police vehicles in the 45 miles or so of that stretch of road.

[froggie]

US-6 tends to be clogged with trucks, for example, between I-70 and Salt Lake City.

US 6 is busy, but there are several passing/climbing lanes all along the corridor, so one can still make pretty good time.  Just gotta be patient and wait for one of the additional lane segments.

[okroads]

Does anyone know where the speed limit 80 counties are in TX? If there are any on I-20, we might try to see one west of Dallas, if there is one before US 84.

There are some on 20, but they are west of there, that's for sure.  I don't remember exactly where, but they're really out in the sticks.

Only the westernmost 48 miles of I-20 are 80 mph (between I-10 and the Ward County line between Pecos & Monahans).

Fixed quote. -Connor

[oscar]

Does anyone know where the speed limit 80 counties are in TX? If there are any on I-20, we might try to see one west of Dallas, if there is one before US 84.

There are some on 20, but they are west of there, that's for sure.  I don't remember exactly where, but they're really out in the sticks.

Only the westernmost 48 miles of I-20 are 80 mph (between I-10 and the Ward County line between Pecos & Monahans).

One problem with the daytime 80mph zones on I-20, and especially I-10 west of the I-20 merge, is that there's enough truck traffic (limited to 70mph) to make it hard for you to do 80mph.

I found the many low-volume 75-mph (daytime) two-lane roads in west Texas to be more helpful than the 80-mph (daytime) Interstates.

[Sykotyk]

US-54 between Carrizozo and Tularosa is a horrible road, as well. Bumpy, falling apart, and inadequate shoulders to safely allow much faster speeds. Once they improve that, I'm sure it will increase.

But, the issue is not necessarily speed limits, but also the blatant lack of civilization that allows long distances of high speed travel that just generally isn't possible in most eastern areas as the rural areas are still inundated with people.

[thenetwork]

If you were planning to hit the Four-Corners monument and place yourself in 4 different states & 2 different time zones at the same time, I had heard that the monument is under construction and is only accessible during limited hours (mostly on the weekends). 

Check ahead in advance before making the off-interstate trip if only to visit the monument.

[sandiaman]

I  can't believe  the tolls on the  Bay Bridge  have gone up  to $4 -$6, depending on the day or time.  When  I  was  a teenager  in the Bay Area  the toll  was a quarter!  That  was the 1960's.  There  was a columnist  in the SF  Chronicle  named Herb Caen  who started   some sort of  informal  program  of paying  fifty  cents and then you'd pay for the car in back of you, even  if you had no idea of who that was.  Made a lot of instant friends  for only a quarter.

[citrus]

Made it to DC and back successfully this weekend. Saturday I drove Princeton NJ -> Bethesda MD using 206 and I-95 via the Philly airport, I-495 around Wilmington, and I-695 outer loop around Baltimore (for something different...), with no issues other than construction at the Girard Point Bridge in south Philly and Beltway traffic at the end. There were also serious construction zones for: rebuilding the Delaware Turnpike toll plaza, I-95 northeast of Baltimore for the HOT lanes (and the I-695 interchange), the I-95/Intercounty connector interchange, and also around I-695/I-83 junction. The Maryland work zones (55 for I-95 NE of Baltimore, 65 for the ICC interchange, and 50 on I-695) claimed to be Photo Enforced, and I guess the locals all knew what the tolerance was on the cameras because they were all going the same speed, about 7 over the limit. I-495 in Delaware had a variable speed limit, set to 65 except for the southernmost mile or so which was 55.

Today, I drove from Bethesda to South Kingstown RI. I was tag-teaming with my parents who wanted to stop at the Roebling Museum in NJ [we got there long before it opened, so we didn't actually go...], so I ended up just going up I-95 (I-695 around Baltimore, eastern half this time, for something different), I-295, NJTP, back to I-95, Henry Hudson/Saw Mill Pwky, Cross County, I-287, I-95, RI 138. And that worked out quite well, with about 7 hours of driving time - we left at 8am and there were no major backups at the tolls, other than crawling across the GWB (after the tolls...), and a few touches of I-95 in Norwalk and New Haven. It would not have been worth it to go inland through PA to I-78 or I-84 this morning. I-95 Southbound in CT was jammed for quite a distance though. The big construction zones (which I am sure is well documented here) are the NJTP widening between exits 6 and 8A (it looked like some stretches had a lot of grading complete, but others haven't really been touched) and rebuilding the I-95/I-91/CT-34 interchange and Q Bridge in New Haven. I did notice that the 50 zone around the I-95/I-395 junction has been extended in both directions: formerly limited to the immediate area around the interchange, now it goes from exit 71 (or so) all the way to exit 82A in New London, including stretches that used to be 65 (south of the interchange) and 55 (north). This may be temporary though, because they simply patched new, smaller signs over the old ones. Still a lot of 40mph signs posted just north of New Haven even in the portion that was recently rebuilt. The I-695 loop and Key Bridge east of Baltimore was nearly empty, while the west side had heavier (but flowing) traffic.

Seems like Maryland really likes the massive interchanges with bridges these days, that I got used to seeing in California. They didn't seem too out of place in the Baltimore area. But there's a flyover well underway in New Haven (I-95 north to CT-34, it looked like), that looked very out of place for Connecticut and New Haven.

Police enforcement was heavy in Maryland (especially I-95 between the beltways), but sparse in other states. DC itself was a zoo due to the Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin rally (will not comment on that...). DC Metro was overwhelmed, the GWU station had lines to get in stretching well out onto the streets, and someone on the train said he waited 1hr 45 minutes to get on! Did not help that it was move-in weekend for GWU (which was the reason why I was there in the first place).

Until next weekend! We're definitely planning on going to many places around the 4 corners monument even if the monument itself is closed, and it looks like we will miss the 80mph zones in Texas, but we might encounter the one in Utah. Thanks for all the tips.

[froggie]

The Maryland work zones (55 for I-95 NE of Baltimore, 65 for the ICC interchange, and 50 on I-695) claimed to be Photo Enforced, and I guess the locals all knew what the tolerance was on the cameras because they were all going the same speed, about 7 over the limit.

State law sets the "start point" at 12 over the limit in work zones.

DC itself was a zoo due to the Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin rally (will not comment on that...). DC Metro was overwhelmed, the GWU station had lines to get in stretching well out onto the streets, and someone on the train said he waited 1hr 45 minutes to get on! Did not help that it was move-in weekend for GWU (which was the reason why I was there in the first place).

Because of which, I was basically limited to my apartment and the office (had duty this weekend)...didn't dare go out elsewhere lest I get stuck.  Besides move-in weekend and the rallies, SHA had 50 east of the Beltway down to 2 lanes for pavement repair, VDOT had I-66 near the Beltway down to 1 lane for a realignment (related to the Beltway HOT lane project), and 95 south of Springfield is always jammed after about noon.

[citrus]

Well, I just got back to San Diego from my drive yesterday. In total, it was 5829 miles from early evening September 3 to afternoon on September 20. Everything went pretty smoothly. The only spots I hit traffic were the Capital Beltway leading up to I-66, the Smoky Mountains (which I deserved for going there on Labor Day weekend...took like 45 minutes to cross Gatlinburg, which we all expected to be a tiny town with a couple gas stations and a convenience store), pockets of traffic on I-10 from Mobile westward into Mississippi (also Labor Day related), Lafayette (there was an accident), and Houston (construction at the I-10/US 59 interchange). Saw parts of the country I had never been to before, and it was well worth it.

When I drove to Asheville, I approached from the north ("west") on I-26. It was dark so I unfortunately couldn't really see any of the landscape, but I didn't realize that I-26 was still marked as "future" just north of Asheville. But to me, it didn't seem prohibitively substandard or anything, especially compared with the multiplex with I-240. When I-26/I-240 turns off of US-74, the ramp heads to the right and there is a traffic light very soon afterward on the main lanes. Heading west from Asheville, I noticed that I-40 had a couple side streets that just made T intersections with the interstate, even marked with normal street sign blades...! Also: my non-roadgeek friends were amused at multiplexes involving 4 or more routes, especially in NC and GA, and they were utterly bewildered by Business routes, neither of which we really see in the northeast.

I-65 between Montgomery and Mobile is boring on the same level as I-5 in CA between Wheeler Ridge and Tracy. Once we got to Mobile, many of the BGS's were not solid - they were dark green painted steel mesh, similar to open bridge decks. The shields and letters were tacked on. Surely this is done to reduce wind loads in such a high hurricane risk area. But at least one I-165(?) shield already fell off.

Five years after Katrina, there are still quite a few signs of damage around New Orleans. There are abandoned/overgrown houses sporadically interspersed in much of the city, and the lower 9th ward was maybe 20% rebuilt. There were entire grid blocks of razed houses where vegetation was starting to take over the roads.

Texas is big. I-70 in Utah is as nice as people say it is. CA 58 still needs a lot of work if it's ever going to become I-40. I guess I don't have that much to say that isn't already documented.

I'm not exactly sure how far along they are with the construction of the I-10 twinspans over Lake Ponchartrain which are situated northwest of New Orleans and south of Slidell. Last I was there was around February of this year, and they had the eastbound side finished but were still working on the westbound side, if I remember correctly.

Looked about the same progress-wise. It was night when we arrived.

There was work on I-10 at US 59 that caused big backups in both directions. I'm not sure when they will wrap that up.

It's still there, and there were VMS's warning that I-10 would close completely in both directions during the weekend September 10-12. We went straight through on I-10 a few days earlier, there was probably a 15 minute delay around 3pm on a Thursday, and I-10 westbound had 2 lanes open. The exit to I-610 was backed up so it seemed like lots of people were using that as an alternate.

Take one of the more southern Sierra crossings - 120 or 178!

Perhaps next time (okay, there might not be a next time soon, but maybe a shorter trip) - by the time we were getting towards the Sierra's, we had been camping for 4 nights in Utah and just wanted to head for the Bay Area, driving from Zion using I-15, CA 58, CA 99, CA 46, I-5, etc. Google maps said that CA 120 would have only been a half hour shorter but it would have been an extra $20 or so to go through Yosemite, and we had all been to Yosemite before fairly recently.

Here's a tip from someone that's driven out west extensive after being from the east coast. Two lane roads out west are VERY fast moving routes. Much less traveled, much more scenic, and let you get a sense of the small town world the freeways have bypassed. When you leave Dallas, take US287 to US380 (or US70) through Lubbock to Clovis.

Take US84 up to Santa Fe, to the NM502 (through Los Alamos, definitely worth the vista), to US550 toward Farmington to US64 west to US160 in Teec Nos Pos to Four Corners. Go up to US191 to I-70 (through Monticello and Moab. Arches N.P. can be done in a few hours doing a few of the trails, but not the long one to Delicate, only the short one). Go US50 west over the Loneliest Road to Carson City through Lake Tahoe and to Sacramento that way to San Francisco via 80.

So that's not too far from what we ended up doing. We actually didn't stop in Dallas, instead staying with a friend an hour north in Gainesville. From there, we made our way to US 287 through Wichita Falls, and took Texas 86 to US 60 to Clovis, crossing I-27 midway between Amarillo and Lubbock. Through New Mexico we did go through Albuquerque, but then took US 550 toward Farmington, the 4 corners, and up to Arches. The drive from Clovis to Mesa Verde via 4 corners seemed to take forever, and US 64 was pretty congested through Farmington (though, the Walmart helped with camping supplies...). We did the long trail to Delicate Arch and it was definitely one of the trip highlights! Afterwards, we got on I-70 to I-15 to visit Zion, so we were well to the south of I-80. There was a rather large wildfire visible from I-70 and I-15 near their junction.

Does anyone know where the speed limit 80 counties are in TX? If there are any on I-20, we might try to see one west of Dallas, if there is one before US 84.

There are some on 20, but they are west of there, that's for sure.  I don't remember exactly where, but they're really out in the sticks.

We didn't see any 75 or 80 zones in Texas. If we weren't in the sticks between Wichita Falls and Clovis, then where were we?! (we eventually figured that out in Utah). We didn't see any of the 80 zones on I-15 in Utah either; apparently they are all north of I-70.

If you were planning to hit the Four-Corners monument and place yourself in 4 different states & 2 different time zones at the same time, I had heard that the monument is under construction and is only accessible during limited hours (mostly on the weekends). 

It was open on a Monday afternoon, with no signs of construction remaining.

And finally:

note that Childress is a well-renowned speed trap.

So I guess I'm an idiot. I was super careful to stick to the posted speed limits in the actual town of Childress, but didn't think it would matter so much outside of the built-up area...and got stopped for 80 in a 70 in Childress County on US 287. The county sheriff marked down "Heavy" for the traffic conditions, which I assume means that there happened to be another car on the road besides his own. Guess I shouldn't have messed with Texas.

[Michael in Philly]

If you were planning to hit the Four-Corners monument and place yourself in 4 different states & 2 different time zones at the same time, I had heard that the monument is under construction and is only accessible during limited hours (mostly on the weekends). 

Check ahead in advance before making the off-interstate trip if only to visit the monument.

But the Four Corners is all the same time zone, isn't it, except during Daylight Savings Time?

[citrus]

If you were planning to hit the Four-Corners monument and place yourself in 4 different states & 2 different time zones at the same time, I had heard that the monument is under construction and is only accessible during limited hours (mostly on the weekends). 

Check ahead in advance before making the off-interstate trip if only to visit the monument.

But the Four Corners is all the same time zone, isn't it, except during Daylight Savings Time?

I believe it is on the same time zone year-round.
CO, UT, NM are all on Mountain Time year-round with DST.
In the winter, AZ is on Mountain Time as well.
In the summer, AZ is on Mountain Time without DST, but the land around the 4 corners monument itself is part of the Navajo reservation which observes DST.

In any case, the monument itself operates on Mountain Time with DST. In Zion National Park, almost every clock I saw had a label saying "Mountain Time".