Prominent Highways that You Use Frequently

Started by Beltway, May 05, 2018, 09:06:10 PM

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Beltway

There is a lot of discussion about traveling to visit prominent highways, bridges and tunnels, many of us like to experience driving these facilities.

I don't think I have ever seen a thread here or on any other roads forum, about prominent highways that someone uses frequently, mainly something in your own locale, and what your interest is.

I think it would be an interesting discussion to describe your interest and feelings about the use of this highway.  For me the interest never goes away, even though you can take things more for granted on a highway that you use frequently, it is still interesting.

In my area, Richmond VA, I don't think there are any "top tier" highway achievements (think I-664 and CBBT in the Hampton Roads area or Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore), but there are several "second tier" highway achievements (as in very impressive but not at the highest level), that would be I-195 Beltline, VA-895 James River Bridge and I-295 Varina-Enon Bridge.

I-195 Beltline Expressway
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I195_VA.html

I-195 is 3.5 miles long, and runs from the I-95/I-64 Bryan Park Interchange to the VA-195 Downtown Expressway in Richmond.  The road was opened to traffic in 1975, and is mostly six lanes, and has a four lane connector to VA-195.  An unusual feature of I-195 is the mainline railroad (CSX Transportation) that occupies the median of the expressway.  The railroad originally was the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, and was in a depressed cut through the West End of Richmond.  That section was also called the Beltline Railroad, built in the 1890s.  Since it was an existing transportation corridor, it was an ideal location for a six-lane urban Interstate highway.  The northbound and southbound roadways were constructed on either side of the railroad, with high retaining walls at each edge of the expressway.  Near the northern end of I-195, the expressway rises up onto a curving viaduct over the Acca Yards.  The south end of I-195 junctions with two expressways, the Powhite Parkway, which heads across the James River to the southwest; and the VA-195 Downtown Expressway, which heads east to downtown Richmond, connecting with the I-95 James River Bridge.
...

I use it several times a week and have for many years.  While using it is routine, the interest in the design is always there, observing the high retaining walls, the railroad line in the median, the viaduct over the Acca Yards, the transition from the trench to the viaduct, the ample design with adequate number of lanes and wide shoulders, the ample interchanges with the other freeways and with local streets.

When you drive a highway regularly you see it in all kinds of lighting and weather.  Nighttime, dawn, dusk, morning, afternoon, evening, etc., rain, sunshine, snow, etc.  IOW many differing appearances.  IOW I never get tired of driving it.

A major element that adds variety is the railroad line, things are always changing there.  Sometimes it is empty, sometimes one track has a stopped freight train, sometimes both tracks have a stopped freight train, sometimes one track has a moving freight train, sometimes both tracks, etc., etc.  Sometimes you will see an Amtrak train moving, and when you use it as frequently as I do you will occasionally see the daily Auto Train.   You have a view of Acca Yards from the viaduct, and railroad yards are always changing in what trains are there.

So the intent is to discuss a prominent highway that you use frequently, and why it remains interesting to you even though you use it often enough that most motorists would take it for granted.
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Max Rockatansky

#1
I regularly use CA 41, 198, 180, 43, 99, 33, 145, 168, 152, 25, 68, and 156 in my regular travels.  US 101 and I-5 are up there too but I try to avoid....I hate driving on both since they are through routes.  41, 43, 99, 145, 152, 68, 33, and 156 I usually mainly for commuting purposes.  198, 180, 168, and 25 are some of local mountain route guilty pleasures which I really enjoy driving.

TheHighwayMan3561

I-35 through Duluth. You come over the hill and see the city and lake spread before you; bonus points for driving in at night. Then you descend through the industrial sector where you may see trains loading/unloading at the docks. After I-535 you bend into downtown with a great view of the lift bridge where a 1000 foot freighter may be passing under. Finally you pass through the tunnels and pop out right on the lakeshore before reaching MN 61.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

hotdogPi

I-495 through Lawrence: the C/D lanes (over water) are under the main lanes, not to the side.
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.

Flint1979

Highways I use a lot regardless of them being US, Interstate or State Highways. I'll start with what I use the most probably but these are all close to my house.

M-58: M-58 is a state highway about 5 miles long. It runs from M-47 to I-675. For about half it's length it's on a set of one way streets (Davenport for WB and State for EB). The two way stretch is just State Street. It runs through residential areas on the one way stretch and is more commercial on the two way stretch.

M-84: M-84 is another state highway that isn't very long only about 15 miles long. It runs between Bay City and Saginaw, in Saginaw County it's known as Bay Road and in Bay County it's known as Westside Saginaw Road, Salzburg, Lafayette, Garfield and Washington. It's southern terminus is at M-58 about a half mile south of the Saginaw city limits and it's northern terminus is at M-25 in downtown Bay City. The reason it has so many names in Bay County is because it changes streets twice (Salzburg and Lafayette are the same street just different names on each side of the Saginaw River and if you followed Lafayette east more it changes names three more times).

M-46: This is a long highway about 200 miles long running from Muskegon on the west side of the state to Port Sanilac on the east side of the state. The stretch I use mostly is in Saginaw County but I also use it in Tuscola and Gratiot Counties on occasion. M-46 comes into Saginaw County from the west at Meridian Road which is in a rural area. It goes through the small towns of Merrill and Hemlock both farming communities for the most part. It meets with M-52's northern terminus several miles west of Saginaw, then as it enters an area called Shields it starts to become more developed, first it goes through a commercial stretch in Shields, then crosses the Tittabawassee River to enter Saginaw Township and almost right away after this it meets M-47's southern terminus. Then passes more businesses and doctor's offices and that sort of thing. After a few miles it enters the city of Saginaw and runs through a residential area before turning to use Stephens/Williams, after it had been Gratiot all the way from the county line. It then intersects with Michigan Avenue before crossing the Saginaw River and entering the east side of Saginaw. This part of Saginaw has a lot of abandoned buildings and lots, it's now known as Rust Avenue, then follows the Sheridan/Warren one way combo up to Holland where it's a one way with Remington all the way to just past 15th Street it becomes just Holland as a two way again. After this it passes a few more business, then I-75 and right after I-75 it passes a huge auto plant that was once called Saginaw Steering Gear a division of General Motors but is now called Nexteer. After passing the auto plant it turns back into a rural area and is like that for most of the rest of the route. It passes through smaller towns like Richville, Kingston and Sandusky before it gets to Port Sanilac.

M-47: Not a long one, it starts out as a freeway at it's northern terminus with US-10. The freeway ends just north of a town called Freeland which it passes through and has several businesses. After Freeland it becomes more rural in nature as it follows the course of the Tittabawassee River. After Tittabawassee Road it enters Saginaw Township and is somewhat rural but becomes more developed as you get closer to M-58. South of M-58 it has houses on both sides of the street and comes to an end at M-46.

M-13: This highway starts out in Standish and runs on an old segment of US-23 until Kawkawlin, a small community northwest of Bay City. It has a connector route to I-75 which is also an old segment of US-23. US-23 follows I-75 in this area now. After Kawkawlin it curves to the southeast to run towards Bay City. Most of the route north of Bay City is rural Bay County, but it runs through Pinconning which has businesses. Going through Bay City it runs on Euclid Avenue and has many businesses along it's route. At Salzburg it joins M-84 for a wrong way multiplex until it crosses the Saginaw River and splits from M-84 at Broadway. M-13 then turns the south again and follows the Saginaw River south of Bay City passing under the Zilwaukee Bridge and into Saginaw. Once in Saginaw it meets up with M-81's eastern terminus then it passes Grey Iron which is a GM plant, it has some housing on the east side of the street and is called Washington Avenue going through a pretty rough part of Saginaw with a lot of crime. Then after a couple miles it runs right through downtown Saginaw, passing St. Mary's Hospital, Saginaw's Main Post Office, Saginaw City Hall, Hoyt Park, the Children's Zoo, the Water Works, then it intersects with M-46. South of M-46 it runs through a residential area before passing a few businesses and another smaller residential area before leaving Saginaw. South of Saginaw it's nothing special it runs through rural areas crossing the Cass River where there is a boat launch and then the Flint River several more miles south. After that it curves to the southeast on Albee Road then becomes Sheridan Road after Sheridan merges with it. It meets M-57 in an area with a couple of gas stations, it becomes very rural south of here until M-21 where it has a gas station and then a few miles south of that it meets I-69 which is it's southern terminus.

I-75: I can't leave out Michigan's Main Road. I-75 starts up in Sault Ste. Marie and runs through a rural part of the U.P. which to me is mostly rural in general. Castle Rock is a nice stop off point in the U.P. you can see the surrounding area and of course Michigan's most iconic feature, the Mackinac Bridge. After Castle Rock, you'll be coming into the St. Ignace area and then onto the Mackinac Bridge into the Lower Peninsula. After crossing the bridge you are in Mackinaw City (not spelled the same way as the bridge and island) which is a tourist stop for the most part. You'll pass US-23 and US-31's northern terminus' then enter a pretty rural landscape, larger towns (large for northern Michigan) are Gaylord, Grayling, West Branch and so on. You'll meet up with US-127's northern terminus just south of Grayling and north of Houghton and Higgins Lakes. I-75 then starts heading in a more southeast direction towards West Branch, then runs south into Arenac County still in a rural area with services at just about every exit. It meets up with US-23 again and they run multiplexed for about 70 miles between the Standish area and Flint. In northern Bay County it's not much different than Arenac County until you get to the Wilder Road exit (exit 164) where I-75 having been two lanes in each direction up to this point now has four lanes in each direction running on the west side of the Bay City area. It meets US-10's eastern terminus, same as M-25's western terminus, then meets with M-84 two miles later. After the M-84 interchange it crosses into Saginaw County in a mostly rural area. It's first interchange in Saginaw County is with I-675 which was built to bypass the original Zilwaukee Bridge which was a drawbridge and when it was in the up position would back traffic up on I-75 for miles it was replaced in 1988 with the current high level Zilwaukee Bridge which suffered a construction accident when it was being built, it's 125 feet high and offers nice views of a pretty boring landscape. You can see the two tallest buildings in downtown Saginaw from the top of the bridge. At the south end of the bridge it interchanges with M-13, then M-81 two miles later, in between there are industrial businesses along Wolf Road (access from M-81). Then the other end of I-675, followed by M-46 passing some apartments on the west side of the highway, not really anything to talk about on the east side. After M-46 it passes houses before the Bridgeport exit and then turns into a rural area again until the Flint area. The four lanes I mentioned earlier go down to three lanes in each direction on both sides of the Zilwaukee Bridge and then become four lanes in each direction again south of M-46 to I-475 on the northern end of Flint. In Flint, I-75 serves Pierson Road, Corunna Road, Miller Road, I-69 and Bristol Road. Just south of Bristol Road US-23 splits from it's 70 mile multiplex and runs towards Ann Arbor while I-75 runs towards Detroit. US-23 is actually a very good bypass route of the Detroit area as it meets up with I-75 again south of Toledo on a multiplex with I-475. Going towards Detroit I-75's first major interchange in the Detroit area is at US-24's northern (should be eastern) terminus, it passes Great Lakes Crossing, The Palace of Auburn Hills (now vacant), Chrysler's World HQ's. At Square Lake I-75 turns to the east and runs in that direction until passing Crooks Road, then south again for a few miles getting into more dense housing and commerical areas in the city of Troy. On the southern side of Troy it passes the Oakland Mall then enters Madison Heights where there are some apartment buildings next to the highway, after Madison Heights it enters Royal Oak where by now it's getting into the inner ring suburbs of Detroit and meets up with I-696 before entering Hazel Park which is a mostly residential suburb. After Hazel Park it enters Detroit crossing 8 Mile Road. After a few miles of being in Detroit it enters Hamtramck which is an enclave of Detroit being seperate city completely surrounded by Detroit and borders a little of Highland Park which is also completely surrounded by Detroit. It re-enters Detroit a little north of the I-94 interchange and runs south into downtown Detroit. It has it's 25 mph curve (30 mph for SB) in the NB direction where Ford Field and Comerica Park sit to the southwest and actually intersects itself switching freeways. It passes Woodward and Grand River Avenues two of Detroit's main spoke streets and then passes the site where Tiger Stadium once stood and Michigan Central Station will be in your view as well as the Ambassador Bridge. After the Ambassador Bridge I-75 runs through southwest Detroit in an industrial area where it crosses the Rouge River. After crossing the river it exits Detroit and has residential areas mostly until you get further Downriver and into Monroe County where it thins out and becomes more rural. Monroe is about 15 miles north of the state line and is the last somewhat large town you go through before getting to Toledo. It's mostly rural for the rest of the way to the state line but becomes very urban as soon as you cross the state line by this point you are in the Toledo area.

I can't think of any other highways I'm on a lot but this sums it up pretty good.

jon daly

I-95 through the southern portion of Providence, RI. There's the Big Blue Bug (featured in DUMB AND DUMBER,) but, more importantly, I'm often going slowly during the morning rush hour due to weaving traffic and I can see the port. There's often bulk tankers of ethanol on the Providence and Worcester tracks near a giant tank farm. I believe the farm is owned by Motiva. I also see bulk carriers docked at the port quite often. I think the products they ship include asphalt, road salt, and scrap. On the other side of the bay, I sometimes see tankers offloading gasoline into a pipeline going to another tank farm is East Providence.

gonealookin

There's only one exit from my neighborhood, and that's on to US 50.

Heading toward Carson City I like looking at all the old Lincoln Highway alignments.  There are a number of stretches along Lake Tahoe where the old Lincoln Highway is an adjacent minor residential road.  Then there's the climb out of Glenbrook where the old highway is on the opposite side of the canyon, and on the east side of Spooner Summit it's a partly dirt, partly paved road which runs below the "new" (late 1960s) highway.

bing101

#7
Interstate 80 in Solano County due to that section getting both Sacramento and Bay Area traffic at the same time.
US-50 in Sacramento/I-305 Sacramento.

sparker

I-280, 680, and especially 880 comprise the vast majority of my regular Interstate travel (I'll be on 880 again tomorrow San Jose-Oakland for business); will use one or more of these pretty much week in, week out.  When I need to deal with business partners in the Sacramento area (actually Folsom); I'll add I-580, I-205, and I-5 to the mix -- and perhaps I-80 on the return trip (depends upon the time of day that occurs).  Two US highways figure into travel as well: 101 and 50 (when in Sacramento area).  Local state highways that get a lot of use are 87 (closest to my home and office), 85, 17, and, to a lesser extent these days, 237 and 82; en route to Sacramento, CA 99 and 120 are useful as well.  And visiting friends down in Hollister invariably put me on the P.O.S. CA 25 every couple of weeks (although if the state gas tax hike enacted last year doesn't get terminated at the polls in November, a new US 101/CA 25 interchange to replace the current underpowered one would likely see development by no later than 2021). 

ET21

Daily use: Mainly US 14 and IL-58 for work. Nothing too exciting

Weekly use:
I-294 where a couple areas you can see the Chicago skyline clearly (Bensenville bridge going northbound and the Mile Long Bridge). Rosemont just opened a new baseball stadium that goes up right onto the tollway, so baseball nights expect to see some fireworks.
IL-390 has become my new favorite. Going eastbound at night you can see the planes lined up for O'Hare and a good glimpse of downtown Chicago.
I-355, nothing of note
I-88, Only cool thing is seeing the transition at night from city to rural. The eastern sky is always lit up with the suburban and city lights. Also the wind turbines out by DeKalb look freaky at night, like little red Sauron eyes in the night.

Occasional use:
I'll group I-90/94, 290, and 55 together for the skyline views. That's the only good thing to look like when you're stuck in traffic.
IL-56: Similar to I-88, in Sugar Grove you can get a glimpse of both the turbine lights and many of the taller radio towers/buildings of the suburban sprawl.
US-12/20: My original daily use when traveling through my hometown of Oak Lawn on 95th Street. My favorite part is by Hickory Hills going eastbound coming out of the forest preserves at night. You feel disconnected from the city but then immediately go up onto a hill about 2 miles after the edge of the woods and get a pretty nice look of Oak Lawn and the surrounding area, including a brief Chicago skyline shot.
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"Show where you're going, without forgetting where you're from"

Clinched:
IL: I-88, I-180, I-190, I-290, I-294, I-355, IL-390
IN: I-80, I-94
SD: I-190
WI: I-90, I-94
MI: I-94, I-196
MN: I-90

Henry

Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

NWI_Irish96

Daily Commute: US 41, I-80/94, I-80/294, I-294, I-88 to work.
US 34, I-294, I-80/294, I-80/94 from work.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

davmillar

#12
Quote from: Flint1979 on May 06, 2018, 12:46:09 AM
M-13: After that it curves to the southeast on Albee Road then becomes Sheridan Road after Sheridan merges with it. It meets M-57 in an area with a couple of gas stations, it becomes very rural south of here until M-21 where it has a gas station and then a few miles south of that it meets I-69 which is it's southern terminus.

13 is good for shaving off time when coming or going from Saginaw to Grand Rapids via I-69 and I-96, instead of taking I-75 and going through Flint. There also a neat looking cement lawn ornament shop along the road at one of the big intersections but I never had a chance to check it out before leaving the frigid northlands. There used to be a cool old one lane bridge on Sheridan north of the split from 13 and I was sad when it got replaced.

Eta: daily commute takes me on either I-30 to I-35W to Texas 121 and 183 to Texas 26, or I-820 to Texas 26.
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PHLBOS

When I'm not doing any long-distance travel; I typically use I-95 and/or I-476 in southeastern PA.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

TheStranger

Whenever I choose to drive to work, daily commute usually involves 101 passing by the Brisbane lagoon and the 280 extension towards the ballpark (which I remember strongly from the years it was closed after Loma Prieta).  Occasionally I'll use the Central Freeway portion of 101 to get to destinations in Hayes Valley or Japantown.

I probably cross the Bay Bridge like 2-3 times a month (which always involves using the MacArthur Maze), and Golden Gate Bridge maybe every six weeks or so.
Chris Sampang

1995hoo

I-395 in Virginia; the main thing of interest is the reversible center carriageway, as that's still pretty uncommon on an Interstate (I know of one other in Virginia and two in Florida, off the top of my head), but the other thing I find of interest is the mishmash of odd interchange designs. It's almost as though they tried several different ones to see what would and wouldn't work. (I like the King Street interchange and I dislike the Seminary Road one.)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
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commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
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ilpt4u

Not sure how "Prominent" is defined, but my daily work routine involves driving on US 51, IL 13, IL 127, IL 149, IL 3, and occasionally IL 4

Prominence for Southern IL, I would probably nominate US 51, IL 13, and IL 3

mrcmc888

I-140 in Knoxville: This highway, known as the Pellissippi Parkway, was officially numbered in 1992, but completed in 2005.  It's a fairly low-traffic highway serving suburban areas in West Knoxville and Blount County, and it's also the fastest way to reach the Knoxville Airport (located in Alcoa) from Farragut, Oak Ridge, and West Knoxville.  The four-lane limited access road to the north which heads to TN-62 (Oak Ridge Highway) in Solway is much older, and is also heavily trafficked by residents of Knoxville who commute to the government sector jobs in Oak Ridge.

Despite being relatively recently built, I-140 contains some curious features including a 3/4 cloverleaf for access onto Kingston Pike.  The intersection with I-40/75 is also a 3/4 clover.  The highway is relatively nondescript over its length, but does pass through some of the prettiest parts of Tennessee River lake country, with a high bridge over the Tennessee in Blount County and a bridge over Sinking Creek where it widens and flows into the Tennessee to form Fort Loudon Lake.

Quillz

1, 27, 118, 101, 405, 5

23, 34, 126 to a lesser extent.

slorydn1

I use US-17/US-70/NC-55 over the Trent and Neuse Rivers every day to and from work. Getting off at the big loop ramp to come to downtown New Bern as dawn is just beginning to break over the Neuse River can be a stunning view.
Please Note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of any governmental agency, non-governmental agency, quasi-governmental agency or wanna be governmental agency

Counties: Counties Visited

Rothman

I-90, I-87 and I-787.  Probably the most interesting is I-787 due to the stretch that has the rail line down the median.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

cpzilliacus

Capital Beltway. Need no further introduction here.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Beltway

Quote from: cpzilliacus on July 17, 2018, 01:30:08 PM
Capital Beltway. Need no further introduction here.

Some sections much more prominent than others, as much of the Beltway is a routine 8-lane urban/suburban freeway.

The really prominent sections are the recently rebuilt/widened sections -- WWB Project, Springfield Interchange Project, I-495 HOT Lanes Project.
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adwerkema

I-196 eastbound into Grand Rapids. Spectacular view - especially at night. Given that Michigan is mostly flat, it's rare to have a view like this.

Google Maps Street View


Image taken off side of freeway


Nighttime view

Hurricane Rex

Since I will be going to OSU in the fall, I ill be posting both locations.

Sherwood exclusive: I-205, OR 18, OR 217, I-405

Corvallis exclusive: US 20, OR 34

Both: I-5, OR 99W
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

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