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Busiest 4-Lane Roads

Started by webny99, October 31, 2017, 12:49:17 AM

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webny99

I submit I-490 in Pittsford, NY, with AADT of 72,450. That's already double our highest two lane candidate, so this should be interesting. Same rules apply, five lanes are allowed provided one is a center turn lane or climbing lane.


TheHighwayMan3561

#1
I expect the national winner will be in NYC.

As for my area MN 62 has anywhere from 96-109K between Xerxes Ave and MN 77. I-694 between US 10 and I-35E was probably the old winner in the Twin Cities but a widening project is about to finish on that corridor.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

Beltway

The I-76 Schuylkill Expressway's 4-lane sections carry 130,000 to 140,000 AADT.
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20160805

US (I) 41 on the north side of Appleton, WI is just 4 lanes (two lanes in each direction) AADT is 60-70K IIRC.  So not the worst nationwide by any means, but it's still pretty bad and often experiences slowdowns or congestion.
Left for 5 months Oct 2018-Mar 2019 due to arguing in the DST thread.
Tried coming back Mar 2019.
Left again Jul 2019 due to more arguing.

Rothman

I was thinking the Capital Beltway at Rockville Pike/Wisconsin Ave/MD 355, but it looks like it is 5 instead of four lanes.

Wonder if there is a four-lane parkway or something in the NYC area that would be a contender:  Bronx River Parkway, maybe.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Max Rockatansky

Pretty much any section of CA 99 that isn't six lanes.  The four lane sections can be pretty brutal with random slow-downs to 30 MPH after 40 plus people line up to pass to a convoy of trucks.  Really the best thing that can probably happen to the freeway isn't being upgraded to Interstate standards but being blown out to six lanes from Bakersfield to Sacramento.

Flint1979

How about US 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor, Michigan? US 23 is four lanes all the way from Flint to the Ohio line and into Ohio when it should be 6 lanes and up to 8 lanes between Brighton and Ann Arbor.

doorknob60

In Idaho it's almost certainly I-84 in Nampa where it drops from 6 to 4 lanes at Franklin Rd. AADT of 79,279. Doesn't help that it's very directional (a significant majority of the traffic is eastbound in the morning, westbound in the afternoon). Clogged up every afternoon from 4 PM to around 6 (sometimes later), even though the rest of the freeway system in Boise and Meridian is usually only congested from like 4:45 to 5:30 or so. Luckily plans are to widen this section starting next year (though only a couple miles are funded right now, as far as I'm aware: it needs to be widened to Caldwell ideally).

kkt

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on October 31, 2017, 08:12:58 AM
Pretty much any section of CA 99 that isn't six lanes.  The four lane sections can be pretty brutal with random slow-downs to 30 MPH after 40 plus people line up to pass to a convoy of trucks.  Really the best thing that can probably happen to the freeway isn't being upgraded to Interstate standards but being blown out to six lanes from Bakersfield to Sacramento.

Yeah, but if they go to all the expense of adding a pair of lanes, Caltrans would be stupid not to upgrade it to interstate standards at the same time.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: kkt on November 12, 2017, 12:48:42 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on October 31, 2017, 08:12:58 AM
Pretty much any section of CA 99 that isn't six lanes.  The four lane sections can be pretty brutal with random slow-downs to 30 MPH after 40 plus people line up to pass to a convoy of trucks.  Really the best thing that can probably happen to the freeway isn't being upgraded to Interstate standards but being blown out to six lanes from Bakersfield to Sacramento.

Yeah, but if they go to all the expense of adding a pair of lanes, Caltrans would be stupid not to upgrade it to interstate standards at the same time.

See that's the thing, I don't know if te right of way is really wide enough to accommodate full Interstate standards.  The roadway likely could be blown out to six lanes if it kept the current narrow lanes and narrow shoulders it has now.  Really the worst part is the right-on/right-off rampa between Bakersfield and Fresno.  Or it could just be me getting sick of fictional Interstate talk that it's kind of passé for me.

kkt

Yeah, I'm not saying it should be Interstate standard in order to get a red, white, and blue shield on it.  I'm saying it ought to have standard width lanes and shoulders in order to make a safer roadway.  Lots of trucks use 99.  It should be done.

cpzilliacus

#11
Virginia has a candidate in I-66 at VA-120 in Arlington County with an AADT of 90,000.

Unsigned VA-90005 (George Washington Memorial Parkway) also Arlington County has an AADT of 71,000 at Spout Run.

In Maryland there's I-270 north of MD-121 (Montgomery County) with an AADT of 81,611.

I-70 (former I-70N) between U.S. 40 and Marriottsville Road (Howard County) has an AADT of 80,719.  This is the only part of I-70 that is still four lanes between Baltimore and Frederick.

The southern part of I-97 between U.S. 50/U.S. 301 and MD-178 (Anne Arundel County) has an AADT of 91,191.

I-895 (Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway) in Baltimore City has an AADT of 81,681 approaching the tunnel portal from the south.  May be just the traffic passing the toll plaza, but very little traffic uses the ramps just north of the tolls. And yes, it is substantially wider at the toll plaza itself, which is not relevant, since the critical lane capacity north and south of there is 4 lanes.

Unsigned MD-295 (Baltimore Washington Parkway) in Prince George's County might just be considered for the four-lane championship at Powder Mill Road, with a published AADT of 111,662.
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.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: Rothman on October 31, 2017, 07:58:03 AM
I was thinking the Capital Beltway at Rockville Pike/Wisconsin Ave/MD 355, but it looks like it is 5 instead of four lanes.

It is three lanes on the Outer Loop and two lanes on the Inner Loop of I-495.
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.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: kkt on November 12, 2017, 09:13:18 PM
Yeah, I'm not saying it should be Interstate standard in order to get a red, white, and blue shield on it.  I'm saying it ought to have standard width lanes and shoulders in order to make a safer roadway.  Lots of trucks use 99.  It should be done.

You'd think the fog would be enough justification let alone the high traffic count. 

english si

M4 elevated section in London carries 102,100 vehicles. Sections of the A1 near Gateshead and Newcastle were higher a few years ago, but the roadworks to widen the worst bits of that road have displaced a lot of traffic.

There may be a section of four-lanes in the midst of wider sections that carries higher. The M8 at Charing Cross carries 126,800, but I'm not certain whether that was measured on the 4-lane bit as slip roads are braided and it's all a bit of a mess.

ftballfan

Quote from: Flint1979 on October 31, 2017, 01:53:24 PM
How about US 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor, Michigan? US 23 is four lanes all the way from Flint to the Ohio line and into Ohio when it should be 6 lanes and up to 8 lanes between Brighton and Ann Arbor.
Agree with you on that!
Here are the busiest 4-lane stretches I can find in MI:
US-23 (I-94/Exit 35 to Washtenaw Ave/Exit 37): 77,432
US-23 (Plymouth Rd/Exit 41 to M-14 East/Exit 42): 75,000
US-23 (Geddes Rd/Exit 39 to Plymouth Rd/Exit 41): 73,400
US-23 (Washtenaw Ave/Exit 37 to Geddes Rd/Exit 39): 73,100
I-94 (State St/Exit 177 to US-23/Exit 180): 71,100 (third lane begins/ends at US-23)
M-14 (Gotfredson Rd/Exit 15 to Beck Rd/Exit 18): 70,300
US-23 (Lee Rd/Exit 58 to I-96/Exit 60): 69,500
US-23 (6 Mile Rd/Exit 50 to Barker Rd/Exit 52): 68,380
US-23 (North Territorial Rd/Exit 49 to 6 Mile Rd/Exit 50): 68,100
US-23 (Silver Lake Rd/Exit 55 to Lee Rd/Exit 58): 67,800
I-96 (M-21/Exit 39 to Cascade Rd/Exit 40): 66,717
US-23 (M-14 West/Exit 45 to North Territorial Rd/Exit 49): 66,700
US-23 (Barker Rd/Exit 52 to 8 Mile Rd/Exit 53): 66,600
M-14 (Business US-23/Exit 3 to US-23/Exit 5): 66,391
US-23 (8 Mile Rd/Exit 53 to M-36/Exit 54): 65,900
US-23 (M-36/Exit 54 to Silver Lake Rd/Exit 55): 64,300
I-94 through Jackson and US-31 through Muskegon are above 60k in spots, but not above any of these listed

sparker

Several candidates in CA:  any part of US 101 that's 4-lane between Rincon (the end of the 6-lane section extending up the coast from L.A.) and Gilroy, where the 6+ lane segment in the Bay Area commences.  Also most of CA 152; the 4-lane segment continues through Los Banos as a simple 4-lane arterial; the entire length is generally full of trucks, particularly the portion west of I-5. 

I discussed CA 58 in the heavy-truck-use thread; no need to repeat myself here, although most of the freeway/expressway segments are 4-lane facilities.

Beltway

Quote from: sparker on November 20, 2017, 03:05:01 PM
Several candidates in CA:  any part of US 101 that's 4-lane between Rincon (the end of the 6-lane section extending up the coast from L.A.) and Gilroy, where the 6+ lane segment in the Bay Area commences.  Also most of CA 152; the 4-lane segment continues through Los Banos as a simple 4-lane arterial; the entire length is generally full of trucks, particularly the portion west of I-5. 
I discussed CA 58 in the heavy-truck-use thread; no need to repeat myself here, although most of the freeway/expressway segments are 4-lane facilities.

As I said near the beginning, the I-76 Schuylkill Expressway's 4-lane sections carry 130,000 to 140,000 AADT.

Has any other cited location approached that?
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

michravera

Quote from: sparker on November 20, 2017, 03:05:01 PM
Several candidates in CA:  any part of US 101 that's 4-lane between Rincon (the end of the 6-lane section extending up the coast from L.A.) and Gilroy, where the 6+ lane segment in the Bay Area commences.  Also most of CA 152; the 4-lane segment continues through Los Banos as a simple 4-lane arterial; the entire length is generally full of trucks, particularly the portion west of I-5. 

I discussed CA 58 in the heavy-truck-use thread; no need to repeat myself here, although most of the freeway/expressway segments are 4-lane facilities.

Someone posted a link to the traffic counts for most of the CalTrans roads. I'd like to look at the counts for I-5 from CASR-12 to Hammer Lane.

renegade

Quote from: ftballfan on November 20, 2017, 11:28:48 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on October 31, 2017, 01:53:24 PM
How about US 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor, Michigan? US 23 is four lanes all the way from Flint to the Ohio line and into Ohio when it should be 6 lanes and up to 8 lanes between Brighton and Ann Arbor.
Agree with you on that!
Here are the busiest 4-lane stretches I can find in MI:
[snip]
Do you have any count data on US-12?  Of particular interest is the stretch between I-94 and Ecorse Rd. south and east of Ypsilanti.  Traffic patterns have been changed to remove westbound traffic from the westbound lanes and reroute that traffic onto a four-lane undivided road with traffic signals.  It's a bloodbath waiting to happen.
Don’t ask me how I know.  Just understand that I do.

ftballfan

Quote from: renegade on November 21, 2017, 12:26:01 PM
Quote from: ftballfan on November 20, 2017, 11:28:48 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on October 31, 2017, 01:53:24 PM
How about US 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor, Michigan? US 23 is four lanes all the way from Flint to the Ohio line and into Ohio when it should be 6 lanes and up to 8 lanes between Brighton and Ann Arbor.
Agree with you on that!
Here are the busiest 4-lane stretches I can find in MI:
[snip]
Do you have any count data on US-12?  Of particular interest is the stretch between I-94 and Ecorse Rd. south and east of Ypsilanti.  Traffic patterns have been changed to remove westbound traffic from the westbound lanes and reroute that traffic onto a four-lane undivided road with traffic signals.  It's a bloodbath waiting to happen.
That stretch of US-12 is surprisingly low. It's below 30,000 between I-94 and Ecorse Rd and not much higher than the two-lane stretch near US-23.

ftballfan

Also, I-196 from Fuller Ave/Exit 79 to I-96 has an AADT of 73,506 and it's only four lanes

sparker

I-5 between CA 12 and Elk Grove (S. of Sacramento); now that it's part of ultra-long commutes (due to the regional housing price differentials), it's seeing much more traffic than even ten years ago.  Definitely a candidate for 6+ lanes (although with the sponge-like Delta ground it traverses, even adding median lanes would likely pose a very expensive prospect). 

Flint1979

Quote from: ftballfan on November 20, 2017, 11:28:48 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on October 31, 2017, 01:53:24 PM
How about US 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor, Michigan? US 23 is four lanes all the way from Flint to the Ohio line and into Ohio when it should be 6 lanes and up to 8 lanes between Brighton and Ann Arbor.
Agree with you on that!
Here are the busiest 4-lane stretches I can find in MI:
US-23 (I-94/Exit 35 to Washtenaw Ave/Exit 37): 77,432
US-23 (Plymouth Rd/Exit 41 to M-14 East/Exit 42): 75,000
US-23 (Geddes Rd/Exit 39 to Plymouth Rd/Exit 41): 73,400
US-23 (Washtenaw Ave/Exit 37 to Geddes Rd/Exit 39): 73,100
I-94 (State St/Exit 177 to US-23/Exit 180): 71,100 (third lane begins/ends at US-23)
M-14 (Gotfredson Rd/Exit 15 to Beck Rd/Exit 18): 70,300
US-23 (Lee Rd/Exit 58 to I-96/Exit 60): 69,500
US-23 (6 Mile Rd/Exit 50 to Barker Rd/Exit 52): 68,380
US-23 (North Territorial Rd/Exit 49 to 6 Mile Rd/Exit 50): 68,100
US-23 (Silver Lake Rd/Exit 55 to Lee Rd/Exit 58): 67,800
I-96 (M-21/Exit 39 to Cascade Rd/Exit 40): 66,717
US-23 (M-14 West/Exit 45 to North Territorial Rd/Exit 49): 66,700
US-23 (Barker Rd/Exit 52 to 8 Mile Rd/Exit 53): 66,600
M-14 (Business US-23/Exit 3 to US-23/Exit 5): 66,391
US-23 (8 Mile Rd/Exit 53 to M-36/Exit 54): 65,900
US-23 (M-36/Exit 54 to Silver Lake Rd/Exit 55): 64,300
I-94 through Jackson and US-31 through Muskegon are above 60k in spots, but not above any of these listed
Wow and just think that I-75 in northern Genesee County is eight lanes and has roughly the same volume of traffic as US 23 does between I-94 and M-17 even though that's a two mile stretch. I-94 should be six lanes through the entire state with it being widened even further in the Detroit area, watching how much truck traffic uses I-94 between Detroit and Chicago is a nightmare with only two lanes and trucks often using the left lane to pass slowing everyone behind the truck down. I drive 80 mph on the Interstate's and coming up to something like that where you have to slow down to like 63 mph while a truck is passing is super annoying and that is the problem I have with US 23 and I-94 and I can't think of many other four lane highways that bother me as much as those two do.

Flint1979

Quote from: renegade on November 21, 2017, 12:26:01 PM
Quote from: ftballfan on November 20, 2017, 11:28:48 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on October 31, 2017, 01:53:24 PM
How about US 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor, Michigan? US 23 is four lanes all the way from Flint to the Ohio line and into Ohio when it should be 6 lanes and up to 8 lanes between Brighton and Ann Arbor.
Agree with you on that!
Here are the busiest 4-lane stretches I can find in MI:
[snip]
Do you have any count data on US-12?  Of particular interest is the stretch between I-94 and Ecorse Rd. south and east of Ypsilanti.  Traffic patterns have been changed to remove westbound traffic from the westbound lanes and reroute that traffic onto a four-lane undivided road with traffic signals.  It's a bloodbath waiting to happen.
I thought that stretch of US 12 out by Willow Run was a six lane highway.



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