Recent posts

#1

Traffic Control / Re: Active highway shields tha...

Last post by Hunty2022 - Today at 12:19:37 PM

I've probably touched a couple US 50 shields in the Ocean City, MD area, plus maybe a couple for DE-1 and DE-54 in Fenwick Island.

#2

Sports / Re: Arizona Coyotes players ap...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 12:14:46 PM

Yes, yes, it snows "everywhere" at some point.  You know what I meant.

Not really.

Oh yeah?!?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_Earth

Figured something like that was coming. Recorded history works for me as opposed to a hypothesis.

It was just a joke you know.

For sure. I take almost nothing seriously on this site.

#3

Sports / Re: Arizona Coyotes players ap...

Last post by SEWIGuy - Today at 12:09:24 PM

Yes, yes, it snows "everywhere" at some point.  You know what I meant.

Not really.

Oh yeah?!?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_Earth

Figured something like that was coming. Recorded history works for me as opposed to a hypothesis.

It was just a joke you know.

#4

Pacific Southwest / Re: CA 203

Last post by heynow415 - Today at 12:07:44 PM

Another advantage of a 108/Sonora Pass tunnel alignment for an I-70 extension is that it would have lined up nicely with passing just south of Stockton (and the Port of) and then as an east/southeast entry to the Bay Area via the Altamont Pass/I-580/I-205/SR 120. 

I always thought it was strange how 108/120 are basically freeways up to the Sonora area and then 108 has sections that keep going as random freeway and expressway in the mountains for it to just go straight into a windy road after Strawberry and Pinecrest Lake.

The Sonora "freeway" section is relatively new in the grand scheme of things but the three short expressway segments east of Knights Landing, through Twain Harte, and at Long Barn have been in place 50+ years.  It is unfortunate that the notion of extending 120 east of 99 as a freeway to Oakdale is basically dead, though Escalon and Oakdale are probably rightly concerned that a freeway bypassing those communities would be a huge hit to them economically.

Four-laning 108(120) from the east end of the Knights Ferry segment to Yosemite Junction would seem like a relatively simple project given the ruralness and terrain; getting from the Junction through Jamestown to the Sonora segment would be a much bigger challenge.  The section from the east end of the Sonora segment to the Twain Harte expressway is supposedly in the works.  It's unlikely that the gap from Twain Harte to Long Barn would ever be built since trying to thread it through Mi-Wuk Village and other hamlets along the way, plus the terrain, is likely not justifiable from a cost, environmental, and constructability standpoint.  And beyond Pinecrest it just isn't needed.

They are making 108/120 a freeway to Oakdale (eventually)

https://northcountycorridorphase1.com/project-overview/#:~:text=The%20ultimate%20North%20County%20Corridor,was%20segmented%20into%20four%20phases.

That's not the original 120 project.  120 was supposed to continue directly east of the current 120 fwy/99 interchnage on a new alignment that would ultimately sweep around the north side of Oakdale.  It's discussed extensively here:  https://www.cahighways.org/ROUTE120.html . 108 to Modesto has its own issues so the North County project is certainly needed as well.

#5

General Highway Talk / Re: Routing Decisions that can...

Last post by 1995hoo - Today at 12:03:15 PM

It's no longer the case, but this thread made me think of the problem of passing through the Baltimore area up until the Fort McHenry Tunnel opened in November 1985. ....

Ah, the Harbor Tunnel! If you think that was bad, you should have seen it before the Key Bridge (RIP) was opened.  ....

I almost certainly experienced the Harbor Tunnel before the bridge opened, but I don't remember any such trips because the bridge opened just over two months before my fourth birthday.

#6

General Highway Talk / Re: Routing Decisions that can...

Last post by elsmere241 - Today at 12:02:36 PM

Then there was the time in February 1997 when I was coming down US 93 near Dolan Springs, Arizona and saw the sign for Cottonwood Road.  I naively thought it might in fact go through to Cottonwood Cove, Nevada.  (Or if it didn't I could always turn around and go back.)  Long story short, I plowed my car into a wash Wednesday night, and reached relative civilization Friday morning.

#7

Southeast / Re: Interstate 73/74

Last post by bob7374 - Today at 12:00:43 PM

Traffic shift coming to the NC 74 (Future I-74)/Winston-Salem Northern Beltway and US 52 South interchange over the weekend:
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2024/2024-04-25-weekend-closures-traffic-shift-forsyth.aspx

Will this shift come with permanent signing?

#8

Southeast / Re: Interstate 73/74

Last post by TheStranger - Today at 11:55:39 AM

I-40/I-840/I-85 in eastern Greensboro, I-40 east from the Death Valley section does not have any ramp to 85 south

Uhh...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1z2Um1WecUauYyGB8?g_st=ic
https://maps.app.goo.gl/BdVMxyTUqYCvCQpv9?g_st=ic

Oops, I didn't realize the right-hand ramp was shifted so far east of the bridges! Will correct my post.

#9

Traffic Control / Re: Is Georgia finally getting...

Last post by roadfro - Today at 11:52:48 AM

Probably not news for this thread, but just saw this example: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LCsTy9GpFFsLGyvA9
So they opted for "two through destination arrows" for 285S and 85N

How serendipitous. I won't have to post a "before" link-- you already did.

I'd forgotten about this thread, but in mid-March, the above assembly was changed to this monstrosity. As well as replacing the conventional sign for the Buford Highway exit with that APL-themed freak, they removed the split arrow and the curved arrow from the APL, thereby removing the rationale for even having an APL. So much for GDOT getting it.

Trying to make some sense of this: the Buford Highway exit has a fairly long decel lane, and I guess that after all these years someone decided it was long enough to rate EXIT ONLY signage. But they could've used conventional signage like this instead of copying something dumb that Alabama did. As for removing the essential features of what had been an MUTCD-compliant APL, I can't imagine what they were thinking.

I mean, I kinda get why they modified this APL for this particular sign set. The curved arrows for I-85 south at this location (where there is an unrelated exit) could potentially lead to some confusion. But that potentially could have been mitigated by including a distance message—or better yet, posting this APL in a place slightly downstream that wouldn't be confused for the unrelated exit to US 23.

The exit to US 23 rightly deserves an exit only panel since that lane drops. It would also be better if they used a dotted line for a pavement marking instead of the typical broken line.

#10

General Highway Talk / Re: Routing Decisions that can...

Last post by StogieGuy7 - Today at 11:46:32 AM

It's no longer the case, but this thread made me think of the problem of passing through the Baltimore area up until the Fort McHenry Tunnel opened in November 1985. If you wanted to stay on the highway, you had three choices—take the Harbor Tunnel, detour around to the east over the (now-destroyed) Key Bridge, or detour around the (somewhat longer) west side of the Baltimore Beltway. You had to make an educated guess in advance because the Harbor Tunnel was prone to severe traffic backups and once you committed to the Harbor Tunnel Thruway, if you hit a traffic jam the only way out was to make an illegal U-turn across the median if you were on a part of the road where that was possible. (I remember my father doing that one time. My mother was very much Not Pleased when he did it.) I recall a trip north to New York in what was probably the summer of 1983 when my father was not with us because of work demands, so my mother was driving and I told her she should take I-695 over the bridge because the tunnel would back up. She said it was a weekday and it wouldn't be too bad, so she took the Harbor Tunnel exit and we hit a severe backup. It took an hour to go five miles.

Ah, the Harbor Tunnel! If you think that was bad, you should have seen it before the Key Bridge (RIP) was opened.  I vividly remember trips from VA to New England (back in the late 60s - early 70's) being delayed for hours thanks to traffic on the Harbor Tunnel Thruway, from which there was no escape and really no way to avoid it.  And, combine that with how the current-day I-95 didn't open until 1970 or 71 and before that you only had the Baltimore-Washington Parkway between the 2 cities.  It was a nightmare that made the beltway look easy. Still remember how happy we were when 95 opened through Laurel/Columbia/etc and made life so much easier.  With lovely [gold-colored] button copy signs too!