Most substandard on- or off-ramp on an Interstate

[The High Plains Traveler]

This one gets brought up pretty often here - The I-94 / US-52 Lafayette Bridge junction in Saint Paul, MN. Some of these appear to be signed for 20MPH.

http://g.co/maps/52drk

This at least is being reconstructed. It still won't be a high-speed ramp, but after completion exiting traffic onto I-94 west shouldn't be affected by traffic backing up from the light at 7th Street like it previously did.

[jemacedo9]

I would also nominate the I-376 interchange with PA 121 in Green Tree (near Pittsburgh).  Two on-ramps are loop ramps with a stop sign at the end.  The right most lane of the Interstate at that point is an exit only lane that exits less than 100 feet upstream.

I just used this ramp about a month ago...it was a weeknight around 11PM at night and even at that time it was still pretty bad...tests your car's ability to go from 0 to 70 ASFASTASYOUCAN!!!

[Mr_Northside]

I would also nominate the I-376 interchange with PA 121 in Green Tree (near Pittsburgh).  Two on-ramps are loop ramps with a stop sign at the end.  The right most lane of the Interstate at that point is an exit only lane that exits less than 100 feet upstream.

I just used this ramp about a month ago...it was a weeknight around 11PM at night and even at that time it was still pretty bad...tests your car's ability to go from 0 to 70 ASFASTASYOUCAN!!!

The Parkways East/West are riddled with substandard ramps.

[thenetwork]

The former Johnston Street secondary off-ramp at the Akron Central Interchange. 

When it was still open, there was never any mention of it on any BGS -- just a small little gore sign as you came around the corner telling you it was Johnston Street, then another little curve and then a traffic light would be there to greet you.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=akron,+oh&hl=en&ll=41.063288,-81.505406&spn=0.002144,0.004823&sll=29.290862,-98.640803&sspn=0.00124,0.002411&hnear=Akron,+Summit,+Ohio&t=k&z=18

[PurdueBill]

The former Johnston Street secondary off-ramp at the Akron Central Interchange. 

When it was still open, there was never any mention of it on any BGS -- just a small little gore sign as you came around the corner telling you it was Johnston Street, then another little curve and then a traffic light would be there to greet you.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=akron,+oh&hl=en&ll=41.063288,-81.505406&spn=0.002144,0.004823&sll=29.290862,-98.640803&sspn=0.00124,0.002411&hnear=Akron,+Summit,+Ohio&t=k&z=18

I thought of that one but stopped short of it since it wasn't a ramp off an Interstate.   

I've read about that ramp that it came about from when the Central Interchange connected only expressways to the north and east, and then the ramp stayed there after the connection to the west was made.  I also read that there was a corresponding, just as dangerous onramp from Lumiere St. to the WB-NB ramp at the interchange.

[KillerTux]

The highway entrance below is just before US 50/US 301 meets up with the start of I-595. From a dead stop and awkward angle, one as to catch up with 60-70 mph traffic  

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Annapolis,+MD&hl=en&ll=39.016208,-76.486334&spn=0.001711,0.003315&sll=39.01409,-77.042398&sspn=0.006844,0.013261&oq=Annapolis&gl=us&hnear=Annapolis,+Anne+Arundel,+Maryland&t=h&z=19

[empirestate]

I'll throw in the I-376 EB entrance at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel in Pittsburgh: http://g.co/maps/yjmgt

Stop sign at the bottom of a steep grade, basically zero weaving space against traffic exit 376, plus you've got to merge one lane left AND accelerate upgrade into the tunnel. Talk about a chicane! (And the lane you have to cross is exit-only, and therefore tends to be moving much faster than the two thru-lanes to the tunnel, which are frequently backed up. So then you've got to accelerate through the exit-only lane and then quickly slow for the mainline, while still making an attempt at keeping up your uphill speed, as the law specifically compels you to do. This is where examining the torque curve on prospective new vehicles comes in handy!)

[Bickendan]

The SW 6th Ave on ramp to I-405 north with the following off-ramp to SW 12th Ave and US 26 (all of it part of US 26 west). Causes some nasty weaving and the exit speed sign is posted too soon off of I-405.

[ctsignguy]

It was permanently removed a few years ago, but the Neva Ave exit off I-75 just north of Downtown Dayton (old Exit 56) was terrible....heading north it was a "there it is oops you missed it' exit, with no real warning ti was there until you were on top of it....and the entrance ramp to South I-75 had no acceleration lane so it was either stop or gun it (the old Wagner-Ford Rd exit 1/2 mile beyond was no better)  When I-75 was rebuilt in that area a few years ago, the Wagner Ford ramps were redone to more modern standards

[cpzilliacus]

Another bad one near D.C. is the ramp from the southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway to northbound I-395/U.S. 1 in Arlington County, Va. (here).  Almost no space to enter the freeway.

And then, speaking of the George Washington Parkway, there's the very sharp ramp at the north end of the Parkway leading to the Inner Loop (northbound) of I-495 (Capital Beltway) headed in the direction of the American Legion Bridge (here), especially if the pavement is even slightly wet.

[Scott5114]

Doubt it's in the same league as the rest of these, but the west half of I-240 in OKC is Weave City.

[agentsteel53]

the "Quarry Exit" on I-80 just east of I-215/Parley's Way in Utah. 

two ramps - you can get off eastbound, and get on westbound.  to cross over, you go through a tunnel under the freeway that is one lane.

the only sign is "Quarry Exit 1/2 mi" eastbound - no signs at the exit itself for route number, destination, etc. 

http://g.co/maps/gsgeu

[PAHighways]

I'll throw in the I-376 EB entrance at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel in Pittsburgh: http://g.co/maps/yjmgt

There was a plan in the 1980s to change the order of the on and off ramps so there would be no weaving issues.

[triplemultiplex]

That (dis)honor for Wisconsin is certainly I-94 at Mitchell Blvd, right by Miller Park.
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.03131,-87.97753&z=17&t=S
Short-ass ramps entering and leaving from the left that get surged with stadium traffic 81 days a year.

[1995hoo]

The on-ramp from the Ninth Street Tunnel to northbound I-395 (eastbound Southwest—Southeast Freeway) in DC is pretty terrible. Not because it's a left exit at the end of the tunnel or because of the other ramp that merges into it just after the left curve, nor necessarily because the railings on either side obstruct visibility, although those things certainly don't improve it. To me the worst part is the way it enters the freeway in the left lane with essentially no merge area nor acceleration lane and the traffic tends to be moving either at very high speeds for such an obsolete road (speed limit 40 mph is universally ignored) or else stopped completely. The other left-hand entrance from Maine Avenue just west of there isn't nearly as bad because those lanes continue rather than forcing you to merge with no space.

[roadfro]

That (dis)honor for Wisconsin is certainly I-94 at Mitchell Blvd, right by Miller Park.
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.03131,-87.97753&z=17&t=S
Short-ass ramps entering and leaving from the left that get surged with stadium traffic 81 days a year.

I'm actually going to a conference in Wisconsin in the next couple days. Drove through there earlier today and noticed the left ramps...not a game day though so I can only imagine what that could be like...

[roadman65]

I-4 Eastbound to South Street has a long exit ramp posted for 25 mph with the ramp being designed for high speeds.

Before that you have the cars exiting for FL 408 and the vehicles entering I-4 EB from Kaley Street run into each other as the ramps are too close together along with the bottleneck entering the "trumpet to trumpet" going to the toll road.  What even makes matters worse is those who "cut in line" to avoid waiting in the long bottleneck cause a danger to those from Kaley Street trying to weasel in through the line to get to the straight through lanes of I-4.  You have a brand new open lane as the back up from the 408 exit spills onto the merge area from Kaley then back onto the through right lane where you would think that no one could even get into the lane now empty so fast!  WRONG!  I almost got hit by two line cutters already who were stupid enough to change lanes so fast.

[ftballfan]

I-96 has a few:
Exit 23: Not much more than a RIRO. There is a church immediately off the EB off-ramp.
Exits 37/38: Trying to get from EB I-96 to M-37 can be almost impossible if there is any traffic coming from I-196.

I-196 has a few as well:
Exit 75: The onramp to EB I-196 is a left entrance.
Exit 76: Any onramp that has a yield sign (like the WB onramp here) is on this list.

[agentsteel53]

There was the Deathramp from 51st Street to I-44 in Tulsa but now it's gone.

that seems about as bad as the I-805 ramp I mentioned on the first page of this thread.  a tight merge into fast traffic. 

there is no time I thank my V-6 engine more than on that 805 ramp.  oh, did I mention that it is a 5.5% uphill?  yeah, great design, you idiots.

[agentsteel53]

though it has been fixed now, I must also mention the Templin Hwy exit to I-5 southbound in the grapevine: a stop sign, a Jersey barrier obstructing all view of the right lane from the entrance - a right lane filled with cars doing 80-90mph down the hill ... and an incredible 160 feet of merging room to get up to speed.

that's the length of 3 trucks... that's maybe 2 seconds accelerating from a dead stop.  and that was the time you were allotted before you were swept into yet another jersey barrier.

I did that entrance precisely once, guessing my way to a potentially survivable ingress, and resolved to never, ever do it again.  it was that unconscionably bad.

[tchafe1978]

This technically isn't on on interstate (yet), but the US41/(former) US151/Military Rd interchange in Fond du Lac, WI used to be terrible. It has now been rebuilt into a standard diamond since the US 151 bypass of Fond du Lac was built in the mid-2000s. Before it was rebuilt, it was a real tight cloverleaf, and had 25 mph advisory speeds on the curves, if I remember correctly. To make things worse, there was no kind of barrier separating opposing directions of traffic on the ramps, just a simple double yellow line. For example, if you were exiting from SB US 41 to SB US 151, you would have only a double yellow line separating you from the traffic taking the loop ramp from SB US 151 to SB US 41. I hated that interchange so much I would avout using it at all costs anytime I was in the area. Why it was ever built that way instead of a simple diamond in the first place is beyond me. WHen US 151 still went through the interchange, it was 2 lanes undivided, there was no reason for it to ever be a cloverleaf, let alone with the outright shitty setup it had. It was hoping there would still be images of it on Google Maps, but I can't get it to come up.

[NE2]

It was hoping there would still be images of it on Google Maps, but I can't get it to come up.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.75860,-88.47487&z=17&t=O

[kphoger]

Exit 76: Any onramp that has a yield sign (like the WB onramp here) is on this list.

It's not the Yield sign.  Kansas' standard practice is to post Yield signs at on-ramps, simply to say that, when push comes to shove, merging traffic doesn't get to butt through traffic out of the way.  What makes that on-ramp terribly substandard is that it is BOTH missing any length of acceleration lane AND has a hard curb line.....so NO wiggle room.  Exceleent example.

[PHLBOS]

Exit 10 on-ramp to I-90 (Mass Pike) WB in Auburn.   Loop ramp with too tight of a radius that trucks roll on all the time.  It's also two lanes, which is very sharp on the right (inside) lane.

When that interchange was originally constructed in the 1950s, it only served MA 12; not a crossing high-speed Interstate.  The I-290 corridor came about a decade later and the I-395 (former MA 52) segment was connected to I-290 during the late 70s/early 80s. 

While the ramps on the I-290/395/MA 12 side were reconfigured when the 290/395 corridor was built; the trumpet interchange on I-90 itself is probably STILL its original 1950s alignment that was restriped to 2 lanes later on.

[tchafe1978]

It was hoping there would still be images of it on Google Maps, but I can't get it to come up.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.75860,-88.47487&z=17&t=O

Thanks! Now you can see what I'm talking about.