What is the most substandard interstate?

[kkt]

I have never understood the hate for left exits. 

There was an NCDOT highway engineer that had conniption fits over left exits and entrances, on several online forums.

I hate them because in the era before GPSes were widespread, you often didn't know that your exit was a left exit so you would have to cut across lanes in order to make your exit. If you're in an area that you're unfamiliar with, it can be a challenge.

If it is properly signed, then you will know a mile or two in advance.

Yes, but standards didn't call for signing them in advance until recently, so you didn't find out until too late for an easy merge.

[Beltway]

I have never understood the hate for left exits. 

There was an NCDOT highway engineer that had conniption fits over left exits and entrances, on several online forums.

I hate them because in the era before GPSes were widespread, you often didn't know that your exit was a left exit so you would have to cut across lanes in order to make your exit. If you're in an area that you're unfamiliar with, it can be a challenge.

If it is properly signed, then you will know a mile or two in advance.

Yes, but standards didn't call for signing them in advance until recently, so you didn't find out until too late for an easy merge.

Not the case in the middle Atlantic states.

[JJBers]

I have never understood the hate for left exits. 

There was an NCDOT highway engineer that had conniption fits over left exits and entrances, on several online forums.

I hate them because in the era before GPSes were widespread, you often didn't know that your exit was a left exit so you would have to cut across lanes in order to make your exit. If you're in an area that you're unfamiliar with, it can be a challenge.

If it is properly signed, then you will know a mile or two in advance.

Yes, but standards didn't call for signing them in advance until recently, so you didn't find out until too late for an easy merge.

Not the case in the middle Atlantic states.

Double that for New England

[silverback1065]

they've only recently started adding "left" tabs on bgs over here

[Chris19001]

Case in point on the left hand exits in the Northeast:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9962246,-75.196909,3a,75y,44.69h,107.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk06fYyZVW6CIkURThmohZQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

A driver would have 4/10ths of a mile to get from the right to the left of a busy 4 lane urban freeway..  This is the one and only head's up that it is a left exit, and it is not reinforced by the only later signs before the exit itself:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9986575,-75.195495,3a,75y,11.49h,97.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sez_hHS9n8V8-d9iWJMlWuA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
This lack of great signage may cause an accident every now and then, but that left exit rarely results in backups on to the freeway itself like South Street at I-76.  A congested left hand "merge or die" onramp is pretty poor to have rebuilt just recently..

[silverback1065]

this should be standard. it's on all 3 signs leading up to the exit in indiana now (1mile, 1/2 mile, exit)  https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0648226,-86.4950089,3a,17.3y,161.81h,107.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8pnTCJMNG5m5ArIJZ9e2AQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[jeffandnicole]

Case in point on the left hand exits in the Northeast:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9962246,-75.196909,3a,75y,44.69h,107.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk06fYyZVW6CIkURThmohZQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

A driver would have 4/10ths of a mile to get from the right to the left of a busy 4 lane urban freeway..  This is the one and only head's up that it is a left exit, and it is not reinforced by the only later signs before the exit itself:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9986575,-75.195495,3a,75y,11.49h,97.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sez_hHS9n8V8-d9iWJMlWuA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
This lack of great signage may cause an accident every now and then, but that left exit rarely results in backups on to the freeway itself like South Street at I-76.  A congested left hand "merge or die" onramp is pretty poor to have rebuilt just recently..

Even worse is the fact that the first sign says US 1 North is a right exit.  It doesn't say that it's an exit only lane. It doesn't say that the 2 RIGHT LANES are exit only lanes! 

Only at the 1/4 mile mark (and the sign doesn't say 1/4 mile) that it notes the right 2 lanes are exit only lanes.  That's potentially a lot of lane shifting over the next 1,200 feet or so.

[Flint1979]

As for the City Avenue exit in Philly where does that exactly take you that the main expressway doesn't? All it looks like is an exit ramp that exits and enters the same highway. It looks like a pointless ramp there. And here is what I'm talking about, before the bend going WB you see the City Avenue exit sign with a ramp, the ramp just connects to the same expressway it exited from and the real City Avenue exit is a little further ahead. The entire Schuylkill Expressway is a joke anyway.

[DJStephens]

I have never understood the hate for left exits. 

There was an NCDOT highway engineer that had conniption fits over left exits and entrances, on several online forums.

I hate them because in the era before GPSes were widespread, you often didn't know that your exit was a left exit so you would have to cut across lanes in order to make your exit. If you're in an area that you're unfamiliar with, it can be a challenge.

As a kid, always found the I-84 Connecticut left exits fascinating, along with the concrete pavement and the bridge stubs into mid-air.  There were one time plans to criss-cross Hartford and it's environs with freeways and parkways.  Many of the concrete bridge parapets had "1968" on them.   

[PHLBOS]

As for the City Avenue exit in Philly where does that exactly take you that the main expressway doesn't? All it looks like is an exit ramp that exits and enters the same highway. It looks like a pointless ramp there. And here is what I'm talking about, before the bend going WB you see the City Avenue exit sign with a ramp, the ramp just connects to the same expressway it exited from and the real City Avenue exit is a little further ahead. The entire Schuylkill Expressway is a joke anyway.

If you're referring to the dual-exit ramps for City Ave.; the likely reasoning for the first/remote exit is to separate the through-US 1 South traffic (coming from the Roosevelt Expressway) from the mainline I-76 westbound.  The second, redundant exit ramp, located at the actual exit, is there in the event that the separate parallel ramp (which acts like a collector-distributor road) is shut down due to an accident or construction repairs.  The traffic counts/demands for City Ave. (US 1) warrant such.

[milbfan]

I-240 in Asheville.  Yikes.

[Jardine]

I-99

[hbelkins]

I-99

Huh? That route is of fairly recent construction and is up to modern standards.

[Jardine]

Violates numbering convention.

Needs to be demolished and built in the correct location.

[JJBers]

Violates numbering convention.

Needs to be demolished and built in the correct location.

No, that's like saying I-89 needs to be demolished and moved to New York.

[PurdueBill]

this should be standard. it's on all 3 signs leading up to the exit in indiana now (1mile, 1/2 mile, exit)  https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0648226,-86.4950089,3a,17.3y,161.81h,107.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8pnTCJMNG5m5ArIJZ9e2AQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

At least the old signs (the button copy ones, rest their souls) had the tab left-justified (with no yellow field), which used to pass as enough warning.  Of course, the tab could sometimes be put in the wrong place.  There was a mistaken right tab for a left exit further south on I-65 entering downtown Indy for I-70 eastbound, a sign that also famously mentioned "Columbus O." as a control city.  How old-timey.

Massachusetts finally went to boring tabs like the rest of the country after one too many fabrication errors of the integrated tabs.  A left tab for a right exit or vice versa was not easy to fix with the old design.  Too bad, because I liked those tabs.  Saved on materials, still clearly an exit tab, looked fine. 

[silverback1065]

this should be standard. it's on all 3 signs leading up to the exit in indiana now (1mile, 1/2 mile, exit)  https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0648226,-86.4950089,3a,17.3y,161.81h,107.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8pnTCJMNG5m5ArIJZ9e2AQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

At least the old signs (the button copy ones, rest their souls) had the tab left-justified (with no yellow field), which used to pass as enough warning.  Of course, the tab could sometimes be put in the wrong place.  There was a mistaken right tab for a left exit further south on I-65 entering downtown Indy for I-70 eastbound, a sign that also famously mentioned "Columbus O." as a control city.  How old-timey.

Massachusetts finally went to boring tabs like the rest of the country after one too many fabrication errors of the integrated tabs.  A left tab for a right exit or vice versa was not easy to fix with the old design.  Too bad, because I liked those tabs.  Saved on materials, still clearly an exit tab, looked fine.

those signs are dropping like flies downtown, slowly getting replaced.  the control city for 70 now is Dayton. 

[mgk920]

After watching some Big Rig Steve video over the weekend, I'll note that several of the interstate freeways in Oklahoma City, OK and the State of Oklahoma (especially I-35) are very substandard, especially WRT paved shoulder width.

Mike

[i-215]

I-180 in Wyoming.

/thread

Winner winner, chicken dinner.  I drove on that "Interstate" in July.  What the crap?  It barely qualifies as an arterial street.

[cl94]

I'll give my top 4 (in no particular order, except the first). I'm doing this for the designation as a whole, hence no I-70 (even though a couple stretches in PA rival I-278).

• I-278. The only reason it's an "expressway" is no traffic lights. It is substandard compared even to many of NY's parkways and easily the most substandard limited-access road without significant usage restrictions along its entire length.
• I-587. The only non-I-180 interstate with no grade-separated interchanges. Both termini are at grade and there is ONE grade separation along the length of the thing. Call it NY 28 by itself. I-87 won't even acknowledge this bastard stepchild on signs.
• I-83. One word: clusterf***. The MD section is bad inside I-695 and the PA stretch rivals I-70 in western PA. What the heck kind of barrier is this?
• I-76. Most of its length is on the horribly substandard PA Turnpike and even more-substandard Schuylkill Expressway. The portion through Akron is one of Ohio's worst sections of freeway. Drive on the Sure-kill and you'll see why it's on here.

[Mr_Northside]

What the heck kind of barrier is this?

The PA Turnpike has had a stretch of that kind of barrier (I have no idea what, if any, formal name it has) a little east of the Butler Valley (PA-8) interchange.  At some point in the very near future (if not already) it will be gone as that stretch is under construction for rebuilding/widening now.

I-76. Most of its length is on the horribly substandard PA Turnpike

I don't know that I would call the PA Turnpike "Horribly" substandard.  The rebuilt sections are quite nice, and I don't know that the ones that haven't yet are THAT bad.  Maybe it's just cause there aren't too many substandard exits spaced close together (like on New Stanton-Washington).[/list]

[seicer]

What the heck kind of barrier is this?

The PA Turnpike has had a stretch of that kind of barrier (I have no idea what, if any, formal name it has) a little east of the Butler Valley (PA-8) interchange.  At some point in the very near future (if not already) it will be gone as that stretch is under construction for rebuilding/widening now.

It looks like it had stripes painted on top, too.[/list]

[Beltway]

What the heck kind of barrier is this?

The PA Turnpike has had a stretch of that kind of barrier (I have no idea what, if any, formal name it has) a little east of the Butler Valley (PA-8) interchange.  At some point in the very near future (if not already) it will be gone as that stretch is under construction for rebuilding/widening now.

Traffic barriers (guardrail and concrete) are one of the highway topics that I have always been interested in.

That said, that I-83 barrier is a strange design that I have not seen elsewhere.  Not sure if it has a concrete core, but it does look rather sturdy and has steel guardrail on the traffic facing side.

I-76. Most of its length is on the horribly substandard PA Turnpike

I don't know that I would call the PA Turnpike "Horribly" substandard.  The rebuilt sections are quite nice, and I don't know that the ones that haven't yet are THAT bad.  Maybe it's just cause there aren't too many substandard exits spaced close together (like on New Stanton-Washington).[/list]

The six-laned sections may be approaching 100 miles length in total, and while I prefer grass medians 40 wide or wider, the current design with a 26-foot paved median is fully modern and provides two 12-foot shoulders and a concrete median barrier.

It may be that in about 7 years or by 2024 that these corridors will be entirely six-laned --
- Ohio to New Stanton -- 75 miles
- Carlisle corridor for 20 miles west of Carlisle -- 20 miles
- Harrisburg West to Harrisburg East -- 5 miles
- Morgantown to Bristol -- 60 miles
- Plymouth Meeting to Quakertown -- 24 miles

That is a total of 184 miles, and at a cost of at least $3 billion, since the late 1980s.  Of course that leaves 286 miles of the original turnpike system in its original form, which is certainly substandard by even 1970 Interstate standards.

However, future widening/rebuilding projects will certainly be occurring, and at today's cost of about $25 to $30 million per mile, it will be a very long time before the whole turnpike can be rebuilt, and the 184 miles cited does cover the busiest sections, although Quakertown to Allentown should be pursued as one of the busier priority sections (the remaining 76 miles of NE Extension will never warrant six lanes, IMO).

So if they reach the above completions by 2024 then I do think they will deserve a lot of credit.

Next corridor focus should be on the 86 miles of I-76/I-70 overlap, as its volumes are generally higher than other rural sections and should IMO be rebuilt to six lanes, and the Allegheny Tunnel Project is included there.

[plain]

What the heck kind of barrier is this?

The PA Turnpike has had a stretch of that kind of barrier (I have no idea what, if any, formal name it has) a little east of the Butler Valley (PA-8) interchange.  At some point in the very near future (if not already) it will be gone as that stretch is under construction for rebuilding/widening now.

Traffic barriers (guardrail and concrete) are one of the highway topics that I have always been interested in.

That said, that I-83 barrier is a strange design that I have not seen elsewhere.  Not sure if it has a concrete core, but it does look rather sturdy and has steel guardrail on the traffic facing side.

This type of median barrier actually exists in Virginia too. The Lynchburg Expwy (current US 29 BUS) has it north of its James River crossing in Madison Heights.[/list]

[Beltway]

What the heck kind of barrier is this?

The PA Turnpike has had a stretch of that kind of barrier (I have no idea what, if any, formal name it has) a little east of the Butler Valley (PA-8) interchange.  At some point in the very near future (if not already) it will be gone as that stretch is under construction for rebuilding/widening now.

Traffic barriers (guardrail and concrete) are one of the highway topics that I have always been interested in.
That said, that I-83 barrier is a strange design that I have not seen elsewhere.  Not sure if it has a concrete core, but it does look rather sturdy and has steel guardrail on the traffic facing side.

This type of median barrier actually exists in Virginia too. The Lynchburg Expwy (current US 29 BUS) has it north of its James River crossing in Madison Heights.

I wonder (per review on Google Maps) if that was a concrete median barrier design that had a wall and a curb, something prior to the New Jersey design, and was upgraded later by bolting two or three rows of steel W-beam guardrail on the face of the concrete, in order to provide better crash performance on a vehicle that hits it.

Probably would have been better to have removed the old barrier and installed a new barrier.

I see on Google Maps that the Lynchburg Expressway south of the river has a New Jersey median barrier design.  I do recall that in the 1970s and 1980s it had a double faced W-beam guardrail.