Map of six-laned interstates in the US?

[Jim]

Also if one wants to see only 6+-lane interstates, just restrict stats/maps to the usai system.

[CtrlAltDel]

Also if one wants to see only 6+-lane interstates, just restrict stats/maps to the usai system.

Would you know how to set up such a restriction? I've tried, but I didn't want to do anything that would mess things up for other users.

[Jim]

Also if one wants to see only 6+-lane interstates, just restrict stats/maps to the usai system.

Would you know how to set up such a restriction? I've tried, but I didn't want to do anything that would mess things up for other users.

Nothing you do in your browser can affect anyone else.  The TM database is read-only to the web front end.

For example, if you just want to see the travels of 6lane on U.S. Interstates, you can go to 6lane's user page:

https://travelmapping.net/user/?units=miles&u=6lane&

And from there, you can scroll down to the Stats by System, click on the "usai" row to bring you to:

https://travelmapping.net/user/system.php?units=miles&u=6lane&sys=usai

There you have maps and stats for 6lane restricted to the usai system.

If you further want to restrict, say, to a particular state, pick your state from the dropdown at the top, click "Update Map and Stats" and you have Interstates in that state.

[CtrlAltDel]

Also if one wants to see only 6+-lane interstates, just restrict stats/maps to the usai system.

Would you know how to set up such a restriction? I've tried, but I didn't want to do anything that would mess things up for other users.

There you have maps and stats for 6lane restricted to the usai system.

Thanks!

[vdeane]

Froggie included MN routes (such as MN 610) from the get go so I thought it was obvious we were including freeways beyond interstates.

(And, no, I did not include I-70 through Breezewood as a boulevard so I would not count I-78 in Jersey City.)

Didn't look at MN.  I did see the Everett in NH, which I was scratching my head on.  But by that point others were already contributing, so I had no idea who added it.

Breezewood is only two lanes in one direction, so it doesn't count anyways.  I think the only six-lane non-freeway interstate is I-78.

[74/171FAN]

Froggie included MN routes (such as MN 610) from the get go so I thought it was obvious we were including freeways beyond interstates.

(And, no, I did not include I-70 through Breezewood as a boulevard so I would not count I-78 in Jersey City.)

Didn't look at MN.  I did see the Everett in NH, which I was scratching my head on.  But by that point others were already contributing, so I had no idea who added it.

Breezewood is only two lanes in one direction, so it doesn't count anyways.  I think the only six-lane non-freeway interstate is I-78.

I believe that was Froggie as well because he stated that he completed NH.

[TheStranger]

I think the only six-lane non-freeway interstate is I-78.

Is I-180 in Cheyenne also in this category?

[sprjus4]

^ No, because it is only 4 lanes wide.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Will this skew the global stats?

Not too worried about the butterfly effect. Should be pretty marginal. Maaaaaybe 10,000 miles worth? I have 70,000 logged myself.

Including the two 6lane accounts, on TM, there are, to my knowledge, 9 "extra" accounts for travelers on TM.
(half of them are for Jim just doing yearly tallies on his travels).
If this was to be a problem for Jim's computer classes (the basis for Jim being able to host the server for TM), it would have been addressed by now.

[Jim]

Will this skew the global stats?

Not too worried about the butterfly effect. Should be pretty marginal. Maaaaaybe 10,000 miles worth? I have 70,000 logged myself.

Including the two 6lane accounts, on TM, there are, to my knowledge, 9 "extra" accounts for travelers on TM.
(half of them are for Jim just doing yearly tallies on his travels).
If this was to be a problem for Jim's computer classes (the basis for Jim being able to host the server for TM), it would have been addressed by now.

Short answer: it's ok with me for such files to exist as "users" but I'd like to exclude them from global stats in the future.

Some previous discussion: https://github.com/TravelMapping/DataProcessing/issues/71 and https://github.com/TravelMapping/Web/issues/741

[US 89]

The entry for UT 201 needs to be changed to:

UT UT201 10 I-15/80

[74/171FAN]

The entry for UT 201 needs to be changed to:

UT UT201 10 I-15/80

I fixed it earlier today (https://github.com/TravelMapping/UserData/pull/8867).

[Jim]

FYI, there is discussion also on the TM Forum in this thread.

[CtrlAltDel]

Looking around, it looks like the map is essentially complete!

[TheStranger]

Looking at California, which for the most part has correct data:

- The freeway segment of Route 262 in Fremont (I-880 to Warm Springs Boulevard) is 6 lanes
- the short Route 1 freeway between I-280 in Daly City and Font Boulevard in SF is also at least 6 lanes the whole way through
- Though most of it is only 4 lanes, the portion of Central Freeway/US 101 between 9th Street and Van Ness Avenue is 6
- The expressway portion of Route 84 between US 101 and the Dumbarton Bridge is also 6 lanes, not sure though if any surface roads are being marked in this or just freeways only
- For that matter, should the Santa Clara County expressways be marked as well?

[Bickendan]

The Santa Clara County expressways aren't covered by TM. There aren't any current plans to look at adding any non-limited-access-of-note county facilities at this point (for example, Lane County's Delta Highway was covered under the TM Select Freeways System, but ODOT took it and it became OR 132).

[webny99]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this project, I think it's pretty much complete for the US. There's data logged for 47 states + DC, and the remaining three states (MT, VT, WY) have no existing six-lane mileage. It's imperfect, but still a great resource and much, much better than anything that existed previously.

Sorting by mileage then country provides some interesting data to parse through: https://travelmapping.net/user/?u=6lane&units=miles

Unsurprisingly, Ohio stands out as the gold standard for six-laning. It's the only state with a population under 20 million that comes particularly close to 1000 miles of six-lane freeways logged, although that may be a bit skewed if the I-80/I-90 overlap gets counted twice. Even so, it's well ahead of next-place Georgia and actively adding to that with widening projects on I-70 and I-71.

Another interesting note: a state's six-lane mileage ranking tends to track pretty closely with its population ranking. 9 of the top 10 are the same in both categories, with NJ replacing PA in the six-lane mileage category. Most of the states at the bottom are also unsurprising.

PA has a surprisingly wide variance, being #5 in population but #23 in six-lane mileage. I was stunned that PA has only about 1/3 as much six-lane mileage as NY, given that PA feels like it has more *rural* six-lane mileage than NY (or am I just putting too much weight on the widened Turnpike segments?), but I guess the lack of mid-sized cities (in which NY stacks considerable mileage upstate) plus Pittsburgh and Scranton not having anything with a consistent six-lanes really skews PA down the list.

[hobsini2]

Are you only doing expressways and freeways? If you are doing major highways, I have a couple I noticed in Illinois not marked.

- Route 38 Roosevelt Rd, the 6 lane section goes from I-294 to just west of Ardmore Ave in Villa Park, not just Route 83.
- Route 83 Kingery Hwy, the 6 lane section runs from Ogden Ave to I-290, splits one lane as a collector at 290, then rejoins the mainline and continues north to Route 72 Higgins Rd.
- Route 59 is 6 lanes from 95th St in Naperville to I-88.

Also one correction, I-190 going to O'Hare is 4 Lanes from I-90 to I-294. Then it is 6 lanes into O'Hare.

[Ketchup99]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this project, I think it's pretty much complete for the US. There's data logged for 47 states + DC, and the remaining three states (MT, VT, WY) have no existing six-lane mileage. It's imperfect, but still a great resource and much, much better than anything that existed previously.

Sorting by mileage then country provides some interesting data to parse through: https://travelmapping.net/user/?u=6lane&units=miles

Unsurprisingly, Ohio stands out as the gold standard for six-laning. It's the only state with a population under 20 million that comes particularly close to 1000 miles of six-lane freeways logged, although that may be a bit skewed if the I-80/I-90 overlap gets counted twice. Even so, it's well ahead of next-place Georgia and actively adding to that with widening projects on I-70 and I-71.

Another interesting note: a state's six-lane mileage ranking tends to track pretty closely with its population ranking. 9 of the top 10 are the same in both categories, with NJ replacing PA in the six-lane mileage category. Most of the states at the bottom are also unsurprising.

PA has a surprisingly wide variance, being #5 in population but #23 in six-lane mileage. I was stunned that PA has only about 1/3 as much six-lane mileage as NY, given that PA feels like it has more *rural* six-lane mileage than NY (or am I just putting too much weight on the widened Turnpike segments?), but I guess the lack of mid-sized cities (in which NY stacks considerable mileage upstate) plus Pittsburgh and Scranton not having anything with a consistent six-lanes really skews PA down the list.

To be honest, growing up in central Pennsylvania (where we rarely used the Turnpike), I didn't even know that six-lane rural freeways existed. To this day, I love crossing the Delaware Water Gap on I-80 into New Jersey, where the freeway opens up to six lanes, and then eight, despite traffic counts staying low. And last summer, driving down to Atlanta on I-75, I assumed that the six-lane segment south of Chattanooga would fade to four within a few miles. When it didn't, I thought I had lost my mind.

I think there are four reasons (probably more) for this phenomenon in Pennsylvania:

- Aside from the Turnpike, Pennsylvania has few actual freeway "corridors" - i.e, a road that links up cities A, B, and C. Instead, we'll often have one road connecting A to B, one connecting B to C, and one connecting A to C. Case in point, look at the divergence of US 22 and the Turnpike between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, where cities like Altoona are served by US 22, and Johnstown isn't even served by 22 - instead, you have to take local roads (from the west) or US 219 and PA 56 (from the east). If the Turnpike ran through those cities, surely it would all be six lanes. Is this efficient? Absolutely not.

- Much of Pennsylvania is really very empty - way emptier than upstate New York. There just isn't the demand.

- PA is mountainous, and widening mountain freeways is just harder than doing the same in, say, a cornfield in Ohio.

- Finally, PennDOT is broke and hasn't widened the highways, even in the few places where you'd think they would've. (Look at I-78 between Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley, the Parkway in Pittsburgh, and the golden goose - the Schuylkill Expressway.) But this alone doesn't explain the massive discrepancies between PA and states like NY and NJ.

[webny99]

Are you only doing expressways and freeways?

Yes, freeways only. Surface streets would be a bear to try to map.

[webny99]

To be honest, growing up in central Pennsylvania (where we rarely used the Turnpike), I didn't even know that six-lane rural freeways existed. To this day, I love crossing the Delaware Water Gap on I-80 into New Jersey, where the freeway opens up to six lanes, and then eight, despite traffic counts staying low. And last summer, driving down to Atlanta on I-75, I assumed that the six-lane segment south of Chattanooga would fade to four within a few miles. When it didn't, I thought I had lost my mind.

This might come as a surprise, but I actually had a similar experience growing up. I used to be fascinated by the short six-lane segment of the Thruway near Victor, but that was when I was too young to realize that it has plenty of commuter traffic and is not even truly a "rural" freeway.

- Aside from the Turnpike, Pennsylvania has few actual freeway "corridors" - i.e, a road that links up cities A, B, and C. Instead, we'll often have one road connecting A to B, one connecting B to C, and one connecting A to C. Case in point, look at the divergence of US 22 and the Turnpike between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, where cities like Altoona are served by US 22, and Johnstown isn't even served by 22 - instead, you have to take local roads (from the west) or US 219 and PA 56 (from the east). If the Turnpike ran through those cities, surely it would all be six lanes. Is this efficient? Absolutely not.

Very true, and that's an especially stark contrast to upstate NY, where all five of the largest cities are all along I-90, and almost all other cities of major significance are along one of the four major interstate corridors (I-81, I-86, I-87, or I-90). Ithaca and Auburn are the main exceptions, and they're both highly inconvenient to access by NY standards, but wouldn't be out of the ordinary at all in PA.

- Much of Pennsylvania is really very empty - way emptier than upstate New York. There just isn't the demand.

That's true of northern PA (especially north-central), but overall, I would say the populated areas of rural PA are as densely populated or even more dense than rural upstate NY. For example, Pennsylvania's "Amish Country" is way more dense than NY's Amish Country: it feels about as dense as western Wayne County, NY, which is basically Rochester exurbia. In fact, much of the rural populated areas of PA feel almost like exurbia to me, as opposed to truly remote areas like northern PA, the Alleganys, Adirondacks, etc.

And another factor is that what PA lacks in upper-middle sized cities (Rochester, Buffalo, etc.), it makes up for in lower-middle sized cities (Williamsport, State College, Altoona, Johnstown, etc.) which upstate NY doesn't have as many of.

- PA is mountainous, and widening mountain freeways is just harder than doing the same in, say, a cornfield in Ohio.

- Finally, PennDOT is broke and hasn't widened the highways, even in the few places where you'd think they would've. (Look at I-78 between Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley, the Parkway in Pittsburgh, and the golden goose - the Schuylkill Expressway.) But this alone doesn't explain the massive discrepancies between PA and states like NY and NJ.

Actually, when you consider these two points together, I think that is a huge part of the reason for the discrepancy. Most of the wider freeways in NY and NJ were built on more favorable terrain and could be built wider to begin with, whereas the freeways in PA were built narrower to begin with and became even more difficult/impossible to widen over time.

[ran4sh]

Is there a thread for updates to the "6lane" map on travel mapping? I recently saw a GDOT social media post showing that widening of I-85 has been completed from exit 129 to exit 137, which is not yet reflected on that travelmapping map

[74/171FAN]

Is there a thread for updates to the "6lane" map on travel mapping? I recently saw a GDOT social media post showing that widening of I-85 has been completed from exit 129 to exit 137, which is not yet reflected on that travelmapping map

You can just post it to this thread.  (https://forum.travelmapping.net/index.php?topic=5507.60)

I already put the update into the 6lane.list file.

[CtrlAltDel]

An idea I had, and feel free to ignore it, would be to do something similar with toll roads. Google Maps and the like don't really mark them with any prominence, so it would be nice to have something.

I could probably do this on my own here and there as I have time, but I would want to be sure I could do something that isn't my own personal travels first.

[hobsini2]

An idea I had, and feel free to ignore it, would be to do something similar with toll roads. Google Maps and the like don't really mark them with any prominence, so it would be nice to have something.

I could probably do this on my own here and there as I have time, but I would want to be sure I could do something that isn't my own personal travels first.

So you are meaning non interstate tollways like the Florida Turnpike and IL Route 390. I think that's a good idea.