4-lane roads that would be adequate as 2-lane roads

[fillup420]

What can you think of?

[Max Rockatansky]

Golden State Boulevard from Fresno south to Kingsburg comes to mind.  Really there hasn't been much traffic since US 99 shifted to a freeway alignment in the 1960s.  Cajon Boulevard which carried Route 66 actually dropped to two lanes from a four-lane configuration long ago. 

[US 89]

2100 North in Salt Lake City, north of the SLC airport. It’s the access road to the control tower and a few other buildings for the airport. There is very little traffic, and it definitely does not need to be 4 lanes with a center turn lane. It fits the phrase “highway to nowhere” quite well. In fact, it actually narrows down to 2 lanes before it reaches I-215 as one travels east.

[froggie]

As a general rule, anything with less than 15K ADT in an urban area or less than the 8-10K range in a rural area.

[ET21]

I-180 IL 

[catch22]

The Summit Street extension north of Michigan's I-75 Exit 2. This was a lot busier once upon a time, but hasn't been since I-75 was finished a long time ago.  The traffic on this could be handled easily with just two lanes.

https://goo.gl/maps/mXzHsX2VMZ62

http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwysBus2-31.html#US-24CONN-E

[1995hoo]

The one that most readily comes to my mind is a segment of Kingstowne Village Parkway here in Fairfax County that was in fact narrowed from four lanes to two lanes a couple of years ago. The only people who think it's a problem are the ones who used to bomb through at 55 mph (sometimes more) despite the 35-mph speed limit in a residential area.

[formulanone]

US 27 between Moore Haven and Lake Placid, Florida.

US 441/98 between Belle Glade and Wellington, Florida.

Put in a few passing lanes, and call it a day. It's nice to pass the trucks, but the wide paths are just make you easier bait for law enforcement.

[Max Rockatansky]

US 27 between Moore Haven and Lake Placid, Florida.

US 441/98 between Belle Glade and Wellington, Florida.

Put in a few passing lanes, and call it a day. It's nice to pass the trucks, but the wide paths are just make you easier bait for law enforcement.

I'd say more like US 27 all the way south to I-75 at least if not the Turnpike.  US 27 was my route of choice through the center over the state over junk like the Turnpike and I-75 since it was way overbuilt.  FHP generally sticks to the Turnpike more than anything else.

Speaking of US 27, once it was decomissioned and replaced by US 127 north of Lansing the traffic count on the four lane expressway dropped to almost nothing.

[hbelkins]

The Mountain Parkway east of Exit 43. (Well, most of it is a two-lane road now with passing lanes on the hills, but it's being widened to four lanes in what I think is a totally unnecessary expenditure.)

[RobbieL2415]

-Robert Moses State Parkway.  Half of it has already been downsized.
-Lake Ontario State Parkway.  Carries very little traffic outside the summer months.
-CT 11.  It really should be decommissioned if they're not going to extend it to New London.
-Taconic State Parkway north of NY 199.  I'll probably get a lot of flack for this one, but it makes no sense maintaining a 110 mile-long substandard (and rather dangerous) highway at four lanes the whole length.

[froggie]

^ From a volume perspective, you're not wrong with the Taconic, though an argument could also be made to keep it 4 lanes up to NY 82.

[Flint1979]

The Summit Street extension north of Michigan's I-75 Exit 2. This was a lot busier once upon a time, but hasn't been since I-75 was finished a long time ago.  The traffic on this could be handled easily with just two lanes.

https://goo.gl/maps/mXzHsX2VMZ62

http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwysBus2-31.html#US-24CONN-E

I always wondered why that exit was so massive. It does at least connect I-75 to M-125 though.

[Takumi]

Most US routes that were 4-laned before the interstate system and then bypassed by an interstate. Three that come to mind for me are US 1 and 301 south of Petersburg, and US 60 between I-295 and VA 30.

[froggie]

Missed your earlier question.  And the first reason is that vehicles tend to bunch up closer at slower speeds.  A certain level of delay is also more acceptable in urban areas than in rural areas.  I would also disagree with your notion of there being "no rush hour" in rural areas.  I live in a rural area in a predominantly rural state and we definitely have distinct morning and afternoon rush hour flows.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Most US routes that were 4-laned before the interstate system and then bypassed by an interstate. Three that come to mind for me are US 1 and 301 south of Petersburg, and US 60 between I-295 and VA 30.

I've always felt that US 301 being 4-lane divided from Emporia to Jarratt was a bit overkill, but it does make for a nice alternative to I-95 since there tend to be fewer trucks on that stretch.

[froggie]

On a similar vein, US 60 is a very pleasant and less stressful alternative to I-64 between Bottoms Bridge and Toano.  It also still has enough traffic to warrant 4 lanes west of VA 106.

[1995hoo]

I know I've mentioned in other threads that there is a weird 1.3-mile four-lane segment of US-50 just west of Middleburg that doesn't make much sense. At one point VDOT planned to reduce it to two lanes using what is now the westbound carriageway; the current eastbound lanes would be severed but would remain in place as sort of a two-lane frontage road to allow property access. I don't know what ever became of that plan. The segment would certainly be adequate as a two-lane road, although it can be a rather useful place to pass slower drivers, especially westbound (eastbound you just wind up in the 25-mph zone in Middleburg anyway).

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/38.9694676,-77.7752153/38.967322,-77.7519671/@38.971538,-77.7570478,15.67z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0

[WillWeaverRVA]

I know I've mentioned in other threads that there is a weird 1.3-mile four-lane segment of US-50 just west of Middleburg that doesn't make much sense. At one point VDOT planned to reduce it to two lanes using what is now the westbound carriageway; the current eastbound lanes would be severed but would remain in place as sort of a two-lane frontage road to allow property access. I don't know what ever became of that plan. The segment would certainly be adequate as a two-lane road, although it can be a rather useful place to pass slower drivers, especially westbound (eastbound you just wind up in the 25-mph zone in Middleburg anyway).

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/38.9694676,-77.7752153/38.967322,-77.7519671/@38.971538,-77.7570478,15.67z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0

That's weird. It's almost like it was meant to tie into a bypass or something. Either the whole piece between Middleburg and US 17 should be 4 lanes or not at all.

[froggie]

It's vintage suggests that it was built back when the plan was to 4-lane all of 50, which IIRC would have included bypasses of Middleburg and Aldie, and I believe Upperville as well.

[1995hoo]

It's vintage suggests that it was built back when the plan was to 4-lane all of 50, which IIRC would have included bypasses of Middleburg and Aldie, and I believe Upperville as well.

I know in the mid-1990s VDOT had proposed to make it four lanes with the bypasses you mention, as it was around 1995 when a citizens' coalition sprang up in that area to fight the proposal (their website is still online at http://www.route50.org, although it appears it has not been updated in years). I'm pretty sure the four-lane segment was there prior to that time period, as I believe I recall it being that way when I was a kid (with a big text-style "KEEP RIGHT" sign as you approached from the west instead of the more conventional symbol you see there today). There are some documents online relating to the citizens' groups' responses to VDOT's proposal, but they don't say anything about the origin of that weird little segment.

[froggie]

^ I was thinking moreso of the 1960s timeframe.  What we have for US 50 on VHP is that the Middleburg bit was 4-laned in the early 1960s.

[1995hoo]

^ I was thinking moreso of the 1960s timeframe.  What we have for US 50 on VHP is that the Middleburg bit was 4-laned in the early 1960s.

That sounds like it's probably right because the "KEEP RIGHT" sign I remember was of a style similar to the ones that used to be at the old eastern end of I-66 where traffic was forced left onto the Inner Loop, and those signs were there by the late 1960s because they were shown in that congressional report about road signs that's been linked here a few times.

[US 89]

I would also disagree with your notion of there being "no rush hour" in rural areas.  I live in a rural area in a predominantly rural state and we definitely have distinct morning and afternoon rush hour flows.

Poor word choice on my part. While I don't think true rural areas (think I-29 in North Dakota) have noteworthy rush hours, small towns, villages, and developed countryside areas definitely have distinct peaks. But those peaks aren't nearly as dramatic as those in urban areas, especially those near large business parks. So I'm thinking additional lanes are needed more often, but less urgently, in rural areas.

In any case, there are very few four-lane non-freeways in rural areas.

There are several four-lane non-freeways in rural areas where traffic is too much for a 2-lane but too little for a freeway. Think US 550 in NM, or US 93 in AZ.

[corco]

I-25 between Cheyenne and Casper