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Started by FLRoads, January 21, 2009, 12:31:13 AM

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Stephane Dumas

#2575
Quote from: jwolfer on June 12, 2018, 03:22:46 PM
I think this is being studied by Florida Turnpike Enterprises.. I think there will be a toll road paralleing 301eventually.  I think it will hook into the First Coast Expressway (SR 23) around Penny Farms

Z981

That would go full circle, that planned turnpike would be close to the original plans for FLTPK then known as Sunshine State Parkway to go northeast to Jacksonville.  http://web.archive.org/web/19990209002454/www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~mn2n/tollfl.html




Georgia

Google Maps car was heading east on I-10 just past exit 22.  Wonder if that means we will get some updated Pensacola GSM shortly or it was just heading elsewhere.

Henry

Quote from: jwolfer on June 12, 2018, 03:22:46 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on June 12, 2018, 02:42:51 PM
Just got back from a quick driving trip to Tampa.  Did the Jacksonville 295 to 10 to 301 to 75 deal. 

301 is just awful.  Plenty of pointless speedtrap towns, stop lights, dangerous at grade intersections, and quite limited services.  My question is why?  FL seems to have at least two upgrade projects going, including a bypass of Starke.  As this route is the best connection from anybody on the 95 side of the 95 or 75 to Florida divide who is going to Tampa or any place south, the road is very busy and highly used.  With all of Florida's toll roads, why has this been left out.  I would gladly pay 8 to 12 $$ for a high speed interstate quality road from Jacksonville to Ocala/
I think this is being studied by Florida Turnpike Enterprises.. I think there will be a toll road paralleing 301eventually.  I think it will hook into the First Coast Expressway (SR 23) around Penny Farms

Z981


Seconded!
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

VTGoose

Quote from: SP Cook on June 12, 2018, 02:42:51 PM
Just got back from a quick driving trip to Tampa.  Did the Jacksonville 295 to 10 to 301 to 75 deal. 

301 is just awful.  Plenty of pointless speedtrap towns, stop lights, dangerous at grade intersections, and quite limited services.  My question is why?  FL seems to have at least two upgrade projects going, including a bypass of Starke.  As this route is the best connection from anybody on the 95 side of the 95 or 75 to Florida divide who is going to Tampa or any place south, the road is very busy and highly used.  With all of Florida's toll roads, why has this been left out.  I would gladly pay 8 to 12 $$ for a high speed interstate quality road from Jacksonville to Ocala/

That's our standard route when heading to and from Apollo Beach, although instead of the jog and weave to get to and around Jacksonville, we use 301 all the way to I-95 at the Yulee exit. Getting through downtown Baldwin and through Callahan are minor inconveniences because the rest of the highway is what 301 should be between Baldwin and Zuber. As to speedtrap towns, I have yet to see much in the way of speed enforcement either in any of the towns or out in the country. The Starke bypass (even though it is short by several miles) will take care of the worst of the bottlenecks (going north, we breeze past the long line of traffic trying to turn left to get on I-10 east -- will the end of that project or the end of the decade come first?).

I do agree that a better/faster route is needed (I-4 really doesn't count since it fails on "faster" when choked with traffic) and I too would be willing to spend a few dollars to get from one side of the state to the other.

Bruce in Blacksburg
"Get in the fast lane, grandma!  The bingo game is ready to roll!"

roadman65

Got that one right about I-4.  It is no help thanks to over sprawl (or progress as some will call it) as I-4 is not even anything but a local commuter route and if there are tourists its just those looking to visit the attractions while staying in the area. 

A proposed route (even if it branches off of FL 589) from Crystal River to Jacksonville is built as a tollway, that would help transit many from the NE to Western parts of the Peninsula.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

D-Dey65

Quote from: SP Cook on June 12, 2018, 02:42:51 PM
301 is just awful.  Plenty of pointless speedtrap towns, stop lights, dangerous at grade intersections, and quite limited services.  My question is why?  FL seems to have at least two upgrade projects going, including a bypass of Starke.  As this route is the best connection from anybody on the 95 side of the 95 or 75 to Florida divide who is going to Tampa or any place south, the road is very busy and highly used.  With all of Florida's toll roads, why has this been left out.  I would gladly pay 8 to 12 $$ for a high speed interstate quality road from Jacksonville to Ocala/
I usually cut through Ocala National Forest and hit US 17 from Palatka to Jacksonville. Sure US 17 has some of the same issues, with the exceptions of the cluttered speed trap towns. But because of that exception, I tend to feel a lot better taking it. But yes, an expressway paralleling US 301 from Ocala to Jacksonville would be a great idea whether it's a toll road or a freeway.


edwaleni

Quote from: roadman65 on June 13, 2018, 08:01:08 PM
Got that one right about I-4.  It is no help thanks to over sprawl (or progress as some will call it) as I-4 is not even anything but a local commuter route and if there are tourists its just those looking to visit the attractions while staying in the area. 

A proposed route (even if it branches off of FL 589) from Crystal River to Jacksonville is built as a tollway, that would help transit many from the NE to Western parts of the Peninsula.

Having traveled I-4 in the choke area many times, I have a pretty good feel where the choke begins.

In the morning, tourists, mostly ones from overseas make the trek from the I drive hotel district to the theme parks. Unfortunately, many of them get their lane usage wrong and migrate to the far left lane and drive timid. This causes traffic to back up as they timidly attempt to cross 2 lanes to reach either Vineland-Apopka or farther down. Once you pass the main Disney exit, normal returns.

But the reverse is much worse. At around dinner time the masses make the trek back to I Drive, with the same foriegn lane behavior. So it backs up from Kirkman all the way back to Vineland-Apopka on I-4.

An accident? Forget about it.

With Disney refusing to have a better public transit mode to and from I Drive, this I-4 choke will persist indefinitely.

Rothman

Huh.  And here I thought Europeans were better at lane usage, not worse.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

VTGoose

Quote from: edwaleni on June 15, 2018, 07:27:05 AM
Having traveled I-4 in the choke area many times, I have a pretty good feel where the choke begins.

In the morning, tourists, mostly ones from overseas make the trek from the I drive hotel district to the theme parks. Unfortunately, many of them get their lane usage wrong and migrate to the far left lane and drive timid. This causes traffic to back up as they timidly attempt to cross 2 lanes to reach either Vineland-Apopka or farther down. Once you pass the main Disney exit, normal returns.

We have gotten tangled in the I-4 mess at the Tampa/I-75 end in the afternoon. Back in April we were heading from our son's home in Apollo Beach across to Cocoa Beach for a next-day boarding on a cruise. Even though it was mid-afternoon on a weekday, traffic was already backed up on I-75 south of the I-4 exit and was slow and bumper to bumper until around Lakeland (where we jumped off to get some dinner). It probably took us less time to get from there to Cocoa Beach than it did to get to that point from Apollo Beach. The problem is there really isn't a good alternative route to go east from Tampa without going though a lot of towns and zigging and zagging east and north to get close to Orlando and the Beachline Expressway (and/or the airport).
"Get in the fast lane, grandma!  The bingo game is ready to roll!"

edwaleni

Quote from: Rothman on June 15, 2018, 07:49:54 AM
Huh.  And here I thought Europeans were better at lane usage, not worse.

When driving in Europe, yes for the most part. When driving in the US (on the wrong side for them) not so much.

I drove through Ireland in a rental and did just fine.  But if you are a dad with a jet lagged wife and 4 loud excited kids in the back of your rental mini-van where the hand controls are in reverse and the clocks are in english instead of metric and you are getting your sat-nav sorted while negotiating lanes, I tend to show more sympathy.

Take that mini-van and multiply it times a few hundred on I-4, and explains the backups.

hotdogPi

Quote from: edwaleni on June 28, 2018, 12:59:56 PM
Quote from: Rothman on June 15, 2018, 07:49:54 AM
Huh.  And here I thought Europeans were better at lane usage, not worse.

When driving in Europe, yes for the most part. When driving in the US (on the wrong side for them) not so much.

Most of Europe drives on the right.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

formulanone

#2586
Quote from: 1 on June 28, 2018, 01:00:57 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 28, 2018, 12:59:56 PM
Quote from: Rothman on June 15, 2018, 07:49:54 AM
Huh.  And here I thought Europeans were better at lane usage, not worse.

When driving in Europe, yes for the most part. When driving in the US (on the wrong side for them) not so much.

Most of Europe drives on the right.

Let's just say that a number of Orlando's tourists come from left-hand-drive nations, even if it is a minority. Probably not the main reason, but it's just another thing to add to the mix. Most of the tourists are from the USA, so they're equally lost on roads which exceeded capacity 40 years ago (with puzzling amounts of right-of-way seemingly there for the taking).

roadman65

A road that has had its opening date pushed back twice is got it again pushed back to this Fall!

http://www.aroundosceola.com/john-young-construction-now-extended-to-fall/
The never ending widening of US 17 & 92 from Portage Street to US 192 has only a milling and resurfacing job to do that could be done in just a few days, is now given another few months.

All lanes are available for use, but the right lane is closed cause the existing asphalt needs to be milled and replaced before the top coat could be laid down for permanent use.    Yet this idiotic contractor has done nothing but send out trucks periodically since last winter to close off a small section of road for a few hours  a night to rip up and lay down replacement asphalt.

The project was to be done last Fall, but the contractor complained about weather and sewer lines under Mabette Street that held them up. So when the median was finally filled in, the bumpy six lane road was unobstructed for months without the contractor touching the pavement until March when two lanes of NB JYP got redone. Then for days it sat again with no further work until a day in May where the third northbound lane got redone.  Then again a few days no work to only have part of the SB lanes done.  Then a full stop until this week when contractors did the left SB lane.

What ever happened to fines for long overdue projects?
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

SP Cook

Quote from: 1 on June 28, 2018, 01:00:57 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 28, 2018, 12:59:56 PM
Quote from: Rothman on June 15, 2018, 07:49:54 AM
Huh.  And here I thought Europeans were better at lane usage, not worse.

When driving in Europe, yes for the most part. When driving in the US (on the wrong side for them) not so much.

Most of Europe drives on the right.

Correct, obviously only the UK and Ireland drive on the left.  The rest of Europe drives on the same side as USA. 

However, for reasons of language, friendlines, and culture, most British people choose Walt Disney World over Disneyland Paris, so the %age of Europeans who are not used to the majority driving side in Orlando is very high.  Continental Europeans mostly go to DP.

DeaconG

Quote from: roadman65 on July 10, 2018, 10:08:14 PM
A road that has had its opening date pushed back twice is got it again pushed back to this Fall!

http://www.aroundosceola.com/john-young-construction-now-extended-to-fall/
The never ending widening of US 17 & 92 from Portage Street to US 192 has only a milling and resurfacing job to do that could be done in just a few days, is now given another few months.

All lanes are available for use, but the right lane is closed cause the existing asphalt needs to be milled and replaced before the top coat could be laid down for permanent use.    Yet this idiotic contractor has done nothing but send out trucks periodically since last winter to close off a small section of road for a few hours  a night to rip up and lay down replacement asphalt.

The project was to be done last Fall, but the contractor complained about weather and sewer lines under Mabette Street that held them up. So when the median was finally filled in, the bumpy six lane road was unobstructed for months without the contractor touching the pavement until March when two lanes of NB JYP got redone. Then for days it sat again with no further work until a day in May where the third northbound lane got redone.  Then again a few days no work to only have part of the SB lanes done.  Then a full stop until this week when contractors did the left SB lane.

What ever happened to fines for long overdue projects?

My sympathies...it gives me flashbacks to the I-95 widening from the Beachline to Palm Bay Road and US 1 in Cocoa between King Street and the Beachline. Early completion bonuses don't motivate them and fines don't get levied, so why shouldn't they take their sweet ass time?
Dawnstar: "You're an ape! And you can talk!"
King Solovar: "And you're a human with wings! Reality holds surprises for everyone!"
-Crisis On Infinite Earths #2

roadman65

The thing is that FDOT amended their project info sign approaching the construction area from Spring 2018 to Fall 2018 knowing that all they have to do is mill the current pavement and add the top coat of asphalt which for that length of road should take only a week to accomplish.  All the other work is done, such as median, landscaping, utilities, etc.

Also now the word is the I-4 Ultimate is 264 days behind schedule and it was stated in the news today.  Of course the excuse is the weather!
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

RG407

Quote from: roadman65 on July 12, 2018, 01:45:52 PM
Also now the word is the I-4 Ultimate is 264 days behind schedule and it was stated in the news today.  Of course the excuse is the weather!

And the contractors are asking for an additional $100 million.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/i-4-makeover/os-i4-construction-delay-overrun-20180712-story.html

hotdogPi

Question: Why is there no freeway spur to Ocala, Gainesville, Clearwater, or Fort Myers/Cape Coral?
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: 1 on July 20, 2018, 08:31:07 AM
Question: Why is there no freeway spur to Ocala, Gainesville, Clearwater, or Fort Myers/Cape Coral?

Probably no money to do and not enough push to get a toll road.  By the same extension you'd think Tallahassee would have a spur Freeway too.

formulanone

#2594
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 20, 2018, 10:54:07 AM
Quote from: 1 on July 20, 2018, 08:31:07 AM
Question: Why is there no freeway spur to Ocala, Gainesville, Clearwater, or Fort Myers/Cape Coral?

Probably no money to do and not enough push to get a toll road.  By the same extension you'd think Tallahassee would have a spur Freeway too.

Probably because they were small cities when the Interstates were constructed in the 1960s and '70s; most had already opted to not have I-75 plough through downtown, so there must have been continued resistance for a spur. Clearwater has lots lof wealthy folks who would have mounted considerable pressure to axe a freeway project before the state slide projector could be turned on.

The largest population boom by the 1980s was in Orlando and South Florida, so they received priority.

FLRoads

Quote from: 1 on July 20, 2018, 08:31:07 AM
Question: Why is there no freeway spur to Ocala, Gainesville, Clearwater, or Fort Myers/Cape Coral?

Though it wouldn't have been a spur, Lee County had plans in the early 1980's for a beltway around Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Lehigh Acres. It was to have been limited access with interchanges at major thoroughfares. Other than establishing the baseline for the beltway (by land survey methods), nothing else came to fruition. Funding, and more than likely the lack of population, were the killing points in the end.

Sorry to see that it did not happen, as the population growth of the late 1990s and 2000s have really created traffic gridlock throughout the county. Cape Coral is more than likely the largest city in the state not served directly by the Interstate system, or any expressway system for that matter.

I also know from previous research that a similar beltway plan was proposed for Ocala.     

NE2

Clearwater is getting a couple freeway connections (between I-275 and the east side): http://www.tampabaynext.com/projects/gateway-expressway/
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

roadman65

Quote from: formulanone on July 20, 2018, 12:18:15 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 20, 2018, 10:54:07 AM
Quote from: 1 on July 20, 2018, 08:31:07 AM
Question: Why is there no freeway spur to Ocala, Gainesville, Clearwater, or Fort Myers/Cape Coral?

Probably no money to do and not enough push to get a toll road.  By the same extension you’d think Tallahassee would have a spur Freeway too.

Probably because they were small cities when the Interstates were constructed in the 1960s and '70s; most had already opted to not have I-75 plough through downtown, so there must have been continued resistance for a spur. Clearwater has lots lof wealthy folks who would have mounted considerable pressure to axe a freeway project before the state slide projector could be turned on.

The largest population boom by the 1980s was in Orlando and South Florida, so they received priority.
I believe that Ocala and Gainesville are way too close to the actual freeway to need one.

Cape Coral boomed later and so is Lehigh Acres.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

1995hoo

One of our relatives* in Fort Myers remembers when Lehigh Acres was being constructed and she says it was considered to be way the heck out in the middle of nowhere. No doubt that contributed to any thought process regarding road connections, even if such thinking often later proves short-sighted.

*I'm not sure what, if any, term there is for the relation: My wife's nephew's wife's mother.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

RoadPelican

Gainesville and Ocala absolutely need interstate spurs.  Gainesville's population has grown by 30% since 2000, Ocala is close to The Villages which has been on the Top 5 list of fastest growing areas in the USA for the last decade.  If you add the populations of these 3 cities you get over half a million people with no signs of slowing down.  Gainesville and The Villages are both usually on the best places to list year after year.



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