Areas underrepresented for meets

Started by getemngo, September 30, 2013, 05:11:15 PM

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agentsteel53

Quote from: 1 on October 01, 2013, 06:14:01 PM

Or Chihuahua.

okay.  I'll attend your meet. 

seriously, don't be a shit.
live from sunny San Diego.

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SSOWorld

Quote from: Brandon on September 30, 2013, 05:51:13 PM
We need a Hawai'i meet just for the heck of it.  Granted that it would be expensive to get there, but damn, it would be fun.  :bigass:

Seriously though, I've never heard of meets in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, or New Mexico for that matter.  I also agree that for a state with so many roads crossing it, Indiana is sorely underrepresented for meets.  I'd think that Kokomo and Bloomington would be good locations in the near future given the amount of road building going on at both.  I could hold a South Bend - Elkhart - Goshen meet sometime due to my knowledge of that area.
Not to mention Arizona.  Phoenix has two major projects going on as we speak:
* the "Gateway" interchange (AZ SR 24) is under construction and a 3-level stack is being built to connect it to the 202.
* The 303 - nuff said.

Plus the existing interchanges are marvels in themselves especially
* The stack (17 and 10)
* The short stack (10, 51, 202)
* The SuperRedTan (202 and 60)

I don't know much else about Phoenix and I would have to dig into history to find out more.  One could also visit historic routes (66 through Northern AZ (Flagstaff, Kingman))

It would have to be a national meet as well and since Steve's doing NYC next year - a second national meet would break budgets.

About NM - besides the Big I - what else is there besides a route 66 tour?
CO - there's more than Denver and this would be National Meet material as well as you have the marvels that cut through the Rockies.
* The Glenwood Canyon structures are VERY accessible from below because there is a recreation path following the river, but how much of a top view we would get I'm not sure. 

I do agree that the whole west coast is not well mentioned for meets - and there are many roadfans here. (I'm glad the OP remembered the LA tour - there's also San Diego (Andy, Michael, and Jake), SF (Brent), SacTown (Ray Mullins), I sure like the idea of a Baja California meet, but I'd like to get a SENTRI pass first :P - but that may have to wait until, oh wait we can't speak of that here ;)
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
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Duke87

Quote from: NE2 on October 01, 2013, 09:30:10 AM
Quote from: dgolub on October 01, 2013, 08:39:07 AM
Sounds good to me.  If we're going to be in the area, I'd propose also including Super 7 and the mountain tunnel on the Wilbur Cross.  Maybe checking out the end of the CT 25 expressway would be cool as well.
*ahem* Route 34?

The West Rock Tunnel and CT 25 were both featured in my 2011 New Haven meet. As was CT 34, although the freeway was still completely intact then.

The way I'd expect a Merritt Parkway meet would work would be to parallel it entirely on local roads in one direction, seeing some of the underpasses from underneath (which you otherwise would never see driving the road itself) and other related sights, and then driving the parkway itself for the clinch on the return trip.

Another benefit of this is that narrow back roads in New England are an experience unto themselves, which people not from the area might not appreciate. Especially since in some places you will drive past some houses owned by some pretty well-off people (a lot of hedge fund managers and people of similar ilk live in Fairfield County).
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

bugo

#28
Quote from: getemngo on September 30, 2013, 05:11:15 PM
  • Texas. Lots of roadgeeks, lots of discussion about Texas, always a big project happening, but as far as I can tell, there's never been a Texas meet. Is it too far south or west for most roadgeeks? Tulsa, Oklahoma happened successfully in 2010, and I bet a Houston or Dallas/Fort Worth would draw more long-distance travelers than Tulsa did.

The Tulsa meet was also on a weekday.  It would have probably had more attendees if it had been on a weekend. 

Post Merge: October 01, 2013, 10:50:57 PM

Has there ever been an Arkansas meet?  Mississippi?  Alabama?

getemngo

Quote from: bugo on October 01, 2013, 09:46:49 PM
Has there ever been an Arkansas meet?  Mississippi?  Alabama?

Cody Goodman hosted a meet in Birmingham on October 20, 2012. Can't find anything on Mississippi or Arkansas.
~ Sam from Michigan

jpi

The Memphis meet I hosted last spring brought us into northern Mississippi to check out some future I-269 construction that will tie in with the newer stretch of I-69 going toward Tunica.
Jason Ilyes
JPI
Lebanon, TN
Home Of The Barrel

Laura

Quote from: getemngo on September 30, 2013, 09:05:52 PM
Quote from: Laura Bianca on September 30, 2013, 08:52:13 PM
Mike and I have played around with the idea of doing a Delmarva meet. We were thinking of various points along Maryland's Eastern Shore, but it might easily be possible to extend the tour to Delaware or Virginia.

At least two of us would come from Michigan solely to pick up some new counties.  :)

Excellent! We will definitely get planning! We'll brainstorm a bit and definitely start a feeler post for dates in the coming weeks.

A.J. Bertin

I agree with Brandon about Indiana being very underrepresented. The only meets Indiana has had (as far as I know) are the following:

  • September 2006 - a meet around South Bend that may have started in Edwardsburg, MI
  • June 2008 - a multi-day Chicago area meet that entered northwest Indiana for a bit
  • July 2009 - an Indianapolis meet that went down the future I-69 corridor toward Evansville and back
  • November 2009 - the Fort-to-Port meet that started in Fort Wayne, explored the new U.S. 24 freeway corridor, crossed into Ohio, and came back

Indiana is way overdue. I was thinking it would be nice to see meets in South Bend, Kokomo, and Evansville.

H.B. - if you're planning to host a Louisville meet at some point within the next year or two, I'd love to make that. I've been wanting to explore Louisville for quite a while.

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for Minneapolis/St. Paul.

I've never had the opportunity to attend a Pennsylvania meet and would love to make it to one of those someday. Not sure if there's anything roadworthy that would prompt another Pittsburgh-area meet, but I'd love to make it out that way.
-A.J. from Michigan

hbelkins

Quote from: A.J. Bertin on October 02, 2013, 06:31:52 AM
Indiana is way overdue. I was thinking it would be nice to see meets in South Bend, Kokomo, and Evansville.

Not much to see in Evansville at this moment. The multi-day Indy meet tracked the corridor of the then-unbuilt I-69 and crossed into Kentucky. Until they get started on an I-69 bridge, I can't foresee much of interest in the Evansville area.

With all the construction north of Indianapolis, I would think there are some prime possibilities for Indiana. Kokomo and the new US 31 alignment is one I've thought would be good fodder for a meeting, and the IND 25 construction that's often mentioned here on AA Roads as well.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

A.J. Bertin

Quote from: hbelkins on October 02, 2013, 10:50:55 AM
Not much to see in Evansville at this moment. The multi-day Indy meet tracked the corridor of the then-unbuilt I-69 and crossed into Kentucky. Until they get started on an I-69 bridge, I can't foresee much of interest in the Evansville area.

I'm sure you're right about how there probably wouldn't be much interest in an Evansville meet. When I say that I'd like to see an Evansville meet, it's mostly for selfish reasons. It's just a city I'd love to explore and need an excuse to do it. I often use road meets as an excuse for visiting new cities I'd otherwise not have a chance to visit. LOL

Quote from: hbelkins on October 02, 2013, 10:50:55 AM
With all the construction north of Indianapolis, I would think there are some prime possibilities for Indiana. Kokomo and the new US 31 alignment is one I've thought would be good fodder for a meeting, and the IND 25 construction that's often mentioned here on AA Roads as well.

I think Sam Scholtens mentioned something recently about either wanting to host a Kokomo meet or thinking someone else might want to host one there at some point soon.
-A.J. from Michigan

getemngo

Quote from: A.J. Bertin on October 02, 2013, 12:47:46 PMI think Sam Scholtens mentioned something recently about either wanting to host a Kokomo meet or thinking someone else might want to host one there at some point soon.

Yeah, I suggested a Kokomo meet in December, once the US 31 bypass was finished. Heard nothing but crickets. Then I suggested a Lafayette/Kokomo meet and was told "that's too much driving", even though it would be less than 70 miles between the two, including IN 25 from Lafayette to Logansport.  :rolleyes:  As H.B. said, we went a lot further than that at Indianapolis in 2009.

There's still a lot happening with US 31 in the coming years immediately south of South Bend, and north of Indianapolis. Perhaps Brandon can do the South Bend meet he suggested. I'd prefer someone with more Indiana knowledge than I to host any of these ideas, but I'll do the research and do it myself if nobody else takes the initiative.

You know, we've really seen everything there is to see in Michigan in the last 10 years. That's an unfortunate consequence of our state's budget. I can't see much reason to have more Michigan meets between M-231's completion and whenever the hell the new Detroit bridge gets built (apart from seeing old alignments, old bridges, etc). I'd like to see it where, instead of doing an annual Michigan meet, we alternate between Michigan and Indiana for the next few years.
~ Sam from Michigan

jpi

As long as my schedule allows I would be up for a Kokomo meet, only around 6 to 7 hours from me.
Jason Ilyes
JPI
Lebanon, TN
Home Of The Barrel

Brandon

Quote from: getemngo on October 02, 2013, 03:26:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on October 02, 2013, 12:47:46 PMI think Sam Scholtens mentioned something recently about either wanting to host a Kokomo meet or thinking someone else might want to host one there at some point soon.

Yeah, I suggested a Kokomo meet in December, once the US 31 bypass was finished. Heard nothing but crickets. Then I suggested a Lafayette/Kokomo meet and was told "that's too much driving", even though it would be less than 70 miles between the two, including IN 25 from Lafayette to Logansport.  :rolleyes:  As H.B. said, we went a lot further than that at Indianapolis in 2009.

There's still a lot happening with US 31 in the coming years immediately south of South Bend, and north of Indianapolis. Perhaps Brandon can do the South Bend meet he suggested. I'd prefer someone with more Indiana knowledge than I to host any of these ideas, but I'll do the research and do it myself if nobody else takes the initiative.

You know, we've really seen everything there is to see in Michigan in the last 10 years. That's an unfortunate consequence of our state's budget. I can't see much reason to have more Michigan meets between M-231's completion and whenever the hell the new Detroit bridge gets built (apart from seeing old alignments, old bridges, etc). I'd like to see it where, instead of doing an annual Michigan meet, we alternate between Michigan and Indiana for the next few years.

Kokomo would be a change of pace, but we never did hear anything more about it.  I'd go as it is an easy drive for me.

We've seen a lot in the Mitten, but the UP is virgin territory as far as I know for roadgeek meets.  They've been suggested in the past, but I've never seen anything come of them.

Then we have downstate Illinois.  East Dubuque saw some love during the Dubuque meet, and there have been some in Metro East, but Chicagoland hogs the majority of the meets.  That's why I've planned my next one for the Illinois Valley.  I'd like to see a Rockford one sometime as we have folks from Rockford here, and it is a mecca for old and odd traffic signals.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

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getemngo

Yes, non-Chicagoland meets in Illinois would be great! Similar to A.J.'s thoughts on Indiana, I'd like to see something in Springfield, Decatur, Bloomington, Urbana/Champaign, or the Quad Cities, but more because I want to visit the cities themselves than for roadgeeking purposes.

Quote from: Brandon on October 02, 2013, 04:29:18 PMWe've seen a lot in the Mitten, but the UP is virgin territory as far as I know for roadgeek meets.  They've been suggested in the past, but I've never seen anything come of them.

There was a mini-meet (4 people, plus another at breakfast the next day) in Marquette in September 2010. It was mostly an experiment to see if we could pull off a full roadmeet there in the future.

Nothing happened after that because every single Yooper roadgeek moved out of the peninsula. But Michael (bulldog1979) is there now, and I'll be moving back myself in January. So now I'm considering something pretty strongly again, in either fall 2014 or fall 2015. I'm trying to decide between another Marquette/Baraga County loop or the Keweenaw Peninsula with a side trip to Ontonagon. Maybe a two-day meet with both, to make it worth the drive.
~ Sam from Michigan

KEK Inc.

Quote from: corco on October 01, 2013, 09:40:29 AM
Quote from: KEK Inc. on October 01, 2013, 01:23:48 AM
Seattle should have one.

I feel like we'd easily have enough people to pull a Seattle meet- it would just be a matter of somebody organizing it.

Yeah.  There's lots of cool things in Seattle, from historic roads to the new 520 project and Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement.  Take a ride up through Mukliteo and take a ferry to Clinton.  Go up Whidbey Is. through Deception Pass to see the two bridges there and then see the replacement bridge over the Skagit River in Burlington/Mt. Vernon?   That way you get to experience some cool bridges, relevant stuff in the news, and the WSDOT ferry system.
Take the road less traveled.

corco

#40
That might be a bit long once you add in lunch, but I'd be down for it in the summer months when days are long. I think that's a good start- one thing to keep in mind is that a Seattle meet would likely have a lot of "locals"/people already familiar with the area. Certainly viaduct replacement stuff would need to be on the docket.

A winter meet would probably require a shorter tour- maybe check out the viaduct- I like your idea of ferrying- but maybe to go to Bremerton, check out some of the sights around Bremerton, then loop back around the Narrows Bridge- that'd probably be a couple hours faster.

Another option would be to forego the ferry, which would save a bunch of time, and concentrate on stuff right in and around Seattle. A third option would be to actually host the meet around Deception Pass or on the Kitsap Peninsula and just focus on those areas. Seattle has so many different possiblities with cool roads/old things to see/new construction that it'd be hard to go wrong. When I start thinking about it, it seems like it'd be possible to fill at least 10 roadmeets with stuff that's ~ 60 miles around Seattle without it getting boring.

I guess another thing to consider is that people who attend the Seattle meet would likely almost all be people who haven't attended other roadmeets, so perhaps an organic form can develop that's different than established roadmeet protocol- there wouldn't necessarily be the expectation that we meet at 11, have lunch for a couple hours, then drive to a few stops, stopping for a good bit of time at each place, and get back before dark (though personally, having done it a couple times, I think that form works well, but I'd be open to doing something different).

It'd probably depend on the number of people- it seems like there'd be an inverse relationship between length of tour and number of attendees- if you have 20 people, they're going to want to spend a lot of time talking to each other and everybody is going to have stuff to say at each stop, which limits it. If we can all fit in one car, then we could drive a couple hundred miles and still socialize.

That said, Seattle's a meet I'd 100% certainly attend nearly any weekend. I lived there for a few years myself and still have some friends in the area, and it's a drive I can reasonably do Friday afternoon/Sunday without missing work. Finances/getting time off work wouldn't be a consideration- it'd be strictly "do I have anything better to do that weekend?" and the majority of the time the answer to that question is "no."

NE2

Quote from: corco on October 02, 2013, 07:59:43 PM
it'd be strictly "do I have anything better to do that weekend?" and the majority of the time the answer to that question is "duh, I live in East Idaho."
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dgolub

Quote from: Duke87 on October 01, 2013, 09:14:05 PM
The way I'd expect a Merritt Parkway meet would work would be to parallel it entirely on local roads in one direction, seeing some of the underpasses from underneath (which you otherwise would never see driving the road itself) and other related sights, and then driving the parkway itself for the clinch on the return trip.

Another benefit of this is that narrow back roads in New England are an experience unto themselves, which people not from the area might not appreciate. Especially since in some places you will drive past some houses owned by some pretty well-off people (a lot of hedge fund managers and people of similar ilk live in Fairfield County).

Agreed completely.  Paralleling it on the local roads sounds cool, although most of the major roads in the area are north/south, so we might have to get creative to do east/west on local roads.  CT 106 and CT 123 might work in the areas that they go through.

KEK Inc.

We can even canoe under the 520 bridge.  :)
Take the road less traveled.

Dougtone

I may be inclined to attend (but not host) a Seattle meet, depending on if it fits well with any vacation plans, as I visit the Pacific Northwest annually for my vacation, but haven't had much of an opportunity to explore the roads around Seattle.

Duke87

Quote from: dgolub on October 02, 2013, 08:16:12 PM
Agreed completely.  Paralleling it on the local roads sounds cool, although most of the major roads in the area are north/south, so we might have to get creative to do east/west on local roads.  CT 106 and CT 123 might work in the areas that they go through.

Or something like this.

That gets us sight of every underpass except the Saugatuck River, which requires the use of a canoe to see from underneath (incidentally, I have done this).

...okay, yeah, that'll take too long. Gonna have to be less aggressive with the dipsy-doodling and some underpasses will not be seen. Ah well.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

Alps

I'm also tossing around a Portland or other Oregon meet with Doug, since I'll be out there sometime next year. There are old bridges and modern construction.

Duke87

...and 25 minutes later I have a full tour route planned out with 3 stops and a lunch location. That was too easy. Although I suppose planning a meet that starts in the town where you grew up should be!

This is so happening. Now the only question is when.

If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

hbelkins

Quote from: getemngo on October 02, 2013, 03:26:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on October 02, 2013, 12:47:46 PMI think Sam Scholtens mentioned something recently about either wanting to host a Kokomo meet or thinking someone else might want to host one there at some point soon.

Yeah, I suggested a Kokomo meet in December, once the US 31 bypass was finished. Heard nothing but crickets. Then I suggested a Lafayette/Kokomo meet and was told "that's too much driving", even though it would be less than 70 miles between the two, including IN 25 from Lafayette to Logansport.  :rolleyes:  As H.B. said, we went a lot further than that at Indianapolis in 2009.

There's still a lot happening with US 31 in the coming years immediately south of South Bend, and north of Indianapolis. Perhaps Brandon can do the South Bend meet he suggested. I'd prefer someone with more Indiana knowledge than I to host any of these ideas, but I'll do the research and do it myself if nobody else takes the initiative.

I, personally, would be very hesitant to host a meet in an area with which I was unfamiliar. I scouted the West Virginia meet three times (not counting the evening before the meet) even though I knew the territory very well. If I knew enough about Lafayette or Kokomo, I wouldn't hesitate to host a meet, but I don't know much about that region at all so any meet I hosted there would be an epic fail.

The Ashland meet was around 120 miles, and it looks like Pikeville may be a little longer than that. The long haul is from Grundy back to Pikeville and the laps around the Pikeville downtown area that we'll be doing.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Alps

Quote from: hbelkins on October 02, 2013, 10:28:42 PM
Quote from: getemngo on October 02, 2013, 03:26:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on October 02, 2013, 12:47:46 PMI think Sam Scholtens mentioned something recently about either wanting to host a Kokomo meet or thinking someone else might want to host one there at some point soon.

Yeah, I suggested a Kokomo meet in December, once the US 31 bypass was finished. Heard nothing but crickets. Then I suggested a Lafayette/Kokomo meet and was told "that's too much driving", even though it would be less than 70 miles between the two, including IN 25 from Lafayette to Logansport.  :rolleyes:  As H.B. said, we went a lot further than that at Indianapolis in 2009.

There's still a lot happening with US 31 in the coming years immediately south of South Bend, and north of Indianapolis. Perhaps Brandon can do the South Bend meet he suggested. I'd prefer someone with more Indiana knowledge than I to host any of these ideas, but I'll do the research and do it myself if nobody else takes the initiative.

I, personally, would be very hesitant to host a meet in an area with which I was unfamiliar. I scouted the West Virginia meet three times (not counting the evening before the meet) even though I knew the territory very well. If I knew enough about Lafayette or Kokomo, I wouldn't hesitate to host a meet, but I don't know much about that region at all so any meet I hosted there would be an epic fail.

The Ashland meet was around 120 miles, and it looks like Pikeville may be a little longer than that. The long haul is from Grundy back to Pikeville and the laps around the Pikeville downtown area that we'll be doing.
While we're on the topic, what counties are getting covered?



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