Going off my post about underused interchanges, what are some overused interchanges and stretches of highway; for the reasons in my previous post, what are some places that get MORE traffic than what they were meant for?
Realistically, most interchanges in the top cities with worst traffic. Traffic is growing far faster than most agencies can keep up.
In Seattle, the worst interchanges are:
405/167/Rainier Ave (cloverleaf and too loopy (low speeds))
5/518/405 (left-side movements, loop for busiest movement)
167/18 (compounded by missing movements)
405/520 (too loopy)
Most other interchanges are over capacity, but not to the same degree.
The 101/80 split in San Francisco would have had some relief if the following projects had been built:
- the Southern Crossing between Cesar Chavez (Army) Street at 280 and today's 980/880 junction in Oakland
- the bayfront Route 87 extension from San Jose to Army/280
- 280 connecting to 80 directly (but specifically IF the Southern Crossing also existed)
Likewise, the MacArthur Maze as a choke point would have been bypassed by multiple routes (61, 13, could even argue 93 east of the Richmond Parkway) with 880 also getting some relief on its own had 238 south of 580 become a freeway.
Circle Interchange, probably even after the reconstruction is complete.
Building the Hypotenuse would help.
I-93/I-95 cloverleaf north of Boston
I-95/I-87
East L.A. Interchange is an overused interchange because the 710 gap is not completed.
Two the CA-134/CA-170 and US-101 interchange is also overused because CA-170 was supposed going to be extended as the La Cinega Freeway.
I-94/US 52 on the east edge of downtown Saint Paul, MN.
Mike
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 10, 2018, 08:38:01 PM
Building the Hypotenuse would help.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/0421dfe73f63da3478a00241702cf9d2/tumblr_oii9zsPudh1vnrg74o1_400.gif)
Any downtown Portland freeway to freeway interchange, especially US 26 to I-405. Also OR 217 and I-5
LG-TP260
Quote from: Rothman on August 10, 2018, 09:00:03 PM
I-95/I-87
What a weird way to say the Cross Bronx and the Deegan :-P
Here in Alabama, the two I can think of off the top of my head are I-65 and I-20/I-59 in Birmingham and I-459 and US 280 in Birmingham.
I-565 and US 231/US 431 here in Huntsville might also qualify, as a few of the ramps tend to back up in the morning and afternoon rush hours, but I'm not sure.
I-91 North Exit 29 in Hartford. The de facto connection from I-91 North to I-84 East. Traffic often clogs the right lane at least 1/2 mile in advance of the single lane ramp.
I-84 West to I-684 South in Brewster. Oftentimes, traffic is backed up across the CT border. Also a single lane interchange.
One "overused" ramp in particular is the ramp from I-64 EB to I-264 EB (Exit 284A) in Norfolk, used by motorists bound for Virginia Beach. This ramp causes significant backups on 64. What many motorists don't realize is the very next ramp (Exit 284B, signed only as "Newtown Rd") is also a ramp (actually the original one) from 64 EB to 264 EB.
https://goo.gl/maps/4eRGweUwFJH2
I-135 N Bound to I-235 S Bound and K-96 W Bound in Wichita. Traffic heading from the big city to points west and north-west of Wichita clog that particular one lane loop ramp.
Also most interchanges in Florida were not designed for what traffic uses them today.
Quote from: NoGoodNamesAvailable on August 10, 2018, 10:50:20 PM
Quote from: Rothman on August 10, 2018, 09:00:03 PM
I-95/I-87
What a weird way to say the Cross Bronx and the Deegan :-P
Especially when these two routes are never multiplexed together. I'm not even from the NYC area and call it the Cross Bronx and Major Deegan lol.
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 11, 2018, 07:14:26 PM
Quote from: NoGoodNamesAvailable on August 10, 2018, 10:50:20 PM
Quote from: Rothman on August 10, 2018, 09:00:03 PM
I-95/I-87
What a weird way to say the Cross Bronx and the Deegan :-P
Especially when these two routes are never multiplexed together. I'm not even from the NYC area and call it the Cross Bronx and Major Deegan lol.
Weirdoes.
Quote from: Rothman on August 11, 2018, 08:18:45 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 11, 2018, 07:14:26 PM
Quote from: NoGoodNamesAvailable on August 10, 2018, 10:50:20 PM
Quote from: Rothman on August 10, 2018, 09:00:03 PM
I-95/I-87
What a weird way to say the Cross Bronx and the Deegan :-P
Especially when these two routes are never multiplexed together. I'm not even from the NYC area and call it the Cross Bronx and Major Deegan lol.
Weirdoes.
When I lived there, I just called them the BQE and LIE, never I-278 or I-495.
Quote from: roadman65 on August 11, 2018, 07:06:56 PM
I-135 N Bound to I-235 S Bound and K-96 W Bound in Wichita. Traffic heading from the big city to points west and north-west of Wichita clog that particular one lane loop ramp.
Also most interchanges in Florida were not designed for what traffic uses them today.
No duh...I-10/I-295, I-95/FL 202 and I-10/I-95 in Jacksonville (and the second rebuild at Phillips doesn't help); I-4/FL 408 (which should be cleaned up with I-4 Ultimate), I-4/FL 528 and FL 528/US 17-92-441/Turnpike in Orlando come to mind.
Just about any interchange in the San Jose area that hasn't been upgraded from its original form could be considered to be "overused"; the US 101/CA 237 interchange in Sunnyvale would certainly fit that description -- originally just a server between a freeway and a surface street, it's now part of a long commuter nightmare. Actually -- at this point in time, just about any interchange on US 101 north of Salinas might qualify as "overused", particularly those in the Gilroy area: both interchanges with CA 152, and the "worst of the worst", the SB diamond and NB folded diamond of the US 101/CA 25 interchange; growth of Hollister, about a dozen miles southeast, as a (relatively) affordable "Silicon Valley" exurb has increased traffic using that interchange almost geometrically; the backup SB starts about 3 p.m. and doesn't let up until well past 7 p.m.!
The interchange at I-10/AZ 51/AZ 202 was an absolute beast when I was living Phoenix for traffic. All the ramps were way under capacity for how many vehicles there were, I can't imagine that situation has improved.
Locally CA 180 on to CA 41 north is an absolute nightmare getting onto. The back ups are very long for a small city despite having multiple lanes and traffic calming signals. About the only thing I can think of that would help would extend two merge lanes up to at least Shaw or Ashland.
Quote from: theroadwayone on August 10, 2018, 05:24:59 PM
Going off my post about underused interchanges, what are some overused interchanges and stretches of highway; for the reasons in my previous post, what are some places that get MORE traffic than what they were meant for?
New Jersey. There's not enough server space to list them all.
I would consider anything where the traffic routinely backs up onto the freeway/tollway (especially outside the rush) to be overused. There's a fair number around Chicagoland, but these are notable:
- The Circle (as mentioned before), especially the ramp from the inbound Ryan to the outbound Ike.
- Hillside Strangler, ramps from Nbd I-294 to Wbd I-290, Ebd I-290 to Sbd I-294, and Sbd I-294 to Wbd I-88,
- Weber Rd, I-55 Exit 263. A shitton of trucks.
- Cicero Av, I-55 Exit 286. Midway Airport traffic.
- Chicago St, I-80 Exit 132. An even bigger shitton of trucks.
"Which interchanges are overused" isn't really a good question....you could fill a multi-volume book with the answers.
The better question would be which major urban junctions are *NOT* overused.
Quote from: froggie on August 13, 2018, 09:52:33 AM
"Which interchanges are overused" isn't really a good question....you could fill a multi-volume book with the answers.
The better question would be which major urban junctions are *NOT* overused.
We already had an underused interchanges (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=23415.0) thread; this thread was the sequel to that one.
By that logic, you really didn't need two threads.
Quote from: Brandon on August 13, 2018, 08:17:51 AM
I would consider anything where the traffic routinely backs up onto the freeway/tollway (especially outside the rush) to be overused. There's a fair number around Chicagoland, but these are notable:
- The Circle (as mentioned before), especially the ramp from the inbound Ryan to the outbound Ike.
- Hillside Strangler, ramps from Nbd I-294 to Wbd I-290, Ebd I-290 to Sbd I-294, and Sbd I-294 to Wbd I-88,
- Weber Rd, I-55 Exit 263. A shitton of trucks.
- Cicero Av, I-55 Exit 286. Midway Airport traffic.
- Chicago St, I-80 Exit 132. An even bigger shitton of trucks.
The Strangler is still a billion times better than it was, though I have no idea why they thought reducing mainline I-88 eastbound to ONE lane would be sufficient.
I don't know that anyone could have envisioned the amount of traffic that would have been headed to Midway one day when they designed the Stevenson.
Quote from: froggie on August 13, 2018, 09:57:39 AM
By that logic, you really didn't need two threads.
Wasn't me. I agree though. :D
Quote from: froggie on August 13, 2018, 09:52:33 AM
"Which interchanges are overused" isn't really a good question....you could fill a multi-volume book with the answers.
The better question would be which major urban junctions are *NOT* overused.
My recent experiences commuting to Providence up I-95 North lead me to believe that none of the intersections from Ext 1-Exit 19 are over used. They only back up during rush hour. But the smoothest sailing near Providence is probably Exit 16. Traffic lets up usually around there after the messes that are Exit 14/15 intersections for RI-37 and Jefferson Boulevard. 16 even has a park-like vibe with the trees on the right side. If only they'd remove the heavy equipment from there.
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 10, 2018, 08:38:01 PM
Circle Interchange, probably even after the reconstruction is complete.
Building the Hypotenuse would help.
Someone should build a wiki of the fictional highway ideas posted here.
Quote from: jakeroot on August 10, 2018, 06:29:47 PM
Realistically, most interchanges in the top cities with worst traffic. Traffic is growing far faster than most agencies can keep up.
In Seattle, the worst interchanges are:
405/167/Rainier Ave (cloverleaf and too loopy (low speeds))
5/518/405 (left-side movements, loop for busiest movement)
167/18 (compounded by missing movements)
405/520 (too loopy)
Most other interchanges are over capacity, but not to the same degree.
You're missing the Mercer/520/45th trio, which contributes to a lot of the weaving-related slowdowns on I-5. Not to mention Mercer itself is a disaster that will never be fixed, no matter how many lanes you throw at it.
I-5 and SR 526 is also a bit of a mess because of Boeing's shift changes, which bring everyone onto the ramps at once. During the PM peak, it lingers around long enough to merge with traffic coming up from Seattle.
The Montlake Interchange on SR 520 is also a factory of sadness, given the tight turns and ongoing construction. Just getting onto NB Montlake Boulevard can take 30 minutes for buses stuck in the queue.
I-294 and 95th Street (US-12/20), praying they will redo this with the Central 294 Project
Quote from: jon daly on August 13, 2018, 07:57:30 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 10, 2018, 08:38:01 PM
Circle Interchange, probably even after the reconstruction is complete.
Building the Hypotenuse would help.
Someone should build a wiki of the fictional highway ideas posted here.
PS -if the Hypotenuse is what I think it is, it reminds me of L'Enfant's design of Washington DC; diagonal avenues that reduce travel times across town from what a pure grid system would offer.
Quote from: jon daly on August 14, 2018, 10:01:46 AM
Quote from: jon daly on August 13, 2018, 07:57:30 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 10, 2018, 08:38:01 PM
Circle Interchange, probably even after the reconstruction is complete.
Building the Hypotenuse would help.
PS -if the Hypotenuse is what I think it is, it reminds me of L'Enfant's design of Washington DC; diagonal avenues that reduce travel times across town from what a pure grid system would offer.
Someone should build a wiki of the fictional highway ideas posted here.
The main problem with the Hypotenuse proposal was that its creator was pushing it in many threads, including non-fictional ones, even after being told that it wouldn't work in today's environment (no room to build it without demolishing too many buildings), and too many insults were flying around.
With respect to the design, the trumpet at I-83/PA 581 seems like a poor choice with AADTs above 80k.
The lane shift on 83 N plus no merge area from 83 N->581 W always makes morning commuting fun. If something happens on 581 W, 83 will be backed up the whole way to the Turnpike, easily.
Nexus 6P
To be clear, I was being tongue-in-cheek about being in support of the Hypotenuse, although I do think it's probably true that the Circle Interchange carries more traffic than it would have if the Crosstown Expressway had been built.
Oh, I gathered from some post recently about DZLSABE that only one person here took that seriously.
I-495 @ Georgia Ave in Silver Spring, MD.
This interchange used to be a full cloverleaf and there were plans in place to add traffic signals and convert to a parclo a4 to address weaving issues on the Beltway. (A Parclo b4 would not work as there are reversible lanes on Georgia and left turns in the area are prohibited during rush hour when the median left turn lane becomes a lane for dominant traffic.) The parclo a4 was built for westbound 495, but not for eastbound 495. Apparently there is so much traffic using the ramp from eastbound 495 to southbound Georgia that there is no room for the traffic to northbound Georgia to use the same ramp (and same signal). So the loop to northbound Georgia (and the weaving issues) remain.
Quote from: mrsman on September 14, 2018, 10:42:45 AM
I-495 @ Georgia Ave in Silver Spring, MD.
This interchange used to be a full cloverleaf and there were plans in place to add traffic signals and convert to a parclo a4 to address weaving issues on the Beltway. (A Parclo b4 would not work as there are reversible lanes on Georgia and left turns in the area are prohibited during rush hour when the median left turn lane becomes a lane for dominant traffic.) The parclo a4 was built for westbound 495, but not for eastbound 495. Apparently there is so much traffic using the ramp from eastbound 495 to southbound Georgia that there is no room for the traffic to northbound Georgia to use the same ramp (and same signal). So the loop to northbound Georgia (and the weaving issues) remain.
It may be overused because 16th Street was intended to connect with the Beltway, but ends at Georgia Avenue instead.