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Delaware

Started by Alex, February 11, 2009, 10:22:27 PM

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Alex

Quote from: Alex4897 on December 21, 2014, 07:55:50 PM
Wow.  The routing for that ends next to my neighborhood, I wonder how the area would've changed had this have actually been built.  I also think the terminus is kind of odd, wouldn't it make sense to try to link this to DE 7 and eventually PA 41 to help establish a more defined route for northward traffic?

Also of note are the apparent grand plans for the Newtown / Reybold Road corridor.  I had no clue they extended to 896 and beyond.

I will have to find the disc with the entire map scan on it and upload a copy for you. The Pike Creek Freeway extended northward as an arterial to New Linden Road. Can you imagine trying to build that along the path of Upper Pike Creek Road? What a mammoth undertaking it would have been.


Alex4897

Quote from: Alex on December 21, 2014, 10:53:54 PM
Quote from: Alex4897 on December 21, 2014, 07:55:50 PM
Wow.  The routing for that ends next to my neighborhood, I wonder how the area would've changed had this have actually been built.  I also think the terminus is kind of odd, wouldn't it make sense to try to link this to DE 7 and eventually PA 41 to help establish a more defined route for northward traffic?

Also of note are the apparent grand plans for the Newtown / Reybold Road corridor.  I had no clue they extended to 896 and beyond.

I will have to find the disc with the entire map scan on it and upload a copy for you. The Pike Creek Freeway extended northward as an arterial to New Linden Road. Can you imagine trying to build that along the path of Upper Pike Creek Road? What a mammoth undertaking it would have been.

That would've been unreal.  That valley seems so out of place given it's placement in the I-95 corridor, not to mention it's not very wide.  Maybe they could have pulled something off that could've brought out the scenic nature of the area, but chances are it would've only hurt the area.  I can't imagine how much money that would've cost to build that thing around the creek.
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Alex4897

Forgot to mention this earlier, work on the Thompsonville Road interchange on DE 1 started a few days back:

http://www.deldot.gov/home/newsroom/release.shtml?id=5427
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froggie

Better late than never...

ixnay

The Washington/Baltimore/Arlington CSA has two Key Bridges, a Minnesota Avenue, and a Mannasota Avenue.

Roadsguy

I've noticed that every bridge over I-95 in DE from the Maryland state line to the 95/495/295/141 interchange is long enough for an NJTP-style expansion. All loop ramps seem to have a jog where they meet the mainline, as if to line up more with the outer carriageways. Also, the DE 1 interchange's old SB collector-distributor has a three-lane wide bridge, despite the C/D road only being two lanes between the loops.

It's as if it were planned to be 2-4-4-2, like I-270 in MD. Clearly it's no longer planned, as the new DE 1 flyovers completely block where it could go, but does anyone know when it was planned, and if any widening at all is still considered? Also, if there would be any major reconfigurations, have any plans been published?

Also, if it were ever a plan, would MD have done anything besides an eight-lane widening that some of the bridges seem to be designed for?
Mileage-based exit numbering implies the existence of mileage-cringe exit numbering.

Alex

Quote from: Roadsguy on February 09, 2015, 11:45:50 PM
I've noticed that every bridge over I-95 in DE from the Maryland state line to the 95/495/295/141 interchange is long enough for an NJTP-style expansion. All loop ramps seem to have a jog where they meet the mainline, as if to line up more with the outer carriageways. Also, the DE 1 interchange's old SB collector-distributor has a three-lane wide bridge, despite the C/D road only being two lanes between the loops.

It's as if it were planned to be 2-4-4-2, like I-270 in MD. Clearly it's no longer planned, as the new DE 1 flyovers completely block where it could go, but does anyone know when it was planned, and if any widening at all is still considered? Also, if there would be any major reconfigurations, have any plans been published?

Also, if it were ever a plan, would MD have done anything besides an eight-lane widening that some of the bridges seem to be designed for?

We always conjectured it was for a dual configuration, and I even have the I-270 comparison made on the I-95 page write-up. However I have no actual proof that was what the space was for.

Roadsguy

There seems to be grading, and even a stub, for a NB-SB loop ramp at the I-295/US 13-40 interchange. However, SB 295 hasn't been touched, and the old bridge from the removed "flyunder" ramp is still there. Was this a major reconstruction project that was never fully finished?
Mileage-based exit numbering implies the existence of mileage-cringe exit numbering.

Alex

Delaware is getting its first DDI.

Changes planned at Del. 72/Del. 1 interchange

QuoteDelDOT has accelerated plans to rework the Del. 72 interchange along Del. 1 to create a "diverging"  traffic pattern along on Wrangle Hill Road overpass. The $7.6 million design will eliminate traffic lights at the top of the off-ramps.

jeffandnicole

"DelDOT has accelerated plans to rework the Del. 72 interchange along Del. 1 to create a "diverging"  traffic pattern along on Wrangle Hill Road overpass. The $7.6 million design will eliminate traffic lights at the top of the off-ramps."

With the exception of the big traffic light signs on the proposed drawing, of course.

Also noted... Rt. 1 is 4 lanes per direction in the video.

Alex4897

Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 23, 2015, 08:48:20 PM
"DelDOT has accelerated plans to rework the Del. 72 interchange along Del. 1 to create a "diverging"  traffic pattern along on Wrangle Hill Road overpass. The $7.6 million design will eliminate traffic lights at the top of the off-ramps."

With the exception of the big traffic light signs on the proposed drawing, of course.

Also noted... Rt. 1 is 4 lanes per direction in the video.

They pulled the video from the main DE 1 widening project site.  In a world with adequate funding I suppose they would've done all of this at once.
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Alex4897

It's about time!  Delaware is bumping the speed limit on I-95 between the Maryland line and I-495 to 65 MPH.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2015/02/24/delaware-speeds/23953659/
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cpzilliacus

Quote from: Alex4897 on February 24, 2015, 08:52:37 PM
It's about time!  Delaware is bumping the speed limit on I-95 between the Maryland line and I-495 to 65 MPH.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2015/02/24/delaware-speeds/23953659/

As best as I can tell, much of I-95 between Baltimore City and the Delaware/Pennsylvania border (using I-495 to bypass downtown Wilmington) could have and probably should have a speed limit of 70 or even 75 MPH.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Alex4897

Quote from: cpzilliacus on February 24, 2015, 08:57:50 PM
Quote from: Alex4897 on February 24, 2015, 08:52:37 PM
It's about time!  Delaware is bumping the speed limit on I-95 between the Maryland line and I-495 to 65 MPH.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2015/02/24/delaware-speeds/23953659/

As best as I can tell, much of I-95 between Baltimore City and the Delaware/Pennsylvania border (using I-495 to bypass downtown Wilmington) could have and probably should have a speed limit of 70 or even 75 MPH.

They admitted the average speed is closer to 70 MPH, but raising the speed limit by that much (especially considering we don't have anywhere that's signed above 65 MPH) was probably a bit too much for them.  I can easily do 75 MPH between DE 896 and DE 273 (while still being passed mind you), but baby steps I suppose.
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jeffandnicole

Finally!

At least the law is already 65 mph, so it's relatively easy to raise the speed limit to that.

Next thu can work with the DRBA to raise the ultra-low 50 mph in its jurisdiction.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 24, 2015, 09:37:33 PM
Finally!

At least the law is already 65 mph, so it's relatively easy to raise the speed limit to that.

Next thu can work with the DRBA to raise the ultra-low 50 mph in its jurisdiction.

I actually don't mind the 50 MPH limit on I-295 in Delaware and New Jersey (I think all or nearly all of it in Delaware is DRBA-maintained).

It is very short, and the geometric design is not great, so the time saved between 50 MPH (and say, for the sake of discussion, 70 MPH) is pretty small.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

jeffandnicole

I don't think I've ever heard you opposed to raising a speed limit before!!

The design is better than what you may remember, and definitely improved over what it was 10 or 20 years ago.

For example...Going North: As you split away from 95, you curve to the right. Previously, traffic coming from a I-95 South ramp on the left could cross over 295 to access US 13 South...which they had to do in about a 1/4 mile length, and was a high-accident location.  This movement has now been eliminated via a jersey barrier.  Further down, 295 curves left, then right again.  After that, you are on a 4 mile straightaway until you reach the NJ Turnpike/295 Split.

Not coincidentally, this 4 mile stretch is where people will be stopped by the cops.  There are 3 main areas for the police to hide:  At a paved spot in the median east of US 13, sitting on the left shoulder near the Rt. 9 overpass - especially when shadows hinder traffic's visibility of said cop in otherwise plain view, and at the base of the bridge on the Jersey side.  (Yeah, I go this way often!)

Going West is pretty much similar to going East, except for the toll plaza. 

On land, the road features normal sized lanes, full shoulders, and well banked curves.  While on the bridge itself there are no shoulders, this is equivalent to the shoulderless I-95 in MD over the Susquahanna Bridge (65 mph limit), not to mention the shoudlerless tunnels found in both Baltimore (55 mph limit on I-95) and the PA Turnpike Tunnels (55 mph as well).  The curves aren't nearly as sharp as what one encounters approaching either of those bridges/tunnels as well.  Additionally, the Delaware Memorial Bridge has a lane control system that is immediately activated to close a lane when a vehicle becomes disabled; a feature the other shoulderless areas mentioned above lacks.

As for the time saved, that should never been a consideration as to a speed limit.  A driver isn't going to calculate the time it's going to take to travel a certain length of highway based on the speed limit. 

The argument could be made as to why increase I-95 in Delaware to 65 mph at all, since the time saved is only 2 minutes.  When the ICC went from 55 to 60 mph, the time saved is slightly over 1 1/2 minutes if one drives the entire length.  If a small section of highway was upgraded and permitted faster speeds, that section of highway - if only a few miles long - would save less than a minute.

So, if the entire stretch of 295 under DRBA jurisdiction went from 50 to 55 mph, it'll save about a half a minute.  Nothing significant.  But when the roadway is 4 lanes wide with full shoulders and great sightlines, someone isn't thinking about the half a minute.  They're thinking the highway should be posted higher than 50 mph.

J Route Z

PA will have to raise their speed limit next to 65. It is an unreasonable 55, even if it's traveling through the Philly area.

MASTERNC

Quote from: J Route Z on March 03, 2015, 08:14:21 PM
PA will have to raise their speed limit next to 65. It is an unreasonable 55, even if it's traveling through the Philly area.

If they ever redo the section through Chester and add another lane through the I-476 interchange, I'd agree with you.

ixnay

How's the widening project on Route 26 west of Bethany Beach coming along?  I imagine the recent snowstorms put a crimp in the timetable.  How will the project be conducted during the summer?

ixnay
The Washington/Baltimore/Arlington CSA has two Key Bridges, a Minnesota Avenue, and a Mannasota Avenue.

davewiecking

Detour still in place on 26 where 2 culverts are being replaced. Shockingly, I think they'll be able to reopen the road as scheduled at the end of March (he typed while sitting in the Good Year store at the west end of the project). However, with the warmer weather the next few days, I think it will all turn into a sea of mud as the ground thaws...

jeffandnicole

The real limiting factor would be continued cold weather, as this can affect concrete pouring, asphalt laying, etc. A snowstorm isn't much worse than a rainy day...it may shut down much of the work for a day, but they're back at it the next day. In the long run, these delays are fairly expected and time lost for weather is built into the schedule, just as an unusual long period of good weather would help a project along.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: J Route Z on March 03, 2015, 08:14:21 PM
PA will have to raise their speed limit next to 65. It is an unreasonable 55, even if it's traveling through the Philly area.

My impression is that the posted 55 MPH on I-95 in Pennsylvania is pretty universally ignored unless the freeway is congested.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

ekt8750

Yeah 55 usually means 70 up here.

davewiecking


Rt 26 at the west end of the closed portion. One of the 2 new culverts is under there someplace. Appears to only need final grading and asphalt. I drove several parts of the "closed for detour, but open because there are businesses" section today, and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of fresh concrete curbing and asphalt that has showed up since early January.



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