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I-15 Arizona

Started by Max Rockatansky, January 19, 2018, 10:56:03 PM

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Max Rockatansky

Hit I-15 heading back to Las Vegas after leaving Zion with some decent cloud cover.  I ended up taking photos of the entire 30 miles of I-15 in Arizona:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmdTpQXM

The Virgin River Gorge really can be handled at 65-70 MPH these days since ADOT made improvements to the road.  Apparently there will be a snow storm (or at least its possible) tomorrow which would be interesting to see.  I'll have a blog post up about this probably at some point this week, I'll have to find some time to actually do Old US 91.


US 89

Nice pics. That snow storm is hitting Salt Lake City now, with 6 inches expected in the valleys and 1-2 feet in the mountains. They mentioned St George would have a chance at an inch or two.

Are there any plans to bump the speed limit up at all, even to at least 60 or 65?

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: roadguy2 on January 19, 2018, 11:48:51 PM
Nice pics. That snow storm is hitting Salt Lake City now, with 6 inches expected in the valleys and 1-2 feet in the mountains. They mentioned St George would have a chance at an inch or two.

Are there any plans to bump the speed limit up at all, even to at least 60 or 65?

Hell of a change after how nice it was today down there.  I haven't heard any talk about raising the speed limit in the Virgin River Gorge.  ADOT always seemed to be protective of the infrastructure in the Virgin River Gorge and almost always has a DPS Officer somewhere nearby.  I was going 65-70 MPH for the most part but I was still getting my doors blown off. 

Hurricane Rex

Out of what I've seen, one of the best sections of interstate in the country. Great pictures!
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 22, 2018, 01:04:40 AM
Out of what I've seen, one of the best sections of interstate in the country. Great pictures!

It definitely is on the short list with I-70 east of I-15 to Denver.  Put it this way, I usually try to avoid freeways and generally will take something like a CR 91 due to the historical significance.  The Virgin River Gorge is a beautiful enough road that it actually makes driving a Freeway fun.

The Ghostbuster

Did you follow any of old US 91, for old times sake?

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: The Ghostbuster on January 22, 2018, 05:47:41 PM
Did you follow any of old US 91, for old times sake?

Not this time, I had passengers with me and we just got done with Angel's Landing in Zion.  Suffice to say the majority crowd wouldn't have been pleased and they were already tolerant enough of me bypassing Las Vegas via CA 127/NV 373 the day before.

Pink Jazz


Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 19, 2018, 10:56:03 PM
Hit I-15 heading back to Las Vegas after leaving Zion with some decent cloud cover.  I ended up taking photos of the entire 30 miles of I-15 in Arizona:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmdTpQXM

The Virgin River Gorge really can be handled at 65-70 MPH these days since ADOT made improvements to the road.  Apparently there will be a snow storm (or at least its possible) tomorrow which would be interesting to see.  I'll have a blog post up about this probably at some point this week, I'll have to find some time to actually do Old US 91.


There are no 70 mph zones anywhere in Arizona (nor any 60 mph zones).  Interstates are posted at 55, 65, or 75 mph.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Pink Jazz on January 22, 2018, 09:00:24 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 19, 2018, 10:56:03 PM
Hit I-15 heading back to Las Vegas after leaving Zion with some decent cloud cover.  I ended up taking photos of the entire 30 miles of I-15 in Arizona:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmdTpQXM

The Virgin River Gorge really can be handled at 65-70 MPH these days since ADOT made improvements to the road.  Apparently there will be a snow storm (or at least its possible) tomorrow which would be interesting to see.  I'll have a blog post up about this probably at some point this week, I'll have to find some time to actually do Old US 91.


There are no 70 mph zones anywhere in Arizona (nor any 60 mph zones).  Interstates are posted at 55, 65, or 75 mph.

I'm aware, I was just saying the upgraded freeway can definitely handle a higher speed than 55 MPH without much effort.  Before I-15 was improved the 55 MPH speed limit was way more justified.

doorknob60

I drove that section in December. It was even cooler than I expected (and I've seen pictures and videos before). But yeah the 55 MPH was ridiculous, if I tried to obey it it would have been pretty boring. I was going mostly around 70, and was still getting passed often. I did see an officer doing enforcement though, lame. But yeah after spending 7+ hours in the car doing ~80 MPH (including through the entire SLC metro area haha; I used the express HOV lane since I was with my wife, and anything less than ~78 MPH felt like I was blocking the flow of traffic), couldn't make myself slow down much more.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: doorknob60 on January 23, 2018, 05:26:36 PM
I drove that section in December. It was even cooler than I expected (and I've seen pictures and videos before). But yeah the 55 MPH was ridiculous, if I tried to obey it it would have been pretty boring. I was going mostly around 70, and was still getting passed often. I did see an officer doing enforcement though, lame. But yeah after spending 7+ hours in the car doing ~80 MPH (including through the entire SLC metro area haha; I used the express HOV lane since I was with my wife, and anything less than ~78 MPH felt like I was blocking the flow of traffic), couldn't make myself slow down much more.

I generally stick to 10 over on Arizona freeways.  DPS has a long standing edict discouraging officers from pulling people over unless they hit that magic 11 over.  Most of the slow zones in Arizona are a joke and lightly enforced anyways.   I appreciate the 65 MPH two lane highways but the nanny slow down zones ought to go.  The worst that I remember were 55 MPH on I-17, 15 MPH on US 191 on the Coronado Trail, and 25 MPH on 89a. 

i-215

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 19, 2018, 10:56:03 PMThe Virgin River Gorge really can be handled at 65-70 MPH these days since ADOT made improvements to the road.

I go back and forth between Salt Lake and Los Angeles every other month and it's reeeallly easy to find myself flying 75 through the gorge, especially when other traffic is doing it.  I always make an effort to drop down to 65, because I bet fighting a ticket in Arizona is a real pain for a Utahn since there are no nearby cities.

Yes, ADOT did excellent work.  A world-class stretch of freeway for a world-class stretch of scenery.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: i-215 on January 23, 2018, 09:09:56 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 19, 2018, 10:56:03 PMThe Virgin River Gorge really can be handled at 65-70 MPH these days since ADOT made improvements to the road.

I go back and forth between Salt Lake and Los Angeles every other month and it's reeeallly easy to find myself flying 75 through the gorge, especially when other traffic is doing it.  I always make an effort to drop down to 65, because I bet fighting a ticket in Arizona is a real pain for a Utahn since there are no nearby cities.

Yes, ADOT did excellent work.  A world-class stretch of freeway for a world-class stretch of scenery.

More than likely you'd need to make a trip to the Mohave County Courthouse in Kingman.  Not exactly something that is around the corner from the Arizona Strip. 

theroadwayone

I went there going to and from Zion a year or so ago. It's one hell of a place to drive, especially knowing that if you're going to Zion, you're going to be nearby that river for a while.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: theroadwayone on January 24, 2018, 05:10:48 PM
I went there going to and from Zion a year or so ago. It's one hell of a place to drive, especially knowing that if you're going to Zion, you're going to be nearby that river for a while.

The Virgin River is pretty scenic pretty much all the way from the source down to Lake Mead.  Sure gets a lot of scenery out of the 162 mile course.

Max Rockatansky

#15
Worked up a I-15 blog entry on Sure Why Not Now:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/01/2018-mojave-desert-road-trip-part-5.html

I included the ADOT timelapse video from 2015-2016 of construction in the Virgin River Gorge.

Edit:  I also forgot that I had an I-15 Arizona in my shield collection until I saw it out in the garage tonight:

IMG_5243 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Kniwt

Off topic, but gotta ask: What's that funky sign in the back that looks like a TCH Ontario marker but has text instead of a number?

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Kniwt on January 27, 2018, 02:11:21 AM
Off topic, but gotta ask: What's that funky sign in the back that looks like a TCH Ontario marker but has text instead of a number?

It just says TCH on it and doesn't have a route number.  I forget exactly what Province I got it from off the top of my head, I'll update if I recall and post a better picture. 

Max Rockatansky

The first blog entry I did regarding I-15 in the Virgin River Gorge was the southbound lanes.  I just did another from 2016 which is from the northbound lanes:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/09/2016-fall-mountain-trip-part-9.html



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