The other topics around the board have gotten me thinking. What is everyone's favorite and least favorite stretches of freeway around TX, LA, AR, and OK?
Personally:
Favorite: IH 35 from San Antonio to Dallas. Despite traffic, it's kinda like Texas' version of IH 95
Second: US 90/Future IH 49 from Lafayette to New Orleans. Not all freeway, but great views through the swamps and then a nice urban landscape in GNO
Least Favorite:
IH 10 from Houston to Baton Rouge...
Second: IH 49 and 45 from Dallas to Houston... booooring
I've always liked the Atchafalaya segment of I-10.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on May 10, 2012, 06:25:36 PM
I've always liked the Atchafalaya segment of I-10.
Agree, I also like the Manchac Swamp section of I-55 and the Bonnet Carre Spillway section of I-10. Probably not the best drives in terms of pavement quality (it's been a while, though), but I always thought they were cool.
Least favorite would probably have to be the I-20 bridge over the Ouachita River in Monroe. No shoulders, tight curves, eastbound on-ramps on the Monroe side have zero acceleration lanes, I hate that bridge.
I like the old concrete of I-110 in Baton Rouge; just wish they had left some old signs up!
the Huey Long Bridge in New Orleans (does that count as a freeway? not really; the only reason there's limited access is because there are no side streets in the river!) has some old signs, still.
Spur 408 in southwestern Dallas, TX. The reason it's cool is that it runs along and into a small "mountain range", and when you're driving on it, it feels like you're in another state.
http://www.dfwfreeways.info/pages/highwayInfo/highwayInfoImageViewer.aspx?highway=408&contentType=roadsideViews (http://www.dfwfreeways.info/pages/highwayInfo/highwayInfoImageViewer.aspx?highway=408&contentType=roadsideViews)
Quote from: Brian556 on May 10, 2012, 11:05:07 PM
The reason it's cool is that it runs along and into a small "mountain range", and when you're driving on it, it feels like you're in another state.
It feels like west Texas?
QuoteIt feels like west Texas?
Not at all. West Texas is rather barren, this "mountain " is heavily forested.
My favorite?
I-10 in West Texas. I've only driven it twice, but it's a really cool drive. You can really feel isolated at times, but it's cool being able to press down on the accelerator nicely!
Least favorite?
EASY! I-35 in Austin.
My favorite?
I-30 in Arkansas between Fulton (m/m 19) and Benton (m/m 111). I especially like the wide medians in certain areas.
Least favorite:
I-45 from downtown Houston to Conroe. Those folks will plum run you over if you don't watch it.
My in-laws live in New Orleans. I have not yet driven on the new I-10 bridges over Lake Pontchartrain, but, on the old bridges, I always enjoyed the moment, driving westbound (southbound?) past Slidell when I would crest the "hump" and see the two bridges go off into the distance (I also knew quality libations were rapidly approaching :nod:)
A close second: Atchafalaya Basin on I-10.
I haven't driven enough in the area to develop a true dislike for any stretch (now I-10 in Mississippi over in the Southeast area is an entirely different matter ...)
Quote from: Greybear on May 11, 2012, 11:57:57 PM
Least favorite:
I-45 from downtown Houston to Conroe. Those folks will plum run you over if you don't watch it.
Heh yes... that stretch I am convinced is the fastest flow of traffic in the city. I personally love all of 45 from Galveston to Conroe. But I am one of those folks, though much more careful. I never go above 80 or make some of the interesting movements my fellow Houstonians seem to so enjoy haha
That is the second fastest. The Hardy toll road is faster due to nobody wanting to pay a toll just to "bypass" traffic. But The North freeway is fun when the slow lane is 70mph and the fast lane is up to 100 mph during non rush hour.
I would love to add the West park tollway to my least favorite, due to it being full a traffic and no escape due to its odd ball placement.
Best: I-540 north of Alma.
Worst: I-40 from West Memphis to North Little Rock.
Quote from: bugo on May 12, 2012, 07:31:04 PM
Best: I-540 north of Alma.
Worst: I-40 from West Memphis to North Little Rock.
There is some construction that VMS kept touting along that stretch of I-40. Signs for it were illuminated in both West Memphis and Little Rock, even displaying stuff like "construction in 57 miles". What is the road work?
I haven't been on that stretch of I-40 in many years.
Favorite: I-10 from Slidell to Laplace and I-45 from Houston to Galveston.
Somewhere in between: Both SH-288 and U.S. 59 from downtown Houston south to BW8.
Least favorite: Any highway in Arkansas.
Quote from: UptownRoadGeek on May 13, 2012, 11:59:03 AM
Favorite: I-10 from Slidell to Laplace and I-45 from Houston to Galveston.
Somewhere in between: Both SH-288 and U.S. 59 from downtown Houston south to BW8.
Least favorite: Any highway in Arkansas.
Have you ever driven I-540? One mile of 540 between Alma and Fayetteville is more scenic than the entire length of your LA and TX examples. Houston scenic? You're the first person I've ever heard say that they thought Houston was beautiful.
I-310 in the NOLA area rates as my favorite in Louisiana due to the magnificent bridge crossing the Mississippi River. Add in the highest to lowest interchange I have ever seen for extra thrills and chills!
I-10 in West Texas makes one think they're driving on Mars due to the landscape. Barren can be beautiful!
Rick
Quote from: bugo on May 13, 2012, 03:40:52 PM
Have you ever driven I-540? One mile of 540 between Alma and Fayetteville is more scenic than the entire length of your LA and TX examples. Houston scenic? You're the first person I've ever heard say that they thought Houston was beautiful.
Ouch, I did forget all about Northwest Arkansas. I should have shortened that to anything east of Little Rock. I'm sort of a sucker for Swamp, Wetlands, and Coastal prairies. 288 turns into wide open prairie just south of the I-610 and I-45 covers a mix of coastal marsh and prairie until its end. I-10 through the GNO is goes from open lake to marsh to instant urbanization to instant swamp with little to know transition. I love it.
Quote from: Alex on May 12, 2012, 09:25:02 PM
Quote from: bugo on May 12, 2012, 07:31:04 PM
Best: I-540 north of Alma.
Worst: I-40 from West Memphis to North Little Rock.
They are working on replacing the White River Bridge between the DeValls Bluff and Biscoe exits.
rte66man
There is some construction that VMS kept touting along that stretch of I-40. Signs for it were illuminated in both West Memphis and Little Rock, even displaying stuff like "construction in 57 miles". What is the road work?
Favorite:
I40 between Alma and Conway, AR. Haven't been on I540 so can't comment.
Least Favorite
I44 in North OKC. World's crappiest freeway, especially considering it was built in the late 70's. They surely knew better than to put so many left entrance/exits in such a short stretch.
Close second:
Any freeway in Texas. Too many nutty drivers.
rte66man
Quote from: rte66man on May 14, 2012, 03:59:11 PM
Least Favorite
I44 in North OKC. World's crappiest freeway, especially considering it was built in the late 70's. They surely knew better than to put so many left entrance/exits in such a short stretch.
This is venturing into Central States territory, but...
To be fair to I-44, it was never intended to exist in OKC. I-44 through OKC was basically cobbled together by an I-35 concurrency, part of was then I-240, and an access freeway to the H.E. Bailey Turnpike that at the time just carried US 62/277 (which is why free 44 southwest of the city is so awful).
I think the E-W part of I-44 in north OKC might have originally been intended as an upgrade for US 66, and I-240 and I-44 came into the picture later. I must admit I don't really know the timing of when various OKC freeways were built and designated all that well, other than I-44 being extended for Oklahoma's 75th anniversary as a state in 1982.
Speaking of shitty OKC freeways, current I-240 between I-44 and I-35. A textbook example of weaving.
Quote from: Alex on May 12, 2012, 09:25:02 PM
Quote from: bugo on May 12, 2012, 07:31:04 PM
Best: I-540 north of Alma.
Worst: I-40 from West Memphis to North Little Rock.
There is some construction that VMS kept touting along that stretch of I-40. Signs for it were illuminated in both West Memphis and Little Rock, even displaying stuff like "construction in 57 miles". What is the road work?
The White River bridge is being rebuilt, and traffic is down to one lane in each direction across the bridge as it is replaced one side at a time.
Favorite - I-49 between Alexandria and Opelousas. The vast nothingness, along with hardly any advertising and beautiful forests, make it my favorite :D
Least favorite - I-10 between New Orleans and Biloxi. There's absolutely nothing!
Least favorite US route, though, is US 90 in Gulfport and Biloxi. It takes FOREVER to even go three miles.
Quote from: codyg1985 on May 15, 2012, 07:21:13 AM
Quote from: Alex on May 12, 2012, 09:25:02 PM
Quote from: bugo on May 12, 2012, 07:31:04 PM
Best: I-540 north of Alma.
Worst: I-40 from West Memphis to North Little Rock.
There is some construction that VMS kept touting along that stretch of I-40. Signs for it were illuminated in both West Memphis and Little Rock, even displaying stuff like "construction in 57 miles". What is the road work?
The White River bridge is being rebuilt, and traffic is down to one lane in each direction across the bridge as it is replaced one side at a time.
Got caught in that traffic jam a few weeks ago. Traffic was at a full stop at the Brinkley exit going west and didn't move for tens of minutes at a time. I reckoned the length of the jam at 14 miles. Took me two full hours.
2 Least Favorites:
I-40 Between Little Rock & Memphis
Hwy 65 from Arkansas to I-20...every other car seems like a cop...2 lane flat road through the Louisiana Delta should be driven faster than 55mph
Favorite
I've always liked I-20 in East Texas.
Quote from: Road Hog on June 29, 2012, 02:07:59 AM
Quote from: codyg1985 on May 15, 2012, 07:21:13 AM
Quote from: Alex on May 12, 2012, 09:25:02 PM
Quote from: bugo on May 12, 2012, 07:31:04 PM
Best: I-540 north of Alma.
Worst: I-40 from West Memphis to North Little Rock.
There is some construction that VMS kept touting along that stretch of I-40. Signs for it were illuminated in both West Memphis and Little Rock, even displaying stuff like "construction in 57 miles". What is the road work?
The White River bridge is being rebuilt, and traffic is down to one lane in each direction across the bridge as it is replaced one side at a time.
Got caught in that traffic jam a few weeks ago. Traffic was at a full stop at the Brinkley exit going west and didn't move for tens of minutes at a time. I reckoned the length of the jam at 14 miles. Took me two full hours.
Best detour westbound - exit at Brinkley, south on US49, west on US70 to Hazen, then north on AR11 back to 40
Best detour eastbound - exit at Hazen, sount on AR11 (US63), east on 70 to Biscoe, north on AR33 back to I40
Alternate detour both directions - US64 from Conway to West Memphis.
rte66man
You could also take US 67/167 north to Cabot, then AR 89 to AR 367 to AR 38 east through Des Arc and Cotton Plant then south on AR 17 to US 49 to Brinkley back to I-40 east. The state highways are slow (speed limit 55) but this is about the same length as the US 64 route but more of it is on I-40 so it should be faster.