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#11

Sports / Re: General NBA thread

Last post by TheHighwayMan3561 - Today at 05:50:47 PM

Wolves should be slightly favored against Dallas, which would be a first because even though they were the 1 seed in 2004 not a lot of people expected them to beat the juggernaut Lakers in that conference finals.

#12

Pacific Southwest / Re: Interstate 11 alignment, t...

Last post by Sub-Urbanite - Today at 05:49:54 PM

IMHO the earthquake reason is the biggest reason to complete it - to provide a backup connection from the 10 and 40 corridors in the event I-5 fails.

Those are awfully small traffic volumes to be worth doing anything at all.  I-11 at all is mostly for suburban Phoenix real estate development, I-11 north of Las Vegas is a complete waste.  There are plenty of highway projects that really need doing - bridges and viaducts that will fall down in the next big earthquake, fracture critical bridges that also have lower overhead clearance than current interstate standards, urban area freeways that could really use an HOV lane.  Yes, higher gas taxes would be justified, but whether the gas tax is raised or not spending money on I-11 north of Las Vegas is absurd.

#13

Sports / Re: General NBA thread

Last post by jgb191 - Today at 05:44:40 PM

Both Game Seven's yesterday were won by the road teams, a rare feat in NBA history.  Pacers eliminated the Knicks, and the T-Wolves dethroned the former Champions Nuggets!

The T-Wolves remain undefeated in the second round series of the playoffs -- a perfect 2-0....won in both 2004 vs the Kings and 2024 the Nuggets.  And yes this is the second time in franchise history that the T-Wolves not only win the first round of the playoffs, but also advance to the Western Conference Championship Series exactly two decades since their first time in 2004.  In fact I remember Latrell Sprewell being on that team in 2004.

#14

General Highway Talk / Re: Roads that you have been o...

Last post by SSR_317 - Today at 05:37:22 PM

I lived in Hayward, CA when the quake hit the Bay Area in October 1989, and lived in Alameda before that, so I was on the Cypress Viaduct (CA 17, then I-880) a fair amount before that thing came down in the quake.  Also the old Embarcadero Freeway in S.F. (didn't actually collapse in the quake but was damaged to the point it had to be closed, and never reopened before being torn down).

When I was first driving, Carquinez Scenic Drive (briefly US 40 way back when) between Martinez and Port Costa was still open to vehicular traffic, so I drove that once or twice.  Not quite a "disaster" but it closed due to landslides around 1982 and was never reopened.  It's now a multi-use recreational path within an East Bay regional park.

I was visiting a friend in Hayward during the Loma Prieta earthquake. The Saturday before the Tuesday temblor, she took me up to Napa Valley for a winery tour, and we took a route that had us nearing the MacArthur Maze, where we got stuck in the wrong lane and ended up heading for the Bay Bridge rather than north on 80/580 toward Napa. So we bailed at the exit prior to the toll plaza, crossed the old Oakland Army Base, and rejoined the freeway on the lower deck of the I-880 Nimitz Freeway. I recall at the time thinking how I would not like to be stuck on that double-deck structure during a quake (premonition, perhaps?), though the particular section we traversed did survive a little over 3 days later. The major collapse occurred a little further to the south, along Cyprus Street (now Mandela Parkway).

During the event three days later, I had been sightseeing in the City, while my friend was working her job at Oracle in Redwood City. On the way back to Hayward, I stopped in Berkeley to see the UC campus (I grew up during the 1960s and remember all the student protests there). Though the BART train I took got delayed due to the breakdown of another one, I managed to make it back to Hayward to catch the bus back up the hill to her condo on Hayward Boulavard (just behind what was then still called Cal State - Hayward) before the quake hit and the World Series game was scheduled to begin. She wasn't as lucky, as she was on the San Mateo Bridge when the temblor struck.

But being a native Californian, she initially took it all in stride, even stopping to pick up some Italian take-out for our dinner after getting off the bridge! When she made it home, I was relieved and we proceeded to break out some wine, had our meal, and watched the local TV coverage of the disaster we were living through. After she saw what happened to the Cyprus viaduct and the east span of the Bay Bridge, she was understandably upset and very thankful that she made it home unscathed. I too was thankful, as earlier in the day I had been in the Marina District, transferring on Muni on my way to the Golden Gate Bridge (which I walked across all the way to the vista point in Marin County). I quickly realized I could've been stuck dozens of miles away from my friend's abode there in Hayward with no way to get back, and (in a mostly pre-cell phone era) with no way to easily communicate with her. All in all, we were both very lucky!

#15

Sports / Re: Athletics President re: ke...

Last post by ZLoth - Today at 05:26:25 PM

The only gaming I do nowadays is the occasional drive up to the Oklahoma casinos with my mother. While I end up losing $100, it's not much for me since it's multiple months between casino visits. I still get that guilty feeling that the money can be used elsewhere. However, I have used the resort in the past for a quick getaway that isn't that expensive. Also, I don't drink.

Plus, the entertainment that they have at the two casinos aren't getting my interest. "Rocky and the Bullwinkles"? I believe Chocktaw in Durant, OK is the casino partner for the Texas Rangers while Winstar is the casino partner for the Dallas Cowboys,

#16

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: "Rethink" I-94 (Twin Citie...

Last post by Bruce - Today at 05:19:33 PM

MNDOT could take a similar approach as that found on I-405 in Bellevue, Washington, for example. Left exits from the bus lane up to the surface street would be expensive, but it sounds like there would only be a few of them.   https://maps.app.goo.gl/ycivXMygTLLsrdE3A

The ramp shown is for a major terminus that has few through-routes, so it's not quite the model. Something like the Totem Lake Freeway Station further north on I-405 makes more sense, but it's not a pleasant waiting environment:



Ideally, with a lid you can dampen noise and still have easy bus connections, as is done on SR 520:



Or this one being built now:

[parallel]

#17

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: "Rethink" I-94 (Twin Citie...

Last post by bschultzy - Today at 04:49:43 PM

To have no physical barriers between freeway traffic and bike/ped traffic sounds wildly unsafe. In some of this, I'm sensing some Phase I folks who are 100% theory and 0% pragmatism.  Dreams of transportation equity are fine and all, but they should be rolled out in a way that enables safety and serves travel demand. We don't need bikes/peds on every single traveled way.  Give the bikes/peds something robust, but parallel to I-94, rather than directly on the freeway!     

Generally, equity is providing conduit to serve travel demand to all modes for as many trips as possible. It isn't about turning every single segment of trafficway into something that serves all imaginable modes.

Along these lines, robust upgrades to St. Anthony, Concordia, and Rondo Aves. along I-94 in St. Paul should be a high priority. I know there are some legitimate existing concerns about traffic speeds on those frontage roads, so efforts should be made to slow down cars and provide ample options for transit, bikes, and peds.

In my mind, the freeway is the toothpaste that's already out of the tube. The question is how do we improve the overall context in a meaningful way rather than wasting time on pie-in-the-sky fantasies that look nice on paper?

#18

Traffic Control / Re: 1-2-3 Route number Additio...

Last post by 74/171FAN - Today at 04:46:04 PM

1498 = 625 + 606 + 267 (VA 28 NB .25 miles south of VA 267 WB in Herndon, VA)(https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10219701761375054&set=a.10219701842977094)

#19

Northeast / Re: Vermont

Last post by bmitchelf - Today at 04:45:56 PM

https://www.wcax.com/2024/05/17/vtrans-officials-still-bullish-notch-road-barriers/

Earlier this month, VTrans installed temporary chicanes on each end of the VT 108 Smuggler's Notch stretch, in order to prevent the notorious event of trucks getting stuck in the Notch and closing the road for hours at a time as they are unstuck, removed, and ticketed (over $2K for the first offense) by authorities.

The Notch opened to traffic last week.  But within 48 hours, a truck driver dodged the chicane on the Cambridge side and got stuck.  I had a hunch this was going to happen after seeing the first photos of the chicane...too easy for trucks to skirt into the opposing lane.  VTrans has more work to do to figure out a better solution.

It didn't get stuck, it turned around. I would say the chicane worked, despite the headline. https://www.wcax.com/2024/05/16/notch-road-barriers-fail-stop-tractor-trailer/

Even in the video story linked above, the anchor says "Barriers...work" but that's not included in the text version.

#20

General Highway Talk / Re: Beltways That Work, and Be...

Last post by roadman65 - Today at 04:40:28 PM

Indianapolis' bypass is effective going from one interstate to the other. I found it handy to use from I-65 SB to I-74 EB from Chicago to Cincinnati.  I also found it handy to use from I-69 SB to I-70 WB into Downtown using the east side.