Recent posts

#1

Off-Topic / Re: Changing one letter of a t...

Last post by GaryV - Today at 07:51:11 PM

Huddle Louse No Longer A Southern Chain - Not gonna go there

#2

Road Enthusiasts Meetings / June 8, 2024: DE 1/16 road mee...

Last post by Alps - Today at 07:40:26 PM

https://deldot.gov/projects/index.shtml?dc=details&projectNumber=T201500301

Looks like we have until July before traffic moves onto the new bridge. That doesn't leave ALL that much time to see this under construction. Right now I see a gap in meets until June 22. I hereby suggest June 8 as a good date to get down and see construction there. Since it's not all that close to me, I welcome others' input as to what can be paired with this project to make it into a meet, and help co-hosting, if this is going to happen.

Thanks to @74/171FAN for bringing this idea back to life!

#3

Northeast / Re: What is it with I-95 & bri...

Last post by abqtraveler - Today at 07:08:11 PM

any replacement structure really ought to have greater horizontal clearance.  At least one of the backwalls was damaged by heat would imagine.   

There's a jersey barrier, 3 or 4 feet of flat concrete, then the wall. Seems adequate.

Agreed. Design a longer structure in case CTDOT gets around to widening I-95 through that area at some point.

#4

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

Last post by SilverMustang2011 - Today at 07:04:30 PM

That's what Jacksonville will become. Like IH 610 around Houston, it once was a good bypass, but developers built along it to expand the city and now it's an urban loop.   Give Jacksonville time. Heck I remember when the 429 opened west of Orlando how nice it was in 2006.  I even said this will soon change and so did it. Now drive SR 429 from I-4 to Floridas Turnpike on the west leg and it's all homes and suburban in nature 18 years later.

BTW give SH 99 time. It will develop as well and be a new place for newbies to Southeast Texas. Homes, businesses, shopping centers, and apartments will line the Grand Parkway for sure.

I find it mildly amusing that Jacksonville also is getting it's own secondary, tolled beltway in the form of the First Coast Expressway. It's currently only being built as a quarter loop from I-10 to I-95 in the Southwest side of the metro, but it still works, in theory, as a bypass of Jacksonville for traffic going onto I-10.

I also remember going to a home builder for an interview a couple months ago and seeing a northern arc of the Expressway to I-95 in Nassau County near the state line mapped out as a possible future development corridor (Couldn't snap a photo sadly). However, Nassau County is very anti-suburban growth compared to St John's and Clay County and the northwest side of I-295 already doesn't see as much development or traffic so I doubt they'll announce or build it anytime soon.

#5

Southeast / Re: Interstate 42

Last post by wdcrft63 - Today at 06:57:24 PM

I still cringe every time I see I 40 take the south turn to Wilmington and think that NC has received approval for I-87 from Norfolk/Virginia Beach to Raleigh. An east/west interstate runs south for over 100 miles just to get to the Atlantic, where as another interstate comes from the Atlantic and travels over 100 miles mostly east/west and is numbered north/south.   
 

Methinks you wouldn't like the routings of I-26 or I-85, either. But they've been so well-established for decades that there'd be no use in changing them now.

I'm not crazy about I-26 either after they extended it to the Virginia line.  I-85, I'm not as bad with as a diagonal main trunk line, except I would have continued it down to Mobile and terminated I-65 in Montgomery (initial intereste plan) and then with all the population gains, run it down near Dothan and Tallahasee down the Florida Gulf Coast to Tampa.

I agree, but outside of Highway Nerdistan no one cares. People in Asheville certainly have strong opinions about NCDOT's plans for I-26 but they don't include any complaints about the number.

BTW I agree that the lack of an interstate leading SE from Montgomery into Florida is one of the most glaring gaps in the system. Unfortunately Alabama doesn't seem to have any interest in building it.

#6

Pacific Southwest / Re: Why I-5's most popular sto...

Last post by ZLoth - Today at 06:55:54 PM

A traffic closure has absolutely nothing do to with "California is dying".

Just as a story that I classify as interesting.

I'm okay with Kettleman being knocked down a peg, all the stations there charge $1.50-$2.00 over the rest of the Central Valley for gas.  The new EZ Trip up on 269 got popular even for the Kings River Bridge replacement on 41.

GasBuddy is a invaluable travel tool. Also, if you fail to plan, you pay the price.

#7

Northeast / Re: PA Turnpike News

Last post by ARMOURERERIC - Today at 06:43:30 PM

For the past few days, I've been on my annual stakeout for when the PTC posts their annual capital improvement plan.  Today, they posted a summary 2025 budget, but nothing in detail.  Will keep my eyes peeled.  I will say that the amounts for total reconstruction are not very impressive for the next few years.

#8

Off-Topic / Re: Huddle House No Longer A S...

Last post by mgk920 - Today at 06:23:06 PM

Well, Huddle House never had an outlet here in Wisconsin and Waffle House still doesn't.  However, WH does have a few in Illinois, all in suburban Saint Louis. < sigh . . . >

Mike

#9

Central States / Re: Missouri

Last post by Plutonic Panda - Today at 06:01:17 PM

If MoDOT builds a flyover from SB Route 13 to EB I-44.. that new Take 5 car wash may or may not be in the way. If it is, good riddance. The amount of new car washes constructed in Springfield these past couple of years is ridiculous.

Car wash mania seems to be all over the place these days.

You aren't kidding. Everytime I come back to OKC once every 4-6 months or so I see a new car wash.

I bet quite a few of them are money laundering schemes.

It is so funny you mention that. I've thought of that myself. I even joked with a cousin of mine that breaking bad gave me that idea.

#10

Mid-Atlantic / Re: VA I-81 Corridor Improveme...

Last post by Great Lakes Roads - Today at 05:47:40 PM

/https://improve81.vdot.virginia.gov/media/improve81/documentsacc/VDOT_Improve_81_Newsletter_Spring-2024_PDFUA.pdf

More widening projects coming to Interstate 81!

"The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) has added a new widening to the I-81 Corridor Improvement Program (CIP), while three other projects have seen significant changes. At its December 2023 meeting, the CTB updated the program with the widening of southbound I-81 between exit 137 (Salem) and exit 128 (Ironto). The roughly $308 million project, located in Roanoke and Montgomery counties, will add a third travel lane and replace several bridges. Following a series of traffic studies and public meetings in 2018, the I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan identified 106 potential construction projects. Among them were the northbound and southbound widening projects between exits 128 and 137. The northbound widening was among 64 projects selected for funding. It is in the early stages of design and engineering and is scheduled to begin construction in 2025.

The CTB has directed VDOT to advance the southbound widening concurrently with the northbound widening. Together they will become the largest single project in the I-81 CIP. "This will be a significant and much-needed improvement for that portion of the interstate," says I-81 Program Delivery Director Dave Covington. "We also expect to save taxpayers about $75 million by combining the northbound and southbound widening under a single contract." in Montgomery County on northbound I-81 between mile marker 116 (Christiansburg area) and exit 128 (Ironto). The Winchester widening will go to construction first, followed by the Christiansburg-to-Ironto project. Both of these projects will advance when revenue and financing allow. The CTB has also directed that two more widening projects be added to the I-81 CIP.  One adds a third lane northbound and southbound near the city of Winchester between exits 313 and 317. The other is Finally, a shoulder-improvement project has transformed into a full widening. The CIP originally included widening the shoulders on portions of northbound and southbound I-81 in Rockbridge County. The project now calls for a full third lane southbound between exit 205 (Raphine) and exit 200 (Fairfield). Construction is expected to begin in 2028."