AARoads Forum

Now that I've got a bit of experience hosting a few "city meets" (choose-your-own-sightseeing) over the past few years and have generally received positive feedback on them, I've decided that this is something I would definitely like to continue into the future.

I've got a long list of ideas for cities I would like to host these meets in, but I've gotten into a groove where I like to announce the locations in 3-year segments (one per year) and ask folks in our community to choose the ones they are most interested in.  These are cities that I've never had the opportunity to visit/explore before, and I would like to invite others to join me in the exploration of them.  This poll lists the cities I would tentatively like to host gatherings in between 2024 and 2026.  Whichever city wins this poll will be the location of my 2024 meet, and the other two cities will be the locations for 2025 and 2026 (the order of which to be determined).

This poll will be open for three months, and you can vote for up to two of these cities.  I do recognize that one of the cities is in the same state where I hosted my meet in 2022, but it's on the opposite side of the state and it's a city that has intrigued me for a long time.  Perhaps it will be the winner for 2024; perhaps not.

I look forward to seeing the votes come in!  I hope everyone enjoys the summer season.  :)

Charlotte pings my interest so that's my first pick. I've never gotten to explore it, but I have explored Mobile and Wichita before.

Mobile may have the new I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway under construction if the city meet for Mobile is 2025 or 2026.

Which Wichita? Not this one

The former two give me chances to complete I-10.

Of note. April may be challenging for me because Solar Eclipse on 4/8 and I intend on doing a 2-week trip around that

All of these have some potential for my exploration and seeing people. Charlotte is always easy for me to have an excuse to visit (: but I think Wichita is the destination that would have the most to explore. I look forward to seeing how this turns out!

Not sure about Mobile, but I know for a fact that both Charlotte and Wichita have been sites for meets in the past.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 02, 2023, 04:22:06 PM
Not sure about Mobile, but I know for a fact that both Charlotte and Wichita have been sites for meets in the past.

That's okay!

The last meet in Wichita was in 2013, when the I-235/13th Street flyover was under construction.  Since then the following have also opened:

*  Kellogg Avenue (US 54-400) freeway extension from Cypress (near Webb) to 127th Street East, including I-35 Exit 50 and the eastern terminus of K-96

*  Kellogg/I-235 cloverleaf-to-cloverstack conversion

The biggest project going on right now is the North Junction (I-135/I-235/K-96/K-254 system interchange) renovation--a brand-new two-lane flyover ramp opened just three days ago to replace the much-hated loop ramp connecting northbound I-135 to westbound I-235.  In due course the focus of construction activity will shift to the K-96 connection, the contract for which was awarded late last year.

KDOT has a design-build contract to extend the Kellogg freeway east to the Butler County line, and a widening of K-96 to six lanes is also in the pipeline.  I would expect at least one, and possibly both, to be actively under construction during the three-year timeframe under consideration for city meets.

As I live locally, I'm more than happy to help with scouting venues.

I've been to Mobile and found it rich in roadgeeking opportunities, with the Wallace and Bankhead Tunnels, the Africatown Bridge, the Bayway, and the louver signs all worth seeing.  I also enjoyed my visit to the USS Alabama.  NAS Pensacola is nearby and its aviation museum is highly regarded.  (My attempt to visit it back in 2017 ended in failure when a major rainstorm led to the base being closed temporarily to visitors.)  It's been quite a while since I last visited Charlotte, and at the time very little of I-485 had been built.

Quote from: J N Winkler on June 03, 2023, 12:15:36 AM
The last meet in Wichita was in 2013, when the I-235/13th Street flyover was under construction.  Since then the following have also opened:

*  Kellogg Avenue (US 54-400) freeway extension from Cypress (near Webb) to 127th Street East, including I-35 Exit 50 and the eastern terminus of K-96

*  Kellogg/I-235 cloverleaf-to-cloverstack conversion

The biggest project going on right now is the North Junction (I-135/I-235/K-96/K-254 system interchange) renovation--a brand-new two-lane flyover ramp opened just three days ago to replace the much-hated loop ramp connecting northbound I-135 to westbound I-235.  In due course the focus of construction activity will shift to the K-96 connection, the contract for which was awarded late last year.

KDOT has a design-build contract to extend the Kellogg freeway east to the Butler County line, and a widening of K-96 to six lanes is also in the pipeline.  I would expect at least one, and possibly both, to be actively under construction during the three-year timeframe under consideration for city meets.

As I live locally, I'm more than happy to help with scouting venues.

I've been to Mobile and found it rich in roadgeeking opportunities, with the Wallace and Bankhead Tunnels, the Africatown Bridge, the Bayway, and the louver signs all worth seeing.  I also enjoyed my visit to the USS Alabama.  NAS Pensacola is nearby and its aviation museum is highly regarded.  (My attempt to visit it back in 2017 ended in failure when a major rainstorm led to the base being closed temporarily to visitors.)  It's been quite a while since I last visited Charlotte, and at the time very little of I-485 had been built.

Thank you for sharing these insights!  I look forward to seeing which of these cities wins the poll for 2024, and I look forward to exploring all of them over the course of the next 3 years with anyone else in our community who wants to join.

Charlotte is one of the few major cities I have yet to visit, but Wichita is closest to home, so I voted those two first.

Thanks to everyone who has voted in my poll so far!

We have one city, Charlotte, that is holding a fairly significant lead over the other two cities as the top candidate for my meet in 2024.  I'm thinking that a 3-month voting period may have been too long.  I tried to edit the poll so that it would close sooner than September 1, but it doesn't appear that I have the ability to do that.  Rather than letting the voting drag out until September 1, I might call it for Charlotte a lot sooner than that.  Twenty people have voted so far, and I sort of doubt that I'll have too many more votes come in.

Me personally, I am ok with all the above cities as long as it does not conflict with my other hobby, Charlotte is the closest to me drive wise and you would probably the biggest draw of people for attendence, Wichita would give me the chance to explore mor of that city since I was only in the area 3 times over the years and was primarly on the interstates, Mobile would give me the chance to complete the last of the Alabama counties I need and I have an uncle who lives in the area though he may be moving back to York, PA by the time of the meet.

Quote from: A.J. Bertin on June 19, 2023, 07:33:05 PM
We have one city, Charlotte, that is holding a fairly significant lead over the other two cities as the top candidate for my meet in 2024.  I'm thinking that a 3-month voting period may have been too long.  I tried to edit the poll so that it would close sooner than September 1, but it doesn't appear that I have the ability to do that.  Rather than letting the voting drag out until September 1, I might call it for Charlotte a lot sooner than that.  Twenty people have voted so far, and I sort of doubt that I'll have too many more votes come in.

Thanks, Scott, for updating the closing date of my poll to July 1.  We'll know pretty soon whether Charlotte is indeed the winner for 2024.

I vote for Wichita because I have a friend there I've been meaning to visit and this would be a great opportunity for a dual-purpose visit.

None of them are places I've spent any significant time, though I have stayed the night in both Charlotte and Wichita before.

The poll has closed and we have a winner!  My "city meet" in 2024 will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina. :cool:  Thank you to everyone who voted!

At this point, I'm tentatively thinking that I will host Mobile in 2025 and Wichita in 2026.

Hm.  I've never been to Carowinds...