State that screws up bypasses the most

[J N Winkler]

It has actually been fifteen (!) years since I was on US 70 east of Raleigh.  From memory, Goldsboro is about where US 70 stops being bad.  The story, as I remember it, is that at some point in the 1970's or 1980's, it was decided that US 70 would be widened from Raleigh eastward, but not as a full freeway.  Strip commercial development subsequently moved in and it became necessary to put stoplights on 55 MPH roadway.  I lost count of the stoplights on US 70 between I-40 and Atlantic Beach after about 15 or so.

NCDOT has already built the Clayton Bypass as a full freeway to divert through traffic around the "failed" US 70 expansion through Clayton.  I think the Smithfield Bypass (next one east), which went out to bid somewhat later and was also planned and developed as a full freeway, may have been finished as well.  After Smithfield an eastbound traveller on US 70 is more or less in Goldsboro, and the US 70 bypass north of town is a full freeway, although Google Maps shows what looks like an awkward TOTSO near the I-795 (US 117) interchange.

[agentsteel53]

I lost count of the stoplights on US 70 between I-40 and Atlantic Beach after about 15 or so.

does US-441 through Orlando count as a bypass, or was it just upgraded to an arterial over the old two-laner?  I counted 126 traffic lights from Kissimmee to Apopka or thereabouts, of which six were green.  that was a tragic day in the history of road exploration.

[wriddle082]

TN probably has some of the worst bypasses, and a few of the best:

WORST (reason):
US 51 around Dyersburg (development)
US 31A around Lewisburg (development)
TN 397 around Franklin (no driveways along this one, but should have been at least four lanes originally)
US 231 around Shelbyville (will be bypassed again)
US 129 around Maryville (development)
TN 66/US 441 around Sevierville (it's the Smokies, need I say more?)
I-240 (not too close at the time it was built, but development and I-40 rerouting lead to downfall)
I-440 (too close to the city, too narrow)
I-640 (too close to the city, I-75 routing defeats the purpose)
US 70/US 70A/TN 22 around Huntingdon (strange interchanges/intersections)
TN 396 around Hendersonville ONLY (was good at first, but now needs widening)
Bypass US 70S around McMinnville (development)
Bypass US 41A around Clarksville (development)
TN 374 around the SOUTH end of Clarksville (development)
Anything around Murfreesboro (development)
Bypass US 70 around Lebanon (narrow, development)
US 70 around Dickson (development, school zones)
TN 111 around Livingston (narrow, development south of it)
TN 50 around Columbia (some of the worst bypass development out there)

BEST (reason):
TN 840 (when complete, will be a pleasant, albeit long, alternative to I-40 through Nashville)
TN 22 around Dresden, Martin, and Union City (most of this is lightly-travelled freeway/expressway)
TN 111 around Algood, Cookeville, and Sparta (freeway/expressway grade)
I-140/TN 162 (when complete, will be the best shortcut from west of Knoxville to the Smokies)
TN 385 south end (good freeway around Germantown and Collierville)
TN 385/Future I-269 north end (good freeway shortcut to Millington)
TN 218 around Paris (very little development)
US 70 around Waverly (close enough to town, but still good speed limits)
US 70 around Camden
US 43/412 around Columbia (expressway)

I could go on and on....

[njroadhorse]

I don't New Jersey understands the concept of a bypass, unless we're talking about I-95/I-295

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

For the most part Louisiana seems not to favor arterial type bypasses of urban areas, at least since the early 1960s. Most of the TIMED projects and other four lane widenings of recent years, for instance, either improved the in-town route to urban arterial standards, created a two way couplet, or moved to a different through town alignment which removed the route from the immediate downtown area (ex: US 171 Mansfield, US 167 Jonesboro, LA 10 Oakdale) as opposed to completely bypassing the town (Zwolle is the only exception I can think of off hand). US 90 from Lafayette to Morgan City may be the exception, but that route was developed with access control and eventual freeway conversion in mind - in any case, only the portion from Lafayette to Broussard is heavily developed and there is still sufficient right of way to add frontage roads and perhaps squeeze in a few Texas style slip ramps.

Perhaps there is some wisdom to this policy in light of historically weak/nonexistent access management policies combined with the general antipathy to land use control in the state, the consequences of which serve to permit unchecked development and would render any surface bypass route moot within a couple of decades.

Until the early 1960s at the latest, Louisiana did construct surface highway/expressway bypasses of some of the state's larger cities:

Airline Highway, Baton Rouge: 1940-41
MacArthur Blvd, Alexandria: ca. 1950
MLK Blvd, Monroe: early 1960s IIRC

All of these routes are now well inside the developed portions of their respective urban areas and as such function poorly as true bypasses.

The only other true bypasses (that actually function as bypasses) that I can think of are LA 1/6 Natchitoches, US 190 Covington (eastern half now submerged by development), LA 3226 in DeRidder, LA 14 Erath (more of a relocation than a bypass), and the brand new Bypass US 79 at Homer. Apparently some smaller towns off the most important highways are still considered 'safe' for bypass construction, though only to single carriageway standards. Also, the state still has various relocations on the books that would effectively serve as bypasses, such as various portions of LA 1 from New Roads southward.

[vdeane]

Not a state, but for worst bypass would have to be ON 401 in Toronto.

[froggie]

Jake/Jonathan:  it's not so much the bypasses along US 70 as it is the segments between the bypasses.  Most of the bypasses themselves are freeway-grade...namely Clayton (as Jonathan mentioned), the immediate I-95 area, Goldsboro, and New Bern.

That said, the Goldsboro bypass is very substandard 4-lane and is in the process of being replaced by a more modern freeway bypass on new alignment to the north.

Also, technically, most of the at-grade 4-lane between Raleigh and Princeton is the "original bypass".

[agentsteel53]

Not a state, but for worst bypass would have to be ON 401 in Toronto.

what's so bad about it?  full set of local and express lanes... 22 lanes at its widest (junction with 404, I think).  Unless you like your freeways antiquated, or have a problem with blue guide signs, I don't see why you'd dislike the 401.

[agentsteel53]

how could I forget the bypass of Carson City, Nevada?  Absolutely hideous in every conceivable form.

[Stephane Dumas]

Not a state, but for worst bypass would have to be ON 401 in Toronto.

what's so bad about it?  full set of local and express lanes... 22 lanes at its widest (junction with 404, I think).  Unless you like your freeways antiquated, or have a problem with blue guide signs, I don't see why you'd dislike the 401.

When Hwy 401 was built in the early 1950s north of Toronto, it was mainly a rural area but soon, it was urbanized so fast then it was clogged in 1959 and the MTO decided to put a local-express setup. http://web.archive.org/web/20050612013917/members.aol.com/Hwys/OntHwys/OntHwys401Hist.html

[SSOWorld]

how could I forget the bypass of Carson City, Nevada?  Absolutely hideous in every conceivable form.

at least it's a freeway - though incomplete I might add.

[NE2]

does US-441 through Orlando count as a bypass, or was it just upgraded to an arterial over the old two-laner?  I counted 126 traffic lights from Kissimmee to Apopka or thereabouts, of which six were green.  that was a tragic day in the history of road exploration.

That was a new alignment from the 1930s (Orange Avenue, Edgewater Drive, and Apopka Boulevard are the old alignment). So it's a bypass of sorts but a very early one. John Young Parkway was built much more recently as a bypass of US 441 south of Winter Park, and has its share of traffic lights, but limited direct access. SR 436 (Semoran) is a better example of a bypass of Orlando that became a suburban strip, built ca. 1950s-60s. Now of course we have SR 417 and SR 429, the latter not yet complete.

[agentsteel53]

at least it's a freeway - though incomplete I might add.

that's the problem.  the freeway is through Reno.  Carson City's 50/395 alignment forces you to head through downtown.

[architect77]

My personal favorite example, which is being fixed slowly (contingent on funding availability), is US 70 east of Raleigh in North Carolina.

The 4 US-70's:..... "70", "70-A", "70-Business", and "70-Bypass".....

[vdeane]

Not a state, but for worst bypass would have to be ON 401 in Toronto.

what's so bad about it?  full set of local and express lanes... 22 lanes at its widest (junction with 404, I think).  Unless you like your freeways antiquated, or have a problem with blue guide signs, I don't see why you'd dislike the 401.

It's a textbook case of what the first post was asking about: it went from a rural area to a very urban one.  The fact that it moves has more to do with the fact that Canada doesn't have the "freeways are the devil" mentality that the US has.

[froggie]

The fact that it moves has more to do with the fact that Canada doesn't have the "freeways are the devil" mentality that the US has.

Despite the fact that Toronto cancelled several freeways themselves?

[jwolfer]

Florida is an interesting case in that they've built very few bypasses (except for Interstates and toll roads) since the 1940s. The Interstates carry the majority of traffic, and other corridors may be widened in towns, but rarely get bypasses. For example, much of US 17 south of Bartow has been dualed by using a former rail right-of-way for one direction.

One of the problems with Florida roads.  Best example is 301 thru Starke.  a big bottleneck but even a divided surface road bypass of Starke would be better.  Sadly it would probably would be filled with Super Wal-Marts etc.  Limited Access is the key so even if isnt a freeway it can more easily be upgraded

[agentsteel53]

One of the problems with Florida roads.  Best example is 301 thru Starke.  a big bottleneck but even a divided surface road bypass of Starke would be better.  Sadly it would probably would be filled with Super Wal-Marts etc.  Limited Access is the key so even if isnt a freeway it can more easily be upgraded

no, then the town cops would just move to the bypass and viciously enforce a speed limit of 25 there.

there's only one solution to Starke.  (hint: It's the only way to be sure.)

[NE2]

They are planning a bypass: http://www.us301starke.com/us301/
"The Rural Alternative (Bypass) is developed as a four-lane limited access freeway facility"

[jwolfer]

They are planning a bypass: http://www.us301starke.com/us301/
"The Rural Alternative (Bypass) is developed as a four-lane limited access freeway facility"

The city will probably annex one of the interchanges on SR16 or SR100 so they could give tickets out. Sort of like Hampton FL used to.  The city annexed a Gate Station on US 301 and the town PD would give out tickets.  I think that the city either deannexed or no longer has their own PD

[florida]

I nominate FL 997 as one of the worst. Two-lane truck traffic + car traffic + farm traffic + a canal + severe lack of turn lanes + bumpy/pothole-ridden pavement that hasn't been resurfaced in about 25 years = I'm going to travel once and never again.

[vdeane]

Despite the fact that Toronto cancelled several freeways themselves?

They may have cancelled several, but at least they're still building them.  In NY, the only new freeway construction other than I-781 and I-99 are upgrades to NY 17 and US 219 that are proceeding at a glacial pace.  Compare that to ON 400, 401, and 417 in Ontario and all the new construction in Quebec.  At Canada's pace, both I-86 and I-99 would have been completed a decade ago (as it stands now, I-86 won't be complete for at least another 20 years) AND construction on a freeway between I-81 and I-87 along US 11 would be well under way (currently, only ambiguous "US 11 corridor improvements" slated to begin in 10 years are listed).

[froggie]

I'll agree with most of that, except this part:

construction on a freeway between I-81 and I-87 along US 11 would be well under way

[mightyace]

Some comments:

TN 397 around Franklin (no driveways along this one, but should have been at least four lanes originally) - Worst

(a.k.a. Mack Hatcher Memorial Pkwy. or simply Mack Hatcher to many of us locals) The TN 397 has been the hidden designation of the bypass for years however I only remember seeing it signed over the summer, IIRC.

Yes, only the stretch between US 31 and US 431 on the northwest side is four lane plus the intersections at TN 96 and the southern end at US 31.  There are two other deficiencies that I can think of.  First, it should circle the city and it has been looked at including a demonstration toll project, but no real plans.  Second, it is intended to be the truck bypass of the city.  However the truck signage is inconsistent and partially non-standard.

On a personal note, as I often go in/out of Franklin via Carter's Creek Pike (TN 246), I really long for the unbuilt western part.

I-440 (too close to the city, too narrow) - Worst

Also, should have been built to directly link up with TN 155 (Briley Pkwy.) to form a loop.  Currently, you have a mile or two of running on I-40 at each end to go between them.

I-640 (too close to the city, I-75 routing defeats the purpose)

Also, IMHO, too long to be a real bypass of the city.  And again, is only a half loop.

TN 50 around Columbia (some of the worst bypass development out there) - Worst (a.k.a. James Campbell Blvd. though not all is TN 50)
US 43/412 around Columbia (expressway) - Best

I'd give it a mixed rating.  It is better than the arterial James Campbell Blvd. that it replaces.  However, the fact it is only a partial arc is a negative plus the 1/4 cloverleaf plus a few traffic lights are an annoyance.

TN 840 (when complete, will be a pleasant, albeit long, alternative to I-40 through Nashville)

As living close to it, I look forward to its completion.  However, it again suffers from being a half loop.  The northern half is currently on hold and may never be built.

[hbelkins]

Yes, only the stretch between US 31 and US 431 on the northwest side is four lane plus the intersections at TN 91...

TN 91? The TN 91 I am familiar with is in the extreme northeastern part of the state, an extension of VA 91. I use that route to get to Boone, NC from the Bristol/Abingdon area.