Roadgeek Rants and Raves

[DrZoidberg]

Here is the chance to vent some road rage.  I figured this might fit best into this area of the forum.

That said, here is your chance to open up and say what about the whole road experience (traffic, poor design, etc) really angers you.

I can start.

I-5 in Portland, OR.  What a substandard freeway.  I'm not even willing to guess how many years out of date it is.  Here are my biggest pet peeves about it.

- Heading south from Vancouver, WA there is a serious "choke point" in Delta Park, where through traffice is funneled into only 2 lanes.

- This same instance occurs after the northern I-405/US 30 split near the Rose Garden.

- The Terwilliger curves are dangerous, and I doubt pass Interstate standards (I-5 is a D student if it does meet standards) the worst part is you have to constantly go uphill to reach these dangerous curves, and at rush hour, truck traffic that struggles to get up this stretch....along with Oregon drivers amazing ability to drive under posted speed limits, makes this a nightmare.

I really wish ODOT would entertain the notion of just one extra through lane along I-5, versus more and more mass transit options.  While I agree with mass transit being necessary, there are times where a car is necessary, and with the projected growth through 2020, Portland's entire freeway system is ill equipped to handle it.

Now that I've "vented"  What're your pet peeves?

[yanksfan6129]

The congestion on NJ 23 pisses me off!

[Voyager]

I-80.

[larryao]

ca sr 91 in riverside, and orange countys

[Revive 755]

An official rant thread?  I see my post count skyrocketing in the near future.  Just from today:

* It's bad enough trying to get up to I-80, but now I-80 takes forever to get it's speed limit up to 75 east of Lincoln, NE.  For a while it went from 65 to 75 around NE 63.  And there's hardly any signs of work between NE 63 and NE 66, just a bunch of survey stakes in the median, some grading way off the road, and one bridge in the process of being replaced.  Six miles and just one overpass is being replaced.  And who scheduled the six laning and bridge replacements?  It seems that work zone is being dragged out in the name of ticket revenue.

* Do we really need to use "Right Lane Closed Ahead" signs when the right lane that is closed sprouts - not a merge lane - and is not one of the currently available lanes?  Just block the lane when it sprouts; an out-of-towner shouldn't know the difference.

* Why the heck does it require closure of the right lane of EB I-80 at the Platte River for some work that appears to be happening way down the embankment?  I want to see more work going on closer to the highway, or just close the shoulder.  And if this work zone can be posted at 75, then more of the one between NE 63 and NE 66 can be posted at that too.

* More great speed limits for revenue on US 6 west of I-680.  Did NDOR even bother to do a speed study?

* Real great signage for EB US 6 losing a lane at I-680.  No exit only tabs, no rapid short dashes.  Just one lousy diagram way in advance which I seem to have missed since I was dealing with heavy traffic and a dump truck sandblasting my car.

* And how hard is it to sign access to I-480 from EB US 6?  Bad enough the directions are inconsistent - one sign uses north, another uses east.  Even worse when a ramp that provides access to both south and east I-480 is only signed as south.

* If EB I-480 is always as empty during rush hour as it was today, there's no reason it should be posted at a measly 50.

* I swear some drivers have an extra sense to know when you want to change lanes, and enjoy making such a maneuver as difficult as possible.

[Scott5114]

Why can't ODOT and OTA make their guide signage more consistent in layout from sign to sign? Or heck, is it too much to ask for the same shade of green on each sign? I mean, even MoDOT beats us in this regard... 

[rawr apples]

*gasp* what was that? Oregon 217 was NOT jampacked with cars tonight around Canyon Road/Beav-Hills???? I must be on something, because surely that cannot be the case..[/sarcasm]

It wasnt that bad today, suprisingly. Maintained a speed above 45 the entire way home

[DrZoidberg]

It wasnt that bad today, suprisingly. Maintained a speed above 45 the entire way home

Were you driving home between 10-10:30 am or after 8pm?    Those are about the only times I see 217 flowing!  It's also really bad where it merges with I-5.  You have two extra lanes coming off of 217, but the right lane becomes Exit Only for Carman Drive.  Ugly situation.

[deathtopumpkins]

Sigh... one of these days I'll compile my Hampton Roads rants here... there are quite a few.

[TheStranger]

The decision to cancel the I-80 realignment along the railroad tracks in North Sacramento/Arden-Arcade (replacing what is now Business 80) and transfer the funds to light rail really has come back to haunt the area on a daily basis - even on Sundays, Business 80's bottleneck across the American River remains cumbersome!

Would've been nice to have seen planned Route 143 ever constructed in this area, as an alternative to the 30 or so stoplights along Watt Avenue.  Probably never going to happen though.

[Stephane Dumas]

A-10 between Montreal and Sherbrooke, numerous plotholes on the freeway and it's *bleep*

[njroadhorse]

I-80 in New Jersey: Up to 8 (or 10?) lanes and it's still backed up for miles!!!!! What the f*ck?!!!

[un1]

MN 61 hasn't seemed to been maintained ever since it was US 61.

[Revive 755]

MN 61 hasn't seemed to been maintained ever since it was US 61.

MN 61 should still be US 61.  That route, connecting to the US-Canadian border deserves better than a state highway.

Forgot to rant about gas prices yesterday.  Why is gas the same price in Iowa again as it is in Nebraska, when Nebraska has the higher gas tax?

[OracleUsr]

1.  Whoever timed the lights on US 21 near I-40 in Statesville seems to have been in a coma for the past ten years.  They put all these huge buildings (restaurants, Walmart, etc.) on this road and have let it become impossible to take less than 20-30 minutes to go two miles to I-40 from Lowes.

2.  Likewise NC 150 at I-77 in Mooresville.

3.  If I-40 between what is business I-40 (or was) and I-85 in Greensboro isn't really I-40, why is it still numbered with I-40's mileposts?  I know that was last year, and don't get me started on the fact that they just built that big connector so I-40 traffic could avoid Death Valley, but there appear to be no signs of renumbering the section.

4.  Exit 170 off I-85 in Durham County says "TO NC 751 Duke Univ." (literally; it's an all-text sign).  No mention of Business US 70 or formerly US 70, which it has been almost since the beginning of time.  Southbound I-85 says US 70, which is correct (it's really designated as that west of the intersection).

5.  Why does NC DOT love to upgrade one sign in a series of many to newer standards (case in point, Exit 174--Farmington Road off I-40 between Mocksville and Clemmons, or Exit 94--Dysartville Road/Lake James off I-40 in West Burke County)...but leave the rest alone?

6.  Why is so much of Virginia's BGS still greened over after almost 20 years after the changeover to milepost-based exits?  Maine, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Florida don't have this anywhere near that badly, and they've been converted since 2004, 2001, 2000, and 2002, respectively.

7.  NO RANT 7.  WE DON'T WANT IT.  (Sign seen on I-81 in Pennsylvania before they renumbered to the milepost numbering system).

[Alex]

My biggest pet peeve in roadding: CARBON COPY signing!

[brad2971]

"Real great signage for EB US 6 losing a lane at I-680.  No exit only tabs, no rapid short dashes.  Just one lousy diagram way in advance which I seem to have missed since I was dealing with heavy traffic and a dump truck sandblasting my car"

Relax, NDOR is under the impression you want to avoid going down Dodge St (US6) at all costs, and is just trying to be helpful

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I-65 south of Franklin, TN, going southbound at anything close to rush hour: the damn highway goes from  10 lanes down to 4 lanes in about 3/4 of a mile.  Do the math.

It's gotten to be easier to just take 31 to 43 to get back to Florence during that time of day. 

[akotchi]

It would be nice if more jurisdictions provided mast arm street name signs to identify cross streets.  Not enough places do that.

Every state needs to go to milepost-based exit numbering for the interstates, and exit numbering in general for all freeways.

Mileposting of state and U.S. highways would also be good everywhere -- guess I am spoiled by what New Jersey does.

I'm with aaroads on "carbon-copying" guide signs -- I think it is a lack of attention to detail on the part of engineers more concerned with construction of the bridges and roadways.

In a related rant, there are guide signing techniques of yesteryear still in use in areas where upgrades should be done for safety.  I lived near one such location for awhile, and despite crashes, it still has not been changed.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Speak of mast arms...another pet peeve of mine?

SPAN WIRES.  I HATE span wires.  They look cheap and tacky and aren't as visible as mast arm installations.

The only place I've ever been that does span wires right is Indiana, where all the lights are perfectly lined up horizontally on their installations.  Most places just run a cable and let it sag, and it looks like utter shit. 

[ComputerGuy]

Seattle!

[Scott5114]

What exactly is "carbon copy signing"?

ODOT is apparently unable to distinguish between signs that should be green, blue, and brown. Much of the time they're mixed up...parks sometimes end up with blue signage and museums with green, or vice versa. It means that there aren't a whole lot of brown signs in Oklahoma.

[Alex]

Example of Carbon Copy signs:


a sign like this


replaced wholesale with this (note that South US 13 TO US 40 was what was originally displayed. In 2000, DELDOT added access to U.S. 13 northbound, so a greenout went up with "North US 13"). Did sign crews adjust the sign to read "US 13 to US 40"? No, they brainlessly created the same with in the corrugated sign style that MD uses.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Perhaps...but they're cheaper and more easily replaced after storms (i.e. hurricanes)

This is true, but the least they could do is do it right.  Around here they all sag, and look like what would be a temporary light installation in NH done on a span wire during major road work, i.e. widening.

[Scott5114]

Oh, I could see why that'd be kinda annoying. We don't get much greenout out here, and when we do, the replacement signs are designed from scratch every time. Of course, half the time the old signs are designed better, so be careful what you wish for...

(Though, in your example, I'd argue that the second 13 was silly in the first place: why not just green out the "South"? Then you'd have two off-center shields, but it's better than having too much stuff to look at...)