Most abrupt change from rural to urban/suburban?

[hbelkins]

This post in the I-69 extension thread --

For traffic to/from the Bloomington area on I-69, how far will it be between IN 37 and the next interchange to the southwest?  From what I can tell from the aerial images of the area, that will be a 'BAMMO!' transition between truly rural and urban/suburban for I-69 traffic.

It is very interesting, indeed, to see that kind of an entrance into a mid-sized metro area.

Mike

-- made me wonder. What are the most abrupt transitions from rural to urban/suburban along interstates, freeways or major routes? Or, to use different wording, going from country to city?

I was always struck by how quickly things change on I-66 at the US 15 Haymarket exit. If you're going east, you've been traveling through rolling wooded foothills country, then all of a sudden you are in the urban hell of the DC metro area.

Not quite as abrupt to me is I-64 west entering Louisville. Just after you pass the I-265/KY 841 exit and you approach the Blankenbaker Road exit, you've gone from terrain similar to that described above for I-66 and you're in the city.

[hotdogPi]

I was thinking the Everglades.

[TheStranger]

Not quite as abrupt to me is I-64 west entering Louisville. Just after you pass the I-265/KY 841 exit and you approach the Blankenbaker Road exit, you've gone from terrain similar to that described above for I-66 and you're in the city.

Having spent time in Louisville this past weekend...even driving on 265 itself gives off a much more rural vibe than exiting off of it and going northbound (or westbound, depending on where you are) into the more-developed portions of Jefferson County.  Going south, even while staying in Louisville Metro, still feels a lot further from downtown than you actually are.

In California, I can think of this occurring rather noticeably on the drive south to Sacramento along I-5: the area around the airport is very undeveloped, but once you reach the north Route 99 junction, all the suburban buildup begins there.  Coming from the south going north along the same freeway, the suburban buildup isn't truly visible until Meadowview Road (though the development that is being planned alongside Cosumnes River Boulevard extension should extend it a bit south, maybe closer to the isolated pocket of Elk Grove that straddles 5).

[JakeFromNewEngland]

I've always thought the transition on I-90 westbound from the MA line to Albany as being sudden. For the most part, you're traveling through the mountains and all of a sudden the skyline lies straight ahead and next thing you know you're stuck in traffic approaching the I-787 interchange.

[1995hoo]

I was struck by this phenomenon on southbound I-25 entering the Albuquerque area a few weeks ago when I was coming back from a day trip up to Santa Fe. You hit the Tramway Boulevard exit and you instantly transition from rural wide-open spaces to a well-developed suburban area. It struck me more than it does on I-66 where hbelkins mentions because I-66 has wooded areas on the north side of the road for a while due to the Manassas Battlefield park, whereas I-25 has no such thing and sees development on both sides.

[wriddle082]

I-24 coming into the Nashville metro from either direction, especially from the Northwest.

Coming into Murfreesboro in the SE, you go from a flat road with a very wide tree-filled median to the US 231 exit, where it widens out from four to eight lanes, and then suburban hell all the way into the city.

But from the NW, you go down a big hill from Joelton, pass by the still rural-looking OHB exit, up and down another hill, then Briley, then merge in with I-65.  Then looking straight ahead, you see the downtown skyline just a few miles away.

[doorknob60]

I-84 coming from the Columbia Gorge into suburban Troutdale and Gresham. Though it's a while of suburban before it becomes urban. But it's an instant transition from green everywhere, river on your right, mountains on your left, to generic suburbs.

[corco]

Phoenix is pretty abrupt, especially on I-10 east out of town. One exit past loop 202 and it's an abrupt change from suburban hell to the desert.

[formulanone]

I was thinking the Everglades.

I-75 eastbound into Weston is a good example, since the area north of Weston is still a preserve. The plunge begins right as it becomes I-595.

Likewise, I-95 southbound at PGA Boulevard is where South Florida's vitality (and bad drivers), encroachment of buildings and dwellings, seems to begin. The exits are essentially every mile or two from there towards Miami.

[Joe The Dragon]

IL 47 going way from huntley il very quickly drops from 3 lanes easy with a wide median to a rural 2 lane road

[Pink Jazz]

Phoenix is pretty abrupt, especially on I-10 east out of town. One exit past loop 202 and it's an abrupt change from suburban hell to the desert.

Agreed, although there has been some recent buildup in the Wild Horse Pass area. 

In some states, the presence of logo signs can give you a hint between urban and rural boundaries.  In states that don't allow logo signs in urban areas, once you see logo signs you know you are in a rural area.  In states that do allow logo signs in urban areas, it can perhaps be considered the boundary between the inner city and the suburbs, since installation may not be possible in the inner city due to lack of available space between exits.

Prior to the introduction of ADOT's urban logo sign program, that is where you started seeing the logo signs when going eastbound, which was pretty much a clear urban/rural boundary for ADOT as well as the former logo sign contractor Arizona Logo Sign Group.  The logo signs now start at Elliot.

The west side is a bit more gradual, with no obvious urban/rural boundary.  The logo signs previously started at Dysart when going westbound, although Goodyear nowadays can't really be considered rural anymore.  The logo signs now start at 43rd Avenue in Phoenix.

I wonder if we will see logo signs on interchanges in the future between 43rd Avenue and Elliot in the future.  Perhaps ADOT is saving it for last by focusing on the more suburban areas first.  I just got confirmation that SR 143 will be getting logo signs (the engineering study was recently completed), and if SR 143 can get them, I think much of I-10 in the inner city can get them as well (except perhaps in the immediate downtown area).

[lordsutch]

I-16 at both ends is this way; it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere and suddenly you're almost right downtown. Particularly at the Macon end due to the Ocmulgee monument and floodplain limiting development until you hit exit 2.

[cl94]

Pittsburgh. It doesn't seem like much...until you get through the tunnel or (if from the north) near the end of the valley. Also, I-87 SB at I-287 goes from rural protected parkland to Rockland County suburbs really quickly.

I agree that the Albany metro is quite abrupt, especially from the north and east, due to the terrain. Coming from the north, densely-developed Queensbury literally borders Adirondack Park and the mountains contain development in Warren and Saratoga Counties, while the Berkshires/Taconics/Green Mountains keep development to the east right along the Hudson River.

[myosh_tino]

I would nominate I-280 southbound.  At Foothill Expwy, the landscape goes from rolling wooded and grassy hills to urban metropolis.  It's also at this point where the pavement goes from asphalt to concrete.

[MikeTheActuary]

I-40 eastbound or I-55 southbound, heading into Tennessee.

[xcellntbuy]

I was thinking the Everglades.

Absolutely.  The division between urban/suburban and total wilderness is 99.9%.  Some of the starkest differences can be seen along the Sawgrass Expressway and the section of Interstate 75 through Weston, FL.

[1995hoo]

I was thinking the Everglades.

Absolutely.  The division between urban/suburban and total wilderness is 99.9%.  Some of the starkest differences can be seen along the Sawgrass Expressway and the section of Interstate 75 through Weston, FL.

Portions of US-27 along the west edge of Pembroke Pines are good for that too. The suburban area just ENDS and you see miles of nothing across the road.

[noelbotevera]

Schuykill Expressway. West of Exit 331, you're pretty much going from suburban to rural just as the last ramp from I-476 merges in. Instantly. West of Exit 342 or 343, the Philly skyline disappears and at the ramp, you've just entered West Philadelphia (instantly), on a playground where I was born and raised. Chillin' out and maxing all cool n' all shootin' some hoops right outside of the school.

[SD Mapman]

I-229 SB in St. Joe. Hills and trees and then suddenly city.

[mgk920]

Not as stark as some of the other examples that were brought up, but the US 10 freeway makes a fairly quick transition between rural and suburban at the ridge line where it passes under WI 76 here in the Appleton, WI area.  There are no interchanges on US 10 between WI 76 and the US 45 Winchester interchange, quite some distance to the west, and the scenery is nearly completely NE Wisconsin rural.

Mike

[74/171FAN]

US 360 in southwestern Chesterfield County for me.  It has been built out farther past Winterpock Road(SR 621) and Woodlake Village Pkwy as the years have gone on, but it astonishes me how heading eastbound the road goes from 4 lanes to 8 lanes in less than 2 miles.

[GaryV]

Probably not exactly what you were thinking of, but driving on 441 out of Smoky Mountains National Park into Gatlinburg is quite jarring.

[pumpkineater2]

I think I-10 entering New Orleans takes the cake 
https://goo.gl/maps/ktiVC9fUs512

[Thing 342]

I-64 between MM 254 and 252 coming out of Newport News (Built up 8-lane to a 4-lane with trees in the median)

[jakeroot]

I think I-10 entering New Orleans takes the cake
https://goo.gl/maps/ktiVC9fUs512

That seems to be a theme in NOLA -- abrupt cut-offs in suburban developments. Though there's some obvious logic to this (the built-upon areas are water-tight -- those which are not are perhaps not as safe?).