Sounds like Gov. Hogan made one outgoing designation to advance widening of I-81
https://governor.maryland.gov/2023/01/03/governor-hogan-announces-funding-to-advance-100-million-i-81-project-critical-for-western-maryland-regional-supply-chain/
Thanks god.
What really needs to be done is:
1. Complete redo of the 70/270/15 interchange
2. Ditto for the 70/81
Those cloverleafs are dated for a much smaller era of traffic.
Are there current problems with the 70/270/15 interchange? I always felt that the serious pinch point in Frederick was the absence of a flyover for US 15's northbound movement from US 340 east to US 40 west. That left turn at the eastern edge of the interchange where the freeway transitions to Jefferson Street is a serious impediment to free-flowing movements through the interchange, and the US 40 carriage ways are already grade separated and laid out for a flyover to merge in anyway.
There is a left turn movement from US-340 onto the ramp for northbound US-15, but there is still a parclo leaf remaining from the original cloverleaf for the same movement. This loop ramp looks has been there for quite some time, but I wonder if it was removed for a while and then added back. I still remember this interchange as a full cloverleaf, so there have probably been several changes since the days when I used this movement frequently.
The original loop ramp has always been in service, and I believe the left-turn was added to supplement it (similar to the US 29 NB -> I-70 WB situation) as part of the interchange modification project that removed the US 40 WB -> US 15 SB/US 340 WB loop ramp and replaced it with a left-turn at the top of the Jefferson St ramp. A flyover for US 15 NB would certainly help, but I'm not sure how you squeeze it in with the proximity of the MD 180/Ballenger Creek Pike interchange to the southwest & the US 40/Patrick St interchange to the north.
Otherwise the only recurring problem I can think of at that interchange is congestion on I-70 WB during the afternoon commute (especially heavy on Fridays), but I think that has more to do with I-70's 2-lane capacity leading out of the interchange towards Hagerstown. (That said, the current lane situation is also less than ideal - 3 lanes enter the interchange along I-70 WB, it briefly swells to 5 lanes with the left onramp from I-270 NB, then shrinks to 2 within a half-mile as the 2 right lanes exit-only for I-270 SB & US 15 SB/US 340 WB combined with the left-most lane ending.)
At US-15 and 340 the righthand loop to north 15 was SUPPOSED to be closed when the new left hand ramp opened. It was an era when they were trying to close as many traditional cloverleafs as possible because of conflicts from people exiting and entering in the same short space. When they opened the 'new' left hand ramp and closed the righthand loop traffic was snarled as through trucks suddenly tried to move across two lanes of traffic at the last minute only to get tangled with local commuters who were trying to go to downtown Frederick along Jefferson St. (what the road continues as after 340 ends) As a 'temporary measure' they reopened the ramp and then made it permanent and put in the curb and knockdown poles so that once you commited to the loop you stayed committed. The loop from 40 (what that short section of expressway between I-70 and Jefferson St actually is) up to 340/15 south was replaced with the ramp up to Jefferson St with a light controlled left to Southbound 340/15.
As far as the I-70/270 interchange I've given up hope that it can be fixed. The work they are just finishing (at least I think they are finishing) on the MD-85/I-270 interchange is still becoming 'known' to the locals. Many don't realize that the ramp coming onto 270 from Eastbound 70 now continues until the northbound MD-85 exit (lots of traffic going to Sam's Club, Walmart, and Lowes, etc) so they fight to move to the left only to come back to the right when they realize the lane continues to where they want to get off.
Coming out 270 and going west on 70 is always an adventure. Do you stay in the far left lane and hope (or force) your way one to the right when your lane ends or do you take the right lane and hope that truck barrelling up 70 stays in the lane he is in or slides left into your lane. Then when it all comes quickly to a crawl do you stay with the two thru lanes or do you push right and get onto the exit collector for 340 and stay on it till it rejoins I-70 in which case you play dodge-em with the cars coming south from 15 who are trying to get over to go south on 15/340 (They should have taken the ramp from 15 south to Jefferson St 15/340 south before they got that far but the signs encourage them to do it this way. The same with all the Montgomery County people who came up I-270 and want to get on 340 to go to the Casino out 340 in Charlestown. The signs direct them up I-70 west and then tell them to cut across 3 lanes of traffic (all of I-70 coming from Baltimore) to take the exit for 340 West. It should be signed to go up to Jefferson street to go out 340. And this is the solution after we lived through over 10 years of building and rebuilding that entire spaghetti bowl.
They need to at least 1) direct 340/15S traffic up to Jefferson street instead of onto 70 from 270 (I would like to see them send traffic from 70 that way to and close the ramp to 340 off 70 and just use that collector to get traffic from 15 to 70); 2) widen I-70 at least from where270 joins (don't make the left lane merge right) past Mt Phillip Rd (where the 3rd lane begins for the long upgrade up Braddock Heights). But what do I know I've only been driving it for 30 years.
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Topic: Maryland (Read 156333 times)