Recent posts

#1

Pacific Southwest / Re: Headlines About California...

Last post by Max Rockatansky - Today at 07:44:04 AM

I don't get how all these folks coming out of the Bay Area headed towards Tahoe hasn't discovered that 88 and 89 is the optimal way to get there.  Something feels off to me about rushing to Lake Tahoe only on normal people highways like I-80 and US 50. 

While US 395 is a very nice and scenic modern highway, I would hesitate to call it "most scenic in the state."  I'm not sure what I would call "most scenic" but stuff like several sections of 1 and 49 come to mind right away in the Caltrans stock. 

What makes US-395 so scenic, at least between Inyokern and Topaz Lake, is that it is usually in a wide open valley, yielding lots of vistas presided over by majestic mountains. I love 1 of course, but a lot of its views are of empty ocean on one side and trees and bushes on the other, so the best views are lengthwise along the coast. 49 I like primarily for the quaint towns, not so much the views.

395 is also beautiful in Oregon, and north of Spokane, but those roads are certainly nowhere near as popular, so wouldn't belong on that list. But then neither does the Nevada part, in my opinion, because it's apparent "popularity" is primarily due to the large local population filling the roads, not tourists. That article was an enthusiastic sales pitch, but I don't know how successful it will be. When I go up there, I want to get past Gardnerville to Reno.

Thing with US 395 is that a lot of that scenery is directly accessible via roads that actually go into it.  One thing to look from afar, quite another to drive up stuff like Horseshoe Meadows Road to the vicinity of Kearsarge Pass.

I don't know, I'd have to sit down and think on what I would consider the most scenic highway in this state.  I don't know if my answer would come from a road carrying a Route number. 

Thing is, there are plenty of relatively short pieces of road that are stunning, like the Feather River Canyon, Sonora Pass, Tioga Pass, Rim of the World, going up into Sequoia from the south, some of CA-299 west of Whiskeytown, etc. What puts CA-1 on the list is that there are hundreds of miles of beauty. US-395, in all four states, is 1300 miles long, and except for 60 miles at the bottom, 40 around Reno, and 200 from Pendleton to Spokane, it's all at least beautiful, and quite a bit of it is unforgettable.

If we're talking US Routes the choice for me is clear in US 191.

#2

Northeast / Re: Massachusetts

Last post by Ted$8roadFan - Today at 07:42:56 AM

Yes, any improvements to the Mansfield rest area are welcome. As opposed to the current mess which tells visitors "welcome to Massachusetts - Please Keep Going".

#3

General Highway Talk / Re: XY Challenge

Last post by 74/171FAN - Today at 06:42:18 AM

US 202 is still signed from US 13 NB/US 40 EB in New Castle, DE.

US 13 NORTH AND US 40 EAST AT US 202 AND DE 141 NORTH by Mark Moore, on Flickr

#4

Mid-South / Re: I-69 in TX

Last post by Chris - Today at 05:59:06 AM

Google Earth and Google Street View also show work on the US 77 to I-69 conversion between Kingsville and the north side of Riviera.

According to the TxDOT project tracker it has an estimated completion date of June 30, 2027.


These upgrades of existing four lane divided highways to I-69 are pretty extensive, they don't just close a few crossings and build a grade-separation here and there. It's a completely new freeway with frontage roads.

Google Street View from March 2025:

#5

Pacific Southwest / Re: Headlines About California...

Last post by pderocco - Today at 04:34:21 AM

I don't get how all these folks coming out of the Bay Area headed towards Tahoe hasn't discovered that 88 and 89 is the optimal way to get there.  Something feels off to me about rushing to Lake Tahoe only on normal people highways like I-80 and US 50. 

While US 395 is a very nice and scenic modern highway, I would hesitate to call it "most scenic in the state."  I'm not sure what I would call "most scenic" but stuff like several sections of 1 and 49 come to mind right away in the Caltrans stock. 

What makes US-395 so scenic, at least between Inyokern and Topaz Lake, is that it is usually in a wide open valley, yielding lots of vistas presided over by majestic mountains. I love 1 of course, but a lot of its views are of empty ocean on one side and trees and bushes on the other, so the best views are lengthwise along the coast. 49 I like primarily for the quaint towns, not so much the views.

395 is also beautiful in Oregon, and north of Spokane, but those roads are certainly nowhere near as popular, so wouldn't belong on that list. But then neither does the Nevada part, in my opinion, because it's apparent "popularity" is primarily due to the large local population filling the roads, not tourists. That article was an enthusiastic sales pitch, but I don't know how successful it will be. When I go up there, I want to get past Gardnerville to Reno.

Thing with US 395 is that a lot of that scenery is directly accessible via roads that actually go into it.  One thing to look from afar, quite another to drive up stuff like Horseshoe Meadows Road to the vicinity of Kearsarge Pass.

I don't know, I'd have to sit down and think on what I would consider the most scenic highway in this state.  I don't know if my answer would come from a road carrying a Route number. 

Thing is, there are plenty of relatively short pieces of road that are stunning, like the Feather River Canyon, Sonora Pass, Tioga Pass, Rim of the World, going up into Sequoia from the south, some of CA-299 west of Whiskeytown, etc. What puts CA-1 on the list is that there are hundreds of miles of beauty. US-395, in all four states, is 1300 miles long, and except for 60 miles at the bottom, 40 around Reno, and 200 from Pendleton to Spokane, it's all at least beautiful, and quite a bit of it is unforgettable.

#6

General Highway Talk / Re: Metric Signs

Last post by CtrlAltDel - Today at 02:20:56 AM

If we use density of water as a baseline like we do for metric units, the "0.591 liters" would become 591 grams, or 1.3 pounds as the base unit of mass.

If we're going all in with the Planck stuff though, we might as well just use the Planck mass. The nearest power of 2 multiple to the kilogram is 2^26, which is about 1.460 current kilograms.

Decimega- should mean 100,000 of something.
Decakilo- should mean 10,000 of something.
And/or we should bring back the myriad.

You might already know this, but this was allowed at some point. In particular, it gave rise to dimi-, which was short for decimilli-, which is the fractional counterpart to myria-.

Additionally, because why not, there were the prefixes double- and demi-, which were for multiplying or dividing by 2.

#7

General Highway Talk / Re: Metric Signs

Last post by CtrlAltDel - Today at 02:11:32 AM

With the way things have been going recently in Canada, should some of those western provinces eventually gain independence and then join the USA

Saying this shit on Canada Day? May as well tell every Canadian to go fuck themselves.

I know, right? 

#8

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: Wisconsin notes

Last post by peterj920 - Today at 01:41:48 AM

$30 million in the state budget going towards a railroad bridge for the new South Bridge Corridor in De Pere.  I'm happy to see an extra $200 million going towards transportation. I'm guessing it's coming from some of the surplus?

https://www.wbay.com/2025/07/01/de-pere-railroad-bridge-included-state-budget/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=organicclicks&tbref=hp

#9

General Highway Talk / Re: XY Challenge

Last post by xonhulu - Today at 12:53:50 AM

July 2: Post the junction of a US highway with a 0 in the tens place and a US highway with a 1 in the tens place

US 101 and US 12 in Aberdeen, WA:



US 1 and US 13 in Philadelphia, PA:



US 6 and US 11 in Clarks Summit, PA:

I am open to opinions on what Seasons 5 and 6 will be based on. Feel free to chime in on what you think those challenges should be in September through December.

I'll suggest two ideas, each with 2 possible variations:

1. Go back to combinations of any highway types, either with no state restriction or any state except your home state;

2. Combinations of only state routes, again either with no state restriction or any state except your home state.

I think trying to go with interstates only would prove to be pretty problematic.

[a thread title]

#10

Off-Topic / Re: Truncate a thread title

Last post by freebrickproductions - Today at 12:45:56 AM

a thread title

Hey, nothing says the truncation has to come from the end.