Rural Freeways That Need Six Lanes

[achilles765]

Way too many posts to scroll through to see if this has been suggested before but:

Interstate 10 from San Antonio all the way to Baton Rouge could honestly be six lanes and should be. Especially from San Antonio to Houston.
Interstate 45 from Galveston to Dallas.
Interstate 12 from Baton Rouge to Slidell. Yeah it needs it.

[webny99]

Interstate 10 from San Antonio all the way to Baton Rouge could honestly be six lanes and should be. Especially from San Antonio to Houston.

All the way through Louisiana? I'm not sure what the volumes are like, but a lot of it seems pretty rural.

[US 89]

I'm not sure whether this is "rural" enough for this thread, but I-24 could really use a third lane in each direction between I-59 and US 27 west of Chattanooga.

[sprjus4]

Interstate 10 from San Antonio all the way to Baton Rouge could honestly be six lanes and should be. Especially from San Antonio to Houston.

All the way through Louisiana? I'm not sure what the volumes are like, but a lot of it seems pretty rural.

Heavy. The volumes on I-10 across Louisiana seems to sustain around 50,000 AADT with 60,000 AADT or greater in many areas, including along the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.

Ultimately, 6 lanes is warranted from San Antonio to Baton Rouge at a minimum.

[webny99]

Interstate 10 from San Antonio all the way to Baton Rouge could honestly be six lanes and should be. Especially from San Antonio to Houston.

All the way through Louisiana? I'm not sure what the volumes are like, but a lot of it seems pretty rural.

Heavy. The volumes on I-10 across Louisiana seems to sustain around 50,000 AADT with 60,000 AADT or greater in many areas, including along the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.

Ultimately, 6 lanes is warranted from San Antonio to Baton Rouge at a minimum.

Interesting. I would not have guessed that high. Those stretches of elevated highway would likely be expensive to widen, too.

[plain]

Interstate 10 from San Antonio all the way to Baton Rouge could honestly be six lanes and should be. Especially from San Antonio to Houston.

All the way through Louisiana? I'm not sure what the volumes are like, but a lot of it seems pretty rural.

Heavy. The volumes on I-10 across Louisiana seems to sustain around 50,000 AADT with 60,000 AADT or greater in many areas, including along the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.

Ultimately, 6 lanes is warranted from San Antonio to Baton Rouge at a minimum.

Interesting. I would not have guessed that high. Those stretches of elevated highway would likely be expensive to widen, too.

Unless volumes have picked up dramatically west of the Houston metro over the last 10 years (last time I drove that stretch) I really don't see the need on I-10 there. Didn't seem busy at all, especially closer to San Antonio

[sprjus4]

Unless volumes have picked up dramatically west of the Houston metro over the last 10 years (last time I drove that stretch) I really don't see the need on I-10 there. Didn't seem busy at all, especially closer to San Antonio

Traffic volumes get down to 35,000 AADT between SH-71 and SH-130, though are usually around 45,000 - 50,000 AADT everywhere else.

Either way, TxDOT plans to eventually widen the whole stretch to 6 lanes, and has already made significant progress in the past decade alone.

I-10 west of Houston all the way to US-77 in Schulenburg has been either been widened, placed under construction, or will be in the near future. Additionally, I-10 between I-410 and Loop 1604 is under construction outside of San Antonio for 6 lane widening.

Though, about 86 more miles are remaining, so they still have work to do. But a good 1/3 or more has seen progress. I'd like to see more priority placed on SH-130 to Loop 1604 as opposed to SH-130 to US-77 first, given it carries higher volumes and serves as a piece of the SH-130 Austin bypass.

[froggie]

Given the rapid increase compared to the previous year, I find a number of those 2019 volumes along I-10 between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge to be suspect.

[sprjus4]

Given the rapid increase compared to the previous year, I find a number of those 2019 volumes along I-10 between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge to be suspect.

Even from simply driving on the highway myself numerous times, I'd argue 6 lanes is warranted. Especially during peak times.

[mgk920]

I'm not sure whether this is "rural" enough for this thread, but I-24 could really use a third lane in each direction between I-59 and US 27 west of Chattanooga.

I'm thinking that it could use six-laning the entire way between Chattanooga and Nashville, including drilling a twin-bore six lane tunnel to bypass Monteagle Hill.

Mike

[Avalanchez71]

I'm not sure whether this is "rural" enough for this thread, but I-24 could really use a third lane in each direction between I-59 and US 27 west of Chattanooga.

I'm thinking that it could use six-laning the entire way between Chattanooga and Nashville, including drilling a twin-bore six lane tunnel to bypass Monteagle Hill.

Mike

I just take US 41 it is quite through that stretch.

[sprjus4]

I'm not sure whether this is "rural" enough for this thread, but I-24 could really use a third lane in each direction between I-59 and US 27 west of Chattanooga.

I'm thinking that it could use six-laning the entire way between Chattanooga and Nashville, including drilling a twin-bore six lane tunnel to bypass Monteagle Hill.

Mike

I just take US 41 it is quite through that stretch.

That still doesn't eliminate the need for widening.

[froggie]

The worst part of Monteagle is already 6 lanes.

[webny99]

The worst part of Monteagle is already 6 lanes.

Are you referring to the stretch with the wide median south of Monteagle? That appears to be five lanes (2 S/EB, 3 N/WB)

[sprjus4]

The worst part of Monteagle is already 6 lanes.

Are you referring to the stretch with the wide median south of Monteagle? That appears to be five lanes (2 S/EB, 3 N/WB)

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1989109,-85.793989,8731m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

That stretch has 3 lanes in both directions, a total of 6 lanes. The segment is about 5 miles long throughout.

[webny99]

The worst part of Monteagle is already 6 lanes.

Are you referring to the stretch with the wide median south of Monteagle? That appears to be five lanes (2 S/EB, 3 N/WB)

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1989109,-85.793989,8731m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

That stretch has 3 lanes in both directions, a total of 6 lanes. The segment is about 5 miles long throughout.

Huh, that is correct. I had looked at both ends on Street View, but I guess I didn't look far enough. The eastbound extra lane is only about 3.5 miles, beginning after the brake check area.

[tolbs17]

US-64 between Raleigh and I-95 could use six lanes?

[sprjus4]

US-64 between Raleigh and I-95 could use six lanes?

That segment only carries around 24,000 - 30,000 AADT east of US-264, no need. A much bigger case could be made for 6 laning US-64 west of US-264 which carries 60,000 AADT, I-40 to I-95 which carries 50,000 AADT, or I-95 itself.

[jakeroot]

It looks like there is only about 27 miles remaining of I-5 between Portland and Seattle that's still four lanes. I imagine this would be a priority for widening, but are there any plans to widen this segment, and how badly is it needed?

I couldn't tell you whether it was a priority or not, but provisions have been made at new and upgraded interchanges in that stretch for two additional lanes. Ellsbury Street in Centralia and Chamber of Commerce Way in Chehalis are two examples of this.

The only real obstacle is the Cowlitz River and Skookumchuck River bridges, which would both need replacing, and maybe a couple of overpasses. The RIRO southwest of Toledo would likely need replacing for safety reasons as well, I would suspect.

WSDOT is considering widening I-5 between Mellen St in Centralia and Main St/SR 6 in Chehalis, we'll have to wait and see what they decide on. Really this is the main area that would need widening anyway, at least in the short term. The rest of the segment doesn't really experience any congestion issues at this point.

With regards to the work needed to close the gap, I was actually surprised when driving it recently by just how many times it's broken up by auxiliary lanes and climbing lanes. Currently these segments have three lanes in at least one direction:

• Exit 76 to Exit 72 (both directions)
• Exit 71 to Exit 68 (SB climbing lane)
• Exit 63 to 1 mile north (NB climbing lane)
• Exit 59 to Exit 60 (NB climbing lane)

All those interruptions mean that the longest continuous segment with 4 lanes is only 6.5 miles!

Great research there. I knew from driving it quite a few times that the two-lane stretch never seemed to last that long. And maybe on paper, the two lane stretch is fairly long, but all of those climbing lanes and auxiliary lanes certainly mean that a six-lane future is actually quite achievable. But filling in those gaps is certainly easier said than done.

Back in the north end...

I was at the Tulip Festival again this last weekend, which helped me take in I-5 from Burlington to Mount Vernon again. Some of my takeaways:

* the six lane stretch of I-5 only ends just south of Mount Vernon. There is plenty of freeway north of there, yes, but I think we forget just how far the six-lane stretch goes already.
* I-5 through Burlington and Mount Vernon is not quiet at all. It's not I-5-through-Seattle busy, but it's far from dead. It felt very crowded.
* North of Mount Vernon is tight, but there is enough room to preliminarily widen I-5 up to exit 226, just south of this stretch. Only the Blackburn overpass would need replacing (the others were built to allow six lanes).

[mgk920]

The worst part of Monteagle is already 6 lanes.

Are you referring to the stretch with the wide median south of Monteagle? That appears to be five lanes (2 S/EB, 3 N/WB)

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1989109,-85.793989,8731m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

That stretch has 3 lanes in both directions, a total of 6 lanes. The segment is about 5 miles long throughout.

I-24 on the northwest side of that ridge in a narrow, curvy four lanes.

Mike

[roadman65]

The PA Turnpike got six lanes from Blue Mountain to Carlisle especially when it is a 25 mile exit free roadway. 

However, SC could widen all of I-95, but for the next hundred years I-95 will reduce to four lanes upon crossing the Savannah River and only Florence will be six lanes for all of I-95 from Georgia to Fayetteville (as NCDOT is underway to eight lane it from there to I-40)

[sprjus4]

Exit 13 (Lumberton) to Exit 40 (Fayetteville) will be widened to 8 lanes beginning next year, in addition to the under construction or soon to be portion from Exit 56 to Exit 81.

Exit 40 to Exit 56 (Fayetteville Bypass) will remain 4 lanes for the time being.

In all honesty, all of these 8 lane segments would reasonably suffice at 6 lanes, so it will be a major relief for traffic especially on peak weekends for those long distances once it is all complete by 2026.

Next segment needs to be Fayetteville Bypass to 8 lanes, then 6 lanes from Lumberton to South Carolina.

South Carolina desperately needs to prioritize at least 6 lanes from I-26 to Georgia. That segment is notorious during peak weekends. It's still bad north of there, but certainly better with some of that I-26 split traffic gone.

Then of course there's I-26 itself from Columbia to Charleston.

[Bickendan]

It looks like there is only about 27 miles remaining of I-5 between Portland and Seattle that's still four lanes. I imagine this would be a priority for widening, but are there any plans to widen this segment, and how badly is it needed?

I couldn't tell you whether it was a priority or not, but provisions have been made at new and upgraded interchanges in that stretch for two additional lanes. Ellsbury Street in Centralia and Chamber of Commerce Way in Chehalis are two examples of this.

The only real obstacle is the Cowlitz River and Skookumchuck River bridges, which would both need replacing, and maybe a couple of overpasses. The RIRO southwest of Toledo would likely need replacing for safety reasons as well, I would suspect.

WSDOT is considering widening I-5 between Mellen St in Centralia and Main St/SR 6 in Chehalis, we'll have to wait and see what they decide on. Really this is the main area that would need widening anyway, at least in the short term. The rest of the segment doesn't really experience any congestion issues at this point.

With regards to the work needed to close the gap, I was actually surprised when driving it recently by just how many times it's broken up by auxiliary lanes and climbing lanes. Currently these segments have three lanes in at least one direction:

• Exit 76 to Exit 72 (both directions)
• Exit 71 to Exit 68 (SB climbing lane)
• Exit 63 to 1 mile north (NB climbing lane)
• Exit 59 to Exit 60 (NB climbing lane)

All those interruptions mean that the longest continuous segment with 4 lanes is only 6.5 miles!

Great research there. I knew from driving it quite a few times that the two-lane stretch never seemed to last that long. And maybe on paper, the two lane stretch is fairly long, but all of those climbing lanes and auxiliary lanes certainly mean that a six-lane future is actually quite achievable. But filling in those gaps is certainly easier said than done.

Back in the north end...

I was at the Tulip Festival again this last weekend, which helped me take in I-5 from Burlington to Mount Vernon again. Some of my takeaways:

* the six lane stretch of I-5 only ends just south of Mount Vernon. There is plenty of freeway north of there, yes, but I think we forget just how far the six-lane stretch goes already.
* I-5 through Burlington and Mount Vernon is not quiet at all. It's not I-5-through-Seattle busy, but it's far from dead. It felt very crowded.
* North of Mount Vernon is tight, but there is enough room to preliminarily widen I-5 up to exit 226, just south of this stretch. Only the Blackburn overpass would need replacing (the others were built to allow six lanes).

Hmm, I don't remember all those auxiliary and climbing lanes last time I drove up to Seattle. I might have to make another jaunt up that way soonish, although I really don't like how the Salmon Creek-Longview segment metaphorically drags for me. I don't get it -- Wilsonville to Salem (and even down to Eugene) goes by faster for me.

[KEK Inc.]

I go to Bellingham from Seattle regularly, and traffic is never really a concern north of Smokey Point.  I don't think 6 lanes is justified north of Mt. Vernon. 

I think the state should focus on upgrading the SR-18 corridor between Hobart and Snoqualmie since it's the critical arterial for Tacoma from I-90.   I don't use that route, but I see traffic backed up on the climb from North Bend on I-90 WB at that exit sometimes when I return from the mountains.

Also, US-2 between Monroe and Stevens Pass so I can go skiing faster. 

[tolbs17]

Exit 13 (Lumberton) to Exit 40 (Fayetteville) will be widened to 8 lanes beginning next year, in addition to the under construction or soon to be portion from Exit 56 to Exit 81.

Exit 40 to Exit 56 (Fayetteville Bypass) will remain 4 lanes for the time being.

In all honesty, all of these 8 lane segments would reasonably suffice at 6 lanes, so it will be a major relief for traffic especially on peak weekends for those long distances once it is all complete by 2026.

Next segment needs to be Fayetteville Bypass to 8 lanes, then 6 lanes from Lumberton to South Carolina.

South Carolina desperately needs to prioritize at least 6 lanes from I-26 to Georgia. That segment is notorious during peak weekends. It's still bad north of there, but certainly better with some of that I-26 split traffic gone.

Then of course there's I-26 itself from Columbia to Charleston.

And does I-95 in Rocky Mount and Roanoke Rapids need 8 lanes?