Virginia

[D-Dey65]

Kentucky has used split-color signs before. I'm pretty sure I've seen a sign with three colors (brown, green, and blue) on it.

In Kentucky, at least, some of those brown tourist attraction signs are paid for by the entities shown on the signs.

https://transportation.ky.gov/TrafficOperations/Pages/Sign-Programs-and-Standards.aspx

The hell with this. I want to see NYSDOT use split green and brown signs at Exit 18 on the Southern State Parkway.

[kernals12]

I got to drive the full length of the GW parkway yesterday and it is very lovely. Also, I was amazed how empty the express lanes on 95 were.

[SSOWorld]

I got to drive the full length of the GW parkway yesterday and it is very lovely. Also, I was amazed how empty the express lanes on 95 were.

Because the express lanes cost an arm and a leg to drive!

[kernals12]

I got to drive the full length of the GW parkway yesterday and it is very lovely. Also, I was amazed how empty the express lanes on 95 were.

Because the express lanes cost an arm and a leg to drive!

Between my parents and I, we had an HOV 3+ carpool but we were worried about how we would get off them.

Today though, with my sister joining us, we did use the beltway express lanes up to I-66. Driving down that highway really gives you an idea of the scale of the express lane project

[kernals12]

Does anyone have some information about the plans to extend the GW parkway to Great Falls in the 50s and 60s?

[Mapmikey]

I got to drive the full length of the GW parkway yesterday and it is very lovely. Also, I was amazed how empty the express lanes on 95 were.

Because the express lanes cost an arm and a leg to drive!

It is plausible he went by not long after the lanes switched directions, which they do on Saturdays

[kernals12]

I got to drive the full length of the GW parkway yesterday and it is very lovely. Also, I was amazed how empty the express lanes on 95 were.

Because the express lanes cost an arm and a leg to drive!

It is plausible he went by not long after the lanes switched directions, which they do on Saturdays

Traffic was really bad on 95 NB and yet the lanes were SB.

[1995hoo]

I got to drive the full length of the GW parkway yesterday and it is very lovely. Also, I was amazed how empty the express lanes on 95 were.

Because the express lanes cost an arm and a leg to drive!

It is plausible he went by not long after the lanes switched directions, which they do on Saturdays

Traffic was really bad on 95 NB and yet the lanes were SB.

With rare exceptions, they follow a regular schedule for reversal–it's based on time, not traffic. Very rarely, they'll reverse them at special times if there's a special event going on, but the key words there are "very rarely"–and they'll never have, for example, the lanes south of the Beltway going northbound and the I-395 lanes inside the Beltway going southbound.

[RoadPelican]

New Governor Youngkin probably will invest more money in widening rural highways at the expense of projects in urban areas.  I remember when Larry Hogan got elected Governor in Maryland he used money allocated for the Purple Line in Montgomery County to widen State Routes 113 & 404 on the Eastern Shore.

[froggie]

There will be a push from his party for just that, but Youngkin is also from Northern Virginia and is very aware of it's status as economic engine and perennial traffic pit.

[davewiecking]

New Governor Youngkin probably will invest more money in widening rural highways at the expense of projects in urban areas.  I remember when Larry Hogan got elected Governor in Maryland he used money allocated for the Purple Line in Montgomery County to widen State Routes 113 & 404 on the Eastern Shore.

Gov. Hogan fulfilled a campaign promise by having his Transpo Secy Pete Rahn ask each of the 23 counties what was their most pressing unfunded road need. These projects were funded, including 4 laning a stretch of MD-404 in Talbot and Caroline Counties, and a stretch of US-113 in Worcester County. The $2 billion in funding came from cancelling the Red Line in Baltimore (2.64 billion), and reducing state aid to the Montgomery/Prince Georges Countys' Purple Line (700 million to 168 million). (No, the math doesn't add up completely.) Indeed, these projects were mostly in rural areas at the expense of mass transit projects in highly populated areas.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/hogan-state-will-not-proceed-with-red-line-as-it-s-currently-designed/7094342

Back to Virginia........

[hbelkins]

One could argue that the widening of 404 was done for the benefit of urban-area residents, as it's a highly-traveled route from Annapolis/Baltimore/suburban DC to the beaches.

As for Virginia, one has to determine what the major priorities are in a transportation program. Reducing congestion? Improving safety? Economic development? Better connectivity? The first consideration skews toward urban areas, and in some instances, rural interstates such as I-81.

[roadman65]

Kentucky has used split-color signs before. I'm pretty sure I've seen a sign with three colors (brown, green, and blue) on it.

In Kentucky, at least, some of those brown tourist attraction signs are paid for by the entities shown on the signs.

https://transportation.ky.gov/TrafficOperations/Pages/Sign-Programs-and-Standards.aspx

The hell with this. I want to see NYSDOT use split green and brown signs at Exit 18 on the Southern State Parkway.

NJDOT does it well here.

Oh, I guess my home state is most definitely guilty of using wrong color signs. Brown for a shopping center?

[Jmiles32]

As for Virginia, one has to determine what the major priorities are in a transportation program. Reducing congestion? Improving safety? Economic development? Better connectivity? The first consideration skews toward urban areas, and in some instances, rural interstates such as I-81.

I would think/hope that with this new funding Virginia will finally be able to finish widening I-64 between Williamsburg and Richmond. I think everyone in the state can agree on that being a priority both urban and rural.

[bluecountry]

New Governor Youngkin probably will invest more money in widening rural highways at the expense of projects in urban areas.  I remember when Larry Hogan got elected Governor in Maryland he used money allocated for the Purple Line in Montgomery County to widen State Routes 113 & 404 on the Eastern Shore.

Gov. Hogan fulfilled a campaign promise by having his Transpo Secy Pete Rahn ask each of the 23 counties what was their most pressing unfunded road need. These projects were funded, including 4 laning a stretch of MD-404 in Talbot and Caroline Counties, and a stretch of US-113 in Worcester County. The $2 billion in funding came from cancelling the Red Line in Baltimore (2.64 billion), and reducing state aid to the Montgomery/Prince Georges Countys' Purple Line (700 million to 168 million). (No, the math doesn't add up completely.) Indeed, these projects were mostly in rural areas at the expense of mass transit projects in highly populated areas.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/hogan-state-will-not-proceed-with-red-line-as-it-s-currently-designed/7094342

Back to Virginia........

Disappointing, so cancelling the Red-Line was consequential?  I was under the impression the Red Line never would happen because no way was MD going to get the Purple Line as well at the same time frame.

[kernals12]

If Youngkin wants to focus more on projects outside of NOVA, I'd suggest he finally get started on Virginia's portion of I-87. It's laughable that Hampton Roads, one of the nation's most important maritime hubs, has just one regional freeway.

[froggie]

^ Speaking from long personal experience (having been stationed in Norfolk twice), traffic by and large doesn't want to parallel the coast...it wants to go to/from inland.  A stronger argument could be made for upgrading 58 or 460 than for building "I-87"...though don't tell sprjus4 that...

[ran4sh]

But I-87 goes inland, to Raleigh

[zachary_amaryllis]

^ Speaking from long personal experience (having been stationed in Norfolk twice), traffic by and large doesn't want to parallel the coast...it wants to go to/from inland.  A stronger argument could be made for upgrading 58 or 460 than for building "I-87"...though don't tell sprjus4 that...

agree. lived there when i was much younger, tho not that long (smithfield) and even at 15, i was wondering my god how does everyone get out of here if there's a hurricane or something?

[froggie]

But I-87 goes inland, to Raleigh

Because of Albemarle Sound, you're not really going inland until Williamstown.  You're also largely heading TOWARDS the hurricanes heading south from Norfolk instead of away.

[Dirt Roads]

But I-87 goes inland, to Raleigh

Because of Albemarle Sound, you're not really going inland until Williamstown.  You're also largely heading TOWARDS the hurricanes heading south from Norfolk instead of away.

Interesting point.  There is definitely an emphasis on Hurricane Evacuation Routes out of the Tidewater and Hampton Roads areas.  Same is true for Wilmington, North Carolina.  But for some reason, there isn't near as much emphasis for large cities along I-95 where it graces the East Coast.

[froggie]

By the time you reach 95, at least from central Jersey down through the Carolinas, your primary hurricane concern isn't wind or storm surge but is the rain.

[ran4sh]

But I-87 goes inland, to Raleigh

Because of Albemarle Sound, you're not really going inland until Williamstown.  You're also largely heading TOWARDS the hurricanes heading south from Norfolk instead of away.

Interesting point.  There is definitely an emphasis on Hurricane Evacuation Routes out of the Tidewater and Hampton Roads areas.  Same is true for Wilmington, North Carolina.  But for some reason, there isn't near as much emphasis for large cities along I-95 where it graces the East Coast.

Because hurricanes become weaker when they reach colder areas. There aren't many hurricanes that have reached the large Northeastern I-95 cities with enough strength that would call for an evacuation. (Never mind the logistics of evacuating a large city to smaller inland areas - this is the reason they never evacuate Miami along I-75 to southwest Florida, as SW FL isn't capable of handling the amount of people in Miami.)

[VTGoose]

Because hurricanes become weaker when they reach colder areas.

Sandy says "hi."

[ran4sh]

Because hurricanes become weaker when they reach colder areas.

Sandy says "hi."

Hurricanes can be weak and still cause damage from flooding