I used to drive US 1 from Florida to New Jersey on my trips home from 1995 to 2003, even in the heavy congested areas of Columbia and Two Notch Road in that city where the lights are not timed like typical arterials; Richmond and Petersburg, and of course the never ending suburban arterial from Stafford, VA to Bel Air, MD with its many traffic signals. Anyway, I always was fascinated by US 1 from VA 54 in Ashland, VA (the last signal heading NB in the Richmond and Petersburg metro area) to US 17 in Masaponax, VA (where the suburban sprawl of Fredericksburg starts heading north) a distance of almost 40 miles to be undivided with no median or center turn paved divider.
Also I have seen US 1 in Georgial from Baxley to the River near the Emanuel County line also be undivded, but with a 3 feet paved median as there were two double line striping's separating the two NB lanes from the two SB lanes for well over several miles in rural SE GA.
I even know that US 460 also is four lanes in the rural section from Petersburg to the Hampton Roads area as well. Then as a child, I remember that sections of US 20 after it gains its independence from NY 5 near NY 15, were also four lane and undivided as passing zones that were at least a half a mile to a mile before narrowing back to two lanes for the next zone over 2 miles or even less.
Are there many undivided four lane or more roadways outside of suburban or urban areas in most rural areas? It seems most rural highways with more than two lanes seem to be divided and with some states only granting higher than 55 maximums to divided rural roadways, I would assume that no state or county transportation agency would want to build an undivided facility. Also, I have taken into consideration PennDOTs using concrete strips on many roads to add contrast to night driving instead of painting double yellow lines on some of their divided roadways like US 22 and PA 309 as they can be argued as being divided even though the median is not to safety design standards.
Arkansas and Georgia like these with center turn lanes.
Per http://www.virginiadot.org/VDOT/Projects/asset_upload_file789_5535.pdf VDOT has 269 miles of 4 lane, undivided primary routes. (See pdf pg 28 for summary followed by a district breakdown every other page after that).
Major segments that still exist in Virginia (a lot of these are rural or rural-ish):
US 1 has a few segments between South Hill and Dinwiddie CH
US 1 from Petersburg to S. Richmond
US 1 from SR 623 near Elmont to a little south of US 17 Bypass south of Fredericksburg (except around N. Anna R)
US 1 from the north end of Fredericksburg Bypass to Stafford CH
US 1 from SR 631 near Garrisonville to SR 619 Triangle
US 1 off and on from about VA 234 to north of the southern VA 235 jct.
US 11 from a little north of Roanoke to past I-81 Exit 163 south of Buchanan
US 29 in Fairfax County has segments
US 460 from south Petersburg to Suffolk
VA 143 from Newport News to Williamsburg
most of VA 293
A lot of US 550 in New Mexico has just a couple feet of pavement and a double set of double yellow lines - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Farmington,+NM/@36.1861323,-107.3721055,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s3ZlQRNsxVUMn-mHeLDgmpg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x873b8f00ad0c7ec7:0xc823b1b63b534e1a
AFAIK, NC and SC did not do the undivided multilane configuration on rural segments...
Mapmikey
NE2 is right about Georgia often doing this with center turn lanes :-D
GA SR 71 is four-lane and has a center turn lane from Dalton all the way to the northern edge of the county (near the TN line) in Cohutta. https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9394993,-84.9432899,3a,75y,20.98h,88.78t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s3URUCr_HbpAK-zKo0hd2nQ!2e0
Also, US 411 is four-lane for a good bit into rural country both north and south of Chatsworth, GA:
With a center turn lane on the north section, all the way up to Crandall: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8543124,-84.7535291,3a,75y,206.14h,92.4t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sNZwfFGgEMiDpJq3tjWdqGA!2e0
And no center turn lane (but no median) on the south section, all the way to Ramhurst where US 76 parts from its concurrency with US 411 & heads east: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.7096234,-84.7434137,3a,75y,1.78h,86.89t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sdRe9FjZh-a4STxjR9kfBEg!2e0
And US 27 is four-lane with a center turn lane north of Rome, GA for a long time all the way up to Armuchee: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.3810845,-85.1751037,3a,75y,174.36h,94.04t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s5a4yD7-vZGlXSYVaPzCVyA!2e0
There are countless more of these examples I could think of, so I will say this isn't all that uncommon round' here :-D
Texas has dozens, it's pretty much the default configuration for major highways in the central part of the state. Many now have 75mph speed limits. Nothing like the thought of death by 150+mph speed differential to keep you awake on those long straight stretches.
US-2 over Stevens Pass, north and east of Seattle is two lanes each direction with no barrier in-between for quite a while. The yellow lines are about 8 or 10 inches apart. I assume that WSDOT plans to install some sort of barrier in the future (some pretty wicked collisions have occurred along the pass).
Near Concord, MA; there's still a small stretch of Route 2 that's 4-lanes undivided between Bedford Road and MA 2A. Though that may be going away when the latter intersection is upgraded to an interchange that's currently under construction.
Another stretch of MA 2 west of the fore-mentioned 2A junction up to Sandy Pond Road is still 4-lanes undivided as well.
Further west, there's another short, undivided 4-lane stretch in West Concord between another MA 2A junction and the MA 111/119 rotary.
Quote from: PHLBOS on November 12, 2014, 04:26:07 PM
Near Concord, MA; there's still a small stretch of Route 2 that's 4-lanes undivided between Bedford Road and MA 2A. Though that may be going away when the latter intersection is upgraded to an interchange that's currently under construction.
Another stretch of MA 2 west of the fore-mentioned 2A junction up to Sandy Pond Road is still 4-lanes undivided as well.
Further west, there's another short, undivided 4-lane stretch in West Concord between another MA 2A junction and the MA 111/119 rotary.
I would not call that rural.
However, MA 140, just north of MA 2, is four lanes for a short distance, and has no dividing barrier (as far as I can tell).
There is a section of US 80 in East Texas like this. 4-lane typical undivided w/o left urn lanes.
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.680619,-95.788579&spn=0.000002,0.001549&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=32.680619,-95.788579&panoid=9rmgTfg8s1Y47Gdty12VfA&cbp=12,119.43,,0,0 (https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.680619,-95.788579&spn=0.000002,0.001549&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=32.680619,-95.788579&panoid=9rmgTfg8s1Y47Gdty12VfA&cbp=12,119.43,,0,0)
Also, there is a section with two double yellow lines about 24 inches apart.
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.684698,-95.825178&spn=0.000005,0.003098&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=32.684698,-95.825178&panoid=V_mryvk5U-SIeQLbmGRIiA&cbp=12,92.73,,0,0 (https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.684698,-95.825178&spn=0.000005,0.003098&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=32.684698,-95.825178&panoid=V_mryvk5U-SIeQLbmGRIiA&cbp=12,92.73,,0,0)
In Arkansas, I remember a 4-lane road with two double yellow lines, and about 5 feet between them.
In Louisiana along US 190 between Opelousas and Baton Rouge. There's a guardrail that separates the 2 sets of lanes in parts of Pointe Coupee Parish. I'd hate to ever have to turn left or make a u-turn anywhere on this stretch.
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5554555,-91.5908201,3a,75y,96.31h,74.36t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sADQRNwVgUWytUoJr9PYOzg!2e0 (https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5554555,-91.5908201,3a,75y,96.31h,74.36t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sADQRNwVgUWytUoJr9PYOzg!2e0)
Not super rural (at least by western standards), but close enough (certainly not urban or suburban), US-97 between Bend and Redmond: https://www.google.com/maps/@44.1762735,-121.2481548,340m/data=!3m1!1e3
NY Route 5 from just east of the Vernon-Westmoreland town line to Kirkland seems kind of random, as does NY Route 5 from just east of the City of Little Falls to just west of the Herkimer-Montgomery County Line. Both stretches are rural, four-lane undivided highway.
Wasn't there a section of I-90 near the WA/ID border (or maybe ID/MT) that was like this for years?
As noted above, four-lane highways without grass medians (either with no center turn lane or with a center turn lane, referred to as a "flush median" by GDOT) are fairly common on older widenings in Georgia. US 23 between Cochran and GA 96 is a good example of the former, as is much of US 441 between Milledgeville and Eatonton. Quite a bit of GA 520 was also built this way.
More modern suburban and rural projects (for example, most of the Fall Line Freeway) have typically included medians, although there are exceptions; the Eastman NW bypass is being built with a "flush median," despite being in a rural area well outside any development.
Oregon: SR 34 from Corvallis to just west of Lebanon. SR 42 is mostly undivided 4-lane in the 4-lane section. US 101 south of Coos Bay to 42 is mostly undivided 4-lane. US 101 south of Brookings for 4 miles is undivided 4-lane. There are several 4-lane stretches of around a mile used as passing lanes on SR 42 and SR 38. SR 62 from Medford to Eagle Point is 4-lane undivided highway. SR 99 from Eugene to Junction City is undivided 4-lane. US 30 from PDX to past Scappoose is undivided 4-lane. US 199 south of Grants Pass for about 6 miles is 4-lane undivided highway.
Where US 101 and SR 42 do have brief divided sections between Coos Bay and Coquille, one can see the "go with the terrain instead of tame it" approach to expressway construction circa the early postwar years. That replaced the original narrow 2-lane road when US 101 was routed Coos Bay-Coquille-Bandon, which lasted until 1961.
Del Norte county in California has an undivided 4-lane freeway stretch east of Gasquet on US 199. A tiny stretch of US 101 just north of Klamath CA is undivided 4-lane.
That pretty much covers the area I normally travel. ODOT's maps do a very poor job of showing the amount of 4-lane that is out there.
Rick
Quote from: 1 on November 12, 2014, 04:36:36 PMI would not call that rural.
Depends on how one defines
rural. Those MA 2 examples I cited are certainly not in
thickly-settled areas as defined by the Commonwealth.
Nonetheless, 4-lane undivided roads in the Bay State have been dwindling for decades. Back in the 90s, US 20 between MA 12 and Sturbridge was undivided and I'm old enough to remember when MA 114 between Sylvan St. in Peabody and I-95 in Danvers did not have the center lane for left turns (put in during the late 80s) and only had single flashing yellow lights at key intersections. The latter was referred to as a death road back then.
This old train trestle (http://goo.gl/maps/iC66w) (now a rail trail) by the McDonalds gives hint of the old pavement width (no center-left-turn lane striped). Prior to the alteration, the lanes were positioned further inward with a more narrower, standard-spaced double-yellow line.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 12, 2014, 10:04:24 PM
Wasn't there a section of I-90 near the WA/ID border (or maybe ID/MT) that was like this for years?
From around the 1970's to late 90's, a section of I-90 was undivided from west of Huson (exit 85) to Wallace. Later, they ended up divided with concrete jersey barriers because I kind of like to believe that there were some crossover accidents especially during the winter leading MDT and ITD to put the barriers between Missoula and Wallace there.
Michigan has a few of these, particularly on former US Highway alignments. Notable examples that come to mind are parts Red Arrow Hwy (former US 12) south (west) of the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph area, most of M-47 (former US 10) between Saginaw and Bay City, and Old US 27 north of Lansing. The US 10 and US 27 examples have center turn lanes, but Red Arrow Hwy doesn't.
In the UP, parts of US 2 also have 4-lane undivided segments, but I think most of those are in the context of passing lanes.
Quote from: upstatenyroads on November 12, 2014, 08:06:02 PM
NY Route 5 from just east of the Vernon-Westmoreland town line to Kirkland seems kind of random, as does NY Route 5 from just east of the City of Little Falls to just west of the Herkimer-Montgomery County Line. Both stretches are rural, four-lane undivided highway.
At least one section of the latter has gone on a road diet.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nysroads.com%2Fimages%2Fgallery%2FNY%2Fny5%2F100_9176-s.JPG&hash=bc9a94044fc9f35b45456fc1207747d75c687bdd)
NJ 73 has a 7-mile segment like this just north of the Atlantic City Expressway (south of that segment it is 2 lanes, while north of that segment it is divided). Not sure it fits the definition of "rural", but it is certainly more rural than the rest of it, with farmers' markets and such.
In the past, much of PA 61 was four-lane with no median and few turn restrictions, although seemingly every year, as scenes like the one below make headlines, PennDOT installs more Jersey barrier, sacrifices passing lanes in places to create left turn lanes, and so on. The image below is one of the remaining four-lane undivided sections near Orwigsburg.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wfmz.com%2Fimage%2Fview%2F-%2F19459000%2FhighRes%2F1%2F-%2F2bgdf0%2F-%2FRoute-61-fatal-accident-scene--2.jpg&hash=ca61fcd7cc5758d2edebffbcfd6063d11d9fc520)
Other than the aforementioned NY 5, there are some more of these in New York. There's a stretch of US 20 in Genesee County that's 4 lanes for seemingly no reason. Before the suburbs caught up, US 20 had more at each end of Erie County (no longer rural). Probably others that I can't place.
Quote from: cl94 on November 13, 2014, 04:27:52 PM
Other than the aforementioned NY 5, there are some more of these in New York. There's a stretch of US 20 in Genesee County that's 4 lanes for seemingly no reason.
Are there hills that make truck climbing lanes useful?
Quote from: NE2 on November 13, 2014, 04:37:59 PM
Quote from: cl94 on November 13, 2014, 04:27:52 PM
Other than the aforementioned NY 5, there are some more of these in New York. There's a stretch of US 20 in Genesee County that's 4 lanes for seemingly no reason.
Are there hills that make truck climbing lanes useful?
Not really. The entire stretch between Alden and Avon contains rolling hills and the hill on the less than 3/4-mile section with 4 lanes is minor compared to some of the other ones.
Ah, I get to recycle my picture from the "Biggest Waste of an Overhead Assembly" thread. ("My" picture in the sense that I stole it from GSV, so it's mine now.)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi49.tinypic.com%2F23sj42r.png&hash=836175f309fb77e8bae245e943cad7ad4aa2ee72)
About 8 miles of SR-67 in rural Delaware County, Indiana, with the 4 travel lanes separated only by a mostly-pointless center turn lane.
Here's that thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=7173.msg193988#msg193988 (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=7173.msg193988#msg193988)
Quote from: theline on November 14, 2014, 12:31:00 PM
Ah, I get to recycle my picture from the "Biggest Waste of an Overhead Assembly" thread. ("My" picture in the sense that I stole it from GSV, so it's mine now.)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi49.tinypic.com%2F23sj42r.png&hash=836175f309fb77e8bae245e943cad7ad4aa2ee72)
About 8 miles of SR-67 in rural Delaware County, Indiana, with the 4 travel lanes separated only by a mostly-pointless center turn lane.
Here's that thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=7173.msg193988#msg193988 (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=7173.msg193988#msg193988)
This pix cracks me up! What a waste...LOL!
Rick
There is a 5-mile section of US-421 between Boone and Wilkesboro (https://www.google.com/maps/@36.2172179,-81.4807016,3a,75y,249.15h,102.73t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbxNUUmWWDuni36GK9MltXA!2e0) that fits this description.
The parts of the 321 widening project between Blowing Rock and Lenoir (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/36.2035576,-81.4370144/36.2328962,-81.503721/@36.0837708,-81.6289421,3a,75y,6.25h,90.52t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjCnnms-1DabVy42CZZ68yg!2e0) that are complete have a center rumble strip.
There's a stretch of US 59/71 between Old Potter and Hatfield, AR that has passing lanes in both directions. For a distance at the top of Iron Mountain, it is four lanes undivided.
A long stretch of US 271 in Texas is 4 lanes undivided.