What about 4 lane roads that are lightly traveled?
Please let this quarantine end so these reduntant threads end too...
There are so many 4-lane roads and sections of roads that this is probably an impossible question to answer
Normally I would say this is hardly distinct enough from the existing threads to make some sense as its own thread.
However, unlike with Interstates and freeways, we'll get some urban examples, especially in Rust Belt cities, so that should spice it up. Also, some states, like Mississippi, 4-lane almost every rural highway, while others, like NY, reserve 4 lanes for freeways and not much else. So it will be interesting to see these different approaches show up.
I'll ignore NY's parkways, which have been discussed plenty in the other threads, and start off with an urban candidate for NY: Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0831535,-79.034275,3a,75y,78.92h,77.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5EWFiBpVK2tQVWrLan57og!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1). AADT of 3616 according to NYSDOT's most recent data.
I'm sure its some part of the IL 110 CKC in Western IL/Forgottonia, but no numbers data
Can't say I'm a big fan of these threads. It becomes either a link or picture party, and not enough discussion. But I'll still participate in the off-chance someone disagrees with me.
Not one chance I could come up with the quietest four lane road in Washington. There's gotta be thousands of different roads that could qualify.
Within the Tacoma area, my nomination would 72 St (https://goo.gl/maps/5H2MWSz3C6mgsHqg9), between Canyon Road and Woodland Avenue. Technically Pierce County, but it's in the region.
The road is 3 lanes coming in from both ends of this four lane stretch. The entire corridor had been envisioned as a four or five lane arterial when it was constructed in the 1970s, but the traffic to support that many lanes simply never materialized. West of the four lane stretch pictured here, the road was recently narrowed to three lane (two lanes + TWLTL), and I think it's only a matter of time before this stretch is narrowed as well (although maybe to two lanes uphill, one lane downhill, or four lanes but the second downhill lane becomes a TWLTL).
(https://i.imgur.com/Tt0Fd8p.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LpUnXwg.png)
If there are to many four lane roads, just think about expressway grade roads.
Looking at rural 4-lane arterial highways vs. urban examples, US-58 in Virginia near Meadows of Dan carries 1,400 AADT.
Quote from: webny99 on May 25, 2020, 10:33:38 PM
I'll ignore NY's parkways, which have been discussed plenty in the other threads, and start off with an urban candidate for NY: Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0831535,-79.034275,3a,75y,78.92h,77.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5EWFiBpVK2tQVWrLan57og!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1). AADT of 3616 according to NYSDOT's most recent data.
US 20 north of Cherry Valley cuts that in half. 1760 for an expressway-grade road.
There's a short stretch of US 90 that is a four-lane divided highway just east of the eastern intersection with US 385 in a very rural area outside of Marathon, TX. The count west of there, where US 90 and 385 are concurrent, is 823. The count on US 385 to the north is 234. Roughly the rest of the traffic uses the four-lane section, so that's about 600. The first official count east of there is miles away at 420.
Quote from: cl94 on May 25, 2020, 11:10:22 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 25, 2020, 10:33:38 PM
I'll ignore NY's parkways, which have been discussed plenty in the other threads, and start off with an urban candidate for NY: Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0831535,-79.034275,3a,75y,78.92h,77.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5EWFiBpVK2tQVWrLan57og!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1). AADT of 3616 according to NYSDOT's most recent data.
US 20 north of Cherry Valley cuts that in half. 1760 for an expressway-grade road.
Never understood why that section is four lanes, much less divided.
If I had to guess...and this is probably a really bad guess...there's a section of US 130 in NJ below the Commodore Barry Bridge (and more specifically, below High Hill Rd) that's 4 lanes with very little traffic.
Ridge Route Alternate AKA Golden State Highway (former US 99) comes to mind in California.
I don't know about the whole state, but the village of Tinley Park has 163rd Street/Centennial Drive (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.597638,-87.7879502,3a,41.2y,90.66h,86.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s20KO7mjKhUiaYNH4WWtJlA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en), which is residences, small offices, a bowling alley and the back of a plaza. It's not an arterial. It's a side street. None of those generate large amounts of traffic, so why the road is four lanes, I don't know.
This section of Main St (former M-61) in downtown Marion (https://www.google.com/maps/@44.102459,-85.1473999,3a,75y,91.28h,75.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6-TfBdyopRCbPkTBj_jCiw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en) is marked as five lanes (two lanes each way plus a center turn lane) and still has room for parking on both sides! I found an AADT of 1173 from 2011, likely taken in downtown Marion. An AADT figure taken three miles to the east shows a figure of 104 (!!!). For comparison, current M-61 has around 1500 AADT east of M-66 and only 710 AADT between M-66 and M-115, so even at its busiest, it's hard to think that Main St in Marion ever had an AADT above 3,000 even when M-61 was running on it.
There are some lightly-traveled roads in Detroit which have four (or more) lanes.
The long driveway to Raytheon in Andover, MA is 4 lanes. AADT could probably be figured out from the employment numbers, but I can't find them.
For major Minnesota routes, it looks like it might be US 2 which dips to 3500 on the east side of Crookston. I also found 2800 on the old US 61 expressway between I-35 and the east side of Esko in Carlton County.
Not going to take the time to look it up, but my guess is it's one of the following:
IN 931 (northern) between IN 4 and Tyler Rd
IN 63 between IN 32 and IN 234
IN 3 between IN 8 and IN 205
There is a small stretch of 4-lane from old US 66 which I think is by Texahoma that has very few houses on it. The former main highway is now just a rural route for locals so I would imagine the daily traffic count is between 100 and 200, which is a far cry from its halcyon days.
That would be my candidate for lowest volume 4-lane highway in the USA.
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on May 26, 2020, 08:18:30 PM
There is a small stretch of 4-lane from old US 66 which I think is by Texahoma that has very few houses on it. The former main highway is now just a rural route for locals so I would imagine the daily traffic count is between 100 and 200, which is a far cry from its halcyon days.
That would be my candidate for lowest volume 4-lane highway in the USA.
Rick
I think Golden State Highway has that one beat. All that road really ever sees is weird people like me who have an affinity for running/hiking old highways.
AL 62 near Guntersville AL. It leads to and abandoned industrial facility. This ain't my state, but I feel its worth noting here https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4330391,-86.2036825,5683m/data=!3m1!1e3 (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4330391,-86.2036825,5683m/data=!3m1!1e3)
Quote from: cabiness42 on May 26, 2020, 02:09:13 PM
Not going to take the time to look it up, but my guess is it's one of the following:
IN 931 (northern) between IN 4 and Tyler Rd
IN 63 between IN 32 and IN 234
IN 3 between IN 8 and IN 205
IN 63 is likely the big winner but it's more the segment from the split with US 41 in Warren County south toward US 136 that's the lightest traveled. Roughly 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles per day. The stretch from SR 32 to SR 234 slightly busier.
Too lazy to hunt down AADT numbers for Utah, but I wouldn't be surprised if the winner is this section of former US 30S through Echo.
(https://i.imgur.com/goxpQYt.jpg)
That's been bypassed by I-84 and I-80. The only people who would have any reason to use that road anymore are the 50 people who still live in Echo.
Quote from: sprjus4 on May 25, 2020, 11:08:21 PM
Looking at rural 4-lane arterial highways vs. urban examples, US-58 in Virginia near Meadows of Dan carries 1,400 AADT.
I found another 4-lane divided highway with a lower count in Virginia.
When I-95 was constructed through central Virginia, it took over most of pre-existing 4-lane US-301, reducing it to a 2-lane frontage road. In a couple areas however, I-95 diverged onto new alignment and the old 4-lane road was left in place. South of Carson, VA, where I-95 diverges to bypass the town and US-301 expands to its original 4-lane section, it carries only 780 AADT.
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.0330426,-77.3872236,3089m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1
Quote from: sprjus4 on May 27, 2020, 12:02:22 AM
I found another 4-lane divided highway with a lower count in Virginia.
When I-95 was constructed through central Virginia, it took over most of pre-existing 4-lane US-301, reducing it to a 2-lane frontage road. In a couple areas however, I-95 diverged onto new alignment and the old 4-lane road was left in place. South of Carson, VA, where I-95 diverges to bypass the town and US-301 expands to its original 4-lane section, it carries only 780 AADT.
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.0330426,-77.3872236,3089m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1
I don't think it's possible to beat this example. Well found.
This road in Scotland was one of the main routes to England before being replaced in 1986. It's quiet now but I don't think it beats the US-301 example above. Since the Google image was taken this section has been reduced to two lanes with the side the camera is on now a cycle trail. Before this the striping had worn off, adding to the dilapidated feel of the road.
https://goo.gl/maps/jk5PXHwxaSWQFihR6
Quote from: jeffandnicole on May 25, 2020, 11:34:38 PM
If I had to guess...and this is probably a really bad guess...there's a section of US 130 in NJ below the Commodore Barry Bridge (and more specifically, below High Hill Rd) that's 4 lanes with very little traffic.
Looking up NJ's classification/volume counts, this section of roadway has an ADT of around 6,000 vehicles weekdays ( https://www.njtms.org/map/tms_reports/reports/DV03S_7-4-246_8-16-2018.pdf ; they list the road as E/W rather than N/S). While fairly high compared to a few of the others mentioned, it's very low for a NJ 4 lane roadway. Go 3 miles to the north on the section of 130 between 295 & 322, and daily volumes jump up to around 27,000 vehicles!
It looks like the winner for Maryland is US 113 on the Eastern Shore near Snow Hill - lowest AADT I found was 6,162 just south of the MD 12 intersection. (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/38.1573837,-75.3814412/38.1452345,-75.4036713/@38.1632888,-75.375433,14z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0!5m1!1e1?hl=en)
(Although I wonder if US 301 just before the DE border could take over depending on how much shunpiking occurs - last time I drove up that way, most of the cars I could see in front of & behind me turned off at Sassafras Road. Most recent AADT is 11,462 south of Sassafras Road, and 11,393 north of it.)
DelDOT's traffic count simply shows 21,244 AADT for the entire toll road.
When I drove it this summer, it appeared to have the same amount of traffic roughly as was on US-301 in Maryland.
Quote from: Brian556 on May 26, 2020, 08:35:22 PM
AL 62 near Guntersville AL. It leads to and abandoned industrial facility. This ain't my state, but I feel its worth noting here https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4330391,-86.2036825,5683m/data=!3m1!1e3 (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4330391,-86.2036825,5683m/data=!3m1!1e3)
Yup, that was my guess for Alabama. ALDOT shows a steady 150 per day, though that's bumped to 190 as of 2018. There's a few homes near the end of the route.
Daily counts under 800 for anything on the state system are uncommon for 2-lane sections, but AL 62 takes the boondoggle cake. I'm trying to find much of anything else carrying under 2000/day which has four lanes, although the ALDOT map also includes some random locations that are not on the state system.
Quote from: ilpt4u on May 25, 2020, 10:45:15 PM
I’m sure its some part of the IL 110 CKC in Western IL/Forgottonia, but no numbers data
Numbers data for IDOT?
http://www.gettingaroundillinois.com/gai.htm?mt=aadt
IL-336/IL-110 sees at least an AADT of 3,000. That's still more than I-180, which sees less than 2,000 across the Illinois River Bridge, and no more than 4,000 on the north-south section.
PA 61 just west of Centralia shows an AADT of 1,500...
Brandon's right. There are only a few expressway projects alive downstate. Small sections of IL 127 and US 34 and US 67 . There are a couple of sections of 67 that come close. 180 is a wild story maybe warrants a thread in Midwest sometime.
Quote from: Brandon on May 27, 2020, 02:35:46 PM
Quote from: ilpt4u on May 25, 2020, 10:45:15 PM
I'm sure its some part of the IL 110 CKC in Western IL/Forgottonia, but no numbers data
Numbers data for IDOT?
http://www.gettingaroundillinois.com/gai.htm?mt=aadt
IL-336/IL-110 sees at least an AADT of 3,000. That's still more than I-180, which sees less than 2,000 across the Illinois River Bridge, and no more than 4,000 on the north-south section.
For some reason my iPad doesn't like that site
Haven't played around with it on my MacBook in awhile. It does work better on the MacBook, tho
Thats pretty incredible, that 110/336 gets more traffic thru Forgottonia than I-180 gets, tbh. Then again, 180 is the Interstate to nowhere. IDOT should go ahead and use "Nowhere" as the 180 South Control
Quote from: 3467 on May 27, 2020, 08:36:27 PM
180 is a wild story maybe warrants a thread in Midwest sometime.
Not sure if it's ever had it's own thread, but it's been discussed ad nauseam in other threads, especially threads about least-important, least-used, and otherwise useless interstates.
I can't even zoom in on the IDOT AADT map for US 51 between I-57 and the River Bridges in Cairo. It is 4 Lane in town, but I can't imagine it sees much traffic
I don't head down to Cairo that often, but the times I have, it is pretty much a ghost town
Actually Cairo is 3700 to 5000. 180 still Champ.
I think there is some sort of perception issue 5000 can look busy on a 2 lane especially the older substandard ones Illinois has but make it Any kind of 4 lane expressway undivided urban or rural it looks pretty empty.
Quote from: 3467 on May 27, 2020, 08:54:53 PM
Actually Cairo is 3700 to 5000. 180 still Champ.
Must be more truck traffic using the Ohio River Bridge than I would have thought. Interesting. Most truck traffic going across the Mississippi will stay on I-57
Next I'd check Packers Ave in E St Louis
US 50 gains third and fourth lanes for about a half mile through the town of Eureka, Nevada. AADT in the center of town is 1100.
I also found an 1100 on NV 223, which serves as Business Route I-80 through Wells, NV, part of it being old US 40. Despite being alongside I-80 there's very little business on that Business Route, particularly after a 2008 earthquake which severely damaged a number of the buildings in town.
Quote from: ilpt4u on May 27, 2020, 08:46:41 PM
I can't even zoom in on the IDOT AADT map for US 51 between I-57 and the River Bridges in Cairo. It is 4 Lane in town, but I can't imagine it sees much traffic
I don't head down to Cairo that often, but the times I have, it is pretty much a ghost town
After ten days in Cairo, I can confirm there's a heckuva lot of truck traffic passing through, but not much local traffic.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 25, 2020, 11:39:42 PM
Ridge Route Alternate AKA Golden State Highway (former US 99) comes to mind in California.
Were you thinking roads like
Ralphs Ranch Road (https://goo.gl/maps/4VEFYg72NbGJNmFp8), part of the 1933-era Ridge Route through the Grapevine?
I think this could actually be the winner. There seems to very few businesses along this particular stretch of the Old Ridge Route.
Quote from: ilpt4u on May 27, 2020, 09:01:08 PM
Quote from: 3467 on May 27, 2020, 08:54:53 PM
Actually Cairo is 3700 to 5000. 180 still Champ.
Must be more truck traffic using the Ohio River Bridge than I would have thought. Interesting.
A decent percentage of the daily traffic on the US 51 bridge is trucks. A news release went out today about a work zone that's going to include a significant width restriction. Those releases usually include the percentage of truck traffic, but this one didn't. However, the traffic count map indicates it's around 35 percent truck traffic of an ADT of a little less than 5,000.
Quote from: sprjus4 on May 27, 2020, 12:02:22 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on May 25, 2020, 11:08:21 PM
Looking at rural 4-lane arterial highways vs. urban examples, US-58 in Virginia near Meadows of Dan carries 1,400 AADT.
I found another 4-lane divided highway with a lower count in Virginia.
When I-95 was constructed through central Virginia, it took over most of pre-existing 4-lane US-301, reducing it to a 2-lane frontage road. In a couple areas however, I-95 diverged onto new alignment and the old 4-lane road was left in place. South of Carson, VA, where I-95 diverges to bypass the town and US-301 expands to its original 4-lane section, it carries only 780 AADT.
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.0330426,-77.3872236,3089m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1
This old section of US-460 in Lynchburg that was bypassed with the construction of the Madison Heights Bypass interchange carries 520 AADT: https://goo.gl/maps/eP8bzaLrWtMAFPC37
The lowest I could find in Louisiana is US 165 near Georgetown: 1816
Quote from: Thing 342 on May 29, 2020, 09:00:54 PM
Quote from: sprjus4 on May 27, 2020, 12:02:22 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on May 25, 2020, 11:08:21 PM
Looking at rural 4-lane arterial highways vs. urban examples, US-58 in Virginia near Meadows of Dan carries 1,400 AADT.
I found another 4-lane divided highway with a lower count in Virginia.
When I-95 was constructed through central Virginia, it took over most of pre-existing 4-lane US-301, reducing it to a 2-lane frontage road. In a couple areas however, I-95 diverged onto new alignment and the old 4-lane road was left in place. South of Carson, VA, where I-95 diverges to bypass the town and US-301 expands to its original 4-lane section, it carries only 780 AADT.
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.0330426,-77.3872236,3089m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1
This old section of US-460 in Lynchburg that was bypassed with the construction of the Madison Heights Bypass interchange carries 520 AADT: https://goo.gl/maps/eP8bzaLrWtMAFPC37
Nice find, did not think of that.
Aha! The Virginia example above suddenly reminded me of another one for NY. Why I didn't think of it sooner, I don't know.
There's no street view, unfortunately, but the southern end of South Pkwy (https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9703186,-78.9584145,574m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1) on Grand Island is four lanes divided and has an AADT of 808. That's quite possibly the only four lane road with an AADT under 1000 in the entire state (excluding examples that are inside state parks, like Hamlin and Fort Niagara).
The lowest I could find in Iowa is 3040 (in 2017) for US 63 on the New Hampton bypass north of US 18/IA 24.
Quote from: webny99 on May 29, 2020, 11:33:40 PM
Aha! The Virginia example above suddenly reminded me of another one for NY. Why I didn't think of it sooner, I don't know.
There's no street view, unfortunately, but the southern end of South Pkwy (https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9703186,-78.9584145,574m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1) on Grand Island is four lanes divided and has an AADT of 808. That's quite possibly the only four lane road with an AADT under 1000 in the entire state (excluding examples that are inside state parks, like Hamlin and Fort Niagara).
The western end of the LOSP shows an AADT of 551 in Traffic Data Viewer.
Quote from: vdeane on May 30, 2020, 09:34:25 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 29, 2020, 11:33:40 PM
Aha! The Virginia example above suddenly reminded me of another one for NY. Why I didn't think of it sooner, I don't know.
There's no street view, unfortunately, but the southern end of South Pkwy (https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9703186,-78.9584145,574m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1) on Grand Island is four lanes divided and has an AADT of 808. That's quite possibly the only four lane road with an AADT under 1000 in the entire state (excluding examples that are inside state parks, like Hamlin and Fort Niagara).
The western end of the LOSP shows an AADT of 551 in Traffic Data Viewer.
Doh! :pan: And to think that
I was the one that originally mentioned that segment in the other thread.
For some reason, I was thinking only of non-freeways in the context of this thread, and completely whiffed when composing that post. It would be weird, though, if the freeway answer for NY ends up being
lower than the non-freeway example, which is how it's looking right now.
Probably Whitney T. Ferguson, III. Road in Vernon. That whole interchange is overbuilt TBH, but heaven forbid they widen Bolton Rd.
https://goo.gl/maps/eCejgYaFbhB7zDzG7 (https://goo.gl/maps/eCejgYaFbhB7zDzG7)
In Northeast Ohio, Ohio-11 from Interstate 90 south to Ohio-5, east of Mosquito Lake.