Best Urban Freeways

[ftballfan]

Which state has the best urban freeways?

I would have to say Michigan, since many of them don't have ridiciously low speed limits.
I-196 in Grand Rapids - 65 mph
US-131 in Grand Rapids - 70 mph outside of the S-Curve
US-31 in Muskegon - 70 mph
I-496 in Lansing - 70 mph

[hobsini2]

I would nominate I-39/90 in Madison.  The speed limit is no longer reduced between US 12/18 and US 51.  Still 65 mph.
Worst is I-90 Chicago Skyway which is posted 45.  I understand that for the actual bridge and toll plaza but it should be 55 west of say Stony Island.

[nexus73]

For a view at night, I-215 on the east side of SLC is incredible.  When it comes to looking good in the daytime, I-10 in downtown Phoenix has some very nice artwork on their concrete walls.  If someone really likes bridges and tunnels, I-90 in Seattle is worth checking out.  A classic old freeway gets best illustrated in the western US in San Diego by driving on state route 163 and the vegetation is so lush! 

Sorry to say I can't recommend any of the urban freeways in Oregon as must-sees although for an honorable mention, the I-405 on the north end leads to a fine-looking bridge, the Fremont.

Rick

[brownpelican]

I'd say I-20 in Atlanta from east of downtown to the Perimeter (I-285) is a good freeway...and folks don't obey the 55 speed limit. 

I-85 in Charlotte.

I-40 in Memphis.

[CL]

I-15 through Salt Lake City, if you want to see a spectacle of modern engineering and placing an investment on good roads. Plus, the flow of traffic averages at around 75 mph through town.

To branch outside of Salt Lake, I really enjoy US-101 through Santa Barbara. SR-13 through eastern Oakland is a great drive as well, if not a little unnerving - it takes a little while to get used to the short merging distances!

[Alps]

New Mexico, although it admittedly has very few of them. I'd also say Nevada with the same caveat.

[agentsteel53]

New Mexico, although it admittedly has very few of them. I'd also say Nevada with the same caveat.

I've never gone through Vegas on I-15 without encountering at least one construction zone! 

[Alps]

But that's how they keep the freeway so nice! Whereas in NYC you have no construction zones and freeways that will fall apart by 2030.

[agentsteel53]

But that's how they keep the freeway so nice! Whereas in NYC you have no construction zones and freeways that will fall apart by 2030.

except it's not even as nice as the sections of Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) in Orange County which they've upgraded in the early 2000s and then left alone.  more inexplicable lane drops and lane shifts, more random traffic coming to a screeching halt for no discernible reason, more bumps in the concrete ...

also, half the construction zones are speed traps.  They finally took away the "55 mph, all fines doubled" section coming off the state line at Primm after 5 or 6 years.  I had never seen actual work being done there - it appeared to exist solely for the purpose of making money.

[Michael in Philly]

For urban spectacularness, Pennsylvania.

I'm partial to the Schuylkill for the views, inbound starting about Girard, and since the original post specified "which state" we can toss in I-376 through Pittsburgh.

I'm not claiming to be objective here.  :-)

[roadfro]

New Mexico, although it admittedly has very few of them. I'd also say Nevada with the same caveat.

I'd agree with the Nevada part, especially for anything built since the 90s. I-215/CC 215 in Vegas, US 95 in NW Vegas, I-15 in NLV, US 395 in Carson City, etc.

I've never gone through Vegas on I-15 without encountering at least one construction zone! 

Growing up in Vegas and having kept tabs on projects there since moving to Reno, I can say that I can't recall any decent amount of time within the last 10 or so years that there hasn't been some kind of construction on I-15 in the Vegas vicinity...  In recent years, NDOT had the Strip corridor express lanes, then the NLV design-build project, then the south design-build currently under way...all right after another. That trend will continue if NDOT finds funding for Project Neon (Sahara to US 95).

also, half the construction zones are speed traps.  They finally took away the "55 mph, all fines doubled" section coming off the state line at Primm after 5 or 6 years.  I had never seen actual work being done there - it appeared to exist solely for the purpose of making money.

The construction zones are rarely used as speed traps. That area around Primm was one where there was a widening project that spanned multiple years. Back in 2003, I was interning with an NDOT crew that was doing the final "open grade" layer of paving after some widening several months earlier, as the time ran out and temps got too low. Also, NDOT was applying a variety of funding sources to I-15 south to the state line, which didn't allow them to get in and do it all at once.

[agentsteel53]

The construction zones are rarely used as speed traps. That area around Primm was one where there was a widening project that spanned multiple years. Back in 2003, I was interning with an NDOT crew that was doing the final "open grade" layer of paving after some widening several months earlier, as the time ran out and temps got too low. Also, NDOT was applying a variety of funding sources to I-15 south to the state line, which didn't allow them to get in and do it all at once.

if they were doing the final paving in 2003, then why was it still a double fine zone as late as 2007 or 2008?

[roadfro]

The construction zones are rarely used as speed traps. That area around Primm was one where there was a widening project that spanned multiple years. Back in 2003, I was interning with an NDOT crew that was doing the final "open grade" layer of paving after some widening several months earlier, as the time ran out and temps got too low. Also, NDOT was applying a variety of funding sources to I-15 south to the state line, which didn't allow them to get in and do it all at once.

if they were doing the final paving in 2003, then why was it still a double fine zone as late as 2007 or 2008?

At that point, the NB lanes had a gap where it was 3 lanes right near the state line, 2 lanes for several miles, then 3 lanes again around Jean or Sloan. That gap was filled some time afterwards (can't remember exactly when).

[agentsteel53]

At that point, the NB lanes had a gap where it was 3 lanes right near the state line, 2 lanes for several miles, then 3 lanes again around Jean or Sloan. That gap was filled some time afterwards (can't remember exactly when).

why did I never see anyone actually at work, or even any equipment parked by the side of the road?  Just the 'double fine zone' signs and the artificially low speed limit of 55 for the first howevermany miles coming out of California (starting at Primm, not Jean/Sloan!)

[realjd]

My two favorites are US75 (Central Expressway) in Dallas - it was VERY well done when they reconstructed it. It's particularly cool how they cantilevered the frontage roads over the traffic lanes to widen the highway where there was no more ROW available. I'm also a fan of the 408 east of Orlando. It's another well done expansion project. They're both really nice looking roads.

I'd have to say some of the newer, widened highways in Indianapolis are also well done (and like 30 lanes wide), but the speed limits there are too ridiculously low for my tastes.

[tdindy88]

I'd have to say some of the newer, widened highways in Indianapolis are also well done (and like 30 lanes wide), but the speed limits there are too ridiculously low for my tastes.

Which is why none of us really follow the speed limits through the city, except for around the North and South Splits where going 70 is probably too dangerous. Just got back from a trip and Michigan and I can say I enjoyed being able to travel at 70mph on most of the freeways through the cities there. 

[iwishiwascanadian]

Could DC count?  Taking I-395 from NoVA into the District is a nice drive.  Also, I-695 (unsigned) and I-295/DC-295 are nice rides.  Also, I-66 in Arlington/Rosslyn is a nice drive.  

[newyorker478]

Even though not neccesarily urban, in NY the Sprain Brook Parkway fares much better than a good deal of its pkwy and expwy counterparts. It is six lanes, grassy median, wide, and few interchanges. Now only if they could get it up to 65 mph!!!

[ftballfan]

I would nominate I-39/90 in Madison.  The speed limit is no longer reduced between US 12/18 and US 51.  Still 65 mph.
Worst is I-90 Chicago Skyway which is posted 45.  I understand that for the actual bridge and toll plaza but it should be 55 west of say Stony Island.

The Skyway does have a nice view of the city of Chicago.

[pianocello]

The Borman in NW Indiana could be nice if there's no traffic or orange cones (granted, I've never seen it like that...)

[triplemultiplex]

I-35 through Duluth, Minnesota.

That's how you build a freeway through an urban core.  Bury it into a series of canyons and tunnels.

Now if only it continued the rest of the way through that city.

[agentsteel53]

I-35 through Duluth, Minnesota.

That's how you build a freeway through an urban core.  Bury it into a series of canyons and tunnels.

Now if only it continued the rest of the way through that city.

not just through an urban core, but along a waterfront as well, which gives some significant further constraint.

[TheStranger]

The SF skyline on the I-280 viaduct north of 25th Street and on the Bayshore Freeway (US 101) approaching I-80 is absolutely stunning to see from those vantage points.

[hm insulators]

Some in the Los Angeles area: California 2 going from I-210 to where it meets California 134. Going south, you have views of the skyscrapers of downtown LA, going north, the San Gabriel Mountains and the La Crescenta Valley; also the 210 from Pasadena west to about California 118, especially going through the Verdugo Mountains. (The 134 from Pasadena to Glendale isn't bad either.) After about 8 or 9PM, the northbound I-405 heading down the hill from Sepulveda Pass, with the lights of the San Fernando Valley spread out like a magic carpet, even if the astronomy buff in me screams, "LIGHT POLLUTION!"

Also, I-5 between Calgrove Boulevard and the Newhall Interchange where it goes through some hills, and US 101 from Calabasas all the way to about Camarillo.

[HighwayMaster]

I like all of the tollways around Chicago. They're wide, tolls are cheap, and the oases are awesome.

And no, the Skyway does not count.