Longest coordinated arterial you've driven?

[tradephoric]

This stretch of Telegraph Road in metro Detroit is the longest dual-coordinated stretch of road that I have driven.  The 10.4 mile stretch from I-696 to Voorheis has 34 traffic signals yet you are able to achieve good coordination in both direction and not get stopped at a single red light.

When only coordinating for one direction, the 21.5 mile stretch of Telegraph between I-696 and I-75 is the longest coordinated stretch of road I've driven, traveling through 43 signals without hitting a single red light.  Every signal runs a fixed time of day plan and cycles regardless of detection.

Here is a KMZ file labeling the traffic signals along this coordinated stretch of US-24:  http://www.mediafire.com/?ajzse113688e98y
(Green circle = signal stops one direction; red circle = signal stops both directions)

Although there are 34 total signals between 12 Mile & Voorheis only 9 of them stop both directions of travel along the boulevard. The use of Michigan lefts along this section (and even a Jersey Jughandle) eliminate left turns from being made at the main intersections.  This increases the capacity of the intersections and the amount of green band to shoot for when trying to set up good dual coordination.

What are some other major corridors throughout the country that have good coordination?    

[Michael in Philly]

When I was first driving, in the '80s, I noticed that on most state (and US) highways in New Jersey that had traffic lights, you could, if traffic was light enough, go through miles of green lights by driving about 5 mph above the speed limit.

[Alps]

I made it from the Garden State Parkway to I-95 (Trenton) on US 1 while hitting only one light the whole way. But usually it's not so great. As an extreme example, any of the one-way Avenues in NYC are fairly perfectly coordinated. Given moderate traffic, you can make it at least 4 miles (which is my most recent record), but theoretically all the way down town.

[Brandon]

I sooooo love Telegraph Road (and Eight Mile for that matter).  Even south of 696, I usually only hit Ford Road red between 696 and 94.  Comparing Telegraph and IL-59, hell, there's no comparison.  IDiOT could learn a thing or two about building roads that move traffic from MDOT.

[roadfro]

Not 20 something miles, but I've driven some stretches of arterials in the Las Vegas area that were coordinated for several miles. On Tropicana Avenue (SR 593), I've gone from Boulder Highway to Las Vegas Blvd during PM peak hours without stopping--that's about 7 miles and at least 17 signals. NV FAST (the organization of Southern Nevada RTC that times traffic signals in Las Vegas) considers Tropicana to be one of the priority arterials for coordination.

[vdeane]

On NY 332 there are times when the only light I hit red between the Canandaigua city line and I-90 is NY 96.  Makes the road feel like a freeway.

[Michael in Philly]

I made it from the Garden State Parkway to I-95 (Trenton) on US 1 while hitting only one light the whole way. But usually it's not so great. As an extreme example, any of the one-way Avenues in NYC are fairly perfectly coordinated. Given moderate traffic, you can make it at least 4 miles (which is my most recent record), but theoretically all the way down town.

The flip side being that once you hit one red, it seems like every succeeding light will turn red just before you get to it.  At least in New Jersey; my experience of driving in Manhattan is negligible.

[tradephoric]

US41 in Florida from Fort Myers to Bonita Springs had decent stretches of coordination while vacationing in the area.  I always feel that the cycle length at Florida traffic signals are abnormally long compared to other states (possibly due to lower ped speeds being used for the elderly population and having to cross 10+ lanes of traffic at certain intersections... County Hwy 865 & US-41 for example).  

[Bryant5493]

Canal Street, in the NOLA CBD/French Quarter area.


Be well,

Bryant

[tradephoric]

Thank you for all the replies as I'm having fun virtually driving the roads being mentioned on Google Earth.  I've noticed that a lot of roads being mentioned have intersections that eliminate left turning traffic from the intersection.

-US1 in Jersey uses jughandles at a few intersections (other intersections restrict left turns from being made).
-NY332 has a superstreet type design at the intersection of 332 & Thomas Road.
-Canal Sreet in New Orleans (and lots of other boulevards in the city) uses a similar Michigan Left design.  The difference is they seem to permit left turns at the main intersection and still have turnarounds past the intersection as well (although left turns are permitted, signal is still a simple 2-phase design).  Also there doesn't appear to be approach lanes at most turnarounds (intersection of US90 & Napolean Ave is a good example of the setup).

[1995hoo]

I would have to guess a run down Fifth Avenue and Broadway on a Sunday morning in July 2003 when there wasn't much traffic and I could just adjust my speed to try to avoid hitting any red lights. We had gone up to a Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium and then we stayed at the Plaza for the weekend and we wanted to make a stop in Brooklyn on the way home, so I just drove straight down through the city to the Brooklyn Bridge. New York does a pretty darn good job on the green wave and I don't remember stopping for more than maybe one or two lights until it came time to turn off to head for the bridge.

[tradephoric]

The layout of Manhattan's grid system was commissioned in 1811 and just celebrated its 200th anniversary in March.  The New York Times posted an interactive map on their website that superimposes the current grid system to John Randel 1811 proposed grid system:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/21/nyregion/map-of-how-manhattan-grid-grew.html

The average length of a north-south block is 1/20th of a mile, or 264 feet. An east-west block is about 1/5th of a mile, or 1,056 feet.   Due to the layout NYC probably only focuses on coordinating the major north-south routes and have the east-west coordination be a crapshoot.  What's nice though, east-west blocks are further spaced and you have less traffic signals to get stopped at (not to mention you can only drive a few miles along an east-west route in Manhattan).  

South of Houston St. the standard grid pattern loses its conformity and the blocks become more closely spaced.  Also the orientation is reversed where the north-south blocks are longer then the east-west blocks.

[tradephoric]

In the link if you click on the Street Openings tab on the left it displays an interactive slider showing what year every street in Manhattan was constructed.  In 1811 when the grid pattern was proposed, the streets south of Houston St. and a little bit north of Houston St. along the Hudson River were already constructed.  So from 1811 forward they followed the new proposed grid pattern but the roads that had already been constructed downtown were left as is.  That interactive Street Openings tab is cool as hell to me!