Most substandard on- or off-ramp on an Interstate

[flowmotion]

If you like short left-hand merges, check out the I-80/US101 Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco:
http://g.co/maps/c5bjc

Looks to be about 100 feet, and it's almost completely blind. (Fortunately there's a dedicated lane for the cowardly.)

[DeaconG]

Good grief, half the interchanges on the Schuylkill Expressway meets that criterion...if you aren't prepared to go wide open throttle on some of them it isn't going to go well with you...

Some particular egregious ones:

EB on ramp at Girard Avenue:

http://g.co/maps/9m9qd

WB on ramp at Spring Garden Street:

http://g.co/maps/gjkc3

Hell, both Gulph Mills and Conshohocken interchanges qualifies!

Let's not forget 30th Street Station, University Avenue, Broad Street and the left entrances/exits at South Street...

[sandwalk]

I don't know if it's substandard (since it's new within the last few years), but the I-90 exit to US-20 West /I-39 South near Rockford, Illinois has a very sharp curve.  Who knows what the Tollway was thinking when they did that.....

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rockford,+IL&hl=en&ll=42.247454,-88.956342&spn=0.009689,0.013797&safe=off&hnear=Rockford,+Winnebago,+Illinois&gl=us&t=h&z=16

[intelati49]

I don't know if it's substandard (since it's new within the last few years), but the I-90 exit to US-20 West /I-39 South near Rockford, Illinois has a very sharp curve.  Who knows what the Tollway was thinking when they did that.....

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rockford,+IL&hl=en&ll=42.247454,-88.956342&spn=0.009689,0.013797&safe=off&hnear=Rockford,+Winnebago,+Illinois&gl=us&t=h&z=16

Ex- trumpet... *Checks Google maps*

Edit

Yep... Open in Maps and go to 1998

[kharvey10]

I-72 WB going onto I-55 SB with a single lane loop ramp at Clear Lake Ave, less than a mile from IDIOT headquarters to boot.

I-39 southbound at US 20 has a single lane mainline ramp.  Northbound used to be even worse - with a 15 cent exact change toll plaza with just two lanes - and a single lane mainline loop ramp onto westbound I-90 to boot.  (Most of this predated I-39)  Blago, if he only did one good deed during his time as Illinois governor, was the fact he got rid of that toll plaza and made ITHA redesign the interchange.  IDIOT has yet to do their part though plans are in the works.

[pianocello]

I'd like to nominate all of I-74 in Peoria, IL before they did the massive reconstruction on it. http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.75860,-88.47487&z=17&t=O

[KEVIN_224]

I see the awkward ramps in the linked picture...but it says Wisconsin, not Peoria. Interesting...

[NE2]

I see the awkward ramps in the linked picture...but it says Wisconsin, not Peoria. Interesting...

That's because he failed in getting the proper link.

[pianocello]

Sorry, I thought the URL changed every time the map is moved. The Wisconsin ramps are from a previous post. Here's the actual link: http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=40.67024,-89.57372&z=16&t=O

[SteveG1988]

How about the exit 26 fiasco on I-295 in NJ, the through lanes have a sharp curve to them, droping speeds down to 35mph.

http://g.co/maps/ms2ew

also vine street expressway 676 To PA 611

http://g.co/maps/fheg7 Fairly tight curve, always backed up

[DTComposer]

If you like short left-hand merges, check out the I-80/US101 Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco:
http://g.co/maps/c5bjc

Looks to be about 100 feet, and it's almost completely blind. (Fortunately there's a dedicated lane for the cowardly.)

My understanding is that this section of Route 80 is not technically in the Interstate system; The Interstate designation ends at the Bay Bridge touchdown. The section to the west (including the non-constructed section across the City) was deleted from the Interstate system in 1965.

[roadman65]

How about the ramp from EB Business US 90 to LA 23 in Gretna, LA?  Actually this is an interstate as it is unsigned I-910 and it has all of its ramps as slip ramps from the elevated freeway to the the surface frontage roads.  This one here drops onto the service road only several hundred feet before the intersection that has a traffic signal that backs up traffic to before the ramp merge.

Therefore when you get to the end of the exit ramp you need to make an imediate right turn.  You cannot accomplish this when there is when there is traffic stacked up on the merging roadway before the merge with many cars in the right lane to turn south on LA 23 from there.  You have the through frontage road lanes open, but many motorists will stop and wait for the signal to turn green and get the traffic moving so they can slip real fast in between moving cars to get into the proper lane.  This blocks the open lanes, but if you do not do this, you cannot do what the purpose of the exit is for.

To avoid this properly you need to exit at Manhattan Boulevard (the previous exit) and just travel the frontage road to this location!

[agentsteel53]

My understanding is that this section of Route 80 is not technically in the Interstate system;

yes, but what driver cares about that?  it's signed with the red, white and blue shield; that implies a particular standard of quality.

[bugo]

My understanding is that this section of Route 80 is not technically in the Interstate system;

yes, but what driver cares about that?  it's signed with the red, white and blue shield; that implies a particular standard of quality.

That's about as silly as signing the Chicago Skyway as "TO I-90/94."

[kphoger]

I was amazed at this one in Kansas City yesterday, how there's absolutely no merge space for no apparent reason other than not wanting to spend extra money on the bridge.

[cpzilliacus]

Ramp from southbound 9th Street, S.W. in the District of Columbia to northbound [eastbound] I-395 (Southwest Freeway) is a never-ending source of wrecks.  Google Maps here.

[pctech]

On I-110 north Baton Rouge. 10th street merges into the freeway with no transition lane at all. Originally 9th and 10th (which now  parallel 110) were the start of the 1950's "Baton Rouge Expressway". It was later incorporated  into interstate system. This merge occurs in a hard right curve to boot!

[mapman1071]

If you like short left-hand merges, check out the I-80/US101 Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco:
http://g.co/maps/c5bjc

Looks to be about 100 feet, and it's almost completely blind. (Fortunately there's a dedicated lane for the cowardly.)

I-80 Exits 4A & 4BTreasure Island, Yerba Buena Island Worst.!.!

[kkt]

If you like short left-hand merges, check out the I-80/US101 Central Freeway interchange in San Francisco:
http://g.co/maps/c5bjc

Looks to be about 100 feet, and it's almost completely blind. (Fortunately there's a dedicated lane for the cowardly.)

I-80 Exits 4A & 4BTreasure Island, Yerba Buena Island Worst.!.!

I was just about to post that!  Prevailing traffic on I-80 65 MPH+, a 10 MPH curve approaching the merge, and no merging space.  Time to try out your car's acceleration!

[theline]

I'm new to this topic. I see lots of references to bad ramps on I-80 from coast to coast, but not my least favorite.

This one-lane, steep, sharply-curved ramp carries mainline WB I-80 off of the Indiana Toll Road and onto the Borman Expressway (actually a freeway): http://goo.gl/maps/djCUn

After negotiating this ramp and bridge (http://goo.gl/maps/04bsT), traffic must weave through all EB Toll Road traffic that is headed for EB I-94 (http://goo.gl/maps/Y02nE), before taking a sharp right onto a short ramp for the Borman: http://goo.gl/maps/oUp87. Traffic levels on these Street View pictures are typical.

The good news is that the bridge is deteriorating rapidly and must go. The bad news is the that foreign company that leases the Toll Road says they don't have the money to replace the bridge, so I-80 traffic may have to be routed farther along the Toll Road to I-65 South, through a byzantine ramp structure, adding 2 extra miles to the route: http://goo.gl/maps/BVh1w. I suspect they are angling to have the taxpayers absorb the bridge replacement cost and I fear we may do just that.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

I'm new to this topic. I see lots of references to bad ramps on I-80 from coast to coast, but not my least favorite.

This one-lane, steep, sharply-curved ramp carries mainline WB I-80 off of the Indiana Toll Road and onto the Borman Expressway (actually a freeway): http://goo.gl/maps/djCUn

After negotiating this ramp and bridge (http://goo.gl/maps/04bsT), traffic must weave through all EB Toll Road traffic that is headed for EB I-94 (http://goo.gl/maps/Y02nE), before taking a sharp right onto a short ramp for the Borman: http://goo.gl/maps/oUp87. Traffic levels on these Street View pictures are typical.

The good news is that the bridge is deteriorating rapidly and must go. The bad news is the that foreign company that leases the Toll Road says they don't have the money to replace the bridge, so I-80 traffic may have to be routed farther along the Toll Road to I-65 South, through a byzantine ramp structure, adding 2 extra miles to the route: http://goo.gl/maps/BVh1w. I suspect they are angling to have the taxpayers absorb the bridge replacement cost and I fear we may do just that.

I agree with this. That Toll Road/Borman connection is a nightmare to deal with. The I-80 ramp in question is so narrow, that I have seen truckers STOP at the crest of said ramp to make sure they have clearance to pass. With that bridge in the shape that it's in, that makes for a very precarious situation. The entire interchange is in very poor shape and needs to be restructured.

There were discussions on what to do with that ramp a few weeks ago, but I have heard nothing about it since.

[kphoger]

Well, while we're on interchange connection ramps, I'll submit the I-235/Kellogg interchange here in Wichita, one that is notorious for traffic backups.  The eastbound-to-northbound ramp is particularly nasty for truckers.  It's not unheard of for double trailers to actually get stuck on it, physically unable to continue the movement.  Also keep in mind that the Turnpike, to which I-235 connects, allows triple trailers.

[architect77]

Here is a story and video about the last unwidened 3.5 mile stretch of Raleigh's "Beltline". The video shows some good merging mayhem:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/03/2521045/dot-will-widen-beltlines-last.html

[J N Winkler]

Well, while we're on interchange connection ramps, I'll submit the I-235/Kellogg interchange here in Wichita, one that is notorious for traffic backups.  The eastbound-to-northbound ramp is particularly nasty for truckers.  It's not unheard of for double trailers to actually get stuck on it, physically unable to continue the movement.  Also keep in mind that the Turnpike, to which I-235 connects, allows triple trailers.

This interchange is planned to be converted from a cloverleaf to a stack/turban hybrid, with construction to begin on the first phase (which will replace the eastbound-to-northbound movement with a flyover with a 45 MPH design speed) in 2015.  This project has actually been in the news lately since, in the (vacation) absence of a county commissioner who is widely considered to be a moderate, the remaining four Sedgwick County commissioners deadlocked 2-2 on a motion to use $11.6 million of the county's federal funding allocation as the 10% local match for the $116-million first phase.  This editorial cartoon, by Richard Crowson, appeared in yesterday's Eagle and rather nicely summarizes the situation:



(Ranzau is a conservative Republican who has argued the county should hand back a sustainability planning grant because it is a stalking horse for Agenda 21, and would presumably lead to UN control of county affairs.  Peterjohn is a long-standing anti-tax activist whose campaign literature in the last election stressed his role as a budget analyst in the California finance department when Reagan was California governor:  "I worked with Reagan."  Hence the "tinfoil hats" reference.)

[kphoger]

I knew the interchange plan has been in the works for a while.  I was just so disappointed to see the 47th St rework tackled before 235/54 or 135/254.