Which little details in US/Interstate highway systems really bother you?

Started by mrpablue, November 04, 2017, 03:59:30 AM

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MNHighwayMan

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.

THE POINT

>>>>

YOU


Roadgeekteen

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on November 11, 2017, 11:11:42 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.

THE POINT

>>>>

YOU
I get the point. Mileage based is better.
My username has been outdated since August 2023 but I'm too lazy to change it

lordsutch

States not moving US designations onto better alignments or at least requesting an ALT US designation for the better routing is a bit of a personal peeve: examples include US 41 north of Terre Haute (effectively replaced by IN 63) and US 80 east of Columbus (really should be on GA 96 & GA 49 now).

A peeve noted by someone else that I share: GDOT's insistence on posting lengthy state highway multiplexes that would be hidden in every other state is also annoying and a waste of money; there are thousands of superfluous signs out there. God only knows how many thousands of dollars and man-hours have been wasted making and posting them over the years.

froggie

^ A similar argument could be made for why Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee all have state routes underlying US (and Interstate) routes to begin with.  Especially in Alabama and Tennessee where there is no duplication anyway (Georgia being an entirely different animal in that regard).

Scott5114

Quote from: kkt on November 09, 2017, 05:43:43 PM
I really wish the signage included which side of the freeway an upcoming exit is on.  It doesn't help to warn me two miles in advance of my exit if I'm not sure which side I should be getting over to.  Standards are better recently, but the old signs are mostly still there.

It's been part of the MUTCD for years that left exits have the tab on the left and right exits have the tab on the right.

Some states use full-width and/or centered exit tabs, though, which are useless for anything but telling the exit number.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.

Must be nice when your entire life involved the internet.

21stCenturyRoad

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 11:26:55 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on November 11, 2017, 11:11:42 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.

THE POINT

>>>>

YOU
I get the point. Mileage based is better.
No, you didn't get the point. Otherwise, MNHighwayMan wouldn't have called out on it. Just admit that you didn't get the point instead of getting all defensive.
The truth is the truth even if no one believes it, and a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it.

csw

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.
It's extremely useful for several reasons. You can know exactly how far you have to go to get to your exit just by looking at mile markers, you can know exactly how far away a state line is if you're traveling south or west, and you can get a rough idea of the distance between exits. With sequential numbering, exits 4 and 5 could be 1 mile apart, or they could be 15 miles apart. In short, there's less uncertainty with mileage-based exits.

jwolfer

Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2017, 07:02:52 AM
^ A similar argument could be made for why Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee all have state routes underlying US (and Interstate) routes to begin with.  Especially in Alabama and Tennessee where there is no duplication anyway (Georgia being an entirely different animal in that regard).
Florida really doesn't post the underlying SR number.. the SR numbers fit the grid they are not just random like in Georgia

Z981

dvferyance

Plenty that I-19 is in metric that I-49 does not go all the way to downtown KC. But what really bothers me the most more than anything else by far is that obsurd an unnecessary I-41 duplex from the zoo interchange down to the Illinois state line. What were they thinking I will never understand. And we all know Illinois will never extend I-41 so it;s not like it's there for the future. I think the I-29 duplex with I-35 is stupid too but just less so. I am sure their are others but this is what came to mind.

dvferyance

Quote from: csw on November 06, 2017, 06:53:57 PM
Quote from: plain on November 06, 2017, 04:59:10 PM
Unnecessary roundabouts that replace perfectly fine stop signs or traffic signals
May I ask why? I can't think of any stop or signal arrangement that is more convenient than a roundabout.
Uh New Berlin WI the ones on Moorland by I-43 are a nightmare. Accidents went up more traffic then what they can handle back ups onto the freeway. Also roundabouts cost way more than stop signs. I don;t know what this has to do with the topic but I agree.

kkt

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.

When the exits are numbered by mileage, you can tell how far away the exit you want is as you drive, without pulling over and getting your device out.  "Ooh, I want exit 177 and I now passing exit 174; I guess I won't bother passing that slow vehicle." "Hm, 57 miles to go, I guess we can get to our destination before having lunch."

(You DO pull over before dinking with your device, don't you?)


kkt

Quote from: Scott5114 on November 12, 2017, 07:35:47 AM
Quote from: kkt on November 09, 2017, 05:43:43 PM
I really wish the signage included which side of the freeway an upcoming exit is on.  It doesn't help to warn me two miles in advance of my exit if I'm not sure which side I should be getting over to.  Standards are better recently, but the old signs are mostly still there.

It's been part of the MUTCD for years that left exits have the tab on the left and right exits have the tab on the right.

Some states use full-width and/or centered exit tabs, though, which are useless for anything but telling the exit number.

There are still an awful lot of exits with no indication of which side they're going to be on, and certainly not at every upcoming exit sign, just selected ones.

hbelkins

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.
[/quote]

Some of us were roadgeeks before Google Maps was in existence.

As others have said, it's easy to figure out how much farther you have to go on the fly with mileage-based exits. If you know you're exiting at Exit 99, and you're at mile marker 199, you know you have 100 miles to go before you exit.
Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

ekt8750

The fact that there's two I-76s has always bothered me. The western one really should be I-180 as it is a textbook odd number 3DI (even though it's I-80 that exits itself).

I'm sure I'll be called anal for this one but the northern end of US 113 getting cut back to Milford, DE servering its northern connection to US 13 in Dover. Never saw a point in that. The concurrency it would have had with DE1 was pretty short.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: ekt8750 on November 12, 2017, 11:55:15 PM
The fact that there's two I-76s has always bothered me. The western one really should be I-180 as it is a textbook odd number 3DI (even though it's I-80 that exits itself).

I'm sure I'll be called anal for this one but the northern end of US 113 getting cut back to Milford, DE servering its northern connection to US 13 in Dover. Never saw a point in that. The concurrency it would have had with DE1 was pretty short.
The western I-76 would be a very long 3di.
My username has been outdated since August 2023 but I'm too lazy to change it

csw

I think if any western "repeat" interstate should be a 3di, it's I-86.

ekt8750

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 13, 2017, 07:56:21 AM
Quote from: ekt8750 on November 12, 2017, 11:55:15 PM
The fact that there's two I-76s has always bothered me. The western one really should be I-180 as it is a textbook odd number 3DI (even though it's I-80 that exits itself).

I'm sure I'll be called anal for this one but the northern end of US 113 getting cut back to Milford, DE servering its northern connection to US 13 in Dover. Never saw a point in that. The concurrency it would have had with DE1 was pretty short.
The western I-76 would be a very long 3di.

I live 10 mins from the the southern end of I-476. Western 76 has nothing on that. Lol

jeffandnicole

Quote from: kkt on November 12, 2017, 12:19:05 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on November 12, 2017, 07:35:47 AM
Quote from: kkt on November 09, 2017, 05:43:43 PM
I really wish the signage included which side of the freeway an upcoming exit is on.  It doesn't help to warn me two miles in advance of my exit if I'm not sure which side I should be getting over to.  Standards are better recently, but the old signs are mostly still there.

It's been part of the MUTCD for years that left exits have the tab on the left and right exits have the tab on the right.

Some states use full-width and/or centered exit tabs, though, which are useless for anything but telling the exit number.

There are still an awful lot of exits with no indication of which side they're going to be on, and certainly not at every upcoming exit sign, just selected ones.


This may be a state-specific problem.  Most states are pretty good about the tab left/right justification.  And even without the tab, the sign should definitely say 'Left Exit 1 Mile' if the exit is on the left.

Jardine

In Iowa (and other states I'm sure) overpasses without interchanges aren't marked as to which road is going over them.

roadman

Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.
The Federal Register notice for the 2009 MUTCD included a compliance date for the remaining sequential states to convert over to mileage-based numbering.  It was removed from the final version of the 2009 MUTCD.  IMO, this was a serious mistake on FHWA's part.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

vdeane

Quote from: ekt8750 on November 13, 2017, 09:38:38 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 13, 2017, 07:56:21 AM
Quote from: ekt8750 on November 12, 2017, 11:55:15 PM
The fact that there's two I-76s has always bothered me. The western one really should be I-180 as it is a textbook odd number 3DI (even though it's I-80 that exits itself).

I'm sure I'll be called anal for this one but the northern end of US 113 getting cut back to Milford, DE servering its northern connection to US 13 in Dover. Never saw a point in that. The concurrency it would have had with DE1 was pretty short.
The western I-76 would be a very long 3di.

I live 10 mins from the the southern end of I-476. Western 76 has nothing on that. Lol
I-476 is 131 miles long.  The western I-76 is 182 miles long.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

kphoger

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 11:26:55 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on November 11, 2017, 11:11:42 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 11, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Quote from: thenetwork on November 11, 2017, 10:26:11 AM
States which still number their exits sequentially, or a combination of mileage-based & sequential.

I was in Texas last week and looked on a map considering if I should sneak up from Dallas to Durant, OK for a little casino play.  When I saw that US-75, Exit 73 was near the Oklahoma border and Durant a little further north, I figured it was a 1 1/4-hour drive to the casino. 

Turned out US-75's were SEQUENTIAL in an area where practically everything else was Mileage-based, and what I thought was a 75 minute trip took a bit over 2 hours each way.
Is this a roadgeek thing to use exit numbers to figure out distances? Almost everyone uses google maps.

THE POINT

>>>>

YOU
I get the point. Mileage based is better.

Wait, wait.  Let's back this up a little bit.

By my calculations, it is approximately 71 miles from US-75 Exit 3 to Exit 72.  So that's a variance of about two miles.

How on earth did that cause your schedule to be thrown off by almost an hour?

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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: PKDIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

sparker

Quote from: vdeane on November 13, 2017, 12:50:08 PM
Quote from: ekt8750 on November 13, 2017, 09:38:38 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on November 13, 2017, 07:56:21 AM
Quote from: ekt8750 on November 12, 2017, 11:55:15 PM
The fact that there's two I-76s has always bothered me. The western one really should be I-180 as it is a textbook odd number 3DI (even though it's I-80 that exits itself).

I'm sure I'll be called anal for this one but the northern end of US 113 getting cut back to Milford, DE servering its northern connection to US 13 in Dover. Never saw a point in that. The concurrency it would have had with DE1 was pretty short.
The western I-76 would be a very long 3di.

I live 10 mins from the the southern end of I-476. Western 76 has nothing on that. Lol
I-476 is 131 miles long.  The western I-76 is 182 miles long.

Part of the push for the designation of the western I-76 was the desire of the state of Colorado -- once their DOT got the word from AASHTO (circa 1974) about renumbering suffixed Interstate route designations -- was to get I-80S re-designated and re-signed as "I-76" as part of their 1976 statehood centennial celebration, as (a) the number 76 was specifically important to that event, and (b) a large portion of in-state settlers came in via the South Platte River, along which much of I-80N/present I-76 travels.  I-76 became the first of the discontinuous even 2di's to displace a former suffixed designation, followed about 4 years later with the western I-84 and I-86, replacing I-80N and I-15W respectively. 

Henry

The fact that I-17's mileage and exit numbers start at a very high number (194) instead of 0 or 1, like the rest. Sure, it may have been a holdover from the old AZ 69/AZ 79 route, but this makes absolutely no sense. (BTW, it is 146 miles long, with 340 being the last exit number.)
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