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Road Problems your city or state will never likely fix

Started by silverback1065, October 02, 2020, 12:30:02 PM

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silverback1065

What are some major or at least significant road issues in your state or city that they will likely never fix? Either because they have explicitly said they never will or funding, etc. One example near me is the intersection of College Av. and Kessler Blvd. E Dr. in Indianapolis. This intersection is notoriously terrible during rush hour, in particular for Kessler traffic. the simple fix is to simply widen Kessler. This intersection has been studied and gets a LOS of F. Recently the Red Line BRT Line was added on College, possibly making it worse (not sure on this, the route is too new to tell). Anyway, the city has no plans on fixing this mess, what are some examples near you all?


JoePCool14


:) Needs more... :sombrero: Not quite... :bigass: Perfect.
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Finrod

Completing the interchange between I-75 and I-575 in Cobb.  Currently there are no ramps from I-575 South to I-75 North or I-75 South to I-575 North, and putting them in would require some major rock blasting.
Internet member since 1987.

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NWI_Irish96

Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

Bruce

Seattle: Balancing of lanes on I-5 when not traveling with the express lanes

The Mercer-520-45th weave mess

The lack of a comprehensive rail system serving all corners of the region (working on it...slowly)
Wikipedia - TravelMapping (100% of WA SRs)

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Flint1979

Saginaw: The following streets have at least some portions that need to be fixed.

Hess Street: An east side city street that becomes a country road east of Saginaw. The entire one way stretch east of the Saginaw River is chopped up pretty bad with poor pavement conditions. The I-75 overpass has a new bridge because MDOT did that during a series of bridge replacements between MM 148 and 145 as well as other ongoing projects on I-75. The two way stretch is in bad shape as well but I think the one way stretch needs to be fixed first. The one way in the other direction (Gallagher Street) is in bad shape too and they could be done at the same time. Williamson Street which crosses the two one way streets just was repaved a couple of summers ago.

Mackinaw Street: A long well known road in the area which simply becomes Mackinaw Road in the country, followed by Deep River Road in Arenac County and various names. In Saginaw though it just was repaved last summer from State Street (M-58) to Congress/Malzahn in front of Arthur Hill High School. Between Weiss and State it's still in decent shape but not the best, however between Congress/Malzahn and Hamilton it's chopped up and uneven pavement pretty much the entire way getting worse closer to Hamilton.

Fraser/Marquette and Vermont Street: The same street as Hess and Gallagher on the east side, these series of west side streets are in bad shape. I hit a pothole on Fraser Street between Fayette and Harrison just about every time I pass through there forgetting that the pothole is there.

There are more and I haven't seen a desire by Saginaw County or City to fix these roads. What's funny is Sheridan Avenue which is another street in pretty bad shape is the street that the Saginaw County Road Commission is located on, just south of Hess and Gallagher (mentioned earlier).


I-55

Indiana:

I-465 Exit 25

US-24 Red Lights in Wabash

Lack of bypass around Indiana's portion of Chicagoland

The regular backup on Keystone Pkwy from the 86th St exit to I-465


Mississippi:

That stupid 4 way stop on US-82 in Mathiston.

The Natchez Trace (if anyone finds it useful please let me know. A speed limit raise to 55 would make it at least not a total slog).
Purdue Civil Engineering '24
Quote from: I-55 on April 13, 2025, 09:39:41 PMThe correct question is "if ARDOT hasn't signed it, why does Google show it?" and the answer as usual is "because Google Maps signs stuff incorrectly all the time"

Dirt Roads

During most times of the year, NC-86/Bus US-70 through Hillsborough NC is an all-day traffic jam and has been for more than 15 years.  NCDOT has proposed north-south bypasses of downtown on several occasions, and all of the options are always opposed by the town and county officials.  This will never be fixed.  Trucks are virtually banned from downtown, which has steep grades and still has a little bit on-street parking.  For what it's worth, there is a little used bypass to the west of town (I-85 Connector), marked as Truck NC-86, but most of the issues are east of town due to close proximity to Durham.

Hillsborough is the county seat for Orange County, which includes Chapel Hill in the southeast corner.  The downtown section is surrounded by the scenic Eno River, which is a park-like setting throughout the town connected to Eno River State Park.  Southeast of town is the old Occoneechee Speedway, one of the original NASCAR dirt tracks that is now a local park managed by a historical trust.  Environmental opposition to roads is part of our heritage in Orange County, as the current route of US-70 was acquired for I-85 near the beginning of the Interstate era but stopped in the early 1950s because of the two river crossings.

Not only does Hillsborough need a north-south bypass to the east of town, but traffic on US-70 between Hillsborough and Durham is packed during rush hour (including the short four-lane section of I-85 between Exit 170 and the Durham city/county line).  In a twist of fate, the eastern bridge over the Eno River is currently being replaced in its original location.  The temporary bridge over the Eno River accidentally widens the corridor to accommodate a four-lane highway, which of course, will never be approved.


DTComposer

Bay Area:

These are "problems" (depending on your perspective) that I do not see being resolved at least in the next 40 years, if ever:
- Construction of an interchange between I-880 and CA-87 in San Jose
- Some sort of freeway connection through San Francisco between the Golden Gate Bridge and San Mateo County
- Freeway connection between I-880 and I-680 in Fremont or Milpitas

These are "problems" (depending on your perspective) that I could see being resolved, but not for at least 20 years:
- Improvements to substandard sections of CA-17 between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz (but not to full freeway standards)
- Freeway connection between US-101 and Dumbarton Bridge
- Freeway connection between I-80 and US-101 in the North Bay (could be CA-37 corridor or elsewhere)
- CA-152 as expressway/freeway between Gilroy and Casa de Fruta

*I added "depending on your perspective" because some of these (CA-17, freeway through SF) may not be considered a problem by a significant portion of the population.

MikieTimT

US-412 through Siloam Springs, AR will likely never be bypassed with 4-lane divided expressway like runs out of both sides of it.  They thought it best to 6 lane US-412 through town to deal with all of the through traffic.  They should have done a northern bypass instead.

ilpt4u

The New Harmony Wabash River bridge/formerly US 460 between IL and IN. I don't think it will ever be replaced, and has been closed for years

6 Laning (or more) of I-55 around Springfield, IL

M3100

Quote from: DTComposer on October 02, 2020, 05:41:55 PM
Bay Area:
- Freeway connection between I-880 and I-680 in Fremont or Milpitas

I take it you mean a fully grade-separated route.  I've used the Mission Blvd. extension (California SR 262?) and that works, to a point, but it is not a true freeway.

ibthebigd

Kentucky

4 lane US 25 between Georgetown Ky and Lexington

4 Lane US 27 between Lancaster and Somerset

Extend Cumberland Parkway to I-75

Eastbound exit to I-64 from the Mountain Parkway

4 Lane US 62 from Georgetown to Mount Sterling

Indiana

4 Lane IN 1 from I-70 to Connersville

Extend I-865 to I-74



SM-G950U


STLmapboy

Missouri:
Completing the MO-21 freeway south of Hillsboro
Expanding Highway 40 to 4 lanes each direction through Richmond Heights
Eliminating left exits at the 170/70 interchange (the geometry is super wonky)
Bypassing some medium-sized towns (Macon, Owensville, Jackson, Kennett)
Completing some bypasses (Mexico, Branson). The latter in particular, named the Ozark Mountain Highroad along Route 465-turned-76, was completed through rough terrain in 2003 and MoDOT has no plans to complete it.
Teenage STL area roadgeek.
Missouri>>>>>Illinois

ilpt4u

Quote from: STLmapboy on October 02, 2020, 08:00:55 PM
Missouri:
Bypassing some medium-sized towns (Macon, Owensville, Jackson, Kennett)
I'm a little shocked Hannibal isn't on that list, or are we still hopeful that MoDOT pulls that one off for the AotS?

STLmapboy

Quote from: ilpt4u on October 02, 2020, 08:24:18 PM
Quote from: STLmapboy on October 02, 2020, 08:00:55 PM
Missouri:
Bypassing some medium-sized towns (Macon, Owensville, Jackson, Kennett)
I'm a little shocked Hannibal isn't on that list, or are we still hopeful that MoDOT pulls that one off for the AotS?
That of course too. My mind was on 36/72 instead of AotS for some reason.
Teenage STL area roadgeek.
Missouri>>>>>Illinois

I-55

Quote from: ibthebigd on October 02, 2020, 07:41:16 PM
Extend I-865 to I-74

It'd be more likely an I-x74 along IN-32 but still won't happen.
Purdue Civil Engineering '24
Quote from: I-55 on April 13, 2025, 09:39:41 PMThe correct question is "if ARDOT hasn't signed it, why does Google show it?" and the answer as usual is "because Google Maps signs stuff incorrectly all the time"

Rothman

MA:  Upgrading the cloverleaf interchanges between interstates in the greater Boston area.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

roadman65

The new road diet on SR 37 in Lakeland, Flotilla.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: ibthebigd on October 02, 2020, 07:41:16 PM
Indiana

4 Lane IN 1 from I-70 to Connersville

Extend I-865 to I-74
SM-G950U

What problems would these roads solve? Are there so many people going from the NW side of Indy to I-74 that 86th St/IN 267 doesn't suffice? Is there so much traffic on IN 1 that 4-laning is jutified?
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

CapeCodder

Quote from: STLmapboy on October 02, 2020, 08:00:55 PM
Missouri:
Completing the MO-21 freeway south of Hillsboro
Expanding Highway 40 to 4 lanes each direction through Richmond Heights
Eliminating left exits at the 170/70 interchange (the geometry is super wonky)

Where would the new MO 21 freeway go? It bypasses Desoto and Hillsboro. The terrain gets sharper south of there.

I don't think they could expand it to a full eight lanes.

I agree with this one. The first exit from 170 to 70 WB puts you in the left lane. The second one puts you far right for the airport. There should just be one.

Revive 755

Quote from: CapeCodder on October 03, 2020, 11:21:50 AM
Quote from: STLmapboy on October 02, 2020, 08:00:55 PM
Missouri:
Completing the MO-21 freeway south of Hillsboro
Expanding Highway 40 to 4 lanes each direction through Richmond Heights
Eliminating left exits at the 170/70 interchange (the geometry is super wonky)

Where would the new MO 21 freeway go? It bypasses Desoto and Hillsboro. The terrain gets sharper south of there.

IIRC it was supposed to stay west of but relatively close to existing MO 21, curving east to terminate at existing MO 21 south of Rte H.

Flint1979

Quote from: ibthebigd on October 02, 2020, 07:41:16 PM
Indiana

4 Lane IN 1 from I-70 to Connersville

Extend I-865 to I-74



SM-G950U
I don't see the need for expanding IN-1 to four lanes. The traffic volumes around the I-70 exit are under 10,000 VPD and it gets lower as you head toward Connersville.

As far as I-865 goes, how are you going to extend it any further west? There is development just west of where I-865 dumps into I-65. All this would have to be demolished for any extending of I-865
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silverback1065

there's no need to extend 865, no one uses 74 west of indy anyway, it's one of the least traveled interstates in the state.

hbelkins

Quote from: ibthebigd on October 02, 2020, 07:41:16 PM
Kentucky

4 lane US 25 between Georgetown Ky and Lexington

Not needed. I-75 carries the through traffic.

Quote4 Lane US 27 between Lancaster and Somerset

Not needed. A few passing lanes are all that's needed.

QuoteExtend Cumberland Parkway to I-75

Not needed. Although the parkway will be extended to the KY 80/KY 461 intersection, the existing KY 80 carries traffic just fine.

QuoteEastbound exit to I-64 from the Mountain Parkway

Not really needed, but there is a plan under development to make that interchange fully directional.

Quote4 Lane US 62 from Georgetown to Mount Sterling

You mean US 460, but this isn't really needed. Through traffic is going to use I-75 and I-74.

What Kentucky really needs is to extend the BG Parkway to I-64.
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