Examples of banked curves on public roads?

[kernals12]

Are banked curves used anywhere to allow high speed turns on public roads?

[Big John]

Yes everywhere, those are standard highway design standards. Referred to superelevation by civil engineers.

[kernals12]

Yes everywhere, those are standard highway design standards. Referred to superelevation by civil engineers.

Really? I haven't noticed them.

[Dirt Roads]

Are banked curves used anywhere to allow high speed turns on public roads?

Ever heard of the West Virginia Turnpike?  In addition to high banking in many of its tight curves, the Turnpike actually has some high reverse banking in a few curves that allow both sets of lanes to remain on the same plane (most likely to simplify the curve drainage, but there are other possibilities).

[Rothman]

Yes everywhere, those are standard highway design standards. Referred to superelevation by civil engineers.

Really? I haven't noticed them.

Really really...

[Mapmikey]

Yes everywhere, those are standard highway design standards. Referred to superelevation by civil engineers.

Really? I haven't noticed them.

Here's one within walking distance of my grandmother's house on US 64.  It was more obvious when it was still 2-lane...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AgAZXN5gf8dDirpc9

[kernals12]

Okay, I think I was wondering about steeply banked curves

[SectorZ]

Kernals, best example I can give from your old home area is watching snow from snow banks melt. That will give you a good sense in some curves with how they are banked by watching the melt descend across from one side to the other.

[Mapmikey]

This one is terrific to drive at 55 mph because it's a double banked curve set with almost no level piece between the two.  So when you change to opposite banking there is a cool visual and sensory effect:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/CwwDjQHKg53dp8er5

[1995hoo]

Okay, I think I was wondering about steeply banked curves

Do you mean the sort of thing you see on some NASCAR racetracks?

[Dirt Roads]

Okay, I think I was wondering about steeply banked curves

Do you mean the sort of thing you see on some NASCAR racetracks?

This doozy across the Cabin Creek bridge is much steeper than it looks on GSV, particularly in the southbound direction (coming towards this view).  I don't think that it is the steepest banking on the West Virginia Turnpike, but it is probably most notorious.

[pderocco]

Flyovers are often pretty significantly banked.

[1995hoo]

BTW, Google found the following: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=33727.0

[pderocco]

I recall from my youth that some of the curves on the Taconic State Parkway in NY were banked the wrong way. That's even more exciting.

[kphoger]

Flyovers are often pretty significantly banked.

This is especially noticeable if you're stuck in a traffic jam on it.

[Road Hog]

Banked curves nowadays are standard. They don't have to be like Talladega, just enough to allow reasonable speed to be kept.

[Scott5114]

One of the first times I drove a car myself in Kansas I was surprised at how much more banked the curves were  on the then-recently reconstructed sections of I-35 east of Emporia than I was used to in Oklahoma. It felt almost like the road was driving itself.

[jeffandnicole]

Okay, I think I was wondering about steeply banked curves

Do you mean the sort of thing you see on some NASCAR racetracks?

That's what I'm thinking he's thinking.  But he's also probably missing the connection that a banked curve on a NASCAR oval is designed for 150 mph speeds.  Comparably, a banked curve on a 65 mph roadway or a 35 mph roadway doesn't need to have the same superelevation.

As for examples, there's several I can think of, but this is probably my best: I-95 North as it curves over I-295 South near Wilmington, DE.
View of support piers on 295: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DHiK8UBMQUUw5YBP8
View on 95: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GTss5bcCwX4sLgyN7 It's tough to tell in a picture, but the roadbed on the right shoulder will be higher than the car's roof in the left lane.

[kernals12]

Okay, I think I was wondering about steeply banked curves

Do you mean the sort of thing you see on some NASCAR racetracks?

That's what I'm thinking he's thinking.  But he's also probably missing the connection that a banked curve on a NASCAR oval is designed for 150 mph speeds.  Comparably, a banked curve on a 65 mph roadway or a 35 mph roadway doesn't need to have the same superelevation.

As for examples, there's several I can think of, but this is probably my best: I-95 North as it curves over I-295 South near Wilmington, DE.
View of support piers on 295: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DHiK8UBMQUUw5YBP8
View on 95: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GTss5bcCwX4sLgyN7 It's tough to tell in a picture, but the roadbed on the right shoulder will be higher than the car's roof in the left lane.

But I mean wouldn't a Nascar style curve allow for higher speeds with a smaller turning radius?

[paulthemapguy]

Are banked curves used anywhere to allow high speed turns on public roads?

Have you been on public roads?

[TheStranger]

Not in place anymore, but a NASCAR-style banked curve was technically part of a public road in Berlin at one point...but only as a purpose-built connection when that expressway/Autobahn was used as the AVUS racetrack.

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/ee5tg4/avus_and_its_famous_43_banking/

Though racing would continue on this expressway circuit (not even the only one Germany ever had) into the mid-90s, the banked section was dismantled by the end of the sixties.

Google Maps of where the racetrack used to be, with the Autobahn still in use to this day for Berlin commuters:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/AVUS+berlin+map/@52.4627565,13.1624513,12z/data=!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIxNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

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Intentionally going this route on the same theme:

The Nurburgring Nordschleife racetrack, also in Germany, (former Formula One circuit, still holds touring car races on the regular including a yearly 24 hour event) is a public road on non-race days, where for a toll anyone can experience driving one of the most legendary motorsports circuits in the world.  It has a low-speed banked turn that has become an iconic vantage point:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a20745890/mastering-the-nurbugrings-most-famous-corner/
https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2020/motorsports/porsche-nuerburgring-nordschleife-caracciola-karussell-22455.html

[Scott5114]

But I mean wouldn't a Nascar style curve allow for higher speeds with a smaller turning radius?

Higher superelevation = more dirt work = more expensive

[Big John]

But I mean wouldn't a Nascar style curve allow for higher speeds with a smaller turning radius?

Higher superelevation = more dirt work = more expensive

also less control for the non-professional drivers. Also problemic in northern climates where sliding is more likely to occur in slippery conditions.

[Mapmikey]

But I mean wouldn't a Nascar style curve allow for higher speeds with a smaller turning radius?

Higher superelevation = more dirt work = more expensive

also less control for the non-professional drivers. Also problemic in northern climates where sliding is more likely to occur in slippery conditions.

Also, steeper banks require a minimum speed to keep from sliding down the banking.  On some NASCAR tracks that speed is well above 40 mph.  To have that on a public road would mean you couldn't have a vehicle have a mechanical problem or have to brake for any reason within the curve without risking head on collisions.

[GaryV]

Maybe the next technical breakthrough would be a road that senses the speed of the vehicles on it, and increases or decreases the banking of the road to compensate. That way the 150 mph cars could keep going strong, yet grandma on the way to bingo could putter along at her pace.

(where's that sarcasm emoji?)