The BEST Transportation Agency in the U.S.

[J N Winkler]

ISTHA is the only transport agency where at least one employee has actively yelled at me* (how dare I photograph their tiny stop sign! Obviously I'm going to send that photo to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban or god forbid the Russians). Puts them far out of the running for me.

They also allow their planroom contractor to charge, so they aren't very high on my medal list.

[corco]

I guess ITD would rank pretty well up there

- Roads in decent shape for a northern climate
- Signage is very, very consistent and well done, although boring because of its consistency
- Good plowing capabilities
- System serves everything without being dense (though Idaho has an Indiana-sized patch of amazing awesome wilderness with very limited road access)
- No Clearview
- Stays on top of shit without experimenting with everything. Idaho has SPUIs and roundabouts, but probably won't put in any death diamonds until they are more established. Idaho embraced the FYA, but only after it made it into the MUTCD.

Idaho is a pretty boring state to roadgeek in, because everything is so consistently done, but it is a good DOT.

[mcdonaat]

I'd give the nod to Louisiana. Somewhat biased, but hear me out!

• We don't truncate any U.S. routes that aren't duplicated by other U.S. routes
• We have new Interstate being built as 75 MPH
• Our U.S. highways still follow the old two-laned roads next to the Interstate
• Other than along the I-10 corridor, Clearview is used cleanly, proportionally, and never in route shields or in black text
• We sign our concurrencies well
• TIMED project has churned out some very nice jobs, as in, the Huey P widening and four-laning rural US highways and state highways
• Much of our rural highways are mowed fairly often
• We use communities and local points of interest on directional signage

not decommissioning is a good thing??

I believe so. U.S. routes are way better than state routes, because someone living in Brookhaven, MS, can drive the long way to Fort Worth, head south, and immediately connect that U.S. 84 in Texas connects with U.S. 84 in Mississippi. You can't always do that with state routes.

U.S. routes have plenty of history, and should be cherished as historic and important roads, not just a number to chop off and give to a state highway. U.S. 80 could have been saved west of Dallas, U.S. 66 could have been saved, and so forth.

[-NCX75-]

I'd give the nod to Louisiana. Somewhat biased, but hear me out!

• We don't truncate any U.S. routes that aren't duplicated by other U.S. routes
• We have new Interstate being built as 75 MPH
• Our U.S. highways still follow the old two-laned roads next to the Interstate
• Other than along the I-10 corridor, Clearview is used cleanly, proportionally, and never in route shields or in black text
• We sign our concurrencies well
• TIMED project has churned out some very nice jobs, as in, the Huey P widening and four-laning rural US highways and state highways
• Much of our rural highways are mowed fairly often
• We use communities and local points of interest on directional signage

I'm sorry but Louisiana's roads that I've been on are terrible. I-20 west of Shreveport, parts of I-49 and pretty much all of I-10 east of Lafayette is in dire need of resurfacing. The bridges seem to be ready to fall apart and the infrastructure is old and narrow. There are pretty much no services along I-49, but I-20 is fine and I-10 is excusable because it's over the swamp. Plus, what's up with those weird interchanges? Louisiana, for the most part, sucks. Of course I didn't spend much time there, so I don't really know the roads... I-10 in Metairie is nice though, and the Crescent City connectors are awesome.

In my experience, I'd give the nod to Texas.

Our new projects are awesome and go up relatively quick, but old highways are still prevalent and terrible, especially in the DFW area.

[Scott5114]

Yeah, I-35E between Denton and downtown is no picnic, and the photos I've seen of US-75 make it look like not much fun either.

[Tarkus]

Having just driven hundreds of miles in the Bay Area--including 60 miles of US-101 in morning rush hour--I'm actually quite impressed with CalTrans.  They actually built the infrastructure they needed, and when I got back to Oregon, the roads here looked like absolute crap.  ODOT is just plain terrible in every sense of the word.  Part of their problem is political--I suspect they'd be a fair bit better if we didn't have 20 years of Kitzlongoski.  There's a few nice folks there, but overall, the department is run in a really bizarre and somewhat standoffish fashion.

NDOT in Nevada also seems pretty solid from what I've seen (compare NV-140 with OR-140--it's night and day).  WSDOT is hit and miss.  They seem pretty on top of where the trouble spots are and how to deal with them, but occasionally, they flub pretty bad (see the Snoqualmie incident in the mid-2000s, the WA-520 bridge debacle).

[JoePCool14]

Let's go in depth with IDOT.

• Clearview. Please stop using it the wrong way it hurts my eyes!  HOWEVER they just resigned I-53 and I don't know if they used a contractor but the signs look fantastic and use Clearview correctly. Also saw a new sign on I-94 East just south of downtown with Clearview used correctly. So... fingers crossed!
• Inconsistency. I've seen some very awkward signage from them recently in Chicago.
• Exit Gore Signs. They suck. Wrong arrows, really small, crappy assembly in general. Just in general bad.
• Signs Pointing to the Freeways (and other routes). This is  severely lacking in my area. Even the signs for the ramps are probably 20 years old, faded, and not legible. Trust me, they are not good.

For now that's all I can think of.

[cpzilliacus]

Of the states I regularly drive through, I would nominate NCDOT.

• Good signage practices
• No Clearview
• Active role in new Interstate construction (I-73/74, I-485, I-285, Greensboro Urban Loop, etc
• Large sections of 70 MPH, with progress towards 75
• Roads are well-maintained and generally free of debris

Though much of I-95 across the Tar Heel State is miserable in terms of deficient interchanges and narrow bridges (though the pavement is nearly always smooth).

[cpzilliacus]

Most toll road agencies and private operators keep their roads in decent to good condition, and upgrade them when they can, and seem to run their roads as the businesses (that they are when a user fee is charged).

And at least in the U.S., toll roads seem to have super-aggressive winter maintenance, which I appreciate.

[agentsteel53]

Idaho is a pretty boring state to roadgeek in, because everything is so consistently done, but it is a good DOT.

the old business loops have lots of buried treasure.  at least, as of 2009-10 or so.  state named interstate shields, the occasional '61 spec US route marker. 

also, tons of button copy on I-84, some of which still has shadows of numbers like I-80N and I-15W.

[corco]

Idaho is a pretty boring state to roadgeek in, because everything is so consistently done, but it is a good DOT.

the old business loops have lots of buried treasure.  at least, as of 2009-10 or so.  state named interstate shields, the occasional '61 spec US route marker. 

also, tons of button copy on I-84, some of which still has shadows of numbers like I-80N and I-15W.

Yeah, Idaho has put in a lot of new signs in the past couple years- there is still a button copy sign here or there on the interstates. Most of it is gone on I 84 now though- at this point I 15 and I 90 are probably better for button copy.

I am almost certain there are no state named shields left in the entire state. The last ones I was aware of disappeared in 2012 or so. I haven't properly scoured the I 90 loops though, but I plan to this weekend. There are still a couple original spec business loop shields though around Pocatello

[roadman]

Is there anything bad that NHDOT does?

I've never been thrilled about the fact that a "major" NHDOT freeway sign replacement project normally involves only two or three interchanges at most.

[agentsteel53]

I am almost certain there are no state named shields left in the entire state.

gone?



the mainline one on I-90 is gone.  what about the very first mainline I-15 shield coming southbound from Montana? 

and I-86 at whichever exit this is?



also I know there's a few of less than official origin around the Boise area; mainly trailblazers for routes miles away.  let me know if there needs to be more made of less than official origin.  I'll make sure the relevant parties get right on it.

[corco]

The one on I 15 is gone-
http://www.corcohighways.org/highways/id/15/mtto22/1.jpg

I'll be in Pokie on Friday, so I'll check on that second one.

I forgot about that 86 shield. That one might still exist. I'll check if I have time.

I was only aware of two in and around Boise, and both are definitely gone, so, yeah, whatever has to happen.

[CANALLER]

Not even a single positive mention for N.Y.S.D.O.T.?

Thanks guys.

[DaBigE]

Not even a single positive mention for N.Y.S.D.O.T.?

Thanks guys.

Don't worry, there's at least 20-25 other DOTs (rough guess) that haven't been mentioned yet.

[hotdogPi]

Don't worry, there's at least 20-25 other DOTs (rough guess) that haven't been mentioned yet.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[vdeane]

Not even a single positive mention for N.Y.S.D.O.T.?

Thanks guys.

I was debating about it.  I don't know if the ranking compensates for budgetary restrictions or not.

At the very least, my region deserves mention for these wonderful tenth mile markers I can't help but gawk at every day: http://goo.gl/maps/a0WEW

[JoePCool14]

Green on white is for negative numbers I think. Therefore that sign is 3 - 6 = -3. 

[Avalanchez71]

TDOT
The interstates in Tennessee are in pretty good condition.  TDOT signs several splits, 31E, 31W, and suffixes as well.

[Mergingtraffic]

CTDOT only, and mean this, ONLY for customer service.  They always respond to comments or e-mails.   They also give me very detailed responses and pdf plans etc.  They have even changed road lines based on my comments. 

Everything else sucks...except the I-691/I-84 interchange and the I-84/I-291/I-384 interchange.  I could rant but I'd be here FOREVER.

[-NCX75-]

I'd like to shout out to CO... well maintained roads, clear signage, and excellent design are abound. It's hard not to put the state that built I-70 Glenwood Canyon near the top.

[Takumi]

Caltrans Sorry, got hacked by blawp there.

I'd have to agree with NCDOT, out of the few states I've visited. MD SHA is decent, and VDOT is...well, I have my avatar for a reason.

[Bruce]

WSDOT has steadily become worse and worse. Big Bertha is just the latest in a series of bad projects.

[hotdogPi]

Caltrans Sorry, got hacked by blawp there.

How did he figure out your password?