Disappointing roads

[bugo]

When I was a kid, I noticed that old US 81 in Kansas from Newton to Wichita was 4 lanes divided on some maps.  I always wanted to drive it.  Imagine my disappointment when I discovered it was just a 4 lane undivided highway.  I ended up getting back on I-135 at the next exit. 

What roads have been disappointing to you?

[CNGL-Leudimin]

The Blue Ridge Parkway. At least for the Top Gear guys.

[dgolub]

The various state routes in the Mount Pocono area.  I expected that there would be all sorts of nice scenery, and it turned out to be very underwhelming.  We got back on the highway that day and went up to Scranton instead.

[signalman]

The various state routes in the Mount Pocono area.  I expected that there would be all sorts of nice scenery, and it turned out to be very underwhelming.  We got back on the highway that day and went up to Scranton instead.

Scranton?  You went from Mount Pocono to Scranton?  That's going from bad to worse. 

[J N Winkler]

When I was a kid, I noticed that old US 81 in Kansas from Newton to Wichita was 4 lanes divided on some maps.  I always wanted to drive it.  Imagine my disappointment when I discovered it was just a 4 lane undivided highway.  I ended up getting back on I-135 at the next exit.

I would say that US 81's standing as a rural undivided four-lane highway is the real draw factor--in comparison to expressways and divided rural arterials, there are very few of those around.  In fact, US 81's design was considered experimental in Kansas at the time it was built to this cross-section in the mid-1930's.  It strikes me that this is really a complaint about deceptive map symbolism.

In regard to highway disappointments more generally, US 101 in Oregon is the example that always comes to mind for me.  It is heavily promoted for coast scenery and the McCullough bridges.  In actuality, the bridges are few and far between (just fourteen, one of which deteriorated to the extent that it had to be replaced and removed, in about 350 miles), and the highway itself generally affords the absolute worst vantage point for seeing the architectural details of each bridge.  US 101 is actually within sight of the sea for probably less than 25% of its total length within Oregon.  It does have a considerable amount of ribbon development, as well as between ten and fifteen intervals of reduced operating speed with frequent curves posted with advisory speeds well below the limit.

State DOT photologging imagery provides a way to preview a route before you commit to it.  (If you are thinking of seeing US 101 in Oregon in its entirety, for example, you must budget at least a whole day for the drive.)  The best type of photologging for this purpose is still imagery, which is currently available over the Web only for Washington, Oregon (with a hack), Utah, and Colorado, but this still accounts for a large share of the highways in the US that are promoted as scenic.

[kurumi]

Most disappointing interchange: US 7 and CT 15, Norwalk. It opened in 1992, before detailed project information was easy to find. I drove down there to check it out, knowing nothing more than that it was open to traffic. Picturing something like this: http://goo.gl/maps/qBzGT, but instead saw this: http://goo.gl/maps/k13Lp. I think my reaction might have included some profanity.

[jemacedo9]

I enjoyed the US 101 Oregon coast drive immensely...though I did it over two days and took quite a few site trips towards the coast off of 101.  The side trips made it worthwhile - Cannon Beach, Pacific City, Bandon to name three.  And I also agree w/ your comment about the bridge architecture...it was better to get off 101 and try to get next to or under those bridges to appreciate them.

[vdeane]

Most disappointing interchange: US 7 and CT 15, Norwalk. It opened in 1992, before detailed project information was easy to find. I drove down there to check it out, knowing nothing more than that it was open to traffic. Picturing something like this: http://goo.gl/maps/qBzGT, but instead saw this: http://goo.gl/maps/k13Lp. I think my reaction might have included some profanity.

Were there plans for a more expansive interchange?  Google shows what looks like ROW for c/d lanes.

[kurumi]

Most disappointing interchange: US 7 and CT 15, Norwalk. It opened in 1992, before detailed project information was easy to find. I drove down there to check it out, knowing nothing more than that it was open to traffic. Picturing something like this: http://goo.gl/maps/qBzGT, but instead saw this: http://goo.gl/maps/k13Lp. I think my reaction might have included some profanity.

Were there plans for a more expansive interchange?  Google shows what looks like ROW for c/d lanes.

The state did plan to complete the interchange with 4 additional ramps; see diagram here: http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/xc-7-15.html. However, work was halted by a lawsuit (my page is out of date) and no construction has been done since.

[jeffandnicole]

US 1 thru the Keys in Florida.  It's just a long, long, long road.  Sure, there's a few interesting things to see, and looking at the bridges spanning over the water is nice, but overall, to reach the ultimate destination (Key West), it's just a long, boring road!

The various state routes in the Mount Pocono area.  I expected that there would be all sorts of nice scenery, and it turned out to be very underwhelming.  We got back on the highway that day and went up to Scranton instead.

Damn trees and forests and such!  Many times, the best views are further away when you can see over those trees and at night, when the ski trails are lit.

[bugo]

US 1 thru the Keys in Florida.  It's just a long, long, long road.  Sure, there's a few interesting things to see, and looking at the bridges spanning over the water is nice, but overall, to reach the ultimate destination (Key West), it's just a long, boring road!

I strongly disagree.

[agentsteel53]

agreed on US-1 to Key West.  you drive it once, just so you never have to drive it again.  too many RVs and other idiots clogging up the road.

add to the list: the Legacy Parkway in Salt Lake City.  I thought I had discovered some ancient and obscure city-built freeway, but it was all shiny and new and covered in Clearview.

this in stark contrast to the West Seattle Bridge/Spokane St. Viaduct in Seattle - most of the signs there are original to the construction of the road in 1984.

[empirestate]

The various state routes in the Mount Pocono area.  I expected that there would be all sorts of nice scenery, and it turned out to be very underwhelming.  We got back on the highway that day and went up to Scranton instead.

Damn trees and forests and such!  Many times, the best views are further away when you can see over those trees and at night, when the ski trails are lit.

The Poconos are very disappointing indeed; I've never understood the appeal compared to so many other parts of PA. Add to that the worst of traffic and driving habits of the adjoining NYC metro, and it's an area best avoided, in my book.

[hbelkins]

Living in the Appalachians, I'm used to mountain scenery and have been unimpressed with the Poconos, although I have really only been through there on the interstates. I suspect they get their mystique from being mountains near to the NYC metro area yet they're a state removed.

[empirestate]

Living in the Appalachians, I'm used to mountain scenery and have been unimpressed with the Poconos, although I have really only been through there on the interstates. I suspect they get their mystique from being mountains near to the NYC metro area yet they're a state removed.

I guess so too, but there aren't even mountains there to speak of. And the Catskills are also close enough to NYC, not to mention landforms even more nearby, that I'm surprised by the Poconos' draw even to city folk. Oh well; give the real Appalachian scenery any day of the week!

[briantroutman]

US 1 thru the Keys in Florida.  It's just a long, long, long road.  Sure, there's a few interesting things to see, and looking at the bridges spanning over the water is nice, but overall, to reach the ultimate destination (Key West), it's just a long, boring road!

I strongly disagree.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's just a long, long road, I will agree that US 1 through the Florida Keys is a disappointment. It's long, narrow, and not much more scenic than any other oceanfront boulevard or causeway. And it stinks–literally, the odor–unbelievably.

In my opinion, Key West as a whole was a huge letdown. I had images of a pristine tropical paradise, and what I found was a fairly run-of-the mill junky beach town–with the addition of roosters and the Hemingway House. I lived a brief while in Wilmington, NC, and Key West about the same level of tacky tourists, run-down motels, cheap liquor stores, and uncouth nightlife.

[Pete from Boston]

Living in the Appalachians, I'm used to mountain scenery and have been unimpressed with the Poconos, although I have really only been through there on the interstates. I suspect they get their mystique from being mountains near to the NYC metro area yet they're a state removed.

I guess so too, but there aren't even mountains there to speak of. And the Catskills are also close enough to NYC, not to mention landforms even more nearby, that I'm surprised by the Poconos' draw even to city folk. Oh well; give the real Appalachian scenery any day of the week!

Well, the Poconos are a short drive from New York or Philly. I don't know if they had a similar pre-cheap-air-travel heyday to that of the Catskills, but I would not be surprised if so.

By the 1970s, there were a lot of commercials like this trying to draw people there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dOsgyw7yBw&sns=em

but I have not seen one of those in the New York area in many years. It's just too cheap to fly to the Bahamas for a long weekend.

[corco]

Louisiana 34. Maybe I had just hyped it up in my mind, but I was expecting a lot more. As it is, the towns arent very interesting and the vegetation is so dense you cant see anything.

[US 41]

SR 641 in Terre Haute. It's taken 10 years to build 3 miles of road. Construction was supposed to start on the last 2 phases of the route in 2012. The only thing that has been completed is tree removal. No road construction has started yet. I-69 might be finished in all of Indiana before SR 641. That's disappointing.

[formulanone]

I-10 in Florida: Built to avoid nearly anything near anybody, and it shows...other than overpasses and the occassional 50-foot-high sign, you might think it's devoid of human civilization between Jacksonville and Pensacola, with the exception of scraping Tallahassee's northern border for a few miles.

[agentsteel53]

I-10 in Florida: Built to avoid nearly anything near anybody, and it shows...other than overpasses and the occassional 50-foot-high sign, you might think it's devoid of human civilization between Jacksonville and Pensacola, with the exception of scraping Tallahassee's northern border for a few miles.

five times in my life I've come close to falling asleep at the wheel.  twice have been on I-10 in Florida.  once was I-75 in the same general vicinity.

[Takumi]

The Greensboro Urban Loop.

[formulanone]

When you look to the sides and think "Oh, look a farmhouse!" that says a lot. It's a rare peek a habitation from a mere distance that's almost surprising in those parts; most of the rest of the state doesn't really do that, unless it really is uninhabited. The overgrown vegetation and repetitive trees don't give many clues from one part of the panhandle from another, which is kind of disconcerting.

Coming from the southern part of the state, I was expecting the rolling hills to be more interesting, but it wasn't quite the Panhandlebahn I was hoping for.

[Pete from Boston]

SR 641 in Terre Haute. It's taken 10 years to build 3 miles of road. Construction was supposed to start on the last 2 phases of the route in 2012. The only thing that has been completed is tree removal. No road construction has started yet. I-69 might be finished in all of Indiana before SR 641. That's disappointing.

Speaking of boring and 69, we drove it a few weeks after the bulk of it opened.  My god, I was never so excited to see a power plant.  I think I've just been trained to expect a certain low minimum of visual clutter on a midwest Interstate.  I still have a hard time with the idea that I feel emptiness where there's no Shoney's or Shell.  I'd better be careful what I wish for.

[xcellntbuy]

agreed on US-1 to Key West.  you drive it once, just so you never have to drive it again.  too many RVs and other idiots clogging up the road.

You have to choose the right time to go.  I drove my new Corvette as far south as the Seven Mile Bridge two weeks after Easter just passed "the season."  It was a stunningly beautiful day and very little traffic.  Spent a long time enjoying the view and examining the now 100+ year old original Seven Mile Bridge which still stands.