Roads that need more passing lanes

[OCGuy81]

What roads can you all think of that are those "crap, I got caught behind a semi, now I'm stuck for a long while" roads?

I'll give an example.  Driving recently from my house in Bend, OR to see some friends in Portland, I went over the Cascades Mountains via US 20 to OR 22, to I-5 (wanted to hike around Detroit Lake en route).  I got caught behind a semi soon after 22 split off of 20, and didn't have any passing opportunity until Detroit.  Actually, driving the road after stopping, there didn't appear to be any passing lanes until pretty far west of the Detroit Lake area.

This is probably most prevalent in the mountains.  What roads can you think of that need more (or better/longer) passing lanes?

[agentsteel53]

I remember US-6 across Pennsylvania being a terrible slog. 

why aren't all those trucks taking 80?

[1995hoo]

I assume you don't intend to confine this to two-lane roads where you pass over the center line and that's OK to include multiple-lane roads on which passing is difficult due to the volume of traffic or other issues.

The following two readily come to mind:

I-81, at least the portion from Scranton on down to the northern end of the I-77 concurrency. (I haven't been on the other segments often enough to comment on those; if I take I-81 south, I normally turn south on I-77 towards Charlotte.) The volume of truck traffic, coupled with there generally being only two lanes on each side, makes it extremely hard to pass. There have been some improvements down beyond Roanoke with the addition of some climbing lanes for slow vehicles, but those are limited improvements. The road really needs a third lane.

I-95 through much of North and South Carolina, except around Florence and Fayetteville, would be another. To me the volume of truck traffic doesn't feel as heavy as it does on I-81 (whether it is or not is a separate question), but the road is still generally two lanes per side and it's hard to pass due to left-lane hogs. I think the substandard sections around Lumberton make it feel worse than it really is.

[Zeffy]

Oh, just the majority of US 206. Once you're stuck behind a truck, unless you get to the rare parts where it opens to 3 or 4 lanes both ways, you're pretty much SOL.

[jeffandnicole]

Can I just say I wish all roads are 2 lanes or greater each way? :-)

[roadman]

Parts of Route 2 in Massachusetts, especially the Mohawk Trail section west of Greenfield, can be really bad to drive if you wind up stuck behind a slow moving semi.

[Pete from Boston]

Parts of Route 2 in Massachusetts, especially the Mohawk Trail section west of Greenfield, can be really bad to drive if you wind up stuck behind a slow moving semi.

I was on 2 in Charlemont recently, running late for a wedding, when a tractor pulling one of those big overloaded wagons of hay pulled out right in front of me in one of those no-passing areas and craaaawwwled along for a few miles.  A true test of my serenity and patience.

This was followed by me following Google's route and not my instincts and getting stuck waiting for a very slow 100+ car train to pass.

(We made the wedding with about five minutes to spare.)

[roadman]

I was on 2 in Charlemont recently, running late for a wedding, when a tractor pulling one of those big overloaded wagons of hay pulled out right in front of me in one of those no-passing areas and craaaawwwled along for a few miles.  A true test of my serenity and patience.

This was followed by me following Google's route and not my instincts and getting stuck waiting for a very slow 100+ car train to pass.

(We made the wedding with about five minutes to spare.)

Glad you got to the church on time.  A couple of years back, I was returning from a section of the Albany area I'd never traveled to before.  Looking for the best route back to I-90, I plugged in my GPS (which I had with me to find my way to a couple of destinations that were only accessible from the local roads north of Albany) and hit the 'home' button.  Unfortunately, when the "do you want to use toll roads" dialogue box came up, I hit the 'NO" button (which is placed where the average person would expect the "YES" button to be).  The result was a much longer ride than I'd expected, as the GPS directed me through the southwest quadrant of Albany and onto NY 2, which became MA 2.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

This is probably most prevalent in the mountains.  What roads can you think of that need more (or better/longer) passing lanes?

A few that come to mind in Louisiana:

- LA 1 between Alexandria and US 190, excepting Marksville-Mansura (especially from New Roads south along False River)
- LA 42 in Ascension Parish (this road is slated to be widened soon)
- LA 25 between Covington and Folsom
- LA 70 between Sorrento and the Sunshine Bridge (this section needs to be 4 lanes)
- LA 30 (Nicholson Drive) between the LSU campus and St. Gabriel

Unfortunately, Louisiana does not really do passing lanes. When I first encountered them in other states I was impressed, then as always wondered why DOTD had not thought to implement them.

They are definitely necessary in Texas with its 75 MPH two lane roads. A slow semi would ruin the fun without them.

[cl94]

There are a lot of them out in the populous state of New York:

I-87 south of Saratoga
I-90 between Hamburg and Herkimer
I-95 (all of it)
I-190 north of downtown Buffalo
I-278
I-287 (Cross Westchester)
I-290 (all)
I-490
I-495 (west of William Floyd Parkway)
I-678
I-787

US 4 north of Fort Ann
US 9 in Albany and Saratoga Counties south of NY 146, along with Warren County south of NY 9N
US 11 north of I-781
US 20 (everything between Albany and Silver Creek that isn't 4+ lanes)
US 219 (at least 4 on all of it, 6+ north of US 20A)

NY 5 east of Buffalo
NY 7 in/west of Schenectady
NY 24 (both halves)
NY 27, especially the limited-access section
NY 28
NY 149 west of Fort Ann
NY 78 between West Seneca and NY 93
NY 63 between I-390 and US 20
NY 33 (most of it)

[Bruce]

US 2, between Snohomish and Leavenworth.

[briantroutman]

If we're allowed to include freeways, let me cast as many votes as possible for the four-lane sections of I-5 in California, primarily through the Central Valley. As long as the state persists with this infuriating 55 m.p.h. truck speed limit, we'll also have perpetual log jams where trucks in the right lane are going 55, and the left lane is governed by one old lady glacially passing the truck at 56.

I remember US-6...why aren't all those trucks taking 80?

Considering that time and diesel are both costly, I can't imagine that many truckers are using US 6 as an alternative to I-80. There's more economic activity along the US 6 corridor than you might think–Zippo in Bradford, Channellock in Meadville–and many more unglamorous factories of companies you've never heard of.

[GaryV]

Pick any road in the UP.  You either get stuck behind a log truck or an RV.

[froggie]

Given that passing lanes refers to relatively short (1/2 to 2 mile typically) sections of additional lane that are primarily intended to break up queues of traffic on 2-lane roads, it's not something that's really applicable to freeways except for short truck climbing lanes.

[1995hoo]

Given that passing lanes refers to relatively short (1/2 to 2 mile typically) sections of additional lane that are primarily intended to break up queues of traffic on 2-lane roads, it's not something that's really applicable to freeways except for short truck climbing lanes.

If you read the first post in this thread, his actual query is a little more detailed than the subject line (which of necessity is short and may not always reflect the actual scope of the topic). As you very well know, it's quite easy to get stuck behind a tractor-trailer (or a group thereof) on many "freeways."

Edited to add: Some of said roads could certainly benefit from targeted lanes in the manner of those "passing lanes" on two-lane roads in cases where money or space reasons make widening the whole road impractical. Think about how many people view the "climbing lane" areas as places to try to floor it to get ahead of a clump of traffic. An occasional short stretch of third lane on a two-lane carriageway might help accomplish the same thing.



One two-lane road that came to mind as needing passing lanes as I typed that edit is VA-20 between its northern terminus at Wilderness and the town of Orange. It has plenty of passing zones, but there's enough traffic that it's hard to pass. (In fairness, most of my trips on that road are to or from UVA football games, which might well contribute to the traffic compared to other days–but I've usually found it hard to pass on there even on non-football days.)

[froggie]

If you read the first post in this thread, his actual query is a little more detailed than the subject line (which of necessity is short and may not always reflect the actual scope of the topic). As you very well know, it's quite easy to get stuck behind a tractor-trailer (or a group thereof) on many "freeways."

I did read his post.  The example he cited suggested that he was referring to passing lanes on non-freeways.

[1995hoo]

If you read the first post in this thread, his actual query is a little more detailed than the subject line (which of necessity is short and may not always reflect the actual scope of the topic). As you very well know, it's quite easy to get stuck behind a tractor-trailer (or a group thereof) on many "freeways."

I did read his post.  The example he cited suggested that he was referring to passing lanes on non-freeways.

You're certainly entitled to your interpretation, but the rest of us are also entitled to interpret it in the manner we think appropriate. The first sentence of the original post says this, which I think makes it legitimate to include freeways on which this sort of thing routinely happens, regardless of the example given in the subsequent paragraph:

What roads can you all think of that are those "crap, I got caught behind a semi, now I'm stuck for a long while" roads?

[roadman65]

I was once traveling US 211 and encountered a slow poke in front of me where it narrows down to three overall lanes crossing both mountain ranges near Luray, VA.  It has a truck climb lane gong up hill making it maintain two lanes and of course dropping to one single lane down hill on all hills for obvious reasons.   However, I ran into something I thought I would never run into and that is someone going way under the posted 55 mph limit going down hill.  That is right, down hill where you need to use your lower gears or brake just to prevent you from exceeding 55 mph.

This guy was mostly paranoid of driving mountain winding roads and was too scared to ride at 55 even though its a chore to slow down as gravity really takes over here, and could not get around him until losing him on I-81.  It was the hill leading westward into New Market where the road then ends at US 11 to turn left to form a concurrency through the city.

I am sure he is not the only one to ever accomplish this, so I would say that VDOT needs to four lane US 211 over the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountain region for this.  Trying to break for slow pokes on a steep down grade is dangerous and I remember having to ride my brake pedal most of the way so I would not be in his back seat.  Even in second gear it did not help.

[1995hoo]

To what extent does US-211 crossing through a national park impact the ability to widen the road? It passes through Shenandoah National Park in that area.

[roadman65]

To what extent does US-211 crossing through a national park impact the ability to widen the road? It passes through Shenandoah National Park in that area.

I never said the process would be easy.  Anyway is the mountain between Luray and New Market in the National Park?  I know that is part of George Washington Forest, but I think its outside the jurisdiction of the NP area.

[1995hoo]

To what extent does US-211 crossing through a national park impact the ability to widen the road? It passes through Shenandoah National Park in that area.

I never said the process would be easy.  Anyway is the mountain between Luray and New Market in the National Park?  I know that is part of George Washington Forest, but I think its outside the jurisdiction of the NP area.

Yeah, I didn't mean to suggest you thought it'd be easy; I just thought the issue bore mention because of your comment about VDOT widening the road. I didn't know whether you knew the road passes through federal lands. I'm not sure whether the western segment you mention is part of Shenandoah National Park, though it certainly crosses through a federally-protected area.

[froggie]

You're certainly entitled to your interpretation, but the rest of us are also entitled to interpret it in the manner we think appropriate. The first sentence of the original post says this, which I think makes it legitimate to include freeways on which this sort of thing routinely happens, regardless of the example given in the subsequent paragraph:

I was also applying the engineering definition in my interpretation.  By their vary nature, except for the rare Super-2, freeways always have a "passing lane".   Whether you can pass quickly in it or not due to traffic is certainly another matter...though IMO people make I-81 and I-95 out to be a lot worse than they really are.

However, I ran into something I thought I would never run into and that is someone going way under the posted 55 mph limit going down hill.  That is right, down hill where you need to use your lower gears or brake just to prevent you from exceeding 55 mph.

IIRC, only the Massanutten Mtn crossing (between Luray and New Market) is 55 MPH.  Thornton Gap is 45 on the west side and 35 on the east side.  And I can believe the latter...some of those curves and reverse curves on the east side of Thorton Gap can barely be done at 30 in a car, let alone a semi.  Doesn't surprise me that a truck would be going slow down that grade.

[1995hoo]

Would the moderators please amend the terms of service to clarify we must all use words in their engineering sense? I was unaware that was required. 

[Arkansastravelguy]

I-81, at least the portion from Scranton on down to the northern end of the I-77 concurrency. (I haven't been on the other segments often enough to comment on those; if I take I-81 south, I normally turn south on I-77 towards Charlotte.) The volume of truck traffic, coupled with there generally being only two lanes on each side, makes it extremely hard to pass. There have been some improvements down beyond Roanoke with the addition of some climbing lanes for slow vehicles, but those are limited improvements. The road really needs a third lane.

There was talk by VDOT to make a separate roadway for trucks like the NJ Parkway. I don't know what happened to that proposal

[signalman]

I-81, at least the portion from Scranton on down to the northern end of the I-77 concurrency. (I haven't been on the other segments often enough to comment on those; if I take I-81 south, I normally turn south on I-77 towards Charlotte.) The volume of truck traffic, coupled with there generally being only two lanes on each side, makes it extremely hard to pass. There have been some improvements down beyond Roanoke with the addition of some climbing lanes for slow vehicles, but those are limited improvements. The road really needs a third lane.

There was talk by VDOT to make a separate roadway for trucks like the Garden State Parkway. I don't know what happened to that proposal

FTFY.  On a side note, I remember hearing about that too.  I'm pretty sure it died due to a lack of funds.  Just like what happened to the proposal to do the same to I-70 in Missouri.  It's also worth noting that due to the terrain, it would be difficult to build new carriageways for I-81 through Virginia, even if money wasn't an object.