Worst sections of freeways

[ET21]

Sections of I-39 in Illinois are starting to look bad, however pavement patching started this summer.

Another new section that's bad (maybe due to the Circle Project) is I-90/94 in Illinois between Ohio St and the Stevenson (I-55). One hopes that they'll repave the roadway when the Circle Project is finished in a couple years.

[pumpkineater2]

I-17 northbound just south of Flagstaff is pretty bad. It gets worse and worse the closer to Flagstaff you go, until northbound I-17 is finally put out of its misery by a stoplight. https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1659047,-111.6704994,61m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[Alex4897]

No love for the Schuylkill Expressway? That road is a substandard death trap that feels incredibly dangerous to drive.  Narrow lanes, no shoulders, sharp curves, and inner city traffic.

[noelbotevera]

No love for the Schuylkill Expressway? That road is a substandard death trap that feels incredibly dangerous to drive.  Narrow lanes, no shoulders, sharp curves, and inner city traffic.

It's not that bad once you hit the viaduct/double decker north of 30th Street. South of the 30th Street Station, now you can say your prayers.

[Mergingtraffic]

the ramps to the Trans Manhattan Exwy and GWB were bad from Riverside Dr in NYC...but I saw them repaved and striped as one lane as I drove by on Riverside yesterday.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN 62 in Edina/Richfield from Valley View Road to I-35W, and then again in Richfield from Portland Avenue to MN 77. No left shoulder, tightly spaced interchanges, and tight ramps at MN 77 and Bloomington Avenue.

[lepidopteran]

The Capital Beltway around DC isn't that bad pavement-wise, especially the parts that were completely rebuilt for the Wilson Bridge and the express lanes.  But what is it with those bridges on the MD side?  It seems like they were constructed with separate slabs connecting each pier cap, resulting in multiple gaps as you cross them.  And these gaps can produce some nasty bumps!  Was this a standard for how overpasses were built in the '60s?  And the concrete decking isn't so hot either, with potholes occasionally resurfacing amidst multiple patches.  But I think that at least two of the bridges, including the one over Rhode Island Ave., will be rebuilt with the new access ramps for the Greenbelt Metrorail station; this was part of that list the governor recently approved.  (There is currently only direct access there from SB/to NB.)

Not far from there, if you ever travel SB on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, make sure to slow down at the MD-197 interchange.  While the bridges are relatively new, there seems to be a serious subsidence problem where the roadway approaches them -- it's gotta be at least 1.5 inches lower than the bridge deck.  Orange warning signs reading "BUMP" and/or "SLOW" abound there.

[Darkchylde]

Before they were resurfaced, I would have nominated the old concrete sections of I-10 in New Orleans East and I-55 from Hammond north to the state line.

Now I'd have to say I-70 from the Kansas/Missouri line eastward to I-435, as well as the rest of the Downtown Loop in KC. The interchanges are packed way too tightly together, the curves are too sharp, and the whole of it feels underpowered for a downtown Interstate.

[davewiecking]

The Capital Beltway around DC isn't that bad pavement-wise, especially the parts that were completely rebuilt for the Wilson Bridge and the express lanes.  But what is it with those bridges on the MD side?  It seems like they were constructed with separate slabs connecting each pier cap, resulting in multiple gaps as you cross them.  And these gaps can produce some nasty bumps!  Was this a standard for how overpasses were built in the '60s?  And the concrete decking isn't so hot either, with potholes occasionally resurfacing amidst multiple patches.  But I think that at least two of the bridges, including the one over Rhode Island Ave., will be rebuilt with the new access ramps for the Greenbelt Metrorail station; this was part of that list the governor recently approved.  (There is currently only direct access there from SB/to NB.)

The Beltway is SO much better than it was back in the 70's I decided not to nominate it. Would be nice if the RI Ave bridge were widened because the acceleration lane from the U.S. 1 CD lanes is way too short. But since the new ramps for the Metrorail station will be headed the other direction (and presumably would be overhead meaning little work on the Beltway itself), I'd be surprised if this bridge gets sucked into the project. But would be pleased if it did.

While VA did an awesome job on their MegaProjects, there are many places where they never put down one continuous top coat, leaving seams and small parts just not there.

[cpzilliacus]

The Capital Beltway around DC isn't that bad pavement-wise, especially the parts that were completely rebuilt for the Wilson Bridge and the express lanes.  But what is it with those bridges on the MD side?  It seems like they were constructed with separate slabs connecting each pier cap, resulting in multiple gaps as you cross them.  And these gaps can produce some nasty bumps!  Was this a standard for how overpasses were built in the '60s?  And the concrete decking isn't so hot either, with potholes occasionally resurfacing amidst multiple patches.  But I think that at least two of the bridges, including the one over Rhode Island Ave., will be rebuilt with the new access ramps for the Greenbelt Metrorail station; this was part of that list the governor recently approved.  (There is currently only direct access there from SB/to NB.)

Many of the bridges on the Capital Beltway, especially in Prince George's County, are original to 1964 and need to be replaced or at least re-decked.  Going in the same direction as the ascending exit numbers, they are Suitland Road, Suitland Parkway, Md. 4 (itself an obsolete cloverleaf), Ritchie-Marlboro Road, Md. 214, Amtrak, Md. 450, Md. 193 (Greenbelt Road), Rhode Island Avenue, Rock Creek, and Md. 185 (Connecticut Avenue).

I believe I saw Suitland Road and Suitland Parkway in the CTP for replacement or re-decking.

Not far from there, if you ever travel SB on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, make sure to slow down at the MD-197 interchange.  While the bridges are relatively new, there seems to be a serious subsidence problem where the roadway approaches them -- it's gotta be at least 1.5 inches lower than the bridge deck.  Orange warning signs reading "BUMP" and/or "SLOW" abound there.

The subgrade there was not filled correctly. Going to be expensive to repair, too.

[ekt8750]

I-195 in NJ has some terribly lumpy and uneven road surfaces.

[Rothman]

Not necessarily a "worst section" but I-90 EB was repaved about five or so years ago from the Thruway (Exit 24) towards Albany, including some sort of rehab to the deck of a bridge.  From the get go, the pavement was uneven and felt "lumpy" and potholes forming near the bridge ends have had to be patched every year since.  Not sure if it can be attributed to normal wear and tear, but it certainly seems like we didn't get our bang for the buck with that one.

[roadfro]

I wanted to go back to page one to address this comment:

What ever happened to "super pave" by the way, have not heard the term in quite a while.   

A lot of states have stopped using Superpave in favor of OGFC (open grade friction course, or something like that) because it's safer in wet conditions.  It's also cheaper.  But it lasts about half as long as Superpave.
...

Superpave and OGFC are not competing things.

"Superpave" is a hot-mix asphalt design method, which takes into account various components such as aggregate selection, asphalt binder, etc.. The process takes various mixes and evaluates them based on the application site characteristics and other factors to determine the best asphalt mixture for the conditions.

"OGFC" is "Open-Graded Friction Course". This refers to the top layer of the asphalt pavement surface in which the aggregate material includes plenty of larger crushed stone but very little pebble or other fine particles (an "open gradation" when plotting how the aggregate sifts through various sieves). Since there is more large stone and less fine material, such a layer provides more friction and has the benefit of draining surface water a bit more effectively.

An OGFC can be an element of a Superpave design, as the OGFC is only the top layer of an overall pavement design.

[tribar]

I 290 between I 294 and Austin. 

[cpzilliacus]

Heh.  The section through Cumberland probably hasn't been really been updated layout-wise since it was US 48.  I know the signage has been updated through there in the past 30 years, but other than that, it's pretty much the same road.

The right-side barrier on I-68 eastbound before, in and after that curve is as massive of a "Jersey" barrier as I have ever seen - it is significantly taller and beefier than a regular SHA-spec Jersey wall.

I've traveled that stretch more times than I can count and most of those times were on my way to my grandparents' house.  Although I know the road twists its way through Cumberland and the on and off ramps are pretty terrible (e.g., way too short and tight), that drive through Cumberland is definitely nostalgia-inducing.

The rest of I-68 in Maryland is reasonably good.  The section west of Cumberland was designed and built in the 1970's, and the section east in the 1980's and early 1990's.

[hm insulators]

Too many freeways in the Los Angeles area to mention; if I went over specifics, I'd be here until breakfast. Also, the situation might be improving in some areas as they finish the various new carpool lanes under construction; it's been almost two years since I was last over there.

[roadman65]

Any part of I-4 is a worse section of a freeway.  The current I-4 ultimate should have been completed 30 years ago from the added taxes that were being collected from new developers then.  The rest of I-4 in the counties outside the big three in Central Florida should have been six lane widened over 20 years ago.

If you lived in Orlando, Lakeland, Tampa, Sanford, or Daytona you would agree with me on I-4 being a bad freeway and that there is really no section of it that way.  Its all bad!

[lepidopteran]

...at least two of the bridges, including the one over Rhode Island Ave., will be rebuilt with the new access ramps for the Greenbelt Metrorail station; this was part of that list the governor recently approved.  (There is currently only direct access there from SB/to NB.)

The Beltway is SO much better than it was back in the 70's I decided not to nominate it. Would be nice if the RI Ave bridge were widened because the acceleration lane from the U.S. 1 CD lanes is way too short. But since the new ramps for the Metrorail station will be headed the other direction (and presumably would be overhead meaning little work on the Beltway itself), I'd be surprised if this bridge gets sucked into the project. But would be pleased if it did.

If you scroll down to page 9 of http://apps.roads.maryland.gov/WebProjectLifeCycle/PG333_21/htdocs/Photos/2014-10-09%20%20NCPCA%20meeting.pdf, the Rhode Island Ave. bridge is marked for redecking or reconstruction. On page 11, there's apparently a plan to reconstruct or widen the innerloop bridge over MD-193, but not the outerloop.

See also http://apps.roads.maryland.gov/WebProjectLifeCycle/ProjectMaps.aspx?projectno=PG3332116#

Edit: incorrect first link.  Note: some of the PDFs under the second link may take a long time to load.

[cpzilliacus]

On page 11, there's apparently a plan to reconstruct or widen the innerloop bridge over MD-193, but not the outerloop.

That's because the Outer Loop side is already five lanes (in other words, a long acceleration/deceleration lane between the ramp from the southbound B-W Parkway to the Md. 201 exit), but the Inner Loop is not.

[cl94]

US 219 north of NY 391 is miserable, as is I-90 between Exits 54 and 56 in Buffalo. Lake Ontario State Parkway isn't great and the Robert Moses Parkway is nightmarish.

[noelbotevera]

Belt Parkway between exit 3 and exit 19. Horrible pavement, substandard interchange geometry, a freaking GAS STATION in the median, the list goes on.

[DJStephens]

What ever happened to "super pave" by the way, have not heard the term in quite a while.   

A lot of states have stopped using Superpave in favor of OGFC (open grade friction course, or something like that) because it's safer in wet conditions.  It's also cheaper.  But it lasts about half as long as Superpave.

SC has been using OGFC for at least as long as I've lived here (going on 5 years).  The newer sections are great, but the older sections could stand to be resurfaced.

TN I believe started using OGFC right after I moved away.  I think they're having good results from it, and since TN smartly prioritizes maintenance over new construction, they probably won't have too many problems.

I haven't seen a great deal of just plain old resurfacing projects in the areas of NC I frequently travel in for work, but I know they still have a lot of Superpave and concrete in use.

Bottom line, the base aggregate in the pavement is what makes the biggest difference in the pavement quality/durability.  Limestone (prevalent in parts of TN, most of KY, and the lower Midwest) tends to not be as durable as granite (prevalent in the Carolinas, GA, and New England), seashells (FL), or whatever they dredge out of the Tennessee or Mississippi Rivers, which they tend to use around Chattanooga, Northern AL, Northern MS, and nearly all of West TN, which results in the brown pavement.

Maybe that explains the short life span of several NM repaving projects - Interstate 10 in the las Cruces area - a section that replaced original PCC pavement within city limits in 2009 - is already breaking up with large cracks, as well as the asphalt overlay and widening project south to Anthony (2010) which also has a large amount of cracking and longitudinal splits, as well as cracking along the diagonal control joints of the original concrete pavement underneath, which settled unevenly, and thus was covered with asphalt originally circa 1990.  Milling and overlays, seems to be a cottage industry in NM.   

[roadman65]

Belt Parkway between exit 3 and exit 19. Horrible pavement, substandard interchange geometry, a freaking GAS STATION in the median, the list goes on.

Funny you should mention that one, as Ethanman8675309 or whatever his number was, posted in one of his aliases years ago, about the Belt Parkway in a comical post.  Most was about the potholes ever mile and similar other rants close to yours.

If you want to know who this Ethan guy was, he was a young troll who used to ask stupid questions that could be answered by just googling it, and annoying many users on here just as I joined a few years back.  He was also the one where the I-366 running gag came from that you occasionally here on some threads, to be exact. 

Anyway, its funny because you brought back memories as that one post he made being roadman66 was one his more hillarious ones the way he wrote it.
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