Two Quick Interstate Questions

[Grzrd]

These questions have probably been answered by group in past, so please have patience:

(1) On I-85 several miles east of Lexington, N.C., the north bound lanes cross the south bound lanes and actually are on the left-hand side of the interstate for a while.  On what other interstate sections in country does this occur?

(2) On I-24 around Monteagle, TN, the west bound lanes travel on one side of the mountain and the east bound lanes travel on the other side of the mountain.  Is this the widest interstate median in the country?
If you look on Google Maps just south of Monteagle, the route labelled US 64/TN2 is actually the westbound lanes of I-24

[corco]

For 2)- it gets up to similar width on I-84 near Emigrant Hill east of Pendleton, Oregon, but not for as long a stretch.

[TheStranger]

These questions have probably been answered by group in past, so please have patience:

(1) On I-85 several miles east of Lexington, N.C., the north bound lanes cross the south bound lanes and actually are on the left-hand side of the interstate for a while.  On what other interstate sections in country does this occur?

Interstate 5 just north of Castaic in the Grapevine pass has a section of cross-over carriageway for about 2-3 miles.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Castaic,+CA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.324283,70.576172&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Castaic,+Los+Angeles,+California&ll=34.500792,-118.62977&spn=0.020548,0.034461&z=15

[cu2010]

The carriageways of Interstate 8 in western Arizona also cross over briefly.

[dfilpus]

In the interchange with I-85 on the north side of Charlotte, the northbound lanes and southbound lanes of I 77 switch sides and back within the interchange.

[bulldog1979]

These questions have probably been answered by group in past, so please have patience:

(1) On I-85 several miles east of Lexington, N.C., the north bound lanes cross the south bound lanes and actually are on the left-hand side of the interstate for a while.  On what other interstate sections in country does this occur?

Well, US 131 does this in the interchange with I-196, so I-296 starts on its southern end with the carriageways flipped.

[thenetwork]

I believe there are/were a few instances in the Baltimore area (I-95 or x95?)  I remember seeing at least 2 instances on AAA maps.

[jemacedo9]

I-95 in the Baltimore MD area, the northern I-695 Interchange; I-95 used to swap through the interchange, but over the past year I believe that interchange has been reconstructed and that is no longer the case. 

[KEK Inc.]

The obnoxiously wide valley-like medians are probably due to the fact that the Interstates were built along older routes, and the grade isn't wide enough to build 2-3 additional lanes, so they'd have to build a crossing. 

For others that aren't mentioned, I-15 (US-6/US-66) gets pretty wide south of Barstow and I-8 (US-80) east of SD.

Regarding the flips, I imagine they did that due to the grades.  I believe more shallow grades are required for traffic going downhill.   I remember noting that on my way to Disneyland from the Bay Area, since I-5 does that north of LA (as TheStranger mapped out).   

[sandiaman]

  Yes, a couple come to mind.  I-8  between El Cajon  and El Centro  in extreme  southern California  and AZ  87  between   Scottsdale  and Payson  in central  Arizona

[mightyace]

One of the unusual features of I-80 in PA is the relatively large number of miles of wide median.

However, the widest I-80 gets is about 1 mile between the lanes over a reservoir near Brookville.

EDIT:
The only reverse running stretches of interstate that I have been on are:
1) The now gone weave at the I-95/695 junction northeast of the city.
2) The I-65/I-20&59 junction in Birmingham, AL
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Birmingham,+AL&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.472848,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Birmingham,+Jefferson,+Alabama&ll=33.52129,-86.824822&spn=0.008336,0.01929&t=k&z=16

[agentsteel53]

Regarding the flips, I imagine they did that due to the grades.  I believe more shallow grades are required for traffic going downhill.   I remember noting that on my way to Disneyland from the Bay Area, since I-5 does that north of LA (as TheStranger mapped out).   

that is correct for I-5.  The old Five Mile Grade (US-99 four-lane expressway) is now the uphill lanes.  The downhill lanes are a much gentler grade, but the only way to fit it in is to cross it over to the right of the uphill ones for a few miles, thus the switch.

[Alps]

The old MTR FAQ was perfect for topics like these, but it looks like that's down for the count.  I grabbed a bunch of definitions off there and updated it into my own FAQ, but I never grabbed the random miscellaneous trivia bits.  Maybe someone else (maybe even AARoads?) wants to grab roadfan.com/faq (or faq.html, I forget) and preserve it?

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

The old MTR FAQ was perfect for topics like these, but it looks like that's down for the count.  I grabbed a bunch of definitions off there and updated it into my own FAQ, but I never grabbed the random miscellaneous trivia bits.  Maybe someone else (maybe even AARoads?) wants to grab roadfan.com/faq (or faq.html, I forget) and preserve it?

Roadfan is back up, I have no problem with copying parts (Steve, you and I spoke about the "future" of Roadfan at the Canton meet), though the FAQ is Marc Fannin's pride and joy so speak to him about that part of the site.

[Alps]

The old MTR FAQ was perfect for topics like these, but it looks like that's down for the count.  I grabbed a bunch of definitions off there and updated it into my own FAQ, but I never grabbed the random miscellaneous trivia bits.  Maybe someone else (maybe even AARoads?) wants to grab roadfan.com/faq (or faq.html, I forget) and preserve it?

Roadfan is back up, I have no problem with copying parts (Steve, you and I spoke about the "future" of Roadfan at the Canton meet), though the FAQ is Marc Fannin's pride and joy so speak to him about that part of the site.

That was fast!  It was just down yesterday.  I'm gonna keep my FAQ because it expands greatly upon what Roadfan has, but I'll throw a link to you guys back up.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

The old MTR FAQ was perfect for topics like these, but it looks like that's down for the count.  I grabbed a bunch of definitions off there and updated it into my own FAQ, but I never grabbed the random miscellaneous trivia bits.  Maybe someone else (maybe even AARoads?) wants to grab roadfan.com/faq (or faq.html, I forget) and preserve it?

Roadfan is back up, I have no problem with copying parts (Steve, you and I spoke about the "future" of Roadfan at the Canton meet), though the FAQ is Marc Fannin's pride and joy so speak to him about that part of the site.

That was fast!  It was just down yesterday.  I'm gonna keep my FAQ because it expands greatly upon what Roadfan has, but I'll throw a link to you guys back up.

The site had been down (again) for a month. It just came back up this afternoon. Though from what emails Marc shared with me, it appears Aplus net's service was slow this time around.

[Quillz]

I-8 in eastern San Diego County has some very wide medians, up to 1.8 miles in width IIRC.

[froggie]

I'm pretty sure we had a thread on question #2 here in the past...

[ATLRedSoxFan]

There's a stretch of I-95 in VA(I think I-95-I've seen it from the air, however) where the carrigeways cross-over and there is a Rest Area situated in-between. Never understood the logic, but C'est la vie.

[froggie]

Nothing like that in Virginia.  You're probably thinking of the section of I-85 east of Lexington, NC that the original poster already mentioned.

[ATLRedSoxFan]

Nothing like that in Virginia.  You're probably thinking of the section of I-85 east of Lexington, NC that the original poster already mentioned.

I guess it could be NC.... I've seen it from the air like 3-4 times flying ATL-BOS. Guess I'll get to experience first hand next March making the drive instead.

[Michael in Philly]

I-95 in the Baltimore MD area, the northern I-695 Interchange; I-95 used to swap through the interchange, but over the past year I believe that interchange has been reconstructed and that is no longer the case. 

It has indeed been rebuilt, and that doesn't happen any more.

[Dr Frankenstein]

There's also a crossover on A-20 in Montréal between Route 138 and A-15/A-720.

[yakra]

Dig OH I-75 near exits 10B - 12:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=39.218423,-84.454136&z=14

[Alex]

Interstate 275 in south Pinellas at 54th Avenue south sees a carriageway swap: