Things you thought you'd hate but then ended up liking

[Max Rockatansky]

Nowadays I would prefer a four lane roundabout over a traditional traffic signal.

I, uh, can't say I'm familiar with those.  And a quick Google search only turned up this monstrosity.

Nowadays I would prefer a four lane roundabout over a traditional traffic signal.

I, uh, can't say I'm familiar with those.  And a quick Google search only turned up this monstrosity.

As if I needed any further convincing that Reddit is a cesspool of bad ideas.

[Roadgeekteen]

I thought I hated freeway revolts until I got a more nuanced view on urban areas and their relationships with freeways.

[Max Rockatansky]

Depends on the revolt.  San Francisco made sense, the revolts in metro Sacramento not so much.

[webny99]

Another one for me:
road diets

Every instance I've personally seen of reducing two lanes in one direction with a single lane plus either a TWLTL, bike lane, or parallel parking has been a success in my opinion.  I expected to hate them, but now I welcome them.

You know what? I actually agree with this, and I didn't think I'd ever say it either. To the point where I think I'd actually prefer one lane per direction + TWLTL than two per direction with no turn lanes or shoulders in most cases. I've even found myself wishing that more four lane roads would be converted to three if they're lacking sidewalks and/or shoulders.

There's still some exceptions, though. This section of NY 104, for example, used to be 4.5 lanes. It was converted to three with an extra-wide TWLTL and extra-wide shoulders. That seemed wasteful to me. It's a busy stretch that carries quite a bit of medium- to long-distance traffic, and not being able to pass for miles while the super-TWLTL hardly gets used is annoying. They would have barely had to widen the road to get five lanes here and still get the benefit of the TWLTL while allowing two through lanes per direction.

[webny99]

Spending several hours a day doing yard work while partially inebriated.

That sounds to me more like something you thought you'd like but ended up hating. 

[kphoger]

Spending several hours a day doing yard work while partially inebriated.

That sounds to me more like something you thought you'd like but ended up hating. 

Or...  I hate yard work, but it's a lot more fun when yer drunk, amirite!!

[PNWRoadgeek]

This website.

I don't know why I thought I was gonna hate it, it's fun.

[thspfc]

Another one for me:
road diets

Every instance I've personally seen of reducing two lanes in one direction with a single lane plus either a TWLTL, bike lane, or parallel parking has been a success in my opinion.  I expected to hate them, but now I welcome them.

+1. Minneapolis has done plenty and I have yet to dislike one. I consider myself a very pro-freeway but also very anti-stroad person.

[Scott5114]

Spending several hours a day doing yard work while partially inebriated.

That sounds to me more like something you thought you'd like but ended up hating. 

Or...  I hate yard work, but it's a lot more fun when yer drunk, amirite!!

I never tried doing yard work while under the influence of a substance (too much risk of injury for me to be comfortable for that) but it does really help make doing the dishes more tolerable.

[Max Rockatansky]

I mowed the lawn one time at 2 AM while I was tripped out on Percocet.  It certainly gave me a shit ton of energy and motivation to keep up with chores despite only have use my of right arm (my left was broken).  I called my doctor the next day and asked to be put on another type of pain killer.

[webny99]

I mowed the lawn one time at 2 AM while I was tripped out on Percocet.  It certainly gave me a shit ton of energy and motivation to keep up with chores despite only have use my of right arm (my left was broken).  I called my doctor the next day and asked to be put on another type of pain killer.

I'll bet the neighbors loved that. 

[Max Rockatansky]

I mowed the lawn one time at 2 AM while I was tripped out on Percocet.  It certainly gave me a shit ton of energy and motivation to keep up with chores despite only have use my of right arm (my left was broken).  I called my doctor the next day and asked to be put on another type of pain killer.

I'll bet the neighbors loved that. 

I had a corner lot that backed up to a cinder block sound barrier.  If they had complaints they didn't voice them.  But then again it was probably super apparent to the eye that I was recently in a car accident and was acting weird because of some sort of drug reaction.

[TheCatalyst31]

Spending several hours a day doing yard work while partially inebriated.

Your username checks out.

[hobsini2]

As mentioned before, the roundabouts kick that Wisconsin was on for the last 2 decades especially in Oshkosh and Appleton interchanges on 41.

And I was skeptical of the DDI at 88 & 59 but it is so much better now.

Still not a fan of HOT Toll lanes.

[kphoger]

I never tried doing yard work while under the influence of a substance (too much risk of injury for me to be comfortable for that) but it does really help make doing the dishes more tolerable.

I once had an afternoon cocktail forgetting that I had to mow the lawn that day.  And rain was coming, so I couldn't put it off.  And, when I make a cocktail, I always make it a double, because otherwise what's the point.

So take it from my experience:  it wasn't the risk of injury that makes me recommend not doing so.  It's that I felt like total crap and could barely finish the job.  Alcohol and physical exertion do not go well together.  I think it might be a hydration thing, but I'm sure there are other factors involved too.

[ElishaGOtis]

Speed limits above 70mph
I had grown up in the east coast generally, and rarely traveled west of the Mississippi River except for the 2 years I'd lived in California. Additionally, there was FIERCE opposition to the bill that would have allowed 75 in Florida in 2014. Tbh I was a bit skeptical of any limit above 55 for quite a bit of my childhood lmao (this ladies and gentlemen is why kids can't, and shouldn't be able to, vote). I had a good experience seeing my first 75 in Texas, and after extensive travels within the state I can gladly say I'm comfortable at that speed. Same thing for 85, except this time I was still under the impression that if you post one speed, then "everyone" would go 5-10 over said speed (after all, I'm in the club of holding 3-8 over most speed limits I see, usually 3-5 unless I know the road's enforcement patterns). I'm still flabbergasted that no one passed me at 89mph the three times I've used SH-130. Same thing again for speed limits higher than 60 on 2-lane roads.

Clearview
If used appropriately, I'm now a massive fan. I've been so used to seeing it used inappropriately that I rarely got a good impression of it (my first impression was in Louisiana on I-10...). Seeing how FDOT has been verrrrrry slowly trying to phase in Clearview (even if it's completely unofficial) has given me a better picture, and has even opened me up to being accepting of the font in non-road settings (such as the building signs in the FL Turnpike Service Plazas).

Road Diets
While I'm still not a huge fan of them, I no longer oppose some transportation tool blanketly in the possible event that it could work in some places if done correctly. For a road that is 4 lanes and only sees 500 vehicles per day, does it need to be 4 lanes? The only thing that excess capacity does is cause speeding...

[epzik8]

Gotta say the pushback against Clearview. I wanted it to replace every Highway Gothic sign everywhere, but now I don't mind not witnessing such a takeover.

[Bickendan]

California's internal exit tabs.

[JayhawkCO]

These still don't exactly fit the OP, but as for road things I thought I'd hate but ended up liking:

US24 in northwestern Kansas
US160 in south central Kansas

[kphoger]

US160 in south central Kansas

Heck yeah, that's surprisingly beautiful!

[JayhawkCO]

US160 in south central Kansas

Heck yeah, that's surprisingly beautiful!

I was just trying to finish off my Kansas county clinch and needed a bunch of the southern tier counties and just kind of assumed US160 across Kansas looked the same as US160 in eastern Colorado, but it was surprisingly lush and hilly.

[JoePCool14]

Given I'm still only 24 and I grew up in Illinois, where there is next to zero transportation innovation, I never got to experience a lot of "new stuff". I've generally been positive about newer initiatives like FYAs, DDIs, roundabouts, SPUIs... (not Clearview, I'll never be a fan of that).

There is one thing I have grown accustomed to, or rather, understand why it's done: narrow lane widths. Over a decade ago, a road nearby was expanded from two lanes to four, but the lanes were narrower than what I just felt was usual. I complained to my dad who is a civil engineer about it at the time. But now, with the brief experience I have as an engineer so far, and knowledge of traffic engineering as a whole, I understand that the narrower lanes through something like a downtown are good because they intuitively reduce speeds without completely artificially lower limits.

I could use a thread discussing the opposite. There's a few things that I thought I'd like when they started making the rounds (i.e., black traffic signal heads) but don't anymore.

And I was skeptical of the DDI at 88 & 59 but it is so much better now.

Too bad that IL-59 south of I-88 is still a slog with all the poorly-timed and excessive stoplights. IDOT doesn't know how to design that kind of road at all.

[Max Rockatansky]

Vancouver on my recent trip was something I didn't think I'd end up liking.  The city actually very pleasant and it wasn't hard to drive around in.  I thought the experience was going to be more akin to slogging around Seattle.  I don't generally like modern architecture but the downtown area is hitting on something that pleases the eye.  Definitely was the most unique downtown in a Canadian city which I've been to.

[pderocco]

Vancouver on my recent trip was something I didn't think I'd end up liking.  The city actually very pleasant and it wasn't hard to drive around in.  I thought the experience was going to be more akin to slogging around Seattle.  I don't generally like modern architecture but the downtown area is hitting on something that pleases the eye.  Definitely was the most unique downtown in a Canadian city which I've been to.

One interesting thing about Vancouver is that there are no freeways into downtown. To get there, you have to drive five miles of BC-99 from the south, a few miles from TC-1 in the east, or a few miles of BC-99 from the north over Lions Gate Bridge. Also, the highways feel to me like the highways I learned to drive on fifty years ago in New England.

But I do love the downtown. I think Vancouver has more hi-rises than any other city in North America except NYC, and all in a small area. With the harbor, North Vancouver, and the mountains as a backdrop, it looks like a tiny chunk of Hong Kong from a distance.

[Max Rockatansky]

Vancouver on my recent trip was something I didn't think I'd end up liking.  The city actually very pleasant and it wasn't hard to drive around in.  I thought the experience was going to be more akin to slogging around Seattle.  I don't generally like modern architecture but the downtown area is hitting on something that pleases the eye.  Definitely was the most unique downtown in a Canadian city which I've been to.

One interesting thing about Vancouver is that there are no freeways into downtown. To get there, you have to drive five miles of BC-99 from the south, a few miles from TC-1 in the east, or a few miles of BC-99 from the north over Lions Gate Bridge. Also, the highways feel to me like the highways I learned to drive on fifty years ago in New England.

But I do love the downtown. I think Vancouver has more hi-rises than any other city in North America except NYC, and all in a small area. With the harbor, North Vancouver, and the mountains as a backdrop, it looks like a tiny chunk of Hong Kong from a distance.

I think you hit on what I found appealing.  I'm used to a particular European aesthetic with the downtowns in other big Canadian cities.  Downtown Vancouver definitely felt like it has a far more Asian aesthetic with the modern largely glass facade high rises.  There also wasn't much in the way of American-style Brutalism to be found either.