State that screws up bypasses the most

[mightyace]

^^^

It was a typo.  I meant TN 96.  The original post has been corrected.

[roadfro]

how could I forget the bypass of Carson City, Nevada?  Absolutely hideous in every conceivable form.

at least it's a freeway - though incomplete I might add.

that's the problem.  the freeway is through Reno.  Carson City's 50/395 alignment forces you to head through downtown.

I'm failing to understand what Reno has to do with the Carson City Bypass...

The first section of the bypass didn't really do much, as it took US 395 traffic out of the way only to bring it back through downtown. When paired with the second section that opened last year, it is faster to take the bypass freeway than going through downtown past the state capitol--even though the freeway is incomplete and one must still take surface streets to the south end of town.

[agentsteel53]

even though the freeway is incomplete and one must still take surface streets to the south end of town.

last I drove it, there was absolutely no freeway bypass whatsoever in Carson City, which is why I lamented its poor execution. 

the worst bypass of all: the invisible bypass that forces you through downtown.  the state that screws up the bypass most: the state that can't build them in a timely fashion in the first place!

[bulldog1979]

Michigan

US-41/M-28 between Ishpeming and Marquette, however, is a shining example of a screwed-up bypass. If it has a median, it's very narrow, and on some stretches it's 4 lanes without a center turn lane or median. There is no access control whatsoever except through Marquette. With all the big box stores just west of Marquette, it's rapidly becoming congested. And, even if an additional bypass is built, it's not going to be heavily used because most of the traffic is local.

Except that in some respects, that's not a bypass. US 41/M-28 was shifted out of downtown Ishpeming and Negaunee in the 1930s, and out of downtown Marquette in the 1960s. The highway was four-laned and divided around the time of the Marquette Bypass, but through Negaunee and Ishpeming, it wasn't moved at that time.

The Marquette Bypass is still expressway grade, even if it ends on the west just before the Marquette Township retail corridor starts. Most of that development is from the 1990s and later. When Walmart was built in 1993-4, that was the edge of town, and now there are stores farther out yet. Now, if the township zoned for access roads back then, we'd have much less of a mess now.

The developer behind the Country Village in Ishpeming was going to build an access road from the Pamida driveway west to Lakeshore Drive, but only if the city would agree to maintain it. The city said no, and there are three more access points through there.

[Laura]

-US 1 Bel Air, MD bypass. Seems to be a part super-2, part surface arterial going on here.

Oh, US 1. I'm quite impressed that this one was brought up. The portion that goes from Benson's Corner (aka Jone's Junction) at the intersection of MD 147/US 1 Bus up to Hickory is the only part of the original Perring Freeway that was planned to be built back in the 1960's. In brief, it would have connected with the piece of Perring Parkway off of I-695 outside of Baltimore and would have bypassed everything north of Nottingham, Perry Hall up to Bel Air. And oh my how it would have made commuting from Harford County to Baltimore City so much more convenient! (Don't get me wrong - I LOVE MD 147 because it still has this early 19th century feel, which would have been ruined with a freeway nearby, but the freeway would have provided a critical route from Towson to Bel Air.)

It's really unusual because SHA owns all of the ROW to make it a divided, 4-lane bypass from Benson to Hickory, yet it does this weird 4 lane to 2 lane to 4 lane again thing, causing unnecessary bottlenecks.

More importantly, though, is the failed trainwreck of a bypass that MD 24 has become (which is dual signed for part of its way on the US 1 Bel Air Bypass.) For the purely MD 24 section, someone did not think through the decision in the 1980's to allow at-grade intersections, considering that it goes directly next to the Harford Mall. I remember being elementary school aged in the early to mid 1990's and telling my (non-roadgeek) mother "Why are they adding all of these traffic lights? It's going to cause a gigantic mess." She and everyone else gets it 15 years later, now that they are redoing the whole MD 24/I-95 interchange and adding a neighboring interchange next door at MD 24/MD 924 (converting it from a constantly backed-up at-grade junction.)

It should have been created as limited access to begin with. Not only do all 11 intersections have traffic lights, but it makes a 5 mile trip take 20 MINUTES. Even worse, they now keep the timers on late at night, so one can't even save time driving on it at 3am.


-----------------

ETA: I was so distracted by the Bel Air stuff that I completely forgot to mention Lynchburg and Charlottesville, VA. In Charlottesville, they are planning to bypass the current US 29 bypass because of massive urban sprawl.

Lynchburg is slightly different. They've already built a 2nd US 460 bypass and they are looking to extend the 2nd US 29 bypass. The problem here, though, is that the 29 extension would completely overshoot Lynchburg by a few miles, so in order to keep the bypass near the city, they've multiplexed it (in a funky wrong-way concurrency) with US 460 and US 501 just south of Lynchburg. Of course, this really isn't ideal (there's a section of this with at-grade intersections and businesses) so they're figuring out a way to upgrade this alignment.

[J N Winkler]

I remember US 1 because I used it between Baltimore and Philadelphia to visit the Brandywine Conservancy.  I wanted to avoid the tolls on I-95 in Maryland and Delaware and save myself a trudge back westward through the traffic lights on US 1 after the end of the Media Bypass.  I don't remember the Bel Air bypass as being all that bad (this was in 1996 or 1997), but the length over the Conowingo Dam (between Bel Air and the Pennsylvania border) was two-lane and operated at a very bad level of service.  The Kennett-Oxford Bypass (US 1 north of the state line) might also be a candidate as a failed bypass because it has a mixture of interchanges and flat intersections.

[froggie]

In Charlottesville, they are planning to bypass the current US 29 bypass because of massive urban sprawl.

Not anymore.  The focus has now shifted to improving the existing US 29 corridor.  Also, it's not the bypass that's the problem...it's the area north of the bypass that has the problem.

Lynchburg is slightly different. They've already built a 2nd US 460 bypass and they are looking to extend the 2nd US 29 bypass.

Correct on 29, not the case on 460.  There's only been one US 460 bypass of Lynchburg.  And since they made it controlled access, it's not that bad.  The only real problem area on it is where you mentioned...east of 501 to the 29 bypass...but this is part of the original road alignment, not a bypass.

[Laura]

Not anymore.  The focus has now shifted to improving the existing US 29 corridor.  Also, it's not the bypass that's the problem...it's the area north of the bypass that has the problem.

Ahhh yes...I realize now that I explained it poorly. The whole reason that Charlottesville has discussed building a bypass since 1990 is because of that northern area exploding with urban sprawl. The Western Bypass would begin across from Leonard Sandridge Rd (which leads into the UVA campus.) It would bypass a small section of the current 29/250 bypass - the section with the ridiculous 15 MPH curve to get onto 29 North that often has huge backups.

It has been officially cancelled, though? Last I heard back in '09 (when I still lived in Lynchburg) is that it's still in the works, but in the long term future.

Correct on 29, not the case on 460.  There's only been one US 460 bypass of Lynchburg.  And since they made it controlled access, it's not that bad.  The only real problem area on it is where you mentioned...east of 501 to the 29 bypass...but this is part of the original road alignment, not a bypass.

The original 460 alignment into Lynchburg is now US 221 (Forest Road - Lakeside Drive - Oakley Ave - Fort Ave - 12th Street - Kemper Street). US 460 followed that route until the 1970's, when 460 was instead routed south of Bedford, through New London, and then cut into Lynchburg (Timberlake Road - Fort Ave.) I believe it replaced VA 307 and went on the alignment proposed for I-64 had it taken a southern route into Lynchburg instead of Charlottesville. I am unsure of when the current US 460 bypass was built, but the section now labeled as Business 460 (Timberlake - Fort - 12th - Kemper) was a 4-lane, divided bypass of the original (although in the past few years, they have upgraded 221 from Forest to the Lynchburg Expressway to 4-lane, undivided.)

I hope that makes sense, because with all of these bypasses (and let's not forget the 3 routings of 501) it is utterly confusing. Even Lynchburg locals get it mixed up. I constantly had to explain to people which road was which when I lived there because people confused them all the time.

Anyway, you're right, the problem area of 460 (east of 501 to the 29 bypass) is original US 460 alignment. It was not planned to be (and is unfit for) 29 bypass alignment. However, they are going to make it officially 29 bypass alignment for now, until 20 years from now when they'll inevitably extend the 29 bypass south.

[Alps]

I remember US 1 because I used it between Baltimore and Philadelphia to visit the Brandywine Conservancy.  I wanted to avoid the tolls on I-95 in Maryland and Delaware and save myself a trudge back westward through the traffic lights on US 1 after the end of the Media Bypass.  I don't remember the Bel Air bypass as being all that bad (this was in 1996 or 1997), but the length over the Conowingo Dam (between Bel Air and the Pennsylvania border) was two-lane and operated at a very bad level of service.  The Kennett-Oxford Bypass (US 1 north of the state line) might also be a candidate as a failed bypass because it has a mixture of interchanges and flat intersections.

The problem with US 1 is not the bypasses, it's the fact that they're not connected.  The Oxford Bypass is just fine, except the stretch of US 1 from there east to Philly is not.

[Eth]

The bypass around Dothan is horrible.  I drove that last summer.

Having driven this one on numerous occasions, I agree.  Even something like the US 280/431 bypass in Phenix City would be better; it still has a fair number of traffic lights, but at least no direct driveways like AL 210.

[Sykotyk]

Dothan is like Douglas, GA. Several in Texas are like that. Especially in East Texas. Tyler is the worst from what I can recall.

[Scott5114]

I remember being elementary school aged in the early to mid 1990's and telling my (non-roadgeek) mother "Why are they adding all of these traffic lights? It's going to cause a gigantic mess."

Sort of sad when an elementary schoolkid can plan a bypass better than a DOT can...

[Laura]

I remember being elementary school aged in the early to mid 1990's and telling my (non-roadgeek) mother "Why are they adding all of these traffic lights? It's going to cause a gigantic mess."

Sort of sad when an elementary schoolkid can plan a bypass better than a DOT can...

Haha! Indeed, although in defense of the MD SHA...Harford County was still considered a small chunk of agricultural wilderness back in the 1980's. I don't think they seriously considered that within 10 years the region would explode with activity. The bypass was completed in 1987, and I probably made that comment in 94, 95 or so (around age 7-8.) Bel Air, Abingdon, etc. grew tremendously in the 1990's.

It's probably also why there is a lack of highways in my area. Projects were scrapped probably because no one truly believed that farmers were going to need them, and that the money could go towards something else. Little did anyone know that a huge portion of those farmers would cash out in the '90s and that houses would grow on their fields.

ETA - I don't know if I mentioned why I emphasized the "non-roadgeek" mother thing. I used to say "silly" things like this all the time as a kid, things that 15 years later people finally began to acknowledge!

[thenetwork]

On the flip side, I think South Carolina has been great with most, if not all, of their bypasses.  For all the different combinations of US routes I used to take from I-77 between Charlotte & Columbia to Myrtle Beach, those towns which had bypasses seemed to have have kept any major development off of the bypasses and have kept them along the original-turned-Business US route alignments.

The last time I was on the US-17 Bypass around Myrtle Beach it was a very easy drive, as Barefoot Landing was starting to be built just off the bypass to the North of US-501, and the other bypasses that have been built since were just a twinkle in SCDOT's eye. For all I know, US-17 Bypass may now be just as jammed as US 17 through town is during tourist season.

[yakra]

The only part of the easterly ME196 extension that was done *right* was the US1 interchange.

Edit: And okay, yeah, at least there's not an at-grade rail crossing.

[Revive 755]

The last time I was on the US-17 Bypass around Myrtle Beach it was a very easy drive, as Barefoot Landing was starting to be built just off the bypass to the North of US-501, and the other bypasses that have been built since were just a twinkle in SCDOT's eye. For all I know, US-17 Bypass may now be just as jammed as US 17 through town is during tourist season.

Well it is kind of being bypassed again with SC 31, though not as well as it could be since the US 17/SC 9 interchange is missing the EB-NB movement.

[jdb1234]

The bypass around Dothan is horrible.  I drove that last summer.

Having driven this one on numerous occasions, I agree.  Even something like the US 280/431 bypass in Phenix City would be better; it still has a fair number of traffic lights, but at least no direct driveways like AL 210.

Usually, when I travel to Florida, I avoid the stretch of Ross Clark Circle between US 84 and US 231 northwest of town.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I nominate US 43 around Mount Pleasant, TN as one of the worst.

Funny thing is, it's not actually a bad bypass at all.  It's quite nice, actually - seeing as there are no stoplights or development for the entire length of the highway.

Then you realize that the speed limit drops to 55 for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON and is heavily enforced by the Mount Pleasant Police.

[Truvelo]

I nominate US 43 around Mount Pleasant, TN as one of the worst.

It also has one of the most useless types of interchanges at Mount Joy Road. All left turns require crossing the median. Why not add a similar looped ramp to the northeast corner of the junction which will remove all left turns across the median?

As for the speed limit - similar roads in the UK are 70mph. Indeed, I know of several over here that are of inferior quality to that stretch of US 43 which have numerous turns across the median.

[NE2]

It also has one of the most useless types of interchanges at Mount Joy Road. All left turns require crossing the median. Why not add a similar looped ramp to the northeast corner of the junction which will remove all left turns across the median?

There's a rail line in the way. That's probably why there's a bridge in the first place; otherwise it would just be an at-grade intersection.

[Bryant5493]

I can't speak for Georgia as a whole, but I can speak for Metro Atlanta; bypasses suck here. I-285 in particular; it's often easier/quicker to go through downtown Atlanta, coming from the south/north or east/west, imho.


Be well,

Bryant

[Stephane Dumas]

I wonder if KY DOT had once more bigger plans for KY-425/Henderson bypass? They had acquired some ROW for future upgrades to a 4-lanes divided highway and at the intersection with US-41, looks like they taked more ROW like if they wanted to built an interchange there. http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q=37.835556,-87.580833&ie=UTF8&ll=37.790718,-87.569854&spn=0.005825,0.013733&z=17

[Alps]

I wonder if KY DOT had once more bigger plans for KY-425/Henderson bypass? They had acquired some ROW for future upgrades to a 4-lanes divided highway and at the intersection with US-41, looks like they taked more ROW like if they wanted to built an interchange there. http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q=37.835556,-87.580833&ie=UTF8&ll=37.790718,-87.569854&spn=0.005825,0.013733&z=17

That's definitely using the current road for an EB half diamond with a folded loop in the NW quadrant for the new WB roadway.  There's a full diamond proposed at US 60 and it looks like that's where the dualization ends.

[NJRoadfan]

NJ is currently planning a joke of a US-206 bypass around Belle Mead (Hillsborough twp). The bypass will be a controlled access Super-2 with a few traffic lights, vs. a proper freeway. It should be interesting to note that part of that bypass will be using ROW that was originally planned for the I-95 Somerset Freeway.

[hbelkins]

I wonder if KY DOT had once more bigger plans for KY-425/Henderson bypass? They had acquired some ROW for future upgrades to a 4-lanes divided highway and at the intersection with US-41, looks like they taked more ROW like if they wanted to built an interchange there. http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q=37.835556,-87.580833&ie=UTF8&ll=37.790718,-87.569854&spn=0.005825,0.013733&z=17

That's definitely using the current road for an EB half diamond with a folded loop in the NW quadrant for the new WB roadway.  There's a full diamond proposed at US 60 and it looks like that's where the dualization ends.

That's definitely very recent aerial imagery, as the last time I was there (last March) the "Y" intersection at US 60 and Alt. US 41 was still in use, and the street was torn all to pieces for the curb-and-gutter installation.