Highway-related things I would like to see for 2013

[jcarte29]

Something I didn't think would be possible, but latest documents have shown, is the official signing of I-74 in Forsyth County NC.

2013 will be an awesome year for the presence of I-73/74 in North Carolina.

[CrossCountryRoads]

Something I didn't think would be possible, but latest documents have shown, is the official signing of I-74 in Forsyth County NC.

2013 will be an awesome year for the presence of I-73/74 in North Carolina.

Do they actually have any clear plans as of yet regarding if and how NC will connect the portions of I-74?  Since the one parallels US 52 near Mt. Airy and the other parallels US 74, they are quite far apart and I just wondered if you knew of how or if at all they ever plan to connect the two portions any time in the future.

[jcarte29]

Something I didn't think would be possible, but latest documents have shown, is the official signing of I-74 in Forsyth County NC.

2013 will be an awesome year for the presence of I-73/74 in North Carolina.

Do they actually have any clear plans as of yet regarding if and how NC will connect the portions of I-74?  Since the one parallels US 52 near Mt. Airy and the other parallels US 74, they are quite far apart and I just wondered if you knew of how or if at all they ever plan to connect the two portions any time in the future.

Yes, but before I answer, I want to cite Robert Malme for the information I share, and his website for these new interstates, link below.

http://web.simmons.edu/~malme/prog74.html

Ok, so by this summer, I-74 will exist in 3, not 4 sections of North Carolina because of completed construction projects. The first is unchanged, call it the "Mt Airy section" if you will, almost 17 miles. The second section is where it sees new road, connecting "broken up" sections. It will exist (officially) from I-40 in Winston-Salem, to south of Ellerbe in Richmond County, continuous 95 miles. The third segment is the Maxton bypass, 19 miles in SouthEast NC.

To answer your question about connecting these segments, it will not happen in the near future. US 52 between the first two segments I mentioned above will need substantial improvements and the Winston-Salem Northern Belt (East side) will be new road for I-74. This is also the case in S.E. NC, 2 areas, the Rockingham Bypass (carrying I-73 and I-74), will be new road, and US 74 from Rockingham to Laurinburg needs substantial improvements.

Hope this helps, check out that link I posted for more details.

[Mr_Northside]

Are they going to widen I-70 through Washington to six lanes along the 79 multiplex?

Yeah.  And last I heard they're planning on converting the US-19 cloverleaf into a DDI.
Tis all still a couple of years off though.

I like that, even with a wall separating directions of travel, there's still some wiggle room for emergency avoidance maneuvers.

That's sort of become my attitude toward medians... A wide grassy median is nice, aesthetically  - and it provides room for expansion.....   Though a situation with a barrier tall enough to deal with most oncoming headlight glare, and enough left shoulder space for a disabled / emergency vehicle has advantages too.  An out of control car can't get too "perpendicular"  with the barrier (or other direction of travel), and you don't have to worry about landscaping, and requires less ROW.

They have been working on a part near Smithton for quite a while now as well, and although they might be "widening" it a bit, it still isn't anywhere near acceptable compared to most other Interstates in the country I don't think.  One can only hope that stretch gets an overhaul sometime in the next 50 years or so.

I'm guessing with the type of rebuild projects they're doing there (and elsewhere on this stretch of I-70), they're planning on it lasting at least 50 years.  Somewhere there is a page that talks about plans, decades ago, that PennDOT was considering for a new, "modern" alignment of I-70 between Washington & New Stanton that were abandoned....


Also, more "on-topic": 
I'd like to see earth turning for the US-219 project(s) south of Somerset... In reality, I probably wouldn't use it more than once every three years on average, but still.
And I'd like to see the PTC have a news release saying that the Irwin <-> Monroeville widening/rebuilding will be one of the next sections they start working on.

[Ned Weasel]

I think I'm in the minority on this, but I'd actually like to see more toll roads--either new freeways being built as toll roads or existing ones being converted where it makes financial sense (or both).  When transportation funds are relatively scarce, and people are reluctant to raise fuel taxes, tolling offers the opportunity to raise funds and spend them where the demand is highest.  And if roads are to be a sustainable form of transportation infrastructure, they should be able to pay for themselves and not need to divert tax revenue from other services or increase governmental debt.**

I'd like to see new toll roads have service areas, too, even in metropolitan areas.  They tend to provide a greater convenience to drivers, even if a convenience charge is included in the price of gas, food, convenience store items, etc., and the concession funds can help offset the need for toll increases (even if only by a small amount).

Another trait of toll roads is that, at least in every state in which I've driven that has them, the toll roads are always better maintained than the non-toll roads.  The reason for this is pretty self-evident.  Toll road operators have an incentive to maintain their roads to a higher standard; otherwise, people would be less willing to pay to use them and would be more inclined to use non-toll alternatives (shunpike).

Furthermore, increased development of toll facilities would speed up the demand for national E-ZPass interoperability in the U.S. (we all know it's coming sooner or later, barring some sort of apocalypse).  This would eventually make toll roads more convenient for most people who use them.

Other things I'd like to see:

*Removal of unnecessary left turns on major arterials and replacement with jughandles or Michigan lefts, where feasible (I'm don't think I'm alone on this, and I'm sure most of us can think of local examples).

*Faster replacement of circular reds (or "red balls," if you prefer) with red arrows on left turn signals.

*More advance guide signs for intersecting streets on arterial roads (these were mentioned in a recent thread).

**In retrospect, I have mixed feelings about toll roads.  They raise issues of social equity (tolls are easier to afford for wealthier people), and the issue of infrastructure as part of the public commons (all of society generally benefits from infrastructure, not just its direct users).

[kkt]

I think I'm in the minority on this, but I'd actually like to see more toll roads--either new freeways being built as toll roads or existing ones being converted where it makes financial sense (or both).  When transportation funds are relatively scarce, and people are reluctant to raise fuel taxes, tolling offers the opportunity to raise funds and spend them where the demand is highest.  And if roads are to be a sustainable form of transportation infrastructure, they should be able to pay for themselves and not need to divert tax revenue from other services or increase governmental debt.

I'd rather see gas taxes raised.  Having toll roads creates a disincentive for drivers to use the safest and fastest alternative, just to save the toll.  The process of collecting the toll itself costs a lot of money which goes to the fast pass contractor.  All of the gas tax can be used on roads.

I'd like to see new toll roads have service areas, too, even in metropolitan areas.  They tend to provide a greater convenience to drivers, even if a convenience charge is included in the price of gas, food, convenience store items, etc., and the concession funds can help offset the need for toll increases (even if only by a small amount).

Another trait of toll roads is that, at least in every state in which I've driven that has them, the toll roads are always better maintained than the non-toll roads.  The reason for this is pretty self-evident.  Toll road operators have an incentive to maintain their roads to a higher standard; otherwise, people would be less willing to pay to use them and would be more inclined to use non-toll alternatives (shunpike).

I think what you're seeing is a problem with tolls: they create an incentive for the DOT to skimp on maintenance of roads that parallel a toll road.

Furthermore, increased development of toll facilities would speed up the demand for national E-ZPass interoperability in the U.S. (we all know it's coming sooner or later, barring some sort of apocalypse).  This would eventually make toll roads more convenient for most people who use them.

I'm still unhappy about anyone having a database of who was where when.  First it'll be used only in terrorism cases, then for deadbeat dads, then for targeted ads...

[CrossCountryRoads]

I tend to agree with kkt.  Having too many toll roads is a bad idea in my opinion.  It definitely does cause DOT to skimp on maintaining the secondary roads that parallel the toll road, that can be seen quite a bit in PA.  I would actually say one of the things I would like to see proposed in 2013 is more funds toward improving secondary roads that parallel toll roads to make them safer and more efficient routes.  Possibly a few planned bypasses around small towns would be a good start.