[USA] United States Non-Interstate Roads and Highways

[pwalker]

Nice pictures of California wine country. It should be pointed out though that Hwy 101 is a mix of four lane freeway and two lane highway from wine country up to the Oregon border. A nice drive, if you have the time and patience.

[jchernin]

Originally Posted by pwalker

Nice pictures of California wine country. It should be pointed out though that Hwy 101 is a mix of four lane freeway and two lane highway from wine country up to the Oregon border. A nice drive, if you have the time and patience.

101 has got to be one of my favorite roads. its runs all up and down cali, serving as an important route connecting la and the bay area. here in santa rosa, its being widened to a 6 lane freeway with carpool lanes.

ive driven up to newport beach in ore on the 101. its stunning: wine country, redwoods, rocky cliffs and bridges. very beautiful.

[ChrisZwolle]

Nice view of State Route 7 in New York, near Albany.

[Tom 958]

US 1 between Cassatt and Camden, SC: http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&q=...08841&t=h&z=16. I should've taken a lot more photos on this trip (Durham NC to Warner Robins GA), but this one I doubled back to get.


There's an indentation in the concrete with the inscription SEABOARD-1929. A more modern sign slightly larger than the indentation was made to cover the inscription, but half of it is now gone. Let's take a closer look:


Plenty of overheight truck strikes. This is one of the few bridges in SC without a sign giving the clearance-- or perhaps it got knocked off.

The pavement quality on US 1 is surprisingly bad, but there was little traffic. The lanes were widened some years back-- in the late the 80's, I'd guess-- and there are visible fissures in the asphalt at the edge of the old pavement, more so north of here.

[micrip]

Originally Posted by Timon91

The biggest danger are the moose actually. Luckily I didn't hit any, but I've seen a few on the roadside.
And what about this suicide gravel road. I was really scared here

...now THIS is scary...

[Timon91]

Do you call that scary?
It's not very steep.

[ChrisZwolle]

Natcher Parkway near Bowling Green, KY

[Tom 958]

I wonder if Kentucky will ever get around to assigning proper route numbers to its parkways-- US 231 for this one, for instance.

[ChrisZwolle]

They want to sign some parkways in western Kentucky (Pennyrile, Western KY and Purchase Parkways) as I-69.

[hoosier]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

They want to sign some parkways in western Kentucky (Pennyrile, Western KY and Purchase Parkways) as I-69.

The federal government signed off on it so it will happen.

Kentucky gets a new interstate by doing no building at all while Indiana spends over $1 billion to get the same thing.

[mgk920]

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has information on line about the *MASSIVE* US 41 upgrades in the Green Bay and Oshkosh-Neenah areas that will be under construction starting in 2010. Definitely check the map and the '7 or 8 interchange' links!

WI 26 (interchange 113) in Oshkosh to Breezewood Ln/Bell St (interchange 129) in Neenah:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/project...sion/index.htm

Scheuring Rd (interchange 161) in De Pere through Green Bay to Lineville Rd (interchange 173) in Howard/Suamico:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/project...rown-index.htm

(These two projects have a total cost of over a half-BILLION dollars and cover a part of US 41 that will be promoted to full interstate status at an undetermined future date.)

Related to the first one is a planned major upgrade project for the US 10/WI 441 freeway in the Appleton/Menasha/Neenah, WI area, including major upgrades to its US 41 interchange (interchange 134) and a new parallel bridge over Little Lake Butte des Morts (Fox River). Its schedule is entirely dependent on funding:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/project...ternatives.htm

Also in the works is upgrading US 41 from Oconto, WI to Peshtigo, WI from two to four lanes, now under way:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/project...onto/index.htm

(This part is NOT planned for promotion to interstate status at this time, but will come just short of completing US 41 as a full free-flowing freeway and expressway from metro Milwaukee to the Michigan state line - only a very congested section of city streets in Marinette, WI will stand in the way. This is due to an unwillingness on the part of MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation) to do anything with its part of US 41 in Menominee, MI.)

Enjoy!



Mike

[Tom 958]

Whoa, gettin' heavy into roundabouts! If only my state were so progressive.

OT for this post: I read the debate about whether I-41 was an appropriate designation for US 41 as an Interstate, and I was about ready to say yes. But on my recent rosadtrip through the carolinas, seeing I-74 and US 74 posted on the same roadway almost made me



on my dashboard!

[sotonsi]

but the I-/US 74 thing is different. You could consider I-41 to be US41(I) to put in it UK terms (things like A1(M) are the A1 upgraded to motorway designation).

I don't think US41 would be signed on I-41, simply as there's no need. With the 74s in NC, it's different, as the two routes only multiplex briefly, whereas I-41 would be concurrent with US41 if US41 is rerouted a small amount.

I-74 in NC is awful. The whole I-73/I-74 thing is a bit silly - South of the northernmost junction between the two, it could be one of those, rather than being two routes that multiplex several times, with the other bits as 3dis from the other route, or even from things like I-77. I'd go for I-73.

[hoosier]

INDOT is upgrading U.S. 24 from I-469 east of Fort Wayne to the IN/OH state line. It will be a four lane divided highway with two new interchanges. The entire project will be finished by no later than early 2013. The "Fort to Port" website: http://www.in.gov/indot/div/projects/us24/

In addition, the state of Indiana will be building an entriely new SR 25 from Lafayette to Logansport. It will be a four lane divided highway as well. This means that there will eventually be a four lane divided highway connecting Lafayette with Toledo, Ohio by 2014.

The Hoosier Heartland Corridor website (SR 25): http://www.in.gov/indot/div/projects/sr25study/

[hoosier]

Speaking of U.S. 41, INDOT is also constructing an interstate quality bypass, called SR 641, around Terre Haute from U.S. 41 south of the city to Interstate 70. The first two segments of the road are either built or under construction but the remaining two segments are still in the enviornmental study phase. The funding is in place and the entire road is scheduled to be finished by 2015.

Here is the link to the project website:http://www.in.gov/indot/div/projects/sr641/

[Tom 958]

US 78, Stone Mountain, GA
http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&q=...,0.144196&z=12

I didn't start out to do a feature about this road-- it kind of just happened.

This is the bridge carrying Julliette Road over US 78, aka the Stone Mountain Freeway. This segment of freeway, from old US 29-78 inside I-285 to the Stone Mountain Park bypass, was opened in 1968. The Stone Mountain Park bypass was built as part of the park in the late '50's.


In the late '50's Georgia started working on both US 78 and US 29 from Atlanta to Athens. The short GA 316 freeway was built to connect I-85 to Lawrenceville and (almost) US 29, and freeway bypasses were built on US 78 at Stone Mountain and Monroe. The northern segment of what eventually became the Athens Perimeter was built at the same time. But then progress all but stopped except for the 1968 section in the above photo.

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The 1968 Stone Mountain Freeway extension made for a very convenient route to I-285 and Atlanta from southern Gwinnett County, and development exploded there starting in the early '70's. But nothing was done to provide a proper medium-distance highway corridor, so in the mid/late 70's US 78 was widened to five lanes-- two in each direction plus a center turn lane. That was quickly overwhelmed, so in the mid '80s a reversible lane system was installed, providing three lanes in the peak direction, two in the off-peak and a two-way left turn lane. This is actually the last photo I took, just beyond the current construction limits. The reversible lane signs aren't working, but apparently everybody pretty much knows what to do.


Yes, I am in the correct lane, since I'm turning left at the next light-- Hewatt Road, FWIW. It's the afternoon rush, so the other reversible lane is for straight-ahead traffic.

This road seems pretty scary, but statistically it's actually relatively safe. Apparently it's scarier than it is dangerous-- people take extra care, and it generally works out OK.

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Obviously the reversible lane wasn't a long-term solution. Various options were discussed-- widening to a 2x4 boulevard, for one. A 1995 study recommended a 2x3 at-grade arterial with a reversible two lane controlled access roadway, elevated or at grade within the nonexistent median. But that would've been really expensive, so nothing was done.

Eventually a minimal proposal was made to install a very narrow concrete barrier and have 2x3 all of the time, plus a few turning lanes where it was cheap to provide them. It was either that or replace to reversible lane signal, which nobody wanted to to. Despite the tiny $13 million price tag, the project languished-- until now.

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Here's a view just east of the first at-grade intersection. Development here was done relatively recently, and accel-decel lanes were provided, which are utilized by the new construction. So far, so good.

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A bit further east the road narrows to its usual configuration, 2x3 with a minimal barrier.

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Here again a bit of extra width was put to intensive use, with left turn pockets leading to a Lowe's on the left and a QuikTrip on the right. Just ahead left lane ends temporarily-- I must credit my fellow motorists for making the merge a lot less road-rage-inducing than I anticipated.

[ChrisZwolle]

The most interesting feature isn't on these pictures... The Stone Mountain itself

[Tom985]

It's barely visible in the first photo, above the silver minivan.

Also in that photo, the bridge has that retrofitted suicide fencing I mentioned in an earlier post.

[Alex Von Königsberg]

I like the Georgia lane marking

[Timon91]

The Peach Tree City parkway (Georgia):