16 replies to this topic

[CAski]

Hell, coming summer 2005 (northbound). Scroll to the second page, you will get my drift.

Better know where you are going ahead of time...

By the way, that unlabled interchange is the junction with Highway 56.

This post has been edited by CAski: 18 May 2004 - 07:47 PM

[edmontonguy]

Though it really doesn't slow you down too much there is an intersection from hell you must negotiate on the commute. The site of a torn down overpass a 6 lane road (170th street) with traffic in the same volume as a freeway enters a massive 5 laned "traffic square" with traffic from two 4 laned one way avenues. Though by itself this is not a problem on the north end about a block up is another 4 laned road (mayfield road) which intersects at a 45 degree angle and creates a massive merge with cross traffic. in total over 100 000 cars use this intersection daily.
a better representation of what i am trying to get across
Click here!

Or for added fun find this intersection yourself (/stupid link)

This post has been edited by edmontonguy: 18 May 2004 - 07:50 PM

[KZ]

This one is pretty good, just a bit pointless with those carpool-carpool flyovers:


The district 4 site hasnt been updated in for ever, so our 85-101 project isnt up, but it is a big one. I think it goes to something like 18 lines (w/ merges and all that) in one spot.

[CAski]

KZ: yeah, that does look a bit different, though still more intelligent than the design for the 5/805.

[KZ]

Ok, mass transportation is back. Projects involving freeways, train systems and all the works. Many will remember this from the old days.

[edmontonguy]

Here is an idea which is causing controversy:

As part of a new plan to impliment new Express Bus lanes the fastest way to downtown was building another bridge across the river and cutting through an upper class neighbour hood. I am sure that transit is not too great a need for these citizens but shouldn't they sacrifice several homes for the greater good of over 150 000 people?

what do you guys think?

[KZ]

Well is that the only way to do it? When highway 85 was built here, they had to buy off hundreds of houses, and it seems it was a good decision becasue it really eases congestion on 280 and 101. It is probably worth is in the long run, but short term things uaually look worse.

[edmontonguy]

There are several other ways but they involve reducing lanes on the already conjested freeway bridge or on smaller city streets. It would be long term as the LRT would eventually run on the bridge when it would be built in 10-20 years

[CAski]

I'm sure that all of you have heard of Old Del Mar...

Anyway, Highway 101 travels right through their downtown, and 10,000 commuters pass through Del Mar on this road (also called Camino Del Mar) every day despite the fact that the area has only 3,000 residents. I'm sure the number of commuters would be higher, but for the fact that Del Mar has refused to put in stop lights. Therefore, on this highly travelled stretch of road, there are a series of stop signs along the whole length that makes passing through the town a nightmare. Del Mar has made it clear that they dislike commuters, but they are now in the process of taking it one step further. They seem to almost have a desire to screw the entire community over. There is a bridge on the 101 that was jointly owned by both Del Mar and San Diego. San Diego wanted it widened from two lanes to four, as the road both before and after the bridge was four lanes. Del Mar refused, and San Diego gave up its rights on the bridge. For whatever reason, San Diego also decided to widen a bridge that it had complete control of that was directly south of the bridge, even though this serves no purpose whatsoever (it narrows back down to two lanes immediately). Now Del Mar wants to shrink the portion of Camino Del Mar after the bridge down to two lanes, removing a lane from each side! This is the Highway 101 we are talking about here, a major coastal route. Even residents of downtown Del Mar feel as though their city council has lost its mind.

[KZ]

Haha, thats pretty funny. Up here 101 is a big 8 lane freeway, but goes back down to 4 past hollister. How long is the backup usually for the stop signs?

[CAski]

It is a solid wall of traffic from 9th street all the way to 15th street.

Map

This may not look like too long a distance, but it takes 15-20 minutes to get through on the best of days, and it can get much longer.

This post has been edited by CAski: 19 May 2004 - 06:31 PM

[edmontonguy]

Alright i have found an ariel photo of the intersection I described earlier. The traffic is light as it is midday.

Attached File(s)

•  edh2001_209.jpg (556.36K)
  Number of downloads: 15

[liftmech]

I wonder when politicians and DOT/MinTrans guys will get the idea that adding more lanes to a superhighway only adds more congestion? At first, the extra space helps, but over a short period of time you'd never know there was an extra lane as all of them are jammed. I-405 (the Seattle bypass freeway) is an excellent example of this. The road has gone from two lanes each direction when I was a kid to four in many places, yet it is the most crowded freeway in Pugetopolis.
Part of the problem is people who refuse to take mass transit even when the option is available. One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing single-occupant vehicles during rush hour. If more people rode the bus/train/subway, there would be more incentive for governments to build them, and the phenomenon would build on itself...

[iceberg210]

Well you want to talk about stupid transportation money going nowhere here in Salt Lake they are having to replace overpasses and such because they said it had to be done before the Olypics and thats what we got. However we didn't get good quaility and roads that were to last 20 years lasted 2. Now thats the government for you.

[KZ]

Hahaha, now that is high quality. Around here whenever an overpass is built it costs twice as much and takes almost twice as long to build due to stricter standards due to the threat of earthquakes.

The larges controversy around me now is the extension of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from Fremont down to San Jose and the airport. Its going to cost some outrageous amount like 3.8 billion, and now that funding isn't there, they are going to cut out certain stations which will decrease ridership and make some of it almost useless. I think around here they should just extend Caltrain or Ace up the east bay with a connector at the San Jose Intnl Airport, but i guess that is just too simple.

Here is the plan:

[CAski]

Here are some pictures of the bridge on the 101 that Del Mar refuses to widen.





And, lastly

Hmm... Maybe I shouldn't take this route anymore...

[CAski]

A rather interesting series of intersections that handle over 70,000 cars per day.

Here