From my experience driving truck for the last 15 years:
Widening/improving roads will not begin until congestion has already become horrible; widening/improving roads will be done with the intent of reducing present congestion, and will be scheduled to take 2 years, during which 2 years, traffic will increase approximately 50%, of course, and traffic through the construction zones will be even more horrible than prior to the beginning of improvements. This increased traffic will mean that when the improvements are done, congestion will be at least as bad, if not worse, than when the last improvements were begun.
I’ve occasionally wondered if narrowing highways to two lanes, but putting exit/on ramps on both sides would help. One thing I do know is that putting two on-ramps right before a narrow bridge is a recipe for traffic jams.
I’ve occasionally wondered if narrowing highways to two lanes, but putting exit/on ramps on both sides would help. One thing I do know is that putting two on-ramps right before a narrow bridge is a recipe for traffic jams.[/quote]
…or my personal favourite, an on-ramp merges in just before an off-ramp.
Road-narrowing seems pretty drastic (and expensive). You could just convert more lanes into carpool lanes I suppose. Or a toll lanes. I disapprove of the idea of toll lanes in theory, but it would be interesting to see what happened if you implemented one.
Worst highways to drive are in downtown Chicago - 294 I think (the N/S highway just west of the loop). On ramps coming down and merging in on the left (with poor visibility) every 2 blocks. Because of the support structures for the next on-ramp, you have about 100 feet to get over to the right, into traffic you can’t see well, that’s going 75 mph, and you’re coming off a ramp at about 40 mph.
LA has the reverse, where the offramp is just before the onramp, but the two cross over each other–what my friend Paul used to call “the X of death.” So as you pull off the freeway, you have to deal with people accelerating to get on and crossing your path from right to left.
LA has the reverse, where the offramp is just before the onramp, but the two cross over each other–what my friend Paul used to call “the X of death.” So as you pull off the freeway, you have to deal with people accelerating to get on and crossing your path from right to left.[/quote]
No, that’s exactly what I was saying :) I seem to remember there’s a horrific one on the 405 North at the Wilshire exit/entrance?
According to the traffic research literature reading I did last summer, that’s actually a pretty well-established effect of road building, Cindy. Hilariously pointless in most cases.
I swear, McCullough, every time a topic comes up, you’ve done research on it. I’m picturing you at work in Redmond, poring over traffic density and urban utilitization reports when you’re supposed to be writing code. Why haven’t you run for comptroller or something already?
I’ve actually read two good books on city planning that talk about the inefficacy (and actual malignancy) of road widening: Suburban Nation, which talks about all of the problems of sprawl, and the classic Death and Life of Great American Cities, which is concerned more with why certain traditional metropolitan neighborhoods thrive and why others fail. Both were quite interesting if you have the least interest in this kind of thing.
I haven’t done extensive cross-referencing research on this or anything, but I liked the way the freeways in Dallas are designed, wide four-laners with contiguous on/off ramps that merge with a contiguous frontage road. So, you could pop over a road or two on the frontage roads if you didn’t need to commit to the freeway.
Vegas freeways are sad. Perpetually under construction, lagging behind population increase (“Look! Our onramp from the fastest growing section of town, Summerlin, is going to be two lanes instead of one!”), utter lack of emergency lanes in many spots, poorly repainted divider lines, no lack of idiots who have the slightest clue on how to merge.
Funny this thread pops up. Over the last two weeks, it’s like every day there has been some kind of disaster forcing outright closure of one or both sides of a freeway, plus 3 or 4 other accidents on the freeways alone.
