Show us your area's highways

[Duke87 1,070]

EZ-Pass has made a difference since it came about some 10 years ago. Started as a Triborough Bridge and tunnel Authority thing, but now is good all over the Northeastern US.

There are high speed (50 MPH) collectors in places, and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority plans to eventually have them at all their tolls.

Trouble is, you can't use it unless you have an EZPass transponder (which almost everyone from around here who drives places does). If you don't, you have to stop and pay the toll the old fashoned way.

As for the taking a picture of the liscence plate alternative... it's problematic since some cars have a special plate on the front or back (you only legally need one plate in most US states, but they give you two), meaning two pictures would need to be taken to ensure a number is caught.

Actually, such a system is already in place in Manhattan at some locations. But it's not for toll collection, it's for getting traffic tickets to people who run red lights.

And people often complain about it being "unfair", due to the general american attitude that traffic laws need not be obeyed unless there's a cop around. And a lot of people over 30 are machine-phobic. Having machines do things that people did when they were kids freaks them out.

[thesonofgray 0]

Originally posted by: Pixelrage Europe takes more pride in making things look good - the US, for the most part, is more concerned with saving money and scacrificing looks on everywhere possible.quote>

Hm...I think it's called 'being efficient'.  The US would rather build something that works and build it cheap - and then move on to the next thing instead of making what was just made 'pretty'.

Also, (and this is my opinion) Europe has a very very large tourism industry usually focused around the historic.  Places in the US like Houston or the middle of Idaho aren't as concerned if the freeways make the area look nice and are more worried about how long it will take them to get somewhere.  In Europe, if you can get through the opposition to build a freeway in a historic area (urban or rural) you better damn well make it look nice or there will be hell to pay.  I can't cite any resources or prove any of this but I take it as common sense.

--

On things like toll booths, Houston has a couple of tollroads that utilize the EZ-pass system, too.  My dad uses it on Beltway 8 to get to work everyday and man would I like to rake in some of that money they collect everyday.  Everytime I pass a toll booth on Beltway 8 there are usually 2 or 3 cop cars sitting on the side of the road which I assume (and have seen) would pull over any offenders goin through the EZ lanes without the EZ pass.

And while we are talking about Beltway 8, here are the before and [soon to be completed] after images of the I-10 & Beltway 8 interchange.

The perpendicular pair will put on some weight in the coming years.

[jvlm.123 0]

Motorways (Mótarbhealach) in Ireland.

Ireland's motorway system is.... developing.... To be honest there aren't that many, and those that are are mainly focused on Dublin and Belfast. However, these motorways are a very high standard, and easy to drive on. There are also a large number of dual carriageways in the country.

This warns you of a motorway ahead.

It translates into English as -

MOTORWAY AHEAD

NOT PERMITTED -

-L-Drivers (Learners)

-Vehicles under 50cc

-Slow vehicles (under 50 km/h)

-Invalid carriages

-Bicycles

-Pedestrians

-Animals

Entrance to the new M4 Motorway, which opened earlier this year.

A section of the M4, shown just before junction 8 (hence the '8' in the corner of the sign). The (N6) and (N5) are in brackets to show that you must leave the motorway to travel on them.

Again, the brackets show you must leave the motorway to gain access to these towns/cities.

Toll Plaza, self-explanitory really.

See now the N6 isn't in brackets? This is because it's th M4/N6 junction (Junction 11), and now we leave the Motorway bound for Galway.

The split in the road. The N6 is almost all high-quality dual carriageway from here to Galway City.

The new N2 Dual Carriageway from Dublin-Derry. This seems to be more common and more favourable with the Irish government. This is the only dual-carriageway in Ireland to have the same speed limit as a motorway (120 km/hr or 75 m/ph).

The newer road signs are a bit more informative.

N2/M50 Junction.

The M1/M50 Junction, possibly the busiest in Ireland (other than the M50/N7 Junction).

The M1/Dublin Airport Junction.

The M1, a few kilometres north of Dublin at this stage.

The N18 Galway  - Limerick Dual Carriageway. It passes the major Shannon Airport (Aerfort ná Sionainn) which is a major transatlantic hub. 

The N18, still.

An overhead gantry on the N18/Shannon Junction.

The M7 Motorway, heading towards Dublin.

The M7 Motorway, heading away from Dublin and near the M7/M9 Junction.

Route confirmatory sign - Just to let you know where you are.

The M50, Dublin Ring Road, currently one of the busiest roads in Europe.

Junction 13 on the M50, towards Dundrum and Sandyford, two suburbs. Dundrum has the largest shopping centre in Europe (when completed, it's open but still building) which makes unvelievable amounts of money.

Another M50 sign, nearing the M50/N31 interchange close to Dún Laoghaire.

And here it is!

Northern end of the M50, at the M1/M50 Interchange.

Another bit of the M50.

A bit of the M1.

The start of the M1 in Belfast.

Aerial view of the M1 (Belfast).

The M1 in Belfast, again.

The M1/A1 Lisburn & Sprucefield Junction.

Somewhere on the M1.

The M1 ends in Belfast at this roundabout (Broadway Roundabout), it's the one coming from the bottom of the picture.

The start of the M12 Motorway in Craigavon, County Armagh.

The M2 in Belfast. This is currently the widest motorway in Ireland, with 5 lanes in each direction.

An aerial view of the action.

The M2/M5 Split.

The M2/A8 Split.

Junction 7 on the M2.

The M22.

The M3 (Harbour Link) in Belfast.

One of the exits from the M3.

The start of it, it begins when the M2 terminates.

The end of the M8, a pointless motorway that is only 2 kilometres long, with no exits.

The A1 Dual-Carriageway between Lisburn and Newry.

The Bangor Ring-Road, a dual carriageway that circles Bangor, County Down.

The Westlink, probably the most important dual-carriageway in Belfast. It connects the M1, M2 and M3 to each other.

The route of the Westlink (A12).

A section of the Westlink.

Another part of the Westlink, it looks familiar to the M8 in Glasgow, Scotland I think.

Another part, which is sunken.

Yet another part, sunken aswell!

A ground-level section, complete with bus lane.

Route of the A55 Belfast Outer Ring Road.

A55 near Belvoir Park.

A55 at the Cregagh Road junction.

Another, single-carriageway section.

IRISH MOTORWAY FACTS -

Total length of motorways on island - 390 kilometres (242 miles).

Total length of dual-carriageways on island - 531 kilometres (330 miles).

Total length of high-quality roads - 921 kilometres (572 miles).

That's most of the main motorways/dual carriageways in Ireland, though the network is the fastest expanding in Europe, so hopefully some more soon (The M9/M8 extensions should be finished in the next year)!

Also, I feel that the road signs on European Motorways are a lot easier to read, I've been on American Freeways and it's just a barrage of signs, especially in the urban areas. If you look at my pictures above, you'll see that they are a lot simpler to read and more aesthetically pleasing.

[montrouge 2]

Other view of  Paris freeways

Boulevard Peripherique  inner Paris beltway

Autoroute A 14

N 13 enter of Autoroute  A 14

[crazypinoy 0]

Originally posted by: wxstorm

Nena^`:  You're absolutely correct about the expressways in Japan.  You'll notice while driving on an expressway through downtown Tokyo, buildings are built right up to the edge of the expressway.  Especially in urban areas the Japanese will build an expressway directly above (or below) a pre-existing street or avenue to minimize the taking of buildings for the road.  The tolls are outrageous in Japan as well.  To drive from where I live to downtown Tokyo, a distance of about 30 miles (50 km), will cost me about $20 in tolls.  I find it easier to take the train.

Another place where they are really starting to expand their expressway network is the Philippines.  To get from Manila to Angeles City (where my wife is from), we drove on the North Expressway out of Manila.  Much of the North Expressway is similar to an American Interstate highway.  There are tolls on expressways, but nowhere near what it costs to drive in Japan.  Toll rates in the Philippines are comparable to what you'd pay in the United States.

Above is a picture of the North Expressway near Manila.  Notice the similarity in design to the Interstate 94 Borman Expressway (Below) just outside of Chicago in northwest Indiana.

quote>

That pic of the NLH makes me miss home even more. That's the most direct route out to the nothern provinces. Soon as I passed over that image, I knew instantly what I was looking at, thank you! =)

[MadTV_Freak 0]

Well, this is the Capital Beltway (I-495/I-95) near my house. The highway forms an almost complete circle around DC. Don't let this pic fool you, this is just a picture on a Saturday morning, the Beltway is heavily jammed on weekdays and weekends. Cant get the picture in the right spot.

[Uumke 0]

Well I think you're  making a mistake on your analisis of the dutch and belgian highways.
There isn't a lot of room for highways, that's true. But if you look at the highwaymap of europe, you see that the hygway network in the netherlands,belgium and the ruhr-area in germany, are the most dense. It's true that the "autobaan" or "snleweg" aren't that wide. Their mostly 2 lanes in one direction, except for the major roads and ring roads around amsterdam, rotterdam, brussels and antwerp.
The dutch roads are in a better condition than the belgian roads, you've got some bad asphalt there!
but anyways, we all love highways don't we?
I've noticed that the asphalt colour of the us roads are lighter than the european roads. Has anyone got an explanation for that?
Here are some maps of the north-western europeam network. It aren't the best maps that i've found. But you can see that the highway network in holland, belgium and the ruhr area are denser than in the other parts of europe. Maybe, it's because the distances are smaller here in the netherlands. The largest number of km's on a road sign i've seen was : Amsterdam 194 and Maastricht 194. 

[Mizari 23]

Originally posted by: thesonofgray

Originally posted by: Pixelrage Europe takes more pride in making things look good - the US, for the most part, is more concerned with saving money and scacrificing looks on everywhere possible.quote>

Hm...I think it's called 'being efficient'.  The US would rather build something that works and build it cheap - and then move on to the next thing instead of making what was just made 'pretty'.

Also, (and this is my opinion) Europe has a very very large tourism industry usually focused around the historic.  Places in the US like Houston or the middle of Idaho aren't as concerned if the freeways make the area look nice and are more worried about how long it will take them to get somewhere.  In Europe, if you can get through the opposition to build a freeway in a historic area (urban or rural) you better damn well make it look nice or there will be hell to pay.  I can't cite any resources or prove any of this but I take it as common sense.

--

On things like toll booths, Houston has a couple of tollroads that utilize the EZ-pass system, too.  My dad uses it on Beltway 8 to get to work everyday and man would I like to rake in some of that money they collect everyday.  Everytime I pass a toll booth on Beltway 8 there are usually 2 or 3 cop cars sitting on the side of the road which I assume (and have seen) would pull over any offenders goin through the EZ lanes without the EZ pass.

And while we are talking about Beltway 8, here are the before and [soon to be completed] after images of the I-10 & Beltway 8 interchange.

The perpendicular pair will put on some weight in the coming years. quote>

It's rather incorrect to suggest that Europe is not commited to making the roads efficient - they are in many cases much more efficient than their North American counterparts. Roads in the US tend to be very wide while yet serving relatively low volumes of traffic; plus your freeway system is plagued by antics of poor 1960's planning (such as left exits and TOTSOs; Turn Off To Stay On). It is rare to come across roadsections other than merging segments in Europe wider than three lanes each direction, and road discipline is usually better (except for notably France, Italy and Belgium as well as some other countries), plus European roads are yet to be clogged by oversized SUV's and dreadfully oversized lorries.

Many of the European expressways do face problems, however, the Italian tollway system, for example, is riddled with inadequate acceleration and decleration fields, many are completely straight for ridiculous lenghty segments. In Italy during the 1960's, when most of the tollways were built, they demolished many sites of old historical relics just to let the motorways be straight.

Adding landscaping and a nice environment around the roadway is something that could quite possibly make the road more efficient, and also more pleasing for the drivers as well as local residents. The horrendously oversized roadways with ugly pavement and far too many junctions (which leads to excessive weaving and congestion due to local commuting traffic and thusly decreasing of the facility's total capacity) were typically built through most US cities during the 1960's are usually attributed to the decay of the US urban environment; though it should be noted if anything it was a demographic change due to irrational government actions in the pre-war era that led to this rather than motorway construction.

Nowadays, new motorway construction is a difficult, almost impossible task, as it is in the US as well, due to requirements of environmental planning, inflation and rising expenses. Many of the US urban freeways would never have been approved had they been proposed today.

Originally posted by: Uumke

Well I think you're  making a mistake on your analisis of the dutch and belgian highways.

There isn't a lot of room for highways, that's true. But if you look at the highwaymap of europe, you see that the hygway network in the netherlands,belgium and the ruhr-area in germany, are the most dense. It's true that the "autobaan" or "snleweg" aren't that wide. Their mostly 2 lanes in one direction, except for the major roads and ring roads around amsterdam, rotterdam, brussels and antwerp.

The dutch roads are in a better condition than the belgian roads, you've got some bad asphalt there!

but anyways, we all love highways don't we?

I've noticed that the asphalt colour of the us roads are lighter than the european roads. Has anyone got an explanation for that?

Here are some maps of the north-western europeam network. It aren't the best maps that i've found. But you can see that the highway network in holland, belgium and the ruhr area are denser than in the other parts of europe. Maybe, it's because the distances are smaller here in the netherlands. The largest number of km's on a road sign i've seen was : Amsterdam 194 and Maastricht 194. 

quote>

US roads often only have a concrete pavement, though there are exceptions (The Capital Beltway is one, many motorways in the Northeastern US also feature asphalt pavement). There are also many roads in Europe with concrete pavement, particularly on the German motorways, though often the concrete is paved over with asphalt lateron.

[Wlvrn567 0]

I used to live in Detroit, and i wish i still did, so heres some Detroit Highways.








The green sign on the hill on the far, back left, says Halsted Rd next right, and i used to live right off of This highway on Halsted Rd.






The top 3 are I-94 near the Detroit Metro Airport


This is 696, in Farmington Hills, and if you went under the bridge, past the hill on the right, you could see the town houses i used to live in

[YourNickname 0]

New Mexico has this quirky habbit of dying the concrete in our overpasses and noise barries with Southwestern colors, patterns, and images. It's a cultural thing.

Turqois trim on I-25/I-140 Interchange (The "Big I" locally) in Albuquerque:

They even dye the little metal thing holding the road signs up:

New overpass near Las Cruces. This is VERY common, and they get ridiculously decorative up by Santa Fe. In fact the only place this is not the norm is Albuquerque (which has started, as you can see in the above picture):

Most our highways try desperately to avoid cities (oddly enough), particularly in the northern part of the State. Santa Fe is the epitome of this, as it forced Interstate 25 to stay several miles south of the city when the route was planned. Originally, they thought of running it up north, through the city, basically following Highway 285. But Santa Fe would have none of that. The city has grown south to meet the interstate, but they've made a neat effort of making the Interstate as inconspicious as possible. You drive up and you would think you're in the middle of a Pinon forest, not anywhere near a city. Then you pass over a couple of arterial roads, see a few condos hidden away, and you start to wonder.

Forgiving their primitive nature, New Mexico's highways at least have a view...

You may have noticed that, in all of the above pictures, the highways are almost entirely devoid of traffic. New Mexico does not suffer from much congestion, except in the Albuquerque area around 5 PM. To highlight the fact that our highways are very basic, and cut through rural places almost exclusively, I provide you with this picture:

Yes, there are still driveway entrances on Interstate 40 in New Mexico. The Interstate was built directly on top of Route 66 in this State, and in these instances, the road is still the only way to access many ranches and farms. By the way, it's VERY SCARY to slow down from 75 in order turn onto dirt. Do not attempt.

[octaves 4]

Oooh, here's some massive traffic

Largest interchange in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and the busiest intersection in New Brunswick (the concrete one)

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Some good sites for our UK friends:

http://sabre-roads.org.uk (The largest community going. Includes forum.)

http://pathetic.org.uk (Pathetic Motorways)

http://cbrd.co.uk (Chris' British Roads Directory)

http://tab-msas.co.uk (My Motorway Service Area site. Includes forum. Click 'Roads Photos' for... roads photos!)

Anyway (these are all taken by me)....

Widest and busiest motorway in the UK. It's the M25 east of London, by Heathrow Airport.:

The A18(M), which was abandoned when the M181 was built. The other carriageway is to the right and forms one of the M181's onramps. Not too far from Sheffield.:

The A23, a very fun bit of road between London and Brighton:

The M275, an ugly bit of road, near Portsmouth:

Biggest standard junction in the UK, where the M25 and M23 meet. There are two similar. (it's the E. Highway and G. Highway junction available in the NAM) South of London.:

Britain's second worst motorway, the M271, second to one which is single carriageway! North of Southampton.

One of Birmingham's four motorways, the M5:

The M5 and M6 (right) merge at the busiest junction in the UK, still in Birmingham:

Something temporary made permanent. There was meant to be another road going straight through here. Near Liverpool and Chester.:

The M1 motorway in the snow, near Nottingham:

Not forgetting Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham:

A two-lane motorway in Portsmouth, the A3(M), which heads towards London:

But baring in mind most of the above photos are of exciting things, our network isn't all like that. This is a pretty average motorway, the M27 which links Portsmouth and Southampton:

This wasn't taken by me (my one didn't come out) but it's the M62 in the Pennines. It's taken from Scammonden Bridge, which when it opened was the world's largest single span bridge. The photo shows where the M62 splits to go round a farm house because the owner refused to sell up! Not far from here the motorway becomes the highest in England, too, at 372 metres above sea level (1221 feet). It's a very scenic road overall:

Scammondem Bridge itself:

Everyone views the M6 as a nasty road. It has problems at either end, it's the second busiest road (but unlike the M25 it's elevated and cannot be widened without going OTT on the budget). It's also our longest, and oldest (although that bit has since been ripped up and widened, you'd never notice it).But there's a bit in the Lake District thet's very scenic and quiet. Again, I didn't take it:

Back to the M5, a split level highway. What happens when the hill is too steep to build a motorway on?

Well you asked for highway photos!

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Some good sites for our UK friends:

http://sabre-roads.org.uk (The largest community going. Includes forum.)

http://pathetic.org.uk (Pathetic Motorways)

http://cbrd.co.uk (Chris' British Roads Directory)

http://tab-msas.co.uk (My Motorway Service Area site. Includes forum. Click 'Roads Photos' for... roads photos!)

Anyway (these are all taken by me)....

Widest and busiest motorway in the UK. It's the M25 east of London, by Heathrow Airport.:

The A18(M), which was abandoned when the M181 was built. The other carriageway is to the right and forms one of the M181's onramps. Not too far from Sheffield.:

The A23, a very fun bit of road between London and Brighton:

The M275, an ugly bit of road, near Portsmouth:

Biggest standard junction in the UK, where the M25 and M23 meet. There are two similar. (it's the E. Highway and G. Highway junction available in the NAM) South of London.:

Britain's second worst motorway, the M271, second to one which is single carriageway! North of Southampton.

One of Birmingham's four motorways, the M5:

The M5 and M6 (right) merge at the busiest junction in the UK, still in Birmingham:

Something temporary made permanent. There was meant to be another road going straight through here. Near Liverpool and Chester.:

The M1 motorway in the snow, near Nottingham:

Not forgetting Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham:

A two-lane motorway in Portsmouth, the A3(M), which heads towards London:

But baring in mind most of the above photos are of exciting things, our network isn't all like that. This is a pretty average motorway, the M27 which links Portsmouth and Southampton:

This wasn't taken by me (my one didn't come out) but it's the M62 in the Pennines. It's taken from Scammonden Bridge, which when it opened was the world's largest single span bridge. The photo shows where the M62 splits to go round a farm house because the owner refused to sell up! Not far from here the motorway becomes the highest in England, too, at 372 metres above sea level (1221 feet). It's a very scenic road overall:

Scammondem Bridge itself:

Everyone views the M6 as a nasty road. It has problems at either end, it's the second busiest road (but unlike the M25 it's elevated and cannot be widened without going OTT on the budget). It's also our longest, and oldest (although that bit has since been ripped up and widened, you'd never notice it).But there's a bit in the Lake District thet's very scenic and quiet. Again, I didn't take it:

Back to the M5, a split level highway. What happens when the hill is too steep to build a motorway on?

Well you asked for highway photos!

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Some good sites for our UK friends:

http://sabre-roads.org.uk (The largest community going. Includes forum.)

http://pathetic.org.uk (Pathetic Motorways)

http://cbrd.co.uk (Chris' British Roads Directory)

http://tab-msas.co.uk (My Motorway Service Area site. Includes forum. Click 'Roads Photos' for... roads photos!)

Anyway (these are all taken by me)....

Widest and busiest motorway in the UK. It's the M25 east of London, by Heathrow Airport.:

The A18(M), which was abandoned when the M181 was built. The other carriageway is to the right and forms one of the M181's onramps. Not too far from Sheffield.:

The A23, a very fun bit of road between London and Brighton:

The M275, an ugly bit of road, near Portsmouth:

Biggest standard junction in the UK, where the M25 and M23 meet. There are two similar. (it's the E. Highway and G. Highway junction available in the NAM) South of London.:

Britain's second worst motorway, the M271, second to one which is single carriageway! North of Southampton.

One of Birmingham's four motorways, the M5:

The M5 and M6 (right) merge at the busiest junction in the UK, still in Birmingham:

Something temporary made permanent. There was meant to be another road going straight through here. Near Liverpool and Chester.:

The M1 motorway in the snow, near Nottingham:

Not forgetting Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham:

A two-lane motorway in Portsmouth, the A3(M), which heads towards London:

But baring in mind most of the above photos are of exciting things, our network isn't all like that. This is a pretty average motorway, the M27 which links Portsmouth and Southampton:

This wasn't taken by me (my one didn't come out) but it's the M62 in the Pennines. It's taken from Scammonden Bridge, which when it opened was the world's largest single span bridge. The photo shows where the M62 splits to go round a farm house because the owner refused to sell up! Not far from here the motorway becomes the highest in England, too, at 372 metres above sea level (1221 feet). It's a very scenic road overall:

Scammondem Bridge itself:

Everyone views the M6 as a nasty road. It has problems at either end, it's the second busiest road (but unlike the M25 it's elevated and cannot be widened without going OTT on the budget). It's also our longest, and oldest (although that bit has since been ripped up and widened, you'd never notice it).But there's a bit in the Lake District thet's very scenic and quiet. Again, I didn't take it:

Back to the M5, a split level highway. What happens when the hill is too steep to build a motorway on?

Well you asked for highway photos!

[jvlm.123 0]

Finally, the NRA (National Roads Authority) decides to do something about the M50!

First up, the M50/N4 Interchange Upgrade, the M50/N7 Interchange will also be like this:




Other interchanges will get slight upgrades:




And also, upgrading the current 4-lane road, to a 6-lane road:

[jvlm.123 0]

Finally, the NRA (National Roads Authority) decides to do something about the M50!

First up, the M50/N4 Interchange Upgrade, the M50/N7 Interchange will also be like this:




Other interchanges will get slight upgrades:




And also, upgrading the current 4-lane road, to a 6-lane road:

[jvlm.123 0]

Finally, the NRA (National Roads Authority) decides to do something about the M50!

First up, the M50/N4 Interchange Upgrade, the M50/N7 Interchange will also be like this:




Other interchanges will get slight upgrades:




And also, upgrading the current 4-lane road, to a 6-lane road:

[Haljackey 17,385]

Wow, i hate driving in that lane between interchanges. Everyone weaves in and out of traffic, i think your existing layout is better because it reduces weaving without that lane.

The proposed layout should elimanite weaving alltogether by either using a PARCLO or some sort of semi-stack interchange.

[Haljackey 17,385]

Wow, i hate driving in that lane between interchanges. Everyone weaves in and out of traffic, i think your existing layout is better because it reduces weaving without that lane.

The proposed layout should elimanite weaving alltogether by either using a PARCLO or some sort of semi-stack interchange.

[Haljackey 17,385]

Wow, i hate driving in that lane between interchanges. Everyone weaves in and out of traffic, i think your existing layout is better because it reduces weaving without that lane.

The proposed layout should elimanite weaving alltogether by either using a PARCLO or some sort of semi-stack interchange.

[Jetsurf2002 0]

A while back there was a comment about Europe's highways being better quality. It's true. the highway which runs through my town, I295, has so many potholes, bumps, and it' hard to control your vehicle at high speeds on it. They're fixing it though. I live in New Jersey in USA.

accident on I295, im which traffic came to about a stand still so I got this pic.

again, I295 in traffic.

yay again. I love this highway. It's my favorite one in NJ.

[Jetsurf2002 0]

A while back there was a comment about Europe's highways being better quality. It's true. the highway which runs through my town, I295, has so many potholes, bumps, and it' hard to control your vehicle at high speeds on it. They're fixing it though. I live in New Jersey in USA.

accident on I295, im which traffic came to about a stand still so I got this pic.

again, I295 in traffic.

yay again. I love this highway. It's my favorite one in NJ.

[Jetsurf2002 0]

A while back there was a comment about Europe's highways being better quality. It's true. the highway which runs through my town, I295, has so many potholes, bumps, and it' hard to control your vehicle at high speeds on it. They're fixing it though. I live in New Jersey in USA.

accident on I295, im which traffic came to about a stand still so I got this pic.

again, I295 in traffic.

yay again. I love this highway. It's my favorite one in NJ.

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Erm, dude (sorry!), has your government never heard of crash barriers? If I was to lose control of my car (and you make it sound like doing so is quite common) and hit one of those concrete pillers at 70mph+ I the injuries wouldn't be worth thinking about.

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Erm, dude (sorry!), has your government never heard of crash barriers? If I was to lose control of my car (and you make it sound like doing so is quite common) and hit one of those concrete pillers at 70mph+ I the injuries wouldn't be worth thinking about.

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Erm, dude (sorry!), has your government never heard of crash barriers? If I was to lose control of my car (and you make it sound like doing so is quite common) and hit one of those concrete pillers at 70mph+ I the injuries wouldn't be worth thinking about.

[Duke87 1,070]

No, we have crash barriers. We usually refer to them as "guardrails". You see them around curves and near dropoffs. You often see them along highways where there are trees or developed areas to the side of the road, too.

I don't think I've ever seen them guarding supports to an overpass, though...

Another thing which is worth pointing out: The US government only funds interstates and US routes. All highways are designed and maintained by the DOT of the state they're in, unless it's a toll road or toll bridge, in which case usually some private authority handles all aspects of it.

Roads not numbered by the state are maintained by the local town/city/village/etc. government.

So whether the FHWA has heard of crash barriers (which they have) is irrelivant, It's up to the state of Virginia whether they go there or not. And it costs money, so they didn't incude one.

You can bet that if anyone ever crashes into one of those things tere will be barriers going up there, though.

That's another thing. Politics here are such that good preventiative legislation and safety improvements rarely come unless someone is hurt or killed due to lack of them first. It needs to be proven necessary.

And BTW, that last pic depicts I-64 outside of Richmond, Virginia, not I-295 in New Jersey. The 295 advertised on the sign is a different 295.

Dead giveaways:

-It says "Richmond International" on the sign to the side there

-the largest exit number in New Jersey is 74, off I-95. There's no exit 177 anywhere in the state.

-US 250 doesn't go through New Jersey.

[Duke87 1,070]

No, we have crash barriers. We usually refer to them as "guardrails". You see them around curves and near dropoffs. You often see them along highways where there are trees or developed areas to the side of the road, too.

I don't think I've ever seen them guarding supports to an overpass, though...

Another thing which is worth pointing out: The US government only funds interstates and US routes. All highways are designed and maintained by the DOT of the state they're in, unless it's a toll road or toll bridge, in which case usually some private authority handles all aspects of it.

Roads not numbered by the state are maintained by the local town/city/village/etc. government.

So whether the FHWA has heard of crash barriers (which they have) is irrelivant, It's up to the state of Virginia whether they go there or not. And it costs money, so they didn't incude one.

You can bet that if anyone ever crashes into one of those things tere will be barriers going up there, though.

That's another thing. Politics here are such that good preventiative legislation and safety improvements rarely come unless someone is hurt or killed due to lack of them first. It needs to be proven necessary.

And BTW, that last pic depicts I-64 outside of Richmond, Virginia, not I-295 in New Jersey. The 295 advertised on the sign is a different 295.

Dead giveaways:

-It says "Richmond International" on the sign to the side there

-the largest exit number in New Jersey is 74, off I-95. There's no exit 177 anywhere in the state.

-US 250 doesn't go through New Jersey.

[Duke87 1,070]

No, we have crash barriers. We usually refer to them as "guardrails". You see them around curves and near dropoffs. You often see them along highways where there are trees or developed areas to the side of the road, too.

I don't think I've ever seen them guarding supports to an overpass, though...

Another thing which is worth pointing out: The US government only funds interstates and US routes. All highways are designed and maintained by the DOT of the state they're in, unless it's a toll road or toll bridge, in which case usually some private authority handles all aspects of it.

Roads not numbered by the state are maintained by the local town/city/village/etc. government.

So whether the FHWA has heard of crash barriers (which they have) is irrelivant, It's up to the state of Virginia whether they go there or not. And it costs money, so they didn't incude one.

You can bet that if anyone ever crashes into one of those things tere will be barriers going up there, though.

That's another thing. Politics here are such that good preventiative legislation and safety improvements rarely come unless someone is hurt or killed due to lack of them first. It needs to be proven necessary.

And BTW, that last pic depicts I-64 outside of Richmond, Virginia, not I-295 in New Jersey. The 295 advertised on the sign is a different 295.

Dead giveaways:

-It says "Richmond International" on the sign to the side there

-the largest exit number in New Jersey is 74, off I-95. There's no exit 177 anywhere in the state.

-US 250 doesn't go through New Jersey.

[p4p3rc1ip 2]

Wow... I was just interested to compare it to ours (scroll up for my pics). When we encounter a bridge, barriers appear on the left and the one in the middle splits. We've even developed a concrete one which is the new sliced bread for road building. It greatly reduces the amount of cross carriageway accidents, but doesn't stop them completley (which if you imagine a car at more than 70mph ploughing through concrete and hitting traffic coming the other way at more than 70, you know it's going to be bad).

And when we transfer from barrier to concrete or the barrier is protecting us from concrete, it grows an extra barrier ontop of it,and sometimes a third barrier. You could call us safety freaks, but people are still crashing.

We've also developed a new 'start' for our old barriers. Rather than having them start with a small amount of concrete, and then rising (which if a car involved in an accident drives up it would then roll over) and replacing them with an 'end' square, which is highly visable and deflects vehicles.

Just trying to get some pics...