The US's most pathetic highways

[Doomie Grunt 3]

Alot of these highways sound horrible.  In Winston Salem, Highway 52, traffic would often times be backed up on rush hour on that small 4 lane highway.  And the worst part:  Expansion is very limited in some places.  In a few other spaces, it cannot be expanded at all.  In my opinion, that sounds bad!  As for the other highways (especially the one "nextdoor") they do sound bad.  Canada Especially.  Although, due to the lack of being able to fix these problems, the Economy is to blame in my opinion.

[Z77 3]

I dont quite know if anyone has posted this interstate, But I-474 in central illlinois is pathetic...mainly because it stops abruptly...as in it was built in the 70's and after exit 0A they just decided to stop building it.  And it still is not finished. So all traffic has to use one on/off ramp to go to nowhere. 

EDIT: for messing up completely by naming it I-155 and getting dates wrong and for inserting a pic

[MAXJOSH12 0]

I-81 around here (Harrisonburg, VA) is pretty bad. Four lanes except for a section in the middle of nowhere south of Staunton where it widens to six. (Why? Who knows.) The amount of truck traffic is insane - go out on a Friday night and it's not uncommon to see trucks backed up for miles. It really needs several more lanes, if VDOT ever gets off their ass and adds them.

-ACE

ha i love going though there on my way to bristol TN AND MASSANUTENE BUT WHAT THEY HAVE IS NOT REALLY BAD JUST VOLUME D C MD NORTHERN VA WE ARE MOST DEFINATLY UP AGINST LA FOR TRAFICC

[FreewayofFlight 41]

The Interstate 73/74 project, I think might be a waste of money. The road, in theory, will begin with Interstate 75 in Sault Ste. Marie, MI and end in Myrtle Beach, SC. Ohio and Michigan haven't brought up the issue in some time. Virginia and West Virginia have talked about it, but from what I know, no work is planned.

The Interstate 74 segment will just be a waste of signs, since it will basically travel the same strip of pavement as I-73 for probably 70-80% of the way from Southern Ohio until they end together in South Carolina. the branch of I-74 being constructed in NC ought to be I-273 from Rockingham to I-95 and have Interstate 20 extended from SC to Wilmington.

The likeliness the route will be built completely is slim. It would probably help if the route was tolled for the whole length.

[hansenawesome15 9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:I-95_(CT)_map.svg

I-95 in general is the most pathetic highway. It's busy, crowded, and congested. In Connecticut, it's four lanes of sheer terror. The Q Bridge, in New Haven, is 3 times more used than it was built for. It is falling apart and is in desperate need for repairs.

http://c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000XSxCT7Srpuo/s

Luckily, however, it's being replaced shortly with an extradossed bridge, the first in the nation

http://www.pcl.com/NR/rdonlyres/6100A318-0645-4BA1-90BB-69EA6F08929C/43291/Q_Bridge.jpg

With this new bridge, maybe I won't cringe every time I drive over it...

The worst part of I-95 is in Connecticut. The stretch between Old Saybrook and New London (may, I'm not sure) have the highest mortality rate on the entire highway. This stretch is WAY over used, falling apart, and is a disaster waiting to happen...oh wait, it already has. Here, the highway merges with I-395, another dilapidated highway.

another fun bridge on 95 through CT, is the Mianus River Bridge. Maybe you have heard of it, perhaps this is why:

I think I-95 through CT wins the prize...

[hmm 17]

I'm gonna have to nominate I-678 the Van Wyck Expwy in south Queens, that whole stretch between the Kew gardens Interchange and JFK airport. The Air train, the newly installed ITS, and additional lanes near main street did nothing to alleviate traffic. Its the only North South interstate that fully crosses Queens. The Clearview stops halfway, and the Grand Central pky runs parrelel but turns east abrubtly near Jamacia, so all the truck, airport, and south shore communtors (like me) are funnled into a 6 lane death trap.

My second nomination would have to be the Cross Beonx (I-95) Im guessing everybody already knows why, but the worst part is being stuck in a 2hr hot 90 dergree mid-day August traffic jam under the Grand Concourse tunnel and your air conditioning decides to run out of preon...so much truck exaust... asphyxiation anyone?

[pesto05 8]

Originally posted by: hansenawesome15

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:I-95_(CT)_map.svg

I-95 in general is the most pathetic highway. It's busy, crowded, and congested. In Connecticut, it's four lanes of sheer terror. The Q Bridge, in New Haven, is 3 times more used than it was built for. It is falling apart and is in desperate need for repairs.

http://c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000XSxCT7Srpuo/s

Luckily, however, it's being replaced shortly with an extradossed bridge, the first in the nation

http://www.pcl.com/NR/rdonlyres/6100A318-0645-4BA1-90BB-69EA6F08929C/43291/Q_Bridge.jpg

With this new bridge, maybe I won't cringe every time I drive over it...

The worst part of I-95 is in Connecticut. The stretch between Old Saybrook and New London (may, I'm not sure) have the highest mortality rate on the entire highway. This stretch is WAY over used, falling apart, and is a disaster waiting to happen...oh wait, it already has. Here, the highway merges with I-395, another dilapidated highway.

another fun bridge on 95 through CT, is the Mianus River Bridge. Maybe you have heard of it, perhaps this is why:

I think I-95 through CT wins the prize...quote>

i second this, though i'd rather be on the stretch from N.H. north anytime rather than anywhere near bridgeport.  took me 3 hrs from greenwich to new haven one particularly bad afternoon.

i've seen 95 mentioned a 100 times, but has anyone mentioned The Merritt Parkway (CT 15)? although beautiful,  the two lane highway was never intended to handle even half what it does now. even without trucks, it can take two hrs to travel what amounts to 30 mins of normal driving.

[robloxkiller 25]

i think U.S 49 interchange at interstate 20 in mississippi is awfull it gets backed up almost 95% of the time

another one interstate 110 it has a drawbridge more pathetic. When the drawbridge raises, traffic gets backed up.

[Edited: please avoid using Caps-Lock to explain yourself, no need to shout - TekindusT, Simtropolis Moderator]

[AIX 270]

Interstate 5 between Oregon and Washington is a duel-span drawbridge. The first span was built in 1917 and the second added in the 1950s.

There are plans for a replacement, but it's been stalled in development limbo. $160 million has been wasted on consultants and not one shovel had yet to hit dirt.

[SteveMSim 275]

The official solution to traffic problems on the freeways of the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas is to build toll roads or rebuild the freeways with toll lanes in the middle. The state cites the reason for the building of toll roads and lanes as having not enough cash for highway projects. For one thing, taxes collected from gasoline sales go to the state's general fund instead of directly to highways and other transportation projects like in many other states. The President George Bush Turnpike, which winds through the western and northern suburbs of Dallas and is being extended to Grand Prairie on the southwest, is a toll road. Another toll road, the Chisholm Trail Parkway, which will go from west Fort Worth to the bedroom community of Cleburne 35 miles to the south, is being constructed. Right now, two of the most congested freeway stretches in North Texas, I-820/Highway 183 northeast of Fort Worth, and the Grapevine Funnel, where the 121, 114, 360, and 635 freeways meet at the north end of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, are being rebuilt with toll lanes in the center of those highways. The toll lanes will be operated by Cintra, a Spanish company that Texas has contracted for toll road projects across the state. So, the freeway era in Texas is over, with future highway projects all being privately-run toll roads.

[jglei701 8]

I think my favorite most pathetic highway is Illinois 137 in Waukegan,IL. Officially known as the Amstutz Expressway the 2.9 mile expressway goes virtually nowhere. I found this while out for a drive in Chicago's northern suburbs. Afterwards I looked up some information about it. Apparently it was built to serve the downtown Waukegan area connecting it to the suburb of North Chicago but it was never completed. It has four lanes and has very light traffic using the expressway. Apparently several movies including Batman Begins, The Blues Brothers and Groundhog Day were filmed on this expressway because of its light traffic volume. There are plans to remove it and revitalize Waukegan's downtown lake front.

Another favorite in Chicago Area is the Elgin-O'Hare which goes to neither and I-180 near Hennepin,IL which was mentioned earlier by someone else.

Here are some Chicago area updates!! (In many cases, turning pathetic highways into good ones!)

I was actually just on the Amstutz on Friday. What a strange stretch of road! It could have been useful if it had been extended and connected to 94, but it's not even close.

The Elgin-O'Hare eastern end is currently in planning stages. That, along with a western-bypass of O'Hare will serve to make far western Cook County a whole mess of tollways!

There have been plans for 60 years to expand 53 north from its terminus at Lake-Cook Rd north into Lake County. It has been stalled by environmentalists and NIMBY folks for decades, but they've tentatively agreed to extend it north to a new 120 east-west bypass, but it won't be the 6 lane highway that it is south of Lake-Cook... they want to make it a 4-lane boulevard-type road, with pretty high tolls and 45 mph. They've also talked about extending the tolls south onto the current section of 53 in Cook County, but there has been public outrage at this.

I've got to be honest, if they do anything but a full-blown highway into Lake County, it will be a complete waste of time and a gigantic waste of money. Lake County is a parking lot right now. It has grown up for the better part of 40 years with little-to-no improvement in the infrastructure, while the population has grown to nearly 1 million.

Here's some commentary on the 53 situation: http://blueopen.word...nsion-volume-2/

Part of the issue is the desire of many of these communities (and they've even marketed themselves as this!) wanting to be rural enclaves in an urban area. They've specifically prevented improvement to keep their towns the same way they've been for decades and decades, their neighbors be... darned. It doesn't help that many of these communities are incredibly wealthy (I'm thinking of Bannockburn here, median house price $1.2 million, and that's AFTER the housing downturn! and Long Grove).

Moving to Chicago proper, 90/94 (the Kennedy expressway) north of the Eisenhower has undergone some changes in the last few years. They've taken out a few of the left-hand entrances and simplified the right-hand exits, extending the acceleration/deceleration lanes. More importantly, they've recently been discussing a revamp of the Circle Interchange (where the Kennedy, Dan Ryan, and Eisenhower all come together in one of the US's worst bottlenecks). This will cost several hundred million dollars to redo, but, as we've seen in the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee, it can be done and done well.

Since this thread started, IDOT has widened the full expanse of the Tri-State tollway (bi-passes Chicago from Wisconsin to Indiana, thus the tri- states!) to 4 lanes in each direction. This has helped to clean up several backups throughout Chicago by increasing the capacity. There are still backups at times (especially from right near O'Hare, the Bensenville Bridge, where the Tri-State goes from a South to slightly Southwest direction to a Westerly direction for about a mile-and-a-half, then cuts south again. Invariably, this section (and up to 15 miles north) gets backed up, especially on Fridays.

There's a slight chance that this section might be straightened out a bit with the Western Bypass/Elgin O'Hare extension... but I'm not holding my breathe

Speaking of Milwaukee from a couple paragraphs ago... The state of Wisconsin has been working hard for years to widen their stretch of 94 to 8 lanes from the Illinois border north to Milwaukee and to modernize the interchanges. They're taking a piece-wise approach with this... certain sections are being finished while the other sections are remaining with their same 6 lane way it has been for decades.

Illinois has a sliver of 94 that is still 6 lanes... about a mile and a half, I think, and they've announced that they will finally be widening this last piece to match the rest of 94/294 (i.e. the tri-state) in IL and the widened stretch in Wisconsin. When to add that to the fact that IL has jacked up the tolls in recent years (true, they hadn't increased them expect for non-IPass for years), it makes the tollway system a little less desirable. I live north of Chicago and every time I go north into Wisconsin (usually at least once a month, if not more frequently) I take non-toll roads. It may cost a few minutes, but this is better than spending several extra dollars per trip!

And someone previously mentioned Wisconsin's gas tax, which is pretty high, but that this is how WI pays for the roads. This may be true, but WI is still cheaper than IL, what with the gas tax and the sales tax together!

Back to Wisconsin... they've actually slowed down the progress of the 94 expansion because the Zoo interchange (where EW I-94 meets the junction of US-45 to the north and the 894 bypass to the south) is slated to be replaced in the coming years. Like the Marquette interchange of the early-to-mid 2000's, this will take several years to complete, but when it is finished, it will be modern construction, with enough capacity for future traffic increases, and community sensitive aesthetic. They've done a pretty good job making their roads and bridges look decent, rather than simply being gargantuan cement monstrosities.

Elsewhere in Wisconsin, the state has been working to widen US 41 from just south of Oshkosh all the way to Green Bay. This is moving toward a future interstate designation in the foreseeable future.

Another road that may soon be looking for a similar designation is US 29, that goes from Green Bay west to Menomonie. This still has several stretches of at-grade crossings... so I'm not sure if they need to limit these or eliminate them altogether until this could join the interstate system, but Wisconsin has been working for about 20 years to take 29 from a rural highway to a major east-west corridor in the northern part of the state.

And finally, the state is close to finishing the rerouting/widening of US 10 between Stevens Point and Marshfield. I used to live in Point and would regularly chart their progress and my in-laws live west of Marshfield a ways, so I'll be able to take this route once it is finished!

One last thing about Illinois. In recent weeks, IDOT has stopped pursuing the Prairie Parkway, a far-west north-south road between I-88 and I-80 (also previously known as the Fox Valley Expressway). Much like how Lake County has grown without infrastructure growing as well, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, and Will have all grown in a similar manner. The Prairie Parkway was an effort to decrease congestion, especially on north-south roads that don't have enough capacity.

With the scrapping the the Prairie Parkway (which, honestly, could have gone from 80 all the way to 90 to be truly effective), IDOT is going to pursue expansion of current roads, such as 47.

The final major project on the drawing board is the so-called Illiana Expressway. This is a roughly 50 mile expressway (or perhaps toll, I'm not sure) between I-55 in Illinois and I-65 in Indiana. It would travel near Peotone, which was once slated for a third major airport in Chicago (a plan that has on and off the books since the late 60's). The Illiana will provide congestion relief for the very congested section of northwest Indiana, that has to be traversed if going from Chicago to any point west that isn't in the deep south (there are other options farther south). For example, anyone going to Indianapolis would have to go through northwest Indiana to get there. The preferred route for most in the Chicago area would become the Illiana, taking either 55 or 57 south to then cut over to 65 and take the direct route to Indianapolis.

Interestingly, if the Prairie Parkway had been constructed along with the Illiana, there would have been a gap of about 20-30 miles would have not connected the two... but the Des Plaines river (with prairie and wetlands) stands in the way. And while they did push through the 355 extension south.

Who knows what will ultimately happen?

Oo, in my searching for info about Wisconsin, it looks like WI is going to widen 90/39 from the Illinois State line to the 12/18 interchange just south of Madison.

http://www.dot.state...br-overview.pdf

I wonder if anyone has mentioned Milwaukee's freeway system...the ZOO Interchange (I-94 / I-894 / US 45) is a pit and is ALWAYS backed up causing traffic problems for the rest of the system...whoever came up with the metered ramps should be shot, because it just makes the freeway a parking lot.

They're going to be redoing that completely, a la the Marquette interchange, over the next several years, starting sometime between 2013 and 2015, if my memory serves correctly.

In Milwaukee, they have a humongous interchange that takes up a huge amount of space and is extreemly complicated to manuever, it was also very expensive to build. (I visited Milwaukee for half a month

Though the Marquette is gigantic and is a bit daunting, it's far easier to maneuver than its predecessor, which was falling down anyway.

Wisconsin has to be given props for this design that is ultra-modern and takes into account local aesthetics too. The entire construction maintains local artwork as themes and the concrete is dyed in a similar manner throughout the project. This is a great improvement upon the normal bland concrete (see the Illinois Tri-State expansion that was finished in 2008). The Marquette does have character, which is laudable for such a large project.

[zimmie 521]

Interstate 5 between Oregon and Washington is a duel-span drawbridge. The first span was built in 1917 and the second added in the 1950s.

There are plans for a replacement, but it's been stalled in development limbo. $160 million has been wasted on consultants and not one shovel had yet to hit dirt.

Yeah, no doubt huh? Talk about a bottleneck. Hasn't a big part of the holdup been on trying to get a MAX connection to be a part of it? Could be wrong on that, not sure. I think Vancouver would be stupid to vote that part of it down, the MAX system is pretty awesome.

[packersfan 666]

Yeah, they will be redoing the Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee later. There was a big fuss trying to get funding for it and rescheduling for it, but our former Democratic governor raided the transportation fund to fund other things in the budget and when emergency seemed to be dictating that the Zoo Interchange needed to be rebuilt (some bridges were nearly falling and couldn't support truck traffic!) the state couldn't take on the project since the Mitchell Airport Interchange and the North-South 94 corridor widening project were next in line. So temporary new bridges were built on the interchange, but will be torn down in 5 years when they completely redesign the whole thing. Talk about blowing a lot of money on temporary fixes because we didn't have enough flexibility to be able to just do it right now. I am excited to see how the Mitchell Interchange turns out...the Marquette turned out okay...seems there are still some awkward lane changes like they didn't plan ahead and were caught off-guard during construction. Just remember everybody in America...most American freeways are built with shoulders, gradual ramps, etc. Here is China the freeways are atrocious when it comes to having emergency lanes, clear sight lines, gradual ramps...freeways going through cities can't be considered much more than an elevated road.

[AIX 270]

Interstate 5 between Oregon and Washington is a duel-span drawbridge. The first span was built in 1917 and the second added in the 1950s.

There are plans for a replacement, but it's been stalled in development limbo. $160 million has been wasted on consultants and not one shovel had yet to hit dirt.

Yeah, no doubt huh? Talk about a bottleneck. Hasn't a big part of the holdup been on trying to get a MAX connection to be a part of it? Could be wrong on that, not sure. I think Vancouver would be stupid to vote that part of it down, the MAX system is pretty awesome.

The MAX is great, but it has its host of problems. Every single place that lightrail has been introduced in this country experienced a sharp increase in crime. That is the main reason Vancouver residents have voted it down several times.

Another problem is cost. Light rail is extremely expensive to build and even more expensive to change in the future should commuting needs change. Another cost issue that most transit systems in the US experience is capital costs vs. operational costs. Capital costs are what builds the system (laying rail, building stations, purchasing vehicles) while operational costs fund running the system (paying drivers, maintenance/repair, security, etc). The federal government has passed out "free" money to states to fund the capital costs while leaving them dry for operational costs. IIRC, the states of Minnesota and Florida turned down federal rail funding for that very reason.

Lastly, the same service quality of light rail can be achieved with bus rapid transit. It's cheaper and easier to make separate bus rights-of-way (even grade-separated) and the newer hybrid articulated buses work quite nicely. BRT is about 1/10th the cost of light rail and is easier to adapt in the future. I honestly wish BRT was being used instead of the new Orange MAX line to Milwaukee.

I say all this as a downtown Portland resident who lives directly above the Jeld-Wen Field MAX stop (I see a Type IV Max train stopped out my window as I type this) and who uses Tri-Met every day. Also I am a transit/road geek

[Higu 52]

Ever driven on the Garden State Parkway near the end of the week during the summer. 140 miles of gridlock. What is normally a 2.5 hour voyage for me to get from Exit 156 to Exit 10 can take upwards of 6 hours. It is the only highway serving the coast of NJ and people from NNJ, NYC, and PA all like to find their way to the shore. Gridlocked nightmare.

At some points it's super wide, The Driscoll Bridge is over 15 lanes wide and can still be standstill. Most of the trip down it's at least 6 lanes wide. But it is absolute torture

[theish803 4]

I'm from South Florida, one of the worst roads in the area has to be SR 826. It was built back in the day as a bypass of the city of Miami and has since required another bypass of its own (Florida's Turnpike extension). The highway has been in a constant state of widening more or less since it opened, so that at its widest point, I think it's something near 12-14 lanes. Yet, it still is plagued with congestion.

The expressway just south of the big 836/826 Interchange about 20 years ago. Things haven't changed much:

 

 

 

[citiesxlfan42 27]

I recently took a drive from Eastern Wisconsin where I'm from to Washington D.C for the 4th of July. I saw several stretches of highway that weren't probably the WORST in America, but were painful to drive.

I-70 just after the Allegheny Tunnel in Berlin, PA. It's a beautiful drive, but the problem is, fog is awful in all parts of the year. At one point, I couldn't see. At all.

Another stretch is I-395 in Washington coming out of Pentagon City headed for the Mall. Tourist traffic (like myself multiple times) and commute traffic is bad, though not the worst. However, the highway layout is like reading a children's book...when its in Ancient Hebrew, upside down, and on fire. I find it confusing. Especially on the East side of the Potomac. It's bad.

Then...

The BQE and Cross Bronx Parking Lot go without saying.

My hometown of Appleton, WI is a mess. The WIS441/US 10/US 41 (possibly I-441/US 10/I-55 in 2014) interchange is full of lane weaving, incomplete ramps, and you can only go two ways, styming development on the west side of the city. It's horrible. Then WI-441 (Interstate 441 or 455, depending on what the WIS DOT decides in the next year) is a beltway around the city...awful. After travelling the aging Roland Kampo Bridge (built in the 70s, very heavily used and originally ended in a farm field), you are reduced to 55mph, and go into a tight 90 degree turn that too many drivers meet their death on, followed by two or three exits all mashed together in mile 289 (Racine St., Midway Rd., Appleton Rd.). Then two more 90 degree turns, and then finally, it widens and is actually an interstate. Did I mention that the traffic of 6 lanes of highway gets stuffed into that stretch? Add our 80 in. of snow a year...Yep. It's up there as the worst. They do have plans to straighten it out...at the expense of 100s of homes and businesses. I'm not for it. But oh well.

[Larks2242 251]

US Route 2 in Montana, not so much pathetic as boring but it has to rank somewhere I mean 600 miles of nothingness not even a tree to look at come on.....

I'm from South Florida, one of the worst roads in the area has to be SR 826. It was built back in the day as a bypass of the city of Miami and has since required another bypass of its own (Florida's Turnpike extension). The highway has been in a constant state of widening more or less since it opened, so that at its widest point, I think it's something near 12-14 lanes. Yet, it still is plagued with congestion.

The expressway just south of the big 836/826 Interchange about 20 years ago. Things haven't changed much:

Ah yes, the Palmetto, never fun on that.

[fredrik001 9]

I've seen many of you complaining about congestion, but here is something unbeatable when it comes to trafficjams.

The 6 lane E4/E20 was built in 1966 and was supposed to handle 80.000 vehicles per day, serving as the main arterie for Stockholms 600.000 residents. Since then, the population has increased to over 2 million people, while nothing has been added to the infrastructure, neither car nor mass-transit. In addition, the old bridges has started to crack. Reparation work causes such masive congestion that people may spend 3 hours for a one way trip in a bad day. This people, is a pathetic highway.

Except for E4/E20 there is a 2+2 lane feedingway for traffic going into the downtown area called centralbron or "central bridge" (funny since it's mostly in tunnels). This is excactly as old as E4/E20, and needs much maintanance. When both are close simultaneusly, 200.000 Cars has to share a 2+2 lane road with intersections every 50 meters. Impossible you say?

E4/E20 "Essingeleden" speedlimit: 45mph avarage speed during rush hour: 3-7 mph

the 2+2 lane alternative

I've attached a map of the E4/E20 "Essingeleden" as red, and the "feedingway" in yellow, as well as a proposed east highway in black.

Central Bridge, speedlimit: 30mph, avarage speed during rush hour: 1-10mph

Stockholm; "The gridlock Capital of Skandinavia!"

  Edited September 24, 2012 by fredrik001  

[MandelSoft 2,774]

^^ Can be worse: The bridge over the Oude Rijn of the A4 (the main link between Amsterdam and The Hague - Rotterdam); 2x2-lane motorway drawbridge(!), not changed until very recently, had to handle over 150 000 vehicles per day:

If you were unlucky, you had to wait for this brigde to close when a ship passes. Instant congestion, yay!

Finally, it has been replaced by an aquaduct an a 2x3-lane sunken motorway (upgradeable to 2x5 in the future). The current aquaduct is half-finished, but it's already better then it ever was....

Best,

Maarten

[riiga 234]

I've seen many of you complaining about congestion, but here is something unbeatable when it comes to trafficjams.

The 6 lane E4/E20 was built in 1966 and was supposed to handle 80.000 vehicles per day, serving as the main arterie for Stockholms 600.000 residents. Since then, the population has increased to over 2 million people, while nothing has been added to the infrastructure, neither car nor mass-transit. In addition, the old bridges has started to crack. Reparation work causes such masive congestion that people may spend 3 hours for a one way trip in a bad day. This people, is a pathetic highway.

Not true. Since 1966 Essingeleden has been extended and now has 4+4 lanes and doesn't end near Norrtull, continuing in the Eugenia Tunnel instead. Also, quite a lot has been added to other infrastructure. The latest additions to the Metro were done in 1994 and since then both Tvärbanan and Spårväg City have been built. They've also added lots of bus lanes. Most Stockholmers seem to think that they need to drive to work, hence the congestions. If they would only use public transit instead (which has a metro train every 2 minutes during peak hours and is Sweden's cheapest!) you would see a lot less congestion...

Except for E4/E20 there is a 2+2 lane feedingway for traffic going into the downtown area called centralbron or "central bridge" (funny since it's mostly in tunnels). This is excactly as old as E4/E20, and needs much maintanance. When both are close simultaneusly, 200.000 Cars has to share a 2+2 lane road with intersections every 50 meters. Impossible you say?

Centralbron has to my knowledge 3+3 lanes and most of it is grade-separated, thus no intersections, but rather interchanges which are a lot more efficient. If you want something truly pathetic, try Slussen.

[fredrik001 9]

I've seen many of you complaining about congestion, but here is something unbeatable when it comes to trafficjams.

The 6 lane E4/E20 was built in 1966 and was supposed to handle 80.000 vehicles per day, serving as the main arterie for Stockholms 600.000 residents. Since then, the population has increased to over 2 million people, while nothing has been added to the infrastructure, neither car nor mass-transit. In addition, the old bridges has started to crack. Reparation work causes such masive congestion that people may spend 3 hours for a one way trip in a bad day. This people, is a pathetic highway.

Not true. Since 1966 Essingeleden has been extended and now has 4+4 lanes and doesn't end near Norrtull, continuing in the Eugenia Tunnel instead. Also, quite a lot has been added to other infrastructure. The latest additions to the Metro were done in 1994 and since then both Tvärbanan and Spårväg City have been built. They've also added lots of bus lanes. Most Stockholmers seem to think that they need to drive to work, hence the congestions. If they would only use public transit instead (which has a metro train every 2 minutes during peak hours and is Sweden's cheapest!) you would see a lot less congestion...

Except for E4/E20 there is a 2+2 lane feedingway for traffic going into the downtown area called centralbron or "central bridge" (funny since it's mostly in tunnels). This is excactly as old as E4/E20, and needs much maintanance. When both are close simultaneusly, 200.000 Cars has to share a 2+2 lane road with intersections every 50 meters. Impossible you say?

Centralbron has to my knowledge 3+3 lanes and most of it is grade-separated, thus no intersections, but rather interchanges which are a lot more efficient. If you want something truly pathetic, try Slussen.

I'm not inluding temporary lanes (entrance and exit), through södermalm it is only two lanes (And anyway I was referring to västerbrons 2+2). And yea, Slussen is pathetic, a cloverleaf surrounded by intersections and crosswalks. Tvärbanan is used by 10.000 a day or something like that, right? I referr to spårväg city as the "gröna lund express"

And when it comes to driving, don't tell me you are one of those MP voting "I-can-go-mass-transit-so-everyone-else-should-to"

  Edited September 24, 2012 by fredrik001  

[Ol' Michiganian 6]

Here's some of mine:

U.S. 30 in Indiana, between the eastern fringe of Chicagoland and Fort Wayne, there's so many farms, it does make for a boring drive, but what makes it pathetic is that there's 120 miles of red light, red light, red light and it goes on.

I-57, all the way from Chicagoland to Missouri you just get to look at farms stretching to the horizon (with a few trees) and dozens of small towns, but at least it makes a great alternative to driving through Saint Louis.

I-75 at I-375 in downtown Detroit, if you are going north (towards Flint) on I-75 through the interchange, then get ready for this: a 25 MPH speed limit! Now ain't that lovely, a 25 MPH limit on a mainline interstate highway?

M-59 east of Utica, MI, there's way more traffic than the road was made for, probably due to being so many big box stores (and two malls thrown in), all the way to I-94.

Also on M-59 westbound west of I-75, you just passed the Pontiac Silverdome and then suddenly the freeway dumps you into a residential neighborhood east of downtown Pontiac.

  Edited September 28, 2012 by The187inDetroit  

[riiga 234]

I'm not inluding temporary lanes (entrance and exit), through södermalm it is only two lanes (And anyway I was referring to västerbrons 2+2). And yea, Slussen is pathetic, a cloverleaf surrounded by intersections and crosswalks. Tvärbanan is used by 10.000 a day or something like that, right? I referr to spårväg city as the "gröna lund express"

And when it comes to driving, don't tell me you are one of those MP voting "I-can-go-mass-transit-so-everyone-else-should-to"

Indeed, only the bridge part of Centralbron has 3+3 lanes, while the rest is 2+2. Tvärbanan had 51 000 passengers/day in 2009.

No, I'm quite fond of driving, but if we had public transit with the accesibility and pricing of the one in Stockholm you can bet that I'd be willing to pay the 790 kr/month that it costs.

[citiesxlfan42 27]

The187inDetriot: Oh yes, now I-57 is a fun route to drive. : P HA! If I wasn't holding a meeting on a coach bus the time I drove through there, I may have died. "Oh look at how nice Peru-Lasalle looks!" (5 minutes later) "Make the farms stop!" Me and my family take alternate routes now.

[bluemoose 223]

I nominate the entire state of Massachusetts in the summertime. Its usually impossibe to cross from Connecticut to NH without stopping at least once in a traffic jam. I90 and 495 are usually the worst especially around the cities. There needs to be an alternate route.

[DudeRocks 0]

Haven't looked through all the posts, but I've got a few to share. Hope they haven't been said already

I-469 Fort Wayne

This is pretty much a bypass around Fort Wayne, only problem is that I-69 is already a bypass of Fort Wayne. If you look at a zoomed out map, the road looks like a normal 3 digit interstate bypass, but when you drive on it, and look out the window, you see nothing but corn fields. The road doesn't serve anybody or anything, other than the small suburb of New Haven, which I'm not sure if New Haven citizens use it very often. The road is in awful condition in some spots as well. The most common way people use this road I'm assuming is if they're going north on 69, and use 469 as a short cut to get to US-24, the next road I'll say is pathetic.

US-24 Fort Wayne to Toledo

This road is currently being worked on to be a 4 lane highway between the two cities, but it's not quite finished yet. When it's completed, it will be amazing, but for all the years before that, it deserves to be classified as pathetic. So many trucks use this road and it is a nightmare to drive from Toledo to Fort Wayne. It follows the curves of the Maumee River in some spots as well, which makes it very hard to pass slow trucks. I've counted a single file line of 40 cars bumper to bumper that I've passed on this 2 lane road one day when I was traveling it.

US-31 Northern Indiana

They are currently working on stretches of this road to cut travel time, but to get from Indianapolis to South Bend is horrible. Although it is 4 lanes throughout, multiple traffic lights and people turning onto county roads slows traffic quite a bit, and depending on where you are, cause long traffic backups. Driving through Kokomo sucks, and they are creating a freeway bypass, so when that gets done, it will be completed, but this road needs to be a 4 lane freeway from Indianapolis to South Bend for the amount of traffic that uses this road. Michigan has already made US-31 a freeway in it's most southern portions, now it's Indiana's job to complete that.

The State of Illinois

I say this simply because of how many pointless interstate highways Illinois has. I-74, I-72, I-39, I-155, and I saw someone mention I-180. Message to Illinois; you really don't have to run an interstate highway through every city with a population of at least 30,000.

[atsummerlin53 47]

I-264 is pretty horrible between the I-64 junction in Norfolk and the Berkeley Bridge. Traffic isn't horrendous, but the condition of the road is absolutely atrocious. Joins between concrete sections make a nice bumpy rhythm against your car tires, almost counting down until you need to replace them . . . and your shocks.

[lhrob 213]

I drove down to San Antonio a couple of years ago, heading south along US 75 from Oklahoma, and decided to take I-635 around Dallas.  I have NEVER in my life been so stressed out while driving as I was that afternoon.  The traffic was beyond ridiculous.  I don't normally freak out when driving in traffic, but I did that time.  NEVER EVER again will I go through that city in rush hour.  On top of it, they had just opened up some new overpasses, and the pavement had grooves in it.  I had to hold on so tight to the steering wheel that my hands were going numb, because you felt like you could easily lose control and drift into a different lane.  Sorry to all you people in Dallas.  I love you, but I hate your highways and traffic.

[The Pennsylvania Turnpike 252]

I-76 Also Known as the Schuylkill expressway. Starts in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania where I-476 (PA turnpike Northbound), and I-276 (PA turnpike West-Eastbound). This corridor Which extends from Allentown Lehigh County to Philadelphia, has to be the worst Highway system in Pennsylvania. I-476 from Allentown to quakertown is full of pot holes. From Quakertown to Landsdale it is full of construction. And from Landsdale to Plymouth meeting it is just traffic jams. I-276 from Plymouth meeting to New Jersey is just pure madness. and I-76 from Plymouth meeting is hectic all 12 miles to Center City Philadelphia. And good luck getting onto I-676 (also known as the Vine st expressway). As that exit is as slow as a rock.

 

Oh and PA Rt. 22 in Allentown,Bethlehem, and Easton is like the Schuykill expressway only it is LONGER AND MORE FRUSTRATING!

isn't Southeastern Pennsylvania a joy to live in?