Worst Expressways

[MarkSK 0]

Northern D1, Slovakia.

Very bad one, it's twisty, in bad condition and speedtraps are checking. It's been built in 70's anyway.

Port Bridge over Danube in Bratislava

That one is testing our nerves daily, where on one side, 10 lanes merge only into 4(!) on the bridge itself, and app 80-100.000 vehicles/day are passing through it, so it's often congested.

From other countries, highway between Prague and Brno in Czech Republic, mentioned A1 in Italy, and A2 in Austria between Graz and Klagenfurt.

[Compromise 1]

Not a bad idea to bump this up actually.

For me its the M25 (London Orbital Moterway). No matter how many lanes they add it has remained Britians largest car park.

[simmax 0]

Hmmm... Paris' ringroad (Boulevard P

[your_adress_here 11]

The 17 connecting Ottawa and Orleans. Imagine 10 000 people on a 2 lane each way highway going towards downtown at thte same time...

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

From my experience, the M25 London Orbital, but since I've only been there once I can't really talk. Locally it's probably the Sheriffhall Roundabout on the Edinburgh Bypass, absolute CARNAGE!

[hello_SC4 1]

Well, I have to say that as far as my information goes, the A1 stretch that I hated when posting two years ago has since been reconstructed and de-curvified.

So it's better now.

As far as Slovenia and expressways go, well, all the expressways are quite good and there are no bigger problems on any (apart from Ljubljana West toll station during summer break, that one is really nasty). The problem aren't the expressways, oh no, it's the lack of expressways on certain stretches (sure they're under construction, but still!). Those are really congested! A two-lane road (one each way) and slow-moving traffic (including some old Eastern European trucks which don't even have the horsepower to make it across a tiny bump).

[vidioman 21]

Thunder Bay Expressway. Four lanes. Eight intersections. One interchange. No divider. It isn't even an actual espressway, we just call it that because it enables you to get from one end of town to the other in less than 20 minutes. The pot holes are so old, drivers instinctively swerve to avoid them.

[jvlm.123 0]

The M50 Motorway in Dublin, Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M50_motorway_%28Ireland%29). Probably the most important on the island. It is only 40km long on is the Dublin "ring-road". They started constructing it back in the '80s and it was officially finished in June LAST YEAR (2005)! It joins two motorways at either end (M1 & M11) and numerous dual carriageways. Stupidly it only has TWO LANES in either direction (four in total) and has a toll-booth in the middle (that makes millions every year). It carries thousands of Dublin's 1.5 million residents daily and is constantly conjested. On radio stations during "RoadWatch", it always gets a few mentions. It is not only a bad road, but an example of poor planning, considering when it was being designed, the city never reached that far. NOW, it is only 1-2 kilometres from the city centre! It doesn't have a speed limit like other motorways either, the national motorway limit is 120km/hr (75mph) and here it is only 100km/hr (62mph) (in some parts it's 20km/hr). Though it would be hard to speed on it! Anyone that has ever been on it, at any time, will know what I'm talking about. THESE IMAGES SHOULD CHANGE EVERY 10-20 MINUTES.


Above - Just South of the toll plaza.


Above - Greenhills Park


Above - Near to the Lucan Interchange.


Above - Motorway in Balinteer (suburb).


Above - Near Edmondstown.


Above - Balinteer Interchange.


Above - Tallaght Interchange.


Above - Motorway at Ballymun.

Here's a good route map from the NRA (National Roads Authority) - http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/SchemeMaps/file,1479,en.pdf ADOBE READER REQUIRED

[Dr. Neitchskrimfrauwnmoya 7]

The two worst places in the Montr

[Duke87 1,070]

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the Cross Bronx Expressway...

Comine north (east) off of the George Washington bridge throws you into a really severe bottleneck. You go down from 14 lanes on the bridge to 6 in the bronx within a little less than a mile. The curve right after the exit for I-87 is where you always where the traffic comes to a stop. The bridge moves okay, and it get's sluggish across manhattan, but that's where you stop. Also, the ramp from I-87 up onto I-95 south (towards the bridge) is one of the worst rubernecks anywhere. This ramp is never moving. It often backs up way down onto the lanes of 87 southbound. The three lane highway than splits- two lanes of thru traffic and two onto the ramp. The right lane of the ramp goes to 95 north. Very few of the cars and trucks want t go that way, As such, some speed through the empty right lane only finding themselves having to merge back into the packed left lane to go where they want to go. The next peice of the ramp is really only one lane, but for the most part it's wide enough to be two, and thus people aways treat it as such. We then merge with traffic coming from 87 north, and all of this traffic has to merge into one lane. The upper part of the ramp used to be full of pot holes and even in the rare occasion it wasn't backed up, you still couldn't go more than 20 mph over it. It got repaved a couple years ago, though.

As for all of I-95 being bad, I really am going to have to disagree with that. There are several peices of it in urban areas which can get pretty bad during rush hours, but this is just sheer volume, and not necessarily poor highway design. While the Cross Bronx Expressway/GWB approach is by far the worst, there are several other trouble zones along I-95. The DC area is always trouble. Too many cars and not enough places for them to go. The Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore is also a usual trouble zone. And, for some reason, approaching the toll in New Hampshire always backs up quite a bit. All of the other trouble spots out there are really only trouble spots during rush hour.
Now, being the highway that spans the northeastern US, it passes through more urban areas than any other interstate. But there are still some nice stretches of the hghway. In Maine, for instance.

Then there are highways which can be really bad traffic wise but can still be pretty fun to drive down. The FDR Drive in Manhattan is a good example here. It's a really old highway with narrow lanes, and no trucks are permitted on it. But driving down it you'll pass under several buildings which hang over it. Some of the ramp arrangements are very tight due to lack of space, and thus can at times produce some very unusual configurations. In Lower Manhattan, the highway becomes elevated. It overhangs South Street a bit (hence the name "South Street Viaduct", but most of the space under it is used as parking. Along this lenght, you'll pass directly under the Brooklyn Bridge, with which the highway has a rather interestingly designed interchange. Finaly, at the bottom of it all, you go down to ground level, and then enter a tunnel which swings you around under battery park and puts you northbound at the foot of the West Side Highway. The small spot betwwen the tunnel and the viaduct is interesting, though, since the ramps here double as streets, and as such, there is a short length where you can walk down a sidewalk along the highway.

Also, the old Central Artery in Boston was a disaster. Though I am glad to say I got a chance to drive down it before they tore it down.

[davidtothej 1]

Alright, I know nobody was expecting this

Way up north, in Portland Maine, a metro area that has a little over 120,000 in a state that has a little over a million, there is sole interstate that runs into the only city that state boasts and it jams up between the hours of 9 and 9. Though it isnt 12 moving lanes of traffic, rather it is four. I would be glad to add it to this list of bad expressways because it is outdated, and even though there isnt much traffic to pull. If you are intrested its I-295 in between Scarborough and Portland.

Other than that, anybody mention the Cross Bronx Expressway? I am always worried that im gonna get slammed into some support rail while im driving on it. And Yeah, I-93 through Boston is disgusting.

[nycsc4 5,250]

Originally posted by: Dr. Neitchskrimfrauwnmoya

The two worst places in the Montr

[GingerBlokey 30]

These roads are nothing compared to the mother of all bad roads ...

The M25 between Gatwick and Heathrow ....

Although talking locally it would be the Gapton Hall Roundabout where the A12 meets the A47 and A1243, the busiest roads in East Anglia (bar the A11 and M11). Its a roundabout with traffic lights and lane control and pedestrians and cycle lanes and entrances to Tesco, B&Q and Comet on it. Pure Hell!

[jessyka who? 1]

Right in downtown St. Louis, I-70, I-64, I-55, and Hwy 44 conjoin right along the riverfront, then in about 200 ft. all four highways go over the Poplar Street Bridge to get into Illinois. It's only an eight-lane bridge, that must hold all the highways traffic. That's 465,400 cars per day. This has essentially been the only way to access downtown via highways since the 1960's.

Currently though, plans are underway to build another bridge to span the mighty Mississippi, in north downtown. Problem is, the projected cost went to over $1.5 Billion. After MoDOT reassessed the bridge, they got it down to a mere $900 Million. The only reason construction hasn't started is due to many conflicts between the two states. IDOT refuses to make it a tolled bridge... So St. Louisans and travelers alike will have to deal with this unbelievable conjestion for at least another four years to come...

EDIT: Just saw nycsc4's post, looks like we have something to agree on with this bridge...

[ryoshi22 0]

It doesn't compare to some of these, but SR 8 in Akron Ohio, was overcongested *before* it was finished decades ago. The point southbound just before the blue bridge over the valley is a blind corner where for no freaking reason, people slow down. You're going 55mph, then suddenly 20mph. You get around the corner, and 55mph again! They fixed the 20 foot onramp/offramp distances a bit now, but they are also dangerous. Imagine merging onto a sunken 4-lane highway from a dead stop with all of 20' to get into 55-70mph traffic!

Also, at the Central interchange, you have three lanes on SR 8 northbound. Right lane is merged two onramps from I-76, they have to get in the middle lane or exit, people in the middle need to get on the right to exit, and left lane are not paying attention... equals fun merging times.

[Constantina 5]

The Blackwall Tunnel crossings in london are one of the most congested. Watch out for the tidal flow system that comes up occasionally.

[adpbns777 0]

Every Highway in Atlanta, especially I-75/85 and I-285. It's 8 lanes of stopped traffic every day during rush hour in each direction. The highway will also go from 8 leans to like 6 to 4 to 9. It is the most confusing highway system ever created. If you go to google earth look at the I75/85 - I20 junction, and the I85 - I285 junction.

[Ryan B 35]

Originally posted by: sargeantcm

I have to agree with the statement that I-95 is bad everywhere.  Two weeks ago I was on I-95 in North Carolina, and although the road was in decent shape, this is a highway SCREAMING to be widened. Traffic was literally 75 mph, stop suddenly, 10 mph for 5 minutes, 75 mph again, etc.  This repeated at least 10 times.  And everytime you got past the initial holdup, you wondered what the hell caused it.  So maybe my complaint rests more with moronic drivers, but they make expressways bad too!

 

The Palisades Interstate Parkway in New York is in generally pretty crappy shape too.  I'm thinking NYSDOT just forgot it exists....

 

I-91 in Vermont, especially near Brattleboro (I don't know about the rest of it) has to be the worst-maintained interstate I've ever seen, and it isn't even in an urban area.  I mean it would probably be cheaper just to nuke the road and rebuilt it from scratch than maintain it, it's that bad.  That seems to go hand-in-hand with the rest of Vermont's roads though.

 

-Chris

quote>

 

Another less - known and less - important freeway in New York is falling into disrepair.  The Lake Ontario State Parkway in western New York ( whose western end is a few minutes northeast of me ) doesn't have that much traffic on it - two lanes each way, all the way into Rochester.  The traffic gets progressively heavier as you head east, and NYSDOT has kept up with the demands.

The western end, however - it seems like the DOT isn't paying any attention to it.  Period.  It's a very bumpy ride.  Plus, not all exits off the LOSP are limited-access - sometimes the road intersecting the Parkway is controlled by stop signs.  Pitiful!

 / rant

[hamsterTK 93]

hmmm...they arent the best but the roads in texas tend be pretty good.

Probably the old double decker portion of 35 in austin. its a really old 1950's type freeway with 1970's style freeway stacked on top of that. And its always backed up. And it ugly and the concrete is stained and crumbling. And Austin doesnt have a true bypass or loop and combined with 35 being a NAFTA route usually at least half of the vehicles on the road are huge trucks and a since bunch of them are from mexico so sometime the drivers arent trained and the trucks themselves arent in great shape(to be fair they cracked down on those several years ago so it isnt a big problem anymore)

[Arrow 0]

The I-40, I-240 interchange in northern Memphis was designed with a retardedness so complete that it's mind boggling. On I-40 going west you have 4 lanes merging into 2 to cross the flyover and join with I-240, which was also 4 lanes going into 2. The end result is you have 8 lanes of traffing merging into 3, 2 with the construction going on near Walnut Grove. All of this is passed by 250,000 vehicles every rush hour. Absolute lunacy!

[xiziz 11]

Cant remember the name of the road, but it was an old motorway in italy, not one of the toll-motorways but one of the older more or less disused motorways, anyways driving allong this motorway signed as a recomended 130kph motorway, first i hit a series of traficlights, and people running red from every direction possible and a few more. Then just a few minutes away when i had finaly crossed those nasty intersections there was a streach of about 40-50km of road with huge potholes in them... potholes so large they could probably swallow several minis and still be a hazzard for the rest of the traffc.

Though the tollroads in italy are superb.

We dont have very many run down motorways in Sweden, but we do have a few horrible looking motorways in Stockholm, mostly the City-Motorways then, those built through the urban area, nowadays we dig all new motorways in under the ground(like Boston did with the big dig), which is great, except in 20 years when the roads will be filled to the verge and one has to use dynamate to make a new lane...

[Micah 16]

The worst one in Texas and actually it is the second worse in the US is I-10 in Houston. It takes 55 mins just to drive 3 miles through the portion of Katy-Houston on a normal day (Rainy days are another story). From what I've read in news reports, it took drivers 17 hours to drive 12 miles during the evacuation of Hurricane Rita on that highway!

[Dalton 23]

I'm going to put my 2 cents in for the 401 as somebody mentioned before.  When you go through Tornonto on this mess, it's 4 lanes in either direction of "Express Lanes" in the center, with 4 collector lanes on each side, You have to take ramps off the express lanes to get over to the collector lanes where you can take a ramp unto the street you want.  The result is 16 lanes of chaos. 

Here is a google map shot of the 401 vs 427 interchange.

[DuskTrooper 314]

I-45 N, Houston

Ugly...

[hamsterTK 93]

^^^

lol no kidding. it used to be cooler when there was the giant statue of the phone and the banana..or was that on 10?

BTW, reminds of that funky mustard yellow house that looks like a control tower with the giant fugly weathervane right next to 45 near DT. 

*end offtopicness*

also another one i forgot is I-35 between temple and waco. the road has not changed since is was built decades ago and it looks it...

[justanothersim86 83]

The 401 doesn't have the worse traffic, but it is the most chaotic stretch of road I've been on. Why?

Busiest highway in NA+8 lanes in each direction+"collecter" lanes you have to merge into to get off+rush hour traffic+4 different highways intersecting in the same area+Pearson international airport nearby +loads of transport trucks attempting to switch lanes all the time= a horrific mess.

If your a first time driver, avoid.

Doesn't look bad in the pic, but wait till rush hour comes.

[Micah 16]

Originally posted by: DuskTrooper I-45 N, Houston

Ugly...quote>

 

Wow, I thought you were going to say "south"!

When was the last time you used I-45 N?  They have added a whole forest along all of the highway with trees on everyside (From the Greenspoint area all the way to Conroe). Once the trees grow, it will look even better.

[GingerBlokey 30]

Spaghetti Junction ... need I say more to anyone from the UK

[callagrafx 3]

Nothing beats the M25 London orbital, officially holds the title of World's largest practical joke

[adpbns777 0]

You call that a spaghetti junction?  I guess in the US, we take it to the extreme.  Here is Atlanta's spaghetti junction, or the I-85 / I-285 interchange: