The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[MLBrumby]

Can I rant again about TDOT. My wife just called a couple hours ago... she said I-24 is a "friggin' parking lot." Apparently westbound tractor-trailer wrecked and caught fire. And all traffic between Middle and Southeast Tennessee came to a standstill. Wow! 

[smeagolsfree]

Wow, almost worth heading north and hitting 40 and then going south.

[PaulChinetti]

42 minutes ago, samsonh said:

double decker interstates and flying taxis and automated cars, remember??

Please don’t make me remember. 

[NashvilleObserver]

49 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Can I rant again about TDOT. My wife just called a couple hours ago... she said I-24 is a "friggin' parking lot." Apparently westbound tractor-trailer wrecked and caught fire. And all traffic between Middle and Southeast Tennessee came to a standstill. Wow! 

How is that TDOT's fault?

[MLBrumby]

How slow they are to respond to growth. I-24 between Chattanooga and M'boro  has not changed in the 30 years since I started travelling along that route and it's taking twice (or more) the volume of traffic it took then. The I-75/I-24 interchange at the TN/GA stateline has been a screaming need for a decade now. It's an extremely dangerous interchange... and yet, TDOT still has not turned dirt on that project. We in Chatty are not a priority for the statehouse, and we get that... but it's simply embarrassing when driving up I-75 from Atlanta when you cross the state line.

I just described above today's 'adventure' for my wife. I now expect to have to stop/slow down at least once for 1-8 miles each time I drive that route. Expansion and safety enhancements are long overdue.  I have also posted on this board how slow they are in recognizing a need for road upgrades and doing construction. Just Sunday night on the local news, I saw a report about a bridge on a state route (Standifer Gap Road) in East Hamilton County. The road has been closed for 2 years and TDOT is saying it will be another 2+ years to rebuild it!  

[samsonh]

11 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

How slow they are to respond to growth. I-24 between Chattanooga and M'boro  has not changed in the 30 years since I started travelling along that route and it's taking twice (or more) the volume of traffic it took then. The I-75/I-24 interchange at the TN/GA stateline has been a screaming need for a decade now. It's an extremely dangerous interchange... and yet, TDOT still has not turned dirt on that project. We in Chatty are not a priority for the statehouse, and we get that... but it's simply embarrassing when driving up I-75 from Atlanta when you cross the state line.

I just described above today's 'adventure' for my wife. I now expect to have to stop/slow down at least once for 1-8 miles each time I drive that route. Expansion and safety enhancements are long overdue.  I have also posted on this board how slow they are in recognizing a need for road upgrades and doing construction. Just Sunday night on the local news, I saw a report about a bridge on a state route (Standifer Gap Road) in East Hamilton County. The road has been closed for 2 years and TDOT is saying it will be another 2+ years to rebuild it!  

Tdot has been starved of funding for years. 

[MLBrumby]

Yes... another one of my points.  I believe they need to allow some (1.5-2%) limited debt funding through the state's borrowing capacity for urgent road projects. I believe this would amount to 300-350M per year (I did the math in a previous post).  Maintenance is already covered through the annual budget and overall TDOT does an adequate job with that, but there are too many long-needed projects like the I-24 situation. Plus, the time length to get a project conceived, approved, planned and completed is excruciatingly long, more than 4 years for a 50-yard long box (culvert) 2-lane bridge over a creek. And don't get me started on the deer that populate the shoulder of I-24 at the foot of Monteagle Mountain. Safety first! Then expansion to meet demand!

On a related note: When was the Improve Act passed.... early last year? And what has been started among that list of projects? OK... rant complete (for now). 

[titanhog]

24 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

On a related note: When was the Improve Act passed.... early last year? And what has been started among that list of projects? OK... rant complete (for now). 

https://www.tdot.tn.gov/projectneeds/spot#/

[Mr_Bond]

1 hour ago, MLBrumby said:

The I-75/I-24 interchange at the TN/GA stateline has been a screaming need for a decade now. It's an extremely dangerous interchange... and yet, TDOT still has not turned dirt on that project. We in Chatty are not a priority for the statehouse, and we get that... but it's simply embarrassing when driving up I-75 from Atlanta when you cross the state line.

I go through there about twice a month driving from Nashville to Tampa or Orlando.  Whether it's 10 AM, 10 PM, noon or midnight - that interchange and I-24 through Chatty are ALWAYS slow.

[volsfanwill]

My fiancé was at the Nashville Scene best of Nashville event tonight (her podcast (the champagne way) came in 2nd) 

Anyway, Bird was there giving out test drives, safety guide sheets, and free helmets with bag.    Hey they are trying. 

 

[volsfanwill]

I saw this on Facebook, I had to share. 

[PaulChinetti]

https://brokensidewalk.com/2016/spaghetti-junction-aerials/

We were talking about interstate interchanges taking up huge chunks of land. Look at Louisville, right on the riverfront. Yeesh

[MLBrumby]

Wow! That's terrible... but at least they were able to salvage a sliver for what appears to be a greenway along the river. That's a city I'm told shares (or shared) similarities with Nashville, but I have absolutely no feel for, good or bad. 

[e-dub]

WOW, that's garbage.

[21jump]

I cant believe cities are building those types of interchanges in 2018.

[Guest]

This interurban train system in Nashville was news to me.....pretty cool.

 

https://10ec.com/Freolac/Interurban.html

[Dale]

Is it true that the Music City  Star is the worst-performing commuter rail link in the US ?

 

[PruneTracy]

50 minutes ago, Dale said:

Is it true that the Music City  Star is the worst-performing commuter rail link in the US ?

Yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_commuter_rail_systems_by_ridership

In its defense, it was one of the cheapest startups in the nation due to its use of existing rail. You may also notice that many of these slightly more utilized systems are much longer; it does not have the fewest riders per track mile nor the highest cost per rider.

[Dale]

Thanks, and I do remember it being lauding for its practicality in using rolling stock to shave costs and time.

 

As an aside: two northern neighbors of Nashville that are doing very well without rail of any sort: Indy and Columbus. Both are glowing and growing (and on Amazon’s shortlist) and are nowhere near being crippled by traffic congestion. At last check, Indy had the shortest commute time in the nation, 22 minutes during rush hour.

[bnacincy]

2 hours ago, Dale said:

Thanks, and I do remember it being lauding for its practicality in using rolling stock to shave costs and time.

 

As an aside: two northern neighbors of Nashville that are doing very well without rail of any sort: Indy and Columbus. Both are glowing and growing (and on Amazon’s shortlist) and are nowhere near being crippled by traffic congestion. At last check, Indy had the shortest commute time in the nation, 22 minutes during rush hour.

Both Indianapolis and Columbus have complete circular interstate bypasses which helps to keep truck traffic out their respective city centers. Nashville does not and that can be a problem as interstate 65 is a major truck corridor-I know first hand when I get on 65 in Louisville headed to Nashville from Cincinnati.

[MidTenn1]

9 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

Both Indianapolis and Columbus have complete circular interstate bypasses which helps to keep truck traffic out their respective city centers. Nashville does not and that can be a problem as interstate 65 is a major truck corridor-I know first hand when I get on 65 in Louisville headed to Nashville from Cincinnati.

I think we need to put hefty tolls on trucks over a certain size if using the interstates near downtown during rush hours! It would encourage usage of I 840 and Briley Parkway (which should be called I-265).

[Chris Lee]

12 hours ago, nashville_bound said:

This interurban train system in Nashville was news to me.....pretty cool.

https://10ec.com/Freolac/Interurban.html

My great uncle was a conductor on the Nashville-Gallatin Interurban route.

[Dale]

41 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

Both Indianapolis and Columbus have complete circular interstate bypasses which helps to keep truck traffic out their respective city centers. Nashville does not and that can be a problem as interstate 65 is a major truck corridor-I know first hand when I get on 65 in Louisville headed to Nashville from Cincinnati.

Correct, but tell light rail fetishists that more roads are needed.

 

[markhollin]

1 hour ago, bnacincy said:

Both Indianapolis and Columbus have complete circular interstate bypasses which helps to keep truck traffic out their respective city centers. Nashville does not and that can be a problem as interstate 65 is a major truck corridor-I know first hand when I get on 65 in Louisville headed to Nashville from Cincinnati.

The people in Columbus sure complain a LOT about their traffic.  I've been there on business frequently, and it can be a real bear, even on the I-270 outer belt, especially in afternoon/evening rush hour. 

But another thing that Indy and--to a certainly degree-- Columbus have are flat terrain, and primarily north-south/east-west grids that make it much easier to navigate than Nashville's spoke system that comes out from center city and winds around some steep river valleys, etc. 

[Dale]

8 minutes ago, markhollin said:

The people in Columbus sure complain a LOT about their traffic.  I've been there on business frequently, and it can be a real bear, even on the I-270 outer belt, especially in afternoon/evening rush hour. 

But another thing that Indy and--to a certainly degree-- Columbus have are flat terrain, and primarily north-south/east-west grids that make it much easier to navigate than Nashville's spoke system that comes out from center city and winds around some steep river valleys, etc. 

To bolster my point, even people in Columbus and Indy drink the light rail kook-aid ... while getting home from work in 22 minutes.