Michigan's Freeway system.

[dtown]

i thought thats what it was, but i didnt want to say it and be wrong

[MJLO]

they could make more money the other way, lol

Actually the busiest fast food restaurants in the country are located in tollway plazas

[dtown]

thats not surprising, they are the only place to get food on the tollway unless you want to get off and pay to get back on.

[MJLO]

hence the term, captive audience.

[Michi]

BTW, tollroads make much less since in Michigan than in most other states for the sole fact that were are surrouned by water on most sides, and that we don't get much cross-country traffic, save for the heavy truck traffic between the United States and Canada. Tolling roads is meant to help subsidize interstates that are more heavily used by out-of-staters. I'm not so sure that this toll wouldn't fall more heavily on the shoulders of the average citizen here in Michigan, which is exactly the people you don't want this to burden.

Yep, that's why I specifically targeted I-94. We are in a unique position for toll roads not to work. But when you travel the length of 94 btw Detroit and Chicago there is a ton of inter-state traffic and trucks. It would seem to make sense to make 94 a toll road from the Michigan/Indiana border to maybe somewhere around the the I-275/Metro Airport area. This would instill using 94 as a toll between Chicago and the "Detroit Area". In other words, once you've reached the Detroit Area, the freeway system would be free again. just spurtin out ideas.

[RustTown]

What really worries me about tollroads, and something sizeable, is that quite a few states have privatized these roads. There is something just a little bit scary about having the private sector own any part of interstates, one of our Freedom of Movement options. It seems as declining states find that they can't support these tollroads, they sell them off to the highest bidder to plug budget holes. I can see the same thing happening here in Michigan. It's just a major concern of my mine.

[Michi]

I understand that. I don't think we'll ever go the way of toll roads, but if we ever did, it would seem like 94 would be the most efficient option.

[RustTown]

I agree. What do you think about I-75? It's a major interstate used by quite a few out-of-state companies for trucking. Too close to Detroit, though?

[Michi]

I dunno. Maybe the toll could work from I-75/US-23 up the the Mack Bridge.

[dtown]

that could work

[mgman]

I-94 is the only one that would work as a toll road in my opinion. I would not mind paying to travel if it cut down on the traffic. I drive that road all the time and I hate it. I would give my right arm if it was three lanes all the way across the state, I know that it is near impossible though.

To get back to the original post, US-31 to I-196/I-94 really should be finished in the near future. It is only around 4 miles and then it is finished. It won't happen soon though. It took them 12 years to get 10 miles on the previous section.

[Michi]

Yah, I-94 really does need to be 3 lanes each way all the way across the state. Not necessarily because of high traffic volumes, but because of the trucks that create high traffic volumes. The most common problem traveling across 94 is the huge line-ups behind two semis traveling side-by-side. Once the one gets by the other, a few cars are able to pass until they reach the next two semis doing the same thing 2 miles down the road. It makes you want to pull your hair out!

[RustTown]

Better yet, I'd like to see high-speed rail along I-94 between Detroit and Chicago. Of course, that's never going to happen. lol

[dtown]

i thought they were planning on doing that.

[RustTown]

They've been planning high-speed rail for the Midwest for many years. It's still just that: studying and planning.

[wolverine]

I dunno. Maybe the toll could work from I-75/US-23 up the the Mack Bridge.

Yah well, back at you all, considering I'm the only one around here from the Tri-Cities, LOL. Wolverine ain't stackin' paper yet! I'm broke!

[MJLO]

It's ok wolverine, if there were ever an initiative for toll rd. I'd do everything I could to obstruct it. I repeat my mantra, " I want Michigan to be as least like Ohio as possible" . Ohio is my nemesis.

[dtown]

Yah well, back at you all, considering I'm the only one around here from the Tri-Cities, LOL. Wolverine ain't stackin' paper yet! I'm broke!

Wait, wait , wait. We use 75 here in Flint a lot too. It would suck in gereral for most of eastern/ northern Michigan

[MJLO]

yeah silly kids, I-75 is the most populated, and traveled route in Michigan.

[Michi]

It is...which is why it probably would never work.

[LA Dave]

Better yet, I'd like to see high-speed rail along I-94 between Detroit and Chicago. Of course, that's never going to happen. lol

Amen, brother. Don't hold your breathe with this administration, though.

[RustTown]

I agree. We still have the majority of the American people squabbling and getting pissed over high gas, and not even considering a major part of this issue (i.e. other modes of transit besides the automobile). We're so backwards, at times.

[ByTheBay]

Instead of having a US31 and US 131 why didn't we call them US 31 and US32. It seems confusing. Anther example is I196 and I96. I 96 goes from Detroit to Muskegon. Suddenly you see a sign in GR that says I196 West. Why not call it I95 and have it end in Holland.

[dtown]

by the bay, do you by chance own the By The bay store in TC?

[wolverine]

131 and I-196 are both spurs from their parent routes. They are also the first spur from each of those routes. The only mis-numbered route I can think of off the top of my head is I-275, which should technically be something like I-296. But 275 was originally to meet up with I-75 around Clarkston and never happened. There's no way 196 could become 95, as the current I-95 on the East Coast is probably one of the most important freeways in the United States.

Wolverine rapping Pretty Ricky's "new shoes on the ride, rolling down 95......"