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Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction


monsoon

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I believe that the stretches between exit 31-32 and 35-36 that were three free lanes (very extended exit ramps) will now be two free lanes with just merging on/off ramps. So technically there will be a loss of free lanes unless they have made alterations to that plan.

Also, what ever happened to the ramp metering at exit 28 (and possibly others)? Is that still a go or did the toll lane project destroy that prospect?

I still firmly believe that freight lanes or a freight bypass should have been built for the north Meck stretch of 77 linking to 485. From personal observation --making the reverse-commute daily-- it is apparent that the freight traffic is a major player in the cause of congestion.

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7 hours ago, AuLukey said:

I believe that the stretches between exit 31-32 and 35-36 that were three free lanes (very extended exit ramps) will now be two free lanes with just merging on/off ramps. So technically there will be a loss of free lanes unless they have made alterations to that plan.

Also, what ever happened to the ramp metering at exit 28 (and possibly others)? Is that still a go or did the toll lane project destroy that prospect?

I still firmly believe that freight lanes or a freight bypass should have been built for the north Meck stretch of 77 linking to 485. From personal observation --making the reverse-commute daily-- it is apparent that the freight traffic is a major player in the cause of congestion.

Though the video from NCDOT doesnt show that area I dont believe that is the case either. If you look at the construction and I was up  there yesterday they are building the lanes in the median in southern Iredell county and those exit/entrance lanes are staying where they are and free presumably. 

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Though the video from NCDOT doesnt show that area I dont believe that is the case either. If you look at the construction and I was up  there yesterday they are building the lanes in the median in southern Iredell county and those exit/entrance lanes are staying where they are and free presumably. 


Yea but all that requires is a fresh coat of paint to restrict the lanes though. I'd rather be wrong
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19 hours ago, dubone said:

 just hope the spoiled LKN residents acting like brats wanting free stuff to fix their lifestyle flaws don't ruin managed lane plans in the rest of the city.  

Freeway expansions to sprawling exurbs are the very definition of moral hazard.  

Do you pay someone to shovel up all the sh!+ from your high horse or do you just let it lay where it falls?

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18 hours ago, southslider said:

^Except HOVs will need a transponder in their vehicle and then set it to carpool mode to travel in the Express Lanes without any toll.  Otherwise, their plate will be snapped and they'll be mailed a bill for the going rate at the time of their travel, plus administrative fees for not using a pass.

 

I didn't realize that but it makes sense. I tried to find out about it and could only find this link which sounds like "vaporware" at this point: https://connect.ncdot.gov/business/Turnpike/Pages/default.aspx

I hope that doesn't mean you won't be able to get the ez-pass version? Since we drive north a few times a year I was looking for a good reason to get one.

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17 hours ago, AuLukey said:

I believe that the stretches between exit 31-32 and 35-36 that were three free lanes (very extended exit ramps) will now be two free lanes with just merging on/off ramps. So technically there will be a loss of free lanes unless they have made alterations to that plan.

Also, what ever happened to the ramp metering at exit 28 (and possibly others)? Is that still a go or did the toll lane project destroy that prospect?

I still firmly believe that freight lanes or a freight bypass should have been built for the north Meck stretch of 77 linking to 485. From personal observation --making the reverse-commute daily-- it is apparent that the freight traffic is a major player in the cause of congestion.

Or they could design the express lanes to carry some local freight trucks like UPS,FedEx etc, which would likely help reduce some volume as well as be a major revenue source

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Dedicated freight lanes should totally be a thing. 


Well, according to the terribly put together website for the widening project, http://www.i77express.com, there will be alternate routes being built within the state to alleviate this... funny how I've never heard of said routes before.

"Q: How will tractor-trailers benefit from the I-77 Express Lanes?
A: The non-tolled general purpose lanes could see relief as passenger vehicles choose to move to the express lanes. Other recently completed projects have seen 10 mph improvements in average speed in the non-tolled lanes. Additional relief will come as projects across North Carolina offer multiple corridors for through tractor-trailers that use I-77 to get from South Carolina to Virginia."

I'm calling hogwash
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/29/2017 at 0:15 AM, AuLukey said:

 


Well, according to the terribly put together website for the widening project, http://www.i77express.com, there will be alternate routes being built within the state to alleviate this... funny how I've never heard of said routes before.

"Q: How will tractor-trailers benefit from the I-77 Express Lanes?
A: The non-tolled general purpose lanes could see relief as passenger vehicles choose to move to the express lanes. Other recently completed projects have seen 10 mph improvements in average speed in the non-tolled lanes. Additional relief will come as projects across North Carolina offer multiple corridors for through tractor-trailers that use I-77 to get from South Carolina to Virginia."

I'm calling hogwash

 

FWIW when it's done, there should be speed improvements on I-77... but give it a few years and they'll be back to normal. This phenomenon exists with all capacity improvement projects.

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One way NCDOT is improve the 77 situation with this contract would be more improvements to US 321 especially at exit/entrance on I-85.  321 has become a huge truck bypass for Charlotte congestion but the last link at the I-85 interchange is a bottleneck. Loves Truck Stops is building a new truck stop on 321 near Newton because of all the truck traffic. I know a trucker who comes from Winston and avoids Charlotte altogether by coming down 321 to 85 then back to Atlanta.  If further improvements were done at this intersection more and more trucks would use it and less on 77 unless coming to Charlotte specifically. 

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One way NCDOT is improve the 77 situation with this contract would be more improvements to US 321 especially at exit/entrance on I-85.  321 has become a huge truck bypass for Charlotte congestion but the last link at the I-85 interchange is a bottleneck. Loves Truck Stops is building a new truck stop on 321 near Newton because of all the truck traffic. I know a trucker who comes from Winston and avoids Charlotte altogether by coming down 321 to 85 then back to Atlanta.  If further improvements were done at this intersection more and more trucks would use it and less on 77 unless coming to Charlotte specifically. 


The trouble with this logic (theirs, not yours,) is that there is a hefty amount of freight facilities within Charlotte, especially in the Northlake area. I'm assuming these facilities were built long before Northlake existed and 77 wasn't such a nightmare. I wonder if any of them are considering moving to more logistically sound areas.
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22 minutes ago, AuLukey said:

 


The trouble with this logic (theirs, not yours,) is that there is a hefty amount of freight facilities within Charlotte, especially in the Northlake area. I'm assuming these facilities were built long before Northlake existed and 77 wasn't such a nightmare. I wonder if any of them are considering moving to more logistically sound areas.

 

Northlake is sound from a infrastructure standpoint. You already have 3 lanes on 77 & access to 485 along with secondary roads like wt harris,old statesville,statesville ave etc to maneuver around. The issue is 77 from exit 23 to exit 36

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Northlake is sound from a infrastructure standpoint. You already have 3 lanes on 77 & access to 485 along with secondary roads like wt harris,old statesville,statesville ave etc to maneuver around. The issue is 77 from exit 23 to exit 36


Yea I get that, but the freight headed to and from Northlake from the north is what exacerbates the congestion. I didn't mean Northlake itself.
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1 hour ago, tozmervo said:

I can only find state level statistics - NC is 14th most dangerous on a per capita basis. http://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2017-03/2017ped_FINAL_4.pdf 

Ooh, I like this type of data...

  • Table 2 (on page 9 of the PDF) is for year 2015. (Pedestrian Fatalities per 100K Population - 1.98)
  • Table 6 (on page 14 of the PDF) is for the first 6 months of 2016. (Pedestrian Fatalities per 100K Population - 0.95)

I only want to focus on NC for this exercise:

  • Even if you double 2016 numbers - you get to 1.90 Fatalities per 100K Population.
  • When they look at only the first 6 months of both 2015 vs 2016 (Table 3 on page 11 of the PDF) NC fatality rate went up by 24.7%

What I am trying to get to - there is creative "torture of data" going on.

Plus, to only dive into 2 years and briefly mention 2014 in one chart without details, is disingenuous. https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2015/01/25/the-folly-of-two-data-points/  All data that is prior 2015 is only at the national level, no state details available.

This field is important enough that people should stop playing games with the data, but lay out a real case, with hard data - with real trends (i.e. more then 2 years of detailed data should be used in ANY report - to be clear, use ALL data available), and follow that up with actual research on what helped/caused the decrease/increase in the fatality rate.

1 hour ago, kermit said:

I dunno about statistics, just speaking as a regular biker and ped

I'll take objective data over subjective experience.

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