Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction

[videtur quam contuor]

As a boy I recall my parents had a secretary in our main room at which checks were written to pay bills and I sometimes did my homework. In a pigeonhole there were these:

https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/soltaylor080908.html

tokens as change from the ration stamps. I asked about them then and recall the response. They were as valuable as coins though used for only the designated items.

The idea expressed above is that to save gasoline and tires (rubber) one should share rides so all could be productive while using less valuable war products. Same for meat and other goods though the sharing use concept does not work there.

9 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Found on r/urbanplanning

 

 

[jednc]

7 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

As a boy I recall my parents had a secretary in our main room at which checks were written to pay bills and I sometimes did my homework. In a pigeonhole there were these:

https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/soltaylor080908.html

tokens as change from the ration stamps. I asked about them then and recall the response. They were as valuable as coins though used for only the designated items.

The idea expressed above is that to save gasoline and tires (rubber) one should share rides so all could be productive while using less valuable war products. Same for meat and other goods though the sharing use concept does not work there.

 

As someone who commutes alone I just want to say that's Hitler flipping you off when you cut in front of me, go too slow, or otherwise annoy me...I mean him.

[KJHburg]

this is a plan to close another busy at grade crossing in the University area this time Back Creek Church Rd and realigned it over the RR tracks to meet up with Mallard Creek Rd.

https://publicinput.com/nc-49-widening-charlotte

at grade crossings have been closed all the way along this line.  Harrisburg has 3 bridges over the RR tracks in lieu of 5 at grade crossings of the past.  Obviously in Charlotte at Sugar Creek Rd and 36th St this has been done too.  

[southslider]

^NCDOT rebrands forced U-turns as "Reduced Conflict Intersections," or formerly known as "Super Street" intersections.

[tozmervo]

So I-485 was completed in summer 2015. Consider: the newest & last leg, barely 4 years old, regularly has significant afternoon backups between 77 and Benefield Road. 

[Scribe]

Here is the project map with the different options.

[NDL]

5 hours ago, tozmervo said:

So I-485 was completed in summer 2015. Consider: the newest & last leg, barely 4 years old, regularly has significant afternoon backups between 77 and Benefield Road. 

Why didn't they leave room in the center median, for future expansion?

When is the City/State going to learn???

I can't believe the Riverbend project; Highway 16 consists of two travel lanes in each direction, and Mt Holly Huntersville Rd consists of two and one travel lane(s).  At rush hour, the road is backed up for as far as the eye can see.  Solution?  Put a massive project on top of an already overwhelmed road.

Why doesn't the State/City stipulate that developers have to fund part of the necessary road improvements?

[Third Strike]

1 hour ago, NDL said:

Why didn't they leave room in the center median, for future expansion?

When is the City/State going to learn???

I can't believe the Riverbend project; Highway 16 consists of two travel lanes in each direction, and Mt Holly Huntersville Rd consists of two and one travel lane(s).  At rush hour, the road is backed up for as far as the eye can see.  Solution?  Put a massive project on top of an already overwhelmed road.

Why doesn't the State/City stipulate that developers have to fund part of the necessary road improvements?

I might be wrong but I think there is space for two lanes, one on each side of I-485, between I-85 and I-77.  Probably for HOT lanes in the future. 

[Dale]

On 3/18/2019 at 9:42 AM, tarhoosier said:

As a boy I recall my parents had a secretary in our main room at which checks were written to pay bills and I sometimes did my homework. In a pigeonhole there were these:

https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/soltaylor080908.html

tokens as change from the ration stamps. I asked about them then and recall the response. They were as valuable as coins though used for only the designated items.

The idea expressed above is that to save gasoline and tires (rubber) one should share rides so all could be productive while using less valuable war products. Same for meat and other goods though the sharing use concept does not work there.

 

Goebbels didn’t have anything on FDR for propaganda. My favorite was the gigantic jackboot crushing a church steeple.

[southslider]

26 minutes ago, Third Strike said:

I might be wrong but I think there is space for two lanes, one on each side of I-485, between I-85 and I-77.  Probably for HOT lanes in the future. 

All new expressway lanes must be tolled. 

[tozmervo]

2 hours ago, NDL said:

Why didn't they leave room in the center median, for future expansion?

 

29 minutes ago, Third Strike said:

I might be wrong but I think there is space for two lanes, one on each side of I-485, between I-85 and I-77.  Probably for HOT lanes in the future. 

So there is space between the inner & outer, but the stretch I'm referring to is already four lanes in each direction. Expansion here isn't the problem: there's a larger road network problem in the area of 485/77 and limited distributed capacity. (That is, most of the other arterial roads are just two lanes with limited capacity.)

[NDL]

18 hours ago, tozmervo said:

 

So there is space between the inner & outer, but the stretch I'm referring to is already four lanes in each direction. Expansion here isn't the problem: there's a larger road network problem in the area of 485/77 and limited distributed capacity. (That is, most of the other arterial roads are just two lanes with limited capacity.)

Appreciate the reply, but four travel lanes in each direction isn't enough; they should've anticipated a maximum roadway width with the capacity for 5 or 6 lanes in each direction.  Not allowing for future expansion, via a large center grassy median, means that future road improvements (*if* they come), will be prohibitively expensive.

The other silly notion that floats around, is that mixed use centers will 'mitigate the need for enlarged road capacity,' since residents will 'live, work and play in the same location.'

This is an extremely silly, and insidious, notion. 

Mixed use environments are a great idea, but you can't get around the need for improved roads.  I cannot believe that the City/State is allowing the Riverbend development to go, as configured, without major improvements to surrounding roads.

'We don't need major improvements, because most of Riverbend's traffic will come off, and onto, 485'

***

None of this rant is directed toward any poster :); I feel passionately about this, as I had come from a suburb of NYC, that did a horrible job in their planning of road infrastructure, and constant traffic jams were a major reason to want to leave (relocate) out of the area.

Edited March 21, 2019 by NDL

[Nolan]

Most backups on 485 at any location is because of capacity issues on the other main freeways drivers are trying to get off on to,  or design/merging issues:  485 @ 85 W is because of a design merging issues, 485 @ 77 N is because 77 is backed up daily BC it currently has 3 lanes dropping to 2 within a few miles where they have merging traffic. 

[KJHburg]

cruising up 77 and express lanes construction.  north of 485 looks almost done. 

WSOC story on possible changes including toll caps, etc.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/local-lawmakers-to-announce-proposal-for-i-77-toll-lane-relief-/933817739

Photos today.  from around Sunset Rd exit 16 to exit 25 northbound.

[CLT>]

Any idea why they decided to put up those plastic posts to separate the express lanes? There are already a lot of them that are damaged and it hasn't opened yet. In Georgia the HOT lanes same to work just fine with just double white lines. I assume because there's a Toll By Mail option so people could shift in and out of traffic more often?

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, CLT> said:

Any idea why they decided to put up those plastic posts to separate the express lanes? There are already a lot of them that are damaged and it hasn't opened yet. In Georgia the HOT lanes same to work just fine with just double white lines. I assume because there's a Toll By Mail option so people could shift in and out of traffic more often?

they will have toll by mail option here too. I am not sure some of the lane markings won't be redone again.  They use the white pylons in Houston too.  Here are the I-10 Katy Express lanes however there is more room between the lanes there.

[allthingsplanes]

Yeah, but look at a) how ugly those posts look in the Katy photo and b) how much more space they have around them separating them from the cars...

[CLT2014]

Plenty of other cities have a rather narrow gap between the posts and the lanes. My guess is driver's inability to stay in their lane will reverse once the construction distraction is done. 

Southern California:

Washington DC:

 

Miami:

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by CLT2014

[allthingsplanes]

Fair point.  And I'm okay with them there (to stop the cheating that happens with people weaving in and out) as long as they're replaced regularly.   But I don't understand why they weren't put in right before these open?

[AuLukey]

The fact that these are damaged BEFORE the lanes even open is the very reason why they are there. It proves just how indifferent drivers here are. It’s always “I” first. Also, Charlotte is a melting pot of different regions’ driving styles, which do not mesh well at all. Simply put, Charlotte drivers either don’t care or just can’t drive. The cones are there to put them in their place. I’m glad they installed them. I was legitimately worried they wouldn’t and drivers would constantly abuse them as passing lanes and duck back out before the toll catches them.

[KJHburg]

Had the lanes been opened today I would have jumped on as I had to scarf down my Showmars lunch before my CPA meeting due to traffic northbound.  Today 77 north around Huntersville.

 

[Spartan]

On 3/20/2019 at 3:17 PM, NDL said:

Why didn't they leave room in the center median, for future expansion?

When is the City/State going to learn???

I can't believe the Riverbend project; Highway 16 consists of two travel lanes in each direction, and Mt Holly Huntersville Rd consists of two and one travel lane(s).  At rush hour, the road is backed up for as far as the eye can see.  Solution?  Put a massive project on top of an already overwhelmed road.

Why doesn't the State/City stipulate that developers have to fund part of the necessary road improvements?

The City would require enabling legislation to enact impact fees to make developers fund the improvements to the roads upon which they are creating traffic congestion. The current legislature does not care for cities, so I doubt it will happen any time soon.

One thing that we, as Charlotteans, should learn from our neighbors down I-85 in Atlanta is that widening roads doesn't solve congestion. It does relieve it in the short term, but it builds on the already problematic car culture that we have here. 

 

[southslider]

On 3/30/2019 at 7:38 PM, Spartan said:

One thing that we, as Charlotteans, should learn from our neighbors down I-85 in Atlanta is that widening roads doesn't solve congestion. It does relieve it in the short term, but it builds on the already problematic car culture that we have here. 

Any future expressway widening in Mecklenburg will be tolled.

[jednc]

An update to my earlier post...no way this opens the 1st week of April (this week). As a daily driver of the stretch between Mooresville and Huntersville, I can tell you maybe by the 3rd or 4th week. These people have no idea what the word deadline even means.

[NCMike1990]

Some new pics and video have been posted on the I-77 toll project. Progress is being made.

Pics and more info at this link .

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