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What North Carolina metro area has the best grand entry in to their area via freeway?


Atlside

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Heading north into North Carolina from South Carolina on I-77 does one thing for me. It reminds me what a piss poor job the NCDOT does in designing, building, and maintaining its highways compared to almost any other state. This despite having the highest gasoline tax in the nation to pay for the things.

Once you cross the state line into NC, you leave a nice 8 lane well lit smooth highway, and enter the hell of pot holes, burned out lights, trash everywhere, and pavement that is so unlevel that you need a dose of dramamine to keep from throwing up your guts after traveling on it for a few miles. North Carolina builds roads like they came from Walmart.

WOW! Finally someone sees the same things I do when traveling Charlotte area interstates. It's absolutely absurd, the level of basic maintenance (weeds, litter) that Charlotte lacks.

I have emailed our dear mayor on several occasions asking him why it is we cannot maintain these roadways in a presentable manner. He continually lays the blame on Raleigh and says he is trying to get more money to fix the problems. Well, it's been years and the problem has only gotten worse.

I recently returned from several midwestern cities that had such well-groomed interchanges, no weeds growing out of concrete barrier walls, no tire debis so thick you are afraid to pull off the road and virtually no litter along the beltways. It really gives you a good first time impression of a city you don't really know a lot about.

On the other hand, Charlotte gives just the opposite impression from travelers passing through. How embarrassing!

BTW, anyone that wants to report a litter bug should use this FORM when they see it happen. Call me a jerk, but I have already submitted 2 liscence tags from people throwing cigarette butts out there car.

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WOW! Finally someone sees the same things I do when traveling Charlotte area interstates. It's absolutely absurd, the level of basic maintenance (weeds, litter) that Charlotte lacks.

I have emailed our dear mayor on several occasions asking him why it is we cannot maintain these roadways in a presentable manner. He continually lays the blame on Raleigh and says he is trying to get more money to fix the problems. Well, it's been years and the problem has only gotten worse.

I recently returned from several midwestern cities that had such well-groomed interchanges, no weeds growing out of concrete barrier walls, no tire debis so thick you are afraid to pull off the road and virtually no litter along the beltways. It really gives you a good first time impression of a city you don't really know a lot about.

On the other hand, Charlotte gives just the opposite impression from travelers passing through. How embarrassing!

BTW, anyone that wants to report a litter bug should use this FORM when they see it happen. Call me a jerk, but I have already submitted 2 liscence tags from people throwing cigarette butts out there car.

Michigan started an Adopt-A-Highway program about 15 years ago and it is very successful. Any organization, company and even family can adopt a stretch and has to clean it 3 or 4 times a year. The highways used to be horribly littered before then. Might be something to look into.

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WOW! Finally someone sees the same things I do when traveling Charlotte area interstates. It's absolutely absurd, the level of basic maintenance (weeds, litter) that Charlotte lacks.

I have emailed our dear mayor on several occasions asking him why it is we cannot maintain these roadways in a presentable manner. He continually lays the blame on Raleigh and says he is trying to get more money to fix the problems. Well, it's been years and the problem has only gotten worse.

I recently returned from several midwestern cities that had such well-groomed interchanges, no weeds growing out of concrete barrier walls, no tire debis so thick you are afraid to pull off the road and virtually no litter along the beltways. It really gives you a good first time impression of a city you don't really know a lot about.

On the other hand, Charlotte gives just the opposite impression from travelers passing through. How embarrassing!

BTW, anyone that wants to report a litter bug should use this FORM when they see it happen. Call me a jerk, but I have already submitted 2 liscence tags from people throwing cigarette butts out there car.

The weeds do make the highways look bad. It use to look awful at the old I-40/I-85 Split (death valley) in Greensboro, not to mention the cheap motels near that interchange. But now I think youll see the weeds throught the state quite a bit because many municpalities and counties are trying to save becasue of the recent high gas cost. So they go much longer without cutting the grass along the highways.

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Regarding the poor road qualities Metro mentioned, I have heard the same things from other people since returning to NC, but I got to tell you, they are positively wonderful here coming from Houston, no exaggeration whatsoever. I'll stop the list there so as not to offend anyone, but thare are many other places that make NC roads look positively grade A, manicured and well built. The quality is poorer the closer to the coast you get I'll concede, but still, a refreshing change. The abundance of flowers in the medians is a nice touch as well. We of course aren't the only state that does that, but again, better than most.

Just out of curiosity, though, would poorly maintained roads encourage use of alternative transit methods? ;)

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Ive been in at least a dozen rural counties statewide where you CANNOT complain about the rural state-secondary 2 lane highways! They are engineered and built safely so you can go most of the time 60-65mph in a 55mph zone (posted or unposted). Maybe the cities do not get high marks but the rural two laners get an A+ in my book. The day NC turns the secondary road responsibility into county DOT maintienence, would be a sad day in the Tar Heel state because the high stringent standard and quality of the highways will go downhill. NCDOT is a great department with rural highways but i wont disagree with many of what has been heard on Urbanplanet in regards to the highway responsibility in some cities. I would be in favor of a city DOT doing coverage for an entire county because Charlotte and High Point DOT's, in the past, have been pretty good and abides NCDOT standards.

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^So I'm not alone here, I did notice some questionable roads just outside of Charlotte CBD this past weekend, but still as a comparison thing they weren't all that bad.

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Here is a link to an outdated photo (3+ years ago) I found that is taken along 74/Ind Westbound, though it is only an example, still too far away, not quite at the right height and is probably a quarter mile farther back than I was trying to get, is not wide angled, but it is getting there.

http://www.carolinaphoto.com/Carolina%20Ph...0803_03_jpg.jpg

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impressive pic!

^So I'm not alone here, I did notice some questionable roads just outside of Charlotte CBD this past weekend, but still as a comparison thing they weren't all that bad.

=====================================

Here is a link to an outdated photo (3+ years ago) I found that is taken along 74/Ind Westbound, though it is only an example, still too far away, not quite at the right height and is probably a quarter mile farther back than I was trying to get, but it is getting there.

http://www.carolinaphoto.com/Carolina%20Ph...0803_03_jpg.jpg

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The rural 2-lane roads in urbanizing areas such as southern Wake County or Monroe County, etc. can be pretty awful. The engineering is typical high DOT standard, but the pavement has been let slide far too long, since thousands more vehicles per day are driving on these roads than DOT expected - and many of them 80,000 pound dump trucks. This makes the lifetime of the pavement MUCH shorter than DOT anticipated the last time the roads were surfaced.

The worst offender that I know of is Green Level to Durham Road in West Cary. Potholes a foot deep and literally 10 feet in diameter abound (The road essentially becomes one lane at several points.) And all signs seem to indicate that DOT is waiting for the developers to reconstruct these roads rather than going out there with pothole patching crews themselves.

Rural 2-lane roads in areas experiencing moderate, stagnant, or negative growth are, by and large, excellent.

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The weeds do make the highways look bad. It use to look awful at the old I-40/I-85 Split (death valley) in Greensboro, not to mention the cheap motels near that interchange. But now I think youll see the weeds throught the state quite a bit because many municpalities and counties are trying to save becasue of the recent high gas cost. So they go much longer without cutting the grass along the highways.

Why does everyone want the grass cut along the highways? I think native grass should be sewn after construction and left alone except for maybe a 5 foot buffer that is cut. In urban areas again, the landscaping should be with native plants that need little maintenance. Cutting all the cleared area around an interstate is just a waste of taxpayer money. Trash should be picked up by chain gangs or community service from reckless drivers and DUI offenders.

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Why does everyone want the grass cut along the highways? I think native grass should be sewn after construction and left alone except for maybe a 5 foot buffer that is cut. In urban areas again, the landscaping should be with native plants that need little maintenance. Cutting all the cleared area around an interstate is just a waste of taxpayer money. Trash should be picked up by chain gangs or community service from reckless drivers and DUI offenders.

The problem is that there are unattractive weeds growing up. It just does look well maintained or clean cut. I personally would love to see more flowers planted and grass just as fine and green as a PGA golf course.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Heading north into North Carolina from South Carolina on I-77 does one thing for me. It reminds me what a piss poor job the NCDOT does in designing, building, and maintaining its highways compared to almost any other state. This despite having the highest gasoline tax in the nation to pay for the things.

Once you cross the state line into NC, you leave a nice 8 lane well lit smooth highway, and enter the hell of pot holes, burned out lights, trash everywhere, and pavement that is so unlevel that you need a dose of dramamine to keep from throwing up your guts after traveling on it for a few miles. North Carolina builds roads like they came from Walmart.

Oh I could go on about this until everyone really got sick of me, but I'll refrain.

EXCEPT - the other entry into NC where this is extremely noticeable is I-85, driving south out of Va. You hit the NC line, and a rather scenic (for an interstate) and immaculately maintained highway immediately turns into narrow, cracked, old, uneven, trashy-looking...if I were in Warren and Vance Counties, I'd seriously consider suing the NCDOT for defamation of character or something.

Love the smog in those Charlotte pics above - that is pretty grand, or majestic, or impressive, though not in any of the intended ways.

And there's nothing grand in the Triad freeway plan - it's like a NC response to Los Angeles, if maybe Salvador Dali or Jorge Borges was brought in to do the actual route planning and numbering. It is creative though, so there's something in it...

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EXCEPT - the other entry into NC where this is extremely noticeable is I-85, driving south out of Va. You hit the NC line, and a rather scenic (for an interstate) and immaculately maintained highway immediately turns into narrow, cracked, old, uneven, trashy-looking...if I were in Warren and Vance Counties, I'd seriously consider suing the NCDOT for defamation of character or something.

Especially when people come into NC from other states thinking its a 3rd world country that they cant take care of their roads. I have driven/riden this stretch of I-85 for the last 16 years and STILL, the DOT has not done anything with the 25 miles of interstate between north of Henderson and roughly mile marker 230 (very close to the VA border).

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My favorite entry to Charlotte would have to be I-77 heading south over Lake Norman. Another impressive view is also on I-77 south when you go over a big hill and the entire skyline of Charlotte is presented to you in clear view. I wish I had a photo to share with you.

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My favorite entry to Charlotte would have to be I-77 heading south over Lake Norman. Another impressive view is also on I-77 south when you go over a big hill and the entire skyline of Charlotte is presented to you in clear view. I wish I had a photo to share with you.

For views from the highway, ther are a few that are spectacular:

Driving E on I-40, between the 2 Chapel Hill exits, you are on a gradual curve and a very long gradual downhill slope, and the highway curves into a clearing and suddenly a 15-mile view - the entire city of Durham, from Downtown to RTP, stretches completely across the horizon.

There's a similar "fall line" view on I-85 a couple miles east of Hillsborough, with a better view of downtown Durham, as 85 goes over a low ridge. From Hillsbororugh/Chapel Hill to Raleigh, you're gradually, steadily losing elevation, so there are several spots around the Triangle with great panoramas (northbound on US 15-501 just south of the Manning entrance to UNC is another where you can see all of Durham, looking N.E.).

There's a great, distant view of Winston-Salem from I-77, descending the Blue Ridge from Fancy Gap, VA. As 77 descends the ridge you see a very small looking Pilot Mtn on the left, and all of Winston a bit to the left of there.

And te view of Greenville SC as you drive south on US 25 over the NC/SC state line (also crossing the Blue Ridge) is another great one.

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Not a grand entry, but the most urbanized feel for a freeway in NC is Hwy 29 through Greensboro. The portion that routes past old Carolina Circle Mall (damn, I miss the "hood" mall), Wendover, Bessemer, NC A&T and feeds into business I-85. It has a Northeastern city feel with the overpasses and walkway bridges with businesses/homes on both sides. The Durham Freeway and another freeway in Winston-Salem provides that feel somewhat.

Of course, the con to these freeways is the uprooting of established neighborhoods as the Durham freeway demolished parts of historical Fayetteville Street that housed blues bars and clubs I'm told from the old timers. Good ol' politics, poor folks have little leverage.

I drove from Durham to Boston a few weeks ago (a mini/work vacation). It's amazing how many of the freeways in the North absolutely split through communities. I guess they didn't have a choice given the density in those areas. If you ever have the opportunity to drive through NYC to CT or vice versa. Take the Garden State Parkway to I-287/I-87 over the Tappan Zee Bridge (White Plains) back to I-95. The Tappan Zee bridge crosses the Hudson river and that view shows the beauty of New York state which is often overlooked. Rolling hills with similar US Northwest coast topography:

http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/tappan-zee/

Scroll down for more pics.

NEVER, EVER TAKE NJ turnpike/I-95 through the BRONX using the George Washington bridge...mark my word! Only if you want to view NYC from the freeway. It you do that route, you'll understand the true definition of URBAN as the masses of buildings are unspeakable.

On topic, absolutely the best grand entrance into any NC city is where Independence Blvd. becomes a freeway as it feeds into I-277 with the Charlotte skyline in the background.

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If you ever have the opportunity to drive through NYC to CT or vice versa. Take the Garden State Parkway to I-287/I-87 over the Tappan Zee Bridge (White Plains) back to I-95. The Tappan Zee bridge crosses the Hudson river and that view shows the beauty of New York state which is often overlooked. Rolling hills with similar US Northwest coast topography:
I have done this many times in the past years to go to Upstate N.Y. and New England. The Garden State Parkway, i know this road very well.

NEVER, EVER TAKE NJ turnpike/I-95 through the BRONX using the George Washington bridge...mark my word! Only if you want to view NYC from the freeway. It you do that route, you'll understand the true definition of URBAN as the masses of buildings are unspeakable.

I never take this route simply because of the pain in ass struggle to crawl through the Bronx, Westchester County and further into CT, at least up till Bridgeport. If you want to talk about massive demolition of destroying neighborhoods and displacing many many people, the Cross Bronx Expressway (aka I-95) is the road that really changed the face of the south Bronx, especially the Tremont area.

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  • 2 months later...

South Carolina has good highways?! Thats not what I experienced going on I-95 all the way down to Miami and back. South Carolina's I-95 is utter crap! The best I-95 highway from NC to FL would be Georgia's and NC. Nice and smooth all the way through both of those states. Florida was not bad either, but It had an awful lot of bumps going into Jacksonville.

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I-95 is definitely crap going through SC. However, I-77 isn't too bad (particularly just south of Charlotte), and I-85 (it's excellent going through Greenville, especially the lighting through the western connector) and I-26 are good as well. I-20 could also use some work too, especially between Columbia and Aiken.

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  • 2 weeks later...
What is "grand" about an interstate highway that mercilessly cuts through a landscape of suburban sprawl? It doesn't give you a clue as to what you'll be encountering once you actually "arrive" into Greensboro or Durham or whatever. What is revealed in all of the photos is that the interstate has been a tool to facilitate and continually reinforce the homogeneity of the American landscape. It doesn't matter what name is on the sign - it could just as easily say Tulsa or Peoria as it does Greensboro, Gastonia, etc.
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