Poorly Designed Roads (Long Rant)

"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4) 08/31/2015 at 21:36 • Filed to: None

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This post was originally going to be about unneccessary urban development, but I decided to focus on a part of that topic more closely related to Oppositelock.

U.S. Route 222 in Pennsylvania, an offshoot of U.S. Route 22, has a long, somewhat conflicted history. Starting in 1926 as a two lane road, increased traffic through the 20th century required expansions and improvements to be made. These projects included a four-lane expressway bypass for Reading and Kutztown, as well as a four-lane expressway to connect Lancaster and Reading.

Around 1993, discussions were in progress to make improvements to U.S. Route 222 through the Lehigh Valley, in order to alleviate traffic concerns in some of the slower sections through Trexlertown (a small town on the outskirts of Allentown). The most talked about plan, and the one eventually used as a starting point, was to build a four-lane expressway (limited access road) to bypass Trexlertown and lead to I-78 and Allentown. After several delays and funding cuts, the project began in 2004. However, a significant change was made to the plans: the bypass would now utilize a “Boulevard” concept, and include several traffic lights. The two stretches of road (totaling 6.2 miles) to be constructed would already cost $144 million. There was no room in the budget for grade separations instead of intersections.

The project was finally completed in 2007, and has been a source of contention ever since. The bypass was still built as a four-lane road, but due to the traffic lights almost every 1.5 miles, the speed limit was set to 45 mph. That does not stop most drivers, however, as it is quite common to find everyone driving closer to 60-70 mph (if it is not at a stand-still). At least one of the traffic lights is at the bottom of a blind hill. Combined with the heavy truck traffic this road regularly sees, it is a deadly combination. The roads crossing the bypass at this spot frequently back up, spilling into another intersection not connected with the bypass. Only 10 years into its 20 year estimated lifespan, the bypass is already seeing double the traffic specified in its design.

This past year, plans were revealed to develop 63 acres of land on one side of the bypass into a large shopping plaza containing 33 retailers. There is no possible way that these new stores will improve conditions on the bypass. Several warehouses will be added further up the road (near the intersection on the blind hill). After all of the time, money, and effort that went into the design and construction of the bypass, it is turning into the very thing it was designed to circumvent.

I guess I am just fed up with all of the development in the area, and the eagerness to build new facilities without putting the proper infrastructure in place. Especially when there are already vacant retail locations literally a mile away. In fact, the reason I even started writing this was due to discovering my favorite local supermarket is closing.

/end rant.

Let’s hear some stories about other poorly designed roads.

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For Sweden > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 21:39

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Bah! Arroyo Seco Parkway is worst designed road!

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 21:52

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I use to take the Northeast extension from Philly to Easton for school. You could push 85 mph on 476 without a problem during off-peak hours. After 60 miles at that speed, the final stretch though Allentown and Bethlehem was unbearabl even at 60 mph. Rt 22 sucks, and so do the rest of those boulevard style roads.

Pa has a lot of bad roads with no shoulders, too few exits, and insufficient capacity.

jkm7680 > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 21:54

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The DC area is one big, poorly designed road. Everything is horrible, your line of sight is completely diminished on 90% of turns from stop signs and the traffic patterns are confusing and unnecessary.

Birddog > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 22:01

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I’ve re-learned how much I hate Chicagoland “expressways” and I’ve only been back here a few months.

Look up the “Hillside Strangler”. It’s one of my favorites. They re-engineered portions of two expressways to ease congestion. What they actually accomplished was to just move the problem two miles east and make it worse.

Years back construction was ramping up on an I355 extension from I55 to I80. It was so needed it’s not funny.

It got hung up for almost two years because of an endangered Dragonfly that lived in Lemont.

And no matter how many lanes there are it’s not enough. I bet Chicago will have double decker Expressways in my lifetime.

Boxer_4 > Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed 08/31/2015 at 22:05

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476 and 76 almost never give me issues. Rt 22 is definitely aweful. It’s even worse now that Allentown has its own minor league baseball team. On weekday evening game days, you might as well not even bother trying.

ranwhenparked > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 22:05

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Sounds a lot like what happened to the Rt 202 bypass in Bucks and Montgomery counties. First proposed in the early 60s, bureaucratic delays and NIMBY opposition postponed it for 50 years. The vision was to divert through traffic out of the cores of small towns like Chalfont.

When it finally did get built, instead of the four lane, limited access expressway originally envisioned, it was as a two lane “parkway” with a 35mph speed limit and traffic lights every few miles. The extra space meant for additional lanes was used for lightly utilized pedestrian/bike paths, separated from the road by split rail fencing.

Oh, and every intersection is no turn on red, regardless of traffic conditions on intersecting roads, which only adds to the backups during rush hour.

Within a few days of its opening, I went back to using the old, now unsigned, 202, since the low speed bypass was quickly overwhelmed with the traffic volume.

Boxer_4 > jkm7680 08/31/2015 at 22:10

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Yeah, most major cities are pretty bad that way; especially older cities.

Boxer_4 > Birddog 08/31/2015 at 22:24

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I doubt there will ever be enough lanes in any major city. California had a double decker expressway, but the design fell out of favor after the hazards of earthquakes were discovered. Chicago has a significantly lower risk of earthquakes, so I wouldn’t be surprized if double decker expressways appear there at some point.

Boxer_4 > ranwhenparked 08/31/2015 at 22:30

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No right turn on red sounds horrible, although on the 222 bypass you wouldn’t be making one anyway. At least it sounds like the Rt 202 bypass is actually treated like a low speed bypass. Everyone treats the 222 bypass like a highway, because it feels like it should be a highway. The Rt 202 bypass still doesn’t sound great, either.

facw > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 23:14

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Solution: replace the intersections with roundabouts. Either it will work more efficiently or a bunch of people will crash, decreasing the number of people who want to drive on the road.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 23:27

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If you build it, they will come.

wiffleballtony > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 23:34

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I wouldn’t say this example is specifically poorly designed. I am referring to the Loop 202 in the Phoenix metro, specifically on the east side. When it was completed originally it was 3 lanes either direction. Most of the other freeways were between 4 and 6 eithet direction. Lo and behold a few years later they decide that it’s not wide enough and they need to add a carpool (useless) lane. Completing that took another year or so. A few years later, it’s not wide enough so now they’re adding another lane. Instead of just expanding it right the first time we now have had the road under construction for almost the amount of tune it’s been open. Also they never bother to resurface so your always driving in the shoulder or where the lane markers were. Very annoying.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Boxer_4 08/31/2015 at 23:53

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Living in an area with lots of hills and valleys and rivers (Northeast) I’d like to add the great idea of combining highway bridges with local traffic bridges. One bridge, one level, two uses = shit.

so there are 3 lanes. left 2 are highway, third is local traffic and the bridge is a giant on/offramp. so the third lane that is 90% local traffic crawling at 20mph with 50 (reality 60+) on the left most lane, with traffic in the center lane blocked by someone trying to merge with traffic going 20 in the right lane.

Solution: 2 levels one for the highway, one for local traffic.

Tohru > Boxer_4 09/01/2015 at 02:42

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This is a bridge on the WIS-12 bypass, connecting Wisconsin Dells and the western end of the Beltline at Madison/Middleton. Built in 2010, it’s 2 lanes wide with a narrow shoulder. No room for a third lane if one is ever needed.

I took this picture in August 2015.

Waaaaaaay in the background of this shot you can see the part of the bypass they built before running out of money.

To top it off, here’s me parked on the approach to the next bridge on the bypass, about 3 miles away.

Dogapult > Boxer_4 09/01/2015 at 11:39

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.....Go Iron Pigs?