What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Feb 24th 2017, 12:29 pm
#76
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Apart from the occasional knob-head decision (Christie-gate), the US are much better at road work than the UK.
When we lived in Alabama, they re-surfaced a 20-mile stretch of I-65 and I never saw a single worker. It was all done at night. Each day, there would be a couple more miles of fresh black-top.
Sorry for the hint of politics in there.
In contrast, on a visit to the UK a few years ago, we needed to visit the US embassy for visa stamps. It took us 6 hours to get back to Birmingham, largely due to about 30 miles of contraflow on the M1. Not just cones. Solid steel barriers that must have taken weeks to construct before they even started on the actual repair work.
When we lived in Alabama, they re-surfaced a 20-mile stretch of I-65 and I never saw a single worker. It was all done at night. Each day, there would be a couple more miles of fresh black-top.
Sorry for the hint of politics in there.
In contrast, on a visit to the UK a few years ago, we needed to visit the US embassy for visa stamps. It took us 6 hours to get back to Birmingham, largely due to about 30 miles of contraflow on the M1. Not just cones. Solid steel barriers that must have taken weeks to construct before they even started on the actual repair work.
Oooops
Feb 24th 2017, 12:30 pm
#77
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Well, I hope they had their shovels (to lean on).
Feb 24th 2017, 12:41 pm
#78
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Feb 24th 2017, 5:56 pm
#79
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
There's always a mess with roadworks around here.
Feb 24th 2017, 6:34 pm
#80
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
I like cheap gas, cheap food as well about the US, and greater variety of goods in stores oh and I like (at least in WA and California) that on freeways they use reflective paint that can be seen in the night and in the rain on the highways, and generally even have the reflective cat eyes making night driving so much nicer. (compared to BC in Canada)
Last edited by scrubbedexpat091; Feb 24th 2017 at 6:38 pm.
Feb 24th 2017, 6:36 pm
#81
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
The paint they use for road marking here lasts about 6 months. The paint used in the UK seemed to last much longer.
Feb 24th 2017, 7:51 pm
#82
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Not quite, but close. There are a set of rules governing the numbering of auxiliary highways such that any 3 digit highway is associated with a 'main' interstate using the system XNN (where X is a number denoting a spur or a bypassm with odd numbers denoting spurs and even denoting bypasses/loops, and NN is the number of the main interstate, single digit highways being prefixed by a '0').
So in your example above, I-405 is a bypass of LA (denoted by the even '4') and connects to and from I-5 (denoted by the '05'). However, highway 522, if it were an interstate, would be a spur of I-22 except that there is no I-522.
So in your example above, I-405 is a bypass of LA (denoted by the even '4') and connects to and from I-5 (denoted by the '05'). However, highway 522, if it were an interstate, would be a spur of I-22 except that there is no I-522.
Feb 24th 2017, 7:53 pm
#83
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Portland has terrible public transport compared to almost anywhere in Europe. I cannot compare it to other parts of the US. It also has pretty bad congestion, 12th worse in the US. I guess that does mean there are at least 11 other places which are worse.
Study: Portland ranks 12th in traffic congestion in U.S. - KPTV - FOX 12.
I must just have different experiences of the systems.
The desert , mountains , forests and the coast are quite amazing. They also invented tater tots in Oregon.
Study: Portland ranks 12th in traffic congestion in U.S. - KPTV - FOX 12.
I must just have different experiences of the systems.
The desert , mountains , forests and the coast are quite amazing. They also invented tater tots in Oregon.
Having said that, the study doesn't seem to have included any Indian cities - if it did, I'm guessing we'd be bumped down several places
Feb 24th 2017, 8:05 pm
#84
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Wondering how Vancouver made it so far down the list. Vancouver congestion is horrendous on a good day.
Other traffic studies have ranked Vancouver 2-4th place in North America, so hard to know which study/report is most accurate.
Other traffic studies have ranked Vancouver 2-4th place in North America, so hard to know which study/report is most accurate.
Feb 24th 2017, 8:08 pm
#85
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
That's also why there are no Interstates numbered 50 or 60, as they'd overlap with US routes 50 and 60.
Feb 24th 2017, 8:25 pm
#86
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
The exit conventions is definitely a mess though.
Mile marker exit numbers make more sense, but that definitely doesn't happen around here. Maine, was a mixture of the two and a real mess as they were changing them around for a while.
Feb 24th 2017, 8:35 pm
#87
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
Feb 24th 2017, 8:37 pm
#88
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
US highway 12, for example, is an east-west highway that runs from Detroit to Aberdeen, WA, but the portion in Illinois is almost exclusively north-south.
Feb 24th 2017, 11:58 pm
#89
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Feb 25th 2017, 3:00 am
#90
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Re: What I like about America. [A politics-free thread]
For directional purposes, I believe an interstate is considered to 'start' at the easternmost terminus.