Saturday, April 21, 2007

future interstates

are there any places in the united states that need an interstate? any places that should have an interstate? any places where it doesn't make any sense that there isn't an interstate? is there any place that could use any type of limited access highway, interstate or not?

one place i know could really use an interstate is california. route 99 should be an interstate. if i'm correct, fresno is the largest city without an interstate. bakersfield would also be inluded in this plan. fresno is a pretty big city, but many people think it's just a small town because there isn't any freeway with national merit that goes through the city.

another place that could benefit is lancaster, pennsylvania. i believe that they were originally going to get an interstate, because there is a state route numbered as 283 that starts at the end of i-283 in harrisburg. sr 283 was probably going to be a continuation of i-283, but must not have met interstate standards (and it wasn't the best freeway that could be built, although major construction in the last few years is making it much better).

delaware could use an interstate, or at least a freeway, to the beaches in sussex county. we currently have state route 1, which goes down to ocean city, maryland, but it is only an expressway until just south of dover. then it becomes a major divided highway. while there aren't many traffic lights or businesses along the highway until you get near the ocean (mostly farmland from dover to the beach communities), any type of cross-traffic can be extremely dangerous, or inconvenient at the least. traffic to the beaches from northern delaware and southeast pennsylvania is very heavy on friday afternoons and sunday nights, and stopping for the occasional traffic light can really screw things up. it is really bad for people who live down there, though, who might have to cross over the highway during the extreme traffic in order to get somewhere on the other side of the highway. you can literally wait for an hour to cross the highway, because traffic is almost at a standstill and the traffic jam can back up for 10 or 15 miles.

the situation on route 1 is apparently the situation west of dover on route 50 and other routes. i have never needed to use those roads to get to the beach, so i wouldn't really know about it as much, but i know many people in washington dc and baltimore that complain about the traffic when driving to the delaware beaches. there has been talk of extending i-595 (the hidden interstate that goes from washington, through bowie, to annapolis) over the bay, and crossing into delaware and connecting with route 1 in dover, or possibly going towards salisbury, maryland.>

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