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[XiaNaphryz]

Yes but then why doesn't LA have a fucking subway system, it would make the city(metro area) so so so much more livable and great. Fucking density.

I suspect it would be a lot more expensive to build a new subway system in SoCal given the need for earthquake standards, plus a lot of stuff on the ground that would have to be displaced during construction for stations and other infrastructure.

 

[WARCOCK]

I suspect it would be a lot more expensive to build a new subway system in SoCal given the need for earthquake standards, plus a lot of stuff on the ground that would have to be displaced during construction for stations and other infrastructure.

Probably, but tokyo did it and it's under the fucking ring of fire granted i'm assuming it's like much more dense and much smaller in terms of surface area to cover so the ROI would be more convincing. Still how bad ass it would be to take a subway to newport or downtown on the weekends instead of driving for over 2 hours(back and forth).

 

[Zoc]

I've never driven a car, and looking at those pix in the OP, I wish I never have to. How do you face a nightmare like that?

 

[Treechopper]

Sidenote: there are other GAF'ers going to UTA besides me? Last time I saw somebody browse GAF on campus was a group of nerds/gamers at the bowling/billiards in the UC a couple of years ago lol.

UNT. Let's start a fight.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Probably, but tokyo did it and it's under the fucking ring of fire granted i'm assuming it's like much more dense and much smaller in terms of surface area to cover so the ROI would be more convincing. Still how bad ass it would be to take a subway to newport or downtown on the weekends instead of driving for over 2 hours(back and forth).

Tokyo also started building subways back in the 1920s. They weren't exactly starting from scratch with an already huge developed area in the way already as they expanded/upgraded in the decades that followed.

 

[WARCOCK]

Tokyo also started building subways back in the 1920s. They weren't exactly starting from scratch with an already huge developed area in the way already as they expanded/upgraded in the decades that followed.

That's correct, still can you think of a better alternative to alleviate that horrible congestion. Sounds more reasonable than 24 lane highways all over LA metro.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

That's correct, still can you think of a better alternative to alleviate that horrible congestion.

Ship everyone inland to the desert to rot so those of us up north can have an easier time driving to San Diego. ;P

 

[demolitio]

Buddy, you have never lived in Cleveland. Or Ohio in general. The only time it stops is when the winter months become too bone chillingly cold to do any more road work.

Of all the states Iʻve had the pleasure of driving through Ohio has to be the worst. Our state nickname ought to be "The Orange Barrel State"

Very true. I used to live in Cleveland and now live in Cincinnati but I go back up to Cleveland like once a month to visit family and it's always exciting to see where the construction has gone since the last time I drove through it. Needless to say, it rarely progresses and they only add more work to it and it's even more depressing when you realize how bad our roads are in this state compared to the others nearby. Kentucky was so much smoother that I thought I was in a brand new luxury car for a second since I wasn't feeling 482 bumps a mile and hearing nonstop rattling.

Ohio sure does like its temporary construction jobs though. It seems like our unemployment should be near 0% with how many construction projects are constantly going on and how low quality standards they have when it comes to actually completing it properly. We actually had a road redone here that gave us another lane to get on I-75 and it took them a long time to finish it just to find out that a month or so after the work was complete and it was completely repaved, they tore it all up to do it again and now it's still going on. I wish I knew what they screwed up the first time but it's annoying.

I guess if there's on state that could afford these projects, it'd be Texas though so I can't wait to see what crazy shit they come up with...lol

 

[WARCOCK]

Ship everyone inland to the desert to rot so those of us up north can have an easier time driving to San Diego. ;P

Haha, convince the gov't to finish that damn bullet train so we can spend weekends cooling off in the bay while you guys abuse of our beaches.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Haha, convince the gov't to finish that damn bullet train so we can spend weekends cooling off in the bay while you guys abuse of our beaches.

Noone wants to touch SoCal's polluted beaches - we go to Hawaii for that. ;P

 

[eBay Huckster]

Interesting you mention this. I saw an article the other day about how highways turns Cleveland from a thriving city to a modern wasteland.

From this

snip

To this

snip

I assume theres no more traffic, as they appear to have cleared up the problem: Something worth driving to.

Man I'm not even sure how you confused downtown Cleveland with I-75 going into downtown Cincinnati given that they're literally 250 miles apart

That's like confusing LA with Fresno, it's just clown shoes

 

[youngwerther]

So ugly. Why don't Americans just stop driving cars?

 

[Quackula]

Not far from here, TxDOT is also doing a massive overhaul of Interstate 365 and 35E Freeway in the Addison/ Farmers Branch area, which you must past though on your way to "The Connector." Its just as bad...

635 (LBJ) and 35E (Stemmons Freeway)

More of my photos:

I've only ever been to Dallas a few times, but this thing has always blown my friggin' mind. It's like a work of art. I don't know if other cities have these crazy multi-tiered webs of highway, but we certainly don't have them out in Abilene.

 

[Incognito]

When I landed in DFW this past January we were driven back to our car by a shuttle service along this new expressway and the driver would not shut up about both the size of DFW's airport and the highway.

 

[pje122]

I've never driven a car, and looking at those pix in the OP, I wish I never have to. How do you face a nightmare like that?

LOL! Get a brain morans. You just follow the signs.

 

[paile]

lol 24 lanes.

In Australia were fucking well lucky to get even three.

 

[daycru]

LOL! Get a brain morans. You just follow the signs.

Anyone else kind of cringe when gun guy gets hostile? That thing is coming right through the monitor at us.

 

[PanicFreak]

So ugly. Why don't Americans just stop driving cars?

USA

Texas

Alaska

It would be nice if cities didn't want to build into all of that land but it's cheaper that way. As such, you have you drive.

 

[BertramCooper]

What is it with Texas and gigantic swooping interchanges?

 

[BertramCooper]

Very true. I used to live in Cleveland and now live in Cincinnati but I go back up to Cleveland like once a month to visit family and it's always exciting to see where the construction has gone since the last time I drove through it. Needless to say, it rarely progresses and they only add more work to it and it's even more depressing when you realize how bad our roads are in this state compared to the others nearby. Kentucky was so much smoother that I thought I was in a brand new luxury car for a second since I wasn't feeling 482 bumps a mile and hearing nonstop rattling.

Honestly, I think our highways are pretty damn great, all things considered. Yes, we have a lot of construction, but I don't see that as a bad thing.

Compared to Pennsylvania and Michigan, our highways are downright amazing. And if Kentucky's are better, it's probably because they don't have to deal with nearly as much cross-country traffic as we do.

 

[CyclopsRock]

I don't really see how your sat-nav not being up to date is a charge against infrastructural updates.

 

[NR1]

Interview with
Phil Wilson, TxDOT’s executive director, about the future plans for DFW

When will the madness end?!?!

 

[Smokey]

They need to do this for hwy 290 in houston asap

 

[andycapps]

Interstate in OP and the overpasses looks like Atlanta.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

High Five is crazy indeed (also along I-365 LBJ).

DART is the largest in the nation!?!? Who uses it?! Hell, Arlington just last month got its first public bus line.

Biggest American Town Without Public Transportation Finally Catches the Bus

Its funny, I went to college at UTA (UT Arlington) and I took an Urban History class there back around 2009. My professor had told us at the time that Arlington, TX was the largest urban city in the nation to not have a public transportation system. He would tell us about city council meetings where members would flat refuse the idea of allowing DART to enter the city for fear of attracting poor people... DID THESE PEOPLE EVEN LIVE IN ARLINGTON?!??! BECAUSE I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT THE POOR WERE ALREADY THERE!!

As a matter of fact, the entire urban history of the DFW area is very interesting.

I've lived in Arlington since January and everything I've heard about the city council is that it's a bunch of old white men living in the past who are against anything at all changing, even if those changes would be much better for business growth.

Also: Fuck Cowboy's Stadium.

Edit: And I love the "Using broken up old concrete as back-fill is innovative!" line in the article. Contractors have been doing that shit forever. You just break up the old stuff into gravel and use it as, wait for it, gravel! It's a fucking miracle!

 

[lastflowers]

Love Texas.

Best State.

 

[doodle]

Sidenote: there are other GAF'ers going to UTA besides me? Last time I saw somebody browse GAF on campus was a group of nerds/gamers at the bowling/billiards in the UC a couple of years ago lol.

I am sitting in the library right now!

 

[besada]

What is it with Texas and gigantic swooping interchanges?

Lots of space, lots of cars, and poor planning. Our interstates go up, rather than out because we allowed businesses to build roads abutting the highway. So, when we need to expand, we either have to go up, or we have to fight an ugly imminent domain war to close businesses, which is never popular.

That said, we recently just seized a shit-ton of land on either side of 183 for about thirty miles, so it could be widened out from a six-lane highway to a 10-lane highway.

 

[Baraka in the White House]

They need to do this for hwy 290 in houston asap

Houston is just hopeless. 290 is fucked, 610 is super fucked, hell even our little piece of 10 is bursting at the seams usually.

Lots of space, lots of cars, and poor planning. Our interstates go up, rather than out because we allowed businesses to build roads abutting the highway. So, when we need to expand, we either have to go up, or we have to fight an ugly imminent domain war to close businesses, which is never popular.

No zoning, no planning.

The Texas Way.

 

[BertramCooper]

Lots of space, lots of cars, and poor planning. Our interstates go up, rather than out because we allowed businesses to build roads abutting the highway. So, when we need to expand, we either have to go up, or we have to fight an ugly imminent domain war to close businesses, which is never popular.

That said, we recently just seized a shit-ton of land on either side of 183 for about thirty miles, so it could be widened out from a six-lane highway to a 10-lane highway.

Thanks for the explanation.

I assumed it was just that good old-fashioned Texas ostentation.

 

[besada]

Thanks for the explanation.

I assumed it was just that good old-fashioned Texas ostentation.

No, that's why we stamp giant lone stars on all our shit.

 

[LegendofJoe]

You're not a real, world class city until a person can reasonably get by without having to drive. It's one of the main reasons why I am dreading having to move to Atlanta next summer.

Taking a train into work is fucking awesome, don't knock it until you try it.

 

[BertramCooper]

No, that's why we stamp giant lone stars on all our shit.

Driving in Texas is almost like driving in a different country.

Frontage roads, ginormous interchanges, insanely high speed limits - honestly, I find it downright terrifying.

 

[pje122]

Houston is just hopeless. 290 is fucked, 610 is super fucked, hell even our little piece of 10 is bursting at the seams usually

Hopeless...? Yeah man, maybe we should strive to be more like Detroit!
Houston is in hyper-growth mode, what do you expect?

 

[besada]

Driving in Texas is almost like driving in a different country.

Frontage roads, ginormous interchanges, insanely high speed limits - honestly, I find it downright terrifying.

The roads can be a little nuts, especially when the lanes shift from day to day during construction. Also, it's a big damn state, and we're in a hurry to be out of the heat. Also, it's hard not to remember how many guns there are.

 

[perfectchaos007]

I'm pretty sure the Katy Texas Freeway in Houston has that many lanes as well.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_10_in_Texas

In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is known as the Katy Freeway. This section was widened in 2008 to as many as 26 total lanes

Houston: 1
Dallas: 0

 

[WascallyWabbit]

I'm pretty sure the Katy Texas Freeway in Houston has that many lanes as well.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_10_in_Texas



Houston: 1
Dallas: 0

Yeah, but you have to be in Houston, that should count as -2

 

[UltimaPooh]

Is this just a DFW area past time, or do other cities experience never ending road construction like this? I really is mind blowing how much time and money we spend on these roads in Texas. If we aren't celebrating Cowboys football, then we are outside building roads. So strange... so many orange traffic barrels...

I hear this the other day in reference to Kansas City.

"We have two seasons winter and road construction."

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

USA

Texas

Alaska

It would be nice if cities didn't want to build into all of that land but it's cheaper that way. As such, you have you drive.

Seriously. Europeans still don't understand until they visit.

 

[Axion22]

Because there's no room to add lanes, and buying up the land to do it would make the Big Dig look cheap.
Meanwhile, the 15 through San Diego County fluctuates between 16 and 20 lanes.

The 15 owns and I have basically abandoned the 5.

 

[Leunam]

Houston is just hopeless. 290 is fucked, 610 is super fucked, hell even our little piece of 10 is bursting at the seams usually.

Admittedly, I haven't tried very hard here, but I don't understand just what in the hell is happening at 290 and 610.

 

[Diablos]

Too much George Bush.

 

[diffusionx]

Adding more lanes does not ease traffic problems, people build around the highway and you end up back where you started. The only way to ease up on traffic is to get people off the road. But this is Texas.

Yes but then why doesn't LA have a fucking subway system, it would make the city(metro area) so so so much more livable and great. Fucking density.

Political reasons, it's really tough and expensive to build a subway system, along with the usual NIMBY stuff. Beverly Hills has been resisting Metro expansions for years.

 

[Giygas AF]

Buddy, you have never lived in Cleveland. Or Ohio in general. The only time it stops is when the winter months become too bone chillingly cold to do any more road work.

Of all the states Iʻve had the pleasure of driving through Ohio has to be the worst. Our state nickname ought to be "The Orange Barrel State"

Under construction since 1868.

 

[Gallbaro]

Houston is just hopeless. 290 is fucked, 610 is super fucked, hell even our little piece of 10 is bursting at the seams usually.



No zoning, no planning.

The Texas Way.

Actually most of Texas very much prohibits mixed development and enforces parking minimums and the ultimate form of urban destruction, the highway.

Big government is the reason Texas sucks. 6 floor cities are the natural state of human civilization living without government interference.

 

[Mononoke]

I personally think this is awesome. I had to fly to Texas recently for a connector flight (which was delayed). So I spent the day in Texas, and was amazed at how nice your roads were. Compared to California, it's just night and day. California highways are completely backed up, and the roads are falling apart. I'll admit I know nothing about Texas.

But at least to me, it seemed like everything in your state was nicer (well besides the weather).

 

[Gallbaro]

USA

Texas

Alaska

It would be nice if cities didn't want to build into all of that land but it's cheaper that way. As such, you have you drive.

The geographic size of the country had little to do with the density of metropolitan areas. The difference is that while in the 50s America funded the reconstruction of Europe's rail system, locally America decided to build high speed commuter roads for cars. Daily travel time is what people consider when choosing where to live, not the distance between LA and NYC.

 

[entremet]

Man, American urban planning is an absolute mess.

 

[Lazy vs Crazy]

Is this just a DFW area past time, or do other cities experience never ending road construction like this? I really is mind blowing how much time and money we spend on these roads in Texas. If we aren't celebrating Cowboys football, then we are outside building roads. So strange... so many orange traffic barrels...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig

The official planning phase started in 1982; the construction work was done between 1991 and 2006; and the project concluded on December 31, 2007,

The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S. and was plagued by escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests, and even one death. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion. However, the project was completed only in December 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion

Not everything is bigger in Texas, I guess.

 

[numble]

Metro rail is mostly above ground piece of shit with a really limited route. I mean it's better than nothing for sure, i have a few relatives that work downtown that use it but it's hardly comparable to nyc/tokyo/seoul/london/paris(hell even montreal and to ) etc... systems.

Montreal's rail system covers 40 miles and LA's rail system covers 88 miles. And LA has planned to build out 75 more miles.