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RE: best route, West to East?
If you are ok with US50 over the Sierras (that's your backyard?), any of the freeway crossings of the Rockies should be a piece of cake. Roughly speaking US80 has a climb into Wy, and then stays relatively flat across the state (but the winds are notorious). I70 stays a long the Colorado River for quite a ways in Colorado, and then climbs over the Rockies. So that's a delayed, but higher climb. And a steeper drop to Denver. But it is heavily used by Denver residents for ski and other mountain rec.
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paulj
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01/21/23 12:19pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Hwy 15 Indiana
I thought the twining of 31 was completed several years ago, but that may have just been the northern part, close to South Bend. The connection to Elkhart has been done for years. (My inlaws had a house that was demolished to make way for that expansion)
Looking more closely on Google Maps, I see that the new, full freeway quality part is north of Kokomo (or US24).
Further search with Indiana DOT, shows that there is a construction project for several miles on 31 near Indianapolis. And some preliminary work on an intersection on 15 near Goshen.
An interesting novelty on the I DOT travel map - their snow plows have webcams.
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paulj
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01/10/23 10:21am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Hwy 15 Indiana
US31 and 20 is a bit longer, but limited access all the way, so no slowing down through towns.
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paulj
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01/09/23 09:44am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Beat Canadian road atlas
Backroad mapbooks gives the most detail, possibly more than you want
https://www.backroadmapbooks.com/travel-category/brmb-products/books/
For example British Columbia is covered in 6 volumes, Ontario in 4. The detail is comparable to the Delourme and Benchmark atlas for the US states.
Years ago I first found these in BC groceries and ferry giftshops.
You might also browse a larger bookstore like B&N.
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paulj
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01/08/23 02:43pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Kalamazoo, MI to Gulf Shores, AL
I think the main new thing in the last 25 years is that US31 in Indiana is divided limited access.
I69 Indianapolis to Evansville is also newish, but with, I think, still some gaps - that's a work in progress.
Take GMaps suggestions as just that - suggestions. For the most part they aren't based on "what's best for your rv", but rather a mix of distance (an objective measure) and speed (at best an estimate), yielding a "time".
Use Sat view and Steetview to get more details as to the road condition (and views), but for construction areas note the dates of the images. I uses these a lot, but more for western mountain driving.
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paulj
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12/31/22 02:50pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Best route from Salem, Oregon to West Valley City, Utah?
For the first part of the trip, locals, your friends and neighbors probably can give better advice than us - they can see your rig, and have driven the route(s) many times. Local news will also tell you a lot about pass conditions. There's also the State `Tripcheck` website.
Going east on 22/Santiam Pass is mostly uphill, peaking at 4600 ft, and only dropping to 3200/3500 for Sisters and Bend. After that 20 is relatively flat, but remote to Idaho. I84 in Idaho is fairly flat and straight, with a broad pass crossing into Utah.
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paulj
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12/26/22 06:15pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Need help with route north
The only way to really avoid mountains is to do as boaters do, and take the Great Loop. Up the coast to NYC, then the Hudson and Eire Canal to the Great Lakes. Or along the Gulf Coast to Alabama, and up the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
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paulj
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11/28/22 10:04am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Pahrump to Winnemucca
While taking US95 as far as Tonopah, there appear to be multiple choices from there. Continuing on US95 to I80 may be a bit longer, but stays closer to civilization. It may also have better gas choices.
I have passed through Tonopah, but in a East-west direction, from Caliente to Big Pine. Tonopah was a welcome gas stop since there wasn't much of an alternative in the 200 miles from Caliente.
The most direct route through Austin doesn't look too bad - gas wise. The Champs gas station appears to be an important stop for US50 travelers. It closes at 9 (according to GM), and even has a EV charging station.
I just watched a vlog of a world traveler passing through Austin on US50. Looks like more of a historic mountain town than I first realized. With some history, gem shops, and such.
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paulj
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11/26/22 09:40am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Slippery Doo Dah
I didn't encounter any ice. :)
edit
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Ice warnings aren't much value without some indication of locality.
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paulj
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11/20/22 02:29pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Tire chains in Califdrnia
The Washington State requirements might be easier follow at this WSDOT link
https://wsdot.com/travel/real-time/mountainpasses/tiresandchains
It mentions "snow socks" and has links to approved ones.
If you need to use a traction aid, it will need to fit, and be durable enough to handle 20 miles of slow speed driving over a mountain pass.
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paulj
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11/17/22 10:03am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Traveling to California
Why do you want to avoid high mountains? What is high for you? Some people have problems with altitude. Others are concerned about grades - up or down. Or maybe it's the potential for snow.
On I40 there's a grade where it drops from the high plains level to the Rio Grande at Alb. It then climbs gradually to Grants and the Continental Divide. Flagstaff is another high area, known more for snow than grades. Then a drop to the Colorago River west of Kingman.
CA 58, Tahachapi Pass takes you from the California desert into the Central Valley. I15 Cajon Pass is the major route from I40 to the LA basic. I5 Grapevine the main route north out of the basin. I10 from Palm Springs is a lower pass. All of these are busy freeways. Grapevine may be most notorious for grades (mainly downhill north bound) and occasional weather problems.
Then there's the question of when you want to cross over to 101, whether you take it all the way from LA, use something like 46 to cross from the Central Valley, or wait to I580.
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paulj
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11/06/22 09:31am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Route Planning Question
The big advantage of paper maps is that they give the-big-picture, better so than phone or standalone gps units. State level maps are also good at highlighting major routes, with limited information on minor roads or "scenic" ones.
Years ago for bike ride from Mpls to Chicago, I had to order county level maps from Wisconsin to get info on minor low traffic roads.
And later for an Alaska trip, I made heavy use of detailed guide books. And in the lower 48 I also used AAA books and maps.
Still I have been surprised by paper maps. One straight route in southern Oregon turned out to be heavily washboarded gravel. And in the mid 2000s there was a big news story about a couple lost in the Oregon coast mountains after Thanksgiving. There was a lot of speculation about them using Mapquest, but it turned out they'd used a paper map, where the route was marked aa paved but scenic (BLM and FS).
Sometimes the only clue on paper maps that a route is mountainous is the color of National Forests.
We have a lot more information available to us now than a couple of decades ago.
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paulj
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11/02/22 10:07am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Route Planning Question
While the `shortest` can easily end up being a minor slow road, I would expect the 'fastest' to be biased toward the freeways. But that may vary with the region and length of route.
Usually 'fastest' is based on distance and some sort of estimate of the speed. That speed estimate might a crude one based on road type/name, but might also take into account road surface, grades and curviness. At least with Google Maps in the western states, the differences in speeds between routes seem to be realistic. I can imagine cases in the eastern mountains were short windy route through some pass would end up being both shortest and fastest - at least for a car.
With Google Maps with full internet access it is easy to examine the suggested route for details - terrain mode shows the hills, a zoom in shows the curves, and Streetview shows even more detail. It is also change the route and see how that changes distance and time estimates.
Getting this kind of detail is harder on a phone, or when route finding without internet connection. That's where a degree of preplanning comes in.
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paulj
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11/02/22 12:13am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Interstate 59
On interstates there are several kinds of roughness.
One would be potholes, which I suspect are most common in northern states, where ice, salt, freezing etc breaks up the pavement.
Another is wear grooves caused mainly by heavy truck traffic. Some try to fix that by grinding it flat, and adding a new layer of asphalt.
The worse is tilted slabs. Again heavy trucks are a major factor. If the ride is bouncy this is likely the cause. Fixing takes more work, such as actually realigning the slabs and adding dowels of some sort to keep them aligned. I believe this was worst when the interstates were a few decades old, and most states have already addressed this.
Bridge expansion joints also need to be replaced - this may be the most common work you'll see.
Roads, and all infrastructure, are built with a design life. I've seen references to roads with built with a 25 design life, and are still be used (with patching) after 50 years. Total rebuilds are expensive, and very disruptive to traffic.
Got to a state's DOT website to see what construction projects are in the works, or have been recently completed. Alabama DOT shows quite a few, but I can't say how that compares to other states. Streetview images of I59 don't suggest anything unusual. It looks relatively flat and wide, without unusual traffic. There aren't any obvious potholes, wear grooves, or tilted slabs. Though it is possible that the asphalt overlay hides problem slabs.
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paulj
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10/17/22 01:57pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Route 89A in utah
You need to be clearer about which section you have in mind. Most of the comments apply to the steep and curvy part between Sedona and Flagstaff. I suspect though that you are thinking about the northern alternative to US89 through Page. The one that gives access to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. That gets higher than US89, with more grades and curves, but it doesn't have formal restrictions.
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paulj
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10/15/22 09:45am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Winter Travel Phoenix, Az to Montrose, Co
For other threads I looked at 141 on GMaps. There's a grade called Slick Rock Hill that climbs out of a river crossing. There's another grade out a canyon east of Norwood. This route might not be as high, but it looks more remote. Going NW to I70, and then south through Moab might be safer choice - both in terms of altitude and remoteness.
With snow bunny traffic to Telluride, the Lizzardhead pass might be well plowed.
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paulj
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10/13/22 04:53pm |
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RE: Western slopes of Colorado
On Google Maps set the `terrain` mode to see where there are mountains. Zoom in to see details, all the way to Streetview.
139 crosses Douglas Pass, 8400 ft. From the map the tightest turns are on the south side.
In a recent thread I found that the main grade on 141 is the climb out of the river at Slick Rock Hill.
According to the Bike routing option this route has total climb and drop of 12000 ft. The alternative through Moab is up/down 10000. A third option is Lizzard Head Pass south of Telluride. This has more climb (15000), but is often recommended as the alternative to 550 between Oray and Durango.
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paulj
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09/28/22 09:56am |
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