Steepest Road
BCBA
i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
steepest road that's open to traffic?
interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
--bruce cridlebaugh
Brandon M. Gorte
: any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
: i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
: steepest road that's open to traffic?
: interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
Some of the city streets here on Houghton are good 20 degree slopes. It's
most fun in the winter to watch a big rear wheel drive car/truck try to
climb them. :-)
Brandon Gorte
Undergrad in Geological Engineering
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
<http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~bmgorte/freeway.html>
Kyle Levenhagen
>
> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
It probably isn't all that steep, but it sure seemed that way when I was
on it. My vote goes for US 16 between Rapid City, SD and Mt. Rushmore.
I was on a tour bus that could only go about 15 mph, if that.
Kyle
APri...@my-dejanews.com
sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com wrote:
> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>
A western PA nomination would me US40 East of Uniontown going up and or down
Mount Summit
> --bruce cridlebaugh
>
Adam Prince
"Merge Here...Take your turn"
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Patrick L. Humphrey
>BCBA wrote:
>> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
>> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>It probably isn't all that steep, but it sure seemed that way when I was
>on it. My vote goes for US 16 between Rapid City, SD and Mt. Rushmore.
>I was on a tour bus that could only go about 15 mph, if that.
I was up that way on Labor Day last summer, and I don't remember any
particularly steep stretches south of Rapid City on 16. My vote for stretch
of road most resembling a cliff would be the entrance to Chandler Park west of
downtown Tulsa -- that sucker has to be at least a 20% grade....
--PLH, who doesn't see a whole lot of hills in Houston, for some reason
BGRaptor
for the mile plus stretch it covers.
I just drove it today too. Fun.
BG
BCBA
>
> bcba wrote:
> > any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
> >
> > i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> > steepest road that's open to traffic?
> >
> > interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
> >
>
> Mount Summit
>
>
>
US40 is a bit better now that they've finished the bypass/relocation at
the bottom.
for sharp curves and steep grades in a dual-role, i suggest US30 west of
Chestnut Ridge
for just plain steep...like you're afraid the car might tip
end-over-end, there are some residential streets around here that are
unnerving.
Rialto St, opposite 31st St Bridge intersection with PA28, is almost as
steep as \ (well maybe not that bad).
Rialto St. --- hope the links work:
"http://mapserver.esri.com/cgi-bin/sure.adol?c=-79.981364,40.465086&p=1&m=0&cd=o&g=-79.98136400,40.46508600&a=1500+%2d+1599+++RIALTO++ST%2c+PITTSBURGH%2c+PA%2c+15212&r=y"
i've got my eye on a couple others that i'm going to go out and measure.
i'm not going to include the road surfaces on the inside corners of some
hairpin switchbacks we have locally. there are sections which are
basically vertical...although the average slope across the whole width
of the road is mighty high. Thompson Run Rd near Halls Station in
Monroeville snakes down a couple hundred feet in maybe a tenth of a
mile.
Thompson Run Rd.:
"http://mapserver.esri.com/cgi-bin/sure.adol?c=-79.802027,40.434373&p=1&m=0&cd=o&g=-79.75000000,40.43833300&a=Monroeville%2c+Pennsylvania&r=y"
--bruce cridlebaugh
near Pittsburgh, where streets have sidewalks that are steps
John Lansford
>any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
>i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
>steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
>interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
I've heard it said that there are roads in downtown Richmond that are
over 20%. Having seen some of them, I can believe that.
The steepest grade I've heard of on an interstate was 8%, which is 2%
over the allowable limit.
I've seen 35% grades on service roads.
John Lansford, PE
The unofficial I-26 Construction Webpage:
http://users.vnet.net/lansford/a10/
Oscar Voss
>
> Ohio Rt 303 in Hinkley is (I heard) the steepest state route, at 17 degrees,
> for the mile plus stretch it covers.
There's a stretch of provincial highway BC 4, east of Long Beach, with a
posted grade of 18%. I don't recall how long that stretch was.
--
Oscar Voss, Arlington, Virginia, ov...@erols.com
--
My photo tour of Alaska's Dalton Highway:
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Recent photos from Nevada's Extraterrestrial Highway:
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Mark Sinsabaugh
Buffalo St. in Ithaca, NY...Several side streets along the hill with a
traffic light at the bottom of the hill and a T intersection at the top
(Collegetown-Cornell Univ. Campus)
Pierce Hill Rd. near Rushville, NY...Stop sign (intersection with NY
245) at bottom of the hill.
NY 17...Between Exits 112-114. 5 Miles downhill EB. Exit 112 is at the
top, Exit 113 (US 209) about halfway down, and Exit 114 is at the
bottom.
I-80...Another 5 mile long hill EB between I-380 and Delaware Water Gap
(PA-NJ Line)
NY 13 near Ithaca...2 mile long hill with recently rebuilt intersection
with NY 34-NY 96 at the bottom. One of two intersections I know of with
overhead hill signs.
Jerusalem Hill Road in Elmira, NY...Merges onto WB NY 17 at the bottom
of the hill.
=======================================================================
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Dyche Anderson
>
> That would be MacInnes (formerly Uphill (an apt name)). I would guess
> that the road is a good 20 degree slope, about a 22% slope (that's 20/90,
> correct). Garnet's even steeper. And don't get me started on Agate.
> There are stop signs on the way down the hill (3-way) to slow cars so that
> they don't go airborne. Not just a few inches, I'm talkin' feet!
>
>
Actually, MacInnes Drive was Upland Rd below Upland/7th Ave, and Forest
Hill above that point. Even so, both street names signfied hill.
Dyche Anderson
Michael G. Koerner
>
> Some of my nominations would include....
>
> Buffalo St. in Ithaca, NY...Several side streets along the hill with a
> traffic light at the bottom of the hill and a T intersection at the top
> (Collegetown-Cornell Univ. Campus)
>
> Pierce Hill Rd. near Rushville, NY...Stop sign (intersection with NY
> 245) at bottom of the hill.
>
> NY 17...Between Exits 112-114. 5 Miles downhill EB. Exit 112 is at the
> top, Exit 113 (US 209) about halfway down, and Exit 114 is at the
> bottom.
>
> I-80...Another 5 mile long hill EB between I-380 and Delaware Water Gap
> (PA-NJ Line)
>
> NY 13 near Ithaca...2 mile long hill with recently rebuilt intersection
> with NY 34-NY 96 at the bottom. One of two intersections I know of with
> overhead hill signs.
>
> Jerusalem Hill Road in Elmira, NY...Merges onto WB NY 17 at the bottom
> of the hill.
A few weeks ago, I had a photo of a NYS overhead 'Hill' sign on my HFotW
site. It is on WB NY 90 approaching Locke, NY (IIRC, 12% grade)
--
____________________________________________________________________________
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Michael G. Koerner
Appleton, WI
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____________________________________________________________________________
TexHwyMan
>
> San Francisco has a number of streets that deserve mention here.
>
> There's a block of Lombard Street that is advertised as #1, and it
> probably was before they converted it from a four-lane-wide, straight
> slope to a single lane that switchbacks back and forth across that
> same slope.
I was going to mention Lombard, but since you did, I'll throw out my
local nomination:
SH 16 between Kerrville and Bandera, Texas. I just drove it this past
weekend. About 5 miles of it has really steep grades (I'd say about
15%-20%; I had to leave it in 2nd!) and several hairpin curves on a very
narrow, two-lane road. Really cool! :-)
I-10 both sides of Kerrville has 7% grades.
--Brian Purcell
The Texas Highwayman
San Antonio, USA
E-mail:
mailto:hiwa...@express-news.net
Web site:
http://www.enconnect.net/greengrl
Includes:
-San Antonio Freeways/Texas Highways
-Getting Around Germany
David J. Greenberger
> Buffalo St. in Ithaca, NY...Several side streets along the hill with a
> traffic light at the bottom of the hill and a T intersection at the top
> (Collegetown-Cornell Univ. Campus)
Buffalo Street is particularly steep between Stewart Avenue (the
blinking yellow light) and Eddy Street (the top). The T intersection,
incidentally, has a yield sign. About as steep as the top of Buffalo
is Williams Street, one block away.
Lake Street ascending Gun Hill is probably steeper than either of the
above, and features a sharp S-curve.
> NY 13 near Ithaca...2 mile long hill with recently rebuilt intersection
> with NY 34-NY 96 at the bottom. One of two intersections I know of with
> overhead hill signs.
I don't think that's as steep as the NY 96B hill approaching Ithaca.
The hill gets steeper and steeper until it bottoms out immediately in
downtown Ithaca. There's no overhead sign because through trucks are
prohibited, and non-through trucks are required to turn onto a side
street at the top of the hill to view a detailed sign about the
upcoming hill before continuing.
There are a few roads south of Ithaca connecting South Hill (NY 96B)
with NY 13/34/96 or NY 34/96 below and they tend to be quite steep. A
very impressive drop can be found on the bottom of Blakslee Hill Road
near NY 34/96 just south of its junction with NY 13.
> Jerusalem Hill Road in Elmira, NY...Merges onto WB NY 17 at the bottom
> of the hill.
I've gotta check this out one of these days.
--
David J. Greenberger
Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
<URL:http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/grenbrgr/>
Brandon M. Gorte
: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
: <HTML>
: Brandon M. Gorte wrote:
: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> wrote:
: <BR>: any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of
: road?
: <P>: i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's
: the
: <BR>: steepest road that's open to traffic?
: <P>: interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
: <P>Some of the city streets here on Houghton are good 20 degree slopes.
: It's
: <BR>most fun in the winter to watch a big rear wheel drive car/truck try
: to
: <BR>climb them. :-)</BLOCKQUOTE>
: Because of that, the uphill/downhill streets generally have the right of
: way. I believe that there are some streets in Hancock (across the
: lake from Houghton) that are even worse.
Yep, been there, done that.
Brandon, since you are still
: there, check out some of the streets that run downhill from White Street
: (that one is steep enough). They are brutal.
: <P>In Houghton, there is a street called Garnet Street, which ends (downhill
: side) at a road known as Houghton Ave. There, opposite the
: end of the street, is a garage, constructed of concrete block. Once, circa
: 1980, a vehicle lost control on Garnet and ran into that garage.
: There was major damage to the garage. There is also a tennis court
: halfway up the hill. If you hit a ball over the fence, don't bother
: chasing it.
I know, I cross Garnet to get to Jim's Foodmart (I work there).
I've also made the mistake of trying to walk down Garnet (from Sharon Ave)
on my first day here. Wound up doing the "moonwalk" just to get down the
hill. :-)
: <P>To give some people not familiar with Houghton some perspective, back
: in the winter of 1978-79 I was walking up a street going up the hill to
: an ice arena. The weather was bad. I passed two or three cars
: as I was walking up the sidewalk. They were also trying to go uphill.
: That was the year Houghton got 356" of snow. I'm not sure of the
: slope of that hill, but there is 1/4 mile of roadway, and you can look
: down on an 11 story building from the top.
That would be MacInnes (formerly Uphill (an apt name)). I would guess
that the road is a good 20 degree slope, about a 22% slope (that's 20/90,
correct). Garnet's even steeper. And don't get me started on Agate.
There are stop signs on the way down the hill (3-way) to slow cars so that
they don't go airborne. Not just a few inches, I'm talkin' feet!
A profile of Agate Street:
Sharon Ave.
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College Ave.
US-41
As you can see, at every cross street, the road flattens. It even slopes
the other way crossing several of them. Thus, you really want to slow
your car down decending, or you _WILL_ wind up in Portage Lake.
John David Galt
There's a block of Lombard Street that is advertised as #1, and it
probably was before they converted it from a four-lane-wide, straight
slope to a single lane that switchbacks back and forth across that
same slope.
Hyde Street is well known for this because it has a cable-car line.
It's also mentioned in one of Bill Cosby's funnier recordings.
But my pick for #1 would be the last quarter mile of 24th St., from
about Noe St. up to where it dead-ends at the retaining wall under
Portola Dr. This stretch must be at least 30 degrees from horizontal,
maybe 45 in some places, and it scares the daylights out of me!
John David Galt
Mike McManus
>
> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
>
>
There are a couple of good candidates in western Hamilton County, OH
(from memory, as I haven't actually been there in a while):
* Covedale Ave. between Foley and Rapid Run Roads. This road is
heavily traveled despite its steepness, and is often closed at the
first sign of snow or ice.
* Ebenezer Road either side of Muddy Creek Road, just south of Oak
Hills High School. There is one section that appears to be close to
75 or 80% grade on the inside of a switchback (for a matter of feet:
i.e. 10 foot rise over 5 foot run). Most cars simply cannot
negotiate this uphill lane, so you have to cross into the oncoming
lane, honk, and pray -- while you cannot see oncoming (downhill)
traffic, at least they can see you. Needless to say, it was a rite
of passage for driver's ed. students there such as myself.
The scary thing is that I'm quite sure these are not the steepest
roads in the county; they're just the ones I can remember.
Thankfully, they're short.
--
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ Mike McManus _/ home: mmcm...@frontiernet.net _/
_/ Rochester, NY _/ work: mcm...@kodak.com _/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
GeneJYao
state highways in America. The road snakes up the side of the Blue Ridge, meets
the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then winds its way steeply down the western side of
the Blue Ridge. It is really scary, both for the curves and for the steep
grade.
nwp...@student.berklee.edu
Brandon M. Gorte wrote:
> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> wrote:
> <BR>: any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of
> road?
> <P>: i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's
> the
> <BR>: steepest road that's open to traffic?
> <P>: interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
The steepest public road I can think of in the Rochester area is Orchard Park
Blvd. running down the ravine to Irondequoite Bay towards Bay Shore Road.
There are also private roads, particularly to Genesee-side industries such as
RG&E's Beebee Station, that I suspect to be steeper.
________________________________________________________________________
N.W.Perry __/ { Rochester, N.Y. 甍__ | "Hey, wait a minute, we're in
ROCHESTER!!!" Boston, Mass. \|_= -Denis Leary
nwp...@student.berklee.edu
sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com wrote:
> i'm not going to include the road surfaces on the inside corners of some
> hairpin switchbacks we have locally. there are sections which are
> basically vertical...although the average slope across the whole width
> of the road is mighty high. Thompson Run Rd near Halls Station in
> Monroeville snakes down a couple hundred feet in maybe a tenth of a
> mile.
The steepest highway in MA is probably MA 2, the Mohawk Trail, coming down
(and, to a lesser extent, going up) the Hoosac Range into North Adams. It's
among the most glorious drives in the northeast, and the view from the mighty
Hairpin Turn is indeed spectacular. This highway is certainly steeper than
any section of the Mt. Greylock access road.
The Guinness Book (and Bill Cosby) always used to say that Lombard Street in
SF is the steepest there is.
Michael Moroney
since I've been that way, but it had an overhead RED hill sign. Also
approaching the hill (from the east) at NY 246 there's a sign directing
all trucks to a bypass around the hill, then a little further there's a
New Jersey jughandle in the middle of nowhere, with an ALL TRUCKS --> sign
at the gore point. Where the jughandle reattaches to the main road (there's
no cross road) there's a NO RIGHT TURN (or LEFT TURN ONLY) sign, forcing
trucks that took the jughandle to go back the way they came. Almost as
if they had to "trick" truckers not to go that way. I don't know the
grade of the hill.
-Mike
EnemyWithn
Arkansas.
One is going east on AR 16 at the intersection of AR 16 and US 71B. I
remember my foot mashing the hell out of the brake and I was driving an
automatic!!!
I would guess at that red light I was sitting on at least a 40% grade.
jim
FranCurcio
In article <36AC64...@prisma-graphicdesign.com>, BCBA
<sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> writes:
>any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
I nominate CR 515 in Sussex County, NJ - a 1 mile section is posted at 17% -
it is also very twisty.
The road runs from NJ 23 to NJ 94. The 17% section drops into Hidden Valley
resort region. At the bottom of the slope is a very, very sharp right turn on
to a local street named - Break Neck Road!
Regards,
Frank
ze...@magicnet.net
> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>
> --bruce cridlebaugh
Pittsburgh has some mighty steep streets. Many were cobblestone..at least
back in the 70s and early 80s they were. A street is not steep untill you
have to go up it or down it in 1st gear. Then we are talking steep!
--
If only we knew that money is only an idea. There is no scarcity or loss connected to it. Nothing cost anything.
Rich Carlson
Humphrey) wrote:
> Kyle Levenhagen <leve...@NOSPAM.uiuc.edu> writes:
>
> >BCBA wrote:
>
> >> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
> >> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> >> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
> >> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>
> >It probably isn't all that steep, but it sure seemed that way when I was
> >on it. My vote goes for US 16 between Rapid City, SD and Mt. Rushmore.
> >I was on a tour bus that could only go about 15 mph, if that.
>
> I was up that way on Labor Day last summer, and I don't remember any
> particularly steep stretches south of Rapid City on 16. My vote for stretch
> of road most resembling a cliff would be the entrance to Chandler Park west of
> downtown Tulsa -- that sucker has to be at least a 20% grade....
>
> --PLH, who doesn't see a whole lot of hills in Houston, for some reason
There is a 8% or 10% grade coming into Rapid City (Just before the Truck
Bypass splits off) on NB US-16 (and going out on the SB side). That is a
bit scary coming into town off the hill. I don't recall if there were and
steeper long grades in the hills south of town but there were a lot of
short steeps in the area.
--
*****************************************************************
* Rich Carlson, N9JIG (n9...@theramp.net) *
* Illinois Highways Page http://www.theramp.net/n9jig/home.html *
****************************g3mtnw*******************************
Rich Carlson
going up the bluffs or escarpments. I would not be suprised if they were
in the 20% range.
Michael Torla
> The steepest highway in MA is probably MA 2, the Mohawk Trail, coming down
> (and, to a lesser extent, going up) the Hoosac Range into North Adams. It's
> among the most glorious drives in the northeast, and the view from the mighty
> Hairpin Turn is indeed spectacular. This highway is certainly steeper than
> any section of the Mt. Greylock access road.
>
> The Guinness Book (and Bill Cosby) always used to say that Lombard Street in
> SF is the steepest there is.
I'm convinced that the steepest road I've ever seen (and I've seen Lombard and
all of MA 2) is in Amherst on the campus of the University of Mass; It runs up
the hill through the Central Residential Area, and my recollection (which must
be wrong) tells me it's a 45 degree incline. I only wish I could pull up a
TopoMap of the area to count the contour lines. For some reason, the web site
with TopoMaps online (HTI) won't work either on my Unix workstation or on my
Mac, or on the WinNT machine down the hall.
I entered "Clark Hill Road, Amherst, MA, 01003" and it gave me Lat=42.387369,
Long -72.529426...but that's not quite right...the centroid dot came up about
1/2 mile(?) to the west.
I'll try and remember to track down my paper copy and count contour lines
mt
Chip Olson
> That would be MacInnes (formerly Uphill (an apt name)). I would guess
> that the road is a good 20 degree slope, about a 22% slope (that's 20/90,
> correct).
Um, nope. Percent is "rise over run", so a 20 degree slope would be 36%
(tangent of 20).
--
-Chip Olson. | ceo at shore dot net
Remove all instances of ".foo" from my address in order to reply.
Chip Olson
<mich...@no-aztec-spam.asu.edu> wrote:
> I'm convinced that the steepest road I've ever seen (and I've seen Lombard and
> all of MA 2) is in Amherst on the campus of the University of Mass; It runs up
> the hill through the Central Residential Area, and my recollection (which must
> be wrong) tells me it's a 45 degree incline.
I remember that road! I tried to ride my bicycle up it once; ain't no way
that was gonna happen. Ain't no way it's 45 degrees, though; you can't
*walk* up a 45-degree slope. much less drive a PVTA bus up one. 45 degrees
is way steeper than most staircases.
Garrett Wollman
BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> wrote:
>i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
>steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
>interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
Mount Washington Carriage Road. First gear all the way up (to 6200
feet AMSL), and all the way back down.... It's about five miles long
IIRC.
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | O Siem / We are all family / O Siem / We're all the same
wol...@lcs.mit.edu | O Siem / The fires of freedom
Opinions not those of| Dance in the burning flame
MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - Susan Aglukark and Chad Irschick
BCBA
>
<snip>
> A profile of Agate Street:
>
<snip>
you get the award for the steepest ASCII street :-)
...reminds me of one in Connellsville, PA (don't know the name) and i
think it's cobblestone
--bruce
BCBA
on the east side of its intersection with Banksville Rd (Pgh, PA),
Potomac Ave is plenty steep. the first 20 or so feet rise at a 30 degree
angle.
help me with the math...is that 58% grade? (or is that just the grade i
got in math)
the sidewalk is a stairway with metal tube railing. farther up the hill
it "levels off" to about a 20-25% angle...
--bruce cridlebaugh
BCBA
>
>farther up the hill it "levels off" to about a 20-25% angle...
>
er...um..the road continues at a 20-25 DEGREE angle...
--bruce
[doh! i told you 58% was my math grade]
Jody L. Aho
>
> BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> wrote:
> : any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
> : steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
> : interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>
> most fun in the winter to watch a big rear wheel drive car/truck try to
Another candidate in Brandon's neck of the woods is the road on the
east side of Brockway Mountain. Leaving Copper Harbor, MI west on M-26,
the road branches off to the left of M-26 (M-26 continues along a
comparatively level path close to Lake Superior), and combines not only
a steep grade but several sharp turns on the way up to the scenic
overlook on top. The road on the west side of Brockway Mountain is
nowhere as steep.
Here in Duluth, we also have several candidates to rival those in the
Houghton-Hancock area. I believe I read once that Duluth's steepest
street is a segment of 4th Avenue West which has a 23% grade. Several
others, including parts of 4th Avenue East, 2nd Avenue West, and some of
the other avenues in the Central Hillside neighborhood above downtown
Duluth are around 20% grade.
For longer-distance grades, I-35 in Duluth between Exit 249 (Boundary
Avenue) and Exit 251B is a 6% grade over approximately two and a half
miles; a roughly one-mile segment of US-53 in Duluth between the "Five
Corners" intersection and 21st Avenue West is a 9% grade; and a 1.5-mile
segment of US-2 just west of the Iron County line in Ashland County,
Wisconsin known as Birch Hill has something on the order of a 6% grade.
Jody Aho
ja...@cp.duluth.mn.us
http://www.cp.duluth.mn.us/~jaho
Mike Ballard
Fargo St. It has a 32% grade and was built back in 1926.
In article <36AC64...@prisma-graphicdesign.com>,
sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com says...
>
>any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
>i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
>steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
>interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>
>--bruce cridlebaugh
--
Mike Ballard
mapm...@smartlink.net
Geologist, Cyclist, Highway Historian, Railroad Fan, Road Map Collector.
Santa Clarita, California, United States of America
Virtual Tours of US 6, US 99, and the Ridge Route are at :
http://www.smartlink.net/~mapmaker/highway.htm
Visit the Santa Clarita Resources Page at :
http://www.smartlink.net/~mapmaker
History, Geology, Highway, and Local Bicycling Information
Mark Brader
>
> There's a block of Lombard Street that is advertised as #1, and it
> probably was before they converted it from a four-lane-wide, straight
> slope to a single lane that switchbacks back and forth across that
> same slope.
Since the conversion it's often been described as the *crookedest*
street in the world, having 10 curves (8 hairpins plus a "half" hairpin
at each end) in the single city block. I'm not aware of any challenger
to this.
> But my pick for #1 would be the last quarter mile of 24th St., from
> about Noe St. up to where it dead-ends at the retaining wall under
> Portola Dr. ...
The Guinness Book of World Records formerly claimed that the record was
held by two streets in San Francisco: Filbert Street (Russian Hill) and
22nd Street (Dolores Heights). They gave the gradient as 31.5% or 1 in
3.17; that would be 17.5 degrees. More recently these have been listed
only as a US record, and still more recently, dropped altogether.
The actual world record according to the 1998 Guinness Book is Baldwin
Street, Dunedin, New Zealand, at an amazing 1 in 1.266 -- that is 79.0%
or 38.3 degrees!
(For comparison, a standard escalator is at 30 degrees.)
--
Mark Brader The last 10% of the performance sought contributes
Toronto one-third of the cost and two-thirds of the problems.
msbr...@interlog.com -- Norm Augustine
My text in this article is in the public domain.
ze...@magicnet.net
> --PLH, who doesn't see a whole lot of hills in Houston, for some reason
You just have to use your imagination.
Patrick L. Humphrey
>In article <szkd843...@dillinger.io.com>, pat...@io.com (Patrick L.
>Humphrey) wrote:
>> Kyle Levenhagen <leve...@NOSPAM.uiuc.edu> writes:
>> >BCBA wrote:
>> >> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>> >> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
>> >> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>> >> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>> >It probably isn't all that steep, but it sure seemed that way when I was
>> >on it. My vote goes for US 16 between Rapid City, SD and Mt. Rushmore.
>> >I was on a tour bus that could only go about 15 mph, if that.
>> I was up that way on Labor Day last summer, and I don't remember any
>> particularly steep stretches south of Rapid City on 16. My vote for stretch
>> of road most resembling a cliff would be the entrance to Chandler Park west of
>> downtown Tulsa -- that sucker has to be at least a 20% grade....
>> --PLH, who doesn't see a whole lot of hills in Houston, for some reason
>There is a 8% or 10% grade coming into Rapid City (Just before the Truck
>Bypass splits off) on NB US-16 (and going out on the SB side). That is a
>bit scary coming into town off the hill. I don't recall if there were and
>steeper long grades in the hills south of town but there were a lot of
>short steeps in the area.
Now that you mentioned the location, I remember that one -- not a real long
one, and we only saw it headed south, but I can see where it'd cause some
concern for traffic headed into Rapid City. (Nice view heading up that
stretch, though, on a summer afternoon, being able to see miles of the
Badlands fringes off to the east...) Even that one, though, wasn't all that
bad compared to some of the ones I've had to deal with when heading home to
eastern Kentucky to annoy the parents...
--PLH, maybe they're trying to tell me something
Patrick L. Humphrey
>In article <szkd843...@dillinger.io.com>, pat...@io.com (Patrick L.
>Humphrey) wrote:
>> --PLH, who doesn't see a whole lot of hills in Houston, for some reason
>You just have to use your imagination.
Nah. I can just pedal down to the salt dome in northeast Fort Bend County on
FM 2234, if I want to see a real hill in the Houston area. :-)
--PLH, three months away from real hills on this year's MS 150 ride to Austin
David J. Greenberger
place, but what about U.S. and state routes? Interstates? If the
road turns the corner or takes an exit ramp that doesn't count.
My nomination for sharpest curve on a U.S. route is US 44/NY 55 near
Minnewaska State Park. The road follows a 180-degree switchback that
has a recommended speed, I believe, of 5 mph. Anything below 5 mph?
--
David J. Greenberger
Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
<URL:http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/grenbrgr/>
RunninMad
said by Ripley to be the crookedest street in the world. The street was
built in the 1890's and designed in such a fashion as to allow horses to
climb the hill without losing thier footing.
The one block street has 5 hairpins and 2 half hairpins in a 275 foot
distance.
For a picture
http://www.cptc.wisc.edu/~kkelly/images/snakealley.gif
Adam Froehlig
35 MPH near downtown
Minneapolis, MN.
*** Posted from RemarQ - http://www.remarq.com - Discussions Start Here (tm) ***
Jonathan Brent White
On I-5 just outside Portland, I hear there is a huge sharp curve, known as the
Terwilliger curve
It's being bypassed as we speak, but I-40 Business in Winston Salem has what is
called the "Hawthorne Curve," named after a Winston-Salem mayor, that has a speed
limit of 40mph (course all of I-40 Bus. between 5th Street and Knollwood Dr. is
45mph.). Last time I was on I-40Bus, the bypass bridge was a long way towards
completion.
BCBA
>
> How about sharpest curves? Local roads have sharp curves all over the
> place, but what about U.S. and state routes? Interstates? If the
> road turns the corner or takes an exit ramp that doesn't count.
>
> My nomination for sharpest curve on a U.S. route is US 44/NY 55 near
> Minnewaska State Park. The road follows a 180-degree switchback that
> has a recommended speed, I believe, of 5 mph. Anything below 5 mph?
> --
always on the lookout for a different route to travel, i once had the
"bright idea" of including US50 (VA-WV) on my trip from Washington DC to
Pittsburgh.
don't remember any road where i saw so many W1-6s!
"http://members.aol.com/rmoeuradot/200x200/warn/W1-6.gif"
--bruce cridlebaugh
Dyche Anderson
>
> any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
>
> i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> steepest road that's open to traffic?
>
> interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
>
I work for a major automobile manufacturer. At one of our proving
grounds, we have a hill to test cars on. You can go either direction on
the hill, and the grades are different, and they are named for cities
they represent. The "shallow" grade hill (built first, from what I
understand) is named San Francisco. The steep hill is named Pittsburgh.
Dyche Anderson
JVincent
wrote:
>David J. Greenberger wrote:
>>
>> How about sharpest curves? Local roads have sharp curves all over the
>> place, but what about U.S. and state routes? Interstates? If the
>> road turns the corner or takes an exit ramp that doesn't count.
>>
>always on the lookout for a different route to travel, i once had the
>"bright idea" of including US50 (VA-WV) on my trip from Washington DC to
>Pittsburgh.
>
Aw, heck, those roads are nuttin'. Here's a description of U.S. 129 in
eastern Tennessee, heading east from the Foothills Parkway:
You race along the decidedly unlittle Little Tennessee River Valley...
passing zone, curve, passing zone.. seventyseventyfiveeighty... then the
road heads into the woods and starts its ascent. Curves ahead;
sixtyfiftyforty. Thirty... Twenty-five.
Then: Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
Switchback. Switchback. Welcome To North Carolina. Then it gets gentler...
but not by much.
Those who have been on 129 know I'm not exaggerating. It's about ten
miles' worth, with no letup between the end of one curve and the beginning
of the next.
--
Spamfilter in use... change "not" to "net"
M.V.S. http://www.mcs.net/~jvincent "Ubique in Viis Optimis"
JVincent's Road House: Photos, N.C. Highways, the YesterMap, more
ze...@magicnet.net
wrote:
> I think BCBA of Pitcarin may know about this one,,,there is a very sharp
> bend on a road in the valley that the Unity railraod is in between Wikins
> Township and Monroeville. It is the same road that there is or was an old
> wood bridge that was paved over with blacktop. It is almost under the Rt22
> bridge. Boy is it sharp! You have to turn your wheel all the way to get
> around it! It is near the old Unity Railroad shops.
I found the curve on Microsofts Terraserver. It is at
There are actuallt 2 curves together. The sharpest curve of the 2 together
is the one to the right of the other one in the picture. The 2 curves are
to the SE of the railroad round house in the picture.
ze...@magicnet.net
<gren...@uiuc.edu> wrote:
> How about sharpest curves? Local roads have sharp curves all over the
> place, but what about U.S. and state routes? Interstates? If the
> road turns the corner or takes an exit ramp that doesn't count.
>
> My nomination for sharpest curve on a U.S. route is US 44/NY 55 near
> Minnewaska State Park. The road follows a 180-degree switchback that
> has a recommended speed, I believe, of 5 mph. Anything below 5 mph?
I think BCBA of Pitcarin may know about this one,,,there is a very sharp
bend on a road in the valley that the Unity railraod is in between Wikins
Township and Monroeville. It is the same road that there is or was an old
wood bridge that was paved over with blacktop. It is almost under the Rt22
bridge. Boy is it sharp! You have to turn your wheel all the way to get
around it! It is near the old Unity Railroad shops.
--
Archie Leach
Pennsylvania) that lower Michigan is, I nominate for "steepest road in
middle Michigan" M-66 coming from the south up into Ionia.
Nice view of the immediate Grand River valley, especially in the fall.
In fact, with the steepness and narrowness of some of its streets (and
with all the burned out/abandoned shacks and junk shops east and west
from Ionia huddled along M-21), Ionia might be the most
Appalachian-looking and -feeling town in southern/central Michigan.
There's a stretch of US31 up in Benzie County, passing through Honor and
Benzonia and a couple of lakes tucked in between some pretty large hills
that's rather steep as well. Mile-long grades. Certainly, fun to
travel when the lake-effect snows come in off Lake Michigan.
Archie Leach
Live, from Lansing, Michigan...
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your prayers. The weather in the
Midwest has been much more acceptable the last week-and-a-half, and I
would like to see the mild streak continue into, say, Mid-June.
*****************************
In article <78menm$q...@dfw-ixnews10.ix. netcom.com>,
wil...@ix.netcom.com (Bill Palmjob) wrote:
"I have been burned too often by such come-ons."
*************************************
What happened to my .sig?
No matter. You're still sending psychic messages to the Space Buddhas
to show up on 2 February 1999. Thank you.
Alan Hamilton
>Aw, heck, those roads are nuttin'. Here's a description of U.S. 129 in
>eastern Tennessee, heading east from the Foothills Parkway:
>
>You race along the decidedly unlittle Little Tennessee River Valley...
>passing zone, curve, passing zone.. seventyseventyfiveeighty... then the
>road heads into the woods and starts its ascent. Curves ahead;
>sixtyfiftyforty. Thirty... Twenty-five.
>
>Then: Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback. Switchback.
[etc]
Hey, I drove that road once at night, in fog. I think I deserve some
sort of medal for that.
--
/
/ * / Alan Hamilton
* * al...@primenet.com
Arizona Roads -- http://www.primenet.com/~alanh/road/
No ads, popups or watermarks ever
John Lansford
>Aw, heck, those roads are nuttin'. Here's a description of U.S. 129 in
>eastern Tennessee, heading east from the Foothills Parkway:
>
>You race along the decidedly unlittle Little Tennessee River Valley...
>passing zone, curve, passing zone.. seventyseventyfiveeighty... then the
>road heads into the woods and starts its ascent. Curves ahead;
>sixtyfiftyforty. Thirty... Twenty-five.
>
>Those who have been on 129 know I'm not exaggerating. It's about ten
>miles' worth, with no letup between the end of one curve and the beginning
>of the next.
US 129 in East TN has been described as one of the top five roads to
drive on a motorcycle. This was in one of the myriad motorcycle
magazines a few years ago.
John Lansford, PE
The unofficial I-26 Construction Webpage:
http://users.vnet.net/lansford/a10/
nwp...@student.berklee.edu
"David J. Greenberger" <gren...@uiuc.edu> wrote:
> How about sharpest curves? Local roads have sharp curves all over the
> place, but what about U.S. and state routes? Interstates? If the
> road turns the corner or takes an exit ramp that doesn't count.
>
> My nomination for sharpest curve on a U.S. route is US 44/NY 55 near
> Minnewaska State Park. The road follows a 180-degree switchback that
> has a recommended speed, I believe, of 5 mph. Anything below 5 mph?
Aything below 5 mph can't possibly be MUTCD standard, can it? I know it says
multiples of 5, but does it specify units per hour? If not, then 25 mpd might
work (that's miles per day; approx. 1 mph).
If you drive 110 mph (in a 55 zone) for half an hour, then sit at a rest area
for another half an hour, could you get out of a speeding ticket by claiming
that you only drove 55 miles in one hour; hence 55 miles per hour?
________________________________________________________________________
N.W.Perry __/ {
Rochester, N.Y. 甍__ | "Hey, wait a minute, we're in ROCHESTER!!!"
Boston, Mass. \|_= -Denis Leary
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
EnemyWithn
and valleys.
Everyone knows the notoriety of US 71.
Some of the state roads immediately to the east make 71 look straight by
comparison.
AR 23 is known as the "Pig Trail".
Better make sure your brakes are good before hitting this road southbound.
There are two tremendously tight switchbacks which have been widened and
sloped inward. They are signed with large 10 mph flashers, but it is actually
difficult to maintian 10 mph through the upper turn.
It is a frightening place to meet a truck. I have seen a couple of 18-wheelers
lose it on the upper turn.
One of them was carrying a load of chickens...the trailer jacknifed and
tipped over, spilling chicken sh*t all in the curve.
Not only was it an awful smell, but hitting a patch of chicken sh*t is
somewhat akin to hitting a patch of ice.
jim
Brandon M. Gorte
: Considering how not-very-hilly-compared-to-other-places (like
: Pennsylvania) that lower Michigan is, I nominate for "steepest road in
: middle Michigan" M-66 coming from the south up into Ionia.
: Nice view of the immediate Grand River valley, especially in the fall.
: In fact, with the steepness and narrowness of some of its streets (and
: with all the burned out/abandoned shacks and junk shops east and west
: from Ionia huddled along M-21), Ionia might be the most
: Appalachian-looking and -feeling town in southern/central Michigan.
: There's a stretch of US31 up in Benzie County, passing through Honor and
: Benzonia and a couple of lakes tucked in between some pretty large hills
: that's rather steep as well. Mile-long grades. Certainly, fun to
: travel when the lake-effect snows come in off Lake Michigan.
Here's a good grade for all ya to try with lake effect snows. US-45 south
of where it meets M-26 in the UP. Heading south, this is just a straight
stretch of road down, but heading up is a different story. Here, you
follow the river in the gorge below around a tight bend. Going north is
even more fun. There's a nice roadside park at the Ontonagon River at the
bottom.
Brandon Gorte
Undergrad in Geological Engineering
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
<http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~bmgorte/freeway.html>
BCBA
--
thus quoth the BCBA:
"i'm not going to include the road surfaces on the inside corners of
some hairpin switchbacks we have locally. there are sections which are
basically vertical...although the average slope across the whole width
of the road is mighty high. Thompson Run Rd near Halls Station in
Monroeville snakes down a couple hundred feet in maybe a tenth of a
mile."
Thompson Run Rd.:
"http://mapserver.esri.com/cgi-bin/sure.adol?c=-79.802027,40.434373&p=1&m=0&cd=o&g=-79.75000000,40.43833300&a=Monroeville%2c+Pennsylvania&r=y"
--
btw, that's the Union Railroad...related to the Bessemer & Lake Erie
RR...related to US Steel. it connects the BLE with the Edgar Thompson
Works in Braddock and other steel-industrial sites in that area of the
Mon Valley.
i'm curious to see how the route of the two railroads are affected by
the alignment of the upcoming Mon-Fay Expwy branch.
the BLE carries the raw materials for steel-making down from Lake Erie.
along the tracks, you can find a good supply of iron ore pellets (good
for slingshot ammo), and coal (which will come in handy when the Y2K
thingy makes everyone go crazy and we have to burn our shorts to keep
warm) :-)
--bruce cridlebaugh
near Pittsburgh, where streets have sidewalks that are steps
(and you can rappel from one section of the road to another)
David J. Greenberger
> Aything below 5 mph can't possibly be MUTCD standard, can it? I know it says
> multiples of 5, but does it specify units per hour? If not, then 25 mpd might
> work (that's miles per day; approx. 1 mph).
If the actual recommended speed is under 2.5 mph, would that be
rounded down to 0 mph on the signs?
ze...@magicnet.net
sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com wrote:
> i actually nominated this one for the "Steepest Road" thread
>
> --
>
> thus quoth the BCBA:
> "i'm not going to include the road surfaces on the inside corners of
> some hairpin switchbacks we have locally. there are sections which are
> basically vertical...although the average slope across the whole width
> of the road is mighty high. Thompson Run Rd near Halls Station in
> Monroeville snakes down a couple hundred feet in maybe a tenth of a
> mile."
>
> Thompson Run Rd.:
>
"http://mapserver.esri.com/cgi-bin/sure.adol?c=-79.802027,40.434373&p=1&m=0&cd=o&g=-79.75000000,40.43833300&a=Monroeville%2c+Pennsylvania&r=y"
Yep, that is the one. Thanks for the URL for the map...interesting to
compare it to the Terraserver satelite picture. You are right, it is the
Union railroad. That railroad in the 40s had passenger service. My
grandfather took it on his commute from Penn Hills, actually Universal
within Penn Hills I believe. He took it South, then got a streetcar into
Homestead to the Mesta Machine shops. That would have been an interesting
trip!
ze...@magicnet.net
> the BLE carries the raw materials for steel-making down from Lake Erie.
> along the tracks, you can find a good supply of iron ore pellets (good
> for slingshot ammo), and coal (which will come in handy when the Y2K
> thingy makes everyone go crazy and we have to burn our shorts to keep
> warm) :-)
Wonder if any ore that was carried on the Edmund Fitzgerald ore ship ever
traveled down those tracks through that valley. That ship sank in 1975. My
dad was a cost accountant for US Steel, and he saw that ship in Chicago
once.
BCBA
3rd party confirmation -- case closed :-)
but do they have a bgs stating the name?
--bc
Richie Kennedy
>nwp...@student.berklee.edu wrote:
>There aren't any design standards below about 20mph. IOW, once a curve
>reaches the maximum degree of curve for a 20mph speed, designing a
>curve for a slower speed requires no engineering other than
>determining what radius is needed.
I know of several intersections in Kansas where the advisory speed is 15
MPH. All of them are 90 degree corner turns
Hannaman
> A western PA nomination would me US40 East of Uniontown going up and or down
> Mount Summit
A city street in Connellsville has about 115% grade *with no vertical curves*.
This street
has posts at both top and bottom so the City can chain it off during bad
weather. Take
PA-711 North to the top of the hill, make two right turns.
*Warning*Warning*
Don't do this if you have low undercar clearance, long hood extension or a fear
of heights.
Do not drive over 5 mph. Make sure your brake are *very* good before you start.
The rise is longer than the run. No vertical curves. You have been forewarned.
*Warning*Warning*
Michael Torla
Michael Torla wrote:
> nwp...@student.berklee.edu wrote:
>
> > The steepest highway in MA is probably MA 2, the Mohawk Trail, coming down
> > (and, to a lesser extent, going up) the Hoosac Range into North Adams. It's
> > among the most glorious drives in the northeast, and the view from the mighty
> > Hairpin Turn is indeed spectacular. This highway is certainly steeper than
> > any section of the Mt. Greylock access road.
> >
> > The Guinness Book (and Bill Cosby) always used to say that Lombard Street in
> > SF is the steepest there is.
>
> I'm convinced that the steepest road I've ever seen (and I've seen Lombard and
> all of MA 2) is in Amherst on the campus of the University of Mass; It runs up
> the hill through the Central Residential Area, and my recollection (which must
> be wrong) tells me it's a 45 degree incline. I only wish I could pull up a
> TopoMap of the area to count the contour lines. For some reason, the web site
> with TopoMaps online (HTI) won't work either on my Unix workstation or on my
> Mac, or on the WinNT machine down the hall.
>
> I entered "Clark Hill Road, Amherst, MA, 01003" and it gave me Lat=42.387369,
> Long -72.529426...but that's not quite right...the centroid dot came up about
> 1/2 mile(?) to the west.
>
> I'll try and remember to track down my paper copy and count contour lines
>
> mt
Okay. I finally tracked down my Topo maps, and found the Mt. Toby, MA quadrangle
dated 1971. I'm not an expert at reading these things, but the map is 1:25000,
and the road shows 6 contour lines in ~4.5mm = 0.177 inches. OR, the road rises
50 feet in ~369 feet. Not quite 45 degrees, is it? :-)
mt
John Lansford
>Aything below 5 mph can't possibly be MUTCD standard, can it? I know it says
>multiples of 5, but does it specify units per hour? If not, then 25 mpd might
>work (that's miles per day; approx. 1 mph).
>
There aren't any design standards below about 20mph. IOW, once a curve
reaches the maximum degree of curve for a 20mph speed, designing a
curve for a slower speed requires no engineering other than
determining what radius is needed.
John Lansford, PE
John Carr
>> Aything below 5 mph can't possibly be MUTCD standard, can it? I know it says
>> multiples of 5, but does it specify units per hour? If not, then 25 mpd might
>> work (that's miles per day; approx. 1 mph).
The MUTCD says speed limits shall be in multiples of 5 MPH, but does not
have a similar requirement for advisory speed plates.
>If the actual recommended speed is under 2.5 mph, would that be
>rounded down to 0 mph on the signs?
The MUTCD doesn't say, but there is precedent for the appropriate sign
in this case:
+------------+
| LASCIATE |
| OGNI |
| SPERANZA |
| |
| VOI |
| CH'INTRATE |
+------------+
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While not all drivers understand medieval Italian, those who don't will
probably slow down anyway while they think about it.
--
John Carr j...@tiac.net cr...@shore.net
[ISP switch in progress; new address will be cr...@shore.net]
John Lansford
>A city street in Connellsville has about 115% grade *with no vertical curves*.
That means that the overall slope is steeper than a 1:1 slope, which
is even more formidable than a typical earth fill slope at 2:1.
BTW, a 2:1 slope (50% grade) is considered "non traversable" in the
Roadside Design Guide.
I have to question the 115% grade number mentioned above.
John Lansford
>John Lansford wrote in message <36b2fc63...@news.vnet.net>...
>
>>nwp...@student.berklee.edu wrote:
>>There aren't any design standards below about 20mph. IOW, once a curve
>>reaches the maximum degree of curve for a 20mph speed, designing a
>>curve for a slower speed requires no engineering other than
>>determining what radius is needed.
>
>
>I know of several intersections in Kansas where the advisory speed is 15
>MPH. All of them are 90 degree corner turns
>
There's no design to a 15 mph curve, though. Intersections are
designed to be turned at 15mph too and no design is done to them
either other than to specify the radius in the corner.
FranCurcio
In article <vkxr9sg...@sparc7.cs.uiuc.edu>, "David J. Greenberger"
<gren...@uiuc.edu> writes:
>How about sharpest curves? Local roads have sharp curves all over the
>place, but what about U.S. and state routes? Interstates?
What about the helix at the Lincoln Tunnel (NJ 495)? It does a 360 in less
than 4000 feet dropping several hundred feet in the process.
Regards,
Frank
nwp...@student.berklee.edu
"David J. Greenberger" <gren...@uiuc.edu> wrote:
> nwp...@student.berklee.edu writes:
>
> > Aything below 5 mph can't possibly be MUTCD standard, can it? I know it says
> > multiples of 5, but does it specify units per hour? If not, then 25 mpd might
> > work (that's miles per day; approx. 1 mph).
>
> rounded down to 0 mph on the signs?
That would be a pretty low compliance rate, and tough to clock accurately.
Wait, they have those. They're called STOP signs.
Bob Goudreau
: nwp...@student.berklee.edu wrote:
: >Aything below 5 mph can't possibly be MUTCD standard, can it? I know it says
: >multiples of 5, but does it specify units per hour? If not, then 25 mpd might
: >work (that's miles per day; approx. 1 mph).
: >
: There aren't any design standards below about 20mph.
I believe he was talking about the MUTCD standard for speed
limit signs, which are supposed to be posted in integral
multiples of 5 mph. I.e., a "SPEED LIMIT 3" sign would not be
MUTCD-compliant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Goudreau Data General Corporation
goud...@dg-rtp.dg.com 62 Alexander Drive
+1 919 248 6231 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA
BCBA
>
> The MUTCD doesn't say, but there is precedent for the appropriate sign
> in this case:
>
> +------------+
> | LASCIATE |
> | OGNI |
> | SPERANZA |
> | |
> | VOI |
> | CH'INTRATE |
> +------------+
> |
> |
> |
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> While not all drivers understand medieval Italian, those who don't will
> probably slow down anyway while they think about it.
>
> --
is that on the "Interstate to Heck"?
as long as the don't ignore the "non ostruire l' intersezione" sign
--bc
ze...@magicnet.net
> > : any nominations for the steepest grade on the various classes of road?
> >
> > : i don't mean "what's the regulation or design specs?", but what's the
> > : steepest road that's open to traffic?
> >
> > : interstate, US hwy, state, etc.
There is a shprt but very steep street in Penn Hills, PA near the former
Seneca Junio High School. It is a steep shortcut from Saltsburg road to
Verona road.
David J. Greenberger
> That would be a pretty low compliance rate, and tough to clock accurately.
Compliance rate? Yellow signs are advisory anyway. Let's just hope
no one takes the advice.
> Wait, they have those. They're called STOP signs.
Where are there stop signs not located at intersections, crosswalks,
and the like? I know of two (well, four -- two in each direction).
BCBA
>
>
> Where are there stop signs not located at intersections, crosswalks,
> and the like? I know of two (well, four -- two in each direction).
> --
i've seen misc. stop signs
- at the top of a steep grade
- on each end of a narrow bridge
- where a section of roadway has been affected by subsidence or
landslide
- construction zone
(and on the side of a school bus :^p )
sorry it's not more specific, but maybe it'll spark someone else's
recollection
--bruce
stuco...@webtv.net
Brandon M. Gorte <bmg...@mtu.edu> wrote:
> Archie Leach <stuco...@webtv.net> wrote:
> : Considering how not-very-hilly-compared-to-other-places (like
> : Pennsylvania) that lower Michigan is, I nominate for "steepest road in
> : middle Michigan" M-66 coming from the south up into Ionia.
>
> : Nice view of the immediate Grand River valley, especially in the fall.
>
> : In fact, with the steepness and narrowness of some of its streets (and
> : with all the burned out/abandoned shacks and junk shops east and west
> : from Ionia huddled along M-21), Ionia might be the most
> : Appalachian-looking and -feeling town in southern/central Michigan.
>
> : There's a stretch of US31 up in Benzie County, passing through Honor and
> : Benzonia and a couple of lakes tucked in between some pretty large hills
> : that's rather steep as well. Mile-long grades. Certainly, fun to
> : travel when the lake-effect snows come in off Lake Michigan.
>
> Here's a good grade for all ya to try with lake effect snows. US-45 south
> of where it meets M-26 in the UP. Heading south, this is just a straight
> stretch of road down, but heading up is a different story. Here, you
> follow the river in the gorge below around a tight bend. Going north is
> even more fun. There's a nice roadside park at the Ontonagon River at the
> bottom.
>
Threads like this give me such a bad case of Wanderlust!!! Especially living
in FLAT-FLAT-FLAT north-east Eaton County, Michigan. (not dead flat, but
close enough.)
Argh!
Sometime, we all ought to sit down (virtually), get together
(electronically), and come up with the Great Millenial R.S.F.C. Road Geek's
Road Trip to Surpass Every Other Road Geek's Road Trip Ever Conceived.
Including side-trips to every dead patch of concrete that USED to be a major
highway but just sits idly by.
And side-trips to steep grades. Weird sign configurations. Sextuple-decker
overpasses in interchanges. A full examination of Pittsburgh. Et cetera.
Dreaming on,
Archie Leach
BCBA
nominations?
--bruce cridlebaugh
David J. Greenberger
> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>
> nominations?
I-57.
ze...@magicnet.net
sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com wrote:
> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>
> nominations?
>
> --bruce cridlebaugh
How about I-80 through the Utah Salt Flats?
Ronald Roy Kappesser Unovald
: In article <36B57C...@prisma-graphicdesign.com>,
: sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com wrote:
: > alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
: >
: > nominations?
: >
: > --bruce cridlebaugh
: How about I-80 through the Utah Salt Flats?
I-80 through the Central Valley of CA, I-80 through parts of nevada,
I-80 . . .
John R Levine
I'd say it's probably a tie between I-80 across the salt flats in
Utah and Alligator Alley across the Everglades in Florida. Both
are dead flat, straight, and level.
--
John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869
jo...@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl,
Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail
Kyle Levenhagen
>
> BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> writes:
>
> > alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
> >
>
> I-57.
Actually, you could say *any* interstate in Illinois. :)
Kyle
John Lansford
>alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>
>nominations?
>
US 70 toward New Bern, NC. It has the minimum allowed grade on a four
lane freeway (0.2%).
Or I-40 toward Wilmington, NC. Again, the grade and terrain are so
flat that the design actually undulates so slightly it can barely be
noticed, and NCDOT had to go back out there and repave the spiral
transitions because rainfall wasn't running off the flat areas.
Dyche Anderson
>
> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>
> nominations?
>
>
I-10 in western New Mexico - at the Continental Divide. Honest. It is
FLAT. I have no idea how anyone determined that the Divide went through
that point.
Dyche Anderson
David J. Greenberger
> David J. Greenberger wrote:
> >
> > BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> writes:
> >
> > > alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
> > >
> > > nominations?
> >
> > I-57.
>
> Actually, you could say *any* interstate in Illinois. :)
True, but I-57 wins hands down if we're looking for flatness in two
dimensions. I-74 isn't quite as bad, and the difference between I-57
and I-70 is striking when switching from one to the other in
Effingham.
Jeremy Dailey
Michael Moroney wrote in message ...
> US 20A WB in Warsaw NY has a nasty downhill grade. It's been 20 years
> since I've been that way, but it had an overhead RED hill sign. Also
> approaching the hill (from the east) at NY 246 there's a sign directing
> all trucks to a bypass around the hill, then a little further there's a
> New Jersey jughandle in the middle of nowhere, with an ALL TRUCKS --> sign
> at the gore point. Where the jughandle reattaches to the main road
(there's
> no cross road) there's a NO RIGHT TURN (or LEFT TURN ONLY) sign, forcing
> trucks that took the jughandle to go back the way they came. Almost as
> if they had to "trick" truckers not to go that way. I don't know the
> grade of the hill.
US 20A EB is marked as a 10% grade (coming from Varysburg towards Warsaw).
It feels like the east section of the hill is a lot steeper (maybe 12%?).
And yes, all the red hill signs are still there. I'm surprised they haven't
converted them over to yellow with pictures/flashing lights. (And no
runaway truck ramp??)
I think next time I go through there, I'll have to check out the
truck/trailers exit closer to the village, and see exactly what the
alternate route is. Incidentally, that jughandle is (IIRC) about a mile
into the town of Warsaw, just over the Perry border.
Maybe I'll take a drive out there Saturday and grab photos.
Speaking of runaway trucks... (for the New York folks) Are there any
runaway truck ramps in New York State, and where?
-Jeremy.
Fmtyner
>BCBA wrote:
>>
>> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>>
>> nominations?
>>
>> --bruce cridlebaugh
>>
>
>I-10 in western New Mexico - at the Continental Divide. Honest. It is
>FLAT. I have no idea how anyone determined that the Divide went through
>that point.
How about I-10 across Louisiana. Westward to Houston. And eastward to
Alabama, if not all the way to Florida. If overpasses and river crossings
don't count, its flat all the way.
Fred Tyner
Dallas, TX
Ron Newman
Lansford) wrote:
> Or I-40 toward Wilmington, NC. Again, the grade and terrain are so
> flat that the design actually undulates so slightly it can barely be
> noticed, and NCDOT had to go back out there and repave the spiral
> transitions because rainfall wasn't running off the flat areas.
What is a "spiral transition" ?
--
Ron Newman rne...@thecia.net
http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/
Bob Bailin
>
> Speaking of runaway trucks... (for the New York folks) Are there any
> runaway truck ramps in New York State, and where?
>
IIRC, there's a runaway truck ramp on NY17 sb between Ellenville and Middletown.
> -Jeremy.
>
>
>
--
Bob Bailin
72027...@compuserve.com
RHarrin505
But on this side of the line, not sure..
I think NY is good on not having major highways through the hills of the
Catskills and the Adirondacks (Other than NY 17 and I-87)
John Lansford
>In article <36bb2efb...@news.vnet.net>, jo...@vnet.net (John
>Lansford) wrote:
>
>> Or I-40 toward Wilmington, NC. Again, the grade and terrain are so
>> flat that the design actually undulates so slightly it can barely be
>> noticed, and NCDOT had to go back out there and repave the spiral
>> transitions because rainfall wasn't running off the flat areas.
>
>What is a "spiral transition" ?
In order to more naturally fit the curves to the tangents and provide
a place for the superelevation to shift from normal slope to whatever
the curve requires, NCDOT uses spirals on the ends of curves. These
spirals provide a transition between tangent and curve and closely
match the normal driving path most motorists take as they approach and
leave a curve anyway. We put them on high speed facilities as this is
where the benefits of spirals are the greatest.
Most states do not use them. I think Texas does and a few others,
though.
Will Flor
>Kyle Levenhagen <leve...@NOSPAM.uiuc.edu> writes:
>
>> David J. Greenberger wrote:
>> >
>> > BCBA <sys...@prisma-graphicdesign.com> writes:
>> >
>> > >
>> > > nominations?
>> >
>>
>> Actually, you could say *any* interstate in Illinois. :)
>
>True, but I-57 wins hands down if we're looking for flatness in two
>dimensions. I-74 isn't quite as bad, and the difference between I-57
>and I-70 is striking when switching from one to the other in
>Effingham.
Perhaps you should take a little trip down to the area of Goreville, Illinois
before you think I-57 is flat. The area around Urbana is, though.
-Will Flor wi...@will-flor.spamblock.com
Appropriately adjust my return address to reach me via e-mail.
Patrick L. Humphrey
>Dyche Anderson <dy...@mediaone.net> wrote:
>>BCBA wrote:
>>> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>>> nominations?
>>> --bruce cridlebaugh
>>I-10 in western New Mexico - at the Continental Divide. Honest. It is
>>FLAT. I have no idea how anyone determined that the Divide went through
>>that point.
>How about I-10 across Louisiana. Westward to Houston. And eastward to
>Alabama, if not all the way to Florida. If overpasses and river crossings
>don't count, its flat all the way.
Actually, that can only be claimed for I-10 from Brookshire eastward to about
Lafayette -- you have flat stretches around Baton Rouge through New Orleans,
but you pick up some small hills there in that southeast corner of Louisiana,
as well as some bigger hills once you hit the Alabama line. (If you _really_
want flat, though, try I-29 in Iowa -- from the Missouri line all the way
northward through Sioux City and about 30 miles into South Dakota, we're
talking _flat_.)
--PLH, who won't mention ND 13 between I-29 and Wahpeton :)
RHarrin505
rises bigger than 5 feet on that road are the man-made hills for the bridges
and overpasses (US 13 Bypass too)
We have a place here called the "Adamsville Flats", near the hamlet of
"Adamsville" - Speed Limit 55, home to the NYS Police that LOVES to hide and
catch unsuspecting speeders through the mile stretch.
Brandon M. Gorte
: Dyche Anderson <dy...@mediaone.net> wrote:
: >BCBA wrote:
: >>
: >> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
: >>
: >> nominations?
: >>
: >> --bruce cridlebaugh
: >>
: >
: >I-10 in western New Mexico - at the Continental Divide. Honest. It is
: >FLAT. I have no idea how anyone determined that the Divide went through
: >that point.
: How about I-10 across Louisiana. Westward to Houston. And eastward to
: Alabama, if not all the way to Florida. If overpasses and river crossings
: don't count, its flat all the way.
Louisiana has something on the order of a 2 degree slope throughout the
state. On contour maps, overpasses and highways are very visible. :-)
Brandon Gorte
Undergrad in Geological Engineering
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
<http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~bmgorte/freeway.html>
Jody L. Aho
>
> alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
>
> nominations?
>
Stretch" of M-28 between Seney and Shingleton, MI, which is both flat
and straight for 24.2 miles.
Jody Aho
ja...@cp.duluth.mn.us
http://www.cp.duluth.mn.us/~jaho
Brandon M. Gorte
: BCBA wrote:
: >
: > alright then, the FLATTEST ROAD is NOT in Pittsburgh...
: >
: > nominations?
: >
:
: A nomination for a combination of flat and straight would be the "Seney
: Stretch" of M-28 between Seney and Shingleton, MI, which is both flat
: and straight for 24.2 miles.
And full of deer. So you have to watch your speed as well as the sides
ahead of you.
Bill Cohen
ze...@magicnet.net
ERL...@prodigy.com (Bill Cohen) wrote:
> How bout the alligator alley portion of I-95
How about the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain.
Mark Hasty
> (If you _really_
>want flat, though, try I-29 in Iowa -- from the Missouri line all the way
>northward through Sioux City and about 30 miles into South Dakota, we're
>talking _flat_.)
Interstingly enough, the road is flat but the surrounding terrain is
not.
>--PLH, who won't mention ND 13 between I-29 and Wahpeton :)
Jeez, why not? Why not just mention all of I-29 in North Dakota? If
it weren't for the railroad bridge at Hillsboro, there wouldn't be a
discernible rise or fall in 250 miles . . .
============================================================
Mark Hasty St Peter's/St Mark's LC
ho...@sentco.net ^My opinion, not theirs^
Falls City/Verdon, NE
"I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic and
maniacal hooting for men." --Thoreau
============================================================
http://www.sentco.net/subscribers/hoss
Gary E. Ansok
Mike Ballard <mapm...@smartlink.net> wrote:
>In Silverlake near Los Angeles, there is a street that is the steepest in LA,
>Fargo St. It has a 32% grade and was built back in 1926.
If that's the one I'm thinking of, I drove down it many years ago.
The road itself isn't too bad, but the approach at the top is rather
unnerving, since you cannot see the downhill pavement until you
are right at the (vertical) corner.
It feels like you are driving towards a cliff. The friends I was
with (who suggested the detour on a Tommy's run) called it
"The Edge of the World".
--
Gary Ansok an...@alumni.caltech.edu
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order will return.
Jon Enslin
>
> In article <79hr2l$6qbs$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com>,
> ERL...@prodigy.com (Bill Cohen) wrote:
>
> > How bout the alligator alley portion of I-95
>
> How about the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain.
Ever driven it? It's not flat. It rises at points for boat passage.
Jon
--
Jon Enslin
ens...@uwwvax.uww.edu