http://www.wbtv.com/story/24676536/nc-dot-prepping-for-approaching-winter-storm
The conclusion one can gather from the “driving advice” provided by state authorities is they are used to driving vehicles without front whel drive, antilock braking systems and traction control (aka a 1962 pickup truck).
I noticed when studying the driver’s license test manual that a lot of the material was dated or incomplete. When is the last time you used hand signals driving a car? (no, not THAT hand gesture)
It’s beyond me why anyone would want to move to this state.
Back in the 1970s was when they built the intersection of I-77 and I-85. Look it up on Google Earth/maps. Someone At the NCDOT came up with this innovative design – on I-77, the North and South lanes actually switch sides and the opposing traffic is on your right instead of the left. This design means that merging traffic comes in from the left, among other benefits. Pretty much every day, a tractor trailer flips on those ramps – they have added speed warning signals and a bit more banking, but it’s still a big hazard area. My memory is the stated rationale for the design was caused by the proximity of another exit for Statesville Road precluded a conventional cloverleaf design.
Give a look at this
http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/charlotteouterloop/
Specifically the picture of the proposed Mallard Creek interchange. It’s the same basic idea. I wonder how many “wrong way” freeway accidents this will cause?
Another item is going to have “roundabouts” (also known as traffic circles or rotaries). God save us from the Yankee invasion.
“Truck drivers are used to making people mad” – NCDOT
http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/06/30/76135/uncertain-future-for-interstate.html
Art can probably speak to this a bit better, but one of the all time bogus issues with commuting around Chicago was the I-294 Tollway. The exits and entrances both occurred on the right side of the highway and the ensuing Chinese fire drill is a matter for the ages. Maybe that is what they were trying to avoid in NC? Although I would rather err on the side of safety and not crossover.
When I was apartment hunting, one of the important criteria was to never ever have to rely on the tollways. I remember a coworker grumbling that it had taken her almost two hours to get home the prior day and she only lived about 8 miles down the Thruway. There wasn’t any major accident – that’s just accepted as normal if you hit the roads at the wrong time of day.
Learned how to drive on a 1967 Ford F-100 pickup, manual shift three speed on the column. After you get the hang of it, its was pretty cool. My high school honey would sit right over there next to me. Two-wheel drive and I always had to held my old man put the snow tires on the rear at Thanksgiving. Already had them mounted on rims, this was before the truck became mine. I picked up a lot of square bales of hay for that truck.
I know how to put on chains too. Chains and 300 pounds of firewood, sand or kitty litter and it was no problem to get around. Couldn’t go very fast but you don’t need to be fast in snow & ice. I wish I still had that truck, I traded for a 85 Mustang, with a 302, sigh . (you had to park the mustang if there was a chance of snow)
parrott
The best part of the DOT advice is to come to a complete stop at every intersection just in case someone coming on the cross street doesn’t stop in time.
One of the examples from the driver’s manual was a lengthy discussion of what to do if your tire blows out. Let’s see… When did radial tires displace bias ply?
One thing that has drastically changed in my lifetime is how rare it has become for cars to break down on the road. They usually warn now well ahead of time, and components aren’t built to deliberately wear out every couple years.
“The best part of the DOT advice is to come to a complete stop at every intersection just in case someone coming on the cross street doesn’t stop in time.”
If everyone did that, we wouldn’t need any traffic lights. 😉
But they were invented by a black man! You can forget that idea.
So was Obamacare.
I’m still trying to figure out this inner-outer thing around the city. Am I going east/west, north/south, what?? Whoever designed the roads around here must have been hitting that home-made hooch that these hillbilly’s are known for!
I also find that a mystery.
I can give a bit of the historical context – I lived in NC from 1970-1981′ and lived in Dilworth from 1977-81. John Belk was mayor of Charlotte and was going to be as long as he wanted to. About his only frame of reference when making decisions was “will this make Belks Department stores money.
I85 was an old established interstate connecting New England to Atlanta, basically following the route of the Southern RR. I-77 had not been built yet, and even now that it is – isn’t a hugely important road – connecting Cleveland and Columbia SC.
Independence Boulevard was the only city road that mattered. It was where the Coliseum had recently been built where you went to see Wahoo McDaniel and Rick Flair wrassle, and where Ernest Angley held his incredible Jesus healing the sick revivals (say BAY-BEE!).
Statesville Road / South Boulevard carried US 21, the road I-77 was eventually to replace. Freedom Drive, Park Road, Morehead were relatively important – the Billy Graham freeway didn’t exist. The Brookshire freeway was the connector between I85 and Independence and was fairly old back then.
North Carolina was and still is very divided. Most of the state is quite poor (and that’s before the tobacco business was destroyed and textile mills left for Asia). Charlotte is where all those Satan worshipping booze drinking Yankees live driving cars way too fast and honking rudely at the pickup trucks going 25 mph down Independence with scrap lumber hanging out the back.
The right of way had been acquired and the land cleared for what is now I277 (the John Belk Freeway) but it was tied up for a variety of reasons – much of the state didn’t want to fund building it as there were more pressing needs – I 85 up around China Grove to Kannapolis wasn’t even an Interstate yet – it was just a busy divided highway with traffic lights and left turn lanes and sleazy tourist venues who wanted nothing to do with a limited access highway.
People in Charlotte largely didn’t want it built, fearing it would turn the big town Charlotte into a smaller version of Atlanta. The Outer Beltway was only a vague notion of the future and the Pineville Matthews road was a rural two lane state road. South Park mall was fairly new and where Tammy Faye Bakker went to buy jewelry. Eastland Mall had just recently opened off of Independence Boukevard and was destined to become the new center of Charlotte retailing as it was going to leave downtown
Kool- thanks for the history lesson- I woulda thought that 77 was here first. …and I was wondering why I always get the bird when I honk because the light turns green and NC plate car wants to sit there and admire the color green!
There used to be a custom in NC – I haven’t been outside of Charlotte enough to confirm if it still is done. Imagine you’re the third car in line driving slowly down a rural two lane road. The car in front of you (the second car) turns on his left turn signal and slows. The first car turns left and the 2nd car turns off the left turn signal and goes straight, never intending to turn left.
The idea is the car is passing the info along to you that the car in front of him is about to turn. The thinking apparently is you might not notice that and pull out to pass both cars at once only to have the first car turn into your path.
Never seen it or, at least, paid enough attention to it.
I can’t remember the last time I passed another car on a 2 lane road.
The holdup on I-77 was more West Virginia’s fault. There were two main problems. The West Virginia turnpike was an absolutely horrible road – a toll road used mainly by trucks that was mainly two lanes and with a lot of dangerous poorly lit tunnels. It didn’t remotely qualify as confirming to modern highway standards. To get the Interstate “blessing”, it had to be rebuilt in its entirety – however the Feds had a rule that federal highway funds can’t be used to construct or improve toll roads. WV was not willing to make it a free road and didn’t have the money to bring it up to the 1970 standards.
The second problem was the expensive and complicated Walker Mountain tunnels necessary to get traffic from Beckley WV down to the Virginia border (while keeping the existing US highway in service). North Carolina did not want to acquire the right of way and begin construction until the alignment in WV and VA had been finalized. A portion from just North of Statesville to Mooresville was in place in 1970, but the part from Moorseville and the intersection with I85 was not built until the late 1970s. I’m not sure when I85 was brought up to interstate standards – I don’t think that happened until the 1980s.
Wikipedia says the permanent I-85 was finished in 1984, which sounds right.
Much after 5 inches of snow, I’ll start lurking around the Korean cooking blogs…. I guess puppy is canine for veal.
I don’t think there is a big market for dog cheeses though, although I might be wrong.
How much snow did you have today on your ‘Preliminary snow’ today Art ?
Excellent ‘Streaming weather alert’ .
We’re scheduled for 12″ plus inches here in southwest VA. starting tomorrow around noon.
parrott
Hope for the best wurst 😉
http://thebestwurst.com/
If this blog goes offline due to snow, I recommend this as an alternative:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJNCYT_hIlA
Woof woof
So far things look pretty mild. It started lightly snowing around noon, but it was too warm to stay around. My car has a little snow and/or ice on the windshield. The wetness on the streets has turned to ice as it has fallen below freezing (30F) but nothing new is falling.
It’s not going to get above freezing on Wednesday, so the snow (not ice) will hit Wednesday – then the temperature will go up on Thursday during the day and going back down at night. So it looks like we’re going to have an ice sandwich – the ice freezing on the ground now, followed by 3-6 inches of snow, followed by a layer of ice on top Thursday, all of which will melt on Friday. Just wait a day, and God solves all problems.