This past weekend I drove from Los Angeles to Tucson via Interstate-10, and took to noticing the names of the various ditches and washes that are spanned by the highway out in the middle of the high lonesome desert. There are a lot of them. Ghost Ditch, Taro Ditch, Larry Ditch, Stubby Wash, Fornat Wash, Itta Wash, Edom, Mccoy, Rollie, Bula, Sutro, Calotus, Esso, Arco, Teed, Turala, maybe a hundred between the ditches and the washes. The names don't seem to refer to nearby municipalities (there aren't any) or other geographical features, and are clearly part of the National Bridge Inventory. How were these 'waterways' named? Who named them? Were they named before the freeway required infrastructure to pass over them, or during the construction process, or when the NBI was implemented, or after the fact altogether?
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posted by carsonb
on May 14, 2013 -
7 answers
How much extra safety would a crash helmet offer a highway driver wearing a seatbelt?
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posted by Egg Shen
on Dec 5, 2012 -
16 answers
Looking for a Japanese film I saw prior to 2003. It was a dystopian picture of some people trying to have an office romance in the corporate office landscape of Tokyo - lots of shots of bleak urban concrete and highways and faceless office parks full of conformist white collar employees - in the final scene of the film one of the characters is stranded walking along the edge of a highway. It dealt with a complicated love triangle. I know this isn't the title, but it was something like "Kiss me twice, now hold me I love you" or something a little crazy like that- I believe this film was made in the 90s or the early 2000s. It was in Japanese language with subtitles. There is a slight chance it may have been Korean, but I'm pretty sure it was Japanese. This film may have been discussed by Fredric Jameson in one of his essays as it was screened in a graduate school class on Japanese cultural critique.
posted by cmp4Meta
on Sep 24, 2012 -
4 answers
Bicycle touring logistics: Navigating the Trans Canadian Highway between Spanish, Ontario to Blind River, Ontario on bicycles. Crazy? Any other suggestions?
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posted by fieldtrip
on Jun 15, 2012 -
8 answers
How long has BC's
Highway 16 been known as the Highway of Tears? I'm trying to establish the origins of the name.
posted by avocet
on Apr 16, 2012 -
5 answers
Can anyone please explain to me how to enter the highway without mentally writing my last will and testament? It terrifies me and I feel I endanger other people, too.
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posted by Tarumba
on Mar 21, 2012 -
33 answers
Topographical info for highways near me generally, and specifically how much grade on California Highway 1 from San Luis Obispo to Morro Bay?
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posted by oneswellfoop
on Jan 28, 2012 -
4 answers
Do high-speed chases
ever work out for the chasee these days? Considering the amount of cameras, helicopters, and foreknowledge law enforcement has to catch people trying to make a high-speed getaway, have there been any successful escapes in the US in the last 20 years or so?
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posted by The Whelk
on Jan 15, 2011 -
29 answers
I'm driving from Charleston, SC to Asheville, NC tomorrow and would prefer to take a scenic route. Any suggestions?
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posted by The Dutchman
on Oct 16, 2010 -
4 answers
Suppose that I was giving someone directions to my house that involved telling someone to take an highway or freeway. Would I be correct in telling that person to "take the 10" or "drive four miles on the 60"? I've been mercilessly mocked for inserting the "the" into those directions, but I can't find anything conclusive about the proper way to refer to it.
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posted by pecknpah
on Aug 22, 2010 -
77 answers
On the Road filter. What's a famous hill for truck drivers, probably in OK or Arkansas?
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posted by LonnieK
on Jul 17, 2010 -
10 answers
Looking for a short sci-fi story that I read on the internet. It was about a police force who worked in the very risky highways of the future, where rocket cars zoomed around at hundreds of miles an hour.
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posted by chrisamiller
on Nov 1, 2009 -
5 answers
Planning a road trip. Is there a place I can find a list of 4-lane, 55 to 55+ MPH highways that are NOT Interstates?
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posted by sandra_s
on Jun 5, 2009 -
7 answers
My parents are curious why the police had the northbound I-4 + on ramps closed in Orlando (until the turnoff for the airport) for 4 Mears buses on Dec. 31 at 2pm or so? Who was in them?
posted by nothingsconstant
on Jan 1, 2009 -
2 answers
Read a story in the LA times a decade ago, can't remember the details: a man fixed a misleading freeway sign by himself.
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posted by acidic
on Jan 1, 2009 -
5 answers
Are there any sites that offer driving recommendations? I don't mean driving directions, I mean sites that offer tips and tricks for more pleasant ways to go from point A to point B, or that provide information and tips about specific interstates, freeways, highways, and roads.
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posted by Deathalicious
on Jul 31, 2008 -
5 answers
I'll be driving from Los Angeles to the Seattle area in a few weeks. I don't want to endure the dreariness of I-5 all the way up, but I also don't want to spend too much time on the trip. Three days would probably be ideal; four would be acceptable. What route will provide the best balance of beauty/points of interest and expediency?
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posted by fermion
on Jul 29, 2008 -
15 answers
Mostly on highways, but also on large surface streets, there are these configurations of tar lines. Usually two per lane. They're sort of octagonal -- basically squares with angled-off corners, making them 8-sided. Additional lines of tar lead from the roadway to the shoulder. What are they?
posted by mudpuppie
on Jul 17, 2008 -
12 answers
Why are there so many dead deer bodies on the side of the highway on the Merritt Parkway in CT? Do they die on the side of the road right before they prance onto the highway? They look too perfectly placed and appear to lack much bleeding to have been run over then moved aside.
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posted by Jimmie
on Jun 9, 2008 -
21 answers
I want to travel to Brisbane from Melbourne via the Newell Highway. I have done thisn drive many times before, but non stop. I have a young family now and would like to break the trip up.
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posted by mattoxic
on Jan 26, 2008 -
3 answers
Why does road paving take so long in Massachusetts? Last year, when the Mass Pike was being paved, it was a multi-month project. They would mill the road, leave the milled road as is for several weeks, then pave it. The process of covering the length of the work area took several months.
By comparison, when I lived in the DC Metro area, paving happened overnight on Route 66 in Northern Virginia inside the Beltway - seemingly instantaneously. One machine would mill the road, collect the milled asphalt, turn it into new asphalt, lay it, and then it would be paved -- in hours, not weeks or months. They would mill/pave one lane one night, then move to the next lane the next night.
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posted by scottso17
on Dec 9, 2007 -
19 answers
There is a stretch of highway 25 in Wareham, MA (south of Route 195) that consistently smells like garlic, and I have no idea why or where the smell is coming from.
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posted by nekton
on Sep 11, 2007 -
4 answers
Driving from San Jose to Pasadena via CA-1, what are the must-see scenic stops? The time constraint is 24 hours (from Sunday morning to Monday morning). So far, the only markers on my route are the Mystery Spot and Big Sur.
posted by parttimeninja
on Aug 1, 2007 -
14 answers
What's the difference between highways and freeways/the interstate in the US?
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posted by pravit
on Jun 18, 2007 -
29 answers
What is the best method & location for live-blogging a cross country trip using a MacBook, DSLR camera, DV camera, t-mobile EDGE and intermittent wifi?
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posted by tarthur
on Jun 13, 2007 -
6 answers
Is there anywhere that two interstate highways cross at the same exit number?
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posted by smackfu
on May 14, 2007 -
8 answers
In late May, I'll be driving with a bunch of friends in an RV from
Sacramento CA to George WA and back for the Sasquatch Music Festival. I've only driven as far north as the Oregon border before, so I'm looking for recommendations of interesting places to stop - your favorite diners, pie shops, waterfalls, hot springs (improved or not) and other oddities of northwest highway culture. I'm familar with many Northern California hot springs (I really like the one in
Sierraville), and would love to find other very inexpensive and informal places like that.
posted by luriete
on Apr 25, 2007 -
14 answers
A "wide load" vehicle on the highway seems to always have a sign on the back to indicate that it's a "wide load", but the sign doesn't say "wide load". Instead, it has the letter "D" in the middle of it, and red/white vertical bars. Why a "D"? What does the "D" stand for? Why not just have the sign say "WIDE LOAD"? I'm in Canada, if this is something that'd be different in other countries.
posted by gwenzel
on Apr 20, 2007 -
11 answers
A motorcycle cop turned on the flashing lights and started weaving back and forth between cars on the highway. The passes kept getting wider, gradually prompting everyone to clear out of all 4 lanes and hang back about 1/4 mile behind him. Then he continued these sweeping 'S' maneuvers across the lanes for miles. By the time I had to exit, prevailing speed had dropped from 75 to 40. What was he doing, and why?
posted by nakedcodemonkey
on Feb 5, 2007 -
24 answers
Can anyone recommend some good stops on Highway I95 between NC and Florida? I'm driving to Florida after Christmas on Highway I95 and thought I'd consult the mefi hive for some suggestions on good stops for food or other things that are worth pulling off the road for periodically. I've driven the route before but I've always wished I knew of better places to eat than the usual chains/fastfood (ugh!) that have saturated the highway offramps. Roadside attractions are welcome, too (but not Pedro's tourist trap emporium at the NC/SC border).
posted by runningdogofcapitalism
on Dec 20, 2006 -
10 answers
Why do people in Los Angeles usually refer to their numbered highways with "the" (for example, US 101 is "the one-oh-one")?
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posted by armage
on Feb 28, 2006 -
117 answers
Roadconstructionfilter: Why do I see so many highway crews replacing only a 10' by 2' section?
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posted by notsnot
on Dec 8, 2005 -
13 answers
What's a good safe place to park a car for maybe 4 days along the I-80 corridor, south/west of Davis CA and north/east of the Bay Area?
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posted by luriete
on Sep 7, 2005 -
3 answers
Highway_Patrol_Filter: I'm moving from Baltimore to Manhattan in three weeks and trying to avoid shelling out $250 for a moving van. I don't have that much stuff, but want to take my mattress
Is it ok to strap a full sized mattress to the roof of a volvo station wagon on I-95 or will that result in me getting pulled over by the cops? Also, for those of you who've moved like this, what's the best way to strap it to the roof?
posted by slapshot57
on May 11, 2005 -
18 answers
[trafficsnarlfilter] Seattle, as I'm sure a lot of you know, has a very serious traffic problem. There are two causes that get the majority of the press (geography and highways that don't support the population) but I'm curious if folks in other metro areas have this problem: you're driving along on the intersate/highway/freeway/whatever and suddenly you come to a standstill. After a while, you come to discover that someone has been pulled over by the police or there's a tow truck on the side of the road. At the head of the pack, some wonderful lookie-loo has slowed down to see if they know this person stuck on the side of the road and caused a chain reaction that forces everyone else to slow down as well.
This happened to me yesterday on my way to Thanksgiving dinner. It took me 45 minutes to go 3 miles. I was
not a happy camper.
Somehow I'd feel better knowing it's not just drivers in Washington State that are this dumb. Then again...
:-)
posted by glyphlet
on Nov 26, 2004 -
21 answers
