Where is the exit? Where am I? Can you see it? Oh, we just crashed. This is what happens in the following ten locations.
10.) Every left hand exit in Connecticut
The Scrambler says that while Connecticut is the 3rd smallest state, it is also a hot traffic mess:
There are many examples of left-hand exits in Connecticut, but the of the many I deal with on a regular basis, the I-84 East/Route 8 North in Waterbury. It isn't as bad as some of the other left-hand exits, as it is a separate exit lane and not the left lane ending as an exit, which happens elsewhere in the state. What makes it suck is the fact that the ramp itself is short and with a sharp curve, you create a speed differential between exiting cars and the regular flow of traffic. The exit for Route 8 south onto I-84 East dumps into the left lane almost immediately after this exit, and while it creates its own lane, there is a right-hand exit not a quarter mile later that people try to make. This happens in other places in Connecticut.
Suggested By: The Scrambler says it can be done, Photo Credit: Google
9.) I-96/M-14 WB to I-275 SB between Livonia and Plymouth
Aaron Foley confirms what guysmileypkt thinks about this Detroit wonder:
I-96/M-14 WB to I-275 SB between Livonia and Plymouth on the west side of Detroit is one of the worst clover leaf exit ramps ever conceived! Nothing like sharing a deceleration lane with accelerating traffic entering M-14 WB... that happens to have heavy tractor trailer traffic at all hours of the day!
That whole exchange is a clusterfuck, especially EB-96/M-14 to I-275N if you have to get to 696. I've had so many close calls with people stopping short in the lane next to the exit lane to get over at the last minute.
Suggested By: guysmileypkt, Photo Credit: CBS Detroit
8.) Any enter/exit ramps in the US
Tina says you stay classy, San Diego!
All (well almost all) of San Diego's highway roads are like this. I hope to meet the asshat(s) who created these in the afterlife and slap crap out of him(them). Then I'll pimp slap the idiots who were too lazy to number the exits and entrances!
Suggested By: rawtoast
7.) Interstate 110 North to Interstate 5 North In LA
For Sweden is not impressed with the California Department of Transportation:
The off-ramp from Interstate 110 North to Interstate 5 North in Los Angeles. First, you drive on I-110, likely the world's worst designed freeway (constant radius curves!). Then you enter a tunnel with narrow lanes and no shoulder. If you haven't already, you have to merge all the way to the left (left exit!), remember no shoulder, and then take the off ramp. One lane, no shoulder, onto one of the state's busiest freeways.
However, it used to be much, much worse. The road signs used to no tell you that the off-ramp used a left lane exit. Drivers would move right to exit, as a driver would be expected to do, then have to cross an entire (horribly designed) freeway to exit right. Luckily, one innovative graffiti artist put up a sign indicating a left exit. It helped so much the California Department of transportation kept the idea.
Suggested By: For Sweden
6.) I35 through Austin
Chairman Kaga is not a fan of short exits:
Any of the exits along the Lower Deck of I35 through Austin.
First, they're all INSANELY short. You might have 15 feet to move over, then decelerate from 65 MPH to 35 MPH.
They are also either within 50 feet of the intersection, meaning if you're trying to go right you have to cross three or four lanes of traffic on the frontage road in a distance less than most people can spit, OR they are miles from the road you actually are trying to find.
Suggested By: Chairman Kaga
5.) The interchange between Interstate 287 and the Sprain Brook Parkway
Highball! warns about the situation in NY:
I nominate the interchange between Interstate 287 and the Sprain Brook Parkway/Taconic State Parkway. There are some exits where you can go on one road but not the other. Want to access the Tappan Zee Bridge from the southbound Taconic State Parkway? Pay attention to signs up the road, because you need to take the Saw Mill River Parkway to do that. Want to go north on the Taconic State Parkway from the Tappan Zee Bridge? Too bad, there's no direct northbound ramp. You need to know how to go up 100A and not end up in Westchester Community College, or onto 119 into White Plains or Elmsford. Oh and if you are a truck driver on I-287 who knows nothing about the no commercial vehicle laws on our parkways, your GPS will redirect you to the nearest low clearance bridge on the Hutchinson River Parkway. Now to think of it, dealing with I-287 just sucks in general.
Suggested By:Highball!
4.) Way too many signs in Kent, UK
If you google "too many road signs", you get this one. Guy Meurice has more:
It's just outside the lovely historic city of Canterbury in Kent, UK. This off ramp is actually a road that 'joins' a two-lane road, turning it into a four lane road for a couple of hundred meters then leaves again, allowing cars to cross over to either join or leave the two roads. Then the road ends. Where the two signs are in the middle of the image there is no more road, you either go left or right.Essentially you go from a 70mph road to a tiny country lane instantly. It's a very odd situation, and not one often found in the UK. A lot of people become very confused due to the layout and the hilarious amount of signs and simply drive through the two signs, down the embankment behind them and into the trees. It's famous for it. Been in the papers and everything.
They tried removing all the extra signs, so now there are hardly any signs, and orange barriers where the two central signs are, but people still go straight through them on a startlingly regular basis.
Suggested By: Guy Meurice, Photo Credit: Daily Mail
3.) Northside Drive HOV Exit I-75 South Atlanta
My X-type is too a real Jaguar say it was famous even before the bus crash because:
It was very poorly marked and people would think they were still on the interstate only to come to a T intersection on a bridge.
Suggested By: My X-type is too a real Jaguar
2.) Pittsburg
You want the details? PelicanHazard has some:
Enjoy.
This is Exit 74 on I-376, and it's responsible for the majority of traffic crossing the East End of Pittsburgh every weekday + sports day.
It begins with its close proximity to the Squirrel Hill Tunnels, which already suffer from drivers slowing down. Yes, it's a real thing here in Pittsburgh, mostly due to terrible junctions like this. So you're going from a 65-70mph pace to maybe 50 tops throughout the tunnel (stop-and-go conditions in rush hour).
Now, if you're traveling East, it's a three-lane highway that slims down to two, with the 3rd lane exiting to become Beechwood Blvd (where most traffic goes, to get to the Waterfront, Homestead, and points southeast). But the 3rd lane is where the on-ramp connects (and it ends in a stop sign!). So you have people trying to get on, slamming the gas pedal, then realizing there isn't a gap in the number 2 lane, and then hitting the brakes trying to squeeze in before the concrete divider comes up. Once off the highway there's also some mild traffic hiccups from people getting off the Westbound side (more on that later) trying to get in the left lane to turn into Squirrel Hill, and highway exiters trying to quickly cross over to the new number 3 lane before the Greenfield exit (which is a very sharp right) comes up.
As for Westbound traffic...the tunnels are two lanes each way and don't allow lane changes in them. It's not very well-signed before the tunnel that the exit is right after it, so if you're in the left Westbound lane and need to get off at this exit, you'll have to very quickly cut across the other lane to make it. Then, once you cross the overpass, you're now the number 3 lane for Eastbound exiters, so any of them who want the Greenfield exit will come up very quickly (because they just got off the highway whereas you had to do a slow 180) and cut across you to dive bomb that ramp. If you, Westbound exiter, want to go to Squirrel Hill, you now have not many feet to cross the number 2 lane full of fast Eastbound exiters and enter the number 1 lane full of fast Eastbound exiters also trying to get to Squirrel Hill.
There's also no easy way to get back on the Westbound side once your exits, your choices being a U-turn on a heavily-trafficked road, a left turn into a parking lot, or just going around a block and re-entering.
It's confusing the first few times, but this is Pittsburgh the College City, so this is a total disaster from August through May with a bunch of out-of-town students and their families that always end up here on their way from campus to nightlife.
Suggested By: PelicanHazard, Photo Credit: Google
1.) The Western Hills Viaduct in Cincinnati on I-75 North
This was by far your favorite, so watch out there in Cincinnati!
Suggested By: Arch Duke Maxyenko, a Dyslexic
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Top Photo Credit: BMW