Brighton, Michigan - US-23 Flex Route SB to Ann Arbor

[@williethomas9953]

You know I must have gotten off at that State st exit 2,000 times and never turned left. Always right going to either Briarwood Mall, the Football/basketball game or further up to the University of Michigan. Although when I ran the tutoring center at Eastern I used to go across the bridge on the #6 bus. Which went to the Members on Carpenter rd and I could get the #4 or 5 to EMU.

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

nice work on the video. what do you think about the flex lanes?

[@EdwardW98]

Much appreciated! My opinion has pretty much stayed the same since I last commented on your take on this route. Trying not to be biased (since I've only driven this route 3 or 4 times under low traffic conditions), I think the flex lane design just isn't sustainable. In my opinion, this seems like a very expensive temporary fix to a congestion problem that's only going to grow. With funding being an issue for a full freeway widening to 3 lanes in each direction, I think it would've been best to do separate bridge widenings as funding allows and come back and do a full freeway widening once all impacted bridges are widened (similar to I-94 in Detroit). However, I do think think the design is pretty neat, and maybe even a little political too, since I've never seen anything like it - especially in such a semi-rural area located in Michigan! I can't imagine how much the total ITS cost of this project was considering that each of the steel trusses for the electronic signs cost an upward of $120,000.

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

@@EdwardW98 I completely agree with your thoughts. It's a very neat highway. I went out of my way to drive and film it much like you did. It seems like an expensive interim fix, but at the same time, it's a pretty neat and somewhat futuristic looking highway. On one hand, I understand why a highway agency would try to stretch every dollar and why the flex lane solution makes sense. But on the other hand, I don't like it because I feel like they cheaped out, and ended up spending a bunch of money on something that will end up being throwaway infrastructure.

[@calvinsmith6681]

I know I'm late to this conversation, but I believe the flex lanes were installed both because it saves money, and because the department likely understands that building one more lane doesn't actually increase capacity, at least not in the long term. In a growing area, adding another lane only induces demand in the long term, and inevitably leads right back to congestion. However, it does still increase capacity in the short term. It's squeezing every little bit of usefulness out of the highway before committing to a permanent expansion. The City of Ann Arbor has also stated that they don't want the highway to be expanded any further, and instead they want the state to invest in alternate forms of transportation, namely commuter rail, which would be the real solution to ending congestion on US 23: getting the commuters off the roadway entirely.

[@dontgetlost4078]

3:47 Spotted a possibly rebellious teen for that white car. Parking like this has to be intentional! That rough part on US-23 is still better than what I can pull off rn, so don't worry about it. xd

[@EdwardW98]

Yeah it sure was strange seeing how people parked at that particular rest area... Must be an Ann Arbor thing lol. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@EdwardW98]

@@kennypalermo9071 Nope just filled up on gas and headed back towards Detroit. I usually upload whenever I have time to edit the videos.

[@jillpatterson3876]

So many fast drivers on this route, people go 100 and will tailgate you, I had an ahole today that almost ran we off the road cause I was actually going the speed limit.

[@BroadwayLTDProductions]

Maybe because you were in the left lane like a lot of mouth breathing slow drivers are on 23 because they ride it from M-14 to I-96 because they are too lazy to get over when they are supposed to.

[@jillpatterson3876]

@@BroadwayLTDProductions I don't drive in the left lane cause of idiots like you, I actually drive safe so have fun driving and be safe cause it sounds like you are one of the many jerk drivers that don't care if they kill someone on the roadway.