What This Iconic Photo Says About America’s Road Planning | WSJ Pro Perfected

[@wsj]

Tariffs are on the table for U.S. importers, whatever the election outcome: on.wsj.com/3YTHHSi

[@KamBar2020]

Yeah Whatever 🤔

[@leifashley]

Good... it's about time.

[@necessarynarcissist9923]

ss

[@sigungajoshua6149]

MAD SKILLS !!!

[@Zalis116]

After a certain point, the businesses' goal of getting more traffic on that road kind of becomes self-defeating. When it's that congested, drivers won't want to make a stop, because it can take forever to turn back on and get to the lane they need. And on an emotional level, drivers may resent Breezewood for interrupting their Interstate journey with stoplights, and plan to make their stops elsewhere.

[@kmbbmj5857]

Our town had a study like that and they came up with basically the same solution of decreasing lanes and slowing traffic to try to force people into stores. 100% designed for the store owners and 0% designed for the travelers who need to travel that road. We see that happen all over the country were local businesses force traffic solutions to benefit themselves and not the traffic. Bottom line is Breezewood is NOT a destination of choice just like where I live is not a destination of choice. The businesses need to focus on being a great stop along the way.

[@TheIcecoldorange]

@@kmbbmj5857I didn’t know this was a thing. Do you have a few more examples? I live in socal and we do not have cities redesigning roads to slow traffic down. We do have cities redesigning roads for adding bus/bikes lanes.

[@kmbbmj5857]

@@TheIcecoldorange That's the one I have direct experience with. Let's say the voters rejected it with a resounding NO! It's called "traffic calming" I've seen others on KZbin though.

[@magical11]

@@kmbbmj5857 Traffic calming is to force drivers into stores; it's to make roads safer. A highway next to pedestrian traffic is a recipe for disaster.

[@draneym2003]

I can speak to the resentment. I go out of my way to get off at exit 146 on the turnpike. They've got restaurants, Sheetz, everything Breezewood has and it's an easy on off.

[@horus6915]

99% of civil engineers quit 1 lane before permanently solving traffic

[@ElectricNed]

ONE MORE LANE BRO

[@KamBar2020]

Never Say NEVER 😎 Justin Bieber

[@brandonrico6223]

"99 percent of gamblers quit before they win" - Caesars Entertainment

[@readyredpanda127]

Me, an urbanist who is currently studying civil engineering in college….

[@horus6915]

@@readyredpanda127 Oh no 😶‍🌫

[@Basta11]

Whenever we talk about trains, its always "look at how much this costs!". With roads, no costs is ever mentioned.

[@uuuultra]

delete this

[@7beachbum]

I agree with @basta11

[@kibble-net]

If inconveniencing millions of drivers is a necessity for your town to exist, then your town probably shouldn't exist.

[@JK_Chapman]

💯

[@nopus1]

Three cities prefer to loose billions each, to save on building a detour around small town 🙂

[@uuuultra]

Say that to my face and see what happens 💪🏿

[@bonefishboards]

I've been to Breezewood PA. There is no reason to save that town.

[@johnl.7754]

Don’t think interstate freeways should be concerned with commerce/economy of neighboring areas.

[@MayorMcC666]

this is why they made the first Cars movie, smh. we live in a society

[@comicus01]

I passed through it once 20+ years ago. A waste of 5 minutes of my life. Looking it up on google maps just now, it appears that 90% of the local housing are mobile homes on the west side of the town. There will still be a need for people to stop and get gas or food. There will probably be a drop of some sort, but not so much that the town totally dies. I'm not familiar with the Oklahoma town they referenced, but Amboy is pretty far from I-40, hence why it disappeared. This town will still be right at an exit.

[@tjw8t1]

They have Phantom fireworks, so that's something I guess.

[@revemb4653]

Do they over charge for low quality goods you could easily get in the next town over?

[@ThunderTiger0801]

I like how WSJ doesnt even get the meme and thinks its about the chokepoint haha

[@starventure]

They know the meme, they just think it is stupid. And it is.

[@Distress.]

They get the meme, but it's an interesting video because I had no idea how interstate traffic was routed through the city's streets.

[@mitchellwilliams4998]

@@starventure American car-centric culture is laughable and the meme is funny for everyone who can see that

[@starventure]

@@mitchellwilliams4998 American mass transit culture is far worse.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

@@starventureBruh, what? I will take my smooth and pleasant ride on the Washington Metro over your stressful stint sitting in traffic in your land barge any day. Seriously. Ditching my car was like having the scales fall from my eyes. You have no idea just how many ways that driving is awful until you don’t have to do it. To name just two: The reason your music somehow sounds too loud and also not loud enough? The reason it sounds so repetitive? It’s because you can’t hear dynamic contrast over your car’s engine and tires, so modern music is basically just the same line repeated over and over at max volume so you can tell what’s going on. You lose all the things that make music good. That little feeling in deep in your chest that always feels like your trapped? That yawning urge to get out and do something, anything? It’s because you never go outside. You never really feel the breeze or smell fresh air or feel the sun on your face because you never spend much time outside, because you’re always inside a building or a car. Your brain knows something fundamental is missing from your life that it should be experiencing.

[@johnstanczyk4030]

Ah, I still have fond memories of Breezewood. It was the only Taco Bell that my parents would put up with us going to. While the new ramps did speed up the trip, I will always miss that Taco Bell.

[@KamBar2020]

Make TACOs Great Again 🌯🌮

[@riffzifnab9254]

😭🌮🌯😭

[@JL-sm6cg]

Why THAT Taco Bell, of all Taco Bells?

[@johnstanczyk4030]

@@JL-sm6cg It was a midpoint on a lot of trips. Plus, it was easier to convince parents to stop if traffic is already bad and looked to get better in half an hour.

[@itsjeffreyab]

I am from this area and hate going through the interstate traffic just to see family. PLEASE separate 30 and the Interstate. Also, rather than Breezewood, PA most people stop at the truck stop on the Interstate, Hancock or Berkeley Springs instead.

[@evanpelt23]

Hardee’s in Hancock 👨‍🍳💋

[@crazycom272]

Look like when I play City Skylines 😆

[@udishomer5852]

You must be new to the game :) In my cities the people walk or cycle

[@water7962]

​@@udishomer5852You must be new to the game :) In my city, the people don't drive _or_ walk as their houses are elevated about 2000 ft above sea level and no roads connect to the ground as I have deleted them

[@ghostofdre]

My sims lives in tubes

[@cridenh2owo257]

"Diverging Diamond is too much land" *immediately suggests a cloverleaf* this is why I can't stand journalism

[@irasponsibly]

seems like they wanted two bad ideas to then compare with the actual good idea (two ramps)

[@JillKnapp]

They said both of those were bad ideas.

[@comicus01]

and I looked up the town on google maps. The southeast corner is a small church. Probably won't object if you gave them money to move slightly. The northeast corner is woods. The other buildings on the west side seemed minimal: a couple mobile homes and maybe a small store of some sort.

[@ttt3377]

Never heard of pros and cons? Or a dilemma? This is why I can’t stand people who can’t think with some level of complexity 😅

[@aripocki]

If you think this is a common to all journalism you are incredibly short sighted

[@MikeFife92]

The people who improve traffic snarls must be the most amicable and reasonable engineers in the world. Your opus project is a 15+ year revamp, everyone's unhappy in the building stage, decades of strife, and after 30 years no one remembers who designed it, and will still complain about traffic.

[@aureliusatreides]

I knew this was Breezewood within one second of watching.

[@adrian33161]

I knew from the thumbnail.

[@rdspam]

It was clear from the thumbnail. I’ve been through here hundreds of times.

[@kenbob1071]

@@adrian33161 Funny. I just made the same comment a minute ago before reading this thread.

[@irishdadx4]

Yea.. thumbnail

[@rixxroxxk1620]

I’m a truck driver and I will drive 100 miles out of the way to avoid Breezewood. Heading west from Baltimore? I use I-68 to I-79

[@hpwood3155]

This video has high production value and is full of misinformation and pseudo traffic engineering. As another comment noted, no one would propose a cloverleaf interchange; and why even mention a diverging diamond for a systems interchange-pure ignorance. And then the “fixes” in Breezewood itself-how would a roundabout work with that volume of traffic and truck percentage? Absurd. Now add bike lanes and pedestrian crosswalks and you’ve created a real life version of Frogger. I believe the real reason that this atrocity isn’t fixed is because of the political opposition from Breezewood’s elected officials.

[@Zalis116]

I think the roundabout and bike/pedestrian additions are based on the premise of providing direct connections for the freeways, which means that there wouldn't be nearly as much traffic on the US 30 segment.

[@hpwood3155]

@@Zalis116that is a valid possibility. Even so, roundabouts and bike lanes aren’t very good ideas for commercial, multi lane arterials.

[@gmodrules123456789]

I’m sure you are far more intelligent than these people. I’m sure your opinions aren’t motivated by profit driven channels who deliberately spread misinformation lol

[@NotJustBikes]

There's no solution to car traffic except viable alternatives to driving.

[@CoasterCentral305]

NJB!

[@fermatachambersoloists]

Thank you!

[@legalmentealan]

Is public transportation illegal in the US? 🤔

[@CallMeInfinite0000]

Older folks are so aptly against public transportation it's genuinely sad how they have so much heresay on what America should be.

[@Schander]

Socialism's bad mmmkay.

[@Stargate2077]

It feels like it sometimes…

[@jonw999999]

Remember, the government spending trillions of dollars on free government-run roads, bridges and highways, destroying thousands of neighborhoods, confiscating homes and businesses for freeways, and undermining private railroads is the "free market" at work lol

[@neonmarblerust]

Yeah basically

[@normadamous]

I don't think people are thinking "i wish i could stroll around breezewood or ride my bike to the burger King "

[@boxsterman77]

Strolling . Hand-in-hand along the cigar smelling motels

[@normadamous]

@@boxsterman77 i does sound lovely, now that i think about it...

[@uuuultra]

it's pennsylvania lol who cares? 🤷‍♂️ 😂

[@VardhanShrivastava]

If i am forced to go through a bad stretch of traffic, i would wanna rush through it as fast as I can NOT MAKE IT MY STOP!

[@ladhkay]

The infamous breezewood pic

[@samuelbock8550]

If only we could put as much effort into making cities walkable & with good transport options that aren't cars...

[@malakoihebraico2150]

It's a matter of taste, since many people in places where public transportation is efficient, don't necessarily like it, and they'd rather have a car. Americans and other few are blessed with this luxury.

[@rdspam]

What, you want a public rail system in Breezewood? It’s not even an incorporated town, maybe 1,000 residents total. 😂😂😂

[@flozano8]

​@@malakoihebraico2150it's a curse

[@comicus01]

This isn't a city, it's a glorified gas stop in the middle of woods and farms. It's a pit stop between DC, Baltimore, Philly, and Pittsburgh and other points east.

[@kamX-rz4uy]

@@comicus01 More and better intercity rail would help but there would still be a lot of congestion without direct connectors.

[@dustinphillips941]

24 years driving truck and mostly living in PA with that. Not driving through Breezewood would be awesome. As a trucker, I could never stop supporting that town. I remember so much there. This would work.

[@ji8044]

Just remember, it was a transportation engineer who created that traffic chokepoint in the first place.

[@adriguns1017]

No it was intestate rules that didn’t let interstates connect to toll booths

[@cos3]

@@adriguns1017 Just remember, some people don't watch the video and pay attention to it, yet comment things that contradict it

[@LeoNation007]

Plz watch the video before posting comments

[@ji8044]

@@adriguns1017 Who drew up those rules, a dentist?

[@adriguns1017]

@@ji8044 this isn’t a technical rule on highway construction, safety or efficiency. It’s a regulation made by policy analyst bureaucrats who thought it would help interstate users avoid tolls but who didn’t foresee these consequences. The civil engineer had to work around these constraints.

[@Cline3911]

I looked at the thumbnail. Instantly knew it was Breezewood, Pa. I have fond memories of the area, because it meant we were going to see grandma, and eat at Arthur Treacher's. Yeah. I'm old. You will be too someday.

[@brtecson]

Respect🤝

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

The Perkins (long since closed) used to have a gift shop with NASCAR diecasts. I used to add at least 1 or 2 to my collection every time we stopped there.

[@bruceguy2747]

TIL: Inconvenience is good for the economy

[@joshuajasper5984]

And yet, the video says most of the businesses have closed anyway. 🤷‍♂

[@jonatanwestholm]

This. While we're at it, let's reinstste the old rule that every deceased person must be swept in 10 ft of linen, so that the linen weavers have something to do.

[@kamX-rz4uy]

@@joshuajasper5984 They said many and while it's true that some, mostly older business, have shut down there's still a ton there including newer businesses.

[@FPOAK]

I think the meme is about the soullessness of mass-produced burgerpunk car culture more than inefficient freeway ramps. Prioritizing traffic engineering over urban planning is the problem not the solution

[@neonmarblerust]

Burgerpunk!

[@gmodrules123456789]

Traffic engineering and urban planning are the same thing. Do you even know what you’re talking about?

[@FPOAK]

@@gmodrules123456789 Very strong argument, very compelling reasoning

[@gmodrules123456789]

@@FPOAK You have yet to provide anything contrary

[@me-it9jn]

the movement of vehicles through this choke point is more important than whether this stretch of businesses looks good or not. Most cars sitting in traffic are trying to get through breezewood and not actually stop

[@avaaznfan8952]

A cloverleaf interchange is not preferable. Having back to back loops causes weaving movement and can cause backup prime example I-40 at US 1-64 in Raleigh/Cary. Also back to back loops can create potential sideswipe crashes

[@nicolasblume1046]

Well that totally depents on how much traffic there is. If it's lower than a critical number it's fine (don't remember that number right now)

[@avaaznfan8952]

@@nicolasblume1046 yeah its based on HCM uninterrupted flow.

[@jaylenjackson2403]

IMO a much better idea would be to make a diamond interchange with the tollway being at grade with the on and off ramps, but have a T interchange above everything connecting the tollway with east and westbound I70 👍🏾 something kinda like this maps.app.goo.gl/dPk83AJnXqpETQJb7?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

[@andrewcrawford4635]

In some areas in Michigan they are redesigning interchanges by getting rid of the cloverleafs.

[@avaaznfan8952]

@@andrewcrawford4635 yeah that's the same thing in North Carolina. It's not preferred. If you do have to put a cloverleaf interchange would recommend adding an auxiliary lane or a CD road to separate through traffic from the turning traffic

[@garrett9945]

It isn't right to avoid discussing the aesthetic atrocity.

[@CallMeInfinite0000]

Breezewood used to be a town, and it's slowly not becoming a service point. What ruined it? Cars. Cars practically ruined everything in America, and you cannot justify highway widening, costing over $100B, just to "save" 2 minutes off your commute, is not a good idea. e.g. Katy Freeway in Texas.

[@rdspam]

You want to go back to horses? Walking?

[@interstellarphred]

100 gigabucks builds a lot of railway

[@ianhomerpura8937]

​@@rdspam walking to and from groceries would be nice.

[@dukeonwheels]

@@rdspam Yeah, walking is good. The fact that you seem to scoff at the idea is telling. No wonder this country is so fat. Cities should be walkable, with plenty of options for public transportation.

[@jefftaylor7664]

Eh? This area of Breezewood solely exists because of cars. Who do you think stops at hotels, fast food restaurants, gas stations and truck stops?

[@KingBuc37]

Easiest solution? Just take (if heading West while reversing it going East) I-68 W when it begins @ its interchange with I-70 until it ends @ I-79 in WV, then take I-79 north to I-70 West. You avoid paying the toll that way while sticking it to PA & this laughable setup for 1 of the uSA's most iconic Interstates.

[@robertwillhite9077]

I live in York County, PA, and to avoid the $25 toll to Pittsburgh, this is how I usually drive. Route 30 to I-81 to I-70 to I-68 to I-79. I little bit longer (about 20 miles and 30 minutes) but no toll and no drive through Pittsburgh during rush hour. And I think the drive is prettier than the turnpike. I remember when the cash toll on that route was around $8. Now the EZ-Pass toll is $25-$26 (I don't want to know the toll by plate figure).

[@troy.peters]

Best solution. Don't go to Pennsylvania.

[@mlbrooks4066]

@@robertwillhite9077 Excellent for cars. Might be rough for truck traffic. Lots of major hills and mountains between Hancock MD and I-79 in WV. The PA Turnpike has tunnels.

[@kwekwlos]

I don't typically watch WSJ but I appreciate this video immensely, please keep spreading awareness of the need for road reform in America, it is a disaster right now. The "road diet" idea blew my mind, I sincerely hope it takes off across the country

[@user-np7gt6bd3r]

The road diet idea may work in some area, but trust me there are absolutely zero humans wanting to cross Hwy 30 in Breezewood to get between "establishments". Also, Breezewood isn't exactly known for it's large bicycling culture, and turning a lane into a bike lane is going to result in the occasional bicyclist being killed.

[@blockmaster4417]

While as an engineer I am a fan of road diets, but the idea that "we have a massive volume of traffic traveling on our roads that creates congestion, lets take away capacity, that'll improve it for sure" is 100% for more back ups, which is incredibly more dangerous. Also, I can't imagine that amount of pedestrians are trying to cross US30/I70 in Breezewood is very high. Something obviously needs done in the area, having driven through there a dozen times myself, but there is no solution that will happily appease the drivers, pedestrians, business owners and local taxpayers. Its the hard line to walk for transportation engineers

[@BigGoldenYoshiFan]

I don’t know why your engineer would recommend an outdated cloverleaf interchange, that uses a ton of space and cloverleafs are chokepoints for weaving. A fly-over interchange would be ideal.

[@robbiewinfield7853]

Everything about this video sounded like buzzwords acquired after watching 15 minutes of KZbin videos on City Skylines. No clue why WSJ wasted time by bringing up the idea of a DD for a highway interchange (it's just illogical because of traffic lights) and a cloverleaf is incredibly outdated. Even if they were to make a new interchange, who would even be walking along this road to justify a road diet and sidewalk? Pedestrian connectivity is great but no one is walking to gas stations and drive-thrus, nevermind the fact that literally no one lives in Breezewood. Even if there was a sizable population here, nobody WOULD WANT TO walk to these places. Also, a median instead of a center lane would probably be better, though forcing the U-turns at lights for the high volume of trucks may be difficult.

[@gmodrules123456789]

Because it’s simple and the road is in the middle of nowhere

[@majahanson311]

He didn't. He brought up the idea to discuss why it wouldn't be the best option.

[@LoveToday8]

Ahhh. I wish the engineer would have said the roadway/lanes were REPURPOSED for bikes, a wider sidewalk, etc. Drivers already feel and behave as if they are the only ones allowed to use the street and using language like a lane was "taken" just reinforces that. Words really do matter. Additionally, would have been cool to discuss how cars are a very inefficient way to move lots of people compared to the capacity of buses, trains, and bike lanea and how land use matters. They were on the right track talking about making that town a destination. Why not improve it for people who live there? Build dense housing, give people options in how they get around (quick, reliable, and frequent buses and/or trains, safe bike/scooter lanes, wide sidewalks, raised crosswalks), etc. Glad these topics are being discussed more and more people are seeing the damage car dominance is inflicting.

[@Wqddles]

Breezewood isn't anything more than a few hillbillies and some truck stops. Spending the money on that kind of infrastructure there would be a total waste when it could be used somewhere people actually live.

[@barryrobbins7694]

RECLAIMED: Modern roads were first built for bicyclists.

[@rd9102]

Cloverleaf would be a disaster. It's a nogo because of all the downsides and it's limitations for traffic flow. A diverging diamond is a good solution but a true stack or a turbine would be more efficient if larger to build.

[@Arkiasis]

Cloverleafs are bad in general, you have traffic trying to merge onto and traffic trying to merge off the road causing a chokepoint where you have a ton of people turning into and out of the off/on ramp.

[@bagheerab278]

Make it a destination people WANT to go to, rather than an obstacle course they're FORCED to go through.

[@kenkennedy3558]

I am from that area and travel quite frequently through there, it is no longer the Town of Motels. All of the motels have closed, the Exxon in the foreground is closed, as is the diner, the Quizno’s, the Taco Bell. The gift & Souvenir shop in the background is now The Black & Gold store that sells, for the most part, Steelers, Penguins, & Pirates gear. If you are headed east off of route 30 and want to get on I-70, you can take the local road that runs parallel to to it, if you’re on I-70 and want to head west on route 30, get off at the exit before Breezewood and get on the same parallel road to Rte. 30. The absolute worst traffic going through there is the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after. It can take 5 hours to get from the DC area to Breezewood, normally a 2.5 drive. With the tolls as expensive as they are, I believe most of the businesses would survive because of the amount of drivers that want to avoid the high tolls if they were to build interchanges of some sort. Most of the people that live there travel to Bedford to do their shopping or go to Altoona anyway.

[@fromthevan]

This is very Chuck Marohn. Turn the Interstate from a Stroad back into a Road. Turn Route 30 from a Stroad back into a Street.

[@bmwfraulein1538]

Sorry - I don’t care how many sidewalks or bike lanes you add you won’t catch me trying to cross that road. Too many distracted drivers!

[@carmashter]

*City adds a sidewalk along a 45mph/72kph highway *Nobody uses it because who'd wanna walk next to cars zooming at 50mph/80kph "See, it's a waste of money!" Fun fact: one of our neighborhood's selling points is "Walkable Sidewalks" as if it's not supposed to be built in 😂

[@doublej1076]

It goes hand-in-hand with the direct connection between I-70 and the turnpike. With traffic on US-30 being there to actually be in Breezewood (or passing through on 30) the speed limit would probably drop to 35 mph/55 km/h.

[@PhilKulak]

lol, this is like an Onion video. The whole point of the meme is that cars ruin the space, and the WSJ comes along like, "Well, let's add more lanes and make it easier to bring in more cars. That will solve it!"

[@ng28]

"one more lane bro"

[@Distress.]

Except this community would die without the interstate. Not everything needs to be a walkable area

[@Zalis116]

Did you even watch the video? It advocates building ramps to keep cars on the freeways, instead of forcing them to drive on that commercial strip. And for _removing_ lanes from the stroad to make it more manageable.

[@gmodrules123456789]

@@Zalis116 Urbanists don’t “watch videos”, they listen to the first ten seconds and tune out while they play Minecraft

[@georgewchilds]

Breezewood saved me 20 years ago. I was able to buy a makeshift cover for the car seat that my son soaked through after two juice boxes and a nap. Thank you Gateway!

[@LeeTomaVideo]

Ooooh, I checked out the site online, and now I want to explore the old abandoned turnpike route by bike!

[@abrahamjaimehernande]

Imagine living in Switzerland and missing these traditional American detours. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ApatLang]

Whoever made this video doesn't understand the meme 😂 they probably live in some suburb that looks similar to this

[@jeycalc6877]

I'm sure it will be a terrible experience for pedestrians regardless

[@De3533N]

Before even clicking I knew this was Breezewood. Been through there countless times growing up near Baltimore.

[@Triplecenturies]

Make Breezewood the base for the trailhead of the Abandon Tunnels bike path that is just a half mile east. Also build a Buc-ee's there. That would get people to exit the highway once any new direct interchange is built.

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

If a good, patient developer is willing to put money into cleaning this up, you could make something from nothing. Some quality hotels and another few restaurants or diners, and like you said, a Buc-ee’s. There’s gold waiting to be scooped up.

[@Intrxvert_ed]

Local here. Any time I'm headed to Baltimore/DC I always stop at Breezewood at Sheetz or Hardee's. It's just a natural stopping point in that route for me. Even if they were to construct these hypothetical ramps to alleviate traffic, I would probably STILL go through Breezewood just to make my usual stop there. It's a good point roughly halfway between Baltimore/DC and Pittsburgh.

[@majahanson311]

As an act of protest against being forced to sit in that worthless traffic, I specifically avoid ever spending money in Breezewood. I stop at the Bedford exit on the Turnpike instead. It's only one exit West of Breezewood, and it has Wendy's, Sheetz, GetGo, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Hoss's, and Denny's. Very easy on & off.

[@mlbrooks4066]

You could still go to Breezewood and like it a lot better if the heavy truck and auto traffic from I-70 were not in your way.

[@Globalurb]

It's not just a Traffic Engineering problem but also a urban planning one. It would require to completely reinvent Breezewood if they want to keep busnisses thriving with a bypass. They could turn it into a European style pedestrian village connected to the abandoned turnpike and surrounded with parking and gas stations or even something like a Thai style rest area (those are literally villages!)

[@cmill7272]

Insane. The town literally only exists because the turnpike. Nobody goes to this area otherwise.

[@Shako_Lamb]

I know this area well because I grew up 45 minutes away. The thing people don't mention is that even if the freeways completely bypassed the town, it would still get a lot of traffic because a lot of people DON'T want to get onto the PA Turnpike when they reach the northern point of I-70. The PA Turnpike (I-76) has tolls but also doesn't have a lot of interchanges, which is a double reason why sometimes it makes a lot more sense to get on Route 30 to get to places like Everett than to get on the Turnpike. There will still be traffic through there no matter what, for better or worse.

[@mlbrooks4066]

People don't want the dead end stop that I-70 comes to at Breezewood - THAT's the problem. Directing all that traffic left onto US30 isn't a solution for when heavy truck traffic is involved. Turning Everett into Breezewood is not a good idea.

[@Shako_Lamb]

@@mlbrooks4066 I believe you misunderstood my argument. I was not suggesting that taking 70 to 30 West should be the main way to get to Everett. I was suggesting making a more direct connection between 70 and 76, which is what many people want, and pointing out that many of the people who already take 70 all the way to 30 West to Everett, would likely just keep doing what they're already doing. Not everyone, but there would still be reasons to use 30 instead of 76, from accessing local roads to avoiding tolls. The point being that bypassing Breezewood wouldn't entirely kill it, because it would still be an important regional junction even without the Interstate going through it (though it would probably shrink somewhat).

[@whoslistening]

petition to change Breezewood to consoooomer slop, pa

[@reneca89]

This is the best AD for Cities Skylines. Looks like 18 hours of my day will be spent well now

[@wipjenni]

I’ve been through Breezewood quite a few times - morning, noon & night - and I’ve never seen traffic issues worse than anywhere else. It flows better than any mall area along RT 30!

[@robox91]

I thought it was just a stroad. But it's worse...

[@GrabASpriteB]

Interchanges that minimize land usage, complexity, and cost would be preferable here.

[@mattsprayberry0]

As a truck driver. the only reason I would stop and breezewood would be to take a shower or get maybe fifty gallons of fuel because i'm not paying the ridiculous prices that pennsylvania charges when I can get fuel much cheaper in ohio or virginia

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

They got the Flying J at least. Wish they’d rebuild the Hardees. When I was a kid, the Perkins gift shop had NASCAR diecasts. I always added at least one to my collection.

[@thomasmiller5057]

I’ve been passing through Breezewood for family visits for the last 50 years. It’s an interesting piece of Americana I find it useful for necessities along the way and I make time for biking the abandoned section of the PA Turnpike that is located just to the east This is one way they are trying to make it a destination. There are plans to improve the bike trail as it is still very rough and deteriorating.

[@jalfredl]

Adding one more lane to fix traffic is like saying adding a notch on your belt to fix obesity.

[@majahanson311]

Please point out the moment in the video where anyone said to add a lane to Breezewood

[@VernL4]

I've been through Breezewood a few times. We have never stopped there. We've always been afraid to pull off the road into a business. With all of the traffic, it has to be nearly impossible to leave one of the businesses. We just stay on the road and find a different place to stop.

[@mutualin4mation]

The old PA Turnpike is there. It’s a hiking - biking trail now. Pretty cool.

[@mattb.7761]

When Breezewood took out one of the truckstops, a lot of truckers keep going.

[@5stardave]

There are no negative impacts of vehicles, the negative impacts are from the humans.

[@larsiparsii]

Kinda disappointed this wasn't about the American car centric culture which is what most people associate with that picture. I do love infrastructure videos, but the proposed solutions to a traffic jam wasn't what I was hoping for.

[@jameshannahs9010]

The video continues to refer to I-70 as North and South. Although I-70 is traveling North and South at this point of the highway, it is the same as the other 2 highways mentioned in this video, I-76 and US-30, in that it goes East and West.

[@GavinKelly12]

This is really the plot of cars 🫡

[@thedudefromdgomx]

Solid 8min video

[@uuuultra]

truth

[@JillKnapp]

This video implies that average Americans actually want walkable places, when they really want drive-thrus, Ozempic, and social isolation while dying of loneliness. (For the record, I wish everyplace was walkable/bikeable and/or had safe, reliable public transit.)

[@DisposableEgo]

Out here in West Virginia, they've built crissity-crosses and whirly-woos. No clover leaf or diamond interchanges anywhere. Nobody here can drive inside their lane, so it really wouldn't matter anyway.

[@uuuultra]

thanks

[@DisposableEgo]

@@uuuultra not a problem

[@martalli]

This isn't a community that needs more pedestrian lanes for residents. This is an exit that everyone is forced to take. I am all for walkable neighborhoods and bike lanes, but this place calls for an interchange to allow intercity traffic to flow properly.

[@JL-sm6cg]

Been to Breezewood, technically, four times. Once going to Coastal North Carolina for vacation when I was 10 (guess it could be 5 since we went when I was 2 as well, but I don't remember Breezewood), and three other times while headed to Ft. Pickett, VA in 1999 and 2000 in the Army. The Army ones were remembered mainly by the stopping to get food by most of us on a motor coach, and the early party (or whatever they called them in the Army) who needed two days, and would stop for the night at a hotel there. That's two of them going there, and one coming back as I flew home early in 2000 due to a family emergency.

[@ABCantonese]

Remove nearby rest stops and promote the town's BUSINESSES (not the town itself which no one cares about in the grand scheme) and perhaps centralize the parking because once I'm in the car i want to move on.

[@radiolycanthropy5601]

I have been through Breezewood more times than I care to remember and the total number of businesses I've ever patroned can be counted on one hand: Sheetz, Shell, Starbucks, and Sunoco. Myself and 80% of those truck drivers can't be wrong if even being there means wanting to get through there as fast as possible.

[@EK-hd7fr]

Omg, so glad I live in the Netherlands 😂

[@malakoihebraico2150]

Big population, big problems. Look at Japan, although the most efficient transportation country, many would still have a car if they could.

[@ikmarchini]

NL doesn't view roads as way to gouge its population for cash.

[@starventure]

@@ikmarchini No, they prefer to just take it straight from your paycheck. How sporting of them.

[@cadriver2570]

@@malakoihebraico2150 Wrong. The Netherlands, like many countries has a far more logical transportation system.

[@malakoihebraico2150]

@@cadriver2570 What does "logical" even mean in this context lol? We're talking about people's preference, and you can look it up if you want, but private transportation is usually at the top.

[@arnauds2222]

I just checked and Washington dc to Pittsburg is about 300 km (186 miles in a straight line, or 4 hours by car according to google maps, or 2.5 days for a slow bald eagle), or just a little bit more than Brussels and Paris. You can go between these last two cities by train in 1h 22 min and it costs 30 euros (or 33 us dollars, or 5 dollars more than the price of gas for your empty ford f150). And you can work the whole time.

[@mlbrooks4066]

Mountains between Paris and Brussels? The Appalachians and Allegheny mountains are pretty rough with curves and long ups and downs. As it is, it takes Amtrak a lot longer than 4 hours to get from DC to Pittsburgh.

[@arnauds2222]

@@mlbrooks4066 Good point, but it didn’t stop the Swiss from having one of the best train networks in the world. And they have the Alps. Same for the Japanese.

[@guff18]

Breezewood exist because federal highway regulations prohibited directly connecting a toll road (Pa Turnpike) to a non-toll interstate (I70). There’s a similar interchange where the PA Turnpike meets I81.

[@JMccovery]

I absolutely despise the Carlisle interchange; trying to get into and out of the Petro and Loves is a nightmare, even with traffic lights.

[@shrineguard2778]

Amboy and Texola remind me of Radiator Springs from Cars. The road in the movie is also Route 66 which starts seeing lesser traffic after the construction of a highway.

[@Justvisiting498]

Thumbs up for the Westminster CA Cameo

[@kenbob1071]

I'm all for "road diets," but here there are no residential areas and only businesses and parking lots. I doubt there are going to be many people riding their bikes here since most are driving through. Still, it would look better than the ugly concrete 6 lane road.

[@Welgeldiguniekalias]

2nd solution is obviously best. It is cheaper to build, requires no alteration to the toll plaza, and has the smallest footprint, while still allowing most traffic to bypass the downtown area. However, the road diet on route 30 is poorly thought through. This transportation engineer is applying urban solutions to a tiny town with fewer than 2000 residents. Once most of the through traffic has been removed from the downtown area, a much simpler road layout would be possible, but encouraging dangerous left turn should not be part of the design. If you are going to build roundabouts, You might as well put up a median wall and have vehicles loop round and turn right instead. This is also safer for the newly introduced pedestrians in the traffic mix who otherwise would be at risk of being run over by drivers laser focused on oncoming motor vehicles while planning their needlessly dangerous left turns across two lanes of fast moving traffic.

[@troy.peters]

Better is to just eliminate toll roads. We already pay tax on gasoline that is supposed to pay for the roads. Toll roads are just extra income for the state and add to the pollution problem by forcing vehicles to slow/stop, in some cases sit and idle, before moving on to the next toll booth to repeat the process.

[@Welgeldiguniekalias]

@@troy.peters The gas tax was last increased in 1993 and has not been adjusted for inflation since. Meanwhile, vehicles have increased in size, weight and power, causing more wear and tear on an ageing road network. So no, gas tax does not pay for road maintenance.

[@prestonroy4639]

Enjoy these type of videos. Educational and not plolitical

[@mlbrooks4066]

Actually, it is, because a political situation caused the problem. The politics of business when they call the shots.

[@nick_john]

3:54 hey that’s me right there

[@yaush_]

What I think is funny about this video is that this “town” is not a town in any way. Basically it was a temporary interchange for the highway and businesses started developing there. When the PA government was going to make this into just a normal interchange it faced severe backlash from the business owners because basically this “town” would have no reason to exist any more. All it is effectively a bizarre rest stop. Literally no one lives here and the rest of area is beautiful PA farmland. Therefore I find it a little disingenuous when people look at this as an example of toxic car culture. Stroads exist in America, but they’re only bad when they’re in a real city or town and divide the community or make a community unwalkable. Breezwood is not a community it’s just a unique highway interchange with businesses on it.

[@iRacingIRL]

I knew this was Breezewood just from the photo. Lovely town 😂

[@colormedubious4747]

That "Interstates can't connect to toll roads" excuse is pure bullsnot! Not only did many states make use of the option of funding their share of construction costs by issuing bonds secured by tolling their segments of interstates, but Robert Moses had contrived a way to gain federal funds to connect highways to his toll bridges by stretching the definition of "approaches" to the breaking point MANY years earlier.

[@jabber1990]

"80% of truck drivers don't stop"" they're not allowed to and businesses don't' want them to

[@rhino6634]

That’s why I hate journalism. There is no context for statistics. 80% means nothing if it’s not relative to other numbers. If other rest stops and towns in PA on interstates have a 90+% number that 80% is pretty darn good

[@southkiddJ]

Diverging diamond with stop lights or old, dated cloverleafs (figure 8s) that tend to slow traffic even more, especially trucks..hmm There is no way as an engineer that this is the best you can come up with. All of that land out there, which can possibly be bought, or imminent domain, and that’s not an option to construct flyovers? Unbelievable

[@briangasser973]

I love whe she says people aren't stopping and their is a help wanted sign in the video at the same time

[@zed625]

That’s what people want, a bike lane on an old stretch of interstate. It’s like these city planners only speak to special interest groups

[@revemb4653]

For anyone wondering YES that street is always slow and backed up

[@Amtrakker]

A bunch of locomotive engineers would fix this much better

[@phillyphilly2095]

There's a similar problem just north of Philadelphia, where the PA Turnpike does not directly intersect with I-95.

[@acps110]

I-95 has directly connected to the PA Turnpike since 2018. Those ramps were built to complete I-95 and remove the gap that had existed in the middle.

[@phillyphilly2095]

@acps110 What? Really? I thought if you're driving east on the turnpike you can't go directly to southbound 95. I must be behind the times.

[@raywygo]

Driven through this many times, its so fun!

[@robertgraffin366]

The perfect traffic pattern looks an awful lot like a train station

[@foremanhaste5464]

The point of a road is to move goods and people. If a town is at cross purposes with that (hindering traffic so they might stop) one of them has to go to preserve order. If a person wants to stop, they will. Most people preplan their trips to some degree even if limited, so they will already know if they are going to stop for lunch or a nap somewhere. Phones and vehicle apps let people know where the services they want are located; it is no longer necessary to intentionally hinder people so that they might stop in your town. From my experiences doing road trips, the best thing a town can do is put signs along the highway/interstate with advertisement and directions to their 'services' stroad. Make a clearly marked exit that then slows vehicles to a convenient rubber necking speed so that they can spot the thing for which they want to stop. When they are done, they exit the stroad and continue on their way.

[@jaydee975]

A road diet in this particular situation is absolutely stupid.

[@mattsheehan8230]

Pennsylvania. Where there are no direct interchanges on and off the toll roads to other highways, EXCEPT for the two new ramps of I-95.

[@timnigma7555]

‘iconic’ is not an adjective that’s used to describe a traffic *chokepoint* 😂 wouldn’t ‘notorious’ or ‘infamous’ make more sense?

[@segalliongaming8925]

Maybe build a bunch of EV supercharging stations there, if you want to attract a clientele that has disposable income. Trapping them there for 45 minutes at a time is a clever, “Green New Deal” way of reviving auto towns like Breezewood.

[@dc2guy2]

Charlotte mentioned... 🗣️ NORTH CAROLINAAAAA, C'MON AND RAISE UP!!!! 🙌🏽🔥🔥🔥

[@am74343]

Yeah, it's definitely time to reconfigure that whole multi-mile flyover/detour/reroute/spaghetti-junction nightmare. Breezewood will still be perfectly fine economically, because trucks who need to purchase fuel can still do so with a regular ramp style interchange for the town.