Community Thread VI

[kno]

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It was when I went to LA for a wedding a year ago during the summer....

I thought it was ludicrous the amount of traffic during the day...

Honestly why doesn't LA or Cali in that matter have UTurns on their highways? It drove me nuts as well if you missed your exit.

Ive actually never heard of freeway U-Turns..



How exactly do those work? Cus here (as you said), you miss the exit, and youre forced to exit on the next one. Just gotta live with it.

[Sedale Threatt]

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Yeah I really enjoyed Dallas the few times I've been there. Very nice place. Unfortunately, I've never been to San Antonio... but I've heard you guys have some of the best Mexican food in the US.

I'm not sure where it ranks with other places -- I'm sure LA has no shortage of incredible eateries -- but it's pretty damn good. That's how I got fat. I'd never heard of breakfast tacos before I moved down here in 96, and I made up for lost time.

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Ive actually never heard of freeway U-Turns..



How exactly do those work? Cus here (as you said), you miss the exit, and youre forced to exit on the next one. Just gotta live with it.

The U-turns are actually built into the underpasses, as part of the frontage roads. Instead of waiting at the light to make a lefty heading the other way, you can zip into the u-turn and you're on your way. They're incredibly handy if you need to get through a busy intersection.

Here is a better description:

A Texas U-turn, or Texas turnaround, is a lane allowing cars traveling on one side of a one-way frontage road to U-turn into the opposite frontage road (typically crossing over or under a freeway or expressway) without being stopped by traffic lights or crossing the highway traffic at-grade. This particular highway configuration originates (and is particularly common) in Texas (especially in the San Antonio area).

[Sedition]

I've never really had issues with missing exits on the freeways, but damn... Texas U-turns sound pretty freakin awesome to me.

[Sedale Threatt]

You have no idea. There's a major intersection in front of the gym I go to that usually takes two or three cycles to get through. Instead of waiting, all I do is squeeze into the U-turn lane and bam, I'm on my way home.

[Blame Rasho]

I've never really had issues with missing exits on the freeways, but damn... Texas U-turns sound pretty freakin awesome to me.

Well I am sure you know LA like the back of your hand if you have lived there all your life, but just think being on a flight for 3 hours or more hours, waiting for the damn bus to take you to your rental, actually get your rental, get out of LAX and then look for your hotel and then you get out on an exit after driving an hour you think is the correct one but only to find it is the wrong one and now you are SOL trying to figure out how to un f'up what you just did. I liked LA alot when I went but the whole traffic issue was just something I would not like to do again.

[Blame Rasho]

You have no idea. There's a major intersection in front of the gym I go to that usually takes two or three cycles to get through. Instead of waiting, all I do is squeeze into the U-turn lane and bam, I'm on my way home.

No kidding... it seems like it makes too much sense to not have them in cities...

[Blame Rasho]

Here is the technical explanations in case you guys were wondering but Sedale Threatt explained it much more short and clearly in my opinion. Oh yeah there is some pics incase you can't visualize what we were talking about.

Our ubiquitous frontage roads are an oddity unique to Texas. However, within Texas, frontage roads have their own oddity. If you travel through the state, you may notice that people in each of the major cities call their frontage roads something different: in Houston, they're "feeder" roads; in Dallas-Ft. Worth, they're "service" roads; in San Antonio, they're "access" roads. I've heard that they're known as "gateways" in El Paso. The term used in Austin and the state's official term is "frontage" road, which is how you'll see them marked on guide signs statewide, even in the aforementioned areas where the popular semantics differ. You can often tell what part of the state someone hails from just by asking them what they call "that road next to the freeway." It should be noted that frontage roads (or whatever you call them) are not just found on Interstates-- the freeway segments of many US and state highways also feature frontage roads.

Texans are generally surprised when they go to other places and find no frontage roads. I often hear people talk about their trips to [fill in the blank] and one topic that often comes-up is, "They don't have frontage roads on their highways!" Most native Texans don't realize how much of an oddity our extensive frontage roads are. Conversely, many out-of-state visitors immediately notice and comment on our frontage roads. It's usually about 50-50 between thumbs-up and thumbs-down.

Going hand-in-hand with frontage roads are "turnarounds". These U-turn lanes allow traffic heading in one direction on a one-way frontage road to "turnaround" and head the other way on the opposite frontage road without having to traverse two signalized intersections (see diagram below). This greatly eases congestion in the intersections. Turnarounds can run below the freeway using the same underpass as the cross street, or they can cross over the freeway on the same overpass as the intersecting street or on separate overpasses. These ramps are generally found only in urban areas. Again, these may have different names in different parts of the state. "Turnaround" is the term in San Antonio, and we're the only place that actually uses "Turnaround" signs. In other parts of the state, a "U-turn ONLY" sign is used. Other terms used are "u-turn lane" and "crossover", although the term "crossover" more correctly describes an opening in the median on a divided highway.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

I just drank a margarita, i can drink with the best of them!

[Slava]

Ah look what a margarita has done to you!

[Slava]

Anyone like "Shiny Toy Guns"? Not the genre of music that I listen to but they seem kind of an interesting band to me with their versatility and style.

[Erik Eleven]

Those seem awesome. I love simple and clean solution like that. Whoever came up with it is brilliant. Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.

Now, why the hell don't we have those turnaround lanes in Los Angeles? Someone call Mayor Viagraosa... I guess it's a good way of forcing people to make illegal u-turns in unsafe neighborhoods and ticket them for it. Happened to me a few years back.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

Anyone like "Shiny Toy Guns"? Not the genre of music that I listen to but they seem kind of an interesting band to me with their versatility and style.

I like that one song, its called "you are the one"

[Sedition]

I'm guessing it's because of density. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is the most densely populated area in the entire United States at 1,415 people/km2 (as compared to NY metropolitan at 1,104 people/km2). Source

Every time we add a single extra lane to a freeway, hundreds of houses have to be bought out and demolished because we've expanded basically right up to the freeway's doorsteps. I can't imagine LA actually trying to add U-turns to all the exits on the freeways. Space is a luxury we haven't had for quite some time now.

[Sedition]

Mhm...that Tucker Max guy is quite funny...

Anyone else read some of his stories?

http://www.tuckermax.com/

I used to read his stuff a few years ago. It seems like he's making up quite a few of the stories IMO.

[Erik Eleven]

Yeah, you're right, Sedition. My only solution would be to add a level to each freeway, but that's a scary solution in earthquake land, and maybe even more expensive.

[Mos Def]

Anyone like "Shiny Toy Guns"? Not the genre of music that I listen to but they seem kind of an interesting band to me with their versatility and style.

I like a select few songs off of their album We Are Pilots, but like you said they do play an interesting genre of music. Right now I'm addicted to The Strokes, I highly, highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't heard their music yet. Absolutely fantastic band. Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes' lead guitarist) also has an amazing solo album out called Yours To Keep.

[Slava]

Hmm.. I've just found this Pharoahe Monch CD and its pretty addicting.

[SashAlex]

Bros, I just wanna ask you something :

How could I get american citizenship in a short period of time or at least to get a document that would allow me to stay legaly in USA for a couple of years ?

Thank's !

[Squirrel Boy]

Haha guys, I got my first summons yesterday.

And peep this, IT WASN'T EVEN MY FAULT.

LMAO

The reason why I got the summons was because my immature teammate, a freshman, snuck in behind me when I was swiping in at the subway.

The fine is 60 bucks, but Im not paying for the kid. That kid better pay up because I let him off the hook easy.

He didnt get a summons due to the fact he's underaged (14) and I'm 17.

If it was any of my other teammates, they probably would have appealed it and put the blame all on him, which is true.

At least all this ish is gonna be cleared after I turn 18. Haha.

[milesfides]

Bros, I just wanna ask you something :

How could I get american citizenship in a short period of time or at least to get a document that would allow me to stay legaly in USA for a couple of years ?

Thank's !

If you're looking for a temporary stay, not permanent, then you should apply for a non-immigrant visa. There's various types of visas: business, pleasure, student, etc. Depending on what you're in the US for, the visa is valid for that period of time you need to get whatever you need to get done.


Generally, you probably want to do some research and start early, since it's a bit more difficult these days due to the changes in immigration laws.


For more info:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html