Back Country Roads

On my most recent drive back from Fort Lee, ultimate destination Frederick, Maryland (hi Mom!) I varied the route even more.  Normally I’d take I78 west, continue onto I81 west past Harrisburg, follow that all the way to Hagerstown, Maryland, and then loop back east on I70.

However, my travels on Route 30 through Pennsylvania, particularly from York to Lancaster and back, put me across the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville/Columbia.  Route 30 crosses the river on the Wrights Ferry Bridge, a modern 1972 four lane bridge.  Yet parallel to 30 is 462, part of the old Lincoln Highway, and crossing the river on the Veterans Bridge, a much fancier old bridge dating from 1930.  Imagining the traffic across this bridge being Model T’s and A’s is not hard at all – at least not for me. 

The map also shows that Route 30 continues west of York all the way to Gettysburg, where it hits Route 15 coming up from Frederick.  BINGO.   I took this route.  However, while Route 30 is 4 lanes with a median from York to Lancaster, and fairly rapid transit, west of York it zips down to another two-lane country road:  scenic but none too fast.  Two towns along the way have roundabouts, though.  From Gettysburg to Frederick, Route 15 passes through blue mountain scenery, a good complement to the turn-of-the-century small-town route of 30 from York to Gettysburg.  

As it is, Route 30 continues further west of Gettysburg to Chambersburg, where I81 passes through on its way up from Hagerstown.  And Route 15 continues northeast of Gettysburg to Harrisburg, where I81 likewise comes up from Carlisle.  All these roads are connected?  Amazing.  I had no idea.

FARM ON THE FREEWAY.   Sometimes you’re in a hurry.  You don’t have time to take the scenic route.  In that case the freeway is better.  But it’s a rare freeway that gives you any kind of view.   The New Jersey Turnpike is probably the most efficient at bringing you from Delaware to NYC as quickly and directly as possible, but no part of it is attractive.  I70 between Frederick and Hagerstown, and I78 between Allentown and I287 in New Jersey, are the nicest freeways I’ve seen in awhile. 

Bypasses.  Every now and then a major highway passes through a city center.  I95 passes close by downtown Baltimore and Richmond, and right through the center of Providence, Rhode Island.  I91 in Connecticut cuts right through downtown Harford.   Also many newer, modern interstates often seem to run parallel with older, slower routes.  In New Jersey, I80 follows Route 46, I78 follows Route 22 (continuing west into PA), and along the East Coast I95 closely parallels Route 1.  The newer highways tend to bypass the big cities while the older routes run straight through.   It all depends on how much of a hurry you’re in and how much you want to see. 

Other things to consider.  (A) Tolls.  I mentioned in a prior blog, the fastest route from DC to NYC and back has the most tolls.  Driving through PA has no tolls up to NY and only $1 going back.  Modest 4 lane state routes and two lane back country roads almost never have tolls.  (B) Traffic.  Much of the speed of freeways is compromised by construction delays, accident delays, and plain old rush hour traffic.  Theoretically, the NJTP route to NYC is 4 hours under optimal conditions, compared to 5 hours toll-less through PA.  But traffic delays can easily erode that advantage by 30 minutes or an hour, completely negating it.  (B) Night-time.  The picturesque views of the countryside are almost impossible to see at night, so the aesthetic advantage of the back roads is almost nil if you’re travelling then. 

Back Roads Part II – A Vast Conspiracy

If I were inclined to believe that totalitarian dictatorship, despite its dismal track record to date, nonetheless remains the optimal choice of government for a modern society, I could find a clever way of introducing it.   Naturally, Americans and Europeans intoxicated and addicted to this hazy notion of freedom, as abstract and meaningless as it might be, therefore resist vehemently and stridently any overt efforts to restrain said liberty.   Thus subversion and misdirection are necessary to achieve the desired outcome.

My fellow travelers of the so-called Pinko Persuasion, though their motives be pure, nonetheless fall prey to the easy siren song of mass transit.  Buses, trains, light rail, etc.   If we can’t control how people think – though that remains a work in progress on our campuses across the country – at least we can control where they go.   However, America is a huge country.  Adapting the entire country to mass transit on the interstate, intrastate, county, city, and neighborhood level is obviously impractical.

No.  The better solution is this:  adapt the interstates to computer control of otherwise privately owned vehicles.   Upon entering the freeway, the vehicle’s computer links with the Traffic Computer to disclose passengers, origin and destination.   The Traffic Computer coordinates this with all the other vehicles on the same road.  The Traffic Computer takes complete control of each and every vehicle.   Not merely speed, but also steering, braking, and lane changes.  New vehicles will be equipped to allow this; older vehicles can be retrofitted at no expense to the vehicle owner.  A condition of travel on the freeway is the express consent of each driver to relinquish manual control of the vehicle to the Traffic Control computer until the vehicle exits the freeway at its appropriate exit and rejoins the local roads.  

Doing so would allow traffic on the interstate to flow much more rapidly and safely.   55 mph?  Consigned to the horse and buggy era.   Try 100 mph.  That’s more like it.   Drivers can sit back and read, sleep, consume intoxicants, perhaps even engage in more pleasurable activities (monitored by the Traffic Computer – for purely safety reasons, of course) without any fear of loss of control or accidents.   The end result?  Faster traffic, less accidents, and immensely improved monitoring of the travel patterns of America’s private citizens.  

Why not add police stations to the freeways?   “Drivers” or passengers identified as having outstanding warrants could find themselves diverted to the proper authorities by the ever-cooperative Traffic Computer.  Since all drivers relinquish control of their vehicles upon entering the freeway, the Traffic Control computer could theoretically take them anywhere – not merely their intended destination.  If our immediate goals are less ambitious….then others, merely under surveillance, can be observed easily and records retained.  The only way to avoid scrutiny would be to either stay home or remain on the “small roads”.   And our goal is a step closer….