So today, I was driving around Dallas, lost (as I frequently am when driving around Dallas), and instead of putting my energy into finding a way back to 635 from Loop 114, I found myself compiling a list in my head of all the things I would change about Dallas roadways if I could. And then I started getting fired up because I can't believe that such a big city, with so many people, can be this hard to get around in! Unfortunately I am not a psychic and I don't just know where to go. You would think this would be okay, because in a city roads should be marked and it should be simple to get from point A to point B. HA!
Granted, I am not good at getting around. At all. But still. There are some things about drivign in Dallas that just drive me crazy.
- How can MAJOR ROADS seriously not have street signs? It is like that all over Dallas. I cannot tell you how many times I have been sitting in the car with my little printout from MapQuest (well, it's been google maps lately since I can print out an actual picture of where I am going), trying to figure out if the light I am sitting at in this huge intersection is the street I am looking for or not. And how am I supposed to know if there isn't a STREET SIGN to tell me?
- Who thought it was a GOOD IDEA to have a 25 mph super sharp curve at the end of 175?! And to elaborate on that, who thought it was a GOOD IDEA to have a freaking CURB on 175? As in, a sidewalk running down the side of the highway.
- Who designed all those lanes on 635 that just suddenly merge into one lane with NO WARNING?? In other states, they have arrows that alert you to the fact that your lane will be ending soon so you'd better get over.
- Who designed that excellent onramp from Wycliff onto the Dallas Tollway (heading southbound) with that great cement wall on one side and about five feet of onramp for your merging pleasure?
- Back to 175 - what is up with those "rumble strips?" Yeah, I get the idea...you'll hear that shocking, grating noise and feel your car shake as you drive over them so you'll slow down (thus avoiding crashing into the wall as you go around the unexpected 25 mph turn that you probably wouldn't expect to find on a highway). But...since there are two sets of rumble strips - one for the right tire, and one for the left tire, with a space in between...and not a continuous line of rumble strips...everyone just scoots to the left and avoids them anyway! And a drunk driver, who I am assuming they are there to warn, is probably going to get so scared when they hear that horrible noise as they drive over it they are really going to crash!
- OK, still on 175 - what's up with those wire cables that are being used as a divider? Umm...how can flimsy wire cables be expected to contain a car going 70 mph? If you think they actually work, please come out towards the Kaufman area and count all of the places they have been crashed through.
- Still on 175 - I guess there is more here than I thought - WHY are there 12 (count them, 12!) street signs at my little crossover/exit. How many signs can you put up in one little spot and still expect people to read them all? Especially when we are talking about a town of about 1,000 people.
- Alright, back to Dallas. How can one freeway have so many names? 45/75, Woodall Rogers/whatever else it is called, 635/LBJ. I know there are many more but I can't even remember one of their names, let alone both of them.
- What the hell is the Mix Master?
- Does every city around Dallas have a Beltline, or is it one super long street?
- And this one is great for someone who has never been to Dallas before - 35E. You would think, if you did not know better and drive for miles and miles the wrong direction to find out the hard way, that 35E would go...well...east!!! Granted, I am not one who an brag about having a natural sense of direction, but come on!
- Only in Texas will people just drive off the highway and up a grass enbankment that is clearly not meant to be driven on to get out of traffic and to the service road. I get a kick out of this. And I would not be writing about it here if I had not seen it happen many times, in many places.
Alright. I feel better now.
