American Highway Appreciation Thread
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You don't know Dallas. Most of that video is on I30/35E further west of the city. And I stand by my "good luck" comment, because unlike you, I know what the traffic speeds are typically like along here. Let's ask Google to get from the US-75/I35 junction to Dallas City hall:
= 15 mph. Worse in daylight.
Traffic in and around Dallas in the morning and evening is a nightmare. It's living proof that you can build all the roads you want, but you'll never get rid of traffic jams. Texas is also the state where I clocked my lowest ever average journey speed on a highway: 3.5 mph on a 4 mile trip. (I-35 southbound into Austin downtown).
I think you should visit the US. Do a road trip, actually see these things first hand. There's a lot to like, but I think you're focusing on the wrong things - the most complex road structures are all in traffic shitholes, and the best driving is on 2-lane or good old single-carriageways.
The roads around DFW are a monument to failed urban planning on a massive scale (and this area historically had five or six cities all undermining each other for decades - they cooperate now, but the damage was done). I have spoken to people who make these decisions and their mantra is "no more roads". Another official told me that if he was legally allowed to, he'd get better value from the road budget by using it to bribe drivers to stay home. Densification is the new policy, with a view to creating enough catchment to improve mass transit.
@_Kaiser_ most US States allow traffic to pass on either side on roads with more than two running lanes, but in general through traffic ends up at the left, and drivers stay right as they approach their exit. Texans aren't the worst - a colleague from the Northeast said they were far more disciplined than in his home state, and they certainly tend to be pretty good about letting you in/out in heavier traffic. What actually surprised me was that drink-driving is much more socially tolerated than here - if you're eating out, you'll often see a guy go home in his car after two or three beers, and nobody cares.
As for speed, there's an urban myth that you can do "10 over" the posted limit and still be in the safety envelope of the road. It's nonsense, of course, and when Texas got a stretch of road with an 85 MPH limit (Austin to San Antonio) I heard people worry about having to drive at 95...
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