The Katy Freeway, The widest highway in the world, 26 lanes in Houston, Texas

 https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/comments/1nt3agp/the_katy_freeway_the_widest_highway_in_the_world/ 

As a major seaport region and overall big business center, Houston has to accommodate a tremendous amount of vehicles.

https://www.facebook.com/unboxfactory/videos/texas-katy-freeway-boasts-26-lanes-and-handles-about-220000-vehicles-every-day-t/864115019920783/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_10_in_Texas#Houston_and_East_Texas_(the_Katy_Freeway)

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-worlds-widest-highway-spans-a-whopping-26-lanes 

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/it-s-not-just-you-the-katy-freeway-is-15945843.php With all that extra space there could easily be 2 BRT lanes, 2 truck lanes, as well as 2 HOV-express bus lanes. https://websiteprod.ridemetro.org/riding-metro/hov-hot-express-lanes 

https://www.hctra.org/Content/hctra3rdPartyPages/katymanagedlanes/media/katy_managed_lanes_map.pdf

https://x.com/the_transit_guy/status/2052394178550571351?lang=en 

https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/nhhip/docs_pdfs/Traffic/10%20Katy%20Freeway%20HOV.pdf

https://www.texasfreeway.com/houston/i10west A 10-12 lane freeway is pretty wide, but 20-26 lanes is gigantic. At a certain point like 30 lanes would just get ridicules. Two commuter train tracks, 2 LRT tracks, 2 BRT lanes, 2 express lanes, 2 HOV-express bus lanes would move a lot more people than a 30 lane highway. 

Induced_demand, or simply adding a lot more lanes for single vehicle occupancy doesn't necessary improve things in the long run. Unless a major highway has enough space for parallel rail and bus, its just a matter of time until the road reaches maximum capacity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_demand#Definitions

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2025/10/06/532681/stretch-of-i-10-katy-freeway-to-be-reduced-to-two-lanes-until-mid-2026/ It was almost as if some people from Vancouver, Canada tried to convince Houston to just have 2 wagon roads in 2026. However, this was totally a TX initiative with no influence from BC. 

While Texas has had a THINK BIG mentality for generations, at the other end of the spectrum is backwater BC in Canada. The Greater Vancouver Region has continually stunted or thwarted itself, due to several imposed restrictions. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge Only 3 lanes wide with no plans to build a parallel double track LRT tunnel and a 2 lane BRT tunnel. The very narrow Lions_Gate_Bridge wasn't designed to eventually have another deck for express bus traffic. Its one of the worst bottleneck-chokepoints in the world. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Massey_Tunnel Originally designed to only have 2 lanes each way. No future space for bus and truck lanes, despite being in a major seaport region. 

https://www.highway99tunnel.ca While the 2030s tunnel will have 4 lanes each way, there is no provision for an LRT section. The new tunnel should have been designed to have enough width to eventually accommodate a 5th lane each way. Then there still could have been 3 general lanes each way, plus an express bus-HOV lane each way. Then, the 5th lane each way for BRT that could eventually be upgraded to LRT.

https://im.rediff.com/money/2012/aug/30high7.jpg Boston has 5 lanes each way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig#Final_phases

https://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-10-wildest-highways-in-the-world/20120831.htm

https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanplanning/comments/184m1pe/induced_demand_is_misunderstood/ 

https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/facts/widest-highway-in-the-world.html 

https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/comments/1jjlf3j/widest_highway_in_the_world_is_in_ontario_canada 18 lanes in Toronto, so wide, but no space for 2 BRT lanes, GO Train, express bus and HOV lanes. 

Robotaxi Outage in China Leaves Passengers Stranded on Highways

 https://www.wired.com/story/robotaxi-outage-in-china-leaves-passengers-stuck-in-cars-on-highways/

The World’s Most Congested Cities, Roads and Bridges...

 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-10/these-are-the-world-s-most-congested-cities

Overall, trains can move people and goods more efficiently. Then busses and trucks, but there still needs to be a good road network as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#India

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/worst-traffic-cities-in-the-world/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#United_States

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/widen-highways-traffic.html

https://jalopnik.com/the-15-most-congested-highways-in-america-1850203444

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#United_Kingdom

https://inrix.com/press-releases/2022-global-traffic-scorecard-uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#Australia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#Canada

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-ranked-one-of-the-worst-cities-in-the-world-for-congestion-1.6226070

https://ontruck.org/caa-hwy-401-near-t-o-one-of-north-americas-worst-bottlenecks/

Bottleneck and choke-point planning is the worst way to go. However, that's been the norm for the BC part of Canada for decades.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/metro-vancouver-has-some-of-the-worst-traffic-in-north-america-study-finds-1.6286875

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/02/22/vancouver-traffic-worst-north-america

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-traffic-second-worst-north-america

http://fourthplan.org/action/highway-congestion

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=cities

Unnecessary off-grid deaths in Colorado

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/29/colorado-springs-family-died-off-the-grid

Stories such as The_Stand and The_Mosquito_Coast might have motivated some people over the years to move into the wilderness or jungle.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/questions-linger-death-family-went-grid-colorado-wilderness-rcna96851

The_Postman and The_Road are also stories which might have also caused some people to live off grid in the wilderness.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/28/family-who-died-off-grid-only-watched-youtube-to-prepare

Perhaps last summer and the fall went alright for them, but they really should have prepared for what winter would be like in the Colorado mountains.

https://people.com/family-died-trying-live-off-the-grid-told-loved-ones-about-plan-we-tried-to-stop-them-7566610

They didn't have to make their last stand in the Colorado wilderness during the winter. They could have come in from the cold and resumed their off-grid lifestyle in the spring and then be better prepared for the next winter. At least they should have gone into Gunnison,_Colorado for some winter supplies, before it was too late.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/07/26/colorado-family-live-off-grid-dead

However, perhaps even going to Gunnison might have been too much civilization for them.

"Gunnison residents isolated themselves from the surrounding area during the Spanish Influenza epidemic for two months at the end of 1918. All highways were barricaded near the county lines. Train conductors warned all passengers that if they stepped outside of the train in Gunnison, they would be arrested and quarantined for five days.^[8][9] This served as partial inspiration for the novel The Last Town on Earth (2006) by Thomas Mullen. The isolation was ultimately unsuccessful, as townspeople became restless after a few months, and the isolation was lifted in February 1919 only to have the flu arrive a month later, killing several." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnison,_Colorado#History

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/gunnison-spanish-flu-epidemic-response-coronavirus-research/73-67791a7a-0492-48d4-abe2-b0184f672825 

"The plot centres on a pandemic resulting from a mishap at a military biological research station which allows the escape of a lethal strain of influenza. After the pandemic kills almost the entire world population, the few survivors are drawn to one of two figures, Randall Flagg and Mother Abagail, setting up a final good-vs-evil confrontation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand_(2020_miniseries)

Living in the wilderness can be a matter of life and death, just like living in the city.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_states#Demographics

Some people prefer to go camping in the winter, but whatever the season, its imperative to be properly prepared. https://www.untamedspace.com/winter-camping/

https://www.explore-mag.com/10_Reasons_Why_Winter_Camping_is_Better_Than_Summer

People should take their time testing what woks and doesn't for them.

https://www.worldpackers.com/articles/how-to-live-off-the-grid-with-no-money

Years Living Off-Grid in a Self-Built Cabin & Farming Tons of Food on the Land https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJZ2wRakOh0

A bus crashes with a semi in Manitoba

  https://winnipegsun.com/news/provincial/at-least-10-killed-in-crash-on-trans-canada-highway-in-western-manitoba-report

The Carberry_highway_collision is the worst of its kind in Manitoba. Of course even a highway with a concrete divider can still have plenty of crashes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_North_Cypress_-_Langford

https://winnipegsun.com/news/provincial/families-loved-ones-await-word-on-loved-ones-in-manitoba-bus-crash-that-killed-15

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-rcmp-say-semi-truck-had-right-of-way-at-time-of-deadly-trans-canada-highway-crash-1.6444026

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/shared-health-update-carberry-mass-casualty-event-1.6879117

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/crash-carberry-manitoba-1.6877826

In canada, several highway intersections still don't have overpasses and have traffic lights instead. At-grade intersections, especially on the Trans-Canada Highway, should be brought up to proper freeway standards.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/06/15/manitoba-bus-crash-canada

A divided highway can be a little safer than one that isn't.

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=highways

The Trans-Canada Highway

So much of the Trans-Canada_Highway was just a 2 lane backcountry road. Then eventually the challenge was to make it to become at least a 4 lane divided highway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba_Highway_1 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_System_(Canada)#Manitoba

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/06/15/manitoba-bus-crash-canada

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=highways TCH

WEF urges people to give up car ownership

 https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/globalist-wef-urges-people-to-give-up-car-ownership

So is this a push to go back to horse & waggons, while the billionaires can still enjoy their jets, yachts & luxurious cars?

https://thepostmillennial.com/world-economic-forum-calls-for-an-end-to-owning-private-vehicles

I never felt comfortable driving, so I never got a licence.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/world-economic-forum-calls-for-abolition-of-private-vehicle-ownership/

However, lots of people want or need to still have their own motorized vehicle.

https://www.westernstandard.news/business/wef-save-the-planet-give-up-your-car/article_9a225e54-09c5-11ed-ba08-37b5d3f028c0.html

Improving public transit can go a long way to getting more passengers, but a lot of people can't always use transit systems.

https://tnc.news/2022/07/30/wef-private-vehicles

Some climates are too hot or too cold for someone to be bike riding in. Thus, an enclosed personal transport vehicle is necessary for many people. Even a shared vehicle system would still requirer a good street and highway network. 

Why America Is Tearing Down Its Highways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXp4rVZFTVs

So many urban highways were pushed through neighborhoods, when they could have gone on better alignments. There wasn't the push several decades ago to encourage more people to use various modes of transportation.

https://new.mta.info/project/interborough-express  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTicdiO13gA

https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/1/23/22898048/interborough-express-plows-through-past-opposition-to-rail-line-reactivation , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlhQoZqKMQE

https://untappedcities.com/2022/05/31/the-interborough-express-brooklyn-and-queens/

Whenever there are people pushing towards implementing a dystopian society, there has to be significant pushback. Otherwise, there will just be more of this rhetoric.   "Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better." https://twitter.com/wef/status/808328302213689344?lang=en

I wonder if the WEF might eventually try to ban certain songs?

Queen - I'm In Love With My Car https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaEM4JYFPfw

Gary Numan - Cars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im3JzxlatUs

NIN: "Cars" with Gary Numan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlUFKFHNIU

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=highways

Portland-Vancouver Interstate 5 Bridge and some other things

 https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-putting-interstate-bridge-misconceptions-to-rest

This is a river crossing that should have been upgraded decades ago. Montreal also had to wait several decades to get their new and improved bridge.

https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-public-transit-buses-and-vans-superior-to-costly-light-rail-for-i-5-bridge-replacement

https://www.interstatebridge.org , https://www.interstatebridge.org/about

At least this has been a 6 lane crossing for several decades. In Vancouver, BC, or V-BC, everything is still funneled into an inadequate 3 lane Lion Bridge for the past several decades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jeNjKZExfE , https://www.youtube.com/c/IBRProgram/videos

https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2022/07/interstate-bridge-replacement-proposal-hits-major-milestone-with-state-local-endorsements.html

https://www.cityofvancouver.us/cmo/page/interstate-bridge-replacement-program It would be total chaos if Portland and Vancouver, WA were forced to just have a 3 lane crossing like V-BC still has. So while the I-5 Bridge that's a few miles north of downtown Portland has 6 lanes, the Lion Bridge north of downtown Vancouver, BC is only 3 lanes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bridge#First_bridge At least when the first bridge opened, it was set up for trams or streetcars, as well as being a highway bridge. Unfortunately, the rail mode of the bridge only went from 1917 to 1940. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bridge#Upgrades Then by the 1950s, there was no reason to put in a parallel rail section next to the new bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bridge#Interstate_Bridge_Replacement_Program_(2019-present) Fortunately, the new Portland & Vancouver, USA bridge, will have a passenger rail component to it. This has already worked out very well on the I-90 Bridge in Seattle & for a new bridge in Montreal. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge It doesn't matter if it was in the 1930s or in the 2030s, there just was no vision to have a commuter rail component on the LG bridge. With only 3 lanes, it's impossible to have a couple of dedicated bus lanes on it. Of course, no one allowed for the provision of a future extra deck for trams or trains. That's just the Vancouver & BC  (V-BC) shortsighted way.  

For anyone that's from the Ile_Bizard part of Montreal, they will be shocked to see such a narrow bridge in V-BC.

https://www.google.com/maps/@ Ile Bizard has a 3 lane bridge that wasn't designed to have 2 levels, or become twinned. That's OK, because Ile Bizard is a backwater part of Montreal.

However, one might think that Vancouver isn't suppose to be some provincial backwater. Yet, a multi-generational power structure or mindset & its thwarting agenda, prevents Vancouver, BC from having proper big city infrastructure. Something that is commonplace in the scenic cities of Sydney, Australia, San_Francisco & Seattle. Even scenic Auckland, NZ hasn't been Vancouverized.

While the 8 lane Auckland_Harbour_Bridge is legal for that city, any 8 lane wide harbor bridge or inlet crossing in V-BC is illegal. The inept planning in Greater Vancouver hasn't even allowed for a proper network of bus & bike bridges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Harbour_Bridge#Traffic_management

Unfortunately, the AHB didn't get to be as grand as the SHB. There at least should have been a provision in the design to potentially become as wide or even wider that the SHB. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Harbour_Bridge#Original_proposal

Fortunately, Auckland & Sydney didn't get stuck with something like the barebones, 3 lane LGB. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@ LG Bridge deck with only 3 lanes. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vancouver,+BC/@ Some people actually have living rooms & swimming pools wider than that little bridge.

Eventually, Portland will get a nice new highway bridge with a provision for rail transit, similar to what Montreal has. https://www.samueldechamplainbridge.ca/pedestrians-and-cyclists

Montreal's New Champlain Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiX8OT1iwZI 8 lanes & 2 train tracks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2TtjRLKyAo Montreal had to finally replace its old 6 lane bridge with a nice new crossing. https://www.youtube.com/c/NouveauChamplain/videos

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Montreal,+QC/@

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champlain_Bridge_(Montreal,_2019-present) This was possible for Montreal, because that city doesn't have a multi-generational thwarting power structure or Gordian_Knot like laws to prevent it. Where as VBC does have such thwarting laws that goes right back to the early decades of the city. 

https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2019/09/oregon-and-washington-well-start-building-a-new-interstate-bridge-by-2025.html Inspite of it being a very slow-going process, Portland & Vancouver, WA will get their version of what Montreal already has. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River_Crossing#Interstate_Bridge_Replacement_Program

Meanwhile, Vancouver, BC will still be stuck with a 3 lane Lion bridge that has no provision for bus lanes & especially no rail transit. If it could have had at least 4 lanes like the St._Johns_Bridge in Portland, then it would have been easier to have a bus & HOV lane each way. https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=oregon/stjohnsbridge Any major crossing in an urban area should have at least 4, if not 6 or 8 lanes. Of course some cities even have larger capacity crossings.

https://forbiddenvancouver.ca/blog/lions-gate-bridge-lions-guard There was a time in BC that if you could have 2 waggon roads next to each other, that was a big deal. https://www.insidevancouver.ca/2012/06/12/inside-vancouvers-hidden-past-the-secret-history-of-the-lions-gate-bridge So instead of the Lion Bridge having 6 lanes or at least 4, it was to only have 2 (wagon) lanes. Fortunately, there was just enough extra space to eventually fit in a 3rd lane. However, with no provision for an extra deck, any bus & HOV lanes or rail transit there, just isn't possible. https://placesthatmatter.ca/location/lions-gate-bridge

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/lions-gate-bridge-close-overnight By now, most real cities would have twinned that crossing, or bypassed it with a 6 to 8 lane tunnel. But this is backwater BC, where you are lucky to even have just a few wagon roads at key crossing points. 

https://structurae.net/en/structures/lions-gate-bridge Of course even when the bridge was rebuilt, no additional deck for trains or buses was put in. Most likely, the towers & cables would have had to be substantially reinforced to support an extra deck, so for the sake of aesthetics, the bridge retained its overall slim appearance as a 3 lane choke point or bottle neck.

Any future Inlet rail transit lines will likely be situated much closer towards the Iron Bridge. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-rapid-transit-bus-rapid-transit-park-royal-metrotown-brt

It's as if a monstrous force has been growing since BC colonial times. This force is like a multigenerational thwarting mindset, generated by all the various interest groups for well over a century. Fortunately, this thwarting collective force hasn't been able to thwart Oregon, Washington State and Alberta to the same extent. All one has to do is look at how much larger the infrastructure is allowed in many other places.

When done correctly, bridges and tunnels can be efficient high volume conduits. Especially by providing various modes of transportation. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_Portland,_Oregon 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_L._Jackson_Memorial_Bridge 8 lanes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Bridge_(Portland,_Oregon) 8 lanes 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquam_Bridge 8 lanes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crossings_of_the_Willamette_River

Seattle has had a 12 lane bridge since late 1962. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_Canal_Bridge 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest#Transportation

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=highways

https://embracesomeplace.com/living-seattle-portland

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=Montreal

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver

https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=cities