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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Seattle - from any direction
I-5 North coming from Sea-Tac airport is a wide 10 lane freeway traversing through hills and valleys covered in evergreen trees with the city discreetly hidden behind the hills. Passing by Boeing Field and up over another hill and around the curve before the West Seattle Bridge and BAM! The gorgeous city and its contemporary skyline suddenly unfolds itself with the 76 story Columbia/B of A tower standing tall at the forefront. It's an amazing approach.
I-5 South coming down from BC is also impressive, a freeway with reversible express lanes. Crossing the Ship Canal Bridge Lake Union, Queen Anne Hill, and the Space Needle make a beautiful view before driving right into the financial district under Freeway Park and the Convention Center.
I-90 West coming down from Snoqualmie Pass out of the Cascade Mountains coming though Bellevue is very pretty over a steep hillcrest reveals the skyline 7 miles in the distance with a mountain backdrop, The Olympics silhouetted behind the city. Pass by the spaghetti interchanges of 405 into Mercer Island with pretty green landscaping, a cut and cover park lid tunnel, then crossing Lake Washington over the floating bridge with Mount Rainier in view. Into another tunnel, out of the portal and around the bend the skyline jumps out into view.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 02-18-2011 at 10:08 PM..
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,745 posts, read 23,804,636 times
Reputation: 14660
I-95 from Palm Beach County through Fort Lauderdale on into Miami is an impressive urban approach. It's a long sprawl, but still the infrastructure and scenery is impressive.
Driving to Salt Lake City was a not so subtle surprise. Coming from Boise east on I-84 joining up with I-15 there is a sudden imposing wall of striking mountains right on the edge of the city. Approaching it really knocked my socks off as I've never seen a contrast of big mountains rising so sharply from the valley. Denver has this too, but SLC's is very pronounced.
Weakest approach. Philadelphia, particularly on the Schuylkill not-so expressway or I-76. It is a congested 4 lane (yes only 2 lanes each way) really bad highway approaching the city. It go's through some scenic parkland, but the highway is just lame. From what I've heard this is NIMBY's blocking progress at its worst. Apparently there have been proposals to widen or even raise the highway to a double deck, but the NIMBY's in the area cry and complain and get there way to block it. I-95 going north from Delaware and Philly airport is a more impressive approach, and Philly's skyline is stunning, but the roads in Philly and most of PA for that matter suck.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 02-18-2011 at 10:43 PM..
GLS posted some great shots of Orl from the ground and from a tower cam, so here's a few from a helicopter that I took to compliment his:
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