Occassionally, it is necessary to close a mountain pass. Here are the most likely reasons that would happen.

Road Clearing
When snow comes down hard or if freezing rain has caused a fast build up of ice, it may be necessary to close the pass so that plows, graders, and other equipment can clear the roadway.

Collision Clearing
If traffic becomes severely congested due to multiple collisions and the roadway is blocked, the pass may need to be closed to clear the stuck or damaged vehicles that are there.

Avalanche Control
Many areas have the ability to do avalanche control which essentially means closing the road and purposefully causing an avalanche of snow to come down onto the road. Crews then clear the roadway so it can be opened to traffic without the danger of an avalanche coming down on them.

Traveling through mountain passes these days is not hard and can be convenient and easy. During winter though you should be prepared for anything, including an unexpected closure.

#1 – One Account Fits All
Motorists can set up prepaid accounts that include every car that they own. This means that all of their vehicles can go through any toll area in the state and pay from one convenient account.

#2 – Less Cost To The Taxpayer
Though setting up the infrastructure up front can be expensive, once the system is in place then electronic tolling costs less to operate. In fact, some studies show that collecting funds electronically costs half what handling the cash from each motorist costs.

#3 – A Better Driving Experience
Congestion around tolling areas without electronic transactions can be pretty bad. This not only slows the trip for those stopping at the place of payment, but also for those lined up behind them. Most electronic tolling systems allow the driver to pass through the tolling area at normal speeds, including highway or freeway speeds, thus making everyone’s trip a lot faster.

Electronic tolling is the wave of the future and so far it looks like a pretty good one when compared to the system we had.

Adopt-A-Highway programs allow citizens, groups, and businesses to get out and pick up litter on sections of highway that they have signed up for. These programs are administered at the state, county, and local levels in many areas and offer a number of benefits.

The number one benefit is that after the clean up has been done, the area is much more pleasing to look at. This is also a good way to get out and get exercise while performing a great service to the public. Another great benefit of the Adopt-A-Highway program is exposure. Usually the trade off works like this: in exchange for picking up litter a few times a year, you or your organization get a roadsign sign with the name of your business on it. This is great advertising considering the amount of people who pass by daily.

All the way around, the Adopt-A-Highway program is beneficial for everyone.

This is an example of a snowblower that some departments of transportation use. This one in particular is one used in Washington State in the vicinity of the North Cascades Pass. By the way, this is a beautiful part of the country and anyone with a chance to visit, should. But, back to the main subject. Can you imagine seeing this baby in action? Well, for that view… take a look below.

The Yunga Road in Bolivia is generally considered to be the most dangerous road in the world. It was actually named this by the Inter-American Development Bank in 1995. The road is some 65km in length and hugs a cliff wall on one side while the other side experiences drop offs of up to 2000 feet in depth. Hundreds of people die on this road every year. There has since been a bypass route built, but this is still used by a large number of people.

Here is a video of the Yunga Road:

But, how can culverts have a negative impact on fish passage?

High Water Outlet
If the water outlet is too high above the stream, then migrating fish are unable to jump up into it to continue their movement upstream.

Steep Incline Of Culvert Itself
A culvert placed under a section of roadway at too steep of an incline could force the water to flow too fast and the fish to be unable to swim against the flow to continue their migration.

Shallow Depth Within Culvert
Sometimes if the water depth inside the culvert is too shallow, the fish are unable to completely submerge their bodies and swim through it.

Debris Blockage
If the culvert is blocked at either end by debris like rocks or fallen trees, this too would make it unpassable to migrating fish.

Properly placed culverts not only do their job in diverting water flow and flood damage, but also allow fish to migrate in as much of a natural way as they can.

The intended purpose of HOV lanes is to allow buses and vehicles with groups of people in them to bypass areas of congestion. This is used as a way to encourage more people to be on the roads in less vehicles. Many benefits, from the commute time of travelers to environmental, come from having the least amount of vehicles necessary on the roadways. With less vehicles on the road there are also less chances of accidents, both minor and serious. Think of HOV lanes as a reward for driving smart.

The State of New Jersey often names its rest areas after famous people who were born, lived, or worked in the state. This is a most unusual tradition that most people, some even local to the area, aren’t aware of. The rest areas of the New Jersey Turnpike:

The modern chemicals used today have passed stringent environmental and safety testing and have been found to far exceed the performance of traditional abrasive snow removal methods. The chemicals applied to the roadway can heat up the snow and ice and cause it to safely run off the roadway, while the abrasives either stay on the roadway in the form of muddy slush, or run off into the surrounding streams and fields.

Some of the positive features of modern snow and ice removal chemicals:

• The chemical de-icers are at least 70% less corrosive than traditional road salt.

• Chemical products used in snow and ice removal do not damage car windshields and paint the way abrasives do.

• Chemical usage has been environmentally tested and when used properly does not negatively impact air quality.

• Runoff of the more modern chemicals used in the de-icing process has been shown to not harm fish, animals or plant life.

While it is true that modern de-icing chemicals are less than 70% corrosive as traditional road salt, thus saving wear and tear on your vehicle, most manufacturers and users still recommend washing your car after coming into contact with the material.

The act was designed to cost $25 billion dollars and create 41,000 miles of limited access highway (freeways) for the nation’s motorists to safely travel on. The idea was that roads would be safer and more efficient if there were fewer intersections, stop signs, or stop lights to cause delays and potential accident sites. The program was estimated to take 12 years to complete, it wasn’t officially considered complete until 1991 (35 years later), though it was functionally complete years earlier. The final cost for the project is stated as $114 billion dollars and 46,773 miles of freeway have been completed as of the year 2003.

Without the foresight to create the national freeway system, travelers today would be dealing with traffic entering major highways from side streets as well as numerous stoppages caused by traffic signs and collisions. Businesses and homes could have driveways that lead directly to the highway causing more delays and traffic hazards. So the next time you’re stuck in traffic, remember that as bad as traffic conditions get on our freeways today, imagine how much worse it would be without them.