Travels thru cities or around them?

Drove thru St Louis once....never again!! It was horrible! The lane exchanges are terrible with traffic, ppl not wanting to get behind the RV so we had to basically stop in our lane and wait for someone to finally let us in! (Hanging out the passenger window interacting with the other drivers worked).

We will opt for looping around cities rather than going through them.

I use the interstate but will use bypasses around big cities when they are available. I really do not like driving through cities because if there is a lot of traffic, you cannot maintain a safe stopping distance between you and the car in front of you. If you leave any space, someone will come and fill that space.

john&bet wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

FrankShore wrote:
That would depend on the type of rig you're pulling or driving. A travel trailer isn't bad, but if you've got a huge diesel pusher, I'd think twice about it.

What difference does it make? My rig is 8'+ wide, 13.5' tall and 50'+ long. If you are on the interstate the lanes are 10' to 12' wide, that would be a cake walk compared to this!

Rus, those pic's look a lot like the same as US-95/US-12 in Idaho that we drove last summer. We really enjoyed it.

These are on Oregon 26 from Portland to the coast meets 101 between Seaside and canon Beach. There are a couple rough spots on it, but with Bil's on the TV and shocks on both axles on the 5er it is a joy to drive.

Interstates are great for making time, but you can't beat the scenery on these state routes.

One thing to remember when seeing the 3 numbers for cities:
The first number, if it is even, that will take you around the city. Example I240 I440

Odd number will take you into the city. Example I175 I375

rk911 wrote:
between 2000-2012 ESL has averaged 21 murders per year. and according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority ESL had an average of 40-homicides per year between 1980-87. but between 1988-1993 the city averaged 68 per year. ICJA attributes that increase to the introduction of crack cocaine. what you may have been referring to was the homicide rate...the number of murders per capita in the city. the rate peaked in 1989 at somewhere between 300-350 homicides per capita.

there's no doubt that ESL is a dangerous place and apart from the riverboat casino there's not much in the area for tourists...and I'd be wary of the casino. just wanted to set the record straight.

I was working murders in ESL metro area in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I know exactly how many they were having. We were averaging 1 a night in the early 1990s. Weekends were a shooting gallery where we'd have multiples almost every weekend. We had several guys doing cold case murders who were solving 20-30 a year each. Those are cases the ESLPD had not done much for investigations and our people were picking up those cases and following up. In about 1993 or 94 we had 6 murders for the month January of that year and were wondering if our luck had finally changed because of the low number. Summer came and our luck hadn't.
Be careful quoting stats just for ESL. They don't include all the metro area around ESL which all run together like National City, Sauget, Washington Park, Brooklyn, Venice, Madison, and getting into Granite City. I was there. I know the stats.

cjmgranny wrote:
Hi all,
I am thrilled to get this much feedback to my question. We have a small T@B trailer and this will be our first cross country trip. I appreciate all of your help! Keep thoses suggestions coming!
Thanks,
"Granny"
PS... I did not know bypasses had 3 numbers.

The Interstate systems uses 3 numbers where the last 2 match the highway they are an alternate for. For example I-5 has I-205 and I-405 for bypass routes in Portland, OR. If the first number is even the alternate route will return to the original. If not, it's called a spur and will not work as a bypass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#Auxiliary_.28three-digit.29_Interstates_.28contiguous_U.S..29

We generally take the shortest route regardless of traffic. The important thing for us is a GPS that advises well in advance what lane we need to be in for our next turn, that gives plenty of time for a lane change.
One of the worst places I have ever been in was last autumn in Salem, MA. getting to Winter Island campground. Streets designed for buggies and not 35 foot trailers. Really had to swing wide for some turns.

Wadcutter wrote:

cjmgranny wrote:
Hi all,
This information is terrific!
I was thinking we should avoid St Louis MO but had no idea that camping in E. St Louis IL would not be a good idea.

You really do NOT want to go into E St Louis. It's population is about 25,000. 30 years ago they were having over 400 murders a year. That's just in E St Louis and does not include the murders in St Louis. To put that in perspective if the same murder rate was to occur in New York City, pop of about 9 mil, NYC would have about 144,000 murders a year. To further explain everyone talks of the number of murders in Mexico. They have about 25,000-30,000 a year in the entire country. If you lived in E St Louis and figured in murders, shootings, stabbings, and serious batteries then the odds of you being a victim of one of them was once every 3 years. It's gotten a bit better now but it's still a very high violent crime area.
If you intend to visit the sites in St Louis and wish to stay on the east side of the river closest to St Louis then the only place in E St Louis would be the Casino Queen which is right across the river from the Arch. Drive directly to the Casino Queen and directly from. Do not venture any other places in E St Louis.
You don't say how you're coming in from the east and where you intend to go after getting thru St Louis. That will make a difference how to get around the St Louis metro area with fewest problems. If you're coming into the area on I-55 or I-70 and you intend to go on west on I-70 then take I-270 around the north side. If you intend to go west on I-44 then take I-55/I-70 to I-255 South at Exit 11. Take I-255 around the south side to I-270 north a couple of miles to I-44 west. If you intend to that I-55 south then about 3 miles after you cross the river on I-255 you can take I-55 south.

between 2000-2012 ESL has averaged 21 murders per year. and according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority ESL had an average of 40-homicides per year between 1980-87. but between 1988-1993 the city averaged 68 per year. ICJA attributes that increase to the introduction of crack cocaine. what you may have been referring to was the homicide rate...the number of murders per capita in the city. the rate peaked in 1989 at somewhere between 300-350 homicides per capita.

there's no doubt that ESL is a dangerous place and apart from the riverboat casino there's not much in the area for tourists...and I'd be wary of the casino. just wanted to set the record straight.

cjmgranny wrote:
Hi all,
This information is terrific!
I was thinking we should avoid St Louis MO but had no idea that camping in E. St Louis IL would not be a good idea.

You really do NOT want to go into E St Louis. It's population is about 25,000. 30 years ago they were having over 400 murders a year. That's just in E St Louis and does not include the murders in St Louis. To put that in perspective if the same murder rate was to occur in New York City, pop of about 9 mil, NYC would have about 144,000 murders a year. To further explain everyone talks of the number of murders in Mexico. They have about 25,000-30,000 a year in the entire country. If you lived in E St Louis and figured in murders, shootings, stabbings, and serious batteries then the odds of you being a victim of one of them was once every 3 years. It's gotten a bit better now but it's still a very high violent crime area.
If you intend to visit the sites in St Louis and wish to stay on the east side of the river closest to St Louis then the only place in E St Louis would be the Casino Queen which is right across the river from the Arch. Drive directly to the Casino Queen and directly from. Do not venture any other places in E St Louis.
You don't say how you're coming in from the east and where you intend to go after getting thru St Louis. That will make a difference how to get around the St Louis metro area with fewest problems. If you're coming into the area on I-55 or I-70 and you intend to go on west on I-70 then take I-270 around the north side. If you intend to go west on I-44 then take I-55/I-70 to I-255 South at Exit 11. Take I-255 around the south side to I-270 north a couple of miles to I-44 west. If you intend to that I-55 south then about 3 miles after you cross the river on I-255 you can take I-55 south.