highways

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Driver Survives 300-Foot Plunge Off Notorious Highway

Colorado rescue crews amazed as pickup driver escapes with minor injuries

(Newser) - A driver in Colorado's mountains survived a 300-foot plunge off a highway, walking away with only minor injuries. The accident occurred Oct. 9 along the "Million Dollar Highway," a famously scenic but hazardous section of US Highway 550 in Ouray County, Fox News reports. According to the...

Trump Administration Dumps Speed Limits on Big Rigs

Federal regulators cite costs, safety concerns in dropping speed cap plan

(Newser) - The Trump administration has officially scrapped an Obama-era plan that would have imposed speed limits on large trucks and buses nationwide, reports USA Today , shelving a proposal that had been in the works since 2016. The original idea was to use electronic devices called governors to cap the speed...

America's Highways, Bridges Can't Handle Heavier Trucks

Raising limit on interstates would be a 'recipe for disaster'

(Newser) - Congress is considering proposals to allow larger, heavier trucks on interstate highways—but with the current state of America's infrastructure, that would be a "recipe for disaster," David Williams and Daniel Greene write at the Hill . Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Greene, senior director...

To Prep for Climate Summit, Brazil Cuts Down Rainforest

A new 4-lane highway is being constructed ahead of COP30

(Newser) - World leaders will be among the 50,000 people descending on the Brazilian city of Belem this November for the COP30 climate summit . Brazil is hailing it as historic—"a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon." But it's attracting some controversy: Many will...

Mine Collapse Causes Huge Sinkhole Along NJ Highway

Road crews are repairing monster hole along I-80, with no clear date on when things will be fixed

(Newser) - Road crews were repairing a short stretch of Interstate 80 in northern New Jersey on Friday where a sinkhole forced the eastbound lanes to shut down, but it was still unknown when they'll reopen. The highway's guardrail still hung suspended in the air across the gaping 40-foot-wide hole,...

Dozens Killed in China Highway Collapse

Cars tumbled down slope in Guangdong Province

(Newser) - A section of a highway collapsed after heavy rains in a mountainous area in southern China, sending cars tumbling down a slope and leaving at least 36 people dead, authorities said Thursday. The Meizhou city government said that 23 vehicles were found after a 58.7-foot long section of the...

Trees Along Highways Don't Just Make the Drive Prettier

Study finds they can significantly reduce air pollution

(Newser) - It's arguably more pleasant to drive along a highway lined with trees and bushes versus one that lacks greenery. A new study finds the upside isn't just aesthetic. Georgia State University researchers report in a study published in PLoS One that vegetation along highways significantly reduces the air...

Feds Unamused by Highway Sign Puns
Feds Unamused by
Highway Sign Puns
Jan 20, 2024 3:10 PM CST

Feds Unamused by Highway Sign Puns

New guidance is winding down clever safety messages within the next 2 years

(Newser) - If you enjoy the occasional wild highway sign urging you to "Camp in the woods, not the left lane," sadly, you'll have to get your dad jokes elsewhere. The Federal Highway Administration (part of the Department of Transportation) has weighed in on whether electronic safety billboards on...

On Florida's Roads, 'Deja Vu All Over Again'
On Florida's Roads,
'Deja Vu All Over Again'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 4, 2023 6:30 AM CDT

On Florida's Roads, 'Deja Vu All Over Again'

Mysterious yellow lines keep popping up in the middle of St. Johns County thoroughfares

(Newser) - There's plenty of other stuff to worry about, but a roadway mystery has captured the attention of residents in Florida's St. Johns County. WSVN describes an "enigmatic marking" that's popped up along US 1 near St. Augustine: a nearly 2-mile-long yellow line, between International Golf Parkway...

Florida Road Workers Make 'Incredible' Find Under Highway
Florida Road Workers Make
'Incredible' Find Under Highway
in case you missed it
Oct 28, 2023 6:30 AM CDT

Florida Road Workers Make 'Incredible' Find Under Highway

Shipwreck believed to be from 1800s discovered in St. Augustine, 'encapsulated in soil and mud'

(Newser) - A construction crew doing routine roadwork in a Florida city have made a decidedly unroutine find. FOX 35 and 10 Tampa Bay report that workers with the state's Department of Transportation were recently working on a stretch of road near the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, the continuation...

This State's Road Signs Were Too Much for the Feds
This State's Road Signs
Were Too Much for the Feds
in case you missed it
Nov 20, 2022 3:55 PM CST

This State's Road Signs Were Too Much for the Feds

New Jersey DOT forced by FHWA to take down humorous messages promoting highway safety

(Newser) - Quirky highway signs described as "quintessential New Jersey" that were designed to raise awareness on road safety have been getting the thumbs-up from motorists in the Garden State. But the feds apparently didn't approve and reportedly directed them to be switched off. "Hold on to your butts—...

Truck Drivers Warned About 'Stowaway Game'

People have been seen riding the outside of moving trucks

(Newser) - A man critically injured on a highway in Nashville Monday night may have been playing an incredibly dangerous game. Nashville police say the man was seen on the side of Interstate 40 trying to stop vehicles. Police say he jumped on a stopped tractor-trailer "for reasons unknown" and fell...

Woman Shooting Snapchat Video Falls Out Into Traffic

You know how police feel when they tweet, "#nowords"

(Newser) - A woman gave freeway drivers a little surprise Saturday when she spilled out of a moving car while shooting a Snapchat video—right into the next lane, the Guardian reports. British police said her misadventure began at about 1:30am as she hung out of the front passenger door on...

'Graffiti Highway' Is Being Buried

Colorful stretch of abandoned road was attracting too many trespassers

(Newser) - Pennsylvania's "Graffiti Highway" is history, apparently thanks to a stream of trespassers and worries about liability. The colorful stretch of Route 61 through Centralia, closed to traffic since 1993, is being covered with dirt by a local coal company, CNN reports. Over the decades it had been covered...

Mysterious Green Ooze on Michigan Highway Identified

From an unlicensed hazardous-waste site whose owner is behind bars

(Newser) - If anyone who's ever seen The Blob was driving along Michigan's I-696 on Friday, alarm would've been a natural reaction to the sight on the side of the highway about a half-mile from the Macomb-Oakland county line. The Detroit Free Press reports a sludgy greenish-yellow substance was...

Mountain Lion Accomplishes Amazing Feat, Is Killed Trying to Do It Again

P-61 crossed California's 405 freeway, but died trying to cross back

(Newser) - On July 19, a Southern California mountain lion accomplished a daunting feat: He safely crossed the 405 freeway, the first collared mountain lion to do so in the National Park Service's 17-year study of the mountain lions who live in and around the Santa Monica Mountains. Other mountain lions...

Truck Spills $175K on Georgia Highway

Drivers were 'frantically taking the money'

(Newser) - After a truck lost part of its load on Interstate 285 in Georgia Tuesday, numerous citizens stopped their vehicles to help clean up the spillage. But it wasn't exactly a display of public-spiritedness—they were grabbing cash that had fallen out of an armored truck. In a Facebook post...

Colorado Says 'Memorial Boulder' Is Staying Put

State thinks it could become tourist attraction

(Newser) - A boulder the size of a house that tumbled across and gouged a southwestern Colorado state highway last month will stay put. State officials plan to rebuild the highway next to it, saving taxpayers money and possibly creating a tourist attraction, the AP reports. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis says Colorado...

Colorado Hit By Abnormally Massive Avalanche

One of the rocks was the size of a building

(Newser) - A section of road between Cortez and Telluride in southwest Colorado was obliterated by two massive boulders, authorities say. The Colorado Department of Transportation says a slide "consisting of dirt, rock, and two huge boulders" hit Colorado 145 on Friday, causing no injuries but leaving a trench 8 feet...

Rock Thrown From Overpass Kills Mom in Front of 3 Kids

Texas case is being treated as murder

(Newser) - In a horrific incident in Texas on Saturday, a mother was fatally injured in front of her boyfriend and their three children by a rock thrown onto their vehicle on Interstate 35 near Temple. The large rock "struck and entered the vehicle’s windshield, making contact with the front...

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