http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7356015

This is the dumbest thing ever. Inner/Outer is confusing at first, but as soon as someone explains it to you, it is instantly very useful.

Trying to pretend that a round road is East all the way around? Now THAT makes no sense at all.

Quote :

"RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Headed to Raleigh? Do you take the Outer or the Inner Beltline? Questions like that have bedeviled drivers new to the area for years, so now the Department of Transportation is trying to clear up the confusion. It announced Monday it's finished upgrading signs along Interstate 440 in Wake County. What has been referred to as the Outer Beltline around the northern part of the city is now I-440 West, and what was the Inner Beltline is now I-440 East. Signs referring to the Beltline have been removed."

3/29/2010 11:16:01 PM

bedeviled!

3/29/2010 11:17:10 PM

well, it's not round anymore... the part that shares road with I-40 is now only I-40, so the beltline is essentially a semicircle

Wiki:

Quote :

"Prior to August 2002, it was a complete loop and shared a concurrency with its parent, Interstate 40 along the loop's southern segment (Tom Bradshaw Freeway). I-440 was labeled with "Inner" and "Outer" lanes, making it one of the few Interstate Highways in the United States not primarily labeled with compass directions (e.g. east/west). It has now been truncated to avoid confusion, especially with the I-540 "Outer Loop" and is being relabeled with an east–west orientation."

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 11:20 PM. Reason : ]

3/29/2010 11:17:54 PM

all the yankees are confused by the concept of driving on the right side of the road

3/29/2010 11:18:33 PM

This is just retarded. 5 signs along major throughfares with a giant circle showing inner with an arrow and outer with an arrow and this would have been straight for 1/10th the cost.

3/29/2010 11:21:47 PM

yeah, but that wouldn't help create jobs, now would it?

3/29/2010 11:22:40 PM

they had to get rid of the "inner" and "outer" because 440 (both directions) will eventually be referred to as the "inner" and 540 as the "outer" loops

3/29/2010 11:23:31 PM

In Maryland, they have the inner and outer loop of the Beltway.

3/29/2010 11:23:32 PM

WELL THIS AINT MURLAND, GOD DANGIT!

3/29/2010 11:24:25 PM

Motherfuckers. I picked up the "inner" and "outer" in a fucking day. Who the fuck doesn't understand how our roads work?

Inner- Clockwise.
Outer- Counter-Clockwise.

You know, because if you look at it from a topographical perspective with the standard East-West, North-South orientation, it should be clear as to where they go their name.

Now we have this East/West bullshit. Makes no fucking sense. If I'm on the southern part of the betline, I-440 West will take me East. And if I'm on the northern part of the betline, it will take me West, and if I'm on the western part of the betline, I-440 West will take me South, and if I'm on the eastern part of the betline, it will take me North.

It's like they can't grasp a hold of the fucking concept of a circle.

3/29/2010 11:25:29 PM

^ that's the thing - there's no "southern" part of the beltline anymore... it's not a circle

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 11:27 PM. Reason : spelling]

3/29/2010 11:27:09 PM

^^ dont ack like nc public education is up to snuff

3/29/2010 11:27:59 PM

You people need to stop fiddlin' with the nomenclature. I don't need to be confused when I make my seldom visits to Raleigh. Personally, I never had a problem with inner/outer but I can see the complications that may arise as 540 continues to grow.

3/29/2010 11:29:29 PM

^^^ I don't care if they re-named parts of the circle to try to make it look like it's not a circle. It's still a fucking circle in my eyes. Being able to know "Inner" and "Outer" betline when you're in the car and you're joining 440 from Western is more helpful than this East/West bullshit. Why? Because I'm not going East or West, and I know the highway makes a fucking circle.

3/29/2010 11:32:15 PM

But 440 is the inner/outer beltLINE. 540 is the outer LOOP. Maybe a little confusing but definitely less confusing than constantly changing what roads are called what.

And definitely less confusing than heading north, then east, then south on a road called 440 East.

Also, the NC540 business is crazy. I540, ftw.

3/29/2010 11:33:22 PM

I miss the beltline

3/29/2010 11:33:28 PM

merbig fails to grasp the concept that the beltline is not a circle ITT

3/29/2010 11:35:07 PM

beltline = circle.

3/29/2010 11:37:40 PM

I mean, I see what you are saying, that they changed it, yeah, whatever, okay. But the old system was easy to grasp and was very useful.

3/29/2010 11:38:46 PM

^ yes, but they had to get rid of the inner/outer so they could use those designations differently in the future.

the point is your destination... for example, Six Forks is farther west than Poole Rd, so even though I would initially travel north for a bit, the overall direction is west.

Quote :

"Also, the NC540 business is crazy"

You can't put toll roads on interstates, which is what they will be doing with parts of 540 eventually

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 11:43 PM. Reason : ]

3/29/2010 11:39:16 PM

So, just to be clear, right there where 40 and new440 meet on the east side of town, you could be on 440 East, while traveling west?

Just want to make sure that I fully understand the new system. And how it is better.

Oh, wait.

3/29/2010 11:44:14 PM

Toll roads, on 540, that will go over well.

I can hear people on the news saying "What is this, New Jersey?" already.

3/29/2010 11:45:04 PM

So you take I-440 West? to go from I-40 westbound approaching from Rocky Mount to US 64 E?

3/29/2010 11:45:29 PM

4^i drove through a toll on i-95 going into/out of delaware

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 11:46 PM. Reason : hgjgkjh]

3/29/2010 11:45:50 PM

^ maybe that's a north carolina rule? I don't know. It's just what I've been told by DOT and people I work with.

3/29/2010 11:47:49 PM

toll roads violate federal interstate requirements, but it doesn't stop states from doing it. WV has tolls on I-64, Delaware and NJ on I-95 (and until recent years, Richmond). I think it took about 20 years worth of protesting to get the Richmond tolls removed.

3/30/2010 12:07:42 AM

old /message_topic.aspx?topic=538893

3/30/2010 12:15:02 AM

Someone posted one time that they always say that they're either on the Cliff Benson or the Tom Bradshaw.

3/30/2010 12:18:58 AM

Aside from being a part of the Intertstate Highway System it's also a bit of a misnomer to call an urban beltway an "interstate", especially one that doesn't leave Wake county.

Well...uh...ahem. It appears the wikipedia cleared that up pretty quickly for me.

[quickly throws a handful of business cards in your face and runs out of thread]

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 12:25 AM. Reason : .]

3/30/2010 12:20:16 AM

^Intra, not Inter.

3/30/2010 12:25:17 AM

^This.

3/30/2010 12:25:28 AM

Haha. Jokes on you, dipshit.

I said "intert"!

but anyway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 12:26 AM. Reason : .]

3/30/2010 12:25:59 AM

I like inner and outer. Makes sense to me.

3/30/2010 10:37:28 AM

Quote :

"Being able to know "Inner" and "Outer" betline when you're in the car and you're joining 440 from Western is more helpful than this East/West bullshit. Why? Because I'm not going East or West, and I know the highway makes a fucking circle."

Same here. When my choices are East or West when I'm actually heading North or South makes no sense when you're on the road trying to navigate traffic.

3/30/2010 10:41:19 AM

i'll still use "inner" and "outer"

3/30/2010 10:42:12 AM

^
even when 540 becomes the "outer"
we can still have 440 inner and outer and then 540 inner and outer.

of course that just might make some people

3/30/2010 10:46:36 AM

either way is simple enough to learn if you have half a brain.

3/30/2010 10:47:45 AM

the only tricky part i've ever had was A and B exits til i realized A is into downtown and B away from downtown

but 1C? that's just silliness

3/30/2010 12:20:20 PM

All I can say is that when I first got to state it took me a month to figure it out. I was confused which way the loop would take me.

3/30/2010 12:29:07 PM

Okay, so 40 and 440 are now distinct roads that do not ever overlap.

I guess I can understand the new system, but I don't have to like it.

Do I?

No.

3/30/2010 12:31:25 PM

is it really going to change your life one iota

3/30/2010 12:32:16 PM

I, too, still use Inner/Outer.

3/30/2010 12:34:27 PM

^^^^ That's because you're a woman. You're not expected to understand how a circle works and that we drive on the right hand side of the road.

3/30/2010 12:39:09 PM

Quote :

"they had to get rid of the "inner" and "outer" because 440 (both directions) will eventually be referred to as the "inner" and 540 as the "outer" loops"

no, i think we'll just call it 440 and 540

3/30/2010 12:44:01 PM

Quote :

"the only tricky part i've ever had was A and B exits til i realized A is into downtown and B away from downtown but 1C? that's just silliness"

Exits are numbered by the mile marker. On 440, there are four exits at mile marker #1: 1A, 1B, 1C (Jones Franklin), and 1D (Melborne).

Check this one in Durham:

View Larger Map

3/30/2010 2:15:50 PM

this actually makes sense

3/30/2010 2:41:40 PM