# Show your Parkways!



## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

Show your Parkways!

I hope this is the right place to put this thread...

I've always liked the idea of parkways. A road hidden in the trees, or at least that was the idea. I think a lot since being built in the 1930s-60s have since been built around and lost the original feel...

Here are some shots of large-ish parkways in and around Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham in England...

Bochum Parkway, Sheffield









Fort Parkway, Birmingham









Heartlands Parkway, Birmingham









Nechells Parkway, Birmingham









Princess Parkway, Manchester









Sheffield Parkway, Sheffield


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

There are parkways in this country?! Are lorries prohibited on them?

Edit: I know roads that look like that, but I never knew that any were actually called "Parkway"


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## Mateusz (Feb 14, 2007)

'Parkway' currently is just another name for a bypass or some dual carriageway.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

> Bochum Parkway, Sheffield


They have a Sheffield Ring in Bochum.


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## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

More English parkways...from Peterborough


Fletton Parkway









Frank Perkins Parkway









Nene Parkway









Orton Parkway









Paston Parkway









Soke Parkway


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

^^ So those are just bypasses around a town or city?

I can think of two in my city but when i think of a parkway i just think of a big avanue trough a park...


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## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

joshsam said:


> ^^ So those are just bypasses around a town or city?
> 
> I can think of two in my city but when i think of a parkway i just think of a big avanue trough a park...


They run around the middle. You can see that they are landscaped roads with trees, you can see on this map...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=52.565056,-0.272813&spn=0.017608,0.061798&t=h&z=15


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

^^ I see... Not that much in that case. Mayby some In Brussels or Antwerp where there are a lot of suburbs. But Belgian cities don't have that planned 'cul-de-sac' suburb with park lanes...


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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

In most cases in the US, the term "parkway" is just another word for a freeway, toll road, or in some instances just another street.

But here are some examples:

*Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295)*


















*Garden State Parkway:*




































*Belt Parkway:*


















*Merrit Parkway:*


















*Wilbur Cross Parkway:*


















*Pallisades Interstate Parkway:*


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## nerdly_dood (Mar 23, 2007)

*Blue Ridge Parkway* - MY PARKWAY IS BETTER THAN YOURS

This is the type of road you shouldn't drive on to actually get somewhere, this is a road you drive on for the sake of a fun drive.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Is Skyline Drive a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway or a separate road?


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Talimena Highway in Oklahoma seems almost equal to the Blue Ridge Parkway:


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

Beautiful!


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## EEH (Jul 16, 2010)

Bulgaria, Republika pass through the Balkans mountains
photo by LG, panoramio.com









Bulgaria, Sofia, Peyo Yavorov blvd through Borisova gradina park
photo by Reiziger, panoramio.com


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## I-275westcoastfl (Feb 15, 2005)

nerdly_dood said:


> *Blue Ridge Parkway* - MY PARKWAY IS BETTER THAN YOURS
> 
> This is the type of road you shouldn't drive on to actually get somewhere, this is a road you drive on for the sake of a fun drive.


Is it true the speeds on that only get up to 45mph, thats what I saw on Top Gear?


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## Mateusz (Feb 14, 2007)

*Dearne Valley Parkway (A6195)*

It's basically a southern bypass of Barnsley which leads to M1 (J36) It also connects some small towns on its way. Multiple roundabouts are kinda annoying (many of them don't lead anywhere, as if they are there waiting for future developments ie housing estates, retail parks) Most of it is a dual carriageway with a modest hard shoulder


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## nerdly_dood (Mar 23, 2007)

I-275westcoastfl said:


> Is it true the speeds on that only get up to 45mph, thats what I saw on Top Gear?


Yup, but you should be pretty safe mostly at 55. But beware, if they tell you "curve ahead, 25mph" THEY MEAN TWENTY-FIVE or else you'll drive off the side of a mountain. Also, the wooden guardrails are designed with the sole purpose of ensuring that any vehicle that loses control and drives off the road will be upside-down when it hits the ground far, far below.

It's a curvy two-lane road on top of a long mountain ridge. If you wanna drive at 80 mph, go ahead, but don't expect to survive.



ChrisZwolle said:


> Is Skyline Drive a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway or a separate road?


Skyline Drive is the northern extension which goes through the Shenandoah National Park. I've heard it's a toll road, but I've never been there so I wouldn't know. The entrance to Skyline Drive (and the rest of the park) is north of where Interstate 64 crosses Afton Mountain (which is notorious for frequent dense fog)

Also the picture of that parkway in Oklahoma doesn't look a thing like what I know about Oklahoma, but it does look remarkably similar to the mountains in Virginia.


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## I-275westcoastfl (Feb 15, 2005)

nerdly_dood said:


> Yup, but you should be pretty safe mostly at 55. But beware, if they tell you "curve ahead, 25mph" THEY MEAN TWENTY-FIVE or else you'll drive off the side of a mountain. Also, the wooden guardrails are designed with the sole purpose of ensuring that any vehicle that loses control and drives off the road will be upside-down when it hits the ground far, far below.
> 
> It's a curvy two-lane road on top of a long mountain ridge. If you wanna drive at 80 mph, go ahead, but don't expect to survive.


Well I meant speed traps which Virginia is one of those lovely places where if you get pulled over for speeding at 5mph over and you are guaranteed a ticket. 55mph would seem about right.


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## Haljackey (Feb 14, 2008)

Some Parkways from Ontario, Canada

Don Valley Parkway- Toronto









Red Hill Valley Parkway- Hamilton









Veterans Memorial Parkway- London









Parkways around here have a max speed of 90 km/h.


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## hammersklavier (Jan 29, 2010)

Talimena Parkway is in the Ozarks?


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

No, the Talimena is in the Ouachita Mountains. It is said that Oklahoma is the most varied state in the nation in terms of landscapes. It's not all prairie and plains.


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## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

ChrisZwolle said:


> It's not all prairie and plains.


but 99% is lol. I'd California was more varied, desert, Mediterranean, grassy plains


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## Tincap (May 23, 2010)

A local parkway we get a lot of use out of, is the 1000 Islands Parkway, between Brockville and Gananoque ON. The section was to be twinned, before plans for the 401 were fully realized. In fact, it was once labelled the 401, before the current 401 was finally completed in 1967. Fortunately, the 401 was moved further 'inland' leaving us the Parkway to skirt the edges of the St. Lawernce River.









Photo credit: Cameron Bevers

There's a lot more history behind it and Cameron Bevers covers it very well at his excellent site here ~> http://www.thekingshighway.ca/PHOTOS/Hwy2Sphotos.htm

~BG


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## nerdly_dood (Mar 23, 2007)

I-275westcoastfl said:


> Well I meant speed traps which Virginia is one of those lovely places where if you get pulled over for speeding at 5mph over and you are guaranteed a ticket. 55mph would seem about right.


The Blue Ridge Parkway is no speed trap as far as the police are concerned. I've never seen any police there at all except in one drunk-driving sting. (can't remember what it was called but it had a specific name and a lot of TV ads) Pretty much, if you drive too fast on this road, you won't get a ticket, you'll die - so the police aren't especially concerned about speed enforcement on this road. There are a handful of other places I know where the police will very often hide and wait for someone driving too fast, but that isn't one of them. (It is, however, perfectly legal in this state to get a speeding ticket for 1mph over the limit, but depending on conditions, 5mph over the limit is what people generally do)


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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

Some more "parkways".

Grand Parkway also known as SH 99 (really just another freeway) which will be the third beltway to encircle Houston.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

^^ That "Parkway" will probably evolve into one of those massive 10-lane Houston freeways with toll lanes if Houston keeps growing at 100,000 people per year like it did in the last two decades.


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

I drove most of the Blue Ridge Parkway back in Oct 2001, great road, one of my best driving experiences ever. Calm, beautiful scenery, great surface quality, I remember a section was tolled would that have been Skyline Drive? I'll look on the map when I get home.

Our UK landscaped inner bypass type parkways don't quite compare somehow! :laugh:

The Natchez Trace Parkway is another big one I've seen on the US map, is that a good drive too?


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## Moravian (Oct 4, 2010)

nerdly_dood said:


> The Blue Ridge Parkway is no speed trap as far as the police are concerned. I've never seen any police there at all except in one drunk-driving sting. (can't remember what it was called but it had a specific name and a lot of TV ads) Pretty much, if you drive too fast on this road, you won't get a ticket, you'll die - so the police aren't especially concerned about speed enforcement on this road. There are a handful of other places I know where the police will very often hide and wait for someone driving too fast, but that isn't one of them. (It is, however, perfectly legal in this state to get a speeding ticket for 1mph over the limit, but depending on conditions, 5mph over the limit is what people generally do)


IMO The Blue Ridge Parkway could be listed as one of the TOP 10 parkways - not only in America. The drivers could fully enjoy that great countryside and any higher speed is not the key issue there - no matter if in North Carolina or Virginia section.


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