Width of roads

[Cannoli]

How wide should I make my town roads in HO scale? I'm modeling the 90's/modern era.

[jeffers_mz]

Each lane in a country road, the kind where they're called x hundred west and so forth, is ten feet where I live. I know because for some odd reason, land purchases include up to the middle of the road, except you really don't own it.

The lanes in town are wider, at least a foot or two on each side of the car, so that would make a minimum of 12 to 14 feet per lane.

[Pruitt]

On Interstate highways the lanes are 16 feet wide, with 12 foot-wide right shoulder and a left shoulder that varies from state to state and location to location. Road width in you town is more or less what you want it to be, depending on what kind of road it is - residential, highway through town, main street that isn't a highway, etc. Sixty feet is not uncommon for a two-lane main street with parking on each side, but 24 to 30 feet isn't uncommon (particularly in the northeast, where roads are generally older) for residential roads with parking on each side (on some roads near my house in NJ, opposing traffic can only get by if you find an empty spot in the parking lane and pull half-over to let the other guy by. These are NOT heavily travelled). So if you're looking for a number, I think 40 feet will get you a decent looking business-district street, and you can probably fudge that down to 35 or so without looking too cramped.

[dragonriversteel]

Funny you should mention that,I was thinking the same thing last night. Yeah know...while trying to go to sleep last night,I could'nt stop thinking of roads and there width. Geeezzz.....finally figured out.....12 to 14 feet each lane.....country roads {depending on what state you live in} 12 feet wide. I didn't sleep to good last night.

Patrick

[tatans]

Generally in North America road allowances are 66 feet wide, and probably the pavement is @ 12 feet.

[DSchmitt]

The modern "standard" lane width is 12 feet, paved shoulders 8 feet. Outside the paved shoulder there would be a 2-foot or wider gravel shoulder. Of course many roads are narrower. 9 foot lanes are normally the narrowest that would be stripped.

[Anonymous]

Mine is about the width of 1 and 1/2 pretty narrow putty knives.

Greg

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainwreck100

Mine is about the width of 1 and 1/2 pretty narrow putty knives.

Greg

And you expect the wife to drive down that without hitting anything? [:-,]

[willy6]

I made my roads/highways 4" wide or about 28' scale width. I used .030 styrene for my roads. I made it wide enough because I noticed HO scale vehicles are all not true 1/87th scale. It depends on the manufacturer.