Specific Roads' Rework Discussion Thread

[HayesPacific]

There has recently been some debate as to where the discussion of specific road rework projects should happen if they go through multiple states. Some've said it should remain in the Base Map Rebuild (CA, NV, AZ) Discussion Thread thread, some've said it should be split up between all states the road goes through... I don't really think either of these solutions are particularly good. Splitting it into multiple threads makes it confusing, but keeping it in the base map rework thread is wrong as it doesn't just go through base game states.

So, I've decided to present a third solution – a thread for just that, specific road reworks.

Currently this thread is only about Route 66, but I've called it Specific Roads' Rework Discussion Thread as this thread aims to encompass discussion of other road reworks too, roads which might be good to rework in future.

SCS blogposts regarding specific road reworks so far:

Route 66 Rework Project:
• Route 66 Rework Project | June 25, 2025
• Project Route 66 Rework - Meet the Team | September 11, 2025
• Route 66 Rework Project: Cities on the Route 66 | December 2, 2025
• Route 66 Rework Project: Grand Canyon & Hoover Dam | January 3, 2026

I'm really looking forward to it, though I do personally hope the Route 66 Rework Project is gonna be a one-time deal, and
future reworks'll encompass whole states again. But as I said, that's just my personal opinion. So, folks... discuss away!

[Sora]

I'm imagining a timeline where all state DLC discussion is consolidated into a "Future State DLC Discussion Thread", rather than the individual Louisiana, Illinois, etc. threads we have now.

I agree that it makes sense to split this thread off from the Rework Thread (or lord forbid the PRT thread) if people are going to be sticklers about TECHNICALLY only AZ-66 being base map, but I really don't get this board's aversion to just making separate threads for separate reworks.

[flight50]

Sounds good to me. This fits the bill more than talking about segments of a road that does not exist in the base map. A specific roads thread can mean any state. Heck even Nevada and California fits here. I-80 in Truckee California all the way thru to the Salt Flatts in Utah applies here. That entire section of I-80 reworked is sorely being missed.

[flight50]

I'm imagining a timeline where all state DLC discussion is consolidated into a "Future State DLC Discussion Thread", rather than the individual Louisiana, Illinois, etc. threads we have now.

That's what this thread does already for 8 years and counting. viewtopic.php?p=809411#p809411

[Brendan0620]

Speaking of the Route 66 Project, I'm really happy they are reworking I-40 in New Mexico, I'll explain why I think so in a minute but I'm excited to see new reworked sections of the interstate, and some new possible exits too.

Today I took my Quest 2 out off my desk and used it in ATS with VR mode and I got a little too addicted to where I took a load from Harrison AR to Albuquerque NM. My opinion is still the same; I wasn't all too pleased with I-40 in New Mexico as even though the quality dip going from TX to NM wasn't as abrupt as, say CA to AZ or NV, it still felt uncomfortably noticeable and the sudden turns and rolling hills on I-40 going from Tucumcari to ABQ are not satisfying at all.

[Tristman]

Yeah they have come a long way with the alignment of roads, the smoothness of turns, etc.

When I was driving I-80 in Iowa yesterday, I thought about how nice it felt. The turns, the subtle grades, the intersections and highway ramps. I distinctly remember Kansas being the first DLC where I really felt they nailed that. And ever since they’ve managed to hold that standard more or less.

This does make it harder and harder to return to older states. Nevada and Arizona are kind of horrible in that sense, New Mexico and Oregon aren’t great (I-84 Cabbage Hill anyone?), Washington and Utah have room for improvement. Usually I try to take the interstate as fast out of the state as possible, or ignore it altogether and enjoy the state by taking smaller roads.

I think this Project R66 is a positive sign (even though it does seem kind of like an Arizona phase 1) that SCS will tackle specific sections of older DLC and make them more enjoyable. Again using Oregon as example, it doesn’t need a full rework, but it would do so much if they redid I-84 between The Dalles and Ontario, and maybe reworked Pendleton (the roads in that town are way too tight).

[Brendan0620]

I decided yesterday before that job to traverse the country to get back to California (and yes I'm going on I-40 in Arizona too lol), and that's why I took the job to ABQ; but yeah you're right, the older states seem to have more rough turns and curves which make it hard to return to somewhere like Oregon and New Mexico.

[flight50]

Its the flow of traffic. You can not maintain 60mph or whatever the speed is. Braking in curves is the norm back then. SCS has solved that problem since then. We even got better banking. It was Colorado that set all that in place for me. It was the first dlc in which got full research here in the US. Texas got partial research and it helped Texas. But Colorado set the tone for research.

I-80 Nevada is horrible in presentation compared to now. California's I-80 is now good quality. Utah holds up but once Nevada's I-80 is all reworked, Utah will be the lowest quality and that's good. Only thing I-80 in Utah needs is to have US-93 Alt pushed back to Nevada where it belongs and then we can get more of the Salt Flatts.

I-10 thru Phoenix is horrible with its curves as well. A fully rebuilt Phoenix would be sweet. Its coming one day. New Mexico is when they started turning roads into something a tad more realistic. Still not like today but its not base map stuff either.

US-395 in Nevada. I surely hope its better than US-395 in California. Reforma made US-395 a highly anticipated road reworks for me and SCS didn't nail it like I was looking for that Reforma brought. But those mountains in Nevada must be legit. They need size. They need grade in California and it didn't really happen.

Cabbage Hill.....it was mentioned above. That is some really tight curves there but I'd love to see what they'd do with it in today's mapping. Its really too tight and not fun to drive like it could be. I think they tried to do too much in such a confined space. It would be better if they removed some of the work South of Cabbage to gain more space for Cabbage itself. A reworked Cabbage would give it some justice. https://truckermudgeon.github.io/#9.08/ ... /-117.8772. I'd like to see this section of Cabbage redone hands down (if possible).

US-95....White Bird Hill. SMH. Such a beautiful road in the game. Great job mapping it. But it has almost zero grade and for some reason, SCS did a 1+1 road instead of a 2+1 road. That hurt White Bird. That hurt me. I even posted videos of Riding Shotgun riding White Bird in both directions in his big rig....well before Idaho released and what a massive disappointment to see those videos was ignore. ATS's White Bird doesn't feel remotely close in the slightest to the real thing. At least all of Colorado's grades gave us a great vibe. The Idaho dlc botched on White Bird.

[ma1kawa11]

I agree for the most part with curvature issues on the major highways but for off roads and minor highways I prefer curves especially in mountain areas because it is interesting to drive.

My main concern with the older states is more the terrain around the roads rather than the roads themselves (of course with exceptions for Nevada and Arizona). A lot of the reasons why I dislike i80 in Nevada is because the terrain just doesn't look on par with the terrain we see further east.

[flight50]

Lol. I-80 terrain in Nevada is why most of us complain about I-80. Its ATS's weakest link road right now.