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It never ceases to amaze me how totally nuts people can be when it comes to level crossings (as we call them in the UK). As with any country, we have a mixture of crossings; some without barriers (not that common, at least in my neck of the woods), some with a barrier covering one lane in each direction, and the majority covering both lanes in both directions. For the un-barriered ones, so many just ignore the lights and drive over. For the partial barriers, I've seen my share of people slaloming around the barriers. And I've even seen people try to beat the fully barried ones. One time I was snarled up in stop-start traffic, movely slowly along single-carriageway road that had a fully-barried level crossing. Bearing in mind the traffic was wholly backed up, most people were being reasonable, and not entering the crossing until the definitely knew they could clear it. Apart from the guy in front of me, who got to the crossing as the lights came up, and decided to go for it. He cleared the tracks, but not the crossing as a whole. So the barrier dropped down onto the bonnet of his car. Then lifted up, and dropped back down again. And it kept doing this, chop-chop-chop, all the way along his car, one end to the other, as he slowly exited the crossing. 
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May 13, 2010 08:00
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magimix posted:It never ceases to amaze me how totally nuts people can be when it comes to level crossings (as we call them in the UK). Which is why we need people like Jeremy Clarkson to tell the public how to use them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekpD06P7kiI
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May 13, 2010 13:15
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magimix posted:Apart from the guy in front of me, who got to the crossing as the lights came up, and decided to go for it. He cleared the tracks, but not the crossing as a whole. So the barrier dropped down onto the bonnet of his car. Then lifted up, and dropped back down again. And it kept doing this, chop-chop-chop, all the way along his car, one end to the other, as he slowly exited the crossing. I would pay a lot of money to see that. Sounds like something I'd see Rowan Atkinson do. Once the gates are down, at least here, there are only 12 seconds until the train passes. Apparently that's still too long for some people to wait. thehustler posted:Which is why we need people like Jeremy Clarkson to tell the public how to use them: Ah, I do love Top Gear 
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May 13, 2010 17:17
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Cichlidae posted:I would pay a lot of money to see that. Sounds like something I'd see Rowan Atkinson do. Once the gates are down, at least here, there are only 12 seconds until the train passes. Apparently that's still too long for some people to wait. It was entertaining. The guy had a audience, as this crossing was at the point where the tracks entered the railway station in this particular area. So lots of foot-traffic in addition to cars. I will say, the gate didn't seem to damage his car at all, which was oddly disappointing.
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May 13, 2010 17:43
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CT specific question: Can you figure out what this project is? I live off of Rubber Ave. in Naugatuck and they put up a project trailer on a spare lot, and put up a bunch of new orange signs, covered with plastic for now. But I can't for the life of me figure out what they are doing. There aren't even any proper bridges on this road, so it's probably one of those where no one even notices its a bridge. I got this much info from the ARRA docs: DOT 9087-3713 Rubber Avenue Bridge #03713 I just want to figure out which bridge it is, and whether they are going to close the road and make my life unpleasant.
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May 14, 2010 19:26
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magimix posted:Apart from the guy in front of me, who got to the crossing as the lights came up, and decided to go for it. He cleared the tracks, but not the crossing as a whole. So the barrier dropped down onto the bonnet of his car. Then lifted up, and dropped back down again. And it kept doing this, chop-chop-chop, all the way along his car, one end to the other, as he slowly exited the crossing. I've seen something similar. There was a full size pickup truck with a pretty long trailer behind it and the arms started coming down. The truck made it through, but it caught the trailer and almost ripped the arm off.
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May 14, 2010 20:59
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smackfu posted:CT specific question: Can you figure out what this project is? I live off of Rubber Ave. in Naugatuck and they put up a project trailer on a spare lot, and put up a bunch of new orange signs, covered with plastic for now. But I can't for the life of me figure out what they are doing. There aren't even any proper bridges on this road, so it's probably one of those where no one even notices its a bridge. It's on Rubber Ave in Naugatuck. The project number isn't typical of state jobs, and Rubber Ave isn't a state road, so it's a municipal job. Probably one of the bridges over the river. For more information, go see the town council or manager or whoever you have. It was awarded back in November, so it should already be under construction. If you haven't noticed the work zone, then there's probably nothing to worry about. The construction office is sometimes miles from the site itself.
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May 14, 2010 21:49
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magimix posted:It never ceases to amaze me how totally nuts people can be when it comes to level crossings (as we call them in the UK). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_HDUHsA_h4
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May 15, 2010 16:45
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I can't remember exactly what I'm trying to describe here but someone posted something about weird human behaviour and getting to one place from another when you give them a few options. Am I going mad?
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May 15, 2010 20:59
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thehustler posted:I can't remember exactly what I'm trying to describe here but someone posted something about weird human behaviour and getting to one place from another when you give them a few options. Am I going mad? No, that happened sometime back... past page 13, and it wasn't me, it was another poster. I know that doesn't help much ijustam posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_HDUHsA_h4 That poor train...
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May 16, 2010 00:31
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Cichlidae posted:No, that happened sometime back... past page 13, and it wasn't me, it was another poster. I know that doesn't help much Apparently it's not unheard of. Search "train street running" and you'll find similar videos. I assume they evolve from towns developing around large factories or such.
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May 16, 2010 01:02
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thehustler posted:I can't remember exactly what I'm trying to describe here but someone posted something about weird human behaviour and getting to one place from another when you give them a few options. Am I going mad? Speaking of level crossings, when obtaining right-of-way for railways through farmland, railway infrastructure managers will usually try to get farmers to swap those parts of their fields that get cut off from the rest by the railway. If that fails, you have to install a manual level crossing, which is pretty much just a gate. The annoying part is that farmers often forgo closing them, because it's a hassle to get out of the tractor and go back to close it and hop in again. Because of the off chance that someone might end up sauntering onto the track through the open gate, or better yet, cattle might somehow end up there, top speeds are usually reduced on such sections. (Not that it makes that much of a difference if a train hits a cow at 100km/h instead of 160km/h, it's hamburger time anyway.) I think the newest development is looking into the possibility of making the gates solar powered so that they would close on their own. Double Bonus! First: Train vs. Cow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrO8AFGi_rc Next ICE vs. Sheep Sort of NWS due to animal carnage Jasper Tin Neck fucked around with this message at 20:06 on May 20, 2010 |
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May 16, 2010 02:07
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ijustam posted:Apparently it's not unheard of. Search "train street running" and you'll find similar videos. I assume they evolve from towns developing around large factories or such. There's one such line right by my father's house in Middletown, PA. It's not often used now, but it was one of the lines going into the steel factories north of town.
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May 16, 2010 07:15
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thelightguy posted:There's one such line right by my father's house in Middletown, PA. It's not often used now, but it was one of the lines going into the steel factories north of town. There's one in Kansas City(The Kansas side, I think. Been a few years). It's just off an exit from 635, the exit takes you around and then through a single lane tunnel with street running tracks. No signals, lights or any way to tell if a train is coming. I think it was some disused industrial line to the CSX yard, I never saw a train on it.
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May 17, 2010 06:08
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Citizen Z posted:There's one in Kansas City(The Kansas side, I think. Been a few years). It's just off an exit from 635, the exit takes you around and then through a single lane tunnel with street running tracks. No signals, lights or any way to tell if a train is coming. I think it was some disused industrial line to the CSX yard, I never saw a train on it. Yeah, the only time I saw the one in Middletown used, it had a police escort.
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May 17, 2010 06:15
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Speaking of Middletown, check out this one in Middletown, CT: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=...,62.76,,0,13.01 A grade crossing underneath a freeway bridge at an intersection. Union Street is a relatively important road, as it's the main path from downtown Middletown to the shore. Note the lack of gates, flashers, or anything else that would help to protect people. This is also the #1 most hazardous location in the entire state (up on the freeway), which could be substantially improved through widening this overpass. I should also note that the train line in question is a candidate for upgrade into a heavily-used freight line to replace the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line when/if that gets turned into high-speed commuter rail.
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May 17, 2010 12:32
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And here I always assumed that crossings without any markings were simply disused. Wonderful!
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May 18, 2010 01:31
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Guys, I came across something horrifying while looking through today's Workzone Safety Booklet! Remember when we found out the workzone safety devices were plotting to put us all in camps? Well, they're engaging in a mass breeding program, crossing Archeopteryx with common ducks!  These "fun" little beasts can leap on you from a hundred meters up and tear out your entrails with their flat little beaks. Nasty. What's worse, they're providing us with harrowing hints of their plans, not-so-subtly hidden in this word find:  I've highlighted a few choice German words for you. When the cones hoist their ORANGEN banners and EHREN (honor) their flattened comrades, they will collect one nation under their FLAGGE (flag). Those who resist will be forced with SIG and LUGER into LAGER (camps). And then, the final solution, humans will lie crushed like so many run-over cones. TOTE (dead person).
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May 18, 2010 01:57
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Lovecraftian plots aside, that is the worst drawing of a duck I've ever seen. It looks like a dinosaur or something. And what the hell is that thing just to the upper right of the large "duck?" Some sort of vampiduck coming to suck its blood? You may be on to something, Cichlidae.  EDIT: And now that I'm looking at it, what the hell is wrong with Ima's left arm?!
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May 18, 2010 02:04
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Yeah, the duck appears to be hovering, with it's feet dangling. The cow appears to be escaping it's sign. Also, Open Range? Do parallel lists mean nothing to these people? Even "Equestrian Crossing" isn't quite right.
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May 18, 2010 02:09
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ijustam posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_HDUHsA_h4 Sometimes I really really dislike people. This is one of those times.
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May 18, 2010 02:57
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BklynBruzer posted:Sometimes I really really dislike people. This is one of those times. This on the other hand, is amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSqNx7vJLDE
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May 18, 2010 03:25
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OP, this thread is awesome! I fianlly caught up with all 49 pages of it:) I've been driving in the US for a while now, and I have seen you cover on/off ramps similar to this one many pages ago:  I thoroughly dislike driving on these as you have to cut across traffic exiting the freeway as you try to get on, at least on the northern side of this example. Many of the exits I've used in the Southern California area seem to have this kind of problem, but I'll freely admit that I'm not the best city/freeway driver which is a contributing factor:) In NZ I disliked some of the exits/onramps I found in Auckland when I would visit, but there are some that I really liked:  These seem so much easier to use, as long as you get in the right lane at the start! You just go around the roundabout until you get to where you want to go and then you exit it. Do you think this is a good model or are there others you would prefer to this one? I can't see anything happening to the ones in California as the state is broke and can barely maintain some stretches of the road as it is.
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May 19, 2010 22:01
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Midget Fist posted:OP, this thread is awesome! I fianlly caught up with all 49 pages of it:) They could remove three of those ramps (the two northern loop ramps and the diagonal ramp in the SE quadrant), improving safety tenfold and simplifying the interchange significantly. A full cloverleaf in such a small footprint must have terrifically low design speeds, as well. Midget Fist posted:In NZ I disliked some of the exits/onramps I found in Auckland when I would visit, but there are some that I really liked: Roundabout interchanges are great for relatively low traffic volumes. Americans in general have some trouble with multi-lane roundabouts, so I wouldn't recommend building one here, at least not until people get more familiar with the concept. The volume really is critical, though. With a signalized intersection at the end of an off-ramp, you can always pre-empt it to clear the ramp when queues begin to build back to the freeway. With a roundabout, though, there's no way to stop it from backing onto the freeway if the volumes get too high. That leads to high speed read-end accidents, which can be fatal. Of course, if you're just replacing a couple of stop signs, then a roundabout should work just fine. I should add, I really like the pedestrian bridge in that design. Under the ramps, over the motorway, and it looks like it provides access to a train platform as well.
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May 20, 2010 00:30
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Cichlidae posted:The volume really is critical, though. With a signalized intersection at the end of an off-ramp, you can always pre-empt it to clear the ramp when queues begin to build back to the freeway. With a roundabout, though, there's no way to stop it from backing onto the freeway if the volumes get too high. That leads to high speed read-end accidents, which can be fatal. That's true, I wonder what they do when there's an accident or something at the top of one of the roundabouts... I never noticed the pedestrian bridge but you're right, it looks pretty nifty:) Cichlidae posted:They could remove three of those ramps (the two northern loop ramps and the diagonal ramp in the SE quadrant), improving safety tenfold and simplifying the interchange significantly. A full cloverleaf in such a small footprint must have terrifically low design speeds, as well. Yeah there's no way you can get enough speed to merge safely with those tight curves and crossing traffic. Though even on the best of on-ramps you can be thwarted by getting stuck behind someone who doesn't know how to match speeds before merging.
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May 20, 2010 00:56
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Do you use 2+1 roads in the US at all? They seem horrendously dangerous to me, but apparently they're used a lot in Sweden. Various traffic people tried to get them introduced here in Denmark but ultimately they realised that since we dont have several hundred kilometers of deserted road the 2+1 scheme doesnt actually work that well. I made a little picture to demonstrate what it is, if some of you aren't sure exactly what I'm talking about. It is basically a 3 lane road where the middle lane alternates between the two sides.  also, I can't believe that the "Blasting zone ahead" sign actually exists. I always thought it was just some Brian Regan made up for his joke.
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May 20, 2010 07:29
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MrBling posted:I made a little picture to demonstrate what it is, if some of you aren't sure exactly what I'm talking about. It is basically a 3 lane road where the middle lane alternates between the two sides.
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May 20, 2010 09:06
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MrBling posted:Do you use 2+1 roads in the US at all? They seem horrendously dangerous to me, but apparently they're used a lot in Sweden. Various traffic people tried to get them introduced here in Denmark but ultimately they realised that since we dont have several hundred kilometers of deserted road the 2+1 scheme doesnt actually work that well. Like Socket Ryanist said, they're relatively common on rural, high-speed roads, especially on rolling terrain. The third lane is almost always in the uphill direction, allowing cars to pass trucks that have trouble speeding up hills, and allowing me to pass that slug of cars I've been following for the last 10 miles. As long as you put a buffer between where the third lane begins in one direction and ends in the other, it's quite safe. The alternative is passing zones on a two-lane road, which are quite tricky in hilly areas. MrBling posted:also, I can't believe that the "Blasting zone ahead" sign actually exists. I always thought it was just some Brian Regan made up for his joke. Not only do we have those signs, they also say, "Turn off cell phone and 2-way radio." I'm not sure whether it's possible for a cell phone to set off blasting caps or cause radio interference, but I understand the 2-way radio part. Sometimes the signs will specify the signal to be given - 3 loud honks or something when blasting is about to begin.
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May 20, 2010 10:30
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MrBling posted:
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May 20, 2010 13:29
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Cichlidae posted:It's on Rubber Ave in Naugatuck. The project number isn't typical of state jobs, and Rubber Ave isn't a state road, so it's a municipal job. Probably one of the bridges over the river. For more information, go see the town council or manager or whoever you have.
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May 20, 2010 13:50
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MrBling posted:I made a little picture to demonstrate what it is, if some of you aren't sure exactly what I'm talking about. It is basically a 3 lane road where the middle lane alternates between the two sides. That sounds almost like the passing lane solution everyone else is discussing...but at the same time it sounds like the suicide lanes a very small number of the roads here in AZ have. I think the one in Tucson was shut down and turned into a regular turning lane, but at least a couple of streets in downtown Phoenix still have it set up so that during morning rush hour, the center lane is part of one side of the road (no left turns) and during evening rush hour, it goes the opposite direction, and outside of those hours it's a left-turn lane. There's been pushes to get it removed, though.
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May 20, 2010 16:03
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I got the reduced plans for that bridge on I-95 that was hit by a truck. We're cutting out part of the bent beam. Unfortunately, I think the guys down in Bridge Design got bored, and, as a result, we have this:
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May 20, 2010 17:18
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That wasn't what I was looking for. Something to do with the number of choices you give drivers and what happens as a result. People trying to avoid congestion. Ring any bells?
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May 21, 2010 00:20
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thehustler posted:That wasn't what I was looking for. Something to do with the number of choices you give drivers and what happens as a result. People trying to avoid congestion. Ring any bells? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3177805&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=8#post364114693 Is it that one, maybe? There was also another post (not mine) that compared the perceived times spent waiting for a bus, train, in a car, etc.
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May 21, 2010 01:28
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Nesnej posted:Some of you have touched upon this subject already, so I figured this might be interesting to discuss.
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May 21, 2010 13:09
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Cichlidae posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3177805&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=8#post364114693 That's the badger! Thanks.
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May 21, 2010 13:13
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IOwnCalculus posted:That sounds almost like the passing lane solution everyone else is discussing...but at the same time it sounds like the suicide lanes a very small number of the roads here in AZ have. I think the one in Tucson was shut down and turned into a regular turning lane, but at least a couple of streets in downtown Phoenix still have it set up so that during morning rush hour, the center lane is part of one side of the road (no left turns) and during evening rush hour, it goes the opposite direction, and outside of those hours it's a left-turn lane. I like simple systems that can adapt to varying traffic volumes like this. It makes roadways more efficient and saves on construction costs. For regular commuters familiar with the operation it can work well but for tourists, drivers unfamiliar with the area, and old people this is an accident waiting to happen. Milwaukee is about midway on a multi-year program to convert all its downtown streets to 2-way. Most regular commuters love one-way streets for their efficiency and easy ability to handle peak-hour volumes. But I regularly see people that can't read the multiple signs that say, "ONE-WAY" or see that all the cars are parked in one direction or see cars heading toward them in all lanes. Safety trumps efficiency.
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May 21, 2010 14:09
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Cichlidae posted:Not only do we have those signs, they also say, "Turn off cell phone and 2-way radio." I'm not sure whether it's possible for a cell phone to set off blasting caps or cause radio interference, but I understand the 2-way radio part. Sometimes the signs will specify the signal to be given - 3 loud honks or something when blasting is about to begin. Realistically, neither can trigger a blast. However, testing has proven that, in ideal circumstances, a cell can trigger a blast (i.e., it's placed directly in the charge and kept there transmitting continuously). 2-way radios are much higher power (50 watts), and but still need to be close enough in order to trigger it. If I remember my mine safety training correctly, a 2-way radio with as a low as 1 watt power can trigger a blast (again, in ideal circumstances, in this case, it was something like the antenna was wrapped around the explosives). So it makes sense to need to turn of the 2-way if you're just driving through, but the cell, I'd only worry about it if I was working in the vicinity.
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May 21, 2010 15:55
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Cichlidae posted:Not only do we have those signs, they also say, "Turn off cell phone and 2-way radio." I'm not sure whether it's possible for a cell phone to set off blasting caps or cause radio interference, but I understand the 2-way radio part. Sometimes the signs will specify the signal to be given - 3 loud honks or something when blasting is about to begin.
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May 21, 2010 20:22
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smackfu posted:Plus any safety policy that requires on drivers to turn off their cell phones is not exactly realistic. Right. Our driving-while-on-phone rates have actually gone up since we passed the law to ban phones while driving. That's not a good sign! Speaking of bad signs, I went out in the field today to watch a grade crossing that will be impacted by the Busway. Not the nicest neighborhood, especially when you're sitting in a state car for two hours, staring at cars and frantically writing on a clipboard. Unfortunately, with a signal nearby, the queue backs up onto the tracks regularly. Sure enough, as the queues built onto the track, the lights started flashing and the gate came down... After two minutes, cars started to do U-turns and head back the way they came. Another minute, and the first car zigzagged past the gates and across the tracks. Four others followed. Cars started driving on the wrong side of the road to jump the queue. Pedestrians started walking across the track. People came out onto the sidewalk to laugh at all the stopped cars. Finally, seven minutes after the gates went down, the train chugged by at about 10-15 mph. By this time, the queue extended at least a half mile in both directions, causing a pretty major jam. It took 11 minutes for the queue to clear. These traffic volumes will be ~20% higher in the Busway design year. So yeah, I'd say we have a problem.
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May 21, 2010 23:35
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