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Cichlidae posted:This one was an overhead sign on I-84 in Vernon. We'd just put it up, brand new, a few months beforehand. The dump truck was rolling down the shoulder and forgot to put its bed down. Bam. It was actually suspended in the air; the sign held up, and the support itself is fine. The foundation, though, cracked. Wanna know how to absolutely RUIN a city for a day? Knock down a huge sign at 7:30am on a freeway that averages 200,000+ cars a day. 
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Feb 5, 2011 06:52
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When searching for this I didn't realize it was over a decade ago. This happened during the evening rush hour: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dPIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4UcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3622,1144468&dq=baltimore+beltway+pedestrian+walkway&hl=en
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Feb 5, 2011 18:12
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Mandalay posted:Clearly debtor's prison needs a cemetery ward More info. Seems a 19 year old girl driving an F-150 sideswiped the tanker, which was carrying 8,700 gallons of gasoline. Repairs are estimated at $2.2M (I know my car insurance wouldn't cover it!) and are estimated complete by Feb 16. Cichlidae- if workers are capable of building an overpass in 3 weeks for a reasonable cost like this, why the [expletive deleted] do other similar projects take 3 years? grover fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Feb 5, 2011 |
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Feb 5, 2011 18:57
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grover posted:http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110205/NEWS01/102050307/1006/news01/Bridge+repairs+progressing Putting up a new span and new decking on an existing foundation is actually pretty easy, and it looks like the bridge was both small, short and straight, so they can use prefab parts for it. New bridges need to meet so many requirements and cross so many bureaucratic thresholds that consume all the time and money being spent. The cost of the actual material and construction of the bridge ends up being a small part of the total expense of time and money.
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Feb 6, 2011 00:08
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grover posted:Cichlidae- if workers are capable of building an overpass in 3 weeks for a reasonable cost like this, why the [expletive deleted] do other similar projects take 3 years? Emergency declaration makes things go MUCH faster. I'm amazed that it's only going to take three weeks; someone very high up in the chain of command must be applying a lot of "do it now or get fired" pressure. Even on our usual emergency jobs, it takes a month to begin construction, let alone finish it. As for the construction itself, most simple spans can be built in a week or less. The reason they normally take much longer is because they're done under live traffic.
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Feb 6, 2011 06:14
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Choadmaster posted:I was driving through some rural area the other day (I don't remember exactly where now, probably in Kansas but maybe Illinois) and came across a signal whose red light had a bright white led strobe built into it We used to have those in Plano, though I believe they used a real strobe (xenon arc tube), instead of LEDs. They disappeared around 2001 or so I think, and seemed to flash about once every 2 seconds. They were mostly at large intersections. I know a cop in Plano, next time I see him I'll try and remember to ask him what happened to them. I want to say a couple of other DFW suburbs had them, but I've done a lot of drugs since then.
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Feb 7, 2011 13:52
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Cichlidae posted:Emergency declaration makes things go MUCH faster. I'm amazed that it's only going to take three weeks; someone very high up in the chain of command must be applying a lot of "do it now or get fired" pressure. Even on our usual emergency jobs, it takes a month to begin construction, let alone finish it. Money is always an issue, bureaucracy put in place to stop corruption assures that, but delays in money to start a project don't usually case traffic delays that lane closures do once the project is started.
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Feb 7, 2011 14:08
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grover posted:If they can do this bridge in 3 weeks, they can do any similar bridge in 3 weeks. Seems like it would be a trivial point of planning to have all the new sections prefabricated and staged on (or near) the site and then just bang it out with 3-shift work crews to minimize disruption to the community. Maybe not 3 weeks, but certainly not the 2 years it seems to take VDOT crews to do similar projects around here. Remember what Chichlidae said about his bridge project a few weeks ago: it could be done in a few months if they could just shut down the entire freeway, but doing it incrementally with the freeway open is going to take three years! It makes sense... If you have (for example) 6 lanes to work on and you can only do one at a time, it'll take close to 6 times as long as it would if you could dump 6 times the manpower in and do it all at once - and that is before taking into account all the logistical poo poo involved in closing off one lane after another, rerouting traffic, installing temporary barriers, etc. Maybe it could be done a bit faster, but it isn't as insane as it sounds.
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Feb 7, 2011 14:54
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Choadmaster posted:Remember what Chichlidae said about his bridge project a few weeks ago: it could be done in a few months if they could just shut down the entire freeway, but doing it incrementally with the freeway open is going to take three years! I remember someone from FDOT saying the exact same thing. Years ago, a tanker truck had burned under a small overpass in Tampa, and the whole thing was torn down and replaced in 4 weeks. An FDOT spokesman was asked why other construction in the area took so much longer, and that was the primary reason - "if we shut down the interchange in town completely, we'd get that done really fast too, but you'd hate us for shutting it down." That, and more money was being spent on the emergency job than necessary to keep larger-than-normal work crews there round the clock to get it done faster.
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Feb 7, 2011 15:15
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fuzzygenius posted:I remember someone from FDOT saying the exact same thing. Years ago, a tanker truck had burned under a small overpass in Tampa, and the whole thing was torn down and replaced in 4 weeks. An FDOT spokesman was asked why other construction in the area took so much longer, and that was the primary reason - "if we shut down the interchange in town completely, we'd get that done really fast too, but you'd hate us for shutting it down." That, and more money was being spent on the emergency job than necessary to keep larger-than-normal work crews there round the clock to get it done faster. CC. Myers got paid $850k for the work, plus $5 million for early completion.
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Feb 7, 2011 17:32
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grover posted:If they can do this bridge in 3 weeks, they can do any similar bridge in 3 weeks. Seems like it would be a trivial point of planning to have all the new sections prefabricated and staged on (or near) the site and then just bang it out with 3-shift work crews to minimize disruption to the community. Perhaps I should go into a bit more detail as to why emergency jobs are so much quicker. -Environmental permitting! This takes several months to push through normally. You could attribute it to bureaucracy, but in reality, there's a lot they have to check: protected species locations, spawning times, wetlands delineation, runoff characteristics... Emergency declarations will push stuff through them, but it would probably be a violation of NEPA to declare every bridge replacement an emergency. -Night work! Normally, just about any town that has residential sectors will prohibit construction work overnight. The reason we can put emergency bridges up so quickly is often because of round-the-clock work; people will tolerate it if it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but try to replace EVERY bridge that way, and people get PISSED. -Substructure adequacy! Bridges are much quicker to replace when the abutments/piers are in good shape. Once you have to break ground and start pouring concrete, you add months to your project, along with water handling, earthwork, more permits, etc. Using prefab bridges can shorten this significantly, but still involves a lot of earthwork. -Political clout! Remember how I was talking about the political motivation behind signal warrants? It works the same way for bridges. If State Senator Ted's commute is suddenly ten minutes longer, you can bet he's going to grab the Governor's ear and get that bridge fast-tracked. Start doing that three times a year, and the Governor's going to stop listening pretty quickly. -The bidding process! Emergency declaration jobs are usually design-build (we call those Case 1). We hire a contractor before the new bridge is even designed, and however much it costs, we swallow it. Having multiple bidders cuts costs, even if it takes a lot longer.
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Feb 7, 2011 22:59
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Typically I get down like a clown for night time roadwork, it makes sense to be closing lanes when there's nobody on them. But there's a bridge being rebuilt right around the corner from my apartment now. At night. Pissed is correct.
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Feb 8, 2011 00:50
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So a state senator wants to open the HOV lanes on I-91 north for the evening commute to everyone. Is it really going to ease traffic that much?
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Feb 13, 2011 05:07
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Lobstaman posted:So a state senator wants to open the HOV lanes on I-91 north for the evening commute to everyone. Is it really going to ease traffic that much? I'll look into it. I know that, over the course of the day, the HOV lane doesn't carry as much traffic as a normal lane would. However, during the peak hours, it could easily carry that much. The better option, of course, is to turn the divider into a second HOV lane and allow crossing between them and the normal travel lanes. That way I won't get stuck behind buses going 55 mph with no way to pass.
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Feb 13, 2011 06:59
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I think that might be the first selfish thing you've said in this thread 
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Feb 13, 2011 11:05
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Mandalay posted:I think that might be the first selfish thing you've said in this thread
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Feb 13, 2011 15:07
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grover posted:He's merely representing the frustration of all the drivers he's designing these roads to support Erm, yes, that's exactly it! About the only time I use the HOV lane is when going to/from the airport, and I don't think I'll be doing that anymore since I totaled my car last time. The overall design of the HOV lanes is pretty awful.
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Feb 13, 2011 16:50
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Cichlidae posted:Erm, yes, that's exactly it! During periods of peak traffic (EG, right before and after rush hour when the HOV are open to all cars and sees the heavies traffic), I intentionally avoid it because I know the 55mph normal lanes are faster. This should not be the case when the HOV lanes have 10mph higher speed limit. Can you fix it so that everyone drives faster 10mph faster in the HOV? grover fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Feb 13, 2011 |
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Feb 13, 2011 16:57
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Serious question: there's a road near my house that's 25mph speed limit and frustratingly slow. I'd like to complain to the city about it and get it raised to 35mph, which matches other comparable streets in the area and I believe is a more reasonable speed. How should I approach the city, and should I send it directly to one of the engineers, or to the general request line? I have a similar request about a passing zone on another local road that I feel is unsafe because of a blind intersection at the end of the passing lane. I'd actually like to request it be removed as a passing lane.
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Feb 13, 2011 17:01
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In Massachusetts, I've always complained to either the town engineer (if the road is town/city maintained) or the State District Engineer if it's a state maintained road. I've been successful in the past that way.
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Feb 13, 2011 17:34
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grover posted:Can you fix it so that everyone drives faster 10mph faster in the HOV? Tailgating seems to do the trick for everyone but buses up here. Aside from that, I don't even think setting a minimum speed would help unless it was heavily enforced, which isn't going to happen. People will drive as fast as they feel like driving, no matter what the signs say. grover posted:Serious question: there's a road near my house that's 25mph speed limit and frustratingly slow. I'd like to complain to the city about it and get it raised to 35mph, which matches other comparable streets in the area and I believe is a more reasonable speed. How should I approach the city, and should I send it directly to one of the engineers, or to the general request line? Send an email to the town engineer. If he doesn't get back to you in 2 weeks, try any general town email, and it should get passed along. Most engineers would be happy to bump up the speed limit, but some still have a stick up their asses. You'd be well within your rights to ask for a speed survey to back up the current speed limit. For the passing zone, you should have no problem getting that cut through the same line of contact.
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Feb 13, 2011 18:16
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HOV lanes should have periodic passing lanes (or there should just be two HOV lanes in general)
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Feb 14, 2011 07:36
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For everyone wondering about how well the HOV lanes in Connecticut work, I'll direct you to this document detailing how much they carry, 1989-2010. After reading this and chatting with my bosses, I've decided that our HOV lanes should not be opened up to normal traffic during peak hours. Here's why: 1) The I-84 HOV lane currently carries 2455 passengers in the peak hour of the morning. That's as much as a normal lane can carry at capacity, and considerably more than it carries when it's jammed up. The I-91 HOV lane carries 1977, nearly as much. 2) HOV lanes are at their most useful during peak hours, and are hardly used any other time of the day. If anything, they should be opened to normal traffic in off-peak times. 3) By making them general-purpose lanes in the peak hour, you remove an important incentive to carpool, reducing occupancy and increasing congestion overall. 4) It would be incredibly difficult to enforce time restrictions, and most likely would just lead to everyone using the HOV lane at all times of the day (which they mostly do anyway, just not to the same extent). Of course, if any of you have something to say about it, go for it. There are good arguments on both sides of the table.
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Feb 14, 2011 23:01
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Cichlidae posted:2) HOV lanes are at their most useful during peak hours, and are hardly used any other time of the day. If anything, they should be opened to normal traffic in off-peak times.
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Feb 15, 2011 00:05
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Cichlidae posted:
Is the problem really enforcement here, or just people who can't follow directions on signs?
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Feb 15, 2011 00:34
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grover posted:This is how they work in my area. The HOV lanes are only HOV-only 2 hours each day during the peak of rush hour. During the rest of the day, and the alternate rush-hour, they're normal travel lanes. This is marked by signs that say "HOV ONLY 6-8AM" (or 4-6PM) and with electronic signs over the lane that say "<> ONLY" or "OPEN TO ALL TRAFFIC" or other advisories of accidents or what-not. The reversible section is the same way, and reverses about noon. A stretch of I-66 near DC works this way, right? Mandalay posted:Is the problem really enforcement here, or just people who can't follow directions on signs? The two are really inseparable. If the directions on signs are too confusing, then is a motorist really at fault if he misses their intent? We have hundreds of cars per hour violating the current restrictions as is. Adding more subtleties really isn't going to help things.
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Feb 15, 2011 01:00
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Cichlidae posted:A stretch of I-66 near DC works this way, right? The coolest lane shift I've seen is on the Coronado Bridge in San Diego which is a chain of concrete barriers and two bus-sized contraptions that drive the bridge twice a day, shifting the barriers to optimise the bridge for AM/PM rush-hour (no HOV, though). They have it configured such that they don't even have to stop traffic to do it, it's pretty slick. grover fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Feb 15, 2011 |
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Feb 15, 2011 01:31
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grover posted:I can't recall if I-66 works that way, but all the other HOV lanes near DC are HOV at rush hour only, and the HOV lanes on I-95 south of DC are reversible (always reversed against the way I'm driving.) They have barriers that come down (similar to ones at railroad crossings) to close entrance/exit ramps when traffic is headed the other way. I-64 in VA Beach is the same way. Both are express lanes, with limited exits- basically through-traffic only. I-93 south of Boston and I-87 over the Tappan Zee bridge have a similar set-up. It works so well that we've begun using it on construction zones here! A project on I-95 with intermittent left lane closures, 44-151, is the first one I know of in the state.
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Feb 15, 2011 01:46
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Cichlidae posted:The two are really inseparable. If the directions on signs are too confusing, then is a motorist really at fault if he misses their intent? We have hundreds of cars per hour violating the current restrictions as is. Adding more subtleties really isn't going to help things. So what you're saying is that the revenue opportunity for CT is expanding
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Feb 15, 2011 02:44
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Cichlidae posted:3) By making them general-purpose lanes in the peak hour, you remove an important incentive to carpool, reducing occupancy and increasing congestion overall. I couldn't agree with this more. If you make the HOV lane a general purpose lane in the busiest time of the day, why bother carpooling? Unless you install an ez-pass style toll collection for single occupant vehicles to allow use of the HOV lanes it makes no sense. Is there a possibility of making the HOV lanes 2 lanes with a jersey barrier in between the travel and HOV lanes? It would certainly eliminate the temptation to dart over when you're sitting at exit 33 knowing a bunch of goobers are rubbernecking at a poor fella with his flashers on at exit 37. I remember I-93 South in Boston (pre-Big Dig) had a curb between the HOV lane and the general travel lanes.
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Feb 15, 2011 02:46
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Mandalay posted:So what you're saying is that the revenue opportunity for CT is expanding If they wanted revenue, state troopers could start ticketing for tailgating, illegal u-turns, or blocking the intersection. You wouldn't find a single ticket-less driver within a week. Lobstaman posted:Is there a possibility of making the HOV lanes 2 lanes with a jersey barrier in between the travel and HOV lanes? I love having them two lanes wide, but adding a barrier wouldn't be my first choice. It complicates construction/maintenance staging, and prevents emergency vehicles from dodging into the lane when they need to. The current ditch filled with broken glass, nails, and rocks should be plenty to deter most drivers from dodging into the HOV lane. Ideally, we could have reversible HOV lanes like in Boston (but better, since we have more room). Take out the median barrier, make the HOV lane 2 lanes wide, build a wide ditch on either side, and reverse it to flow in the peak direction.
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Feb 15, 2011 02:51
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The HOV lanes around AZ are all free entry/exit, and are only actually HOV during rush hour. Not direction sensitive though - in the middle of town a lot of the freeways back up both directions at both rush hours. Also, interesting tidbit - the strobe in the red light at the south end of SR143 has been removed quite recently.
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Feb 15, 2011 05:09
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grover posted:The coolest lane shift I've seen is on the Coronado Bridge in San Diego which is a chain of concrete barriers and two bus-sized contraptions that drive the bridge twice a day, shifting the barriers to optimise the bridge for AM/PM rush-hour (no HOV, though). They have it configured such that they don't even have to stop traffic to do it, it's pretty slick. The express lanes on the 15 here in SD are being reconstructed with that barrier as well. Four reversible lanes separated by a concrete barrier from the main lanes with direct access ramps into the express lanes that only cost me $1.80 to use as a solo driver?  I used to be able to drive the 17 miles from home to work without touching a regular freeway lane thanks to the dedicated ramps.
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Feb 15, 2011 05:13
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IOwnCalculus posted:The HOV lanes around AZ are all free entry/exit, and are only actually HOV during rush hour. Not direction sensitive though - in the middle of town a lot of the freeways back up both directions at both rush hours. Hey, Phoenix got something right! Nice. IOwnCalculus posted:Also, interesting tidbit - the strobe in the red light at the south end of SR143 has been removed quite recently. Arizona's traffic lawyers are pretty on top of their game. Most of the state's comments to the draft 2009 MUTCD were along the lines of, "This is unenforceable, that is against state regs in 15 states..." I have a feeling they've shouldered more than their fair share of lawsuits. dexter posted:The express lanes on the 15 here in SD are being reconstructed with that barrier as well. Four reversible lanes separated by a concrete barrier from the main lanes with direct access ramps into the express lanes that only cost me $1.80 to use as a solo driver? I used to be able to drive the 17 miles from home to work without touching a regular freeway lane thanks to the dedicated ramps. How many miles does $1.80 get you, and how much time does it save? How much would you be willing to pay, maximum? Do they have ETC (electronic toll collection), or is it done manually at a booth?
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Feb 15, 2011 13:38
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Cichlidae, have you ever worked with trams or roads with tram tracks or any sort of light rail involved in the roadway?
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Feb 15, 2011 20:22
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Baronjutter posted:Cichlidae, have you ever worked with trams or roads with tram tracks or any sort of light rail involved in the roadway? I haven't worked with them, but I've used several systems in Europe and the US and studied them as part of my Busway research.
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Feb 15, 2011 22:34
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Cichlidae posted:
I don't have to take them anymore but depending on the day it saved me anywhere from 10 minutes to upwards of an hour. Congestion is essentially zero and the average speed is much higher than the regular lanes since it's completely separated. The rate depends on the day because it fluctuates with the traffic volumes in the express lanes. It can range anywhere from $1.30 ($0.08/mi) to $8.00 ($0.50/mi). They cap it at $8.00 and close it to non-carpoolers since traffic volumes are too high to "sell any excess capacity" as they put it. They don't move the barrier much yet since the lanes are only about 40% complete. There's no toll booths, it's all debited electronically with transponders in each vehicle. They automatically issue a citation if you're detected entering the lanes (there's overhead sensors everywhere someone could enter/exit the freeway) when they're closed to solo drivers. The only monitoring is done by CHP officers watching the lanes of traffic at random metering spots as there's a light above each traffic lane indicating if a transponder was detected. It can't be automated because it's free and you don't need a transponder if you have another person in your car. No one really uses them unless they commute in them every day. I'll be driving with someone and they won't even make an effort to enter the carpool lanes with four people in the car since they think it costs. They recently added signs that say "Carpools Free" but people still don't get it.
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Feb 16, 2011 08:22
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How often do you see enforcement? Just north of you in Orange County, I don't see much enforcement of carpool lane restrictions, and these are pretty standard things with two sets of double yellow lines separating them all the time. If anything, OC is easier to enforce.
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Feb 16, 2011 16:19
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Mandalay posted:How often do you see enforcement? Just north of you in Orange County, I don't see much enforcement of carpool lane restrictions, and these are pretty standard things with two sets of double yellow lines separating them all the time. If anything, OC is easier to enforce. All the time. They're either standing on the shoulder, hiding up on-ramps or just weaving through traffic about 15mph faster (probably 95mph) than everyone else.
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Feb 17, 2011 06:08
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Mandalay posted:How often do you see enforcement? Just north of you in Orange County, I don't see much enforcement of carpool lane restrictions, and these are pretty standard things with two sets of double yellow lines separating them all the time. If anything, OC is easier to enforce.
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Feb 17, 2011 06:12
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