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Wow, you weren't kidding about people being annoyed at the Arrigoni Bridge work. I heard bitching from a couple separate people in Middletown, and how it already backs up terribly if there is an accident and now it's going to just shut down the bridge when that happens. This also doesn't seem particularly encouraging: quote:In a statement issued Tuesday, the Middletown Police Department reminded motorists not to block the intersections when traffic from the bridge becomes backed up onto local streets. Motorists, police officials said, should not enter an intersection unless they can drive completely through the intersection and not obstruct other vehicles or pedestrians. smackfu fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Jun 1, 2011 |
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Jun 1, 2011 17:21
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quote:Motorists, police officials said, should not enter an intersection unless they can drive completely through the intersection and not obstruct other vehicles or pedestrians. OMFG I wish people loving understood this. I cannot tell you how many times I've been yelled at for refusing to enter an intersection on a green light because there was no existing clearance for me at the opposite end, nor was traffic proceeding in a manner in which I might obtain such clearance prior to the end of the light cycle. If you can't get through the intersection, do not loving enter it! Exceptions only for left-hand turns.
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Jun 3, 2011 00:17
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Kind of a dumb observation, but there's a sign in the leadup to the southbound Whitestone Bridge in New York City with a display giving the travel time in minutes to JFK through both 678 and the Cross Island Parkway. It has a little pixelated digital numbres, and I noticed today that the 0's are displayed with a diagonal line running through them. Normally you would do that to avoid confusion with the letter O, but that's not really possible in this case. Furthermore, wouldn't doing this lead to confusion between 0's and 8's from far away? Is there a signage guideline that says you have to do this? I'm thinking perhaps any such guidelines were designed with those overhead "delays ahead" type signs in mind, but it really adds unnecessary confusion in this case.
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Jun 3, 2011 00:37
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Chaos Motor posted:OMFG I wish people loving understood this. I cannot tell you how many times I've been yelled at for refusing to enter an intersection on a green light because there was no existing clearance for me at the opposite end, nor was traffic proceeding in a manner in which I might obtain such clearance prior to the end of the light cycle. I have no idea why people don't understand this simple concept. The combination of people insisting on entering blocked intersections, the "I can make it on the yellow!" mentality and the people who floor it as soon as the light turns green makes for some really interesting situations here. And then the people who race away from the stop lights HONK at the people who couldn't quite make it through the intersection before the lights turned. Impatient fuckers. It's especially bad with left turns at intersections because you can't quite be sure that opposing traffic is stopped until the light has been red for a second or so. Before the last guy in the left turn line has made it through, the other direction has turned green and people floor it, almost ramming the left turners. It happens every loving day here and I'm surprised there aren't more accidents.
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Jun 3, 2011 07:22
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As long as we're ranting, I hate people that leave huge gaps in traffic that totally gently caress up the flow. Two examples: 1) People who are terribly slow to go when a light turns green, or simply don't notice for 10 seconds. For many signals, a big enough gap can cause the signal to go red when it thinks there are no cars left. I can sort of understand not noticing when you're at the front - if you're fiddling with your radio and not staring right at the signal you might not notice for a second. But if you're behind someone else, even your peripheral vision should tell you when a loving 2 ton steel box suddenly starts moving away from you. I was on a freeway offramp this week that was backed up onto the freeway (I must have been car #25 in line) and when the light turned green, some motherfucker in car #3 was spaced out and didn't even start moving until the light gave up and turned yellow. Way to gently caress over 30 other drivers and leave people's asses hanging out into the freeway traffic, dude. 2) People who leave massive gaps between them and the car in front of them when stopped at a signal. This may not sound too bad, but when there is a left turn lane involved it can needlessly gently caress over people who (a) could have entered the turn lane and been on their way if only they could have reached it, or (b) could otherwise have fit in the turn lane but now end up blocking the main traffic lane while they wait to get into it. There's one particularly busy intersection in town that has a double-left turn lane that is long enough for about 16 cars (per lane, so 32 total). Everyone pulls into the rightmost lane first because it is easiest, and once it's filled up it blocks access to the inner lane (there's another bit of stupidity). I routinely have to choose between blocking traffic in the main lane, or just continuing straight and taking a slower route home. Invariably, whenever I decide to go straight, I drive past three or four jackasses who have left an entire car length or more between them and the person in front. What the gently caress? C) (Unrelated, I just thought of this one) When there's more than enough curb space between two driveways for 2 cars, and some rear end in a top hat has parked right smack in the middle, leaving half a car length free in front and behind. Pure douche.
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Jun 3, 2011 11:56
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In downtown Chicago people leave intersections clear and really make an effort to avoid gridlock. It probably has more to do with this problem being strictly enforced by the police than actual goodwill because drivers down there will look for every opportunity to gently caress other drivers over in other circumstances.
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Jun 3, 2011 14:19
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Nothing makes me happier than seeing bicycle cops ticket people who block the intersection. (We have a lot of drawbridges in my area.)
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Jun 3, 2011 14:22
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Where do all the storm drains on the Parkway drain to? Is there a system of pipes or is each one drained to wherever nearby is convenient?
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Jun 3, 2011 16:54
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Choadmaster posted:
Supposedly, a friend of a friend (yeah, I know) got a ticket because he was "stopped too close to the car in front in front of him". The scenario was this: Car A is stopped at a red light. Car B pulls in behind him (this is the guy who got the ticket). Car C, failing to apply the breaks, rear-ends Car B at a high speed and pushes Car B into Car A. The story is that Car B got a ticket and had to pay for the damage to Car A, even though he didn't do anything. The cop said he was "too close". This story does smell of BS to me, though.
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Jun 3, 2011 17:17
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Drunk Tomato posted:Supposedly, a friend of a friend (yeah, I know) got a ticket because he was "stopped too close to the car in front in front of him". The scenario was this: It doesn't sound like BS. There isn't a law about parking too close but an accident in this situation puts liability on the following cars. A low speed accident will not necessarily cause a chain-reaction accident if the cars are at a reasonable distance. That is the reason why you should leave enough of a gap between you and the car in front. More so if you are stopped on an incline and the car in front is a manual transmission.
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Jun 3, 2011 17:45
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I was in that same scenario about 10 years ago. Line of cars at a red light, someone hit the last one at speed. The insurance of the driver who hit the line of cars paid for all of them, including my $7000 of damage (both front and back!).
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Jun 3, 2011 20:30
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grover posted:Nothing makes me happier than seeing bicycle cops ticket people who block the intersection. (We have a lot of drawbridges in my area.) Sesame Street has lots of drawbridges?
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Jun 3, 2011 21:14
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Neutrino posted:It doesn't sound like BS. There isn't a law about parking too close but an accident in this situation puts liability on the following cars. A low speed accident will not necessarily cause a chain-reaction accident if the cars are at a reasonable distance. That is the reason why you should leave enough of a gap between you and the car in front. More so if you are stopped on an incline and the car in front is a manual transmission. I've never heard of a chain-reaction rear-ending where people were stopped that put liability on anyone but the rear-ender. That would be ludicrous, though I admit I've been surprised before. In any case, three or four feet is reasonable - fifteen feet is not. Obviously on a slope you leave yourself more room (particularly behind trucks or anything with a trailer). Edit: grover posted:Nothing makes me happier than seeing bicycle cops ticket people who block the intersection. (We have a lot of drawbridges in my area.) Are you saying people will get themselves stuck on a drawbridge? We don't have any around here, so can you tell me: are the results of the bridge going up in that case as hilarious as I imagine? (Obviously not for the people on the bridge, but give unto Darwin what is Darwin's.) Choadmaster fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Jun 3, 2011 |
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Jun 3, 2011 22:52
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Choadmaster posted:C) (Unrelated, I just thought of this one) When there's more than enough curb space between two driveways for 2 cars, and some rear end in a top hat has parked right smack in the middle, leaving half a car length free in front and behind. Pure douche. My eyes are bleeding in rage. I used to carry a wax pen in my backpack so that I could clearly mark for people on their vehicle itself where the parking places were. quote:Sesame Street has lots of drawbridges? The layout is really confusing, why do you think people are always asking how to get there?
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Jun 4, 2011 05:32
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Choadmaster posted:Are you saying people will get themselves stuck on a drawbridge? We don't have any around here, so can you tell me: are the results of the bridge going up in that case as hilarious as I imagine? (Obviously not for the people on the bridge, but give unto Darwin what is Darwin's.) Normally I hate seeing people pulled over, but it does make me happy to see a bike cop peddling up to each car stopped in the intersection, writing tickets.
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Jun 4, 2011 22:23
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Sorry guys, I was on vacation in Phoenix, but I'm back now  Besesoth posted:Also! A quick road-markings question! This is exactly why our Maintenance and Protection of Traffic spec dictates that final markings must be installed before the signal is opened to traffic. They should at least have had some cones or opposing traffic lane dividers out there. smackfu posted:Wow, you weren't kidding about people being annoyed at the Arrigoni Bridge work. I heard bitching from a couple separate people in Middletown, and how it already backs up terribly if there is an accident and now it's going to just shut down the bridge when that happens. We have contingency plans in order for accidents. More specifically, the backups will only be a problem during peak hours. Any other time, if there's an accident (provided it's not serious, in which case the road would be closed down no matter what), the construction flaggers can just use alternating one-way traffic. The only real question mark is Stage 2, which will be happening this Winter, and will put traffic on the outside lanes of the bridge while we work on the middle. We don't normally like using this configuration, since it puts workers between travel lanes, but it's necessary for the project. As to the DNBI signs, that's completely my doing. The signs are something of a concession on our part, as the Middletown police were insisting on a 24/7 police presence on both sides of the bridge, which we couldn't afford and, frankly, don't need. Nobody will pay attention to the signs if they're not enforced, so I've told them to enforce them heavily, at least during the first month of construction. That they're putting out a press release for it is quite good. Chaos Motor posted:I cannot tell you how many times I've been yelled at for refusing to enter an intersection on a green light because there was no existing clearance for me at the opposite end, nor was traffic proceeding in a manner in which I might obtain such clearance prior to the end of the light cycle. This was one of the worst parts of driving in Phoenix. I don't think they even have a law against it, so I was stuck listening to a symphony of car horns from people who figured I didn't notice the light was green. Worse still is that protected lefts in Phoenix seem almost random, so you probably won't get a green arrow.
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Jun 5, 2011 01:03
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Panax posted:Kind of a dumb observation, but there's a sign in the leadup to the southbound Whitestone Bridge in New York City with a display giving the travel time in minutes to JFK through both 678 and the Cross Island Parkway. It has a little pixelated digital numbres, and I noticed today that the 0's are displayed with a diagonal line running through them. Normally you would do that to avoid confusion with the letter O, but that's not really possible in this case. Furthermore, wouldn't doing this lead to confusion between 0's and 8's from far away? Is there a signage guideline that says you have to do this? I'm thinking perhaps any such guidelines were designed with those overhead "delays ahead" type signs in mind, but it really adds unnecessary confusion in this case. It's the firmware installed by the sign vendor. I agree, it's not the right way to do things. Otherwise, all of our signs, electronic and static, would put the slash through the 0.
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Jun 5, 2011 02:10
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GWBBQ posted:Where do all the storm drains on the Parkway drain to? Is there a system of pipes or is each one drained to wherever nearby is convenient? Pretty sure they just drain wherever there's water nearby. It's like that almost anywhere in Connecticut.
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Jun 5, 2011 03:31
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grover posted:When a bridge lifts, traffic on the bridge side of the intersection stops, very often backing up into the intersection because assholes insist on driving halfway through and blocking the entire intersection, even though it's obvious they're not going anywhere. This is not half as awesome as what I was imagining (people trying to crowd across the bridge itself at the last second). Just make up an awesome story for me next time! (Seriously though, it sometimes happens at train crossings here, surely drawbridges must get it from time to time, too.)
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Jun 5, 2011 07:09
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Choadmaster posted:This is not half as awesome as what I was imagining (people trying to crowd across the bridge itself at the last second). Just make up an awesome story for me next time! (Seriously though, it sometimes happens at train crossings here, surely drawbridges must get it from time to time, too.) They all open every hour during the summer, and on demand for commercial traffic, creating literally miles-long traffic snarls at rush hour, since most of these roads are already near capacity even on the rare occassion theres no boat traffic and the bridge doesn't lift. They're operated by Army Corps of Engineers who doesn't give a gently caress what local residents say, so every hour, they open except for concessions between 4-6pm (which of course means they always open at 4pm, and then again at 6, just when traffic was starting to recover.) And they open for commercial traffic any time of day, including rush hour. Also, because they're federal, neither the city nor state can replace them with better bridges despite many of the approach roads already upgraded. Also, gently caress those two tugboats moored on the wrong side of the bridge who come home every loving day at loving 5pm, causing a 30 minute delay for thousands of people instead of waiting for the 6pm lift. grover fucked around with this message at 13:07 on Jun 5, 2011 |
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Jun 5, 2011 13:03
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grover posted:They all open every hour during the summer, and on demand for commercial traffic, creating literally miles-long traffic snarls at rush hour, since most of these roads are already near capacity even on the rare occassion theres no boat traffic and the bridge doesn't lift. One of the alternate crossings for my bridge job is a swing bridge, and the ACOE opens it up twice an hour, for 15 minutes each. The bridge is 100 years old, and tends to stay stuck open. We tried to upgrade the bridge deck to help its reliability, but it just made the bridge heavier and it couldn't open at all. We're asking the ACOE to cut it down to one opening per hour, at least during peak hours, but from what you're saying, they're not likely to agree.
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Jun 5, 2011 16:31
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Hey Cichlidae, awesome thread, been reading it since I started lurking around the forums a while back. Lots of interesting stuff. I'd like to share one of the worst places I've driven through. I was almost taken out a few times going through the thing with the terrible weaving it has. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...042272&t=h&z=15 I was following along the blue line. The worst part of it is where the exit ramp from 485 outer to either Westinghouse or 77 south meets up with the ramp from 485 inner (where I'm coming from) to either Westinghouse (where I was going) or 77 south. There's not much space for the people that are going from 485 inner to Westinghouse to get over to the correct lane and they also have to fight the people going from 485 outer to 77 south to get across to the right side lanes. Can anything at all be done to fix this drat thing? Also, something else from where I used to live that routinely frightened me. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.517214,-81.676215&spn=0.004346,0.014656&t=h&z=17 I hated going through Dead Man's Curve (the 90 degree curve there on Interstate 90) as it was, but having to go through that and then exit the Interstate onto highway 2 there was bonkers. So many hubcaps and headlights and bumpers littering those two curves. 
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Jun 6, 2011 04:30
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m5ind posted:I was following along the blue line. The worst part of it is where the exit ramp from 485 outer to either Westinghouse or 77 south meets up with the ramp from 485 inner (where I'm coming from) to either Westinghouse (where I was going) or 77 south. There's not much space for the people that are going from 485 inner to Westinghouse to get over to the correct lane and they also have to fight the people going from 485 outer to 77 south to get across to the right side lanes. Can anything at all be done to fix this drat thing? Adding one bridge could fix the weaving problem you're talking about. There would still be one on the east side of 77, but that can be remedied by moving one ramp.  m5ind posted:Also, something else from where I used to live that routinely frightened me. Looks like that's the best they could do between the railroad tracks and the airport.
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Jun 6, 2011 12:40
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Any thoughts on the new flyover ramp between 95 North and 34 in New Haven? They just ran a story in the paper about how it's so tall people are worried about driving on it. Ha! http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/yikes_flyover_bridge/ (I think it looks awesome myself, like a monorail track.)
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Jun 6, 2011 14:27
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smackfu posted:Any thoughts on the new flyover ramp between 95 North and 34 in New Haven? They just ran a story in the paper about how it's so tall people are worried about driving on it. Ha! "Bridge opens" "Woman is afraid of bridge" "Ad for bridge-phobic woman's grilled cheese truck" *bunch of pictures that don't show much of anything* "Psychology 101 review material" *filler*
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Jun 6, 2011 14:35
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Is it really that much more elevation than the 84 east > 91 North connector ramp in downtown Hartford? Those bridges are nothing. I get freaked out by tall bridges, but I'm talking about the Delaware Memorial Bridge. These ramps are barely blips by comparison.
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Jun 6, 2011 18:11
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smackfu posted:Any thoughts on the new flyover ramp between 95 North and 34 in New Haven? They just ran a story in the paper about how it's so tall people are worried about driving on it. Ha! It's one step in the long process that is the Q Bridge project. Definitely great to get the exit over to the right side of 95, and the extra space freed up will simplify the later stages. kefkafloyd posted:Is it really that much more elevation than the 84 east > 91 North connector ramp in downtown Hartford? Those bridges are nothing. I get freaked out by tall bridges, but I'm talking about the Delaware Memorial Bridge. These ramps are barely blips by comparison. It's not all that high at all. If you want to get a real rush, go walk up on an old iron-grate bridge like the former Jamestown bridge and look down through the deck at the ocean 100 feet below.
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Jun 6, 2011 23:59
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Tell me about ramp meters. (Please?) I live near downtown and commute at about 6:30 and have realized that my driving time is about 10 minutes and about 5 of that is sitting in the line for a ramp meter dumping into a fairly empty freeway. Do these things actually work? This one just seems to create a traffic jam 2-3 lights long and create a really short entrance ramp. (Hopefully you haven't done this before) Cichlidae posted:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Los_Angeles_Freeway_Interchange.jpg Or something like this 
nm fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Jun 7, 2011 |
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Jun 7, 2011 00:11
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Please. Now the Hoover Dam Bypass, that is a scary loving bridge. Putting walls on it high enough that you can't see what you're driving over was probably a wise decision.
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Jun 7, 2011 00:12
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I can deal with bridges like the GW or even the Verrazano Narrows. I've driven over all of the Long Island bridges without much of a problem. But the Delaware Memorial Bridge is one of THOSE bridges. It goes up really high, curves at the end, and is wicked long so you can't see the end of it. People get freaked out so much by that bridge that they have people that will drive your car over it while you cower in the back seat. I've never had to do that because the last time I was in a car to DC I didn't even have my driver's license. That was about thirteen years ago, methinks. quote:It's not all that high at all. If you want to get a real rush, go walk up on an old iron-grate bridge like the former Jamestown bridge and look down through the deck at the ocean 100 feet below. I know of this bridge and have no intention to do so thank-you-very-much. My buddy did a photo expedition there a few years back and that's all I needed to see.
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Jun 7, 2011 14:07
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Just have to say that incorrectly installed breakaway posts are one of those things I can never stop seeing now that you pointed them out earlier in the thread. Yesterday I even spotted one installed sideways.
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Jun 7, 2011 20:11
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nm posted:Tell me about ramp meters. (Please?) The idea behind ramp meters is that freeways have the highest capacity just before they reach capacity. By limiting the number of cars that can enter, traffic flows smoother and, in theory, more cars can use it than would otherwise be able to. If the freeway is flowing smoothly, then the ramp meters are doing their jobs. GWBBQ posted:Just have to say that incorrectly installed breakaway posts are one of those things I can never stop seeing now that you pointed them out earlier in the thread. Yesterday I even spotted one installed sideways. Funny that the people that install them, it's their JOB to make sure they're facing the right way, and they still don't do it.
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Jun 7, 2011 22:18
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Cichlidae posted:The idea behind ramp meters is that freeways have the highest capacity just before they reach capacity. By limiting the number of cars that can enter, traffic flows smoother and, in theory, more cars can use it than would otherwise be able to. Aren't they supposed to just go to solid green (or off) when there is minimal traffic? (The "traffic" on the freeway at that time is measured in tens of cars a minute -- guessing, it is extremely low-- and is 5 lanes each direction).
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Jun 7, 2011 23:47
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nm posted:Do they actually work? Yeah, they're generally turned off outside peak hours. There's really no point in metering traffic when there's no danger of the freeway breaking down. Do they work? If they're implemented well, yes. They need to be installed on every on-ramp in a corridor to manage the entering volumes, and the best ramp meters have detectors on the freeway to give entering traffic a green when there's a big enough gap in the right lane. Very useful.
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Jun 8, 2011 03:20
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Cichlidae posted:Yeah, they're generally turned off outside peak hours. There's really no point in metering traffic when there's no danger of the freeway breaking down. Around here, 476 just backs the gently caress up anyway and all the ramp meter does is keep traffic confined on the onramp long enough to extend the backup down onto the surface streets. It doesn't even delay the onset of gridlock on the interstate, at least not by any consistently noticeable degree. I think they're completely retarded and I want to steal a U-haul sometime and just drive around taking them out before crashing it into a bridge abutment and slipping away into the night.
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Jun 8, 2011 03:38
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What's the point of having police direct traffic if nothing is going on? I get it when there's construction or something, but we'll have cops come out and stand in intersections directing for a couple days, then they're gone for a few weeks, then back for a day, gone, etc. I've seen it happen in the US too.
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Jun 8, 2011 03:44
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Grand Fromage posted:What's the point of having police direct traffic if nothing is going on? I get it when there's construction or something, but we'll have cops come out and stand in intersections directing for a couple days, then they're gone for a few weeks, then back for a day, gone, etc. I've seen it happen in the US too. Maybe they're using the intersections to train new officers?
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Jun 8, 2011 05:46
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MaxNV posted:Maybe they're using the intersections to train new officers? I would imagine you'd have multiple officers in that case. It's just one dude. But maybe.
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Jun 8, 2011 06:00
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Grand Fromage posted:What's the point of having police direct traffic if nothing is going on? I get it when there's construction or something, but we'll have cops come out and stand in intersections directing for a couple days, then they're gone for a few weeks, then back for a day, gone, etc. I've seen it happen in the US too. Cops have guns, and they love working overtime. They have a history of bullying contractors and inspectors in order to get more work. Around here, they've gone so far as to arrest the inspector when he decided that flagmen would work just as well. Of course, no charges were filed, but that really hosed up the project. So who's going to tell them no? I'm not saying that cops are bad to have on the job, and many of them don't even like working OT, but there are a few that will bully their way onto the work site.
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Jun 8, 2011 12:28
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So there's no advantage? I'm not sure Korea has those same problems. And there's no work site, it's just a normal intersection.
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Jun 8, 2011 12:56
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