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Baronjutter posted:Funny road related story I just remembered. "Hey, I found the perfect spot to build your new house! The foundation's already poured!"
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Oct 14, 2015 00:54
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Hadlock posted:This is more of a road surface question and less of traffic but road surface quality certainly impacts speed of traffic so here goes. You should the streets in poorer neighborhoods, they are even worse.
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Oct 14, 2015 01:12
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James The 1st posted:Quite simply it's because the City of Dallas is broke from dumb decisions like subsidizing the fancy new Omni Hotel. Is Dallas the one that still has a bunch of dirt roads in the city limits or am I thinking of Houston?
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Oct 14, 2015 01:19
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Cichlidae posted:"Hey, I found the perfect spot to build your new house! The foundation's already poured!" Yeah the other houses had half basements but theirs didn't for some reason.
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Oct 14, 2015 02:54
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Nintendo Kid posted:Is Dallas the one that still has a bunch of dirt roads in the city limits or am I thinking of Houston? I think they both have dirt roads. Dallas is huge, it's bigger than Singapore. Houston is 50% larger by area than that, which is bigger than all of Luxembourg. There's active farmland inside of Dallas, I went on a bike ride last week and someone was grazing their horse in their backyard.
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Oct 14, 2015 03:45
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Baronjutter posted:Funny road related story I just remembered. There's a neighborhood in central Tulsa that was basically built over the closed Tulsa Commercial/Brown/Cherokee Airport in the 60s: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/OK/Airfields_OK_E.htm#tulsacom1st A couple of the neighborhood streets are the concrete from the taxiways. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Oct 14, 2015 |
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Oct 14, 2015 04:29
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will_colorado posted:There's a neighborhood in central Tulsa that was basically built over the closed Tulsa Commercial/Brown/Cherokee Airport in the 60s: "Oh, you live in ......? I live on an old runway"
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Oct 14, 2015 12:59
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will_colorado posted:There's a neighborhood in central Tulsa that was basically built over the closed Tulsa Commercial/Brown/Cherokee Airport in the 60s: Huh. I go to Tulsa several times a year for work and I've actually stayed at a hotel right across the street from that - never realized it was a runway. I'll have to check it out again the next time I'm out there. Though I work on an Air Force base, and it's not like we don't do the same thing - my work parking lot used to be an airport ramp as well, and Loop Road used to be a taxiway:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7847493,-84.0989356,489m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7801703,-84.1031521,1644m/data=!3m1!1e3
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Oct 14, 2015 13:35
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Varance posted:All of TPA's airsides are going to be renovated, in sequence, starting with a complete rotation of all of the concessions and the construction of the Economy Parking/CONRAC people mover. Airside D will eventually be rebuilt (doesn't exist right now), after which the airsides will be rotated in and out. There are also plans for a third north-south runway on the far west side. Airside B is now international holding, while the former airside shuttle area will lead out to the CONRAC people mover. quote:Once the CONRAC peoplemover is done, you can park in the economy garage or dropoff a rental car and be at the TSA checkpoint for your flight in less than 10 mins.
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Oct 14, 2015 18:20
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will_colorado posted:There's a neighborhood in central Tulsa that was basically built over the closed Tulsa Commercial/Brown/Cherokee Airport in the 60s: Fun Fact: Tampa International Airport was originally planned to be south of where USF is now, at the former Hillsborough Army Air Field. However, Trans-Canada Air Lines (Air Canada) started flying out of Drew Field instead, due to the field's larger size, which resulted in the international designation switching locations. The rest snowballed from there. The Hillsborough Army Airfield site is now mostly developed, which was originally bounded 22nd St to 50th St, Fowler Ave to Busch Blvd. Busch Gardens and Adventure Island occupy the bottom third of the former airfield. Several sections of runway remain, which are circled. The Yeungling brewery still uses part of the E/W runway for their loading docks, while Busch Gardens uses one of the diagonals as an overflow parking lot (which is still referred to internally as "the airstrip").  (Click for Google Map) Varance fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 15, 2015 03:35
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For something closer to home (at least, for Chiclidae and I), a similar thing happened to Rentschler Field in East Hartford. Formerly Pratt & Whitney's corporate airport, it was closed in the 90s and surplus land donated to the University of Connecticut, and they built Rentschler Field (the football stadium) on the land. One of the runways is a parking lot, and Cabela's is on the other half. One of the runways has a similar heading to Brainard (which is right across the river) and people have mistakenly lined up and landed there, despite the big giant yellow Xs painted on the runways. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CT/Airfields_CT_C.htm#Rentschler
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Oct 15, 2015 03:53
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They have concrete for the residential roads in the suburbs around Detroit and they seem to do pretty well. Whole lot better than the asphalt rivers they have in Bay City.
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Oct 15, 2015 04:19
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How effective are "don't block the box" restrictions? Is it down to enforcement? It seems like even without explicitly saying it, being stopped in the middle of an intersection is a dicey proposition (and it's probably already a violation of something in the traffic code somewhere). People trying to sneak through a yellow light and getting stuck in the intersection is basically my least favorite thing in the world. This is probably the worst intersection I deal with, trying to get onto the West End Bridge:  (e: this is that in gmaps: https://goo.gl/maps/SjV7t3PcwQw) I've crudely sketched out some routes: The red arrows all end up going south, the blue arrows are either going straight in the other direction or turning onto 65. That left turn gets an arrow, but only briefly, and no dedicated turn lane. I get on at the green arrow. I could take the yellow route fairly easily, which would avoid the left turn onto the bridge, but not any traffic by any means. Then there's the other red arrow getting onto the bridge from the other direction on 65, which means the right lane on the bridge has fairly heavy merging. All in all, I could get onto the ramp and not get all the way across the bridge for a half hour. This happens all over Pittsburgh. And somehow other cities are worse? I couldn't imagine. But anyway, the intersection where the blue and red arrows overlap is made way worse when people get stuck in it. Anyway, on a completely separate note, I was looking into some construction not too far from my house to see what they were planning, and it turns out it's fairly ambitious (at least when compared to the usual stuff I'm used to, where they will maybe widen the road or fix up a bridge). This is a pdf of what it will look like when they're done, although it's a little busy: http://www.i-70projects.com/docs/NewStantonAerial.pdf They also made a 5ish minute video that explains it in detail https://vimeo.com/89498511 (and the project page itself) Basically they're permanently closing two interchanges (that have super short on/off ramps and also a bridge over I-70 that is 2 feet too low) and combining them while putting in some roundabouts, and spreading out the interchange from the current turnpike interchange, while also adding another lane for that part making merging way better. They started phase 1 already. I thought it was pretty neat. myron cope fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Oct 21, 2015 |
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Oct 21, 2015 17:52
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Let's play a game. Hillsborough County modified an intersection earlier today to relieve congestion near a major mall. Based on the following picture of the span wire and cat tracks, let's see who can guess what the lane configurations are. This picture is facing NORTH. Click for a larger version. Hint: Florida has a law that requires a signal head for each lane of traffic, minimum of 2. 
Varance fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Oct 22, 2015 |
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Oct 22, 2015 05:54
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Basing this mostly on the cat tracks, going from the left: Left, Left, Left + Straight, and I guess Straight + Right?
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Oct 22, 2015 06:28
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Ripper Swarm posted:Basing this mostly on the cat tracks, going from the left: Not enough capacity. Hint #2: The north road leads to an indoor shopping mall and a Walmart Supercenter. The south road connects to a Costco. The west road leads into two different expressways. The east road leads out into suburban hell. Varance fucked around with this message at 08:06 on Oct 22, 2015 |
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Oct 22, 2015 07:25
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Do you get the problem with petrol stations/service centres being built right by busy intersections in the US? Over here most of them seem to be but people always seem to want to right turn into the petrol station just after going through the intersection, and block the exit from the intersection. It is a pet peeve of mine that petrol stations are stupid for being built to encourage that and the city is stupid for letting them and the drivers are stupid for doing it.
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Oct 22, 2015 08:36
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Lobsterpillar posted:Do you get the problem with petrol stations/service centres being built right by busy intersections in the US? Over here most of them seem to be but people always seem to want to right turn into the petrol station just after going through the intersection, and block the exit from the intersection. It is a pet peeve of mine that petrol stations are stupid for being built to encourage that and the city is stupid for letting them and the drivers are stupid for doing it. Of course, I live right near one and this happens every single day.
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Oct 22, 2015 13:35
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Just got back from Kansas City! I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe I should move there...myron cope posted:How effective are "don't block the box" restrictions? Is it down to enforcement? It seems like even without explicitly saying it, being stopped in the middle of an intersection is a dicey proposition (and it's probably already a violation of something in the traffic code somewhere). People trying to sneak through a yellow light and getting stuck in the intersection is basically my least favorite thing in the world. They're completely useless unless they're enforced. You might have a few people that feel guilty and avoid the box (like me), but as soon as one person stops in the box, all bets are off and it gridlocks again. Lobsterpillar posted:Do you get the problem with petrol stations/service centres being built right by busy intersections in the US? Over here most of them seem to be but people always seem to want to right turn into the petrol station just after going through the intersection, and block the exit from the intersection. It is a pet peeve of mine that petrol stations are stupid for being built to encourage that and the city is stupid for letting them and the drivers are stupid for doing it. Yes yes yes! Some places have proper access management, but usually their driveways are as close to the intersection as possible. We even built a roundabout with a curb cut for a gas station. There are some intersections where there are gas stations on every corner, and they're inevitably a huge safety and capacity issue.
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Oct 22, 2015 16:08
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Cichlidae posted:Just got back from Kansas City! I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe I should move there... Did you see any of the downtown streetcar project they're working on? What were your thoughts?
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Oct 22, 2015 16:16
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Speaking of streetcars, there was an interesting story about new streetcar systems on NPR today. Guangzhou, China, has supercapacitor-powered streetcars that charge up while waiting at a station. This seems like a great solution for a system with frequent stops, avoiding unsightly wires and problems that come with in-ground systems in colder climates. Also, cool station: 
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Oct 22, 2015 18:56
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Kakairo posted:Speaking of streetcars, there was an interesting story about new streetcar systems on NPR today. Guangzhou, China, has supercapacitor-powered streetcars that charge up while waiting at a station. This seems like a great solution for a system with frequent stops, avoiding unsightly wires and problems that come with in-ground systems in colder climates. So it's less awful than this similar but older idea? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrobus Or can they still lose power in the middle of the street if they get stuck in traffic?
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Oct 22, 2015 19:35
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nimper posted:Did you see any of the downtown streetcar project they're working on? What were your thoughts? I was halfway between downtown and midtown, so I only saw the one stretch of track that went past Union Station. I didn't get to see anything actually functioning.
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Oct 22, 2015 19:42
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Carbon dioxide posted:So it's less awful than this similar but older idea? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrobus No idea, but the Chinese example seems to have separate busways (streetcarways?) to minimize that problem.
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Oct 22, 2015 23:45
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@Cichlidae: Did CTDOT ever consider creating some sort of x84 bypass of Hartford to let all the pass-through traffic not get mixed in with the commuting traffic?
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Oct 23, 2015 23:36
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Minenfeld! posted:@Cichlidae: Did CTDOT ever consider creating some sort of x84 bypass of Hartford to let all the pass-through traffic not get mixed in with the commuting traffic? Google I-291 in CT. The existing 291 is far shorter than intended.
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Oct 24, 2015 00:28
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Varance posted:Let's play a game. Hillsborough County modified an intersection earlier today to relieve congestion near a major mall. Based on the following picture of the span wire and cat tracks, let's see who can guess what the lane configurations are. Causeway? Left, Left, Left+Straight, Straight, Right?
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Oct 24, 2015 01:26
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a new DDI interchange opened along the Boulder Turnpike this week: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/mccaslin-bridge-re-opens-with-new-diverging-diamond-interchange a quote is from that additional link at the bottom of that article: quote:However, not all drivers are convinced the changes will work. Just put down your phone and pay attention, then that intersection or any of those scary circular roundabouts you encounter won't be a problem.
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Oct 24, 2015 01:59
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People said the same thing when those started appearing here in Utah. Yes, it's a little weird the first time you drive on one. Then after a week you don't even notice anymore.
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Oct 24, 2015 02:51
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Watermelon Daiquiri posted:Causeway? Left, Left, Left+Straight, Straight, Right? Yes and Yes. Beside using the Go Hillsborough outreach campaign to push a road and transit funding referendum, we're also using it to identify intersections that aggravate people the most and prioritize bus route expansion. With traffic being as bad as it is in the county right now, people showed up in the thousands to the meetings. The changes made to this intersection were directly proposed at the first Brandon meeting back in March, where a bunch of people showed up to complain about how long it takes to get in and out of Westfield Brandon. As the only mall in the eastern half of the county with a population approaching 400,000 people... yeah. It was needed.  The original lane configuration was 2x Left, 2x Straight, 1x Right N/B and 2x Left, 1x Straight+Right in the S/B direction. Northbound. one of the straight lanes northbound was virtually unused, while the left turns would take 3-4(!!) cycles to travel through. Southbound, the right turn lane would stack up pretty hard whenever someone wanted to go straight, forcing cars over the sidewalk to try to make a right. Given that this particular route is the preferred alternate for accessing I-75/Selmon Expwy without getting on SR-60, it also took 3-4 cycles to clear. Splitting the northbound and southbound phases and reconfiguring the lanes solved the entire traffic problem for minimal cost. It's my understanding that we're also pushing to modify Gornto Lake Rd @ SR-60 in the same fashion, as the western mall exit is in the process of being modified to add double left onto Gornto Lake Rd, plus the intersection already has the same problems as the intersection I posted before... and the road is less than a year old. P.S.: The part I didn't mention about the Florida signal head law is that there's a loophole that allows traffic engineers to ignore lanes without a protected phase. 
Varance fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Oct 24, 2015 |
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Oct 24, 2015 03:07
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Varance posted:Yes and Yes. Beside using the Go Hillsborough outreach campaign to push a road and transit funding referendum, we're also using it to identify intersections that aggravate people the most and prioritize bus route expansion. With traffic being as bad as it is in the county right now, people showed up in the thousands to the meetings. The changes made to this intersection were directly proposed at the first Brandon meeting back in March, where a bunch of people showed up to complain about how long it takes to get in and out of Westfield Brandon. As the only mall in the eastern half of the county with a population approaching 400,000 people... yeah. It was needed. Three left turn lanes with only 50' turn bays are dumb You're dumb There, I said it Edit: 100 feet? Those lanes are so wide and luxurious it's throwing off my eyeballing skills
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Oct 24, 2015 03:27
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That's a waste of space and I'm super jealous. I'm a month in into the new job and I'm starting to actually get an idea of our road infrastructure. Turns out back God knows when throwing asphalt right on soil was cool. Who the gently caress needs that aggregate base?
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Oct 24, 2015 03:30
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Devor posted:Three left turn lanes with only 50' turn bays are dumb Try 250 feet. The angle throws you off. And yeah, our lanes are stupid big in Florida, usually 11-12 feet wide.  I'll admit that we're dumb for letting developers put dozens of big box stores next to each other, which caused a traffic nightmare from excessive amounts of left and right turning in a small area required to access them all. 
Varance fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Oct 24, 2015 |
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Oct 24, 2015 03:37
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Minenfeld! posted:@Cichlidae: Did CTDOT ever consider creating some sort of x84 bypass of Hartford to let all the pass-through traffic not get mixed in with the commuting traffic? There was, but even so, only about a quarter of the traffic on I-84 in Hartford passes through Hartford on the way to somewhere else. The rest of it either originates in or is destined for Hartford.
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Oct 24, 2015 03:47
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Topical: Can some big D.C. churches fight off a bike lane? They are bringing large crowds to try. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...laborative_1_na quote:When the city released the four bike-lane options, United House of Prayer responded with a letter from its lawyer to DDOT saying a bike lane near its property would infringe upon “its constitutionally protected rights of religious freedom and equal protection of the laws.” The letter also argued that city policies were driving African-American churches to the suburbs.
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Oct 24, 2015 04:35
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Javid posted:Topical: They MIGHT be able to but in the end road safety usually trumps parking. What I think will probably happen is they will delay the project, costing tens or hundreds of thousands dollars worth of staff time, and it will eventually go through anyway. Possibly with a few concessions. Basically, they're wasting taxpayer money fighting it because they don't want to park slightly further away once a week (or, you know, bike to church)
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Oct 24, 2015 04:44
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Javid posted:Topical: quote:“We just think we have to protect what’s ours,” a public street is not "yours"
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Oct 24, 2015 05:25
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Lobsterpillar posted:(or, you know, bike to church) Biking to church in the DC area would be like biking through a loving sauna while wearing your Sunday best. Nobody's going to want to do that, especially when you consider that the churchgoing demographic tends to be older folks.
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Oct 24, 2015 05:49
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Javid posted:Topical: I'm generally against critical mass, but they should do a sunday gathering there every week until the church learns to deal with it. The bad thing is that DC already let an AME church basically do the same thing and moved the bike lane, setting a bad precident.
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Oct 24, 2015 21:40
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nm posted:I'm generally against critical mass, but they should do a sunday gathering there every week until the church learns to deal with it. The optics of a group of mostly affluent, white bike riders (and let's face it, that's what the face of bike advocacy in the US is) protesting in front of a black church in a gentrifying neighborhood would be bad, to say the least. This isn't just about the bike lanes, and goes farther into politics beyond traffic engineering.
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Oct 25, 2015 01:05
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