Alabama

[freebrickproductions]

Cullman's bad signage was recently the topic of this post on this blog about bad roadway management:
http://betterroadwaysafety.blogspot.com/2016/03/deficient-safety-standards-spotlight.html

Of course, I was the one who supplied the pictures to them for the post. Just thought I'd share it here if anyone wanted to discuss it.

The Sign Salad one about halfway down-is the North31 hanging over the asphalt?

No, just the sidewalk.

[freebrickproductions]

Lawrence County will be un-paving some of their roads this summer, apparently.

http://whnt.com/2016/03/17/lawrence-county-roads-to-go-back-to-gravel-this-summer/

MOULTON, Ala. (WHNT) -  Lawrence County leaders rely on gas and oil tax dollars for road maintenance, but gravel roads are making a comeback that no one really wants.

A number of roads are due for repaving this summer.

Problem is, the cost of materials have gone up 300% and revenue for road maintenance has flatlined since the early 1990s, according to county engineer Ben Duncan.

So, their hands are tied and tillers will be coming in to turn currently paved roads into gravel in the coming months.

"When a road comes to the point where it's not safe, and there is no money there to resurface them, then our only option is to reclaim that road back to a gravel road," Duncan explained.

He says  the county road department has a $2 million dollar budget to maintain 900 miles of road.

A third of county roads are due for service:

95 roads are in serious to poor condition
8 roads are in critical condition (could become unsafe for travel very soon)
While gravel is easier and cheaper to maintain, the ideal is to maintain asphalt roads. In fact, it will cost more to change a gravel road back to asphalt.

Duncan explains that a drop in material costs or rise in revenue would prompt the department to look into a long-term resurfacing plan.

[froggie]

Continuation of a national trend.  Asphalt isn't cheap, so some (especially local) jurisdictions are converting some roads back to gravel in order to save on repaving costs.  It's also possible that some of these roads don't have the traffic volume to make paving cost-effective anyway.  MnDOT did a study on that about a decade ago and came up with an ADT figure of around 200, though I've seen references to other studies suggesting a figure between 170 and 250 ADT.

[D-Dey65]

I don't know if anybody has posted this yet;

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AlabamaWelcomecenterI10.jpg

But if that's not the Alabama Welcome Center on I-10, where is it?

Also, I discovered a closed rest area across from that in the Westbound Lane.

[Eth]

I don't know if anybody has posted this yet;

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AlabamaWelcomecenterI10.jpg

But if that's not the Alabama Welcome Center on I-10, where is it?

It looks like the South Carolina welcome center on I-85 just across the river from Georgia.

[D-Dey65]

It looks like the South Carolina welcome center on I-85 just across the river from Georgia.

That makes much more sense. Thanks. I have a feeling a big rename is in order.

[barcncpt44]

Speaking of the US 82 bypass in Centreville, ALDOT closed down the AL-219 intersection and requires drivers to turn right and use an interchange on either side to turn around to get back to AL-219.  Pics from @WBRCnews and @JenniferE3340





Anyways, there is an community meeting tonight by the residents to ask ALDOT why they did this and what could be done to fix this problem?

[froggie]

Guessing ALDOT did this because of too many crossover crashes.  Found a TV article on the meeting and just about everyone's clamoring for a traffic signal.  I think a J-turn would be more appropriate.

[lordsutch]

Guessing ALDOT did this because of too many crossover crashes.  Found a TV article on the meeting and just about everyone's clamoring for a traffic signal.  I think a J-turn would be more appropriate.

I agree; it seems particularly silly to install a traffic signal between two interchanges.

[bdmoss88]

Guessing ALDOT did this because of too many crossover crashes.  Found a TV article on the meeting and just about everyone's clamoring for a traffic signal.  I think a J-turn would be more appropriate.

I agree; it seems particularly silly to install a traffic signal between two interchanges.

Yep, FINALLY finished the bypass. Now, let's stick a red light in the middle of it. Excellent!

[lordsutch]

Guessing ALDOT did this because of too many crossover crashes.  Found a TV article on the meeting and just about everyone's clamoring for a traffic signal.  I think a J-turn would be more appropriate.

ALDOT to their credit actually wants to put in place a superstreet/J-turn layout. The locals, of course, are having none of it, because they love the prospect of being T-boned by through traffic blowing through the only signal for miles in each direction at 70 miles per hour.

[formulanone]

Odd question about county route signs...Cherokee County has a few that are white, instead of blue:



And Cullman County has a bunch of them with a white background against the numerals:



Does anyone know the reasons for these variations?

[codyg1985]

In the case of Cullman County, the county did a massive CR renumbering back in the late 1990's, so instead of installing new county route signs, the county just installed the numbers with the white background over the existing ones.

[froggie]

The Cullman County examples (which I've also seen in the past) do look like patch jobs.

[formulanone]

In the case of Cullman County, the county did a massive CR renumbering back in the late 1990's, so instead of installing new county route signs, the county just installed the numbers with the white background over the existing ones.

Ah, that's what I thought. Thanks, Cody.

[freebrickproductions]

One could argue that Cullman County has way to many county routes. It honestly seems like any road that's not maintained by a city or town has a county route number assigned to it, and of course, it gets signed. It seems that the road and sign quality suffers, at least a little bit, because of that.
Personally, what I'd do would be to either remove a lot of the county routes, or at least make a number of them unsigned (only signing the most important ones).

IDK how, but the city of Cullman has managed to create some of the worst road signs out there. Talking with a resident there, it seems that the signs are a result of a "money saving" measure done by the city.

[Voyager75]

Found it odd that ALDOT has gone to the trouble of putting tape over Brompton on all the signs on I-20 in both directions. Even the mileage distance signs had tape over them west of Pell City.
Some of the tape has fallen off on a few of the signs so it looks like it was a rush job. I'm wondering if Moody has asked ALDOT to give them new signs at that exit with their name on them and couldn't wait to shame Brompton as I know it's just a community. The two new truck stops may have had a part of it.

[DJStephens]

Guessing ALDOT did this because of too many crossover crashes.  Found a TV article on the meeting and just about everyone's clamoring for a traffic signal.  I think a J-turn would be more appropriate.

I agree; it seems particularly silly to install a traffic signal between two interchanges.

Yep, FINALLY finished the bypass. Now, let's stick a red light in the middle of it. Excellent!

Something New Mexico would do.  (Alamogordo "relief" route)  A traffic signal was added on a truck heavy corridor (US 54/70).  Just inviting a T-bone fatality.  Should have been an interstate grade facility to begin with.   Thanks Gary Johnson.    And Pete Rahm.   

[jdb1234]

Found it odd that ALDOT has gone to the trouble of putting tape over Brompton on all the signs on I-20 in both directions. Even the mileage distance signs had tape over them west of Pell City.
Some of the tape has fallen off on a few of the signs so it looks like it was a rush job. I'm wondering if Moody has asked ALDOT to give them new signs at that exit with their name on them and couldn't wait to shame Brompton as I know it's just a community. The two new truck stops may have had a part of it.

Yes, the plan is to replace Brompton with Moody:

http://www.wvtm13.com/news/brompton-sign-removed-along-i20/39422818

[Voyager75]

AL 53 makes a new appearance with US 231 in Harpersville before the new bridge over the CSX rail line. I know it has its solo routings in north and south Alabama but this may be the only appearance with US 231.

[formulanone]

AL 53 makes a new appearance with US 231 in Harpersville before the new bridge over the CSX rail line. I know it has its solo routings in north and south Alabama but this may be the only appearance with US 231.

AL 53 signs found south of Huntsville and north of Dothan are unusual finds!

[freebrickproductions]

AL 53 makes a new appearance with US 231 in Harpersville before the new bridge over the CSX rail line. I know it has its solo routings in north and south Alabama but this may be the only appearance with US 231.

It's co-signed with US 231 on Drake Avenue in Huntsville:
US 231/AL 53 by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
Google Maps link.

Still a nice find though!

[barcncpt44]

Odd question about county route signs...Cherokee County has a few that are white, instead of blue:



Does anyone know the reasons for these variations?

When I worked for FedEx and delivered in Cherokee County, the white signs are for roads not maintained by the county, they are just private roads and they were numbered by the county for E-911 purposes.  The standard blue signs are maintained by the county.

[freebrickproductions]

Does anyone know what this pole in Decatur is for? There's another one on the other side of the intersection.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.5639835,-86.9732846,3a,25.4y,89.24h,80.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7G2XPA5crAoslTIMbkfAwQ!2e0!5s20160501T000000!7i13312!8i6656

I had thought maybe red light cameras, but the poles in their current condition have been up since 2013 at the latest, so I'm not sure what they're meant to be for.

[Voyager75]

Does anyone know what this pole in Decatur is for? There's another one on the other side of the intersection.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.5639835,-86.9732846,3a,25.4y,89.24h,80.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7G2XPA5crAoslTIMbkfAwQ!2e0!5s20160501T000000!7i13312!8i6656

I had thought maybe red light cameras, but the poles in their current condition have been up since 2013 at the latest, so I'm not sure what they're meant to be for.

My only guess would be a pole for a flashing signal with a traffic light ahead sign. Nobody ever got around to finish installing it.