Road-related pet peeves

[silverback1065]

this used to exist on pendleton pike https://www.google.com/maps/@39.8351166,-86.0295432,3a,75y,260.71h,90.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svAaTtVFX0vfKa3lFpbsg2Q!2e0!7i3328!8i1664

[OracleUsr]

This bull----

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6386501,-82.1484107,3a,75y,80.24h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sxAmbfST1DBN_LopALfVTnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

If you're going to change a sign out don't center the new tab!!!!

[silverback1065]

2 more for me:

1- reused street names, almost always happens when the streets are named after letters, one example that really annoys me is Richmond, IN their street grid is a complete clusterfuck, the letters and numbered streets reset at least 3 times depending on where you are in the city

2- Indiana loves to do this, when a state route is rerouted or decommissioned, they simply remove the shield, leaving a confusing and ugly sign.  This signage gantry is bullshit: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4237786,-86.9032603,3a,75y,28.8h,83.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfYFCicfEKB6PJfUAXOYupg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

either add the surface street names to new, smaller signs, or take this bs down.  If you weren't careful, you'd think you actually are in Brookston, which is miles away.  Examples of this is everywhere in Indiana. Heck, leave the SR 43 shield there and slap a "TO" in front of it.

[roadman65]

Not in South Bend as the business routes still are signed in many places despite it being formally decommissioned.

[Zeffy]

People who say GPS/phone apps are better than paper maps (they're not).

In the same vein, people who ignore road signs while following a GPS/phone app map and end up where they shouldn't be (I.E. hitting a bridge that clearly says "LOW CLEARANCE".

Another one I hate is people who don't use turn signals. I mean come on, all it takes is half of a second to flick your wrist!

[SignGeek101]

Another one I hate is people who don't use turn signals. I mean come on, all it takes is half of a second to flick your wrist!

I think some people just forget. I know my dad does when he drives sometimes. It seems like something automatic though, almost like closing a car door after leaving the car (although I have forgotten to do that myself).

[Bruce]

Elevated freeways in urban areas
Overpasses with chainlink fences
Streets with only one side with sidewalks
Streets without adequate number of crosswalks
Incomplete bike lanes

[Pete from Boston]

Right- or left-turn-only lanes posted well beyond a typical traffic backup point, stranding drivers in the wrong lane before they know it's the wrong lane.

Another one I hate is people who don't use turn signals. I mean come on, all it takes is half of a second to flick your wrist!

I think some people just forget. I know my dad does when he drives sometimes. It seems like something automatic though, almost like closing a car door after leaving the car (although I have forgotten to do that myself).

Someone I'm not supposed to criticize tells me she has been driving long enough to "know when it is and isn't necessary" to signal when changing lanes.  Drives me nuts.

[Sam]

The lack of the most basic of proofreading that allows sign legends like "Emergency Stopping Olny" to be hung ever make it into production, much less make it out of the shop.

You mean like this gem from the NY State Thruway?



( I guess the Frog wants to make it blurry. It says "LIMIT SPEED 55" )

[CtrlAltDel]

People who don't drive within the lines on loop ramps.

[1995hoo]

People who don't drive within the lines on loop ramps.

Loop ramps that are striped to make the turn far wider than it needs to be.

[pumpkineater2]

People who don't drive within the lines on loop ramps.

Loop ramps that are striped to make the turn far wider than it needs to be.

I get seriously bugged when any solid line is crossed.

[1995hoo]

People who don't drive within the lines on loop ramps.

Loop ramps that are striped to make the turn far wider than it needs to be.

I get seriously bugged when any solid line is crossed.

I don't get too bugged about it because, at least in Virginia anyway, it's not illegal to cross a single solid white line–it's just "discouraged." On Saturday I was stuck behind a slowpoke who was doing 25 in a 45 zone, and when we pulled up to a red light the guy in the lane to our left, who was equally slow, stopped three carlengths back of the stop bar (he was the first one on line in that lane), so damn right I cut over the solid line into that lane to get myself first on line to get away from the idiots.

Setting that aside, I can think of a number of highway ramps around here, not all of them loop ramps, where the lane striping wants you to take such a wide turn that just about everyone ignores the striping and makes a tighter turn. Doesn't bother me.

[Thing 342]

Construction speed limits that extend well past the extent of the job site. Examples include the 35mph limit on US-17 between VA-134 and VA-173 (about 3 miles) despite work only happening on the stretch between VA-134 and SR-620 (about 3/4 of a mile), and the 60 mph limit along I-85 south of Greensboro that extended well past what was essentially shoulder work. Putting orange barrels along the side of the road does not count as 'work' in my book.

Nexus 7

[silverback1065]

cloverleaf interchanges in urban areas. almost always a traffic hazard.

[jp the roadgeek]

BGS's where a city in another state's 2 letter abbreviation is a capital letter and a small letter.  RIDOT puts Hartford, Ct. for signs getting off I-295 on to US 6 West. Is there a street named Hartford Court in Johnston?  Should be "CT"

[Pete from Boston]

BGS's where a city in another state's 2 letter abbreviation is a capital letter and a small letter.  RIDOT puts Hartford, Ct. for signs getting off I-295 on to US 6 West. Is there a street named Hartford Court in Johnston?  Should be "CT"

Does the MUTCD say this?  As has been beaten to death here, postal abbreviations (two capital letters) are not used for all cases of state-name abbreviation.

[empirestate]

BGS's where a city in another state's 2 letter abbreviation is a capital letter and a small letter.  RIDOT puts Hartford, Ct. for signs getting off I-295 on to US 6 West. Is there a street named Hartford Court in Johnston?  Should be "CT"

Does the MUTCD say this?  As has been beaten to death here, postal abbreviations (two capital letters) are not used for all cases of state-name abbreviation.

Similar to how airport codes are not always appropriate abbreviations for cities in general.

[Rothman]

I don't mind it when other people cross solid lines, but I do feel superior when I stay within them. :>

[roadman]

BGS's where a city in another state's 2 letter abbreviation is a capital letter and a small letter.  RIDOT puts Hartford, Ct. for signs getting off I-295 on to US 6 West. Is there a street named Hartford Court in Johnston?  Should be "CT"

Does the MUTCD say this?  As has been beaten to death here, postal abbreviations (two capital letters) are not used for all cases of state-name abbreviation.

From Section 2E.17 of the MUTCD:

If used, abbreviations should be unmistakably recognized by road users (see Section 1A.15).

My interpertation of this is that state abbreviations on BGSes should always be capitalized.

[vtk]

BGS's where a city in another state's 2 letter abbreviation is a capital letter and a small letter.  RIDOT puts Hartford, Ct. for signs getting off I-295 on to US 6 West. Is there a street named Hartford Court in Johnston?  Should be "CT"

Does the MUTCD say this?  As has been beaten to death here, postal abbreviations (two capital letters) are not used for all cases of state-name abbreviation.

From Section 2E.17 of the MUTCD:

If used, abbreviations should be unmistakably recognized by road users (see Section 1A.15).

My interpertation of this is that state abbreviations on BGSes should always be capitalized.

My interpretation is that 2-leter USPS state abbreviations should always have both letters capitalized, but other well-known abbreviations (such as Conn, Neb, Mass, W Va, Penna) are also acceptable.

[Kacie Jane]

Vtk, I think you're 100% right.  But I think there's still am issue where there's kind of an overlap between postal abbreviations and "other well-known abbreviations". Before standard postal abbreviations were a thing, Virginia was always Va. and I think people tended to user either Conn. and Ct.

Still, it shouldn't make that much of a difference.... except in the case of Ct where it could mean either Connecticut or Court... but if you're in Rhode Island and can't figure out that the sign for US 6 means the capital of the neighboring state instead of a small side street, you can't help stupid.

[Thunderbyrd316]

Elevated freeways in urban areas
Overpasses with chainlink fences
Incomplete bike lanes

I for one happen to love elevated urban freeways. I also like the "curved" chain link fences that California uses on a lot of it's overcrossings.

And most arterial streets should NOT have bike lanes, especially streets that are state highways. 

[Bruce]

Elevated freeways in urban areas
Overpasses with chainlink fences
Incomplete bike lanes

I for one happen to love elevated urban freeways. I also like the "curved" chain link fences that California uses on a lot of it's overcrossings.

And most arterial streets should NOT have bike lanes, especially streets that are state highways. 

All a matter of opinion.

I dislike elevated freeways because they create huge visual barriers between the two sides that aren't as easy to mend as a sunken freeway (a capped lid with a park can do wonders).

Chainlink fences on overpasses get in the way of my freeway photography, so it's a petty reason to not like them.

Some arterials streets are entirely appropriate corridors for separated bike lanes, state highway or not. Around here the definition is quite gray (the West Seattle Freeway is not a state highway, but SR 513 still is...there's reasons but they don't make sense anymore) and it is the duty of a DOT to adopt all forms of transportation (and that includes cycling...and transit). Arterials that are in areas with high enough pedestrian traffic should definitely have bike lanes, as the alternatives (riding on the sidewalk...or riding in traffic) aren't very good ways of attracting new cyclists.

[D-Dey65]

People who say GPS/phone apps are better than paper maps (they're not).

They both have their flaws. The latest Rand McNally oversized road atlas still has I-74 listed as Exit 14 on I-95.