Variable Speed Limits

[Zmapper]

Topic split from ICC Intercounty Connector thread after a suggestion that the road use variable speed limits.



CPZ, this is going a bit off topic, but I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie features variable speed limit signs.

[cpzilliacus]

CPZ, this is going a bit off topic, but I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie features variable speed limit signs.

Thank you.  Never been in Wyoming (though I have flown over it a few times).  Would love to drive there sometime.

[hbelkins]

CPZ, this is going a bit off topic, but I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie features variable speed limit signs.

I-255/I-270 in Missouri have them as well.

[cpzilliacus]

I-255/I-270 in Missouri have them as well.

Thanks for sharing that.

I see you caught a shot of the actual variable speed limit sign in the background of your image from I-270.  Looks pretty legible to me (perhaps a little better than the speed limit signs on the New Jersey Turnpike).

[1995hoo]

I've been to Laramie on a football trip back in 2007, but we drove up US-287 instead of the Interstate. No variable limits on that route.

[deathtopumpkins]

Apart from a number of bridges, tunnels, etc., I know that I-495 in Delaware has variable limits (I believe the only usual change is between 65 and 55 dependent on air quality), and NHDOT recently installed some awesome variable speed limit signs around Manchester, NH, on NH 101, I-93, and I-293. Looking at them straight on, you can barely tell they're not a standard speed limit sign. Very high-resolution with black numbers on a white background, and no border around the variable part. Seamless transition to the rest of the sign. Do not have any pics though, unfortunately.

[cpzilliacus]

Apart from a number of bridges, tunnels, etc., I know that I-495 in Delaware has variable limits (I believe the only usual change is between 65 and 55 dependent on air quality), and NHDOT recently installed some awesome variable speed limit signs around Manchester, NH, on NH 101, I-93, and I-293. Looking at them straight on, you can barely tell they're not a standard speed limit sign. Very high-resolution with black numbers on a white background, and no border around the variable part. Seamless transition to the rest of the sign. Do not have any pics though, unfortunately.

I have not driven on I-495 in Delaware for quite some time, but will look for them  the next time I am  up that way.

The New Jersey Turnpike's variable speed limit signs are not bad (though I wish New Jersey's lawmakers would allow the Turnpike Authority to set the signs to display a speed limit of 70 or even 75 MPH ).

The New Hampshire speed limit signs sound intriguing.   Have not been in the Granite State for many decades, though that's motivation for a roadgeeking trip up there.

[agentsteel53]

The New Jersey Turnpike's variable speed limit signs are not bad (though I wish New Jersey's lawmakers would allow the Turnpike Authority to set the signs to display a speed limit of 70 or even 75 MPH ).

this just reinforces my belief that congressdolts should not be in charge of engineering tasks like defining speed limits.

[deathtopumpkins]

Just did some research and I found the signs that NHDOT used - they're Daktronics, of course: http://www.daktronics.com/ProductsServices/Products/ITS-Dynamic-Message-Signs/Variable-Speed-Limit-Signs/Pages/default.aspx

Turns out that they're the new variable signs used on the NJTP, and are also used by Florida in Orlando, and on the Throgs Neck Bridge in New York.

[1995hoo]

Here is one of Delaware's signs (from AARoads.com). I've seen these signs, including in bad weather, and they were very easy to read.




Those Daktronics signs "deathtopumpkins" linked look similar to the ones that were used on the Beltway in Alexandria a few years ago through the Wilson Bridge work zone. While they looked nice, I found that the numbers sometimes got a bit washed out in the afternoon sun; in that respect, the Delaware ones are easier to read, although uglier.

I don't have any pictures of the Beltway signs turned on and I don't have the time just now to try to find an image, but here's one when they weren't yet in use:

[NE2]

Just did some research and I found the signs that NHDOT used - they're Daktronics, of course: http://www.daktronics.com/ProductsServices/Products/ITS-Dynamic-Message-Signs/Variable-Speed-Limit-Signs/Pages/default.aspx

Turns out that they're the new variable signs used on the NJTP, and are also used by Florida in Orlando,

Specifically on I-4. Default is 50, I believe, and it's lowered when there's congestion.

[NJRoadfan]

NJDOT uses variable speed limits signs on the Pulaski Skyway of all places. They are ancient Solari style signs, most of which are broken or unreadable.

[Alps]

I-255/I-270 in Missouri have them as well.

Thanks for sharing that.

I see you caught a shot of the actual variable speed limit sign in the background of your image from I-270.  Looks pretty legible to me (perhaps a little better than the speed limit signs on the New Jersey Turnpike).

Have you seen the new ones on the Turnpike? Full matrix LED, black numerals on a white background to full MUTCD size for an oversize sign.

[cpzilliacus]

Have you seen the new ones on the Turnpike? Full matrix LED, black numerals on a white background to full MUTCD size for an oversize sign.

No, I don't think I have.  I've not been on the Turnpike this year (yet).

[Zmapper]

The signs on I-80 (apparently they extend further to Rawlins and in a few other spots, but regular signs are used in the vicinity of the booming metropolis of Laramie) look like what 1995hoo posted above, where the numerical part of the sign is switched out for a VMS.

http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article.asp?id=60907

MOD: Can you split this topic up?

[PHLBOS]

Here is one of Delaware's signs (from AARoads.com). I've seen these signs, including in bad weather, and they were very easy to read.

Does DE 1 sport similar signs in the 65-mph zones as well?  I think yes, but it's been a while since I've used that road.

[1995hoo]

Does DE 1 sport similar signs in the 65-mph zones as well?  I think yes, but it's been a while since I've used that road.

Someone else will have to answer that one. I haven't been on DE-1 in at least 11 years.



Edited to add: I just remembered that I've seen the other sort of sign, the Daktronics one, somewhere else–US-27 between Pembroke Pines and Weston in Florida. My brother-in-law lives not far from that road and we used it multiple times when we visited in June. Every time we went through there the signs were posted at 50 mph, but a search of this forum found a picture of one set at 55. This is exactly the same sort of sign I mentioned earlier as having been used on the Beltway here in Virginia a few years ago (but not anymore).

[Ian]

Apart from a number of bridges, tunnels, etc., ... and NHDOT recently installed some awesome variable speed limit signs around Manchester, NH, on NH 101, I-93, and I-293. Looking at them straight on, you can barely tell they're not a standard speed limit sign. Very high-resolution with black numbers on a white background, and no border around the variable part. Seamless transition to the rest of the sign. Do not have any pics though, unfortunately.

Do you think you could grab some photos of these the next time you're in New Hampshire? I'd love to see them, and I'm not going up there anytime soon.

[cpzilliacus]

Does DE 1 sport similar signs in the 65-mph zones as well?  I think yes, but it's been a while since I've used that road.

Someone else will have to answer that one. I haven't been on DE-1 in at least 11 years.



Edited to add: I just remembered that I've seen the other sort of sign, the Daktronics one, somewhere else–US-27 between Pembroke Pines and Weston in Florida. My brother-in-law lives not far from that road and we used it multiple times when we visited in June. Every time we went through there the signs were posted at 50 mph, but a search of this forum found a picture of one set at 55. This is exactly the same sort of sign I mentioned earlier as having been used on the Beltway here in Virginia a few years ago (but not anymore).

I clearly recall those signs from the Capital Beltway work near Va. 241 (Telegraph Road).

I took a look on the Daktronics Web site, and it doesn't say, but what happens with this sign if the electricity goes out?  Does it display a speed limit even without a power source?

[PurdueBill]

I took a look on the Daktronics Web site, and it doesn't say, but what happens with this sign if the electricity goes out?  Does it display a speed limit even without a power source?

I saw some of those signs in NH this spring as well but wasn't able to take pics; I don't remember noticing static regular signs like I-255 and 270 as pictured, although that would be a good idea.  The "60 unless otherwise posted" seems to be a good fallback for a power outage.  In a world without variable speed limit signs (which is most of the world), what would the speed limit be on this road? Post that on a static sign as the default if not overridden by a variable sign.

[Alps]

Does DE 1 sport similar signs in the 65-mph zones as well?  I think yes, but it's been a while since I've used that road.

Someone else will have to answer that one. I haven't been on DE-1 in at least 11 years.



Edited to add: I just remembered that I've seen the other sort of sign, the Daktronics one, somewhere else–US-27 between Pembroke Pines and Weston in Florida. My brother-in-law lives not far from that road and we used it multiple times when we visited in June. Every time we went through there the signs were posted at 50 mph, but a search of this forum found a picture of one set at 55. This is exactly the same sort of sign I mentioned earlier as having been used on the Beltway here in Virginia a few years ago (but not anymore).

I clearly recall those signs from the Capital Beltway work near Va. 241 (Telegraph Road).

I took a look on the Daktronics Web site, and it doesn't say, but what happens with this sign if the electricity goes out?  Does it display a speed limit even without a power source?

No speed limit would be displayed, it's the same as a VMS. I would presume there's a form of backup power inside the device.

[1995hoo]

In Virginia, the default speed limit on an Interstate would be 55 mph because the statute authorizes speed limits up to 70 only where specifically posted after traffic and engineering studies. So that rule would have applied had the variable limit signs not worked.

In other states it'd obviously depend on their state laws and whether they have default speed limits that apply in the absence of signs. So in Texas, for example, if they used these sorts of signs and they went dark, an 85-mph limit wouldn't be the default because 85-mph limits are a special circumstance (I think that applies to 80-mph limits as well). Maine is similar in that the 75-mph limit is specifically restricted to one road.

I remember when I was in high school and the first portions of the Faurfax County Parkway in Virginia opened without having speed limit signs posted. Under state law that means 55. Back then the road didn't go anywhere and so was empty, so I just might have used it to see how fast the 1977 Ford Granada I drove back then would go (answer: I don't know, the speedometer maxed out at 85 mph). Obviously if I'd been pulled over I'd have been sunk because maximum speed limits in Virginia had been a subject on the knowledge test, so I knew very well that "Officer, there's no speed limit posted on this road" wouldn't have worked. 

[Alex]

Does DE 1 sport similar signs in the 65-mph zones as well?  I think yes, but it's been a while since I've used that road.

Just reviewed my photos from June and standard 65 mph speed limit signs are posted on the Delaware 1 turnpike.

[deathtopumpkins]

Apart from a number of bridges, tunnels, etc., ... and NHDOT recently installed some awesome variable speed limit signs around Manchester, NH, on NH 101, I-93, and I-293. Looking at them straight on, you can barely tell they're not a standard speed limit sign. Very high-resolution with black numbers on a white background, and no border around the variable part. Seamless transition to the rest of the sign. Do not have any pics though, unfortunately.

Do you think you could grab some photos of these the next time you're in New Hampshire? I'd love to see them, and I'm not going up there anytime soon.

Can do.

[Ian]

Apart from a number of bridges, tunnels, etc., ... and NHDOT recently installed some awesome variable speed limit signs around Manchester, NH, on NH 101, I-93, and I-293. Looking at them straight on, you can barely tell they're not a standard speed limit sign. Very high-resolution with black numbers on a white background, and no border around the variable part. Seamless transition to the rest of the sign. Do not have any pics though, unfortunately.

Do you think you could grab some photos of these the next time you're in New Hampshire? I'd love to see them, and I'm not going up there anytime soon.

Can do.

Awesome, thanks!