Roadgeek Rants and Raves

[mightyace]

^^ I agree, I'd rather be moving, even if it is a few minutes/miles longer.

Same here.

It's amazing to me and for me personally fortunate that most people here in greater Nashville just sit in traffic rather than finding an alternate route.  All of the interstates that go through Nashville (Is 24, 40 and 65) have parallel US routes.

[deathtopumpkins]

Ahh but you have to know the right situation to do so in. For example it is NOT efficient to get off the highway at a bottleneck. You'll be through it in 5 minutes and moving again anyway, so just stay on. I've always found that true anyway. On the other hand, if you've got a VMS telling you there's an accident, road work, long backup, etc., do try and find an alternate route. However in these situations there is sometimes no alternate route (like on I-64 at the HRBT).

[SSOWorld]

if they have VMS's they use.

Madison, WI and Wausau, WI have VMS's all over the place, but they are not using them to warn of upcoming accidents on the freeways - hence you get backups when cops close lanes.

Might I add these VMS's are just construction types that are "permanently planted" (unlike with Milwaukee)

[Revive 755]

Rants from yesterday:

* Why does Lincoln, NE, have such a problem with working left turn arrows?  I've encountered more broken arrows - as in the light skips the left turn phase - in the past year.

* As often as NDOR is working on NE 2 between Lincoln and Nebraska City, they should just tear up the concrete completely and start over.

* Great job by NDOR on NE 2 at Nebraska City, screwing over the public with a nice speed trap since they couldn't start with an interchange at the eastern intersection with US 75.

* Lovely neighborhoods to have the stoplights on US 71/Bruce Watkins Drive in Kansas City at.  Even getting all of them green still screws up traffic.

[Bryant5493]

Well, I have a rant. I'm not sure if I've ranted about it before or not, but... yeah.

Several streets within the Atlanta city limits are riddled with potholes, because of this Atlanta has a "Pothole Posse." This also extends to the suburbs, such as East Point and Hapeville, just to name a few 'burbs.

Also, lanes aren't always striped well. You can see the cracks in the road, where the asphalt/concrete was laid, but that's not good enough. The other day, I was riding down I-20, just east of Downtown Atlanta, and the HOV double white solid lines were faded.

Lastly, there are too many steel plates placed on the roads... that stay there, it seems, forever. It's not too bad during the day, but nighttime makes it worse. I could be driving down the road, at say, 45 m.p.h., then -- BOOM! POW! KERSPLAT!


Be well,

Bryant

[mightyace]

Ahh but you have to know the right situation to do so in. For example it is NOT efficient to get off the highway at a bottleneck. You'll be through it in 5 minutes and moving again anyway, so just stay on. I've always found that true anyway. On the other hand, if you've got a VMS telling you there's an accident, road work, long backup, etc., do try and find an alternate route. However in these situations there is sometimes no alternate route (like on I-64 at the HRBT).

I can't argue with you there since I've never been the Norfolk/Hamption Roads area.

Well, around here.  The only VMSs are in Davidson County (Nashville) and same with the traffic reports.  In this area, is does usually pay to detour in a major backup.  (i.e. The traffic is backed up for a mile or more.)  But, as I said earlier, you will find few people following you.

And, even if it's not faster, I'd rather be moving than stop and go.

[Revive 755]

Rants for today:

* Why do we need a detour route, in this case US 77, to be designated as a work zone, when there is no construction occurring on US 75?  Is NDOR getting kickbacks from speeding tickets, so they are trying to get more by doubling fines on the underposted US 77 around Lincoln?

* Why is a detour for NE 2 east of US 77 but west of 9th Street routed on I-80 north of Lincoln, and includes a left turn onto a busy US 6 from an unsignalized exit ramp?  Is it that hard to use L55W, which is much less out of the way, and already has a bunch of "TO NE 2" assemblies leading to it on US 77?

* I-80 should not be 65 between NE 63 and NE 66 when all of the work is either occurring at least 30' off the roadway during the day, or after dark with lane closures and a speed limit of 55.

* I-80 does not need to still have a lane closed both ways near the Platte River, given the lack of work.  Furthermore, why is this section posted at 75, while the section with no lane closures is 65?  And why does traffic go 65 in the work zone posted at 75, yet in the 65 mph work zone everyone else is going 75?

* I hope any "hit a worker in a construction zone" laws have exceptions for workers who seem to try and to get hit by opening a door and stepping out into your lane when you are pretty much right beside them.  No, I did not hit the worker, but it was a much closer call than I would have liked, and I was already below the posted limit due to other traffic - and it was after dark.  It shouldn't have been that hard for him to wait to exit his vehicle, or find a better spot to park so he could exit his vehicle without pretty much stepping into the only open lane on the highway.

[Revive 755]

This one might be straying from topic, but I am moderately displeased with Google Books, and maybe somewhat with copyright law.  I've turned up a lot of older freeway/transportation planning documents, such as plans for Kansas City, Louisville, and I-580 in Omaha, only to find out the library to access them is 50+ miles away - and likely with the demons known as parking meters around.  I'm not going to buy a book without a brief look through, and most of the older studies are not sold anywhere anyway.  Since these were studies for major government projects, I feel accessing them should be as easy as accessing streetview.