Recent posts

#1

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by Rothman - Today at 11:42:36 PM

I normally shower every other day because I'd like the lake to keep having water in it.

Perhaps you should live somewhere where the fluid your life depends on is more dependable.

Did that for 33 years, got called "filth" by the government, so I left. I would rather just cut back on my water usage and enjoy a whole bunch of civil rights I've never got to have before.

Besides, I don't have to mow the yard ever again, so nyah.

I suppose you do have the right to stink.

#2

Mid-Atlantic / Re: I-66 HO/T Lanes

Last post by bluecountry - Today at 11:39:26 PM

It sure looks as if they are restripping the pavement from Glebe Street to the Key Bridge to be six lanes...

#3

Mid-Atlantic / Re: Francis Scott Key Bridge (...

Last post by bluecountry - Today at 11:33:21 PM

I can pretty much guarantee the Key Bridge won't be rebuilt to the original design.

*  When this happens with waterway crossings that have lost spans due to vessel collisions, typically a large fraction of the bridge has survived--this happened with the Tasman Bridge in Australia, I-40 at Webbers Falls in Oklahoma, and the Queen Isabella Causeway in Texas.  The part of the Key Bridge that collapsed represents about half of the over-the-water length but probably at least 80% of the construction cost and nearly all of the complexity.

*  Once the Port of Baltimore reopens, a lot of the pressure to "do something" about the bridge will vanish.  The Key Bridge was one of three major crossings but represented just one-quarter of the capacity.  It contributed a smaller share of the total MdTA revenue pie than the Harbor Tunnel (7% versus 12%) despite their having the same lane count.  The absence of the bridge does not even inconvenience local commuters that much, since the Harbor Tunnel is a relatively close detour.  (The Tasman Bridge is a useful counterexample--its collapse in 1975 turned a five-minute journey from one end of the bridge to the other into a 45-minute trip involving the Bridgewater Bridge much further upstream.  This situation led not only to provision of a temporary ferry, but also construction of the Bowen Bridge midway between the repaired bridge and the erstwhile detour to improve network redundancy.)  It is the ruins of the bridge blocking the shipping channel, and not its unavailability to road traffic, that really drives costs.

*  To rebuild the Key Bridge as-is would be to recreate its safety deficiencies (no shoulders) and its vulnerabilities (piers that cannot be protected without impinging on the shipping channel).  I believe this would be politically completely unacceptable, especially with the precedent set by the Sunshine Skyway.  No politician is going to want to go before the voters and say, "Well, in Florida they can rebuild with better defenses, but here in Maryland we're just going to have to go with the cheap solution that is not actually all that cheap and eat the risks associated with it."

So you would expect the replacement bridge, at the very least, would be 10-12-12-10_10-12-12-10 per side (2 12 foot travel lanes, 2 ten foot shoulder lanes per side) if not more?
If so would this also become the real I-695 vs MD 695?

for 4-lane divided, the inside shoulders can be 6' preferred, 4' minimum.

So at the very least it will be 2 12 foot lanes per side, 4-6 foot inside and 10 foot outside shoulders?
Think they will just go ahead and give it a 3rd trade lane per side?

To the first question, I would hope yes, but then again, (1) it is not an Interstate albeit signed as one (officially MD-695), and (2) MDTA just built the new Nice Bridge with microscopic shoulders, so I wouldn't bet on it.

To the second question, (1) traffic counts really don't justify it (3x,000 AADT is pretty low, especially in MD), and (2) see above  for MDTA's value engineering history.

1.  301 was not part of the interstate system as I-695.
2.  I would think since the Federal government is funding this now they would make this up to full interstate design.

#4

Mid-Atlantic / Re: Maryland

Last post by bluecountry - Today at 11:27:08 PM

Looking at google maps, it appears there is a very easy ROW to accomodate the ICC being extended to at least the BW Parkway.  Has that ever been discussed and why has that not been done, it would seem to be an obvious addition.

It was once planned to run either to US-50 (secret I-595) or to
US-301 (Crain Highway). There was at one point also a spur to
run from the ICC east into Anne Arundel County near MD-3 and
Evergreen Road (or potentially other points along MD-3 in
Anne Arundel County south of I-97.

The Prince George's County planning designation for MD-200
was A-44.  It was to run from its current terminus at US-1 to
the B-W Parkway then turning to a more southerly direction to
an interchange with US-50 near present-day Freeway Airport. 
Some plans had it continuing south to a point south of MD-214
and then merging with US-301, potentially near Leeland Road.

All of this was cancelled, with the rationalization in the
1970's being "it will never be needed" and "everyone will be
riding Metro."

What a terrible idea that was to kill the ICC extension.

As for the utility companies...hey they are going to need new ROW anyway for the data centers and new lines to replace the current ones.  I see opportunity.

#5

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 11:15:59 PM

I normally shower every other day because I'd like the lake to keep having water in it.

Perhaps you should live somewhere where the fluid your life depends on is more dependable.

Did that for 33 years, got called "filth" by the government, so I left. I would rather just cut back on my water usage and enjoy a whole bunch of civil rights I've never got to have before.

Besides, I don't have to mow the yard ever again, so nyah.

#6

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by Rothman - Today at 10:50:00 PM

I normally shower every other day because I'd like the lake to keep having water in it.

Perhaps you should live somewhere where the fluid your life depends on is more dependable.

#7

Northeast / Re: Massachusetts

Last post by Rothman - Today at 10:48:46 PM

Having control cities on a beltway is kind of tricky.  The signs from the Mass Pike to I-95/128 in Newton did used to say "POINTS NORTH" and "SOUTH SHORE".  Honestly, it made sense.  I-95/128 controls have been Braintree, Dedham, Waltham, Peabody, Gloucester.  Braintree was mostly phased out in favor of Boston, which may make sense from an interstate standpoint, but that's not necessarily where everyone's going.  "Mass Pike Points West" signs didn't even have I-90 shields way back when, so that was more of your directional.

Then there's the signs modified for a sense of consistency between directions.  Like the ones heading east on the pike for I-84 that say "Hartford/NY City".  Noone in their right mind would be going east and looking for NY City.  But because the westbound signs say that, they were changed.  Same goes for heading west on the pike and getting off at I-495, where "Portsmouth NH" is used.  Would'nt Lowell make more sense?

Heck, we could discuss control city follies until the cows come home, but, heck, that would just be "udder"ly ridiculous. 
    

The same control city in each direction that MassDOT has now enabled has even more ridiculous control cities that the NYC example on the Pike. Going northbound on 495 in Amesbury, the MA 150 exit suggests Seabrook NH as a control city. As illogical as that is, the southbound side also having it when you likely just left Seabrook is a tad misdirected.

Although I shrug at NYC being a control city for I-84 coming from I-90 EB, the MA 150 example may be the very first control city criticism on this entire forum that I agree with.

#8

Off-Topic / Re: Who misses the old McDonal...

Last post by bing101 - Today at 10:46:36 PM

Wow I first seen the current McDonald's look in the Philippines in 2018-2019 time-frame when I was in the Manila area to visit family there. Had no idea that look would go to the United States later that year. The old McDonald's look went away as soon as COVID-19 hit the United States.

#9

Traffic Control / Re: Department of Redundancy D...

Last post by Rothman - Today at 10:44:25 PM

I have never experienced stricter no parking enforcement anywhere than at BDL...

#10

Pacific Southwest / Re: Interstate 11 alignment, t...

Last post by ClassicHasClass - Today at 10:43:07 PM

I mean, does any other Interstate in Nevada get END assemblies? 580 doesn't have them, don't remember if 215 does.

515 did: http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/95/u1/#img_66

It even had a corresponding BEGIN.