It seems that the loop ramps at the cloverleaf interchange of I-270 and US 33 on the NW side of Columbus are currently closed. The detour for all directions seems to consist of driving through the interchange and turning around. For the case of NB I-270 to WB US 33, that means making a U-turn at the Sawmill Rd exit. Some SPUI interchanges are designed to facilitate U-turns, particularly when frontage roads are involved. This one is not. http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.108928,-83.091474&spn=0.001173,0.002411&t=k&z=19 (http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.108928,-83.091474&spn=0.001173,0.002411&t=k&z=19) I imagine some drivers attempting to follow the detour could be quite unsure of themselves at this point.
Does anyone else have examples of SPUI interchanges that aren't striped or signed to accommodate U-turns, but maybe should be? Any other comments on U-turn movements and SPUI interchanges?
:confused: I've done a u-turn there before :confused: I know it's not marked, and Columbus hates u-turns, but I don't see an issue with people doing it. Seems safer doing it there than the morons that do it in the median, anyway.
The one at US-22 & PA-66 in Delmont has signs that it's allowed.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Delmont,+PA&hl=en&ll=40.397745,-79.573331&spn=0.005156,0.01545&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.397637,-79.573069&panoid=K3XafcSkydYKJRrF9Qo89Q&cbp=12,71.41,,0,-11.44 (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Delmont,+PA&hl=en&ll=40.397745,-79.573331&spn=0.005156,0.01545&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.397637,-79.573069&panoid=K3XafcSkydYKJRrF9Qo89Q&cbp=12,71.41,,0,-11.44)
(That's only for the "main route", the one without the traffic light (US-22). I don't recall (or see via Street View) anything permitting OR denying PA-66 vehicles from pulling a U-Turn.)
I do recall, last year or so when the US 31 bridge over I-465 on the southside of Indianapolis was under construction, traffic needing to use the loop ramps (which were closed due to the bridge construction) were told to go to both Emerson Avenue for eastbound traffic and Mann Road for westbound traffic as the detour to go to their particular direction for US 31. The Emerson Ave interchange is a SPUI (the only one in Indianapolis) and I think I remember signs indicating that making a U-Turn WAS a part of the detour. In any case, the signage once you got off at Emerson was designed with the intention that you make a u-turn at the intersection and go back west on 465.
Quote from: vtk on July 17, 2011, 06:53:54 PM
Some SPUI interchanges are designed to facilitate U-turns, particularly when frontage roads are involved. This one is not. http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.108928,-83.091474&spn=0.001173,0.002411&t=k&z=19 (http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.108928,-83.091474&spn=0.001173,0.002411&t=k&z=19)
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Does anyone else have examples of SPUI interchanges that aren't striped or signed to accommodate U-turns, but maybe should be? Any other comments on U-turn movements and SPUI interchanges?
A typically-designed SPUI should be able to accommodate U-turns from the ramps. The geometry of the ramp and cross street turning movements makes it easy to perform a U-turn coming from the ramp and heading to the opposite direction. And typically, there need not be any frontage roads present for this maneuver to be possible. In fact, a U-turn could happen quite easily at the interchange linked in the quoted post. And, given the way the signal control works at a typical SPUI, the U-turn could be done without running into any conflicting traffic.
Now whether a U-turn at the SPUI is legal according to state statute or local law is another matter...