Recent posts

#1

Sports / Re: Hockey

Last post by ET21 - Today at 06:47:32 PM

San Jose with the #1 pick for the 24 draft

#2

General Highway Talk / Re: Tilted Overhead Signs

Last post by steviep24 - Today at 06:32:13 PM

The overhead signs at Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) are tilted.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1298733,-77.6633109,3a,30y,265.63h,99.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sO5W51nP2CCT1kTdjsqWI8g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

#3

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

Last post by formulanone - Today at 06:20:46 PM

Things that make you feel old: On tonight's episode of Jeopardy, none of the contestants recognized the lyrics to "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now."

Uh oh, the world ran out of lovers.

#4

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

Last post by J N Winkler - Today at 06:10:41 PM

Yes, and a wider horizontal clearance will also allow ships and other boats to pass in each direction simultaneously. Or is just a narrow lane dredged to 50ft there? I'm on my phone, does anyone have a nautical chart handy they can post?

Here's an extract from the relevant nautical chart:



The shipping channel has a nominal width of 1100 feet and, per the legend (not included in this extract), a nominal depth of 50 feet.  The chart does not otherwise specify the cross-section of the channel at the bridge.

The Unified Command has said, IIRC, that they do plan to clear it so that it can again handle two-way traffic.

The channel ran essentially from one inside face of one main pier to the inside face of the other.  Increasing main span length would buy more margin for error by allowing the new piers and their defenses to be positioned well outside the area used for navigation.  At Tampa Bay, the piers for the Sunshine Skyway are positioned on artificial islands that just border the channel (which is only 43 feet deep) on their inside edges.

#5

Traffic Control / Re: Unique, Odd, or Interestin...

Last post by Shedingtonian - Today at 06:06:47 PM

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wLRNFqrzenhmc4uM8
Time for an APL here.

Eh, not really. This approach is the one used in Spain, and I think it's clear enough. I do wonder what the federal MUTCD thinks of this though.

#6

Mountain West / Re: Phoenix Area Highways

Last post by RaulMtz - Today at 06:05:33 PM

It's the Santan portion they are widening though, not Red Mountain. At least thats why I understood from the site.
Santan Freeway gets really bad during rush hour between Loop 101 and Val Vista. My daily commute takes me from that area to the airport. Once they finish the Broadway curve project, I expect the Santan Freeway to be the last "bad" part of my commute *crosses finders*

#7

Southeast / Re: Interstate 73/74

Last post by wdcrft63 - Today at 06:04:31 PM

Wade Ave. is Secondary Route 1728. That's probably the only designation the freeway/boulevard needs. Maybe the interchanges could get numbers, since it is North Carolina's custom to number freeway exits, even on non-Interstates.

If NCDOT calls Wade Avenue a secondary route, that seems silly to me but that's not what I'm arguing. I'm arguing that a road as important as Wade Avenue should have a visible number for the benefit of travelers. If 1728 is the official number then put 1728 above "Wade Avenue" on the big green signs.

#8

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: New US 51 - Cairo Bridge

Last post by hobsini2 - Today at 06:04:29 PM

I don't know.  Seems there are places that are more depressing than Cairo out there.  New Straitsville, OH, comes to mind.

Never been there so I would have to take your word for it.

#9

Off-Topic / Re: Random Thoughts

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 05:11:58 PM

I feel that such a law would have easy loopholes. What counts as "using the property?" Stepping inside the door? Being in the property for a certain amount of time in a day? Using the building for its proper purpose (but then that goes into the weeds as to what "proper purpose" means)? Also, how would the government track that the building is being used or not? I could see privacy issues with that.

I think the idea is good in theory, but in practice I don't think it would work, and I think it could be abused.

Some places have a vacancy tax that kicks in if a property is deemed vacant (I don't know what determines whether a building is vacant enough). The effects that I see from five seconds of random uninformed Googling seem to indicate that while a tax does sharply reduce the number of vacant properties, demand is usually so great anywhere a vacancy tax is implemented that it doesn't really make enough of a dent in it to actually reduce housing costs.

#10

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: New US 51 - Cairo Bridge

Last post by edwaleni - Today at 05:03:55 PM

https://www.propublica.org/article/hud-demolishes-public-housing-displaces-residents-cairo

It appears the USG, specifically HUD, is getting out of town. After buying out many of the shanty houses of the poor and putting them in a high rise, they just announced they are moving them all out 30 miles away and tearing the high rises down. The mayor was surprised by the decision.

Like I said, something don't seem right.

The former high school sits vacant. The former junior high with a fairly new gym added on is a community center. The grade school is brand new and the junior and high school kids are up in a new building north of town. So its clear the school district still functions, they keep building new buildings!

So if the State is trying to save the town, why does the opposite seem to be in effect?