Signalized Merges

[webny99]

I don't believe we have ever had this thread before. What are some examples where one one-way roadway merges into another, with no other turn movements allowed at the intersection, and yet, it's still signalized?

BL-83 at S George St., York, PA.
NY 15 ramp to NY 252 EB and WB, Henrietta, NY.

[1995hoo]

Would something like this count? There is another light on the other side of the overpass to the left due to left-turning traffic coming down the hill there on Kings Highway, and the presence of the overpass abutment (pan the view to the left to see that) affects visibility such that I think having the light here is a good thing on the whole.

[Ned Weasel]

I think this is generally a good thing if there are two sets of the same number of lanes trying to merge into each other.  However, I don't think it's fundamentally different from a signalized T-intersection between two one-way roadways.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/yBmLKrGTwrhqu6nh7
One in Jersey City, NJ at the merge of I-78 and NJ 139.

[kalvado]

Albany: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.6925087,-73.8283928,3a,90y,63.49h,91.6t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swxPcClOB2E9lgAwz-JOjuw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DwxPcClOB2E9lgAwz-JOjuw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D85.65805%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
There is an apparent issue with traffic heading to I-90 at the next traffic light, though.
And while not a traffic light - a stop sing I thourougly hate every time I happen to be there:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4093659,-73.6910491,3a,75y,319.55h,77.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spMUiXFqrleAenqIxoB4Qig!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[jmacswimmer]

-US 15 SB ramp to US 40 WB
-I-495 EB ramp to MD 355 SB
-I-495 EB ramp to MD 650 SB & I-495 WB ramp to MD 650 NB
-I-95/495 SB ramp to US 1 SB (and this one has a unique twist allowing protected left turns from the ramp, across all of US 1, to a local street)
-I-95/495 SB ramp to MD 202 NB (also unique in that it flashes yellow by default, and I assume only functions fully during Football Team games or other FedEx Field events)

[RobbieL2415]

CT 15/US 5 at CT 314, Wethersfield:
https://goo.gl/maps/hzmNpcSoWHthXQsS9

I-84 Exit 64 at CT 83 NB, Vernon:
https://goo.gl/maps/RRUmgFoDFjtnS42ZA

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/9eTir1kreL8Tkp7o7
This one was a single lane ramp merge up until 2014.  Then FDOT reconfigured it to a T intersection.

[webny99]

Would something like this count? There is another light on the other side of the overpass to the left due to left-turning traffic coming down the hill there on Kings Highway, and the presence of the overpass abutment (pan the view to the left to see that) affects visibility such that I think having the light here is a good thing on the whole.

I'm inclined to count it, but curious as to how it works from a functional standpoint. Does the traffic exiting the freeway from the other direction have their own phase?

[1995hoo]

Would something like this count? There is another light on the other side of the overpass to the left due to left-turning traffic coming down the hill there on Kings Highway, and the presence of the overpass abutment (pan the view to the left to see that) affects visibility such that I think having the light here is a good thing on the whole.

I'm inclined to count it, but curious as to how it works from a functional standpoint. Does the traffic exiting the freeway from the other direction have their own phase?

That's not how the intersection is configured–it's far more complicated than that, due in part to Cameron Run passing through the area. See map link below. The traffic light I posted is at the end of the ramp just above East Drive near the BP station towards the bottom left of center. (In other words, to trace the movement, come into the map image on the left using the Beltway and take the first ramp to the right, then keep bearing right until you hit Secondary Route 611 just below where it says "Huntington Car Care.")

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7993237,-77.0814966,16.75z


(Edited to clarify where I meant)

[SkyPesos]

- I-275 WB to OH 747 NB
- I-275 WB to OH 747 SB
- I-275 WB to Winton Rd SB

[jmacswimmer]

I forgot this one when I made my first post, but this is probably one of the busier ones out there: PA 581 WB ramp to US 15 SB.

[Evan_Th]

Pretty near where I grew up:  US 15-501 at NC 54, in Chapel Hill, NC.  Neither road is actually a freeway, but there's a cloverleaf where they cross.  Only one direction has a stoplight, since there's an immediate merge there (necessitated by the overpass) and this's the highest-traffic ramp.

[webny99]

Would something like this count? There is another light on the other side of the overpass to the left due to left-turning traffic coming down the hill there on Kings Highway, and the presence of the overpass abutment (pan the view to the left to see that) affects visibility such that I think having the light here is a good thing on the whole.

I'm inclined to count it, but curious as to how it works from a functional standpoint. Does the traffic exiting the freeway from the other direction have their own phase?

That's not how the intersection is configured–it's far more complicated than that, due in part to Cameron Run passing through the area. See map link below. The traffic light I posted is at the end of the ramp just above East Drive near the BP station towards the bottom left of center. (In other words, to trace the movement, come into the map image on the left using the Beltway and take the first ramp to the right, then keep bearing right until you hit Secondary Route 611 just below where it says "Huntington Car Care.")

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7993237,-77.0814966,16.75z

Yes, I am clear on where the location is. My question is, does the traffic on 241 NB turning left onto 611 SB have their own phase?

In other words, is the ramp you describe functionally a part of the 611/241 intersection despite being on the other side of the underpass?

[1995hoo]

Would something like this count? There is another light on the other side of the overpass to the left due to left-turning traffic coming down the hill there on Kings Highway, and the presence of the overpass abutment (pan the view to the left to see that) affects visibility such that I think having the light here is a good thing on the whole.

I'm inclined to count it, but curious as to how it works from a functional standpoint. Does the traffic exiting the freeway from the other direction have their own phase?

That's not how the intersection is configured–it's far more complicated than that, due in part to Cameron Run passing through the area. See map link below. The traffic light I posted is at the end of the ramp just above East Drive near the BP station towards the bottom left of center. (In other words, to trace the movement, come into the map image on the left using the Beltway and take the first ramp to the right, then keep bearing right until you hit Secondary Route 611 just below where it says "Huntington Car Care.")

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7993237,-77.0814966,16.75z

Yes, I am clear on where the location is. My question is, does the traffic on 241 NB turning left onto 611 SB have their own phase?

In other words, is the ramp you describe functionally a part of the 611/241 intersection despite being on the other side of the underpass?

I see what you're saying. I misunderstood the question because your reference to "the freeway" made me think of the Beltway because it's the only freeway in the area, but I could see why someone who doesn't live here might think otherwise from the Street View image I linked. Northbound 241 comes down that hill and traffic turning left does have its own separate light. I assume, but have never paid enough attention to determine for sure, that the left-turn light for those people and the right-turn light I linked don't go green at the same time. (I haven't paid attention because I pretty much never make either of those movements when I go through that area–when I use the nearby Metrorail station, I use the garage located on Huntington Avenue and thus I don't come down the hill seen in that image, and there's no reason for me ever to take the Beltway to southbound Telegraph Road.)

[Steve.S]

US-422 at US-422 Business in Exeter Township, PA:  https://goo.gl/maps/5aFj4z6CxnYAx1KJ9

[webny99]

... My question is, does the traffic on 241 NB turning left onto 611 SB have their own phase?

In other words, is the ramp you describe functionally a part of the 611/241 intersection despite being on the other side of the underpass?

I see what you're saying. I misunderstood the question because your reference to "the freeway" made me think of the Beltway because it's the only freeway in the area, but I could see why someone who doesn't live here might think otherwise from the Street View image I linked. Northbound 241 comes down that hill and traffic turning left does have its own separate light. I assume, but have never paid enough attention to determine for sure, that the left-turn light for those people and the right-turn light I linked don't go green at the same time.

My bad - I did realize it was a connecting ramp and not a freeway, but only after my first post. That is what I was wondering: my instinct would also be that it has its own phase, especially since the cars on 241 NB appear to be stopped when the Street View car proceeds. It's an interesting hypothetical, though, and not one that I'd given much thought to before seeing this example.

[Ned Weasel]

Here's one that I've been through several times:  Westbound I-78 to southbound PA 100 (inner loop of cloverleaf):  https://goo.gl/maps/3CkNHV7iPMxUWnki6

[MASTERNC]

There are a few more in PA:

Liberty Bridge in Pittsburgh (there are two merges in a row)

I-76 and US 1 SB outside Philadelphia (an absolute mess due to a lot of weaving from two offramp and a left turn lane a few hundred feet later)

[Great Lakes Roads]

EB I-94 to US 20 EB offramp in Michigan City. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6931094,-86.8081096,3a,75y,42.98h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2_kNDvitRntrm6_cX1Me5w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Added in 2017 to reduce weaving near the South US 35 intersection.

[andrepoiy]

Does this count?



How about this?

[Revive 755]

* I-64 WB to US 41 NB around Evansville, IN

* SB I-55/WB I-70 to NB IL 159

[US 89]

Here's one in Atlanta at Sidney Marcus and Buford Highway (GA 13):

https://goo.gl/maps/qs9C1uxUioS6LZsv7

[GenExpwy]

NY 15A ramp to NY 252 EB and WB, Henrietta, NY.

15, not 15A.

[kj3400]

I-695 NB Exit 16A at MD 26 in northwest Baltimore County:

https://goo.gl/maps/cRYRAaXxDC7vTYZc6

I-270 NB Exit 11 at MD 124 north of Gaithersburg:

https://goo.gl/maps/PphuXcfMmH2KuCCQ6