The Best/Worst Highway Innovations Of Each Decade...

[thenetwork]

Okay, this topic should cover a lot of ground, cause a lot of discussion and debate, and you might learn something before it's done:

1) Pick a decade...any decade..
2) What was the best innovation and/or the worst innovation in highways, or transportation during that decade?

For example: 

The 00's:
WORST: The introduction of Clearview (for some ).
BEST: LED Lighting for traffic signals and streetlights.

Now it may take a little research to determine if an innovation (like Clearview) did show up for the first time in the '00's, or maybe it came out earlier in the late 90's?

You have your assignment, now GO!   

[briantroutman]

Now it may take a little research to determine if an innovation (like Clearview) did show up for the first time in the '00's, or maybe it came out earlier in the late 90's?

Clearview first appeared at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute in 1993. There were at least a few Clearview signs in the wild (in central PA) before 1995.

[agentsteel53]

FHWA "highway Gothic" font: 1943, experiment on the Pentagon road network.  released as a standard Dec 1945.  made mandatory by 1948 MUTCD.

button copy: predecessors (discrete elements with reflectors, one glyph per element) were around by 1935, using glass.  1940s for plastic Stimsonite reflectors.  the AGA style with cutout aluminum glyphs debuted in 1956. 

cateye reflectors: around in England by 1916.  first US application 1929 (Rayflector).

Stimsonite plastic reflectors: 1936.

beaded reflective paint: 1930s.  first ad I've seen for it is 1937.

Scotchlite: 1938.  1950 for Engineer Grade.  1977 for the Engineer Grade that's white instead of light greenish yellow.

[hbelkins]

When did the "modern roundabout" come into general use in the US? Put that down for the worst in that decade.

As for "best" nominees, the diverging diamond certainly goes on that list.

[Indyroads]

When did the "modern roundabout" come into general use in the US? Put that down for the worst in that decade.

As for "best" nominees, the diverging diamond certainly goes on that list.

I would say the SPUI would be one of the Bests. wasn't that a 90's innovation

[1995hoo]

Worst of the 1970s is easy, IMO: The National Maximum Speed Law.

I won't vote for its repeal as "best of the 1990s" because I don't consider a repeal of a bad law to be an "innovation." Instead, for best of the 1990s I'll vote for E-ZPass, or if you prefer electronic toll collection in general (I believe Colorado rolled out ETC prior to the implementation of E-ZPass, but it was E-ZPass that made it widely-used and well-known).

I am sure the SPUI was around prior to the 1990s because one was built in the early 1980s near where I used to live in Annandale, Virginia (intersection of Gallows Road and US-50–when I refer to Annandale I mean our house had an Annandale address, not that the SPUI is there...I think the Postal Service considers it to be in Falls Church).

[SteveG1988]

1950s: The Jersey Barrier for best of
1810s: Cable Stay Bridges, designed in the 1590s but really got started in the 1810s

[Takumi]

FHWA "highway Gothic" font: 1943, experiment on the Pentagon road network.  released as a standard Dec 1945.  made mandatory by 1948 MUTCD.

button copy: predecessors (discrete elements with reflectors, one glyph per element) were around by 1935, using glass.  1940s for plastic Stimsonite reflectors.  the AGA style with cutout aluminum glyphs debuted in 1956. 

cateye reflectors: around in England by 1916.  first US application 1929 (Rayflector).

Stimsonite plastic reflectors: 1936.

beaded reflective paint: 1930s.  first ad I've seen for it is 1937.

Scotchlite: 1938.  1950 for Engineer Grade.  1977 for the Engineer Grade that's white instead of light greenish yellow.

I'm surprised you didn't nominate the 1970 spec shields as the worst innovation of that decade.

[froggie]

When did the "modern roundabout" come into general use in the US? Put that down for the worst in that decade.

Disagree.  Several on this forum (myself included) would argue it's one of the best for that decade.

[31E]

Best of the 1990's: Roundabouts, electronic tolling, continuous flow intersections, the Big Dig
Worst of the 1990's: Traffic calming, road diets, route numbers dictated by Congress, induced demand/congestion defeatism
Honorable mention of the 1990's: Repeal of the NMSL

Best of the 1970's: Noise barriers, the SPUI, bus rapid transit
Worst of the 1970's: Drive 55, the safety lobby

Best of the 2000's: New highway lighting technologies, Clearview font, express toll lanes, arrow-per lane signs, diverging diamond interchanges
Worst of the 2000's: Actually implementing the worst of the 1990's

Best of the 2010's so far: Speed limits in Texas, strong momentum for raising speed limits elsewhere
Worst of the 2010's so far: Tolling existing Interstates, turning paved roads to gravel

To clarify on the 2010's, I'm talking about the idea for tolling existing Interstates, not the actual implementation, which hopefully will never happen.

When did the "modern roundabout" come into general use in the US? Put that down for the worst in that decade.

Disagree.  Several on this forum (myself included) would argue it's one of the best for that decade.

Yes, yes, yes - I'm a huge fan of modern roundabouts. It is widely claimed that the first modern roundabout appeared in the U.S. sometime in the early 1990's, and at any rate the 1990's was the first decade we saw any significant application of roundabouts, traffic calming, or CFIs, so I put all three in with the 1990's.

[froggie]

Curious why you think road diets are bad...

[NE2]

Curious why you think road diets are bad...

Because Michelle Obama promotes them as part of her push to make young roads healthier.

[vdeane]

Some of us don't like it when cities make it more difficult to navigate by car.

[myosh_tino]

Best of the 2000's: New highway lighting technologies, Clearview font, express toll lanes, arrow-per lane signs, diverging diamond interchanges

Best of the 2000's???
New highway lighting technologies --- agreed! 
express toll lanes --- well, OK. 
arrow-per-lane signs --- disagree (inefficient use of sign panel space) 
Clearview font --- hell no! 
diverging diamond interchanges --- no opinion (haven't "experienced" one yet)

[Scott5114]

Road diets as a concept I'm neutral toward, but cities seem to think they can put a 'road diet' on any road they want and all of the traffic will just evaporate. It doesn't work that way–people still need to get to places, so that traffic has to go somewhere. It's particularly bad when they do this to a former major arterial. But even on minor collectors, a road diet is not the answer–usually people are using the collector to avoid some problem that plagues the arterials. Finding and fixing that problem is more sensible.

[realjd]

When did the "modern roundabout" come into general use in the US? Put that down for the worst in that decade.

As for "best" nominees, the diverging diamond certainly goes on that list.

You dislike roundabouts that much? Why?

I do agree on diverging diamonds. They're incredibly clever.

[realjd]

Road diets as a concept I'm neutral toward, but cities seem to think they can put a 'road diet' on any road they want and all of the traffic will just evaporate. It doesn't work that way–people still need to get to places, so that traffic has to go somewhere. It's particularly bad when they do this to a former major arterial. But even on minor collectors, a road diet is not the answer–usually people are using the collector to avoid some problem that plagues the arterials. Finding and fixing that problem is more sensible.

Depends on the road. If a road has significant pedestrian and bicycle traffic, reducing car capacity isn't a bad thing. Remember, roads belong to all users, not just cars; and they're maintained by departments of transportation, not departments of motoring.

[TEG24601]

1960s - Best: Michigan Lefts/Texas U-Turns

[31E]

Road diets as a concept I'm neutral toward, but cities seem to think they can put a 'road diet' on any road they want and all of the traffic will just evaporate. It doesn't work that way–people still need to get to places, so that traffic has to go somewhere. It's particularly bad when they do this to a former major arterial. But even on minor collectors, a road diet is not the answer–usually people are using the collector to avoid some problem that plagues the arterials. Finding and fixing that problem is more sensible.

Exactly. In this era of history we have ubiquitous congestion, it gets worse all the time, and road capacity hasn't kept up with the increasing traffic. So, our bright planners conjured up a terrific solution - decrease road capacity . That's a surefire way to make the problem better  . Traffic calming is annoying enough when applied on side streets, but on arteries it becomes nightmarish.

Road diets as a concept I'm neutral toward, but cities seem to think they can put a 'road diet' on any road they want and all of the traffic will just evaporate. It doesn't work that way–people still need to get to places, so that traffic has to go somewhere. It's particularly bad when they do this to a former major arterial. But even on minor collectors, a road diet is not the answer–usually people are using the collector to avoid some problem that plagues the arterials. Finding and fixing that problem is more sensible.

Depends on the road. If a road has significant pedestrian and bicycle traffic, reducing car capacity isn't a bad thing. Remember, roads belong to all users, not just cars; and they're maintained by departments of transportation, not departments of motoring.

The fact is most roads have more people driving than walking or cycling, including most cases where road diets have been tried or suggested. If a road isn't used much by cars but would be useful to other users it would be a good thing, but the application in the real world amounts to "if we shrink this road that's been a problem the drivers will cease to exist". The term "road diet" implies current roads are too fat and need to be shrunk, which is quite loaded and offensive; if I had to pick a fat analogy, I'd pick "malnourished", not "needs a diet". In the real world it is extremely rare to have a problem of too much capacity. In fact, considering the horrors of having too little, I wouldn't complain about having too much.

[SteveG1988]

1990s: EzPass/ Similar products for best of
1990s: Seasonal Fuel Blends for worst of, increases the cost of fuel in the summer, can create shortages twice a year

[DaBigE]

1980s
-Best: Actuated traffic signals
-Worst: Red light cameras

1990s
-Best: The idea of road diets (I have seen many successful implementations of this), ped buttons with feedback (beep, display a light when activated)
-Worst: Traffic calming circles (NOT to be confused with modern roundabouts)

2000s
-Best: LEDs, wet-reflective pavement markings, fluorescent & high-intensity sheeting, national 511 system
-Worst: Flashing yellow arrow, Clearview, HAWK signals (not so much the idea, but with regards to the approved sequencing)

[hotdogPi]

2000s

Best: This forum

Worst: Clearview

[Big John]

2000s

best: DDI's.  efficient innovation for busy interchanges

worst: Arrow Per Lane.  Can really be bad when done wrong:

[Brandon]

1980s
-Best: Actuated traffic signals

I'd consider this a worst from the way IDOT overuses them on every flipping major road.  It makes it very hard to tell when a signal is about to turn yellow, even though the others nearby are green.

[Ned Weasel]

Best of the 1950s: jughandles!