The Ramp Meter Thread

[Lukeisroads]

Ok So I Wont review em ill instead look at them. So Post It Down Below!

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/52394111003/in/dateposted-public/

[kirbykart]

Ok So I Wont review em ill instead look at them. So Post It Down Below!

But why Wont You review em?

[1995hoo]

Ok So I Wont review em ill instead look at them. So Post It Down Below!

But why Wont You review em?

I'd be more concerned about his apparent illness and whether it's contagious, although since I don't live in California hopefully it'll be a nonissue for me.

[Rothman]

All your base are belong to us.

[formulanone]

We are not your servants.

Suggestion: Go to Google Street View (or equivalent). Find an interstate ramming through the guts of a city, there's a 50-50 chance you'll find yourself some ramp meters to look at.

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/52394111003/in/dateposted-public/

I-80 (and many other freeways) is one that has plenty in the Bay Area.  Ditto for LA area on I-5 and others.

[JoePCool14]

Typical Chicago ramp meters will have this assembly upstream on the ramp:
https://goo.gl/maps/riwMnh8NM4JwuKMdA

And then the actual meter downstream:
https://goo.gl/maps/suS92E9hNLidQYrn7

You won't review them, but I will. I think the meter signals be so small makes them really easy to miss. I also wonder how their activation sequence goes since there's no yellow ball.

My favorite ramp meter is actually the one near my office at Cumberland. There's the typical Ramp Meter Ahead warning sign, and the ramp is stripped like one I posted above. The thing is, the meter is so good that it never turns red and is actually invisible. Really impressive and innovative.

https://goo.gl/maps/q2Vw3i243zeG6FZv6

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/51295882184/in/album-72157719505204933/

This one evaluate please. To me with the bottleneck beyond the meters, it defeats the entire purpose of having.

[kphoger]

My favorite ramp meter is actually the one near my office at Cumberland. There's the typical Ramp Meter Ahead warning sign, and the ramp is stripped like one I posted above. The thing is, the meter is so good that it never turns red and is actually invisible. Really impressive and innovative.

https://goo.gl/maps/q2Vw3i243zeG6FZv6

https://goo.gl/maps/Ke9MucU6PXPPvo7Y8

[roadman65]

My favorite ramp meter is actually the one near my office at Cumberland. There's the typical Ramp Meter Ahead warning sign, and the ramp is stripped like one I posted above. The thing is, the meter is so good that it never turns red and is actually invisible. Really impressive and innovative.

https://goo.gl/maps/q2Vw3i243zeG6FZv6

https://goo.gl/maps/Ke9MucU6PXPPvo7Y8

. What I like is no wasted yellow section as Caltrans and Oregon both seem to have full heads despite the yellow is not used.

[JoePCool14]

What I like is no wasted yellow section as Caltrans and Oregon both seem to have full heads despite the yellow is not used.

Do they not use yellow when the sequence starts?

My favorite ramp meter is actually the one near my office at Cumberland. There's the typical Ramp Meter Ahead warning sign, and the ramp is stripped like one I posted above. The thing is, the meter is so good that it never turns red and is actually invisible. Really impressive and innovative.

https://goo.gl/maps/q2Vw3i243zeG6FZv6

https://goo.gl/maps/Ke9MucU6PXPPvo7Y8

They built new pads for new signals but never installed them. I might contact IDOT and ask them why. They definitely could use them here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/51295882184/in/album-72157719505204933/

This one evaluate please. To me with the bottleneck beyond the meters, it defeats the entire purpose of having.

You should watch Road Guy Rob's video on ramp meters. He explains why having the ramp meters on is still useful. The quick explanation is that it does theoretically still help to end the traffic jam sooner.

[jeffandnicole]

You should watch Road Guy Rob's video on ramp meters. He explains why having the ramp meters on is still useful. The quick explanation is that it does theoretically still help to end the traffic jam sooner.

But a theory isn't the same thing as it actually happening.

[Ted$8roadFan]

There's this relatively new one at the junction of the Garden State Parkway and the NY Thruway in Nanuet, NY.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Mzqssp3uZRGyRGV38?g_st=ic

[1995hoo]

I'm mildly curious as to when everyone first saw ramp meters. Around here, the first ones to be installed (and thus the first ones I ever remember seeing) were on I-66 inside the Beltway; the signals were in place when that segment of road opened in December 1982 a few days before Christmas, but they weren't actually turned on for another year or two because Arlington County expressed concern about whether they would cause traffic to back up onto the streets feeding the onramps. At the time, I-66 carried a rush-hour-only peak-direction HOV-4 restriction (reduced to HOV-3 within the first year after opening), so the road got so little traffic during rush hour that the county's concerns proved unfounded at that time.

I don't believe people generally called them "ramp meters" back then, though.

[roadman65]

There's this relatively new one at the junction of the Garden State Parkway and the NY Thruway in Nanuet, NY.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Mzqssp3uZRGyRGV38?g_st=ic

That's odd. Ramp meters are usually installed on local arterials or residential roads entering a freeway. This is a freeway to freeway connection here.

[Ted$8roadFan]

There's this relatively new one at the junction of the Garden State Parkway and the NY Thruway in Nanuet, NY.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Mzqssp3uZRGyRGV38?g_st=ic

That's odd. Ramp meters are usually installed on local arterials or residential roads entering a freeway. This is a freeway to freeway connection here.

I'm guessing that this one exists because there is so much interstate car traffic using the Garden State Parkway and the Westchester highways to avoid NYC.

[JoePCool14]

A follow-up on my earlier post:

My favorite ramp meter is actually the one near my office at Cumberland. There's the typical Ramp Meter Ahead warning sign, and the ramp is stripped like one I posted above. The thing is, the meter is so good that it never turns red and is actually invisible. Really impressive and innovative.

https://goo.gl/maps/q2Vw3i243zeG6FZv6

I left yesterday to see new detection lines cut in at multiple locations on the ramp. I have a feeling the invisible meter may become visible soon. I'll keep you posted.

[wanderer2575]

A few ramp meters were installed along I-94 in downtown Detroit about 20 years ago.  They lasted only a few years, if that long, before being removed.

[Scott5114]

I've never used a metered ramp, so this is probably a dumb question, but... do they make it as hard to get up to speed to join the freeway as they seem like they would? Or are they only ever used in situations where the traffic on the mainline is running slow enough that you don't really need to worry about the speed differential?

[6a]

I've never used a metered ramp, so this is probably a dumb question, but... do they make it as hard to get up to speed to join the freeway as they seem like they would? Or are they only ever used in situations where the traffic on the mainline is running slow enough that you don't really need to worry about the speed differential?

Here in Columbus they're usually turned on when there's congestion. It's almost a way of forcing a zipper merge by spacing out traffic entering the freeway. And they do vary the length of a red light depending on mainline speeds.

[froggie]

I've never used a metered ramp, so this is probably a dumb question, but... do they make it as hard to get up to speed to join the freeway as they seem like they would? Or are they only ever used in situations where the traffic on the mainline is running slow enough that you don't really need to worry about the speed differential?

In fairness, they do make it harder to get up to speed because of where they're located.  The trade-off is they improve speed on the mainline because you don't have a whole platoon of vehicles merging from the on-ramp at the same time.

[fwydriver405]

What I like is no wasted yellow section as Caltrans and Oregon both seem to have full heads despite the yellow is not used.

I think in CA, yellow is used as the warning for the last car if the meter allows 2 or 3 cars per green (Example 1, Example 2).  Last time I was in SoCal in 2015, 2 cars/green was common in southern Orange County and the San Diego area. It's typically not used for one car per green meters, though I have sometimes seen the yellow activate in this example. Utah does something similar too for their 2 or 3 per green meters.

Also, in CA, ramp meters that activate from a dark state start off with a green ball for a few seconds, then a yellow clearance before a full red, and then the meter cycles as usual.

Minnesota and Denver uses the yellow section as flashing when inactive. When active, in MN (not sure about CO), the yellow does activate even for 1 car/green signals after the vehicle pulls away from the stop line.

EDIT: Some older San Diego meters still have the 3-2 signal head setup, which leads to situations where the top three section signal goes yellow but the two section stays green until both are red on startup.

[JoePCool14]

I've never used a metered ramp, so this is probably a dumb question, but... do they make it as hard to get up to speed to join the freeway as they seem like they would? Or are they only ever used in situations where the traffic on the mainline is running slow enough that you don't really need to worry about the speed differential?

If they're placed in the correct location, there shouldn't be too much trouble getting up to speed before the end of the acceleration lane. Generally though, the traffic is going a bit slower than normal, so that helps makes the process easier anyways.

[Bruce]

I've never used a metered ramp, so this is probably a dumb question, but... do they make it as hard to get up to speed to join the freeway as they seem like they would? Or are they only ever used in situations where the traffic on the mainline is running slow enough that you don't really need to worry about the speed differential?

In heavy traffic, no.

But when the meter is on but traffic is flowing at somewhat normal speeds, it can be pretty difficult. Getting stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle that tries to merge at 30 mph into 60 mph traffic is real fun.