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I-90 / Mass Pike Signing Work

Started by bob7374, August 14, 2015, 06:53:07 PM

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cl94

So still no town line signs west of Springfield? Jeesh. I will admit, I was surprised to see no additional replacements when I went through EB on the 14th.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)


bob7374

Quote from: bob7374 on April 24, 2018, 11:50:51 AM
I drove the Mass Pike westbound from Weston to the NY border last Friday. With the exception of maybe a few more town/city border signs, nothing new to report for the eastern contract since I last drove out to Sturbridge last month. What's more interesting is what has happened, or more accurately, not happened on the western contract from Exit 10 on. There has been no additional sign placements since I traveled through last July. No new signs at Exit 9, no new overhead gantries at Exits 6 and 5, no new signs for Exit 1 at all (except placed at the exit ramp under the toll plaza removal contract). Is there something going on with the contractor, Road Safe Systems? I can understand not working in the winter months, but more than 9 months without any additional work? Did notice that the mile markers put up in the vicinity of the Westfield River bridge, that were on the right instead of the left as everywhere else, due to the concrete center median, had been removed. Hopefully, work will be at least completed on the eastern section by the summer.
I did get photos of signs put up for the US 20 exit in Lee last fall. Here's the one-mile advance:


Other new sign captures, if not new signs, are on the I-90/Mass Pike Photo Gallery:
http://www.malmeroads.net/mass21c/i90photos.html

Seems to be differences between the 2 contractors on the placement order of ground-mounted signs. For the west contract, all the bridge blade signs have been replaced, the enhanced mileposts put up (except for the area mentioned above), but no town/city line signs. In the east, all the town/city line signs are up, but no new bridge blades or mileposts.

bob7374

Some progress to report. New overheads have gone up for the MA 30/Natick exit on the Pike.


Also new foundations have been placed for the 2-Mile and ramp overheads for the I-95/128 West exit eastbound, but not, as it appears for the other signs. The mile markers and post-interchange distance signs have also not yet been replaced between Worcester and Boston. The rest of the new sign photos are in the Gallery:
http://www.malmeroads.net/mass21c/i90photos.html

shadyjay

Is it me, or has this (at least the western) project been going on for way too long?  I drove the 'pike westbound between Exits 9 & 4 yesterday afternoon, and didn't expect to see this:

DSC00192 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

or this:
DSC00209 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

or this:
DSC00219 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

In fact, all overheads that existed before the re-signing project began are still up between Exits 4 and 9 (as far as I could see, not including Exit 4-WB).  And there's still a fair amount of regulatory signage still to be replaced.  I did see a staging yard in the Springfield area, but it looked like it was holding mostly old signage.

bob7374

Quote from: shadyjay on June 04, 2018, 07:31:38 AM
Is it me, or has this (at least the western) project been going on for way too long?  I drove the 'pike westbound between Exits 9 & 4 yesterday afternoon, and didn't expect to see this:

DSC00192 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

or this:
DSC00209 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

or this:
DSC00219 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

In fact, all overheads that existed before the re-signing project began are still up between Exits 4 and 9 (as far as I could see, not including Exit 4-WB).  And there's still a fair amount of regulatory signage still to be replaced.  I did see a staging yard in the Springfield area, but it looked like it was holding mostly old signage.
Its not you. The project was to wrap up last fall. In December the project listing was changed to finishing this spring. Based on your, and my observations traveling the length of the Pike in April, and reported above, no new work has been done, at least with overhead signs, by the western project contractor since last summer. Is the contractor, Road Safe Systems, having financial problems? It would seem not, since they've bid on, and won, other contracts this year. I know placing the bigger overhead signs is more complicated than the cantilever types, but needing nearly a year (or more) of preparation before putting them up seems a little too long a time.

shadyjay

The remaining guide signs to be put up within the section I traveled were the final signs of Exits 6 (E & WB) and Exit 9 (EB), which were pre-existing overhead signs/gantries.  I believe the final sign for Exit 4 (EB) has also not yet been replaced (tough to see from I-91 SB).  It's gotta be an issue with the foundations for the new signs supporting more than one sign, whether they be a traditional over-the-roadway support or what they did for Exit 4-WB with a singe-sided support.

Beeper1

The EB sign at exit 4 has not been changed, you're correct.

There has been some activity in the last couple weeks.  New supplementary BGSs have been put up near Exit 4, and many new town line signs have recently gone in in the Berkshires between Exits 2 and 3. 

bob7374

Quote from: Beeper1 on June 04, 2018, 06:45:35 PM
The EB sign at exit 4 has not been changed, you're correct.

There has been some activity in the last couple weeks.  New supplementary BGSs have been put up near Exit 4, and many new town line signs have recently gone in in the Berkshires between Exits 2 and 3. 
The MassDOT project listing now has the completion date for the eastern project as Fall 2018, changed from Spring 2018. The western project still has a Spring 2018 completion date, which is outdated since it is now Summer (which covers June-August), hopefully this means there will some effort to complete the work west of Auburn before the fall.

KEVIN_224

Was this already up? We were coming up to the former toll plaza from I-91 North at the West Springfield/Holyoke town line.


shadyjay

Yup... pretty sure those went up when I-91 signs were replaced from West Springfield up to the VT border.

DrSmith

That was from a separate project that improved the connection between Routes 91 and 5 and the Pike that formally made it marked as two lanes. It is probably a couple years old now

bob7374

The contractor has put up 2 of the 4 sign replacements for the I-95/MA Route 128 exit on the Mass Pike East in Weston. Here's the new 2-mile advance diagrammatic sign with new control cities (and no Route 128 shield):


The other advance signs still await foundations. The next signs put up were at the exit itself:


bob7374

#287
Sign replacement is proceeding along the eastern half of the Mass Pike, if not the west. New signs are up eastbound for the Newton/Watertown exit, and advance signs are up westbound for Newton/Watertown and I-95/MA 128 along with a ramp sign for MA 16. There are also new signs along the ramps at the Weston interchange. The most curious sign is below, a 1/2 mile advance with no distance listing and an exit only arrow not pointing to the exit only lane, could this be the ramp sign put in the wrong place?:


The rest of the new sign images can be found on my I-90/Mass Pike Photo Gallery:
http://www.malmeroads.net/mass21c/i90photos.html

Alps

Quote from: bob7374 on August 26, 2018, 10:42:12 PM
Sign replacement is proceeding along the eastern half of the Mass Pike, if not the west. New signs are up eastbound for the Newton/Watertown exit, and advance signs are up westbound for Newton/Watertown and I-95/MA 128 along with a ramp sign for MA 16. There are also new signs along the ramps at the Weston interchange. The most curious sign is below, a 1/2 mile advance with no distance listing and an exit only arrow not pointing to the exit only lane:


The rest of the new sign images can be found on my I-90/Mass Pike Photo Gallery:
http://www.malmeroads.net/mass21c/i90photos.html
Clearly ready for mile based exit numbers, and clearly misinstalled.

shadyjay

The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.

Alps

Quote from: shadyjay on August 27, 2018, 04:37:39 PM
The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.
Reusing the gantry is fine as long as they mount the sign correctly. 12' to the right would reduce the wind load through torsion on the pole, so it could be done right now.

bob7374

#291
Quote from: Alps on August 27, 2018, 06:55:21 PM
Quote from: shadyjay on August 27, 2018, 04:37:39 PM
The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.
Reusing the gantry is fine as long as they mount the sign correctly. 12' to the right would reduce the wind load through torsion on the pole, so it could be done right now.
From looking at the sign plans, the installed sign is is what was planned as the 1/2 mile advance sign (except for the mileage based exit number). The sign though is identical to the plan for the overhead exit sign at the ramp, including the down arrow:

roadman

Quote from: shadyjay on August 27, 2018, 04:37:39 PM
The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.
The cantilever support is new.  The style is commonly referred to as an 'F' type arm.  'F' type is suitable for arm length up to 30 feet.  The four chord truss is normally used for arms over 30 feet, although some fabricators use four chord trusses for all cantilevers regardless of arm length.

For clarification, MassDOT has begun making the distinction between the arm lengths for 'F' type and 4 chord truss arms in the project plans and specifications in recent sign projects, although only one of these projects (I-395/I-290 Auburn to Shrewsbury) has been advertised for bids.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

mass_citizen

Quote from: bob7374 on August 27, 2018, 11:38:27 PM
Quote from: Alps on August 27, 2018, 06:55:21 PM
Quote from: shadyjay on August 27, 2018, 04:37:39 PM
The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.
Reusing the gantry is fine as long as they mount the sign correctly. 12' to the right would reduce the wind load through torsion on the pole, so it could be done right now.
From looking at the sign plans, the installed sign is is what was planned as the 1/2 mile advance sign (except for the mileage based exit number). The sign though is identical to the plan for the overhead exit sign at the ramp, including the down arrow:


Looking at the plan cross sections, it appears this was a design error as opposed to a contractor error. For some reason the plans show the arrow over the second lane.

AMLNet49

Quote from: mass_citizen on September 06, 2018, 01:52:52 AM
Quote from: bob7374 on August 27, 2018, 11:38:27 PM
Quote from: Alps on August 27, 2018, 06:55:21 PM
Quote from: shadyjay on August 27, 2018, 04:37:39 PM
The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.
Reusing the gantry is fine as long as they mount the sign correctly. 12' to the right would reduce the wind load through torsion on the pole, so it could be done right now.
From looking at the sign plans, the installed sign is is what was planned as the 1/2 mile advance sign (except for the mileage based exit number). The sign though is identical to the plan for the overhead exit sign at the ramp, including the down arrow:


Looking at the plan cross sections, it appears this was a design error as opposed to a contractor error. For some reason the plans show the arrow over the second lane.

It could be dangerous and should be fixed, they just need to move it a few feet to the right. It should probably say 1/2 mile as well but placing it over the correct lane is more important

roadman

Quote from: AMLNet49 on September 06, 2018, 09:32:12 AM
Quote from: mass_citizen on September 06, 2018, 01:52:52 AM
Quote from: bob7374 on August 27, 2018, 11:38:27 PM
Quote from: Alps on August 27, 2018, 06:55:21 PM
Quote from: shadyjay on August 27, 2018, 04:37:39 PM
The gantry in that sign above looks like the older style cantilever, vs the present 4-chord cantilever standard.  Is it in fact new, or did they just tack a new sign on the old support?  That could be why its out of alignment with the lanes.
Reusing the gantry is fine as long as they mount the sign correctly. 12' to the right would reduce the wind load through torsion on the pole, so it could be done right now.
From looking at the sign plans, the installed sign is is what was planned as the 1/2 mile advance sign (except for the mileage based exit number). The sign though is identical to the plan for the overhead exit sign at the ramp, including the down arrow:


Looking at the plan cross sections, it appears this was a design error as opposed to a contractor error. For some reason the plans show the arrow over the second lane.

It could be dangerous and should be fixed, they just need to move it a few feet to the right. It should probably say 1/2 mile as well but placing it over the correct lane is more important
Per current MUTCD standards, distances are to be omitted from "EXIT ONLY" intermediate advance signs.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

bob7374

Nothing new to report exit sign wise on the Pike in the Boston area. A trip from MA 30 to Newton only revealed perhaps 1 new sign foundation for the I-95/MA 128 exit. The contractor, though, has begun installing new signs on the bridge over the Pike indicating street and city or town, as here in Newton:


Other examples of these signs and a new sign at the Newton on-ramp to I-90 West can be found in my Mass Pike gallery: http://www.malmeroads.net/mass21c/i90photos.html

DrSmith

Noticed that the regulatory, warning, etc signing on the Pike uses i-beams for supports; however, similar signage on the ramps is now being installed using square sign posts.  It's interesting the difference in what they are using for posts between the highway and ramps.

Beeper1

On the western project, a number of regulatory signs and ground-mounted supplementary signs have been replaced in the last few weeks, especially west of Springfield. 

One thing I've noticed:  the exit gore signs have been replaced so far at exits 2 -5.  The gore signs do NOT look wide enough to accommodate double-digit numbers should mile-based numbers come about.

Still no evidence of construction for the remaining 2-sign overheads at exits 4, 6, 9, or 10.   

cl94

Have they installed new town line signs west of Springfield yet? The old ones were removed a year ago and hadn't been replaced when I was last through there.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)



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