DOT Dummies

[Lukeisroads]

So There some Dummies that work for the DOT and have messed up. So im figuring out what has your DOT Done to say to yourself "What dumbasses they are"!

[webny99]

I know DOT's do a lot more than just signs, but isn't this kind of like this, but even more personal? I don't foresee this going well.

[jeffandnicole]

Don't we have numerous threads pertaining to this without the name calling?

[GaryV]

Hmm, Luke, it seems like your capitalization scheme is similar to Craig County. Rather ironic.

[cockroachking]

I'm sure my former co-workers would love to hear this...

Sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.

[hbelkins]

I feel persecuted... 

[zachary_amaryllis]

I feel persecuted... 

To be fair, I respect the f out of CDOT. OK, we have oddly signed roads and such, but the guys that keeps these mountain passes open, hats off.

If I ever go into my local (loaf && jug) and see these guys gassing up or something, i generally buy the coffee (or whatever).

[wanderer2575]

I guess we're supposed to post stories and he'll review 'em.

[Troubleshooter]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. In both cases, pavement had been removed in one lane. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up, as was I-65 from Nashville TN to Louisville.

It took me 7 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

[jeffandnicole]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up.

It took me 12 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Did you expect them to schedule an entire bridge replacement project around a solar eclipse?

[Bruce]

Plenty of other states made a decent effort to prepare for the eclipse. Oregon and Washington chipped in to fund extra Amtrak trips down to Salem and rearranged some major closures that had been expected that week. There was still a massive jam (since cars are so space inefficient) but at least it wasn't apocalyptic.

[wanderer2575]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up.

It took me 12 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Did you expect them to schedule an entire bridge replacement project around a solar eclipse?

Yes, and also to build 50,000 hotel rooms to handle the crowd for one night.

[hbelkins]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. In both cases, pavement had been removed in one lane. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up, as was I-65 from Nashville TN to Louisville.

It took me 12 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Actually, KYTC put a great deal of effort into planning for the traffic impact, especially since the area of longest totality was in a rural area near Hopkinsville. Since that's not my section of the state, I wasn't involved in the discussions, but I sat in on a few of the meetings where this was discussed, and there was a multi-agency task force looking at the event (KYTC, Emergency Management, local officials, etc.)

I don't know what one could reasonably expect to have been done to facilitate thousands of cars leaving at the same time after a three-minute event. Contraflowing the interstates and parkways certainly wasn't a logical option.

From Hopkinsville, you could have taken KY 507 to KY 181 to US 62 to US 431 to get to Owensboro, among other routes.

[CtrlAltDel]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

While I don't doubt that there are certain things that could have been done better, as others have pointed out, most places in the band of totality had bad traffic afterward, as seen in this image which was circulated in the following days:



I waited at the McDonald's in Athens TN for things to fade, which took until about 10 pm. I did, though, hit some congestion on I-81 past Knoxville, though. I don't know if it was lingering eclipse traffic or something else.

[Rothman]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. In both cases, pavement had been removed in one lane. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up, as was I-65 from Nashville TN to Louisville.

It took me 12 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Expecting a DOT to improve infrastructure for a one-time event sounds more like a you problem.

Like I've said elsewhere, viewing the eclipse away from the crowds only shaved off a few seconds of totality (I saw it south of Crossville, TN).  My travel from TN to Winchester, KY after the eclipse was relatively painless.

[jeffandnicole]

I don't know what one could reasonably expect to have been done to facilitate thousands of cars leaving at the same time after a three-minute event. Contraflowing the interstates and parkways certainly wasn't a logical option.

Exactly.  People get themselves into a frenzy figuring out how to get to an event, where to go, how far in advance to get there, get the best viewing point, plan their time, etc, but then everyone wants to leave at the very same moment, and then blames the police and the transportation departments for muffing that part up and having no plan for helping everyone out.

We all discuss it here:  VPH.  There's limits. No matter what is done, you can't get more thru a certain point.  And what is tried at one point is going to have an affect downstream, and it may have an adverse effect if unpredicted traffic patterns develop, or incidents occur.

People in cities are used to it.  People in rural areas aren't.

[Troubleshooter]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. In both cases, pavement had been removed in one lane. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up, as was I-65 from Nashville TN to Louisville.

It took me 7 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Actually, KYTC put a great deal of effort into planning for the traffic impact, especially since the area of longest totality was in a rural area near Hopkinsville. Since that's not my section of the state, I wasn't involved in the discussions, but I sat in on a few of the meetings where this was discussed, and there was a multi-agency task force looking at the event (KYTC, Emergency Management, local officials, etc.)

I don't know what one could reasonably expect to have been done to facilitate thousands of cars leaving at the same time after a three-minute event. Contraflowing the interstates and parkways certainly wasn't a logical option.

From Hopkinsville, you could have taken KY 507 to KY 181 to US 62 to US 431 to get to Owensboro, among other routes.

I DID use US 62 and 431. They were jammed anywhere near the Western Kentucky Parkway interchanges.

The Federal Highway Administration months before the eclipse told states to not have construction projects blocking highways the week before and after the eclipse. Kentucky did not heed this. They went ahead and removed the pavement on US-41, I-69, and I-169.

The Pennyrile Parkway (I-69 and I-169) was jammed from shortly after the eclipse ended until about 2 AM the next day. Most of the jam was from the Ohio bridge. I-65 was also jammed for nearly that long because one of the Ohio River bridges was closed there too.

I looked afterward and by luck I ended up within a half mile of the point with the longest totality.

[Rothman]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. In both cases, pavement had been removed in one lane. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up, as was I-65 from Nashville TN to Louisville.

It took me 12 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Actually, KYTC put a great deal of effort into planning for the traffic impact, especially since the area of longest totality was in a rural area near Hopkinsville. Since that's not my section of the state, I wasn't involved in the discussions, but I sat in on a few of the meetings where this was discussed, and there was a multi-agency task force looking at the event (KYTC, Emergency Management, local officials, etc.)

I don't know what one could reasonably expect to have been done to facilitate thousands of cars leaving at the same time after a three-minute event. Contraflowing the interstates and parkways certainly wasn't a logical option.

From Hopkinsville, you could have taken KY 507 to KY 181 to US 62 to US 431 to get to Owensboro, among other routes.

I DID use US 62 and 431. They were jammed anywhere near the Western Kentucky Parkway interchanges.

The Federal Highway Administration months before the eclipse told states to not have construction projects blocking highways the week before and after the eclipse. Kentucky did not heed this. They went ahead and removed the pavement on US-41, I-69, and I-169.

The Pennyrile Parkway (I-69 and I-169) was jammed from shortly after the eclipse ended until about 2 AM the next day. Most of the jam was from the Ohio bridge. I-65 was also jammed for nearly that ling because one of the Ohio River bridges was closed there too.

I looked afterward and I ended up within a half mile of the point with the longest totality.

Pfft. FHWA's fact sheet on the eclipse is hardly the edict you describe: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/Publications/fhwahop16085/index.htm.  The idea that DOTs should clear up all construction zones somehow for a one-time event is ludicrous.

Does anyone else find Troubleshooter's posting history highly suspect?

[paulthemapguy]

Don't we have numerous threads pertaining to this without the name calling?

Yes.

[SectorZ]

Maybe the OP has a problem with the people who manufacturer DOTS candy? Or even those gross dot candies that are stuck to a roll of paper.

[hbelkins]

On 8/21/2017, I drove to Hopkinsville KY to actually see a total solar eclipse.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had not done anything to handle the great influx of traffic into the eclipse area. They were doing highway work as normal. One of the twin US-41 bridges over the Ohio river at Evansville IN and Henderson KY (a 5-mile gap in I-69) had the bridge decks completely removed and they were trying to squeeze a traffic jam through the other bridge. And they didn't do anything to the traffic lights in Henderson to pass more traffic. But they had taken the construction workers off the construction to direct traffic.

There were two other minor construction points on I-69 and I-169 in Kentucky. In both cases, pavement had been removed in one lane. Each one caused a 10-minute backup.

I got there half an hour before the eclipse and set up my solar projector. The eclipse was spectacular.

The real trouble came on the way back. There were not enough rooms to house the 100,000 people who went to Hopkinsville to see the eclipse (over 20 million went to see the eclipse nationwide). So the roads were packed with all of those cars. The Pennyrile Parkway (I-169 and I-69) was backed up all the way from Hopkinsville to Evansville. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph. The Western Kentucky Parkway (I-69 Princeton to Nortonville and on to Elizabethtown no route number) was also just as jammed up, as was I-65 from Nashville TN to Louisville.

It took me 12 hours to get to Owensboro and find a room.

Now I know why they keep the transportation officials in a cabinet.

Actually, KYTC put a great deal of effort into planning for the traffic impact, especially since the area of longest totality was in a rural area near Hopkinsville. Since that's not my section of the state, I wasn't involved in the discussions, but I sat in on a few of the meetings where this was discussed, and there was a multi-agency task force looking at the event (KYTC, Emergency Management, local officials, etc.)

I don't know what one could reasonably expect to have been done to facilitate thousands of cars leaving at the same time after a three-minute event. Contraflowing the interstates and parkways certainly wasn't a logical option.

From Hopkinsville, you could have taken KY 507 to KY 181 to US 62 to US 431 to get to Owensboro, among other routes.

I DID use US 62 and 431. They were jammed anywhere near the Western Kentucky Parkway interchanges.

The Federal Highway Administration months before the eclipse told states to not have construction projects blocking highways the week before and after the eclipse. Kentucky did not heed this. They went ahead and removed the pavement on US-41, I-69, and I-169.

The Pennyrile Parkway (I-69 and I-169) was jammed from shortly after the eclipse ended until about 2 AM the next day. Most of the jam was from the Ohio bridge. I-65 was also jammed for nearly that ling because one of the Ohio River bridges was closed there too.

I looked afterward and I ended up within a half mile of the point with the longest totality.

Pfft. FHWA's fact sheet on the eclipse is hardly the edict you describe: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/Publications/fhwahop16085/index.htm.  The idea that DOTs should clear up all construction zones somehow for a one-time event is ludicrous.

Does anyone else find Troubleshooter's posting history highly suspect?

Kentucky tries to clear up lane closures for major holiday weekends, but it's not always possible. Most construction contracts, especially pavement rehabs and bridge replacements, have fixed end dates with heavy financial penalties included for missed deadlines. I don't know when this FHWA edict came out, but it's highly possible these projects were already awarded and underway by that time, and if the pavement was already dug up for a full-depth rehab, you can't simply throw something together to allow traffic on it for a one-day thing.

We had an emergency closure on the Mountain Parkway a couple of years ago for a huge sinkhole that developed below the pavement. There was a long complete closure of the westbound lanes (that required a companion one-direction closure of the parallel route, Ky 15, to accommodate traffic through a series of hairpin turns) and an as-short-as-possible closure of the eastbound lanes. This happened in October, the busiest tourist season in this area. It was inconvenient, but it was necessary.

As for my eclipse viewing, my brother and I went to a boat ramp opposite the Watts Bar nuclear power plant in Tennessee. Traffic bunched up on I-40/I-75 west of Knoxville, so we bailed onto US 11/70 and we moved fairly well, with no issues getting to the site. We waited a little while after the eclipse was over before leaving, then stopped at a store for a comfort break, and ran into some traffic on TN 68 approaching US 27, and encountered more traffic along US 27 through Spring City, but overall it wasn't a major issue. Certainly no more than leaving Rupp Arena after a UK basketball game or the former Riverfront Stadium after a Cincinnati Reds game.

Again, it's worth noting that Kentucky had planned for the eclipse for more than a year. There's just so much that can be done for a very short, one-time event.

[kphoger]

I don't know when this FHWA edict came out, but it's highly possible these projects were already awarded and underway by that time, and if the pavement was already dug up for a full-depth rehab, you can't simply throw something together to allow traffic on it for a one-day thing.

It was dated one year before the event, in August 2016.

[wanderer2575]

I don't know when this FHWA edict came out, but it's highly possible these projects were already awarded and underway by that time, and if the pavement was already dug up for a full-depth rehab, you can't simply throw something together to allow traffic on it for a one-day thing.

It was dated one year before the event, in August 2016.

Doesn't matter.  The eclipse happened in mid-August.  Even if work had started the moment the snow stopped flying, a major bridge project ("bridge decks completely removed") might not have been able to be finished by then.  So KYTC should have canceled major infrastructure projects, and maybe lose the funding to do them in the future, to accommodate a one-day event?  Yeah, people were inconvenienced leaving, but that's a first-world problem.  This wasn't crisis urgency; that wasn't an inland hurricane or a nuclear bomb.

[kphoger]

I don't know when this FHWA edict came out, but it's highly possible these projects were already awarded and underway by that time, and if the pavement was already dug up for a full-depth rehab, you can't simply throw something together to allow traffic on it for a one-day thing.

It was dated one year before the event, in August 2016.

Doesn't matter.  The eclipse happened in mid-August.  Even if work had started the moment the snow stopped flying, a major bridge project ("bridge decks completely removed") might not have been able to be finished by then.  So KYTC should have canceled major infrastructure projects, and maybe lose the funding to do them in the future, to accommodate a one-day event?  Yeah, people were inconvenienced leaving, but that's a first-world problem.  This wasn't crisis urgency; that wasn't an inland hurricane or a nuclear bomb.

I wasn't implying anything.  I was simply providing an answer to the question of when it was published.  In fact, I personally expected that to have been after the project was already scheduled, but I'm not the one who works for the DOT.

[webny99]

Maybe the OP has a problem with the people who manufacturer DOTS candy? Or even those gross dot candies that are stuck to a roll of paper.

DOTS >>> dots