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Started by Alex, February 04, 2009, 12:22:16 AM

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ixnay

Can someone explain the shape of the VA primary highway shield?  Like CA's, it looks like the blade of a shovel (pointed the opposite way from CA's shield).

ixnay
The Washington/Baltimore/Arlington CSA has two Key Bridges, a Minnesota Avenue, and a Mannasota Avenue.


WillWeaverRVA

Quote from: Beltway on September 21, 2017, 05:39:12 PM
Quote from: plain on September 21, 2017, 05:08:51 PM
I've know about that proposed east-west freeway for quite some time and I agree with anyone who says it's useless. The proposed routing was parallel to and less than 5 miles south of VA 288, no need at all. I am disappointed however in the decision not to extend the Powhite to Skimquarter though. With the way Chesterfield County is growing the state could've at least maintain the ROW for it instead of killing it altogether.
Speaking of the Powhite, I think it's time for the state to consider widening the extension to 6 lanes between VA 150 and US 60 (though homes will have to be taken just south of Janhke Rd)... traffic on this stretch has been ridiculous for a while now and is getting worse.

Has there been a decision not to build the Powhite Parkway Western Extension?  It is in the county thoroughfare plan and will be a very worthwhile project whenever they can find funding to build it.

Powhite Parkway between VA-150 and US-60 was designed with an ultimate design and R/W width to add a lane each way.  Actually extends thru the US-60 interchange area, you can see the extra space.  I agree that it needs to be widened.

Hopefully both of those things happen. It's getting to the point where the Powhite Parkway extension to US 360 is sorely needed given how sprawling the Swift Creek Reservoir area has become. US 360 is routinely very heavily congested between VA 288 and just west of Woodlake despite being widened to 8 lanes for most of that stretch. It's quite similar to US 250 in Short Pump in Henrico County (although that segment is 6 lanes).

I definitely agree that the East-West Freeway proposal is pretty much useless. It simply wouldn't accomplish much of anything.
Will Weaver
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Henry

Extend the Powhite if you must, but the area simply does not need another 1/4 loop highway, with VA 288 and VA 150/895 already serving those purposes.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

Beltway

#2603
Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on September 22, 2017, 09:13:48 AM
Quote from: Beltway on September 21, 2017, 05:39:12 PM
Has there been a decision not to build the Powhite Parkway Western Extension?  It is in the county thoroughfare plan and will be a very worthwhile project whenever they can find funding to build it.
Powhite Parkway between VA-150 and US-60 was designed with an ultimate design and R/W width to add a lane each way.  Actually extends thru the US-60 interchange area, you can see the extra space.  I agree that it needs to be widened.
Hopefully both of those things happen. It's getting to the point where the Powhite Parkway extension to US 360 is sorely needed given how sprawling the Swift Creek Reservoir area has become. US 360 is routinely very heavily congested between VA 288 and just west of Woodlake despite being widened to 8 lanes for most of that stretch. It's quite similar to US 250 in Short Pump in Henrico County (although that segment is 6 lanes).

It wasn't but about less than 10 years ago that none of US-360 had more than 4 lanes west of VA-288.

The US-360 widenings to 6 and 8 lanes have been a -huge- improvement for traffic, and probably will be extended at least a few more miles to the west.

Nevertheless, Powhite Parkway is the 5th leg of the Richmond radial freeway system, and really does need to be extended at least to the Skinquarter area on US-360, in order to handle all the traffic demands coming up in the next 10 years or so.

Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on September 22, 2017, 09:13:48 AM
I definitely agree that the East-West Freeway proposal is pretty much useless. It simply wouldn't accomplish much of anything.

Indeed, I really wonder where that proposal came from.
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Alps

Quote from: ixnay on September 22, 2017, 05:53:36 AM
Can someone explain the shape of the VA primary highway shield?  Like CA's, it looks like the blade of a shovel (pointed the opposite way from CA's shield).

ixnay
There used to be a site showing all of the historic state route markers. James Lin's site does not have a historic one for VA.

jakeroot

Quote from: cl94 on September 21, 2017, 07:18:36 PM
As far as to why all signal heads are yellow (aside from emergency signals, which must be red), the State Supplement mandates yellow signals, with backplates if the speed limit or 85th percentile speed on an approach is 45 mph or higher.

Interesting. Not strictly related to Virginia; does it vary from state to state how closely an individual municipality or county must follow a state MUTCD supplement? The best example I can think of is here in Washington, where the state does not permit permissive left turns across three or more lanes, yet there are many cities and counties that happily install such left turns. You'll never see such a thing on a state highway.

cl94

Quote from: jakeroot on September 22, 2017, 09:58:03 PM
Quote from: cl94 on September 21, 2017, 07:18:36 PM
As far as to why all signal heads are yellow (aside from emergency signals, which must be red), the State Supplement mandates yellow signals, with backplates if the speed limit or 85th percentile speed on an approach is 45 mph or higher.

Interesting. Not strictly related to Virginia; does it vary from state to state how closely an individual municipality or county must follow a state MUTCD supplement? The best example I can think of is here in Washington, where the state does not permit permissive left turns across three or more lanes, yet there are many cities and counties that happily install such left turns. You'll never see such a thing on a state highway.

Yes, especially if localities are dependent on state highway funding. In Virginia, even places that maintain their own roads often get state funding to maintain them. Best way to ensure compliance with any regulation is to threaten withholding of funds. Local municipalities will generally comply quite quickly if funding is at stake. Contrast that with New York, where anything that is locally-maintained (and there is a LOT, even stuff that is a US or state route) generally does not receive state funding aside from installation of shields or major reconstruction and, as such, there is zero consistency in the case of town/city/county maintenance.
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dfnva

Quote

As far as to why all signal heads are yellow (aside from emergency signals, which must be red), the State Supplement mandates yellow signals, with backplates if the speed limit or 85th percentile speed on an approach is 45 mph or higher.

If you (or anyone else) want to read more, state supplement is here.

I haven't seen a "red-painted" emergency signal installed around Northern Virginia in at least 10-15 years. The only remaining red-painted emergency signals I know of remaining are on US-1 just south of I-495. I have seen them still used / installed in other parts of the state, particularly around Richmond, and used to be installed frequently in Northern Virginia.

Which brings me to another question -- with the advent of VDOT's usage of the yellow-border backplates, is VDOT going to change its state supplement to black-painted signals (similar to what Ohio did when it started using yellow-border backplates)?  I've seen one such installation (Black painted signals with yellow-border backplates) on a VDOT-maintained road (SR-648/Edsall Rd at Carolina Place in Fairfax County), though someone on this forum made reference to how there was an accident that took down the span-wire, so the replacement signals may be a contractor fluke more than anything. I've seen a couple of new signals installed since than and they have been the traditional yellow-painted signals, but with the new backplates. 

Personally, I like how Ohio does it, the black-painted signal with the yellow border backplate stands out more than a yellow-painted signal with these backplates.

LM117

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cpzilliacus

Quote from: dfnva on September 26, 2017, 04:30:57 PM
Quote

As far as to why all signal heads are yellow (aside from emergency signals, which must be red), the State Supplement mandates yellow signals, with backplates if the speed limit or 85th percentile speed on an approach is 45 mph or higher.

If you (or anyone else) want to read more, state supplement is here.

I haven't seen a "red-painted" emergency signal installed around Northern Virginia in at least 10-15 years. The only remaining red-painted emergency signals I know of remaining are on US-1 just south of I-495. I have seen them still used / installed in other parts of the state, particularly around Richmond, and used to be installed frequently in Northern Virginia.

There were red signal heads on VA-28 in the Yorkshire area of Prince William County  between Manassas Park and the Fairfax County border, but the fire station  has moved and the signal is long gone.

VDOT installed a modern emergency signal on VA-28 at Patton Lane here (the fire company moved to Patton Lane, a dead-end street running off VA-28, some years ago).
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

J N Winkler

Quote from: Alps on September 22, 2017, 07:20:15 PMThere used to be a site showing all of the historic state route markers. James Lin's site does not have a historic one for VA.

www.aaroads.com/shields/thumbs.php?state=VA

The basic shape was essentially similar to the present (as is also the case for, e.g., Ohio), but was originally a cutout with inset border and early instances (dating from the era of unrounded BPR typefaces) had the state seal ("Sic semper tyrannis" etc.) below the number.  Given the Anglophilia traditionally favored by the elite in Virginia, I have always assumed that the shape is based on an escutcheon.  I assume an early (1920's or 1930's) traffic manual would confirm, but I have never found one for Virginia.  (Historic state traffic manuals rarely surface for sale on eBay and IME are now prime targets for auction snipers.)
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Mapmikey

Quote from: J N Winkler on October 02, 2017, 10:30:48 AM
Quote from: Alps on September 22, 2017, 07:20:15 PMThere used to be a site showing all of the historic state route markers. James Lin's site does not have a historic one for VA.

www.aaroads.com/shields/thumbs.php?state=VA

The basic shape was essentially similar to the present (as is also the case for, e.g., Ohio), but was originally a cutout with inset border and early instances (dating from the era of unrounded BPR typefaces) had the state seal ("Sic semper tyrannis" etc.) below the number.  Given the Anglophilia traditionally favored by the elite in Virginia, I have always assumed that the shape is based on an escutcheon.  I assume an early (1920's or 1930's) traffic manual would confirm, but I have never found one for Virginia.  (Historic state traffic manuals rarely surface for sale on eBay and IME are now prime targets for auction snipers.)

I may be able to answer this when I return home from the vacation I am on. I have a 1956 Virginia Highways Bulletin article on the posting of routes in the early days including the route shield they used prior to the spade shape which appeared in 1925

plain

#2613
Pertaining to the discussion upthread about the new APL on I-95 SB at I-295 SB, checking traffic cameras just now I see that there's another APL SB just south of EXIT 86 (VA 656)...most likely installed in the past few days. VDOT may have replaced the rest of those BGS between there and I-295 as well. I'm in Williamsburg at the moment and I'm unable to take a look...
Newark born, Richmond bred

Takumi

Quote from: plain on October 02, 2017, 04:56:33 PM
Pertaining to the discussion upthread about the new APL on I-95 SB at I-295 SB, checking traffic cameras just now I see that there's another APL SB just south of EXIT 86 (VA 686)...most likely installed in the past few days. VDOT may have replaced the rest of those BGS between there and I-295 as well. I'm in Williamsburg at the moment and I'm unable to take a look...
I drove through the area Saturday night. Looked like a few of the old BGS's were still around. The one that mentions Atlanta definitely was.
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Don't @ me. Seriously.

plain



This is what I'm talking about
Newark born, Richmond bred

dfnva

#2616
Quote from: cpzilliacus on October 02, 2017, 10:17:09 AM
Quote from: dfnva on September 26, 2017, 04:30:57 PM
Quote

As far as to why all signal heads are yellow (aside from emergency signals, which must be red), the State Supplement mandates yellow signals, with backplates if the speed limit or 85th percentile speed on an approach is 45 mph or higher.

If you (or anyone else) want to read more, state supplement is here.

I haven't seen a "red-painted" emergency signal installed around Northern Virginia in at least 10-15 years. The only remaining red-painted emergency signals I know of remaining are on US-1 just south of I-495. I have seen them still used / installed in other parts of the state, particularly around Richmond, and used to be installed frequently in Northern Virginia.

There were red signal heads on VA-28 in the Yorkshire area of Prince William County  between Manassas Park and the Fairfax County border, but the fire station  has moved and the signal is long gone.

VDOT installed a modern emergency signal on VA-28 at Patton Lane here (the fire company moved to Patton Lane, a dead-end street running off VA-28, some years ago).

I remember those -- the signals on VA- 28 in Yorkshire were the second-to-last Econolite bullseye signals in Northern Virginia (which were never too common to begin with). The last still remain in operation on US-29 at I-66 in Arlington (https://goo.gl/maps/ZjQBVqsWWmH2), which have to be among the oldest signals in Northern Virginia, though some in Falls Church and Vienna may be older.

There were also red-painted firehouse signals on US-29/US-50 (Lee Hwy, now Fairfax Blvd) and Plantation Pkwy in Fairfax. It was the only intersection where I ever have seen both traditional yellow-painted signals (for the main traffic movements) and red-painted ones (for the firehouse) together at the same intersection. The signals, which were on a span wire, were replaced with the current mast arm formation in the early 1990s, with black-painted signals for all traffic movements (at that time, a new practice for Fairfax City).

Mapmikey

Quote from: ixnay on September 22, 2017, 05:53:36 AM
Can someone explain the shape of the VA primary highway shield?  Like CA's, it looks like the blade of a shovel (pointed the opposite way from CA's shield).

ixnay

Here is the actual answer about the shield which dates to 1925.  This comes from a Dec 1952 article in the Virginia Highways Bulletin on how Virginia's routes were marked historically:

William R. Glidden, bridge engineer for the Highway dept and member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), designed the marker from the shield of the ASCE.  He added the Virginia Seal and "Department of Highways".  Originally the route number was only 1/3 of the size of the seal and was hard to read.

They still have that shield in use.  Here is the oldest thing I could easily find of them using it...  a stamp from 1952 (wikipedia commons):


cpzilliacus

Quote from: Mapmikey on October 03, 2017, 05:28:17 PM
William R. Glidden, bridge engineer for the Highway dept and member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), designed the marker from the shield of the ASCE.  He added the Virginia Seal and "Department of Highways".  Originally the route number was only 1/3 of the size of the seal and was hard to read.

Ah, the Good Old Days, when it was VDH (or, simply "the Highway Department" to many old-timers in Virginia).  ;-)
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

WillWeaverRVA

#2619
Quote from: Mapmikey on October 03, 2017, 05:28:17 PM
Quote from: ixnay on September 22, 2017, 05:53:36 AM
Can someone explain the shape of the VA primary highway shield?  Like CA's, it looks like the blade of a shovel (pointed the opposite way from CA's shield).

ixnay

Here is the actual answer about the shield which dates to 1925.  This comes from a Dec 1952 article in the Virginia Highways Bulletin on how Virginia's routes were marked historically:

William R. Glidden, bridge engineer for the Highway dept and member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), designed the marker from the shield of the ASCE.  He added the Virginia Seal and "Department of Highways".  Originally the route number was only 1/3 of the size of the seal and was hard to read.

They still have that shield in use.  Here is the oldest thing I could easily find of them using it...  a stamp from 1952 (wikipedia commons):



Some other state departments also use the state shield shape in their logos - the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Department of Forestry, for example.

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries's logo is pretty much just the state route shield with text and graphics in it.

Will Weaver
WillWeaverRVA Photography | Twitter

"But how will the oxen know where to drown if we renumber the Oregon Trail?" - NE2

Jmiles32

http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/column-state-funding-most-i--improvements-in-recent-memory/article_0fd6267d-2e87-5f18-9fef-af388c4c016d.html
QuoteWe have recommended 147 projects across the commonwealth, ranging from a major upgrade to the Virginia Railway Express commuter line, to the widening of Interstate 95 south of Richmond and a new bridge on I-64. This June, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the Six-Year Improvement Program, which included $15.2 billion in highway construction money.
Anyone know what this mysterious I-95 widening south of Richmond project is? It's been criticized before in the Free Lance-Star as an example of fault in VDOT's smart scale system. However, I have yet to find any evidence of the project existance on either VDOT or Smart Scale's website.
Aspiring Transportation Planner at Virginia Tech. Go Hokies!

Mapmikey

Quote from: Jmiles32 on October 07, 2017, 09:39:48 PM
http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/column-state-funding-most-i--improvements-in-recent-memory/article_0fd6267d-2e87-5f18-9fef-af388c4c016d.html
QuoteWe have recommended 147 projects across the commonwealth, ranging from a major upgrade to the Virginia Railway Express commuter line, to the widening of Interstate 95 south of Richmond and a new bridge on I-64. This June, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the Six-Year Improvement Program, which included $15.2 billion in highway construction money.
Anyone know what this mysterious I-95 widening south of Richmond project is? It's been criticized before in the Free Lance-Star as an example of fault in VDOT's smart scale system. However, I have yet to find any evidence of the project existance on either VDOT or Smart Scale's website.

Might be this:

http://syip.virginiadot.org/Pages/lineitemDetails.aspx?syp_scenario_id=233&line_item_id=1490683


Beltway

Quote from: Mapmikey on October 07, 2017, 09:54:16 PM
Quote from: Jmiles32 on October 07, 2017, 09:39:48 PM
http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/column-state-funding-most-i--improvements-in-recent-memory/article_0fd6267d-2e87-5f18-9fef-af388c4c016d.html
QuoteWe have recommended 147 projects across the commonwealth, ranging from a major upgrade to the Virginia Railway Express commuter line, to the widening of Interstate 95 south of Richmond and a new bridge on I-64. This June, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the Six-Year Improvement Program, which included $15.2 billion in highway construction money.
Anyone know what this mysterious I-95 widening south of Richmond project is? It's been criticized before in the Free Lance-Star as an example of fault in VDOT's smart scale system. However, I have yet to find any evidence of the project existance on either VDOT or Smart Scale's website.
Might be this:
http://syip.virginiadot.org/Pages/lineitemDetails.aspx?syp_scenario_id=233&line_item_id=1490683

That is the one ... I saw another article about this, adding a fourth lane each way between VA-10 and VA-288.  It will be an auxiliary lane on the right between the ramps on each.  Definitely is warranted.
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Jmiles32

#2623
Quote from: Beltway on October 07, 2017, 10:27:06 PM
Quote from: Mapmikey on October 07, 2017, 09:54:16 PM
Quote from: Jmiles32 on October 07, 2017, 09:39:48 PM
http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/column-state-funding-most-i--improvements-in-recent-memory/article_0fd6267d-2e87-5f18-9fef-af388c4c016d.html
QuoteWe have recommended 147 projects across the commonwealth, ranging from a major upgrade to the Virginia Railway Express commuter line, to the widening of Interstate 95 south of Richmond and a new bridge on I-64. This June, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the Six-Year Improvement Program, which included $15.2 billion in highway construction money.
Anyone know what this mysterious I-95 widening south of Richmond project is? It's been criticized before in the Free Lance-Star as an example of fault in VDOT's smart scale system. However, I have yet to find any evidence of the project existance on either VDOT or Smart Scale's website.
Might be this:
http://syip.virginiadot.org/Pages/lineitemDetails.aspx?syp_scenario_id=233&line_item_id=1490683

That is the one ... I saw another article about this, adding a fourth lane each way between VA-10 and VA-288.  It will be an auxiliary lane on the right between the ramps on each.  Definitely is warranted.
Ah ok, guess I didn't look hard enough. Definitely agree its warranted too. I'll try and see if I can find the specific article, but now that I think about it, the I-95 project criticized by the Free Lance-Star may have actually been one south of Petersburg. Possibly could have been referring to proposed improvements of the I-95/I-85 interchange, something entirely different, or non-existent.

Edited: Found it
https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2017/06/fredericksburg-region-considers-putting-money-resolving-95-congestion/
Quote"[Interstate] 95 in our area is a basket case, yet one of the biggest projects that was funded in this last round of Smart Scale was south of Richmond – Petersburg going to the North Carolina border – which isn't known for congestion,"  Kelly said. "Yet somehow within the Smart Scale process, that got funded, but we didn't."
Looks like the same project, I guess the "-Petersburg going to the North Carolina border" part confused me
Aspiring Transportation Planner at Virginia Tech. Go Hokies!

Thing 342

#2624
Seems like the first phase of the I-64 widening in Newport News (MM 247 to 253) could open before its scheduled December completion date:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-nws-hod-transportation-update-20171013-story.html

Entire project (MM 234 to MM 253) should be done by 2021.



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