Exits signed for "neighborhood" streets

[kphoger]

That reminds me of my thought experiment: what specific action would a driver have to take to be in violation of the "No Thru Traffic" sign? (I used to live next to a street that was also signed this way. There was nothing physical preventing thru traffic, so the only way to violate it would be behavioral.)

The easy answer is that it probably depends on the laws in that specific location.  However, having said that...

Charlie Crist is currently the US Representative of Florida's 13th district.  Twenty years ago, though, he was elected to the office of Attorney General for the state of Florida.  During his term as Attorney General, he wrote an advisory legal opinion in response to an attorney in Cape Coral, who had asked about the legality and enforceability of "No Thru Street" signs.  Below are the last three paragraphs of his response:

The Florida Department of Transportation has adopted the Federal Highway Safety Administration Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices[5] for use in this state. No provision of the manual and specifications adopted by the Department of Transportation or elsewhere in Chapter 316, Florida Statutes, authorizes the use or erection of a sign stating "No Thru Street."[6] Thus, a municipality has no authority to erect or enforce such a sign pursuant to Chapter 316, Florida Statutes.

The roads upon which the City of Cape Coral has erected signs are municipal roadways on which the public has a right to travel. This is not a situation involving private roads over which the municipality has been requested to exercise traffic control and must enter into an agreement with the private owners to exercise such control.[7]

While the municipality is authorized to provide regulatory or warning signage on municipal roadways to alert motorists to such things as posted speed limits or "watch for children", nothing in Chapter 316, Florida Statutes, or elsewhere authorizes the city to limit the right of the public to use such roadways for the exclusive benefit of the home owners in the area and their invitees.


[5] See Rule 14-15.010, F.A.C., in which the Florida Department of Transportation adopts the MUTCD as Florida's manual of uniform traffic control devices and makes it a part of the administrative rules of the department. The manual may be viewed at http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno-millennium.htm.

[6] Compare s. 316.008(1)(f), Fla. Stat., which authorizes a local authority to designate a street as a through street or designate any intersection as a stop or yield intersection.

[7] It is the availability of the area for travel and the right of general and common use that makes certain private property subject to public control pursuant to Chapter 316, Florida Statutes. Thus, this office has concluded that municipalities have enforcement authority regarding traffic violations and accidents occurring on "private property" where the public has the right to travel, such as shopping center parking lots. See Ops. Att'y Gen. Fla. 73-323 (1973) and 72-383 (1972). And see Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 84-46 (1984) (if public has right to travel on access road owned and maintained by, and located within territorial limits of, airport authority, then provisions of Ch. 316, Fla. Stat., applicable). For those private roads or limited access roads where the public does not have a right to travel, however, section 316.006(3)(a), Florida Statutes, authorizes a municipality to exercise jurisdiction if the municipality has jurisdiction pursuant to a written agreement pursuant to section 316.006(2)(b), Florida Statutes, for municipal traffic control jurisdiction. See Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 88-5 (1988). The agreement, which must be approved by the governing body of the municipality, must provide for reimbursement of the actual costs of traffic control and enforcement and for liability insurance and indemnification by the party who owns or controls such roads. Other terms, as may be mutually agreeable to the parties, may also be included. Section 316.006(2)(b)1., Fla. Stat. And see s. 316.006(2)(b)2., Fla. Stat., which states that the exercise of this jurisdiction is in addition to jurisdictional authority presently exercised by municipalities under law and that nothing in the paragraph shall be construed to limit or remove any such jurisdictional authority.

[Joe The Dragon]

I think the us 20 elgin bypass has some

[hotdogPi]

As part of my internship, I was checking Google Street View for the entire eastern half (by population) of Massachusetts. While intersections where both streets were residential were excluded, I saw pretty much everything on collector roads and above. There was exactly one road that said no thru traffic that was possible as a cut-through. Every other time that sign appeared, it was impossible, not just prohibited.

[empirestate]

The easy answer is that it probably depends on the laws in that specific location.  However, having said that...

Yikes. Sounds like that sign becomes a probable cause magnet, then...

[CapeCodder]

I never thought this was a thing. I saw lots of these when I lived in St Louis and a fair number when I lived in Tidewater. Here's just a few

St Louis
I-55@ Loughborough, especially NB onto Idaho
I-55@ Bates/Virginia
I-44@ Grand
I-44@ Berry Rd
I-64@ Bellevue
I-64@ Spoede Rd
I-70@ Branch
I-70 @ Lucas and Hunt

Tidewater
I-64@ W Bay Avenue
I-264@ Ballentine Blvd
VA 164@ West Norfolk Avenue

There are others. But these were all pretty obvious.

You forgot the I-70 EB exit for Shreve. Dumps you onto Marcus.

[hobsini2]

I think the us 20 elgin bypass has some

It does indeed as you need to use neighborhood streets to get to Route 25.
Map: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0220314,-88.2671327,17z
GSV: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0204813,-88.266071,3a,75y,312.86h,82.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sC5x8V4PRarf9ODt-ZgKUtw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[kphoger]

I think the us 20 elgin bypass has some

It does indeed as you need to use neighborhood streets to get to Route 25.
Map: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0220314,-88.2671327,17z
GSV: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0204813,-88.266071,3a,75y,312.86h,82.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sC5x8V4PRarf9ODt-ZgKUtw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

That's similar to the interchange of IL-83 and IL-19.
https://goo.gl/maps/r4efLrFjsxpqZM8x5
https://goo.gl/maps/xKnWzZiKpz1m2Hxr8

Also, IL-53 and IL-38.
https://goo.gl/maps/A3LrJ4zEE37X58Ru9

[hobsini2]

I think the us 20 elgin bypass has some

It does indeed as you need to use neighborhood streets to get to Route 25.
Map: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0220314,-88.2671327,17z
GSV: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0204813,-88.266071,3a,75y,312.86h,82.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sC5x8V4PRarf9ODt-ZgKUtw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

That's similar to the interchange of IL-83 and IL-19.
https://goo.gl/maps/r4efLrFjsxpqZM8x5
https://goo.gl/maps/xKnWzZiKpz1m2Hxr8

Also, IL-53 and IL-38.
https://goo.gl/maps/A3LrJ4zEE37X58Ru9

Not quite because the other 2 examples you posted are not technically from a freeway. But in reality, yes.

[ftballfan]

I-96 exit 76 in Portland, MI. Why does this exit even exist considering that there's an exit a mile to the east?

[GaryV]

I-96 exit 76 in Portland, MI. Why does this exit even exist considering that there's an exit a mile to the east?

Maybe because Kent St has a bridge across the Grand River.

[roadman65]

Does that one exit on US 101 northbound in Ukiah count?  The one near the baseball field and water treatment plant that connects to a dead end residential street.