On my commute home from school on Friday, I noticed a new "Accident Investigation Site" sign on I-88 east at the Meyers St. toll plaza. This was the first time I've noticed a new one on an interstate. Many times I see them on other interstates like I-55 in Chicago, where northbound there's one right after the I-90/94 eastbound ramp and I-55 southbound at the California/Kedzie Ave exit.
So my question is how often do you see these types of signs in your area? Is there a specific rule to where these are placed for everyday fender bender pullovers or were they actual sites of major accidents?
Haven't seen any.
I'm sure I've seen more, but the only one I remember is just south of downtown Fort Worth. I don't think it's there anymore, or at least I haven't noticed it. What I read about the signs is that you're supposed to drive to that location to exchange information and, if required await a police response after an accident if no one is injured and the vehicles are drivable. This reduces the traffic impact on the main lanes. I'm pretty sure I've seen others, but haven't in some time.
There are some I'm aware of on freeway routes that allow shoulder running, like GA 400 north of I-285 in metro Atlanta and I-66 west of I-495 in Virginia.
I've only ever seen them along I-94 in Illinois.
Milwaukee area has those either on ramps or a designated area off the side road.
US 41 reconstruction project includes those too: https://www.google.com/maps/@44.50947,-88.084091,3a,75y,302.57h,72.33t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sV25-V26u0lgZDEMS27U29A!2e0
There are some along the Pigeon River Gorge section of I-40 in western North Carolina.
Take I-90 (NW "don't call me Jane Addams" Tollway) - Plenty abound - along with light standards through the entire rural area.
I see plenty of "Accident investigation site" signs in signing plans. Besides the examples already mentioned, Michigan uses them, and ISTR Arizona does as well.
There are a few on I-10 (the Santa Monica Freeway portion). Those are the only ones I have seen on the West Coast.
I thought I'm used to seeing "accident investigation sites" as being designations for wider-shoulder stretches on otherwise congested right of ways.
Those spaces have other uses too. Connecticut can be a little blunt about those alternative uses (http://goo.gl/maps/UGAN4).
I-94 has a couple in metro Detroit/Ann Arbor, but they're a rarity in Michigan.
My mind went right to the one in I-465 just north of I-70 with a very large Big Yellow Sign (BYS?) (http://goo.gl/maps/UfHEC).
I think there was one on MN 62 near the Richfield/Edina border, but is long gone.
Quote from: ET21 on March 09, 2015, 02:39:24 PM
On my commute home from school on Friday, I noticed a new "Accident Investigation Site" sign on I-88 east at the Meyers St. toll plaza. This was the first time I've noticed a new one on an interstate. Many times I see them on other interstates like I-55 in Chicago, where northbound there's one right after the I-90/94 eastbound ramp and I-55 southbound at the California/Kedzie Ave exit.
So my question is how often do you see these types of signs in your area? Is there a specific rule to where these are placed for everyday fender bender pullovers or were they actual sites of major accidents?
Quote from: Dr Frankenstein on March 09, 2015, 04:25:38 PM
I've only ever seen them along I-94 in Illinois.
Quote from: SSOWorld on March 09, 2015, 08:44:23 PM
Take I-90 (NW "don't call me Jane Addams" Tollway) - Plenty abound - along with light standards through the entire rural area.
They're all over Illinois, at least northern Illinois, from what I've seen. Many interchanges such as Exits 253 (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5216458,-88.1887972,373m/data=!3m1!1e3), 257 (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5835709,-88.1687532,710m/data=!3m1!1e3), and 267 (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6554955,-88.1250832,431m/data=!3m1!1e3) have them accessible from the ramps or in the nearby park and ride lots.
The only things I've seen in there are cops who are parked to take care of paperwork and people changing tires.
Quote from: rschen7754 on March 09, 2015, 09:51:00 PM
There are a few on I-10 (the Santa Monica Freeway portion). Those are the only ones I have seen on the West Coast.
Those are the only ones I have ever observed anywhere. As best as I can tell, they are not used at all in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.
Massachusetts has never designated freeway pulloffs as "Accident Investigation Sites" or similar designations The only pulloff areas that are officially designated with signs are those along highways that permit peak-hour shoulder (a.k.a. breakdown lanes) travel. The entrances to these areas are marked with small black on white signs indicating "Emergency Pulloff".
Quote from: cpzilliacus on March 11, 2015, 11:47:13 AM
Quote from: rschen7754 on March 09, 2015, 09:51:00 PM
There are a few on I-10 (the Santa Monica Freeway portion). Those are the only ones I have seen on the West Coast.
Those are the only ones I have ever observed anywhere. As best as I can tell, they are not used at all in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.
Many of those used to be bus stops for a short-lived freeway express bus between Downtown LA and Santa Monica. Since the bus no longer stops there, they've become a place where people can pull over for emergencies, if they can get there.
Nevada used to have a few of these along US 95 in northwest Las Vegas between I-15 and Rainbow Blvd (maybe 2 in each direction). NDOT installed them in the very late 1990s/early 2000s, as part of a project which added ramp-to-ramp auxiliary lanes between all exits at the expense of the shoulders--this project was a short-term capacity improvement until the original US 95 expansion project got going and secured the necessary right of way to expand the freeway to how it is today. Once the freeway was expanded and standard width shoulders were added throughout, the AISs were removed.
I can only recall a couple of pull-off areas along the section of I-376 below the Boulevard of the Allies in Downtown Pittsburgh, just before it then-ended at I-279.