Whether it be areas that are unsafe for merging, dividing between regular lanes and express/HOV/toll lanes, or anywhere else you can think of, where are bollards needed to enforce "do not cross" on a solid white line?
I've stated the opinion this forum before that I think a single solid line should generally mean that it's not recommended to cross, but you can do so if traffic conditions warrant, whereas a double solid line should mean absolutely no crossing under any circumstances. So with that in mind, I do think the bar for bollards accompanying a single solid line is pretty high - typically involving either a safety concern or a repeat trend of drivers crossing the line when they shouldn't.
One that absolutely fits *both* of those categories is the Holt Rd NB slip ramp to NY 104 EB (https://maps.app.goo.gl/8VFCtHvvQsen5dbr5) in Webster, NY. The entirety of the solid white line seen in the street view image really needs to have bollards to prevent drivers from stopping in the position of the Street View car as if there were a yield sign, and not only blocking traffic behind them, but then also crossing the solid white line and zooming across 2+ lanes of traffic instead of using the merge lane. Installing bollards here would, for lack of a better term, FORCE drivers to learn how to merge properly and significantly improve the traffic flow during busy time periods.
Getting onto I-87 from NY 7/NY 2 (exit 6) could really use something like this. There are still a lot of people who drive across the painted median straight into the lane to be merged into, and often many will then drift left into the far left lane instead of doing a proper lane change. It's not helped by the fact that this was how it was configured (with yield signs) until a couple years ago, and the new configuration still has you pointed that way before swerving to the right into a short acceleration lane (I wish there was street view or satellite imagery of this, but Google hasn't been by recently enough). It's only recently that people finally started figuring out how to merge, too; when it was first put in, people would stop before the acceleration lane even if there was a gap in traffic they could slip into, even more than they did for the yield signs.
A few of the ramps along the Parkway here in Huntsville, AL, have little plastic wands along them to prevent people from changing lanes too early/late (or, more accurately, causing a pile-up because they tried to get in/out of a side street or business right before/after a ramp). However, it seems they don't always work, given the condition of some of them:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6945476,-86.5830407,3a,26.9y,147.43h,86.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sspjObLBeGib2BNLRdha3mw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D3.907503483175475%26panoid%3DspjObLBeGib2BNLRdha3mw%26yaw%3D147.43266417105394!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
On US 1 North in Morrisville, traffic would often enter from the US 13 on-ramp and quickly merge over 2 lanes for the PA 32 off-ramp in about a 1/4 mile span. Add to this that the left lane was an unsigned Exit Only lane where thru traffic often had to merge right at the last moment, and the right lane from the US 13 onramp became a thru lane beyond the 1/32 diverge point. US 1 was 2 lanes before and after this area, but not the same 2 lanes. https://maps.app.goo.gl/wxg1g1XoKyHHXANQA
So resolve the issue, PennDOT did the following:
For traffic entering from US 13, they put in a jersey barrier separating that traffic from US 1 traffic until the PA 32 diverge point.
US 1 was re-striped to maintain 2 continuous lanes thru the dual-interchange area.
PA 32 lost its Exit-Only lane, and became a short decel lane off of the left lane, receiving better (although still not proper) signage.
There is a short area where bollards were still used should emergency equipment need to quickly merge over from the US 13 onramp to PA 32, but otherwise it's very difficult for a normal vehicle to make that maneuver. https://maps.app.goo.gl/jo3QvcDnZ1Gm8moS8
Eastbound VA-236 (Duke Street) approaching the ramp to VA-241 (Telegraph Road) in the City of Alexandria (https://maps.app.goo.gl/TpvuP2BX2XAKy7Hy6) has a line of bollards to prevent people from trying to cut the line and, in so doing, blocking the thru lane on Duke Street. It used to be possible to make a left turn from Taylor Run Parkway (the street to the left at the next intersection ahead in that Street View image) onto the ramp to Telegraph, but a couple of years ago the city extended the bollards across the intersection to prevent that maneuver. The stated reason was to reduce the incentive for people to cut through the neighborhoods along Taylor Run, where residents complained that there was so much rush-hour traffic that they couldn't get out of their driveways, but a secondary reason was that some people were cutting to the right through the gap in the bollards at that intersection.
They should be put in at the ramp split from I-394 to I-94 in Minneapolis. It's striped double white but people frequently violate it, especially trying to zoom around the often long backups on 394 to 94 East ramp traffic.
The I-405/US-101 northbound interchange has them. The leftmost lane is sectioned off for about a quarter mile past the interchange, at which point US-101 straightens out and it's safe to merge onto other lanes.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on December 15, 2024, 01:21:08 AMSo resolve the issue, PennDOT did the following:
For traffic entering from US 13, they put in a jersey barrier separating that traffic from US 1 traffic until the PA 32 diverge point.
US 1 was re-striped to maintain 2 continuous lanes thru the dual-interchange area.
PA 32 lost its Exit-Only lane, and became a short decel lane off of the left lane, receiving better (although still not proper) signage.
There is a short area where bollards were still used should emergency equipment need to quickly merge over from the US 13 onramp to PA 32, but otherwise it's very difficult for a normal vehicle to make that maneuver. https://maps.app.goo.gl/jo3QvcDnZ1Gm8moS8 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/jo3QvcDnZ1Gm8moS8)
That does seem much better, except for the loss of connectivity from US 13 to PA 32, but the Pennsylvania Ave interchange serves that area reasonably well.
I wonder how many of the other examples would benefit from a full concrete barrier, since it seems bollards just aren't enough of a deterrent in some of these cases. I still think they would be useful in my Holt Rd example, but that's because the bollards there would actually be intended to change the behavior of the
cautious drivers, not the aggressive ones. :D
Quote from: Quillz on December 16, 2024, 02:24:32 AMThe I-405/US-101 northbound interchange has them. The leftmost lane is sectioned off for about a quarter mile past the interchange, at which point US-101 straightens out and it's safe to merge onto other lanes.
I think in this case it was not so much curves in the 101 roadway as traffic merging in on the left from I-405 and attempting to exit at Haskell Ave., the first exit on the right. The separators (and double lines) stop as soon as you pass the Haskell exit.
The vicinity of the ramp from MD 22 east to US 40 west in Aberdeen:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5152904,-76.1583532,3a,75y,155.58h,76.19t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suW9mOhr5ydG3tnp9kPacIQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D13.809583214065384%26panoid%3DuW9mOhr5ydG3tnp9kPacIQ%26yaw%3D155.58445401420124!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5152904,-76.1583532,3a,75y,155.58h,76.19t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suW9mOhr5ydG3tnp9kPacIQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D13.809583214065384%26panoid%3DuW9mOhr5ydG3tnp9kPacIQ%26yaw%3D155.58445401420124!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)