I have noticed near the start of most Connecticut state highways that there exists a small divider. I have found them all over the place. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
http://goo.gl/maps/RdWqy (http://goo.gl/maps/RdWqy)
I know from living in Torrington for a long time that Route 4 has two of these along the route that was once the start of some state highway (one in Harwinton at 118 was once the start of 117, and another in Burlington at 179 was once the start of 116; this was back when Route 4 was routed on 202 and 179 between Torrington and Burlington). Is there some reasoning behind this?
I would guess it's to prevent left-turning traffic coming off the side road from turning too wide and interfering with right-turning vehicles off the main road. And vice-versa, I suppose. It's always amazing to me how lazy motorists can be with their turn radii, but as someone who used to be teased as a kid for coloring outside the lines, I consider it a point of pride that as an adult I now have the "motor" skills to stay inside of them. :)
Huh? It's just a short median to channelize traffic.
Quote from: NE2 on February 27, 2013, 03:51:11 PM
Huh? It's just a short median to channelize traffic.
You need to look at the beginnings of some other state highways, though. Here's another at the start of Route 178 in Bloomfield:
http://goo.gl/maps/VUwPJ (http://goo.gl/maps/VUwPJ)
I panned north a bit to see if I saw any others, and noticed one where a development's roadway T's with Rt. 183 as well.
Other than a place to put roadsigns and allow some weeds to grow in the cracks, doesn't appear to be anything terribly unusual about them.
Quote from: HighwayMaster on February 27, 2013, 03:55:06 PM
Quote from: NE2 on February 27, 2013, 03:51:11 PM
Huh? It's just a short median to channelize traffic.
You need to look at the beginnings of some other state highways, though. Here's another at the start of Route 178 in Bloomfield:
http://goo.gl/maps/VUwPJ (http://goo.gl/maps/VUwPJ)
Yes, they exist all over. What's the issue?
The reason you see them more at state highway ends is because those are major roads, so you have more of a warrant to channelize traffic vs. leaving it at a standard T.
If my memory serves me correctly, many of the dividers were installed in the 1970s....before that, many of the super-wide interchanges were divided by the at-the-time-common circular 'Go ---> Right" signs
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi166.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu102%2Fctsignguy%2Fstcgoright.jpg&hash=41d27f9348f9fd4ec658481a34dd9f4c084322ba)
or blank yellow circle signs, often as many as a dozen of then grouped on steel pipes on concrete bases in an 'island style...
my guess was the accident rate had something to do with the islands being added at that time.....
These mini-medians used to be pretty common in Texas, especially at the end of FM roads. But TxDOT has either removed most of them, paved them over, or overlaid new asphalt around them over the years to the point where the concrete hump is about level with the surface.
If a truck has to make a wide turn it's going to drive over the island probably anyway, so what's the point of having it.
QuoteThe reason you see them more at state highway ends is because those are major roads, so you have more of a warrant to channelize traffic vs. leaving it at a standard T.
If that were the case, you'd think you'd see them far more often in Virginia along the primary routes. But down here, instead of being found on the primary routes, they tend to be found on the secondary routes.