The ANNOYANCES of road work

[authenticroadgeek]

What annoys you the MOST about road work? I can personally say if road work starts on a local street I usually have to drive on I get VERY ANNOYED.

[jeffandnicole]

A) Closing lanes/streets down during rush hours.  Especially with no notice.  I could save plenty of time by taking a different exit or using different city streets if I had known.

B) Being told to watch VMSs, websites, 511, etc for information, only to have that information come at such a late time or point to where it's unusable.

So, I guess, based on what were two independent thoughts...lack of communication is what annoys me the most!

[kalvado]

A) Closing lanes/streets down during rush hours.  Especially with no notice.  I could save plenty of time by taking a different exit or using different city streets if I had known.

We had a local breakthrough, when roadwork on commute-heavy road is done 9-6 in one direction, and 7-3 in the other. It really helps!

[peterj920]

In the Milwaukee area, they are using orange lane markers as an experiment with the Zoo Interchange project.  They're difficult to see, especially on asphalt and they should go back to the white.  With all of the curves and shifts, the lane markers are more important than usual and the orange paint makes a difficult situation even worse.  You can see what it looks like below:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.027045,-88.0405956,3a,75y,279.27h,91.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMZ0nNsbcS8MOirxxcVxkOA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[cbeach40]

Contractors who can't read a damn drawing.

[Mr. Matté]

Putting on my John T. Bagger hat for a second, having a work zone set up that's affecting traffic and either seeing no workers present on site or +/- 5 workers standing around for every worker doing work.

[vdeane]

I remember seeing a work zone that was set up with no workers in sight but a policeman running radar.  Obviously just looking for tickets there (actually, I don't think I've been across the Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge without there being a work zone since middle school).

You do need some people to stand around a watch, though.  Those people are there to warn the others if a car is going to plow into them.  You never know what can happen in a work zone; my boss recalls one time where a car went past and then drifted out of the lane and off the bridge; turns out, the driver had a heart attack and died a mile back, and the only thing keeping them in the lane was the slight wheel ruts that develop in asphalt over time; even so much as a pebble knocked the car out.  Someone else recalls a time on the Taconic where someone actually drove around the cones into the closed lane and honked at him for being in her way.

(oddly enough, it's Work Zone Safety Week here...)

[Brandon]

Contractors who can't read a damn drawing.

This.

Also, the draconian 24/7 speed limits that Illinois puts into effect in a construction zone.  They are very unnecessary, and could be done better (as in some other states).  I personally prefer Michigan's where the lower speed limit applies when the following two conditions must be met at the same time: 1. workers present & 2. separated by cones or barrels only, not a concrete barrier.

[SignGeek101]

Contractors who can't read a damn drawing.

This.

Also, the draconian 24/7 speed limits that Illinois puts into effect in a construction zone.  They are very unnecessary, and could be done better (as in some other states).  I personally prefer Michigan's where the lower speed limit applies when the following two conditions must be met at the same time: 1. workers present & 2. separated by cones or barrels only, not a concrete barrier.

I find it annoying when speed fines are doubled (or tripled in Saskatchewan) when there's no workers present and the low speed limit is unnecessary. The traffic may not even be bad, but when you're forced to go residential speed on a highway when there's workers, it gets annoying.

Usually here it's not that bad though, when there's no workers working, construction speed limit signs are pointed away from the roadway.

[akotchi]

Reduction to one lane on urban freeway (normally three or four lanes) without any notice on approaching VMS.  Had that happen after a concert one evening in center city Philly.  I-95 north was reduced to one lane -- not sure what the work was, but involved concrete sawcutting (probably interior lane joint repair).  Took almost an hour (at 10:30 or so in evening) to get past the lane drop areas.

The funny part about this particular instance was the genius who decided to ride up the work side of the cones/drums, thinking he would make some time.  About 20 minutes after that we got up to the point where he was singled out for special attention by the law enforcement contingent for his approach to congestion management.  Many people were honking and catcalling him as they went by . . .

[1995hoo]

I think what I hate in Virginia is that when they shift the lanes and pull up the old lane markings, it leaves behind really annoying ruts in the road that can make your car pull one way or the other.

Driving in the UK I hate the "average speed check" system used in work zones–they set up multiple speed cameras that read your number plate and it calculates how long it took you to travel the distance between them. It's intended to counter people's habit of slowing down to pass a camera and then speeding back up. I think part of the reason I dislike it so much is that every time I've encountered it on the motorway, it accompanies a 20-mph drop in the speed limit.

[Rothman]

Pennsylvania's practice of leaving up work zone speed limits even when there is no evident work zone (i.e., either before cones are put up or after they are put down).  Ticks me off to no end.  There's a section on Washington Avenue Extension here in Albany that suffers from the same injustice (45 mph work zone signs have been up for weeks without a work zone on it).

I do like those states where they have the work zone speed limits only pertain during activity and signal this to drivers through signs highlighted with flashers.

[Bruce]

When it goes massively overbudget and misses every possible deadline.

And when no appropriate pedestrian/bike/transit alternative is presented. The demolition of a local overpass here was expertly handled by the local Indian reservation, who set up a shuttle bus (with bike racks) to get people across the not-yet-finished bridge. The state DOT, meanwhile, did fuck all in trying to at least clear a bit of shoulder space for people who use the bridge to walk between bus stops.

[thenetwork]

West Virginia has a great way to indicate "active" work zones.  They install work zone speed limit signs with flashing lights.  Light on = active work zone = lower speed in effect.  Light off = normal speed limit applies.  Should be adopted nationwide where normal speed limits are deemed safe thru non-active zones.

SM-N910V

[MisterSG1]

When construction zones are set up merely for the process of social engineering (or discouraging driving).

I kid you not, in 2009, after a Toronto Marlies game, when I got onto Lakeshore, they for no reason whatsoever closed the right two lanes (leaving only the left lane open) just for the purpose of creating a funnel. SERIOUSLY, right when the road went down to one lane, as it went from 3 to 1 instantly, it opened right back up 5 feet later.

I have never seen anything like that again in recent years, but it wouldn't surprise me if that was a nefarious action just to punish drivers, and this was on the weekend on top of that.

[Rothman]

West Virginia has a great way to indicate "active" work zones.  They install work zone speed limit signs with flashing lights.  Light on = active work zone = lower speed in effect.  Light off = normal speed limit applies.  Should be adopted nationwide where normal speed limits are deemed safe thru non-active zones.

SM-N910V

Yeah, that's what I was talking about.  Love those suckers.

[jakeroot]

When construction zones are set up merely for the process of social engineering (or discouraging driving).

*perceived process...there are a handful of cities around the globe which publicly experiment with anti-car legislation. Toronto is not one of those cities.

[MisterSG1]

When construction zones are set up merely for the process of social engineering (or discouraging driving).

*perceived process...there are a handful of cities around the globe which publicly experiment with anti-car legislation. Toronto is not one of those cities.

Well why else would they do it, think about what they have done:

1) Close down 2 lanes instantly creating a funnel to one lane

2) The area of the road that was closed did not appear to have anything wrong with it, no potholes nothing

3) Not a soul at this mysterious construction zone

4) The lane closures ended 3 feet after the road came down to 1 lane....


Now tell me exactly the purpose of that would be, when you see the kind of actions made at the city and provincial level in Toronto and Ontario respectively regarding transportation issues, it makes sense.

[74/171FAN]

Pennsylvania's practice of leaving up work zone speed limits even when there is no evident work zone (i.e., either before cones are put up or after they are put down).  Ticks me off to no end.  There's a section on Washington Avenue Extension here in Albany that suffers from the same injustice (45 mph work zone signs have been up for weeks without a work zone on it).

I do like those states where they have the work zone speed limits only pertain during activity and signal this to drivers through signs highlighted with flashers.

A) Closing lanes/streets down during rush hours.  Especially with no notice.  I could save plenty of time by taking a different exit or using different city streets if I had known.
So, I guess, based on what were two independent thoughts...lack of communication is what annoys me the most!

The utilities in PA seem to be much worse as they apparently can even get away with practically anything.   While in maintenance, the guy I was riding with and I noticed that instead of putting a flagger on a two-lane road with one lane closed for road work, they kept one lane northbound and detoured the southbound lane onto a local neighborhood street nearby.  (definitely not a part of Pub 213 (Temporary Traffic Control Guidelines), PennDOT (and other DOTs would get heat for doing that).

[bzakharin]

Pennsylvania's practice of leaving up work zone speed limits even when there is no evident work zone (i.e., either before cones are put up or after they are put down).  Ticks me off to no end.  There's a section on Washington Avenue Extension here in Albany that suffers from the same injustice (45 mph work zone signs have been up for weeks without a work zone on it).

I do like those states where they have the work zone speed limits only pertain during activity and signal this to drivers through signs highlighted with flashers.

I'm surprised to hear this because the only place I've actually seen this (speed limit X when flashing) is PA, mostly the PA Turnpike, but I think other places too. I wish NJ did that. That said, when the NJ Turnpike widening between exits 6 and 9 was in progress, I believe that entire stretch was sign "Speed Limit 55" with long stretches of 45 or worse, and everyone ignored it without being stopped by police.

As for what I most dislike in my area, it's the way short term construction on the Atlantic City Expressway is handled. There are no VMSs, no advanced signage until 2 miles from the construction zone, which is usually after the last exit you could take to bypass it. Even if it's not, the 2-mile advance signs don't mention the nature of the road work with "two right lanes closed" 1/2 mile before the closure. Also, the timing. News Flash: the morning commute does not end at 8:30.

[jakeroot]

Now tell me exactly the purpose of that would be, when you see the kind of actions made at the city and provincial level in Toronto and Ontario respectively regarding transportation issues, it makes sense.

What exactly are these actions? As far as I can tell from way over here on the west coast, Ontario just builds freeways all over the place. They appear to be exceptionally pro-car.

[ET21]

People merging last minute.

[kalvado]

People merging last minute.

some call that "zipper driving"...

[Bruce]

A zipper merge is actually better for traffic congestion. By not forcing an earlier merge, you have more space and time to merge safely.

[Brandon]

People merging last minute.

Agreed.

A zipper merge is actually better for traffic congestion. By not forcing an earlier merge, you have more space and time to merge safely.

Obviously, you've never tried it around Chicago.  Here, they don't like to yield to anyone.  They'd rather just bull their way in and everyone else be damned.