The ANNOYANCES of road work

[bmorrill]

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.

Hey, it's hard work standing around holding a shovel and watching your fellow workers!

I've never minded hard work - I can sit and watch it all day long.

[cbeach40]

Is there really an increase in collisions? Or is that just rhetoric, spurred by the perceived danger of a narrow carriageway?

Reduction in shoulder width is actually measurable in how much it will impact traffic flow. A very simple summary, a reduction in lane width to 3.3-3.5 m and shoulder width to 0 on a freeway will result in a FFS reduction of about 8-10 km/h. Which isn't even taking into account the other factors of a construction zone that will further reduce speeds in the area.

But it should be noted that's a blanket number capturing all traffic. In practice, different people react differently to irregular conditions. Which leads to greater speed differential, which as is noted in pretty well every discussion of speed limits, is not a desirable condition.

If anything, they keep you on your toes and off your phone.

The problems aren't caused by those who do that. They're caused by those who don't.

Also, a sudden reaction to a barrier placed too close? Barriers don't exactly sneak up on you. If the fear is over-correcting because of the barrier, just as many people over-correct when they drift into a shoulder. I'd be surprised if over-correcting is unique to narrow stretches.

The thing is it does sneak up on you. A barrier on the right side that's 1.8 m off of the edge of the lane plays no factor in reducing operating speed. But if the TCB is angled in at a proper ratio, then in just 18 linear metres its on top of you. At 100 km/h, that's 0.648 seconds from "This is fine" to "oh holy shit!". And on the left side, as 0.6 m is your okay spot, it just takes 0.216 seconds to get from calm to panic mode.

And that's with a proper taper. If you're in a jurisdiction that half asses their work zone design and stupidly just drops barriers right next to lanes (*cough* Illinois *cough* Michigan *cough*) then there isn't even that fraction of a second warning.


And finally, using just one example, I'm actually right in the midst of a collision history review for a rural freeway segment. In 2008, it was under construction, with both lanes of traffic shifted over to one carriageway. Regular shoulder and lane widths were maintained in one direction, while the other had a reduced width to both (not zero, just reduced).
But with this, even this slight messing up of the norm resulted in the collision rate more than tripling as compared to a typical year. It was that bad.

Point is, placing concrete barriers right up next to a lane is never desirable. Yes, it can be done, and often has to be done. But it is far, far from an ideal set up.

[jeffandnicole]

People do the same thing, day in, day out.  They are used to certain setups.  Nothing changes.  Then one day, regardless of the number of notices, alerts, signs, etc that are posted, suddenly there's a new traffic pattern.  Motorists are caught by surprise.  They are not in their normal zone. 

Using NJ for an example again, they discovered, kinda accidently, how long a cattleshute can last.  When they're only about 2 miles or so, traffic can handle them pretty well.  But there was one about 4 1/2 miles long, and they noticed a big increase in accidents.  People start to zone out, they have to deal with endless stop and go traffic, and eventually they bump into each other or the barrier.  Then...everyone behind them is stuck, and a tow truck has to reverse down the wrong way for upwards of several miles to reach the disabled vehicle.

[Billy F 1988]

I think a lot of people here are blowing this out of perspective. You know why we have road work? Answer: TAXES! Your taxes and my taxes pay for road work! There is a construction company out in front of my apartment putting new overhead lamps from S.W. Higgins Ave & Stephens Ave to S.W. Higgins Ave & Bancroft St in Missoula. Why are they out installing the lights? Taxes. Specifically taxes that go towards roadway infrastructure improvements, which does include installing overhead lamps and these things aren't cheap. One overhead lamp can cost anywhere between $75,000 to $150,000 approximately. There are four being installed, so if I use the example of $150,000, times 4, we're looking at $600,000 total, and that includes the time, the labor, and the materials the company needs like conduit, timers that turn the lights off during the day and turns them on at night, etc.

Okay, I get it that sometimes this road work tends to be an inconvenience to some of you, but has it ever dawned on you that you pay these construction companies with your tax dollars to do such work? They can't do road work unless the funds are there from the various agencies to approve such work. All of these negative sentiments I'm starting to sense about this topic is really starting to irk the fuck out of me.

[kalvado]

Okay, I get it that sometimes this road work tends to be an inconvenience to some of you, but has it ever dawned on you that you pay these construction companies with your tax dollars to do such work?

When I hire a contractor to do something, I do have a say in what is to be done and how it is to be done. If I wake up, and suddenly find my bathroom ruined ("Oh, I didn't tell you... But you can take shower at work!") - such contractor would get awful feedback and get out of business quite soon after feedback accumulates.
For road work, my convenience is often a non-existing factor for contractor. Minimizing impact may add some cost (or maybe not, or may be plainly impossible) - but  I have little, if any, say in  those questions. Never mind that convoluted financing loops makes  contractor accountable to anyone, except taxpayer.

And taxes (more like debt at this point) are not the reason for any road work. 

[Scott5114]

I have no issue with slowing down. I have issue with the fact that nobody else does. That and you have to drive alongside wide vehicles like semis in these work areas.

If no one else slows down, than neither should you. If the concrete barriers slow traffic, great. But if not, what's the loss? ......

I don't think that doing 70 mph while having a concrete wall three inches from my right mirror and a semi truck a foot behind my right bumper is terribly safe.