Philadelphia

[Beltway]

On the various six lane widening projects, the PTC has initiated work on them by replacing affected bridges years before any road work is started on the Turnpike itelf.

But not on the early ones, between Valley Forge and US-1 interchanges.

[Alps]

Here's the former US 422 Overpass. https://goo.gl/maps/rpCsh8WqrUP2 .  You see the US 422 Stenciled on the left.  On the right, you see a few more numbers stenciled, including 10-80 (zoom in to see them).  Most likely, this was painted last in October, 1980, nearly 38 years ago.

Which is still some 21 years after US 422 was moved off of Ridge Pike in this area.  Had this been this been the Germantown Pike overpass further east; such still would've been valid at the time of repaint.

It was probably inventoried as the US 422 bridge and not as Ridge Pike. Bridge inventory managers hate renaming bridges, to the point that they push back against fixing mileposts.

[roadman65]

I find it so interesting to see how US 422 used Ridge Pike in the early days.  In fact it makes sense now why back in the early 80's when we got rained out of a day at Hershey my parents headed south to Reading and then east on US 422.  My dad missed the turn where US 422 went left at the wye where both Ridge and Germantown split and ended up on Ridge Pike into Norristown and I remember an overhead panel missing for Germantown which most likely had the US 422 east sign on it, but Norristown was on a green sign for Ridge Pike.

Obviously that assembly was up when ALT US 422 existed and showed the two routes and hence why Norristown was also used as a control city for US 422 E Bound on PA 100 further west at the time.  It was from when Ridge carried US 422 there and was never changed.

https://goo.gl/maps/uCC4jNjePbL2 Here is the intersection now and the overhead is gone but replaced with a small green sign with proper street names now.

[ipeters61]

I find it so interesting to see how US 422 used Ridge Pike in the early days.  In fact it makes sense now why back in the early 80's when we got rained out of a day at Hershey my parents headed south to Reading and then east on US 422.  My dad missed the turn where US 422 went left at the wye where both Ridge and Germantown split and ended up on Ridge Pike into Norristown and I remember an overhead panel missing for Germantown which most likely had the US 422 east sign on it, but Norristown was on a green sign for Ridge Pike.

Obviously that assembly was up when ALT US 422 existed and showed the two routes and hence why Norristown was also used as a control city for US 422 E Bound on PA 100 further west at the time.  It was from when Ridge carried US 422 there and was never changed.

https://goo.gl/maps/uCC4jNjePbL2 Here is the intersection now and the overhead is gone but replaced with a small green sign with proper street names now.

It kind of bothers me that the only numbered route (that I know of) that enters Norristown nowadays is US-202.  It makes Norristown feel very difficult to get to.  While it may not be on anybody's list of places they would like to go, my uncle lives in the area and I just find it really weird to get to his house.  Granted, I don't like any of the roads in Montgomery County, for the most part.

[roadman65]

PA 309 is the only real arterial in Montgomery County as most numbered routes are typical two lane roads not built as highways except for maybe parts of PA 611.  Even the 202 parkway is not even an expressway. 

Other than freeways numbered routes are just inventory numbers for local roads in the state route system. 

[ixnay]

https://goo.gl/maps/uCC4jNjePbL2 Here is the [Ridge and Germantown Pikes] intersection now and the overhead is gone but replaced with a small green sign with proper street names now.

Greeting you as you come off the 1799 vintage, lottery-funded (per the historical marker on the right, just before the stoplight) Perkiomen Bridge.  If PA Lottery proceeds benefited PennDOT projects, not just older Pennsylvanians would benefit, so would older Pennsylvania bridges like that one (unless it's on the NRHP). 

ixnay

[tckma]

The overpass you likely saw was Ridge Pike.

It was -- I confirmed that while driving under it this evening on the way back to my hotel from work.  My question now is, if the bridge was repainted in October 1980, many years after US 422 was rerouted off of Ridge Pike, why stencil an incorrect route designation on the bridge?  This is indicating something that was changed 57 (!) years ago!!!

[roadman65]

The overpass you likely saw was Ridge Pike.

It was.  My question now is, if the bridge was repainted in October 1980, many years after US 422 was rerouted off of Ridge Pike, why stencil an incorrect route designation on the bridge?

I believe the term in the road enthusiasts is called carbon copying!  Of course if NE2 was here he would probably say "Carbon Copied" but yes contractors just go by what is there and have no knowledge of technically details like we do.  They just go by what is on the original and keep it due to ignorance of the roads.

[Alps]

The overpass you likely saw was Ridge Pike.

It was -- I confirmed that while driving under it this evening on the way back to my hotel from work.  My question now is, if the bridge was repainted in October 1980, many years after US 422 was rerouted off of Ridge Pike, why stencil an incorrect route designation on the bridge?  This is indicating something that was changed 57 (!) years ago!!!

It was probably inventoried as the US 422 bridge and not as Ridge Pike. Bridge inventory managers hate renaming bridges, to the point that they push back against fixing mileposts.

[MASTERNC]

Drove over the new Schuylkill River bridge on US 422 in Valley Forge and noticed a sign structure ready to be installed.  They are using APLs on the sign for the Trooper Road (PA 363) interchange.  However, they signed thru traffic as PA 422 instead of US 422.  Hopefully they fix that before they hang it over the road.

[tckma]

Another question:

I've seen signs along the edge of 422 Eastbound between Royersford and K. of P. that say "STAMPP POINT."  Under those words is a triangle that sometimes has a dot in the center of it and sometimes doesn't.

Professor Google found me this:

"PennDOT uses a pavement management system to determine the overall condition of highways, including I-95. To do this, PennDOT uses Systematic Technique to Analysis and Manage Pennsylvania's Pavements (STAMPP), an automated condition survey that collects distressed data about the pavement surfaces such as patching, cracking, rutting, raveling, edge deterioration and weathering. Software is used to analyze the collected data to determine the appropriate pavement maintenance treatment."

( quote from http://www.95revive.com/i95/reviving-i-95/roadway-facts )

First of all, wouldn't it be "Analyze" rather than "Analysis?"  That makes more sense as a verb.

Regardless, as a software engineer by trade, I found this interesting.  What data are collected?  How are they aggregated to determine proper/appropriate maintenance methods?  What equipment is deployed/installed at a STAMPP Point?  What's the difference between the dotted triangle and the non-dotted triangle?

[Alps]

Another question:

I've seen signs along the edge of 422 Eastbound between Royersford and K. of P. that say "STAMPP POINT."  Under those words is a triangle that sometimes has a dot in the center of it and sometimes doesn't.

Professor Google found me this:

"PennDOT uses a pavement management system to determine the overall condition of highways, including I-95. To do this, PennDOT uses Systematic Technique to Analysis and Manage Pennsylvania's Pavements (STAMPP), an automated condition survey that collects distressed data about the pavement surfaces such as patching, cracking, rutting, raveling, edge deterioration and weathering. Software is used to analyze the collected data to determine the appropriate pavement maintenance treatment."

( quote from http://www.95revive.com/i95/reviving-i-95/roadway-facts )

First of all, wouldn't it be "Analyze" rather than "Analysis?"  That makes more sense as a verb.

Regardless, as a software engineer by trade, I found this interesting.  What data are collected?  How are they aggregated to determine proper/appropriate maintenance methods?  What equipment is deployed/installed at a STAMPP Point?  What's the difference between the dotted triangle and the non-dotted triangle?

I can at least go over generally how pavement is assessed - there are specially equipped vehicles that drive the road and essentially "read" it with infrared, lasers, what have you. That gives an idea of surface distress - how far from flat the roadway is. This is quantified through IRI (international roughness index) and other such measures. You also have visual assessment for cracking, with different scores for light cracking, map cracking (they're all small but they interconnect like lines on a map), and deeper/longer cracks, as well as reflective cracks for concrete below asphalt. Eventually you end up with a handful of scores that you drop into a meat grinder and they come out as a priority ranking.

[Rothman]

Heh.  Up until recently, NYSDOT was still doind a windshield survey of conditions, despite also using the equipment mentioned.

Heck, NYSDOT may still be doing it; they keep saying the windshield survey is going to be nixed and then you find they're still doing it.

[vdeane]

Heh.  Up until recently, NYSDOT was still doind a windshield survey of conditions, despite also using the equipment mentioned.

Heck, NYSDOT may still be doing it; they keep saying the windshield survey is going to be nixed and then you find they're still doing it.

We weren't asked to this year, so I think it's dead now.

[BrianP]

Heh.  Up until recently, NYSDOT was still doind a windshield survey of conditions, despite also using the equipment mentioned.

Heck, NYSDOT may still be doing it; they keep saying the windshield survey is going to be nixed and then you find they're still doing it.

We weren't asked to this year, so I think it's dead now.

They may have done both until they were satisfied that the equipment caught all of the issues that the windshield survey found. 

[vdeane]

Heh.  Up until recently, NYSDOT was still doind a windshield survey of conditions, despite also using the equipment mentioned.

Heck, NYSDOT may still be doing it; they keep saying the windshield survey is going to be nixed and then you find they're still doing it.

We weren't asked to this year, so I think it's dead now.

They may have done both until they were satisfied that the equipment caught all of the issues that the windshield survey found. 

Something like that.  They were working on a way to approximate the 1-10 (really 3-10; 1 and 2 are for conditions so bad that they don't actually exist on anything we maintain) scale from the windshield survey, and after the third annual final year of doing the windshield survey, they got it so that the approximated scores are close enough to switch over.

[ixnay]

PennDOT uses Systematic Technique to Analysis and Manage Pennsylvania's Pavements (STAMPP),

To paraphrase Alex from "Totally Spies", you need to work on your acronyms, PennDOT. 

Here is the source of the paraphrase (specifically the lower right panel)...

https://www.deviantart.com/oppai-exedra/art/Totally-Bunnies-P3-182323701

ixnay

[Rothman]

Heh.  Up until recently, NYSDOT was still doind a windshield survey of conditions, despite also using the equipment mentioned.

Heck, NYSDOT may still be doing it; they keep saying the windshield survey is going to be nixed and then you find they're still doing it.

We weren't asked to this year, so I think it's dead now.

They may have done both until they were satisfied that the equipment caught all of the issues that the windshield survey found. 

Something like that.  They were working on a way to approximate the 1-10 (really 3-10; 1 and 2 are for conditions so bad that they don't actually exist on anything we maintain) scale from the windshield survey, and after the third annual final year of doing the windshield survey, they got it so that the approximated scores are close enough to switch over.

I am not so sure that it was defensible keeping it around as long as it was.  Heard a lot of grumbling about it.

[vdeane]

I am not so sure that it was defensible keeping it around as long as it was.  Heard a lot of grumbling about it.

In the regions, the grumbling is from no longer getting a chance to leave the cubicle and go out into the field.

[MASTERNC]

Be aware speed cameras are coming to work zones in Pennsylvania and to Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia.  There was a lot of back & forth between both houses as to fines (Senate wanted higher fines, House kept watering them down).  The article here says the first violation in a 12-month period is a warning, though I don't see that time frame in the bill's text.

https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/10/work_zone_cameras_are_coming_t.html

[PHLBOS]

Be aware speed cameras are coming to work zones in Pennsylvania and to Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia.  There was a lot of back & forth between both houses as to fines (Senate wanted higher fines, House kept watering them down).  The article here says the first violation in a 12-month period is a warning, though I don't see that time frame in the bill's text.

https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/10/work_zone_cameras_are_coming_t.html

Here's a similar article from The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The speed cameras are planned to be used first in a pilot program on Roosevelt Boulevard, which has seen an increase in deaths from vehicle crashes this year. The bill also authorized the use of speed cameras on highway work zones throughout the state.

Based on the above-article quote and what I've heard on the local news last night & this morning; the cameras will be coming to Roosevelt Blvd. (US 1) first.  Such doesn't say when cameras will start being used in highway work zones.

Other key items from the article:

The Philadelphia Parking Authority, which will administer the program, has said the cameras could be active on Roosevelt Boulevard in four to six months. When they're activated, there will be a 30-day grace period that would let speeders off with a warning. After that, a motorist photographed traveling 11 mph over the 45-mph speed limit would incur a $150 fine.

Revenue is to go to the Motor License Fund and will fund grants for transportation projects, the legislation states.

The city plans to install nine cameras along nearly 12 miles of the Boulevard, from the Philadelphia border with Bucks County to the Ninth Street intersection near Hunting Park. Signs placed every two miles will let drivers know the cameras are there.
...
He (Mike Carroll, Philadelphia's deputy managing director for transportation and infrastructure) also was not certain how long the pilot program would last, saying the city needed to capture data about the cameras' effectiveness before using them elsewhere. Bringing more cameras to Philadelphia beyond the Boulevard would require state authorization, he said.

Speed-camera tickets would not add points against a driver's license and would not affect automobile insurance rates.

[tckma]

Be aware speed cameras are coming to work zones in Pennsylvania and to Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia.  There was a lot of back & forth between both houses as to fines (Senate wanted higher fines, House kept watering them down).  The article here says the first violation in a 12-month period is a warning, though I don't see that time frame in the bill's text.

*cut for brevity*

If experience from speed cameras in Maryland is any guide... speed camera tickets will be easy to fight, especially since on multi-lane roads they often tag the wrong car.  They can't give you points because they have no evidence that you were driving the car at the time, so they can only send a violation to the registrant.

Our speed camera fines in Maryland ($40, with no escalation based on number of violations) are at a level where most people just pay them rather than waste the time (and often lost wages) to fight the tickets in court.  That's just what the state/county hopes for.  Hell, I got one when I was driving a work van with 12 interns in it -- they mailed the ticket to work, which was embarrassing.  I had a co-worker overhear the conversation where my boss handed me the ticket, and then she ran into my office excitedly with a "my boyfriend is a lawyer and he'll get that ticket dismissed for you!"

My response, "Sure, but would your boyfriend charge me less than $40 for that service?"

"Ummmm..."

"Exactly.  I'll just pay it."

PA's law (as I heard it on the news this morning on my way to work) seems like it has a bit more than mere revenue generation as its intent, at least with the escalation of fines.

[MASTERNC]

PA's law (as I heard it on the news this morning on my way to work) seems like it has a bit more than mere revenue generation as its intent, at least with the escalation of fines.

I think that is the case, given the cameras can only be used when workers are present, and the first violation is a warning.  I did hear from the author of the Penn Live article that PennDOT's records are purged after 12 months, so if more than 12 months pass since the last violation, their records will be clean and you will only get a warning again.

The trick will be the signage that says whether or not cameras are in use.  Given contractors have a hard time turning on & off the flashing lights on Active Work Zone signage, I can see false positives or negatives occurring.

[odditude]

The Philadelphia Parking Authority, which will administer the program, has said the cameras could be active on Roosevelt Boulevard in four to six months. When they're activated, there will be a 30-day grace period that would let speeders off with a warning. After that, a motorist photographed traveling 11 mph over the 45-mph speed limit would incur a $150 fine.

If experience from speed cameras in Maryland is any guide... speed camera tickets will be easy to fight, especially since on multi-lane roads they often tag the wrong car.

nothing involving the PPA is "easy to fight."

[jemacedo9]

The next long-term freeway reconstruction/widening in PA has been begun - US 1 Bucks County:

Phase 1 starting:
https://www.penndot.gov/regionaloffices/district-6/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3809

U.S. 1 Section RC1 is the first of three construction contracts to rebuild and widen U.S. 1; replace aging bridges; and install safety enhancements along a four-mile section of the expressway from just north of the City of Philadelphia to just north of Route 413 (Pine Street) in Middletown Township and Langhorne Borough. Improvements under this first contract include:

-Constructing a third travel lane along U.S. 1 in each direction from the Route 132 (Street Road) interchange to just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange;
-Building an auxiliary lane along U.S 1 in each direction between the Route 132 (Street Road) and Pennsylvania Turnpike interchanges;
-Raising the profile of U.S. 1 from south of the Route 132 (Street Road) Interchange to north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange to improve vertical clearances for U.S. 1 structures over Route 132 (Street Road), the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange ramps;
-Upgrading U.S. 1 interchanges at Route 132 (Street Road) and the Pennsylvania Turnpike;
-Adding a northbound right-turn lane along U.S. 1 from Old Lincoln Highway to Route 132 (Street Road);
-Reconfiguring the Route 132 (Street Road) Interchange and adding a ramp from Route 132 (Street Road) eastbound to U.S. 1 southbound;
-Increasing the existing loop ramp radius to improve design speed to 30 miles-per-hour and incorporating a second lane on the U.S 1 northbound exit ramp to the Pennsylvania Turnpike;
-Removing the existing bridge that carries U.S. 1 over a closed private access road; and
-Reconstructing four bridges.

Open House for future Phase 2:
https://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3808

Under the U.S. 1 Section RC2 project, PennDOT will construct a third travel and auxiliary lane in each direction from just south of the Rockhill Drive intersection to just north of the Business U.S. 1 (Penndel) Interchange; replace three structures over U.S. 1; build a sound barrier and three retaining walls; perform various roadway and safety improvements to the Penndel and Neshaminy interchanges...