Green floppy things

[kphoger]

I heard once that they can be an issue for those who have light-pattern-induced seizures.  Don't know if it's really true or not.

[epzik8]

In the Baltimore area:

-I-83 approaching downtown on the JFX
-I-695 passing thru Catonsville - there used to be more in that area, but the ongoing widening project resulted in a lot of new, taller median barrier (with no need for green floppy things anymore)
-Much of I-895, although some has been replaced with taller median barrier.

I consider these one of the defining features of 895. My family and I always took the Harbor Tunnel instead of the Fort McHenry while driving to places such as DC or Annapolis, and I was mesmerized by them.

As a side note regarding 895, does anybody familiar with it remember when almost nobody used it from I-97 westward? Obviously a lot of people coming from points north of Baltimore merge onto 895 at the I-95 split if they're making their way toward the 97/3/301/50 corridors, but it seems like the last time I took 895 back out to 95 in Howard County more DC-bound through traffic has opted to take the Harbor Tunnel.

One historical example I remember well from my childhood was on the barrier separating I-180 from Via Bella in the vicinity of the Market Street Bridge in Williamsport. (Photo from Jeff Kitsko below–the photo shows Via Bella; I-180 is immediately to the right.)

Prior to the construction of the new Market Street Bridge with its SPUI around 2006, Via Bella served as a two-way frontage road indirectly connecting I-180 with US 15. The right edge of Via Bella's eastbound lane was about 20 feet from the right edge of I-180's westbound lane, setting up a conflict where cars' headlight beams–which normally sweep upward to the right illuminate the shoulder–were instead meeting oncoming traffic head-on
.
In the post-reconstruction configuration Via Bella has been reduced to two lanes and serves local traffic, and it's separated from I-180 by the new direct on/off-ramps. And the barrier separating Via Bella is much taller than its predecessor, too. As a result, the flexible green "blinders"  were not reinstalled.



- - -

I don't remember any other specific examples, but my general sense is that I've seen the green blinders elsewhere in Pennsylvania, especially on roads constructed or retrofitted in the '70s/'80s. That's in terms of permanent installations; of course I've seen them used temporarily on many freeway construction projects.

Holy hell, those signs are old. I've seen similar signs along the 611 bypass in Doylestown that list 611 in text instead of a shield.

[kphoger]

green floppy things

eye baffles

little green headlight-blockers

flexible bollards.

Well, Rothman must have the official term, because he's the one tagged as 'DOT Employee' on here.  I don't care what his sig line says:  everything he types on here reflects the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

OK, actually, I think the system is referred to as a glare screen or an anti-glare screen.  And the individual units are called (anti-)glare (board) panels.  Flexible bollards are generally the round kind, typically planted in the pavement as delineators.

[SectorZ]

I heard once that they can be an issue for those who have light-pattern-induced seizures.  Don't know if it's really true or not.

It can be. I also argued this on a Facebook post once where someone told me that people affected like that "shouldn't be driving". Because having a seizure induced as a passenger is A-OK.

[cl94]

I always associated these with Pennsylvania, but PA has since moved to higher barriers, making them rare.

The barrier separating I-190 from NY 265 at the Niagara pump generating station has them.

[Rothman]

I-81 south of the Thruway to I-690.

[STLmapboy]

A few around St. Louis.

Notably, Forest Park Pkwy has them when a Metrolink line runs in the median.

[brownpelican]

Also on I-20 in Columbia, S.C.

[kendancy66]

Virginia has those on portions of the Capital Beltway. Not everywhere along there, just in some places. Some of them are quite old, dating back to the 1970s or earlier (with some missing or damaged ones replaced), while some are much newer (though still with various ones missing).

Interesting thing is, the height of those things sometimes varies within a short distance, such as in this pre-2012 Street View (the ones seen there dated to the 1970s or earlier).

I've seen those referred to as "eye baffles." I have no idea how common that term is.

The stretch of I-95 in Richmond south of the James River Bridge has them.

I believe those were bollards were installed when that part of I-95 was still the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike.  Possibly during the time after the road was widened from 4 to 6 lanes.

[sbeaver44]

On the PA 441 overpass of PA 283, these are used to separate between 441 and the adjacent ramps for the Harrisburg Airport Connector

They were used temporarily (GSV shows it) as PA 283 was reconstructed around I-283.

[roadfro]

Nevada has them in some locations, the spots I'm aware of are in or around Reno:

• I-580/US 395 between Moana Ln & S Virginia St
  
• I-80 just west of Keystone Ave
  
• US 395 Alt (former US 395) on either side of Washoe Hill in Washoe Valley
  
• SR 445/Pyramid Hwy between Golden View Dr & Sparks Blvd
  

In all but the I-80 instance, these are older concrete barrier walls (I believe 36" height). The I-80 example is more recent construction on a taller barrier wall (I think NDOT uses 42" or 48" now), but there is a curve and slight grade difference between the carriageways that warrant their use.

Growing up, I recall these on US 95 in Las Vegas, roughly between Rainbow Blvd and I-15. This section had minimal shoulders in the mid-1990s to accommodate extra shoulderslanes, so the glare screens got damaged all the time. The US 95 reconstruction in this area in the mid 2000s was one of the first instances I recall of NDOT using their taller barriers (probably in part so that they could remove the glare screens to reduce maintenance costs).

EDIT: Fixed list format and changed a word.

[Bickendan]

The Banfield Freeway (I-84/US 30) in Portland and them for its full length.


My question is, if they are there to block headlights, why not just use higher Jersey Barriers/K-Rails?

I-5 has them as well. I think US 26 and OR 217 might; I'll have to verify.

[index]

I-40 in Haywood County used these briefly for construction. I don't know of any other situations in NC where these are used now.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.738728,-83.0320596,3a,52.1y,98.95h,83.34t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s8GRccKMrpDOAZrPX_HvDPQ!2e0!5s20160701T000000!7i13312!8i6656


I remember there was another one of these installs and a ton of them were broken off. Wasn't very effective at stopping headlights like that.

[Avalanchez71]

I always wondered what they were for.  I was thinking what a waste of tax money.

[CoreySamson]

I remember seeing a lot of these on I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock when ARDOT was replacing some of the old bridges a few years back. Can't think of any local examples.

[Scott5114]

I always wondered what they were for.  I was thinking what a waste of tax money.

Yeah, but you think that about every cone, or if the governor eats a sandwich, or if the DOT uses a paper clip.

"Tennessee" has nine letters in it. Think of all the ink it takes every time the name of the state is printed! What a waste of tax money!

[kphoger]

I always wondered what they were for.  I was thinking what a waste of tax money.

Yeah, but you think that about every cone, or if the governor eats a sandwich, or if the DOT uses a paper clip.

"Tennessee" has nine letters in it. Think of all the ink it takes every time the name of the state is printed! What a waste of tax money!

I don't have a price chart in front of me, but I have to imagine that installing such a glare screen is cheaper than building the median barrier that much taller for its entire length...