Clearance signs that serve no purpose?

[bzakharin]

I noticed this clearance sign yesterday driving home on the Atlantic City Expressway:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.535801,-74.714602,3a,75y,334.24h,88.89t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1stx3TGnnIvlr8kLUKFkS51g!2e0!5m1!1e1
It's nice of them to warn 2 miles in advance, but here's the thing: the next exit is 9 miles away and (AFAIK) you can't turn around at the service plaza that's just ahead. So what is one to do if he or she can't clear this overpass? Call the police and ask them to escort you through a crossover? In fairness, I do believe that there are minimum clearance signs at (some of?) the entrances, but what is the point of this particular sign?

[roadman]

Even if a truck is at or below legal maximum height for a particular state, it can still strike low overpasses that are above said legal height, depending upon speed, roadway condition/profile, and trailer/load type.  So placement of such a sign is logical.  Now, if the clearance in question was below the legal maximum height for the state, then I agree that the location of the sign would make no sense.

The I-93 O'Neill Tunnel through Downtown Boston has a posted clearance of 13 feet 9 inches from top of roadway to bottom of suspended lighting fixtures and signs.  Nevertheless, every so often a truck trailer that's at max legal height of 13 feet 6 inches or less will strike lights or signs above the roadway.  Heck. it's not all that uncommon for a legal height truck to strike overhead signs that are mounted 17 feet 6 inches above the road.

[KEK Inc.]

Overheight trucks can turn around at the service plaza.

[SteveG1988]

Overheight trucks can turn around at the service plaza.

it is nice to have it posted that far in advance, what i hate is when you're on a two lane road and there is no warning of a low WEIGHT limit up ahead, 34T on a bridge, and no place for a truck to turn to go around it. The Expressway has the right idea on this one. Now if only they could apply this niceness to their BGS.

[cl94]

Overheight trucks can turn around at the service plaza.

it is nice to have it posted that far in advance, what i hate is when you're on a two lane road and there is no warning of a low WEIGHT limit up ahead, 34T on a bridge, and no place for a truck to turn to go around it. The Expressway has the right idea on this one. Now if only they could apply this niceness to their BGS.

Tell that to Erie County, NY. They love posting weight restrictions about 100 feet before the bridge where there's not even room for a truck to stop, let alone turn around.

[jeffandnicole]

There are quite a number of overpasses in NJ that are under 14' 0" along the highways.  In fact, if the trucker were to continue up the expressway to Rt. 42, he would encounter another 13' 11" overpass (Browning Rd at 295), and that overpass has no advanced height warning.

Even if a truck is at or below legal maximum height for a particular state, it can still strike low overpasses that are above said legal height, depending upon speed, roadway condition/profile, and trailer/load type. 

But since the trucker is only permitted 13'6", if any of these conditions were to occur right at the moment the trucker approached the overpass, the trucker wouldn't have time to stop anyway. 

As it is for this particular overpass, there's nothing that would cause a truck to hit it, short of mechanical failure or human error.

Heck. it's not all that uncommon for a legal height truck to strike overhead signs that are mounted 17 feet 6 inches above the road.

Um...I'm going to argue that it is very uncommon for a legal height truck to hit something that high.

[roadman]

Um...I'm going to argue that it is very uncommon for a legal height truck to hit something that high.

With respect, I stand by my statement, which is based on the numerous examples of 'clipped' overhead signs in Massachusetts I've observed over the past thirty years.  It is highly unlikely they all came from overheight trucks (legally permitted or otherwise).

[jeffandnicole]

Um...I'm going to argue that it is very uncommon for a legal height truck to hit something that high.

With respect, I stand by my statement, which is based on the numerous examples of 'clipped' overhead signs in Massachusetts I've observed over the past thirty years.  It is highly unlikely they all came from overheight trucks (legally permitted or otherwise).

Philly has numerous clipped and fully damaged signs as well, which can linger for years before they're fixed (if they ever are). I've seen them in NJ as well, although they tend to be quicker at replacing or removing the damaged sign.  But many of these damaged signs are the results of accidents or construction vehicles, not because of an overheight vehicle.

[Scott5114]

I've seen Oklahoma post heights on bridges as high as 22 ft. Why even have a sign?

[TEG24601]

It is like how all overpasses in Michigan are signed, including from the top of a 4-level stack to the bottom level. 25+ feet of clearance, and it is still signed.

[bzakharin]

It would appear you are right since I spotted a similar 2 mile advance sign approaching the service plaza in the other direction as well.

Overheight trucks can turn around at the service plaza.

[SteveG1988]

If you ever get a chance, purcahase the Motor Carrier's Atlas from Rand McNally, it's about 20 bucks and lists under height structures and truck restricted routes.

[KEK Inc.]

It would appear you are right since I spotted a similar 2 mile advance sign approaching the service plaza in the other direction as well.

Overheight trucks can turn around at the service plaza.

A quick look on google maps, and you can see it's possible to turn around in the service plaza.  Probably not for conventional traffic.


iPhone

[SteveG1988]

Anybody can turn around in there.

[jeffandnicole]

Unlike the NJ or PA Turnpikes which are ticket-based toll highways and don't permit u-turns, most barrier-type toll roads could care less if you make a U-turn in a service plaza.  The parking lot is fully open at the travel plaza. 

Having said that, in this case a truck would have first gone thru the Egg Harbor toll plaza travelling west.  If the trucker decides they don't want to chance going underneath a bridge (that is higher than what their truck is permitted to be, so it shouldn't be a concern, but whatever), they will have to go back thru the toll plaza again, paying again, as there are no other exits between that toll plaza and the service plaza.

[NE2]

Florida's Turnpike charges a special rate (rather than the maximum) for U-turning at plazas: http://www.floridasturnpike.com/safety_uturns.cfm

[bzakharin]

Unlike the NJ or PA Turnpikes which are ticket-based toll highways and don't permit u-turns, most barrier-type toll roads could care less if you make a U-turn in a service plaza.  The parking lot is fully open at the travel plaza. 

Having said that, in this case a truck would have first gone thru the Egg Harbor toll plaza travelling west.  If the trucker decides they don't want to chance going underneath a bridge (that is higher than what their truck is permitted to be, so it shouldn't be a concern, but whatever), they will have to go back thru the toll plaza again, paying again, as there are no other exits between that toll plaza and the service plaza.

If this really is true, though, you could avoid the toll at exit 28 going west (or entrance going east). Of course, you have to make a 14 mile round trip to accomplish this.

[jeffandnicole]

Unlike the NJ or PA Turnpikes which are ticket-based toll highways and don't permit u-turns, most barrier-type toll roads could care less if you make a U-turn in a service plaza.  The parking lot is fully open at the travel plaza. 

Having said that, in this case a truck would have first gone thru the Egg Harbor toll plaza travelling west.  If the trucker decides they don't want to chance going underneath a bridge (that is higher than what their truck is permitted to be, so it shouldn't be a concern, but whatever), they will have to go back thru the toll plaza again, paying again, as there are no other exits between that toll plaza and the service plaza.

If this really is true, though, you could avoid the toll at exit 28 going west (or entrance going east). Of course, you have to make a 14 mile round trip to accomplish this.

But you would've gone under the overpass by then.

Going East, if a trucker goes past Exit 28 (Rt. 54) or enters at Exit 28, they must go under the 13' 10" overpass.  There are no other exits or turn around before that overpass.

Going West, a trucker would go thru the toll plaza first.  There are no other interchanges until the service plaza.  If the trucker doesn't want to go under the 13' 11" overpass, they would need to make a U-turn at the service plaza, and then proceed back thru the toll plaza before they can exit the highway.

[bzakharin]

Unlike the NJ or PA Turnpikes which are ticket-based toll highways and don't permit u-turns, most barrier-type toll roads could care less if you make a U-turn in a service plaza.  The parking lot is fully open at the travel plaza. 

Having said that, in this case a truck would have first gone thru the Egg Harbor toll plaza travelling west.  If the trucker decides they don't want to chance going underneath a bridge (that is higher than what their truck is permitted to be, so it shouldn't be a concern, but whatever), they will have to go back thru the toll plaza again, paying again, as there are no other exits between that toll plaza and the service plaza.

If this really is true, though, you could avoid the toll at exit 28 going west (or entrance going east). Of course, you have to make a 14 mile round trip to accomplish this.

But you would've gone under the overpass by then.

Going East, if a trucker goes past Exit 28 (Rt. 54) or enters at Exit 28, they must go under the 13' 10" overpass.  There are no other exits or turn around before that overpass.

Going West, a trucker would go thru the toll plaza first.  There are no other interchanges until the service plaza.  If the trucker doesn't want to go under the 13' 11" overpass, they would need to make a U-turn at the service plaza, and then proceed back thru the toll plaza before they can exit the highway.

I was talking about a driver in general, not a trucker specifically.

By the way, took a better look at the advance sign going westbound and it's actually for the same overpass meaning there are no exits between the sign and the overpass