I-190 sign truss failure

[roadman]

Metro Traffic's reporters on WBZ and other Boston stations have been reporting that I-190 is closed in both directions just north of I-290 in Worcester so crews can remove an overhead sign structure that is about to fall.

The support in question is apparently a box truss structure that spans both sides of I-190, with no intermediate uprights in the median.  The road is presently closed between Exit 1 (Gold Star Boulevard) and Exit 4 (MA 12 W. Boylston).  Latest tweet from MassDOT indicates they expect the highway to be closed until about 6 PM.

[Zeffy]

At least they got to it before something happened. Imagine if something like that fell on a vehicle?

[roadman]

At least they got to it before something happened. Imagine if something like that fell on a vehicle?

Either that, or it was fairly obvious it was about to fail.  A similar situation happened on I-91 north of Springfield several years ago.  During a severe rainstorm, the right foundation of a sign structure was undermined, causing the entire structure to cant about 45 degrees.  Fortunately, a very observant State Trooper realized something was wrong and stopped traffic to prevent a much more severe accident.

[PHLBOS]

Doing a quick look via Google Earth; there's 3 box-truss gantries that span over all lanes of I-190.

Located just north of I-290 and south of Exit 1 (MA 12)

Located just north of Exit 1 (MA 12) near Indian Lake

Located just south of Exit 2 (Ararat Rd.)

Out of curiousity, which one is it?

[roadman]

Doing a quick look via Google Earth; there's 3 box-truss gantries that span over all lanes of I-190.

Located just north of I-290 and south of Exit 1 (MA 12)

Located just north of Exit 1 (MA 12) near Indian Lake

Located just south of Exit 2 (Ararat Rd.)

Out of curiousity, which one is it?

My understanding is that it is the one just south of Exit 2 north of Exit 1 near Indian Lake.

[PHLBOS]

My understanding is that it is the one just south of Exit 2.

With the coming changeover to mile-marker-based exit numbering; that NEXT EXIT 4 BGS will ultimately wind up coming down anyway.  Two separate cantilever gantries (one on each side of I-190) for the other remaining BGS' would be more appropriate IMHO.

[roadman]

My understanding is that it is the one just south of Exit 2.

With the coming changeover to mile-marker-based exit numbering; that NEXT EXIT 4 BGS will ultimately wind up coming down anyway.  Two separate cantilever gantries (one on each side of I-190) for the other remaining BGS' would be more appropriate IMHO.

Assuming the structure didn't have to be taken down due to vehicle impact (which means Accident Recovery will get involved), it might be possible for MassDOT to replace it with two cantilever supports and temp ground-mount the Next Exit 4 sign for the short term before it becomes unnecessary.  However, if the structure is being replaced under Accident Recovery, that might be a tough sell.  Massachusetts accident recovery laws have always been very stringent about "replace exactly in kind", even if a proposed alternative makes more sense in the long term.

[Beeper1]

Based on a picture on the Worcester Telegram website, it is the gantry that was located just north of Exit 1 by Indian Lake, that holds the Exit 1 arrow BGS and "I-290 1 mile" BGS.

[southshore720]

Do you think they will recycle the signage, or replace it with the new standard BGSs?

[roadman]

Do you think they will recycle the signage, or replace it with the new standard BGSs?

Unless the signing is relatively new, SOP is to replace both the structure and the signing.  The location is then skipped during the next scheduled sign update project.

I-190 Worcester to Leominster was last completed in the late 1990s (IIRC 15 to 17 years ago), so I doubt MassDOT would replace the structure but reset the existing signs.

[roadman]

Based on a picture on the Worcester Telegram website, it is the gantry that was located just north of Exit 1 by Indian Lake, that holds the Exit 1 arrow BGS and "I-290 1 mile" BGS.

Correct PHLBOS - misread your location descriptors (and didn't check the GSV images either).  Have revised my original post.

[J Route Z]

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Worcester,+MA&hl=en&ll=42.307618,-71.808384&spn=0.000011,0.003782&sll=42.308959,-71.802692&sspn=0.018154,0.030255&oq=wo,+MA&t=h&hnear=Worcester,+Worcester+County,+Massachusetts&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.307522,-71.808387&panoid=iQ0UA33wAS0_0bEYyDAJ1Q&cbp=12,3.79,,0,7.15&output=classic&dg=oo

One of the worst signs ever. You don't know if it's 4 miles to the next exit, or the next exit is exit 4!

[NE2]

One of the worst signs ever.

Nope. Not even close.

[dcbjms]

One of the worst signs ever. You don't know if it's 4 miles to the next exit, or the next exit is exit 4!

My interpretation would be that the next exit is Exit 4, since there is no Exit 3.  Though in that case one would wonder if a "No Exit 3" would be used instead of the existing sign or interpolated with the existing sign as additional information.

[KEVIN_224]

Is there any update on this gantry and traffic on I-190 itself now?

[PHLBOS]

Do you think they will recycle the signage, or replace it with the new standard BGSs?

Unless the signing is relatively new, SOP is to replace both the structure and the signing.  The location is then skipped during the next scheduled sign update project.

I-190 Worcester to Marlborough was last completed in the late 1990s (IIRC 15 to 17 years ago), so I doubt MassDOT would replace the structure but reset the existing signs.

The BGS' are clearly from the 90s (note the button-copy numerals in the I-shields) but I believe those three gantries themselves appear to be from the early 80s dating back to when I-190 first opened. 

I know for a fact that the first gantry is older then the BGS'.  I remember seeing the original NORTH 190 BGS with its cardinal letters all of the same height and the 190 numerals in Series D font and the other BGS' having center-justified exit tabs.

[froggie]

Is there any update on this gantry and traffic on I-190 itself now?

I-190 was open yesterday...at least yesterday morning when I passed through.  Had I known about this sign gantry situation, I would've looked more carefully at things.

[SidS1045]

You don't know if it's 4 miles to the next exit, or the next exit is exit 4!

Yes you do.  Conforming to other MassDOT usage, if it were four miles to the next exit it would have said NEXT EXIT 4 MILES.

[PHLBOS]

One of the worst signs ever. You don't know if it's 4 miles to the next exit, or the next exit is exit 4!

My interpretation would be that the next exit is Exit 4, since there is no Exit 3.  Though in that case one would wonder if a "No Exit 3" would be used instead of the existing sign or interpolated with the existing sign as additional information.

No, such is only done when there actually is no exit (3 in this case) whatsoever from any direction of the highway (i.e. an intentional skip).  However, Exit 3 off I-190 does indeed exist as a southbound off-ramp exit.

You don't know if it's 4 miles to the next exit, or the next exit is exit 4!

Yes you do.  Conforming to other MassDOT usage, if it were four miles to the next exit it would have said NEXT EXIT 4 MILES.

J Route Z, the key to signs like these is sequential exit numbering.  The reasoning for such is that there is no Exit 3 along I-190 Northbound (Exit 3 only exists in the southbound direction).  With sequential exit numbering, for better/for worse, the distance between said-exits is irrelevant.

As earlier mentioned, once MassDOT starts converting to mile-marker-based exit numbering in the not-too-distant future; that NEXT EXIT 4 BGS and others like it will be taken down.

[dcbjms]

As earlier mentioned, once MassDOT starts converting to mile-marker-based exit numbering in the not-too-distant future; that NEXT EXIT 4 BGS and others like it will be taken down.

It's times like these where I miss the old 295 signage near Route 146 and wished it were more widely adopted.  You know which signage I'm talking about - the one with "MILE XXX/EXIT XX" in the tab.

[PHLBOS]

It's times like these where I miss the old 295 signage near Route 146 and wished it were more widely adopted.  You know which signage I'm talking about - the one with "MILE XXX/EXIT XX" in the tab.

70s-vintage BGS' along I-93 north of Boston had similar as well.

[shadyjay]

Mass is the only sequential state I've seen advertise a missing exit.  I've seen no explanation on a sign of the jump from Exit 18 to Exit 68 on I-95 in NJ, or from Exit 76 to Exit 81 on I-95 in CT, or the old jump in Maine from Exit 9 to 15, or the old 1-2-3-4-2-3-4-etc. 

[PHLBOS]

Mass is the only sequential state I've seen advertise a missing exit.  I've seen no explanation on a sign of the jump from Exit 18 to Exit 68 on I-95 in NJ, or from Exit 76 to Exit 81 on I-95 in CT, or the old jump in Maine from Exit 9 to 15, or the old 1-2-3-4-2-3-4-etc.

Pre-Iway project, there used to be a supplemental NO EXIT 19 BGS along I-95 North in Providence, RI before the I-195 East interchange (then-Exit 20).

[roadman]

Update:  According to my sources, the issue with the support was not a foundation problem, but that the weld connecting the base plate to one of the uprights failed (similar to what happened to that cantilever support on I-93 just south of Concord NH a couple of years ago).  And, as Zeffy indicated above, the consequences could have been much worse than they were.

However, as PHLBOS pointed out, there are two other structures of nearly identical design adjacent to that location that were installed as part of the same sign update project in 1997.  If they haven't already started, I'm sure the District 3 Bridge Section plans to make inspecting those other supports a high priority (assuming they can find the base plates underneath the mounds of snow).