Stages of intersections/roads

[Tonytone]

This is a topic about the stages of intersection & roads, from whence they were first conceived to current time.

For example.

A road would start as a

dirt/gravel trail
Widened dirt road
Paved road
Paved road with shoulders
Paved road with shoulders/lights/signs/bike lanes & etc.

An intersection would start as a

4 way just yield
4 way with 2 way stop signs
4 way with 4 way stop signs
Intersection with traffic lights
Intersection with traffic lights & safety devices.

This is the stages of life I have noticed with intersections & roads.


iPhone

[kphoger]

An intersection would start as a

4 way just yield
4 way with 2 way stop signs
4 way with 4 way stop signs
Intersection with traffic lights
Intersection with traffic lights & safety devices.

This is the stages of life I have noticed with intersections & roads.

Your view must be influenced by your location.  Elsewhere, wouldn't an intersection start out as uncontrolled?

[Tonytone]

An intersection would start as a

4 way just yield
4 way with 2 way stop signs
4 way with 4 way stop signs
Intersection with traffic lights
Intersection with traffic lights & safety devices.

This is the stages of life I have noticed with intersections & roads.

Your view must be influenced by your location.  Elsewhere, wouldn't an intersection start out as uncontrolled?

Ah thats what the 4 way with yield would be. Most people yield at intersections with no traffic control.

So it should be "uncontrolled intersection"  first. I just put it as a unsigned yield


iPhone

[Dirt Roads]

Not sure if the OP wanted any examples, but this is one from my old backyard.

My earliest childhood memories of Teays Valley Road in Scott Depot, West Virginia were when it was a two-lane dirt road.  The intersection at the "new" Teays Valley Hardware store was uncontrolled and both Hedrick Road and Crooked Creek Road were single-lane dirt roads that barely had enough berm for two cars to pass without pulling in the mirrors.  If I recall correctly, Teays Valley Road (CR-33) was paved by 1967.  I was mesmerized when the Department of Highways (DOH) began paving Hedrick Road (CR-33/3) in the Summer of 1968.  Orders & Haynes was the contractor, along with their world-famous Peptobismol pink pavers, dump trucks and rollers (all of which were parked next door to my house at night).  I recall that Crooked Creek Road (CR-33/2) was paved a few years later, connecting to a short stretch of pavement on each end of the bridge across I-64.  The "main road" was two-lane and both "side roads" remained single-lane, but now with enough berm to pass at speeds in excess of 20 mph.  Even in the early 1970's, the intersection remained uncontrolled.

It was dinnertime on a Saturday night (don't remember what year) and we heard a horrible squeal and crunch from an accident.  My dad, who was Army National Guard/Reserves and volunteer firefighter, jumped from the dinner table and ran.  Our neighbor's wife grabbed a couple of towels and ran as well.  Sure enough, a car with Ohio tags had run through the intersection from our side and was broadsided.  Our neighbor was credited for saving the driver's life, and the police asked her how she knew to bring towels for tourniquets.  Divine intervention, you might say.  On Monday, DOH installed the stop sign on the Crooked Creek side.  By the end of week, the DOH had worked out a deal with Teays Valley Hardware to remove a parking space so that a stop sign could be installed on Hedrick Road. 

Over the years, both "side roads" were widened to two-lanes with adjustments to signage.  At one point, the hardware relocated its main entrance to gave up all of its parking spaces alongside Hedrick Road to provide as much visibility as possible.  By the late 1990s, the original front entrance along Teays Valley Road was reopened, and for a few years, folks were again permitted to park in front of the stop sign on Hedrick.

Skipping forward, this intersection is now the south end of relocated US-35 just beyond "new" Scott Depot exit on I-64 (exit 44).  The intersection is fully signalized (and I believe there are pedestrian signals here as well, due to the close proximity of Teays Valley Christian School).

[I-55]

An intersection would start as a

4 way just yield
4 way with 2 way stop signs
4 way with 4 way stop signs
Intersection with traffic lights
Intersection with traffic lights & safety devices.

This is the stages of life I have noticed with intersections & roads.

iPhone

So where do roundabouts fit in? I wouldn't say 4 way with all yields because a roundabout is (at least in Indiana) the next step up from a 4 way stop

[Super Mateo]

This is a topic about the stages of intersection & roads, from whence they were first conceived to current time.

For example.

A road would start as a

dirt/gravel trail
Widened dirt road
Paved road
Paved road with shoulders
Paved road with shoulders/lights/signs/bike lanes & etc.

An intersection would start as a

4 way just yield
4 way with 2 way stop signs
4 way with 4 way stop signs
Intersection with traffic lights
Intersection with traffic lights & safety devices.

This is the stages of life I have noticed with intersections & roads.


iPhone

Stuenkel Road in Monee/University Park, IL just skipped most of the stages of road evolution.  It went straight from an unkept gravel road full of massive bumps that eventually became impassable over I-57 due to plant growth, to a paved multilane road with an interchange at I-57 that has stoplights.  There were no stages in between.

[jakeroot]

Not sure if the OP wanted any examples, but this is one from my old backyard.

My earliest childhood memories of Teays Valley Road in Scott Depot, West Virginia were when it was a two-lane dirt road.  The intersection at the "new" Teays Valley Hardware store was uncontrolled and both Hedrick Road and Crooked Creek Road were single-lane dirt roads that barely had enough berm for two cars to pass without pulling in the mirrors.  If I recall correctly, Teays Valley Road (CR-33) was paved by 1967.  I was mesmerized when the Department of Highways (DOH) began paving Hedrick Road (CR-33/3) in the Summer of 1968.  Orders & Haynes was the contractor, along with their world-famous Peptobismol pink pavers, dump trucks and rollers (all of which were parked next door to my house at night).  I recall that Crooked Creek Road (CR-33/2) was paved a few years later, connecting to a short stretch of pavement on each end of the bridge across I-64.  The "main road" was two-lane and both "side roads" remained single-lane, but now with enough berm to pass at speeds in excess of 20 mph.  Even in the early 1970's, the intersection remained uncontrolled.

It was dinnertime on a Saturday night (don't remember what year) and we heard a horrible squeal and crunch from an accident.  My dad, who was Army National Guard/Reserves and volunteer firefighter, jumped from the dinner table and ran.  Our neighbor's wife grabbed a couple of towels and ran as well.  Sure enough, a car with Ohio tags had run through the intersection from our side and was broadsided.  Our neighbor was credited for saving the driver's life, and the police asked her how she knew to bring towels for tourniquets.  Divine intervention, you might say.  On Monday, DOH installed the stop sign on the Crooked Creek side.  By the end of week, the DOH had worked out a deal with Teays Valley Hardware to remove a parking space so that a stop sign could be installed on Hedrick Road. 

Over the years, both "side roads" were widened to two-lanes with adjustments to signage.  At one point, the hardware relocated its main entrance to gave up all of its parking spaces alongside Hedrick Road to provide as much visibility as possible.  By the late 1990s, the original front entrance along Teays Valley Road was reopened, and for a few years, folks were again permitted to park in front of the stop sign on Hedrick.

Skipping forward, this intersection is now the south end of relocated US-35 just beyond "new" Scott Depot exit on I-64 (exit 44).  The intersection is fully signalized (and I believe there are pedestrian signals here as well, due to the close proximity of Teays Valley Christian School).

This is a really fantastic example, and it's really quite amazing how far that intersection has come. Certainly changed more than 99% of intersections ever will!

I can't imagine how your parents would see this area now, especially after US-35 was pushed through in the early 2000s.

My grandparents have similar stories about the road their farmhouse is off (and the one they still live in), which has changed from a dirt road in the 40s to a six to eight lane expressway as of about ten years ago. With those changes has come numerous stories about massive crashes and huge backups, ditches that lined the street to the sidewalks and bike lanes that now line each side. Really amazing changes, for better or worse (probably better).

As a side-note: I think pedestrian accommodation is a de facto requirement at all new signals, at least since the ADA became a thing.