Green floppy things

[Scott5114]

The newly-opened Kickapoo Turnpike in Oklahoma has, at its northern terminus, an installation of green floppy things to block headlights from oncoming cars.


My first reaction, which made me take the picture in the first place, was "holy shit, I didn't realize they still made those". Because while they're not exactly rare or anything, and show up on multiple interstates in the Oklahoma City area, most modern construction just makes the Jersey barrier high enough to block the lights. So it was a surprise to see a month-old installation of green floppy things. It's so weird seeing them without a few decades of fading to the paint and yellow reflectors that are worth a damn.

How much are these used in states other than Oklahoma? And if they're used there, have there been any recent installs?

[ilpt4u]

They are on I-57 around Kankakee...that section had recent reconstruction work, and they are still there

The ones on Google Maps in the area are old and falling apart

I could be crazy, but doesn't ISTHA use these things during Construction projects, when they shift a traffic lane to the "opposite"  carriageway?

[SkyPesos]

Most of the time when I see those, they're temporary and part of construction work.
Not a state, but I've seen them as permanent installations on many Chinese freeways.

[US 89]

They are permanently installed on portions of I-25 in Albuquerque.

I've seen them in Utah too, but pretty sure never outside of a construction zone.

[jeffandnicole]

Permanent install on 295 around US 30 in NJ:  https://goo.gl/maps/2DcpjBgP6HZaPG9y8 .  They snap easily when hit with a vehicle or debris.

[tdindy88]

New parts of I-69 in Southern Indiana between Martinsville and Bloomington has some of these between the interstate and nearby frontage roads. They definitely look permanent.

[Rothman]

MA-2 has them.  I want to say in the Fitchburg area.

[ran4sh]

In Georgia all the freeways with barriers just have them built high enough to block headlights. And that's done for the entire length of the barrier, not just the curves.

[1995hoo]

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.

[Brandon]

They are on I-57 around Kankakee...that section had recent reconstruction work, and they are still there

The ones on Google Maps in the area are old and falling apart

I could be crazy, but doesn't ISTHA use these things during Construction projects, when they shift a traffic lane to the "opposite"  carriageway?

Yes.  ISTHA also uses them when they reroute traffic onto the shoulder near the center median wall for a construction zone.

[SectorZ]

MA-2 has them.  I want to say in the Fitchburg area.

A little further west, the Death Valley stretch in Athol and Orange where US 202 joins it.

[Rothman]

MA-2 has them.  I want to say in the Fitchburg area.

A little further west, the Death Valley stretch in Athol and Orange where US 202 joins it.

Nope.  Those a big floppy yellow and orange things attached to bumps in the median.

Out around Fitchburg there's a jumbo jersey barrier median with the little green headlight-blockers on top of it on a downgrade eastbound.

Here you go:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/5K5bHJXpfjmdy2Wp7

[bing101]

Berkeley has them on I-80 and parts of the Ventura Freeway in the San Fernando Valley has these things the OP is saying here.

[TEG24601]

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?

[Brandon]

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?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[wanderer2575]

It's not a "green floppy thing," but the northern terminus of M-5 at Pontiac Trail in Commerce Township has a snow fence permanently installed in the median, to deliberately obstruct vision and thus force motorists to slow down as they approach the roundabout.

https://goo.gl/maps/9wgobt3EP3VvdFxV6

[hotdogPi]

I believe they're called flexible bollards.

[Takumi]

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.

[CapeCodder]

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.

Can confirm. Does MA 24 still have them at 495?

[briantroutman]

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.

[Revive 755]

I-55 has them at the northern I-74 interchange in Bloomington.

I-44 in Missouri used to have them on one of the hills between the Pacific and Six Flags exits.  I seemed to recall them being replaced with some sort of fencing prior to the project that built a higher concrete barrier.

[hbelkins]

First place I ever saw them was along a jersey barrier separating the West Virginia Turnpike's southbound lanes from the two-lane adjacent WV 61.

[jmacswimmer]

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.

[ET21]

They are on I-57 around Kankakee...that section had recent reconstruction work, and they are still there

The ones on Google Maps in the area are old and falling apart

I could be crazy, but doesn't ISTHA use these things during Construction projects, when they shift a traffic lane to the "opposite"  carriageway?

Yes.  ISTHA also uses them when they reroute traffic onto the shoulder near the center median wall for a construction zone.

You can see them in action along I-294 with the ongoing rebuild

[formulanone]

I-95 has them in the stretch from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. In a lot of sections, the median wall has increased in height.

They aren't designed to help out if you're going only 5 miles an hour...