Unpopular Anything Road-Related Opinions

[sprjus4]

I've never seen the left shoulder being used as an extra lane, only the right.

The left shoulder is used as an extra lane on US 23 in Michigan.  https://goo.gl/maps/HRb52ttcTut1wtUx8

And I still do not understand why that was not simply converted to a general purpose lane.

[SkyPesos]

I've never seen the left shoulder being used as an extra lane, only the right.

The left shoulder is used as an extra lane on US 23 in Michigan.  https://goo.gl/maps/HRb52ttcTut1wtUx8

Here's another (recent) one: I-670 in Columbus

[Scott5114]

I wish people would drive faster on my street. Most of the time, when I'm almost home, I have to pee.

[Tom958]

I wish people would drive faster on my street. Most of the time, when I'm almost home, I have to pee.

And I wish this forum had reaction emojis like Facebook. 

[LM117]

Putting people in a pickup truck bed, etc. is already illegal so we need not concern ourselves with that.

Depends on what state you're in. In NC, it's legal to ride in the bed of a pickup as long as you're 16 or over and those under 16 can ride if they're accompanied by an adult.

VA is the pretty much the same way, except that anyone under 16 can't ride in the bed except during authorized parades and farming operations.

[formulanone]

I wish people would drive faster on my street. Most of the time, when I'm almost home, I have to pee.

And I wish this forum had reaction emojis like Facebook. 

There's a sign for everything.



(It's a taxiway at O'Hare, no GSV.)

[jmacswimmer]

I've never seen the left shoulder being used as an extra lane, only the right.

The left shoulder is used as an extra lane on US 23 in Michigan.  https://goo.gl/maps/HRb52ttcTut1wtUx8

Here's another (recent) one: I-670 in Columbus

And I-495 in Virginia (although this one is just a stopgap until the ETL's are extended over the Legion Bridge into Maryland).

[SectorZ]

I dislike loud, Harley-type motorcycles, but I don't think they should be banned.

(Honestly, if bicycles and motorcycles were invented today, they'd never be allowed on the streets.)

Noise pollution is a real problem. They should definitely have mufflers.

Well you just BANNED something, namely un-muffled motorcycles. I guess that makes you an authoritarian person of bad character now. 

kernals12 never said banning things was authoritarian. That was SectorZ.

I am fully aware of that. Its called sarcasm.

At least what kernals12 wanted to ban serves to correct an actual legitimate concern, based on actual science.

[paulthemapguy]

I-290 into Chicago is never getting widened.  Take the damn train.

[HighwayStar]

I dislike loud, Harley-type motorcycles, but I don't think they should be banned.

(Honestly, if bicycles and motorcycles were invented today, they'd never be allowed on the streets.)

Noise pollution is a real problem. They should definitely have mufflers.

Well you just BANNED something, namely un-muffled motorcycles. I guess that makes you an authoritarian person of bad character now. 

kernals12 never said banning things was authoritarian. That was SectorZ.

I am fully aware of that. Its called sarcasm.

At least what kernals12 wanted to ban serves to correct an actual legitimate concern, based on actual science.

There is plenty of "actual science" to say that SUVs are a wasteful extravagance that generate negative externality other drivers, arguably large ones than loud motorcycles.

[Flint1979]

I've never seen the left shoulder being used as an extra lane, only the right.

The left shoulder is used as an extra lane on US 23 in Michigan.  https://goo.gl/maps/HRb52ttcTut1wtUx8

Only during peak travel times otherwise it's closed and you can only use the two lanes.

[Ned Weasel]

I've never seen the left shoulder being used as an extra lane, only the right.

The left shoulder is used as an extra lane on US 23 in Michigan.  https://goo.gl/maps/HRb52ttcTut1wtUx8

Only during peak travel times otherwise it's closed and you can only use the two lanes.

That's what I thought was meant by "extra lane."  If it wasn't restricted, it would just be a normal lane.

[CoreySamson]

Speaking of extra lanes, here's an instance where the shoulder of a road is used as an extra lane during a hurricane evacuation:

TX-36 north of West Columbia

[Big John]

Speaking of extra lanes, here's an instance where the shoulder of a road is used as an extra lane during a hurricane evacuation:

TX-36 north of West Columbia

Other highways, usually Interstate use contraflow for hurricane evacuation, meaning all lanes , including the outward lanes, go inward.

[kphoger]

I dislike loud, Harley-type motorcycles, but I don't think they should be banned.

(Honestly, if bicycles and motorcycles were invented today, they'd never be allowed on the streets.)

Noise pollution is a real problem. They should definitely have mufflers.

Well you just BANNED something, namely un-muffled motorcycles. I guess that makes you an authoritarian person of bad character now. 

No, he didn't.  Harleys have mufflers.

Slower traffic should be allowed to drive on the shoulder.  It's specifically allowed by law in Texas, and other states should follow suit.

I think the I-80 project in Stroudsburg is using a pseudo-3-lane design with extra-wide shoulders to be used as extra lanes during periods of high traffic, effectively making it a 5-lane highway through a town of 4,000 people.

These examples being given are nothing like what I have in mind.  I'm talking about this.

Putting people in a pickup truck bed, etc. is already illegal so we need not concern ourselves with that.

Depends on what state you're in. In NC, it's legal to ride in the bed of a pickup as long as you're 16 or over and those under 16 can ride if they're accompanied by an adult.

VA is the pretty much the same way, except that anyone under 16 can't ride in the bed except during authorized parades and farming operations.

Thanks.  I was going to post something like that, but I was too lazy to look up the traffic laws.  But yes, riding in the back of a pickup is not necessarily prohibited everywhere.  I seem to remember that the law in Texas allows it if you have more people than seats, probably with other restrictions.

[JoePCool14]

US-20 between Freeport and Galena, IL  doesn't need to be four-laned. It just needs to be rebuilt with better, wider shoulders and a few more passing lanes here and there.

[sprjus4]

Speaking of extra lanes, here's an instance where the shoulder of a road is used as an extra lane during a hurricane evacuation:

TX-36 north of West Columbia

I-37 northbound between Corpus Christi and San Antonio has those. Between SH-358 and US-77, it's on the left shoulder, then switches to the right shoulder north of there to San Antonio.

I-10 westbound also has them on the right shoulder I believe, between Houston and San Antonio.

[CoreySamson]

Speaking of extra lanes, here's an instance where the shoulder of a road is used as an extra lane during a hurricane evacuation:

TX-36 north of West Columbia

I-37 northbound between Corpus Christi and San Antonio has those. Between SH-358 and US-77, it's on the left shoulder, then switches to the right shoulder north of there to San Antonio.

I-10 westbound also has them on the right shoulder I believe, between Houston and San Antonio.

I guess I might as well have an unpopular opinion about these: the evacuation symbols should be on every evacuation route's shoulder if space allows.

[sprjus4]

I believe where they exist, the shoulder is slightly wider to properly function as a lane. It's not just a standard shoulder.

[jeffandnicole]

There is plenty of "actual science" to say that SUVs are a wasteful extravagance that generate negative externality other drivers, arguably large ones than loud motorcycles.

By putting Actual Science in quotes, you probably don't mean actual science.

Speaking of extra lanes, here's an instance where the shoulder of a road is used as an extra lane during a hurricane evacuation:

TX-36 north of West Columbia

I-37 northbound between Corpus Christi and San Antonio has those. Between SH-358 and US-77, it's on the left shoulder, then switches to the right shoulder north of there to San Antonio.

I-10 westbound also has them on the right shoulder I believe, between Houston and San Antonio.

I guess I might as well have an unpopular opinion about these: the evacuation symbols should be on every evacuation route's shoulder if space allows.

No.  That lane should remain open in case there's an accident or incident that needs responding to. The only thing worse than a clogged evacuation route is a blocked evacuation route.

[zachary_amaryllis]

I am not a fan of protected left turns - sometimes sitting behind that light takes way too long.

What's more annoying is a flashing yellow arrow light that never gives you a flashing arrow (unless its between midnight and 6 AM).

What's more annoying is a flashing yellow arrow light that only gives you a flashing arrow, while the entire population of the county is driving by in the other direction, so only one person actually gets to go on each cycle.

SE Mich drivers have that figured out - 3 more cars follow through on the red.

Which in turn depending on the cycle order then annoys those of us with a fresh green who have to wait for dicks to finish their red light running.

there is a signal near me that never gives anything other than the fya, even though it's set up to give a green arrow. i think it's complicated by the railroad tracks that go through the intersection on a diagonal, so there's really no place to stop where the light knows you're there. if you stop before the tracks, you're too far back, if you clear the tracks, you're in the crosswalk, or stopped on the tracks. of course, in my entire life i've never seen a train on this track.

shields/287 nw of fort collins, if anyone knows where that is.

[Caps81943]

Some of these have probably already been said, but here goes.

- I know most of us hate HAWK signals, and I agree, but I don't think regular traffic lights are the way to go. Flashing green (BC-style) is the way to go.

- Any signal with a combination of 8" and 12" looks awful. Make it uniform (preferably 12!).

- For 2di's, state-named shields are bad. For 3di's, state-named shields are good, or in the case of multi-state 3di's, do a descriptor (example: DC BELTWAY around I-495).

- Word-based pedestrian signals are terrible, ESPECIALLY the flashing "DONT WALK"

- All overhead traffic lights should have backplates, preferably black with yellow reflective strips. If no overhead at an approach, make some pole-mounted ones have a backplate.

- All intrastate 3du's are completely fine, intrastate 2du's and 2di's are only fine if over like 350 miles. Use 3-digit routes in that case. Additionally, all 2-digit routes under 150 miles, regardless of how many states it passes through, should be 3 digits.

- State-outline highway shields are the best ones.

- Major corridors in the Midwest should have good ways of protecting drivers from severe storms and tornados, and this includes publicly signed shelters and routinely occurring VMS's that can display "TORNADO WARNING"

- Highway clearances over 16 feet have no reason to be shown.

- Botts' dots are terrible.

- Basically every paved road should at least have a noticeable sign when entering a new state/province/territory, and any remotely major corridor should have a nice, big sign (no smaller than this.

[SkyPesos]

- State-outline highway shields are the best ones.

Depends on the state for me. I think Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio's state outline works the best, though their state shapes fit as a shield well naturally. Florida's isn't natural for numbers, but I liked how they cut off one side to fit the numbers instead of squeezing them into the outline like the old Illinois shield or making their state shape fatter like Alabama. For bad examples, I dislike Louisiana and Idaho's to start off for tiny numbers.

- Botts' dots are terrible.

I have no clue what they are, but whatever it is, good thing that they don't exist where I am

[GaryV]

For 3di's, state-named shields are good,

Because people will get confused as to whether they are on I-275 in MI or FL?

[SkyPesos]

For 3di's, state-named shields are good,

Because people will get confused as to whether they are on I-275 in MI or FL?

I only know of one person out of many that got Cincinnati and Detroit's I-275 confused with each other, so it would be even more unusual to see Detroit and Tampa's mixed up, considering the distance.

Even then, the exit numbers of where they meet I-75 is different. Cincinnati's meet I-75 in the Ohio side at exit 16, Detroit's meet at exit 20.