Best / worst region-specific practices?

[national highway 1]

Texas: the placement of their exit arrow bugs me a bit:

I'm not a particular fan of how Texas aligns their arrows at the bottom of exit signs:

[agentsteel53]

Mississippi
Like - the quality of the highways, always smooth

Where in Mississippi was that? In my experience it always seemed to be the opposite! Although I'll admit it's been a while since I've driven there.

indeed!  one of the things I like about Mississippi is the old bumpy concrete that is everywhere.  especially old two-lane bumpy concrete. 

[mcdonaat]

Mississippi
Like - the quality of the highways, always smooth

Where in Mississippi was that? In my experience it always seemed to be the opposite! Although I'll admit it's been a while since I've driven there.

indeed!  one of the things I like about Mississippi is the old bumpy concrete that is everywhere.  especially old two-lane bumpy concrete. 

Maybe it's because I was always coming into MS from LA, but US 61, 84/98, MS 24, 33, and 48, and US 51 were my only routes traveled, with all of them being much smoother than Louisiana.

Mile markers are messed up big time in LA. LA 3225 in Tioga, which is about six miles long, still retains the Mile 80 marker from US 71. All markers are northbound or westbound only, with both directions posted on LA 137 between Archibald and Rayville. US 167 north of Pineville still retains markers, and so does US 71 north of Pineville.

[Ian]

Dislike:  Use of the flashing green signal to mean completely different things in B.C. and the rest of Canada.  If there's no general agreement what a traffic signal means, post a sign instead.

The rest of Canada seems to have it so a flashing green means all direction of travel (where legal) has the right of way. What does it mean in B.C.? Just curious, since I've never been to that part of the country.

[1995hoo]

Dislike:  Use of the flashing green signal to mean completely different things in B.C. and the rest of Canada.  If there's no general agreement what a traffic signal means, post a sign instead.

The rest of Canada seems to have it so a flashing green means all direction of travel (where legal) has the right of way. What does it mean in B.C.? Just curious, since I've never been to that part of the country.

Pedestrian-controlled crossing.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Is the predominant use of span wire for traffic signals a regional practice? From my travels I associate that with the upper Midwest and the Southeast. If so, I vote "dislike".

[thenetwork]

One that I like:

Little overhead route markers when approaching (and often right after) an intersection.  I don't think I've seen any widespread use of these outside of Georgia.

Indiana seems to do it the best, with nice BIG overhead assemblies denoting where each route is going at the upcoming intersections.  I wish more states would follow suit coughcoughCOLORADOcoughcough.

[amroad17]

Texas: the placement of their exit arrow bugs me a bit:

I'm not a particular fan of how Texas aligns their arrows at the bottom of exit signs:

I have seen Maryland do the same thing.  Heck, you also can see where the arrow used to be on some signs (particularly on I-68 and I-70 between Hancock and Hagerstown).

[tradephoric]

Is the predominant use of span wire for traffic signals a regional practice? From my travels I associate that with the upper Midwest and the Southeast. If so, I vote "dislike".

Michigan uses a lot of span wire.  Do you have a preference of diagonal spans or box spans?

Diagonal span example:


Box span example:

[Ian]

Is the predominant use of span wire for traffic signals a regional practice? From my travels I associate that with the upper Midwest and the Southeast. If so, I vote "dislike".

Span wire installations are also big in the northeastern states. I actually like span wire signals, unless they're sloppy, like this:

[ljwestmcsd]

Illinois
Like:   Speeding tolerated.   

Don't know what part of Illinois you're talking about, but on 1-64 they will get you for doing 72 [they did me]. This was because I did not realize that the speed limit went from 70 in Indiana to 65 in Illinois. As General Ackbar once said, it's a trap.

Kentucky
Like:   Many of the interstates are 3 lanes each direction, or soon will be.
Like:   They actually removed the tolls on the parkways after they were paid off.
Like:   The speed limit remains high several miles into town. For example, I-65 in Kentucky has a 70 mph limit until the I-265 freeway, and a 65 mile speed limit almost to the airport, which is in the middle of town. Indiana on the other hand has a 55 mph limit several miles into the rural areas.
Dislike:   I think they removed the tolls too quickly, and should have improved the roads first, such as 4-laneing the parts of the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway that are super-2.
Dislike:   That they renamed all of the parkways after politicians.
Dislike:   They have too many state highways. Every road owned or maintained by the state has a number.

[NE2]

Dislike:   They have too many state highways. Every road owned or maintained by the state has a number.

Isn't this true of most states (Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the only ones I can think of that don't do this)?

[jwags]

Dislike:   They have too many state highways. Every road owned or maintained by the state has a number.

Isn't this true of most states (Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the only ones I can think of that don't do this)?

Wisconsin doesn't do this.  They have too many County Highways which are letters.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

In my visits to Michigan, there are multiple observations that I do like within the state. For one, I like that most major two-lane roads have rumble strips in the middle of the road to alert drivers that they're too close to center. Also of note is the fact that the starting points of legal passing zones are marked with signs stating "Pass with care."

Another nice touch (especially in Grand Rapids) is the blinking red left turn signal. The concept of left turns on either a green arrow or a blinking red light is great for moderate-flow intersections.

I don't know if Ohio still does it, but I loved the practice of marking which lanes were for an exit and which lanes were thru by use of a solid stripe. A solid white line would give drivers an idea of which lanes they need to be in to complete their transition for about a few thousand feet. I know I saw that in Columbus a few years back...

I also like the Illinois practice of placing secondary control cities on interstates for lesser traveled interchanges. To me, it serves as good reference points for where you are in the state.

[agentsteel53]

Another nice touch (especially in Grand Rapids) is the blinking red left turn signal. The concept of left turns on either a green arrow or a blinking red light is great for moderate-flow intersections.

I don't think I've ever seen a blinking red left turn signal.  does this mean I have to come to a stop before making the left turn, even though I can clearly see there is no one coming to intersect my path?

[nwi_navigator_1181]

I don't think I've ever seen a blinking red left turn signal.  does this mean I have to come to a stop before making the left turn, even though I can clearly see there is no one coming to intersect my path?

Technically, you have to stop before proceeding. It's a little more strict than "left turn yield on green," but as long as the effort is there, I am sure it's okay. I've done both in my visits to Grand Rapids.

[agentsteel53]

Technically, you have to stop before proceeding. It's a little more strict than "left turn yield on green," but as long as the effort is there, I am sure it's okay. I've done both in my visits to Grand Rapids.

is it because oncoming traffic is coming around a curve or other low-visibility situation?

[on_wisconsin]

Is the predominant use of span wire for traffic signals a regional practice? From my travels I associate that with the upper Midwest[snip]

Actually, span wire is the exception instead of the rule here in the Upper Midwest with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois using mast arm or truss assemblies as the norm for controlled intersections.   

[nwi_navigator_1181]

is it because oncoming traffic is coming around a curve or other low-visibility situation?

Really, it's neither. Most of these light types I've encountered have been on gentle straightaways. I just like this visual indication of permissive left turns...a lot better than the vague "Left Turn Signal" signs and more flexible than our strict "Left on Green Arrow Only" policy here.

[tradephoric]

I don't think I've ever seen a blinking red left turn signal.  does this mean I have to come to a stop before making the left turn, even though I can clearly see there is no one coming to intersect my path?

MDOT director Kirt Steudle was recently interviewed on the Frank Beckmann show and this topic came up.  This was his reply:

When you drive up to an intersection and there is nobody coming and the light is flashing red you are suppose to stop and then proceed.  But what everybody was doing, myself included and probably most of your listeners, is you see a flashing red light coming up and nobody is coming and you just whip right through it.  Well, you just violated the traffic law because you're supposed to stop and then proceed...(Aug 13, 2012)

The full interview can be found in the link below.  The topic came up after Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was involved in a serious accident at an intersection with a flashing yellow arrow.

http://www.wjr.com/FlashPlayer/default.asp?SPID=34613&ID=2512143

[Brandon]

Illinois
Like:   Speeding tolerated.   

Don't know what part of Illinois you're talking about, but on 1-64 they will get you for doing 72 [they did me]. This was because I did not realize that the speed limit went from 70 in Indiana to 65 in Illinois. As General Ackbar once said, it's a trap.

Some of the downstate state police districts get a bit bug nutty on speed when compared to the state police districts in northern Illinois and the Tollway state police district (District 15).  The situation gets bad down around places like Litchfield.

[mukade]

Another nice touch (especially in Grand Rapids) is the blinking red left turn signal. The concept of left turns on either a green arrow or a blinking red light is great for moderate-flow intersections.

I think this flashing red arrow is deprecated, but to me, it was dangerous. Drivers interpret it differently - the locals treat it as a solid green ball (no stopping and yield to oncoming traffic), but visitors always stopped. Sometimes they would sit through a cycle so it seemed to cause the potential for rear end collisions. The flashing yellow arrow is the replacement, but that also causes a level of confusion as evidenced by the story from Oakland County.

I still don't understand the problem with the solid green ball. It does the job effectively, and there is little room for confusion. To me, the FYA was a solution in search of a problem.

The only solid green ball issue I remember occurred in your neck of the woods. Back around 1973 or 1974, Indiana (ISHC, I suppose) introduced the doghouse traffic lights on US 30 in Lake County. Therefore, left turns went from protected to protected/permissive, but the results were not pretty. There were several accidents so the state quickly replaced them all - since then pretty much all divided highways statewide either have either protected left turns only or no left turn signals at all.

[1995hoo]

Is the predominant use of span wire for traffic signals a regional practice? From my travels I associate that with the upper Midwest and the Southeast. If so, I vote "dislike".

Virginia used a lot of span wire for a long time but has been moving more towards mast arms recently. The most annoying thing about the span wire was that they maintained (falsely) that it prevented them from hanging a street sign next to the traffic lights because the wire wouldn't allow for it. I don't believe that because I've seen plenty of span wire in other states with street signs hung from it, primarily in North Carolina because I spent three years there during law school and so had more reason to notice such things. Of course, I suppose their wire might be a different specification.

I found the amount of span wire I saw in the Miami suburbs to be somewhat surprising because I would have expected hurricane preparedness would have suggested not using it. But on the other hand, if they're expecting a bad one they can take down the traffic lights in advance if they use wire. Back in North Carolina the City of Durham did that in 1996 prior to Hurricane Fran so that the span wire wouldn't snap loose and become a hazard.

[Takumi]

^ With regard to your point about signs hanging from span wire in Virginia, the only time I'd ever seen an example of such was in the mid-90s at a local intersection that didn't have any place to put the blade signs on the ground. For years it didn't have a sign at all, but one day the sign appeared hanging from the wire. Eventually, some redevelopment occurred there in such a way that it became possible to post the signs at the normal level.

[agentsteel53]

Really, it's neither. Most of these light types I've encountered have been on gentle straightaways. I just like this visual indication of permissive left turns...a lot better than the vague "Left Turn Signal" signs and more flexible than our strict "Left on Green Arrow Only" policy here.

I'm used to permissive left turns being completely unsigned and unsignaled. 

at a "left turn yield on [green ball]", I think to myself "well, of course"... and recently, I have to pause for a moment to parse a flashing yellow arrow, to remember that it isn't any different from its absence.