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First off this is an awesome thread and you are awesome, I've seen your commentary in other threads and always kinda hoped you would open up about your job. Can you tell me what the gently caress people were thinking when they designed this:  This is the DFW airport north exit. Long story short, people coming from 635 on the east want to get to either a) the airport or b) 121 going west. 635 crosses OVER 121, and dumps a massive fuckload of cars (most of whom want to merge left to get to the airport) into the right lanes of the road, which people on 121 who want to STAY on 121 have to merge right through to get to the right-exit side. Essentially it becomes an unregulated crossing right on the highway. Dallas traffic isn't bad because they have enormo-roads, but gently caress me if I don't  at some of their design decisions. This introduces that weaving concept at this massive, unprecedented level and I'd be surprised there weren't more accidents, except nobody is ever moving faster than a crawl because they're all about to hit each other.
Gunshow Poophole fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Jul 28, 2009 |
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Jul 28, 2009 16:24
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Thanks for answering everyone's questions, I'm really glad you took the time to update.
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Jul 28, 2009 18:59
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One thing I've actually enjoyed (the High Five is fun to drive on but hell on wheels during rush hour) about Dallas roads is the extra U-turn lane at every frontage road stoplight. There is a left-only lane that becomes the right lane of the road it turns onto, and a left+U-turn lane where the U-turn is protected and unregulated, so you can just flip a U without worrying about more than "oncoming" traffic from your right when you get headed the other way. It's handy! I actually have another question and it's more like a defensive driving one: I am usually pissed off because people can't merge well (say onto a not-so-busy highway where the speed limit is 65), and do so slowly. I was under the impression that it's the merger's responsibility to essentially be moving At Speed when they attempt to merge. With nobody in front of me, an onramp is just about the only time where I really get to use all of my torque/horsepower  , because I want to be screaming along by the time I have to get in front of someone potentially doing 70+ miles per hour. Is this right or I guess "appropriate"?
Gunshow Poophole fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Jul 30, 2009 |
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Jul 30, 2009 18:18
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blugu64 posted:That's pretty much it, it's really only legal in california, but when it hits 105 in Dallas it's hard to resist. Thanks for the response! I almost killed one of you the other day when he sneaked past me between my car and the concrete median on the tollway.
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Aug 13, 2009 17:21
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The ostensible purpose of them is clear, but what the hell is up with using those ENORMOUS half-bowling-ball sized lane markers? There's several places in the Dallas area that use these to demarcate / separate left turn lanes from through traffic. They must do horrific damage to any car that hits them at speed, and often start up after maybe one car's length opportunity to actually enter the turn lane. Just seems like an awful price to pay for a little lack of foresight, because really they won't stop you from hitting another car if you merge over late anyway. (failed finding a GMaps link but they're like 12-inch metal hemispherical dealies that stick up out of the road)
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Aug 18, 2009 22:44
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Socket Ryanist posted:Night work = overtime pay This can't be the answer, there are second/third shifts for a reason.
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Aug 19, 2009 14:33
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You can see (miserable) examples of those gaps between concrete slabs at the south exit of the DFW airport (yay more lovely Dallas roads!) on the ramp to 183 East. I cringe every time I drive over this, the gaps are 4 or 5 inches wide now. I have a question regarding tollbooths, I was driving around at home in Chicago this past weekend and noticed something weird that seems counterintuitive: at exits where the traffic MUST pass through a tollbooth, the "I-Pass Only" lanes are on the RIGHT side of the toll plaza, and after cars pass through they must claw back through to the LEFT side of the road to merge with the new traffic. What's up with that?
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Aug 24, 2009 19:58
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They just raised the Dallas North Tollway's speed limit to 65 from 55. Thank god, but also, people still drive like 55-60 all the time. I am paying through the BUTT to drive on the road, I want to fly, damnit! They restructured tolls as well so the offramps north of the city are cheap, but the access from the city is like $1.25 now. Costs me $2.96 a day to get to work 
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Sep 7, 2009 05:45
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Thanks for continually updating this thread, it is by far my favorite Ask/Tell, and lately I've had reason to copy/pasta some of your posts (WITH PROPER ATTRIBUTION) to explain things to friends, which is hilarious.
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Jan 5, 2010 22:34
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So I know this isn't exactly your forte / specialization, but I saw this today and thought it was super cool Slime Mold Networks! Also, you'll note this is a repost, hosted by MSNBC, and when I typed "slime mold" into the Bing search box at the top of MSNBC's home page, this article did not show up. sigh.
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Jan 21, 2010 23:41
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noblergt posted:http://www.publicpurpose.com/hwy-tti99ratio.htm Dallas is basically a big intersection. Add Ft. Worth to the mix and the DFW area becomes some sort of mystical hyper-nexus of roadways. Who needs responsible urban planning and development?? We got LAND, LAND, LAND!!
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Jun 16, 2010 15:33
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I just want you to know that I would totally be your IRL friend if I lived in the Northeast because everything you post about is continually fascinating. Thanks for keeping this thread alive 
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Jul 29, 2010 19:10
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 ^^It's that way in every Old World country^^Toledo (Spanish Toledo) was a bitch to get around: 
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Aug 6, 2010 15:57
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Giving directions is also fun "All right so turn to the left as you leave your hotel, you'll see a fork ahead of you with an intersection on the right side, take the right fork but GO STRAIGHT and not immediately into the intersection. Then you're gonna loop around past a farmacia and turn left down the next alleyway you see, which will dead end in a plaza. You want the THIRD STREET ON THE RIGHT if you face the cathedral, it'll be at your 4 o clock." Europe is tits, I am immensely excited to go back in November
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Aug 6, 2010 16:31
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ijustam posted:Crossposting this: http://11foot8.com/ Haha I remember this bridge, it's right by East Campus. Street is busy as hell too because of all the traffic to the Brightleaf Square shops. The concept of a crash-only Youtube channel makes me chuckle.
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Aug 26, 2010 00:05
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Cichlidae posted:That's why I asked about familiarity. To someone from the US, they all look the same, but if you've been studying them... But honestly, you've got multiple characteristics that you are able to modify with your lane markings. Why not differentiate on as many levels as possible from the start, and just not require a familiarization period? "Length of the line" being the sole discriminant between several extremely important traffic distinctions seems to be a bit short-sighted. Regardless of the other gewgaws you throw onto the road, people pay attention to signage and lane markings and in your central vision color variance stands out. I guess I'm a Merkin and I'm used to our system. Just seems like there's a lot of potential danger if the variation between "Passing / Cruising Lane" and "Oh poo poo I'm Driving The Wrong Way" is the length of space between lines. Gunshow Poophole fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Oct 8, 2010 |
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Oct 8, 2010 15:33
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^^ pff, HIGHWAYS don't scare Americans, things like Toledo, Spain that I think I posted earlier in the thread do ^^ We're fuckin' kings and queens of wacky highways. nielsm posted:
This is something I hadn't considered, the fact that European roads simply don't take up as much space as US ones, and the vast majority of them are much smaller and thereby probably necessitate fewer markings in general.
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Oct 8, 2010 16:44
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Typically I get down like a clown for night time roadwork, it makes sense to be closing lanes when there's nobody on them. But there's a bridge being rebuilt right around the corner from my apartment now. At night. Pissed is correct.
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Feb 8, 2011 00:50
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Turn it into a community-sized step aerobics center. They're big on things like public health in Japan right?
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Mar 12, 2011 02:49
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Growing up there I didn't think about it, but now that I've been on and around many college campuses, MSU was really easy to get around.
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May 21, 2011 20:27
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smackfu posted:BTW, sorry if I missed this, but did you get unfired now that SEBAC passed? I was also curious in this regard, I hope you still have your position Cichlidae  If not then happy first day of retirement!
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Aug 27, 2011 02:27
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I dunno if this has been asked (because I've been reading this thread for 2.5 years now) before, but how important is symmetry in designing your traffic solutions? I mean, basically to the point where it's possible, are there measurable benefits to a piece of construction that is radially or laterally symmetrical? I just notice a lot of things (like this picture above my post) that end up being symmetrical in a really beautiful way. When it comes to load bearing I know symmetry (or I guess chirality?) is helpful, does traffic optimization work out in the same way?
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Jan 9, 2012 04:32
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OK that last 10 seconds is pretty phenomenal, thanks that's fascinating!
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Feb 1, 2012 03:23
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Hey I have a question that may have been visited earlier in the thread but gosh it's just so long now  What is the deal with the big dumb iron plates that are left in place for ~ a week on the road every now and then? Are they protecting a plug of concrete/asphalt while it cures? One of the main cross streets here has just a horrific number of manhole covers and joints that are all screwed up, and it seems like there is a perpetual procession of these big iron plates in one place or another as the city tries to bandaid the problems (my god, just shut down the goddamn road already). They build up little ridges of asphalt around them to maybe try and protect against them popping tires with sharp edges, but I still cringe when I drive to class.
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Feb 14, 2012 17:08
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Chaos Motor posted:Let me guess - Kansas City! I'm actually in Columbia SC, but I recall them talking about doing water line work. It just seems like they basically move the plates up and down the street over a year's time period, never really finishing any one section. Meanwhile the rest of the street falls into disrepair. It's incredibly aggravating.
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Feb 14, 2012 23:15
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OK another question: Driving up to Asheville this weekend we drove a stretch of maybe 3 miles of highway that had been resurfaced on both sides of the divider. The divider itself had been tore up slightly, but every 100 yards or so there was like... a raised cupola of grating, circular and maybe a yard across, that was covered in a fluorescent yellow tarp. I'm guessing these are like access grates to something? I tried to get a picture but we were moving too fast and I was on the wrong side of the car. Any ideas?
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Feb 20, 2012 02:20
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Cichlidae posted:
This would make sense. It basically looked like a wireframe faucet handle on top of a small concrete base, whole assembly was maybe 2 feet tall, 3 wide and cylindrical. Interesting, I guess they're expanding the coverage of the lights a couple miles further towards the mountains. Thanks!
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Feb 20, 2012 04:43
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Cichlidae posted:My god, have song references infiltrated all aspects of our society? He even got the lyrics wrong. When I bought my car that has (legitimate) super bright headlights believe me I reveled in finally being That rear end in a top hat. Particularly because I've usually driven smaller cars that are low enough to the ground that SUV/Truck headlights are shining directly into my eyes. Mine are also cool and adaptive 
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Apr 22, 2012 06:41
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You get fined if you ride without your hands on the handlebars? How do I show off my SIKK MOVES to my BMX bros??
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May 8, 2012 14:26
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Elendil004 posted:So far in my automotive exploration of Johannesburg, SA I have noted that these designers LOVE traffic circles and they really loving love speedbumps, both are everywhere. ughhhh now imagine going around / over those things in a lovely custom top heavy field spec land rover and it's basically like My Trip To Gauteng in a nutshell. As a question for Cichlidae, do you deal directly in any way with public feedback? What sort of systems are set up for Citizens Concerned About Traffic Engineering exist up there? Anything?
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Jun 17, 2012 21:29
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Knockknees posted:From your article No mention of the car's occupants. If they were REAL patriots they would have avoided the flagpole entirely.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:59
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Cichlidae posted:Oh, should I? I was planning on posting it here, just in case I run out of motivation. Don't want a howling swarm of goons after me for abandoning a bizarre adventure thread. Hell, I don't even know what forum it'd go in. When you do, put it in Traditional Games, the Games subforum. I might not play but I'll be reading :P Edit: more accurately, put it in here, the Play by Post section of Trad Games.
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Sep 25, 2012 05:38
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Palatine Road is just the worst. I never understood what was going on while driving on it and the sheer weirdness of it has to present some sort of hazard as drivers puzzle their poo poo out. It's a shibboleth for Chicago area folks too
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Mar 5, 2014 21:10
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Cichlidae posted:The professional road painters are really amazing to watch. It's a shame most of them work at 3 am to minimize traffic impacts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmgice3ieZ4
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Mar 31, 2014 20:53
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So apparently very few people know about the administration's new tack on recovery spending, the hideously-acronymed transportation bill released on Tuesday. Hasn't gotten much traction in the media although Time magazine had this article. I think infrastructure spending is sexy 
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May 1, 2014 16:21
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Peanut President posted:It needs more pizzazz, how about some animated glitter? To be fair I asked myself the same questions. Percent of what? When? Devoid of context (which of course I assume you would have) those visuals don't really tell me anything.
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May 29, 2014 04:05
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The Texas road projects cost less because they use (essentially) contracted slave labor. No pesky public unions either im guessing, and the LBJ corridor already exists so there's no eminent domain or land issues.
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Jul 13, 2014 08:10
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ConfusedUs posted:Will this make it easier to get from 75 to 35E? Because the series of lovely interchanges you have to take to get from one to the other is truly something awful. The LBJ IS 635. It's the interstate loop a portion of which is under construction. Conveniently it's the portion that takes you from US 75 to I-35E. The high five interchange pretty well dumps you smoothly into 635 going east (less so going west) under medium traffic conditions, it's the Dallas North Tollway that kicks you through a bunch of weird half-exits and overpasses to get you onto 635. That combined with the smooshed together local exits for surface roads off of 635 is what the project is working to help alleviate. I am horribly pessimistic about the shithole that is Dallas in general, and the cul-de-sac concrete disaster that is Addison and the north suburbs in particular, so I don't think it's going to help much.
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Jul 24, 2014 00:30
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Varance posted:
Holy poo poo  lanes for the lane god, concrete for the skull throne  For y'all goons who haven't been, NEVER GO to Orlando. It is the only place I've been in the country that is somehow worse than Dallas.
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Nov 13, 2014 22:20
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Hedera Helix posted:Is space at that much of a premium, there? As a dude who runs a hotel in that area, no, absolutely not. That place is a shithole.
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Dec 7, 2014 22:26
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