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Chemmy posted:What other situation could possibly exist than "if the traffic light is out everyone stops and yields to traffic"? In Australia, if traffic lights are out, you give way / yield to traffic on your right, so it becomes a roundabout without the circle (unless that sign is there). In other countries, there are other signs that dictate if a road user has priority or must give way when the traffic lights are out. Pretty much only the US and Canada do all way stops.
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Apr 17, 2013 11:22
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How would you maintain/improve throughput and still provide for pedestrian safety like these guys are proposing? http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/How-to-make-Connecticut-roads-safe-for-pedestrians-4430951.php
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Apr 17, 2013 20:17
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kastein posted:Lots and lots of stuff I can't really reply to everything (at least not in one post,) but Kelley Square is infamous enough that I'd heard about it in other threads before I made this one. The Route 3/4 interchange really reminds me of a volleyball interchange, especially with those channelized left turns. I imagine the weaving's a total bitch with all those lanes, though. Socket Ryanist posted:Oh here's a question: Late at night I often see pedestrian signals do the countdown with flashing "don't walk", then when they hit zero they just go back to "walk". Obviously this is in the direction of the major street (which stays green until it's triggered), but why wouldn't it just stay on "don't walk" until someone hits the button? In places with high pedestrian activity, many ped signals just come in every phase, which means there's no need for a button. If the artery's non-actuated, due to coordination or just a lack of detectors, it's going to keep on repeating the artery (and concurrent ped phase) until a side street is called. Just an aside, on state routes here we do not use a Walk / Don't Walk indication for concurrent phases. We only use them for exclusive ped phases. That's a matter of local policy, and there are some exceptions, but most places in Connecticut, seeing that lunar white man means you can go breakdance in the middle of the intersection for a few seconds if you really want. Terminal Entropy posted:Are there any other detection systems being tested /tried? And what kind cost and implantation difference is there for video compared to induction and is there any kind of fallback system in case the camera goes out? There are a few, and they've all got pros and cons. Here's a partial list, off the top of my head: Microphone - Back in the day, you'd honk into one of these to trip your phase. Obviously outmoded and inconvenient. Pressure plate - Old-school tech, I've never seen one in the field anywhere. Maintenance nightmare. Magnetometer - More sensitive than loops, since they're located in a single spot, but useless if you drive around them for the same reason. Obsolete. Inductive loop detector - Relatively cheap, require frequent maintenance, not good at sensing bikes and cannot detect pedestrians. Point inductive detector - Similar to a magnetometer, but wireless and low-maintenance. Good for work zones, but still rely on the pavement staying intact. Microwave detector - Pretty good at detecting moving objects, but need to be properly installed and calibrated. Has to be on a stiff support and high up. Many false positives. Video detector - Similar to microwave detector, but easier to program and can be set up for multiple detection zones. However, low light and bad weather hurt reliability. As for the fallback system, it's the same as any other detector: if it fails, the phase goes to recall. Costs, I can't give you anything exact, since every manufacturer will quote a different number. Mandalay posted:How would you maintain/improve throughput and still provide for pedestrian safety like these guys are proposing? http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/How-to-make-Connecticut-roads-safe-for-pedestrians-4430951.php I'd like to note that Route 1 isn't just the most dangerous route for pedestrians; it's by far the worst for motorists as well. We could tremendously improve operations for all users with a good access management plan, and I'm talking like a 75% reduction in accidents. I'd be all in favor of a road diet if there were anywhere else for cars to go, but Route 1's been congested for over a hundred years, and all the alternate routes are saturated. Cutting its capacity will send traffic down local roads and through neighborhoods instead, which nobody wants. Honestly, there's just not enough room, money, or political power to fix things. If we had any one of those three, we could make do. The highway design manual is pretty outdated, though. There's a standing committee to revise it, but there really haven't been any big changes as long as I can remember.
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Apr 17, 2013 21:45
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Mighty Horse posted:I've always been fascinated with started but unfinished bits of highways here like the carved out but not paved bit off Rt 11 and the never used i-291 ramps north of the "stacks" in Farmington, or that so obvious "this was supposed to keep going" exit on Governor Street in EH. The end of Rt 11 just kind of peters out: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=route+2+ct&hl=en&ll=41.467557,-72.284031&spn=0.050102,0.074844&hnear=Connecticut+2,+Connecticut&t=h&z=14 http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/ct11.html
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Apr 17, 2013 22:07
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Actually it doesn't. They built a couple of bridges and blasted out a couple of canyons through the rock. There is a good 1/8th mile of half finished road there. They just turned what was supposed to be an exit into the end of the expressway
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Apr 17, 2013 22:45
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Mighty Horse posted:Actually it doesn't. They built a couple of bridges and blasted out a couple of canyons through the rock. There is a good 1/8th mile of half finished road there. They just turned what was supposed to be an exit into the end of the expressway I posted one pic earlier with a ton of locations just around Hartford. 
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Apr 17, 2013 22:56
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Google the "M8 ski-jump" in Glasgow and you'll get a tonne of pictures of a long-unfinished junction.
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Apr 17, 2013 23:01
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This is always a good example of an abruptly cut off freeway: http://goo.gl/maps/uJhuH You can see how the original roadway is now crossed over for some movements and parts of the cloverleaf are effectively abandoned; as well as how the land is cleared out for a good distance from the interchange. The freeway was meant to end approximately here, and between the two locations you can see the right of way intended by seeing where there's no buildings: http://goo.gl/maps/1iSHw That land is still owned by the state in full, incidentally. Edit: This one is also good, an overpass and cloverleaf constructed and still in place for a road that was never completed anywhere near it: http://goo.gl/maps/y3GmF Nintendo Kid fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 23:10
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Another fun one: interstate 189 in Burlington VT. It's 1.5 miles long. Clearly, it was intended to go further: http://goo.gl/maps/btdw8 I remember seeing the abandoned highway (it's blocked off with jersey barriers, directing all traffic onto the exit) and wondering where it went as a kid when visiting my grandparents. e: vvv wow, that one is awesome. It goes from surface roads to surface roads. But at least you can cross the river fast I guess. kastein fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 23:11
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Downtown Providence has a pretty sad-looking freeway remnant, as well: http://binged.it/100KaBp
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Apr 17, 2013 23:14
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Oh boy, freeway archeology! All four corners of Rotterdam's Ring Road were supposed to connect to something bigger. The first three will maybe, definitely and probably be connected, in that order. The last one (massive interchange by the way) is probably always going to remain a dead end EB since there's no long term planning for another big river crossing in that area. Those are the most egregious examples I know of in this country. And of course there's the classic example in Cape Town.
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Apr 17, 2013 23:29
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Socket Ryanist posted:Oh here's a question: Late at night I often see pedestrian signals do the countdown with flashing "don't walk", then when they hit zero they just go back to "walk". Obviously this is in the direction of the major street (which stays green until it's triggered), but why wouldn't it just stay on "don't walk" until someone hits the button? GWBBQ posted:Is it an intersection of a major and minor road? It sounds like it's programmed to just repeat the cycle it's on if there are no vehicles detected on the cross street. In Florida, we use that kind of setup near schools and at other high volume crosswalks (IE near stadiums and CBD areas). Edit: bah, didn't check the next page. ---------------- We've got lots of unfinished freeway stuff in the Tampa Bay Area, but it's all been put to good use since initial construction, usually as part of 4/6-lane arterial highways. People always wonder why there's a full T-interchange leading to the beaches in St. Petersburg. Answer: it's an old remnant of the I-175 that never was. Instead, the road got the designation of Alternate US19 and became a 6-lane arterial highway.  And the matching half-a-T that would have linked it to I-275 and the section of I-175 downtown:  Varance fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 23:34
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These are some shots from alpsroads for the unused interchange I linked:     
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Apr 17, 2013 23:37
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Cichlidae posted:I posted one pic earlier with a ton of locations just around Hartford. I recognize some. What's the top right and 2 down on the left? Also wondered do you think of the greenway along the merit have a shot in hell on happening?
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Apr 17, 2013 23:39
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Mighty Horse posted:I recognize some. What's the top right and 2 down on the left? Top right is where the CT 15 freeway joins the Berlin Tpke. It was supposed to continue south as a freeway down to the other end of the freeway in Meriden. Two down on the left is SR 571 in Berlin. It was originally a bypass of downtown Kensington, supposed to reach I-84, but 72 found an easier route there and 571's been all but abandoned. As for the greenway, yeah, it's likely to happen. We've got tons of right-of-way there, and we're sure as hell not widening 15.
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Apr 17, 2013 23:59
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Cichlidae posted:I'd like to note that Route 1 isn't just the most dangerous route for pedestrians; it's by far the worst for motorists as well. We could tremendously improve operations for all users with a good access management plan, and I'm talking like a 75% reduction in accidents. I'd be all in favor of a road diet if there were anywhere else for cars to go, but Route 1's been congested for over a hundred years, and all the alternate routes are saturated. Cutting its capacity will send traffic down local roads and through neighborhoods instead, which nobody wants. Honestly, there's just not enough room, money, or political power to fix things. If we had any one of those three, we could make do. What would you do with more money? What would you do with more political power? More room would seem impossible.
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Apr 18, 2013 00:11
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I suppose with more money you could do crazy poo poo like bury it, and with more political will you could just start taking property along the route, right?
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Apr 18, 2013 00:20
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Mandalay posted:What would you do with more money? What would you do with more political power? With money, you could bring the facilities up to modern standards with targeted improvements: removing bottlenecks, making sidewalks that are ADA compliant, turn lanes where there are heavy accident problems, better signal networks... you could also With political power, you could close hundreds of driveways, coordinate improvements between multiple towns, encourage businesses to enact measures that reduce congestion and car usage, implement more effective mass transit, all that fun stuff.
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Apr 18, 2013 00:22
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Here's something hideous to envision. A massive ugly looking highway that cuts right through the middle of downtown Denver. How did urban planners and engineers from the mid 20th century create such hosed up ideas like this?  E: Here's the link for the I-70 project through east Denver I asked about earlier in the thread: http://www.i-70east.com/ The buried highway makes the neighborhood look so much better than having that ugly elevated structure.          
will_colorado fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 18, 2013 03:24
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This is a map of all of Tampa Bay's freeway ideas from the 60s and 70s, with yellow being the stuff that was built. The orange lines these days are 4/6/8-lane arterial highways, most with some degree of grade separation where highways were to meet (random diamonds, parclos and cloverleaves around the city). Just as bad.
Varance fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 18, 2013 03:34
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I love that old aesthetic. "They may be engineering drawings, but, drat it, we're going to make 'em snazzy". All we seem to get these days is photorealistic renderings and glossy web 2.0 logos. I've got to do some retro plans someday, just for the heck of it.
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Apr 18, 2013 03:44
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A Long Island example of unfinished interchanges: Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (NY 135) at Jericho Turnpike (NY 25) (northern terminus): http://goo.gl/maps/Fcin6 At Merrick Road (southern terminus): http://goo.gl/maps/QM037 This highway was supposed to go farther, both north and south. It was supposed to go farther north across the LI Sound to Rye, and farther south to the island with Jones Beach. Stubs are visible on both ends.
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Apr 18, 2013 04:09
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will_colorado posted:Here's something hideous to envision. A massive ugly looking highway that cuts right through the middle of downtown Denver. How did urban planners and engineers from the mid 20th century create such hosed up ideas like this? The only problem with that design is that it isn't rail. 
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Apr 18, 2013 04:21
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RoleModel posted:A Long Island example of unfinished interchanges: Sure looks like most of the RoW is still owned by the state though, at least - it's incredibly easy to see where the highway would go if it was built.
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Apr 18, 2013 04:25
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kastein posted:Sure looks like most of the RoW is still owned by the state though, at least - it's incredibly easy to see where the highway would go if it was built. Yeah but it's really intended for some form of Long Island Sound crossing in order to really justify completing it.
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Apr 18, 2013 04:36
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I love unfinished bits of road - Manchester has a ski-jump of it's own: See if you can guess why they abandoned this sliproad and built a new one 100m further along. It would send traffic the wrong way down the one way A34
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Apr 18, 2013 14:53
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JingleBells posted:I love unfinished bits of road - Manchester has a ski-jump of it's own: What? Did they design and start building the ramp, and then 75% through construction someone suddenly noticed the design was wrong?
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Apr 18, 2013 15:03
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nielsm posted:What? Did they design and start building the ramp, and then 75% through construction someone suddenly noticed the design was wrong? I think it's actually an urban legend: CBRD posted:Some sources have claimed more recently that there was a plan for Brook Street to become two-way at the time the road was built, but this theory is widely dismissed as being much too boring.
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Apr 18, 2013 15:06
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Yeah the UK has a million of these, particularly around London and Manchester. I always found the start of the M23 south of London particularly weird. Just with how far they got before deciding "actually, we won't build a motorway 12 miles into central London, this will do". There is also this pretty poo poo junction made out of the ends of both the M57 and M58  There's also a completely worthless roundabout ending the M65, this weird-rear end end for the M1, the M11 to the east was intended for greater things, the A3290 leading an entire motorway into a business park...
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Apr 18, 2013 16:16
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Can't remember if it's already been posted, but Unfinished London is a great mini-documentary on the abandoned Ringways project around London.
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Apr 18, 2013 17:36
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Cichlidae posted:I love that old aesthetic. "They may be engineering drawings, but, drat it, we're going to make 'em snazzy". All we seem to get these days is photorealistic renderings and glossy web 2.0 logos. I've got to do some retro plans someday, just for the heck of it. http://documents.latimes.com/la-2013/ Futurists  If you're in LA again sometime, the Getty Museum is doing a cool exhibit on LA's infrastructural growth in the last century: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/overdrive/index.html
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Apr 18, 2013 18:41
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It's cool to see what they got right... ...and also what they got horribly wrong 
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Apr 18, 2013 19:40
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Mandalay posted:http://documents.latimes.com/la-2013/ Futurists I love these looks at the future from the past, thanks for this. Interesting how they're compeletly wrong in the sidebar about cars...until the last paragraph, where they're completely right. ("Sonar shield" sounds so much better than "active cruise control", doesn't it?)
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Apr 18, 2013 20:21
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The unfinished freeway of my youth: http://goo.gl/maps/pKFRm If you continue east, you can see that the right of way still exists. However, building a bridge over the lake was not exactly a popular idea. 
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Apr 19, 2013 03:33
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For a podunk nowhere town, I always thought this was pretty cool and uncommon. http://goo.gl/maps/XlE3h 
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Apr 19, 2013 04:52
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This doesn't look like much: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=rockton,+wi&ll=43.638964,-90.599141&spn=0.006266,0.011834&hnear=Rockton,+Wisconsin&gl=us&t=h&z=17 But it's a huge bridge that goes from nowhere to nowhere. Back in the 80s they were about to flood this area with an earthen dam, so there's a bunch of bridges like this that clear the area where water would be. When the dam was nearly finished they cancelled it, but the bridges still remain.
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Apr 19, 2013 05:53
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I think I read about a stretch of unused/unfinished freeway (or another road type) in the UK that has been used to film car chase scenes and the like. Can't seem to find it right now, though. UK/Ireland folks interested in unfinished and otherwise strange pieces of motorways might want to check Pathetic Motorways.
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Apr 19, 2013 05:56
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Carteret posted:For a podunk nowhere town, I always thought this was pretty cool and uncommon. Holy hell, that must have cost a fortune with all those bridges. Looks like a well designed interchange, though, so kudos to whoever had to conceive that nightmare.
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Apr 19, 2013 12:11
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Carbon dioxide posted:I think I read about a stretch of unused/unfinished freeway (or another road type) in the UK that has been used to film car chase scenes and the like. Can't seem to find it right now, though. If its the one I'm thinking of it is a Motorway, just one you wouldnt use on a general commute. It should be on the Pathetic Motorways called the M96. I could link to it but I'm on my phone now.
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Apr 19, 2013 12:15
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Carbon dioxide posted:I think I read about a stretch of unused/unfinished freeway (or another road type) in the UK that has been used to film car chase scenes and the like. Can't seem to find it right now, though. Following a few links, I landed here... http://www.cbrd.co.uk/badjunctions/58-577/ Is that a dong? 
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Apr 19, 2013 12:30
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