Signs

Seen at PhotoBasement:

I have a weird sense of humor.

In response to a discussion on misc.transport.road, in which the pros and cons of reinstituting a national speed limit in the name of conservation and stopping global warming are being debated, my silly idea for a new (and presumably ignored) national speed limit has been stuck in my head.

Thus, some artwork is required to get it out:

I know, the alignment and sizing of the text isn’t SHS-spec….but I have too many other things to do this evening to spend arguing with Photoshop. 

…and who can blame her?

Seen in Sunday’s Courant:

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Saturday that she has submitted legislation directing that no new contracts for billboards on state-owned property be allowed and that existing billboard contracts not be renewed when they expire.

To lessen distraction on state roadways, the bill would also allow the state to stop issuing permits after June 1 for the erection of any outdoor advertising structure whose message periodically changes by electronic means.

The article also mentions that Rell wants to see ConnDOT (or its successor) update highway signs along Connecticut roads, to give the state a better image among visitors.

Considering that Connecticut highways see a mishmash of signage standards, many of which aren’t up-to-snuff with current U.S. standards, this is not necessarily a bad thing. of course, with a budget crunch expected…perhaps now is not the right time to spend that money?

Written 8pm, Sunday, 2 September on Crown Princess at 19° 2.04′ N, 66° 2.88′ W

So, does anyone see anything wrong with the following picture?

It was just so bizarre (in a way that only a roadgeek would likely notice) to see traffic driving on the left in the Virgin Islands on roads with U.S. standard signage and pavement markings.

I mean, even over on Anguilla, which inherited left-hand drive from Britain, signage and pavement markings follow British standards, which help alleviate the feelings of weirdness. (Well, that plus the roads are so narrow that left/right side driving almost seems irrelevant.)

At least all the signs in the MUTCD which seemed backwards now make some intuitive sense—the backwards no U-Turn signs, the “keep left” signage, etc.

The New York Times has an article describing concerns being raised with Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to charge drivers $8 to drive in Manhattan below 86th Street.

In addition to the privacy concerns, as well as the political implications (that implementation will annoy folks in GOP strongholds in the suburbs), I found this concern interesting:

It is not spelled out how visitors driving into New York City would be made aware that they have to pay the $8 within 48 hours or face a $115 fine. The mayor and his administration have said most people would have heard about the congestion fee, though some lawmakers say many would not. The mayor’s staff says there would also be adequate signage. Lawmakers have wondered how this would actually work. The signs, presumably, would have to explain how and where to pay, requiring a lot more words than “toll ahead.”

You know, London has a rather minimalistic approach to its congestion zone warnings:

(click for larger image)

(Image borrowed from Wikipedia’s article on London’s congestion zone.)

If I have time, after I finish work on revising the look-and-feel of this site, maybe I’ll take a stab at proposing a design.

Seen in the AJC:

Eleven years before an apparently confused bus driver exited I-75, careened off Northside Drive and killed seven people, state highway engineers planning signs near the ramp had a problem. They wouldn’t have a pole there big enough to hang the two HOV signs they had designed, one pointing to the Northside Drive ramp and another that would make clear which lane continued on the highway.

So they just left one off.

That last-minute change, referred to in a memo, came to light during an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of thousands of state documents regarding the design and construction of the deadly exit ramp. The one sign that went up points buses and car pools toward the exit ramp to “Northside Drive” —- without saying it’s an exit. The sign that was omitted would have pointed drivers to the adjacent HOV through lane.

Federal investigators in March said the bus driver probably mistook the exit ramp for a through lane. A national road-sign expert declared the lone sign confusing and “potentially a killer.”

I mentioned the incident in my 18 March 2007 Highway Feature of the Week.

It’s been a long time since I drove the freeways in Atlanta, so I have to plead unfamiliarity with HOV ramp signing practices there. However, I do note that around here in Hartford, the HOV exits do generally only show the ramp, although they are clearly marked as “EXIT”.

Update: The AJC has a second article pointing out that there is also a signage error at the ill-fated interchange, and that GDOT has been very slow to fix it. A picture of the signs in question can be found at the AJC site.

Again, except for the misplaced “HOV Exit 250 ¼ Mile” sign on the ramp (which shouldn’t have influenced the presumably sleepy driver), that is very similar to what’s seen on the HOV lanes of I-84 and I-91 around Hartford.

I realize that I have fallen off the wagon with my efforts to present some highway feature here weekly. In fact, that was one of the reasons for my recent site reconfiguration — an attempt to make it a little bit easier to do such updates.

Anyway, I thought I’d share part of my Christmas present from my family — pictures taken of the new I-55 / I-69 interchange south of Memphis (clicking on the image will take you to the relevant section of the photo gallery):

As of this writing, Google Maps only shows the interchange under construction:

As advertised on misc.transport.road:

The unveiling of the first 80mph speed limit sign in West Texas. The image
is linked from a Wikipedia
article on U.S. speed limits