Roadgeek Thread 2018 (It's Mostly Central Ohio)

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  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Yeah, traffic control inertia. It won't last much longer, though. The project to reconfigure that interchange has apparently begun. I keep forgetting to see if there's any info about the current work on the website.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Kevin Sylvester, MUTCD team leader, does not answer emails quickly.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    I went 125 miles on highway 80 in 90 minutes, and 256 miles in three hours.

    I wrote down the time, in hh:mm:ss, that each mile marker was passed.

    Because long cartrip boredom.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    The signs on SR 317 (Hamilton Road) at I-70 were recently replaced.

    This isn't that notable in and of itself...but it seems ODOT has switched back from Clearview to FHWA now.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Yes, I've seen a lot of new freeway signs go up this year, and most of them are in FHWA.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    The "pinball" ramp (exit 6C) from northbound SR 315 to eastbound North Broadway is now closed.

    The way they modified the signs amused me...I didn't manage to get a photo, and of course it's too recent to be on Google Maps, but here's a mockup I literally made in MS Paint.

    Before:
    image

    After:
    image
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022

    Pinball?

    The ramp from SR 315 NB to North Broadway EB here. The way drivers would fly down the ramp was compared to the ball shooting up a ramp in a pinball machine. 
  • vtkvtk
    edited 2017-07-28 05:10:39
    embrace the confusion
    Reminds me of the auxiliary signs on I-675 for "WPAFB Areas A      ".
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    That always amused me, yeah.

    As if the extraneous plural wasn't bad enough, the actual greenout was shoddily done.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    They didn't move guidance for Area C to a different exit, either. It's like it doesn't officially exist. Maybe that's where they keep the Roswell wreckage and cadavers.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Soon the Twitter account @MUTCD will be controlled by someone who actually works on the MUTCD and hopefully will have time to bring some activity to the Twitter account.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    that is cool.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I finally got pictures of the US 23 "tunnel" express lanes north of I-270 near Worthington.

    image
    image
    image
    image
    image
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Observations, having just driven the freeway portion of SR 104 both directions:

    There's still some inconsistency as to the posted cardinal directions. Most of the signs are posted as NORTH/SOUTH, but there are exceptions, notably this one at the I-71 interchange, and some reassurance markers along the freeway itself.

    The signs at the US 33 interchange are especially confused. 

    104
    Refugee Rd
    WEST

    New:
    104 WEST
    Refugee Rd

    Honestly, putting the cardinal direction with the street name rather than the route number (as on the previous sign) made more sense to me, since there's only one direction you can go on SR 104 from there, but you can go either EB or WB on Refugee Road.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Playing around with my new laptop by "drawing" on the touchscreen with a dollar-store stylus.

    image

    I did these from memory. @vtk can tell me if I got any details wrong. Aside from, y'know, leaving out any distance messages or arrows or anything; I omitted those on purpose.
  • Sup bitches, witches, Haters, and trolls.
    did they get rid of sandusky street?
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Sandusky Street still exists, but it's not on those signs anymore, presumably since those ramps are no longer the quickest way to get to Sandusky Street from US 23.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    I think it would be more accurate to say Sandusky St isn't considered as important as it was when those signs were originally designed in the 60s.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    That too.

    My thinking was that the extension of Sandusky Street northward to a traffic signal at 23 rendered that guidance obsolete.
  • vtkvtk
    edited 2017-08-24 06:36:15
    embrace the confusion
    Copying an anecdote from my own thread:

    According to a discussion on the Yahoo! group Great Lakes Roads many years ago, US 131 on the south side of Grand Rapids, MI had an Exit 76, which was for 76th St, and located at that interchange was a 76 gas station. It should have been Exit 75 by the book, because it was one mile from Exit 74 (84th St) and three miles from Exit 78 (54th St).  There was also Exit 77, for 68th St, which by the book should have been Exit 76.  Having an Exit 76 just one mile away from an exit for 76th St probably seemed like a bad idea, hence the fudging.

    HOWEVER…

    When the M-6 freeway (aka South Beltline) was built, it crossed US 131 between Exits 77 and 78, and the ramps to M-6 at this new interchange needed their own exit numbers.  The least-disruptive change would have been to simply change the old Exit 77 to Exit 77A, and the new exit to M-6 would be Exit 77B (or maybe 77B–C to give the ramps to each direction on M-6 their own designation).  But MDOT had become more anal since the US 131 freeway had been built there.  The exit for 76th street, previously Exit 76, became Exit 75.  The exit for 68th street, previously Exit 77, became Exit 76 — just one mile away from the exit to 76th St, which used to be Exit 76, thus creating a situation even more confusing than the one they originally avoided by fudging the numbers in the first place!  All this just so the ramps to the new M-6 freeway could be Exit 77.

    Speaking of Grand Rapids, check out Exit 44 on I-96.  That's the main connection between I-96 and the airport.  Isn't that just the goofiest little interchange?  And you still have to make three turns to get to the airport from there.  I'm pretty sure there's a story about scaled-back plans I'm forgetting, but the end result just looks super awkward.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    That is funky.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    ODOT seems to be retrofitting FHWA Series exit number tabs to the existing Clearview signage on SR 315

    It looks surprisingly decent for an obvious mismatch, but then again I never liked Clearview exit tabs much anyways
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I-270 WB exit 55 and I-270 EB exit 52 both have Clearview signed with center-aligned exit tabs for right-hand exits, which is something I've not seen anywhere else in Ohio. My best guess is that this is either (a) a weird contractor one-off, or (b) a case of someone too closely copying the previous signs when designing the current ones, since the old ones dated to before ODOT adopted the exit tab alignment rule.

    More annoying, however, is that the first advance signs for said exits have tacky black-on-orange "EXIT ONLY" panels. I don't think orange is the appropriate color there. I get that the panels are covering messages meant for an eventual widening and/or interchange overhaul, but...it's not a "temporary traffic control" situation if it's meant to stay that way in the long-term.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    They followed the old design too closely. That's why the tacky orange exit only panels: these signs first went up with no indication of any dropped lanes.

    This isn't the only place where orange patches are used to permanently fix a mistake: at least one of the signs on 33 eastbound approaching 270 in Dublin has an erroneous "east" covered with an orange patch that says "south".
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Hang on, I know exactly the one you're talking about!

    image

    Is that meant to be permanent? I just assumed that was meant as a quick fix and eventually a proper patch would go up. Maybe I have too much faith in ODOT. :P
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion


    I just assumed that was meant as a quick fix and eventually a proper patch would go up. Maybe I have too much faith in ODOT. :P
    That's what I was hoping about those signs on the south side, but they've been like that for a couple of years now
  • Sup bitches, witches, Haters, and trolls.
    john kasich personally has it out for you
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Amusingly, if you're very careful with the time sliders on Google Maps, you can see the progression that led us here.

    Original button copy sign:
    image

    Clearview sign that copied original sign too closely:
    image

    "Corrected" Clearview sign:
    image

    Original button copy sign:
    image

    Clearview sign that copied original sign too closely:
    image

    "Corrected" Clearview sign:
    image
  • Sup bitches, witches, Haters, and trolls.
    the blurring makes me think circl*ville
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    It is kinda funny how it caught the same e every time
  • Sup bitches, witches, Haters, and trolls.
    must look like a face
  • I don't get what you mean by 'copied too closely'
  • edited 2017-09-24 00:18:49
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022

    I don't get what you mean by 'copied too closely'

    Simply put: the road layout changed, but the sign layouts did not, because someone was lazy and just copied the signs meant for the previous lane configuration.


    Using westbound I-270 as an example:

    The freeway originally had two lanes approaching exit 55. No lanes were dropped at the ramp. The button-copy signs pictured above date back several decades and were designed with this in mind.

    The new Clearview signs were posted when the freeway was widened to four lanes. However, the right two lanes are now dropped at the exit...but the new signs initially didn't mention this, because their layouts were lifted directly from the signs meant for the older configuration.

    So, in this example, "NEXT RIGHT" was covered with "↙ ↓ EXIT ONLY" to let you know the right two lanes are dropped at the ramp.

  • Oh okay so they did change the configuration.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    You know what I kinda miss? The look of illuminated freeway signs at night.

    Even as a kid I thought those were neat, with the green backgrounds and white lettering with the two lamps shining down on them.

    I get that modern retroreflective sheeting has obviated the need for such lighting, but...damn.
  • edited 2017-09-29 14:04:46
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Observation: the first NB sign for SR 315's North Broadway exit just had an exit tab added, like, this week...but it says "EXITS 6 A-B    " with a patch over "-C", implying it was laid out, if not fabricated, before the exit 6C ramp was permanently closed.
  • If I ever get to do city planning, I am naming a street grid after Fire Emblem characters.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion

    Observation: the first NB sign for SR 315's North Broadway exit just had an exit tab added, like, this week...but it says "EXITS 6 A-B    " with a patch over "-C", implying it was laid out, if not fabricated, before the exit 6C ramp was permanently closed.

    I thought all the guide signs for that exit had exit tabs attached last year.

  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    All of them but the very first northbound one did. I don't know why.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I still want to know why ODOT District 6 evidently decided that I-270 no longer deserves control cities.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    My guess is, they decided 270 gets just as congested as the radial freeways, so directing through traffic onto it is pointless. Dayton to Cleveland, going downtown and using 670 is the same distance as going through Dublin on 270. Dayton to Cincinnati, Cleveland to Wheeling, why are you even in Columbus? Cincinnati to Wheeling, okay yeah 270 is the obvious choice, but consistency?

    Also, the control cities on 270 were based on considering only four outbound major highways. I count nine. Applying FHWA guidance with nine outbound major highways makes control cities that are pretty much useless for all inbound traffic approaching 270. Might as well just leave it blank.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Now I feel like actually working out what the control cities should be based on FHWA guidance and my own judgement while considering ask nine approaches...

    I-70 west side
    FHWA: (Marysville or Fort Wayne) / Cincinnati
    Me, westbound: same as FHWA
    Me, eastbound: (Delaware or Marion) / (Circleville, Chillicothe, or Portsmouth; or Lancaster, Athens, or Charleston)

    US 33 west side
    FHWA: Dayton / (Delaware, Marion, or Toledo)
    Me, eastbound: (Circleville, Chillicothe, or Portsmouth; or Lancaster, Athens, or Charleston) / (Wheeling; Newark, Coshocton, or Pittsburgh; or Cleveland)

    US 23 north side
    FHWA: (Marysville or Fort Wayne) / Cleveland
    Me, southbound: (Cincinnati or Dayton) / (Lancaster, Athens, or Charleston; or Wheeling)

    I-71 north side
    FHWA: (Delaware, Marion, or Toledo) / (Newark, Coshocton, or Pittsburgh)
    Me, southbound: (Marysville or Fort Wayne) / (Circleville, Chillicothe, or Portsmouth)

    OH 161 east side
    FHWA: Cleveland / Wheeling
    Me, westbound: (Marysville or Fort Wayne) / Downtown Columbus

    I-70 east side
    FHWA: (Newark, Coshocton, or Pittsburgh) / (Lancaster, Athens, or Charleston)
    Me, westbound: (Delaware, Marion, or Toledo) / Cincinnati

    US 33 east side
    FHWA: Wheeling / (Circleville, Chillicothe, or Portsmouth)
    Me, westbound: (Delaware, Marion, or Toledo) / (Dayton; or Cincinnati)

    US 23 south side
    FHWA: (Lancaster, Athens, or Charleston) / Cincinnati
    Me, northbound: Cleveland / (Marysville or Fort Wayne)

    I-71 south side
    FHWA: (Circleville, Chillicothe, or Portsmouth) / Dayton
    Me, northbound: (Marysville or Fort Wayne) / Wheeling
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Why did they do braiding WB but not EB on I-475 between I-75 and OH 25?
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    While I was digging through the American Truck Simulator files to find amusing knockoff logos, I found some TrueType font files I presume are the ones used in the game.

    The metadata gives a copyright date of 2009 and the author name "Ash Pikachu Font".

    After a quick Google search...yep, it appears SCS Software literally used a free set of fonts they found on dafont.com. I don't know why, but that's really amusing to me.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Condensed, Narrow, , Wide, Expanded
    B, C, D, E, F

    Which naming scheme do you suppose I prefer?

    Also, why are the filenames constrained to 8.3? Did the author create them in Softy?
  • edited 2017-11-01 04:48:37
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    A lot of these free fonts are taken from 1990s "megafonts" shovelware collections, most of which were meant for Windows 3.1 or 95.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Things that drive me mad:

    image

    At some point ODOT switched from the top style to the bottom style. I guess this was an attempt to add clarity, but...I dunno, it looks like kind of a mess to me.
  • vtkvtk
    embrace the confusion
    Compliance with federal 2009 MUTCD. The new standards clearly prohibit the old style, and this is ODOT's cheap way to comply.
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