October 8, 20159 yr Author What happens when a 20-lane toll booth plaza narrows to three lanes in Beijing, China: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/china-has-some-of-the-most-insane-traffic-jams-on-this-1735232447 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 8, 20159 yr Speaking of traffic, as I was walking Tuesday to RTA's spanking new (and well-utilized) Little Italy-U. Circle Rapid station during a sunny rush hour, I strolled along Mayfield next to a line of idling (occasionally honking) cars stretching from Little Italy all the way to the Mayfield-Euclid intersection... It was a beautiful sight ... and a great feeling using public trans to avoid the mess.
October 8, 20159 yr Author Speaking of traffic, as I was walking Tuesday to RTA's spanking new (and well-utilized) Little Italy-U. Circle Rapid station during a sunny rush hour, I strolled along Mayfield next to a line of idling (occasionally honking) cars stretching from Little Italy all the way to the Mayfield-Euclid intersection... It was a beautiful sight ... and a great feeling using public trans to avoid the mess. Demolish Little Italy to widen Mayfield to four lanes plus a center turn lane! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 19, 20169 yr Author Excellent visuals show why (in my opinion) urban highways have been a destructive waste of resources. https://t.co/xLBq0n5rDp via @twkovach "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 19, 20169 yr Have you seen the book on all of the freeways that were planned for Cleveland? It explains the large medians along Interstate 90 west of Interstate 71, along Interstate 480 in Warrensville Heights/Broadway and in several other areas.
January 19, 20169 yr Author Have you seen the book on all of the freeways that were planned for Cleveland? It explains the large medians along Interstate 90 west of Interstate 71, along Interstate 480 in Warrensville Heights/Broadway and in several other areas. Yes, known them all my life. They were dotted lines on maps I collected and re-drew when I was little boy in the 1970s. BTW, there were several plans for the median I-90 west of I-71, including transit plans... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2726.msg784492.html#msg784492 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 26, 20169 yr Author France is going to build more than 600 miles of solar-paneled roadways http://fusion.net/story/259226/france-wattway-solar-roadway/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 23, 20168 yr Author A complete gridlock on the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles was captured by AIR7 HD. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154022905872452&id=38245492451 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 23, 20168 yr A complete gridlock on the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles was captured by AIR7 HD. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154022905872452&id=38245492451 This is why the new light rail line to LAX is important. When finished along with the Sepulveda Pass tunnel, just getting 500 cars per hour off that 10-mile length of the 405 from the San Fernando Valley down to LAX will reduce the gridlock periods.
November 23, 20168 yr Author Nothing relieves highway congestion except higher prices for using the road. That's why freeways aren't an application of the free market. They're dramatically under-priced. The equalization of supply and demand is impossible without price. The reason why the highway system in the USA fails is because we use supply only to regulate demand. That leads to more lane-miles, over-reliance on cars, sprawl, pollution, oil addiction (and all the military costs to protect shipping it), excessive stormwater runoff (and costly efforts to manage it), health concerns, etc. Biggest mistake we made was to not build the Interstate highway system as a toll system. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 23, 20168 yr Wait until all of those "congestion solving" self-driving cars are running around with ZERO people in them as they are dispatched to various locations.
November 23, 20168 yr Author Wait until all of those "congestion solving" self-driving cars are running around with ZERO people in them as they are dispatched to various locations. Or someone doesn't want to pay for parking downtown or can't find a close-in space so they program their car to drive around in circles until they're done with their errand. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 23, 20168 yr I'm just picturing a bunch of cars moving around well under the speed limit to minimize miles driven while waiting for their owner to return.
November 23, 20168 yr A complete gridlock on the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles was captured by AIR7 HD. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154022905872452&id=38245492451 I like this comment: "And if you draw a bunch of circles, you will have a bunch of Pokeballs"
March 11, 20178 yr http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/07/americas-first-solar-roadway-is-a-total-disaster/
April 12, 20178 yr Author How would you rate your commute to work in Northeast Ohio? Share you comments By Linda Kinsey, cleveland.com on April 12, 2017 at 7:00 AM, updated April 12, 2017 at 7:03 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio - You might love living in the suburbs, but one big trade-off persists for many of us: the daily commute to work either into downtown Cleveland or across town to a different suburb. Crashes can tie up lanes of traffic, and rude drivers who tailgate or won't let you pull over into the next lane can make the daily drive irritating. If you're one of the many thousands who face a daily commute, we want to hear from you. Do you have to leave home exceptionally early to get to your job? Maybe you take different routes to get where you need to be to avoid the usual traffic snarls. How do you handle motorists who cut you off or ride your bumper? Do you have a pet peeve? Perhaps you've thought about moving close to work to avoid the drive time altogether. On the other hand, you might have an easy commute or work at a place that doesn't worry about its employees getting to the office at a certain time. Tell us about your commute, and share you comments in the box below. Select comments will be used in the Sun newspapers. MORE http://www.cleveland.com/faces-of-the-suns/index.ssf/2017/04/how_would_you_rate_your_commut.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 26, 20177 yr Author If we don't choose which roads to keep and which to let fail, the choice will be made for us. https://t.co/gedo7lbIT9 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 5, 20177 yr Author DEALING WITH CONGESTION https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/12/7/best-of-2015-dealing-with-congestion "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 2, 20177 yr Author Vincent Scully, the great architectural historian, died tonight. Here's one of my favorite quotes from his "American Architecture and Urbanism" (1969), writing about highways: https://t.co/rqKbftvnhV "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 1, 20187 yr Author What the hell is happening to this country? Drivers are running over people and not even stopping to help in record numbers. Is this America's bully mentality? Or part of the general dehumanization represented by mass killings? Think about this -- how many strangers do you talk to in a given day? Hit-and-Run Deaths Are Skyrocketing, and Pedestrians and Cyclists Bear the Brunt https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/01/hit-and-run-deaths-are-skyrocketing-and-pedestrians-and-cyclists-bear-the-brunt/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 1, 20187 yr Author Driving Cleveland Crazy: Clifton Boulevard near the Lakewood border http://m.cleveland19.com/story/38061157/driving-cleveland-crazy-clifton-boulevard-near-the-lakewood-border "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 1, 20187 yr Driving Cleveland Crazy: Clifton Boulevard near the Lakewood border http://m.cleveland19.com/story/38061157/driving-cleveland-crazy-clifton-boulevard-near-the-lakewood-border I distinctly remember stopping my car for an elderly pedestrian who ready to cross Clifton at the "crosswalk." She looked at me like I was crazy, and emphatically and angrily waved me to "keep driving." Virtually nobody driving gives the pedestrians the right of way on Clifton. I probably did look crazy for actually stopping in rush hour traffic.
May 1, 20187 yr Are those midblock crosswalks a recent addition? Along Lakewood's stretch, the only crosswalks are at intersections where traffic already stops. Making a midblock stop/go determination based on whether someone is standing in the median, or along the side of the road, forces drivers to spread their attention to a point that it could cause more accidents than it prevents.
May 1, 20187 yr Are those midblock crosswalks a recent addition? Along Lakewood's stretch, the only crosswalks are at intersections where traffic already stops. Making a midblock stop/go determination based on whether someone is standing in the median, or along the side of the road, forces drivers to spread their attention to a point that it could cause more accidents than it prevents. It's incredibly bad planning.
May 1, 20187 yr What the hell is happening to this country? Drivers are running over people and not even stopping to help in record numbers. Is this America's bully mentality? Or part of the general dehumanization represented by mass killings? Think about this -- how many strangers do you talk to in a given day? Hit-and-Run Deaths Are Skyrocketing, and Pedestrians and Cyclists Bear the Brunt https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/01/hit-and-run-deaths-are-skyrocketing-and-pedestrians-and-cyclists-bear-the-brunt/ I think it has everything to do with people staring at their phones. I drive an SUV and sit up high and at least half the cars I pass (most going slow in the left lane) are looking at their phones or texting. I even see truck drivers looking at their phones. My back yard sits up high and in the evening, every car that comes by, the driver is looking down at their phone in their hands... that's why pedestrians are getting run over.
May 1, 20187 yr What the hell is happening to this country? Drivers are running over people and not even stopping to help in record numbers. Is this America's bully mentality? Or part of the general dehumanization represented by mass killings? Think about this -- how many strangers do you talk to in a given day? Hit-and-Run Deaths Are Skyrocketing, and Pedestrians and Cyclists Bear the Brunt https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/01/hit-and-run-deaths-are-skyrocketing-and-pedestrians-and-cyclists-bear-the-brunt/ I think it has everything to do with people staring at their phones. I drive an SUV and sit up high and at least half the cars I pass (most going slow in the left lane) are looking at their phones or texting. I even see truck drivers looking at their phones. My back yard sits up high and in the evening, every car that comes by, the driver is looking down at their phone in their hands... that's why pedestrians are getting run over. This is definitely a big part of it. People are also driving too fast on residential/urban streets. I see people barreling down my street in Lakewood going likely around 45MPH. This is street where kids play and people are backing out of their driveway with low visibility due to parked cars. People are just generally very careless when they are driving.
May 1, 20187 yr I crossed Ontario at Prospect going toward Tower City on the public square side of Ontario when I got the little white walking dude signal. A cop directing traffic directed an RTA bus to turn into me, then told me "Heads Up!", and then when I finished crossing the street in front of the bus, bantered back and forth with his partner loudly, intentionally, about how I had a death wish, and that I was probably crossing the street like that so that I could sue when I got hit or my family could sue if and when I died. It was great.
May 31, 20187 yr Had an idea while stuck on I-75 for a sun delay the other day: highway canopies. For high volume highways a simple hard canopy structure could provide several benefits: Alleviate traffic congestion caused by sun delays Alleviate traffic congestion caused by rain (hard rainfall) Prevent traffic accidents caused by rain (roads are slick when it rains the first time in awhile) Alleviate traffic congestion and prevent traffic accidents caused by snow and ice Reduce the need for salt to be applied thus extending the lifespan of the road Eliminate potholes and the damage they cause to cars Could reduce noise pollution by installing sound absorbing tiles on the underside of the canopy Could reduce light pollution by having LED lighting under the canopy instead of huge light poles Could install solar panels on top (a much better place for them than the “solar roads” concept that keeps getting floated about) Challenges: Exhaust- You could have gaps in them with staggered overhangs to deal with the exhaust (and possibly fans.) Lighting- in addition to LED lighting you could have light diffusing skylights to let light in during the day. Would need street cleaning- but could be done during low volume times. The billboard lobby wouldn’t be happy. Forming a continuous canopy with existing overpasses would be challenging. High costs would be the biggest challenge. The economic benefits to users, highway maintenance, and police and fire would be spread out and hard to capture. This is where solar panels could help. www.cincinnatiideas.com
May 31, 20187 yr http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/13173/smog-absorbing-canopies-over-motorways-are-being-considered-in-the-u-k
May 31, 20187 yr *By making future highway widening more expensive, it makes never ending suburban sprawl more politically expensive
June 1, 20187 yr I've never heard of a sun delay. Sunglasses don't do the job? Nope. Not when the sun is directly over the horizon.
June 1, 20187 yr People would drive more slowly like how they do now on the lower deck of a 2-level bridge or double-deck highway.
June 1, 20187 yr Sounds like a fantastic idea. As soon as we figure out how to raise the money to maintain our existing infrastructure, that is definitely an idea worth considering.
June 1, 20187 yr Sounds like a fantastic idea. As soon as we figure out how to raise the money to maintain our existing infrastructure, that is definitely an idea worth considering. Until then we'll keep pouring road salt on everything.
June 1, 20187 yr Has this ever been done anywhere? Not to my knowledge- but it may be a concept waiting for several techs to come together like LED lighting and solar panels. (Looking ahead, a changeover to an electric vehicle fleet could even change the ventilation requirements and thus the canopy design.) Like bikeshare was made possible by GPS tech, wireless communication, computer technologies, and bikes coming together. Or, it could just be unfeasible for other reasons. www.cincinnatiideas.com
June 1, 20187 yr They do snow sheds on mountain roads, but those typically aren't interstate highways. The big problem, aside from the immense cost of covering an interstate highway, would be that vehicles that drive off the road could hit the upright supports and bring a big section crashing down on the roadway. That wouldn't be such a problem on an urban stretch with jersey barriers.
July 13, 20186 yr Author Good find... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 6, 20186 yr Author After a Louisiana politician was killed while riding his bike by a distracted driver, local leaders proposed this zany list of new requirements for cyclists. (It includes lasers!) https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/08/06/after-cycling-politician-is-killed-louisiana-parish-seeks-to-make-biking-harder/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 6, 20186 yr Author This has got to be peak victim blaming: @Austin_Police police TO PEDESTRIANS after a driver jumped the curb and killed a pedestrian standing on the sidewalk (!!) and then sped away: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/pedestrian-hit-and-killed-in-south-austin/1338636349 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 12, 20186 yr Insane! Not the first person to be run down on the sidewalk in Austin this year, either.
August 28, 20186 yr Author I was bad everywhere. It took my sister an hour to go from Parma to downtown this morning. I walked my son to school in Lakewood this morning and took this photo of traffic on Clifton... Cleveland Traffic — 'Please Kill Me' — is Bonkers Bad This Morning https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2018/08/28/cleveland-traffic-please-kill-me-is-bonkers-bad-this-morning Overnight construction leads to huge delays into Cleveland https://fox8.com/2018/08/28/overnight-construction-leads-to-huge-delays-into-cleveland/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 16, 20186 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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