Re: Roadtrip Report: Milwaukee to Utah (8/31/05)

[Mr. Tantillo:]

[Nebraska "(Shield) Town EXIT" signing]

> > Often the distance is quite large--about 10 miles in the case of the
> > Neb. 370 Bellevue exit signed from eastbound I-80.
>
> I like Nebraska's style better...the other method is subject to some
> ambiguity.

I like Nebraska's approach better, too, if the truth be told.

> For example, one heading from DC towards Baltimore sees a sign like
> this:
>
> Tunnels to Phila/N.Y.
> --------------------------
> I-895 Harbor Tunnel 1
> I-95 Ft. McHenry Tunnel 11
>
> That sign mixes and matches, the 1 mile to I-895 is the distance from
> that point to the EXIT for the Harbor Tunnel, not the tunnel itself,
> whereas the I-95 distance is to the actual tunnel.

I remember that sign from my time living in suburban Maryland over the
summers seven years ago. I too would have preferred that it quote the
distances to the tunnels as measured on a common basis derived from the
geographical location of the tunnels, e.g. distance from sign location
to entry portal of the tunnel. However, the distances are in fact
calculated from a common basis, which is the length of road from the
sign location to the last point where the motorist can escape paying a
toll to use the facility. This is 11 miles for the Ft. McHenry Tunnel
since there are a number of intermediate interchanges before the toll
plazas for the tunnel where motorists can leave I-95 without paying
toll. The Harbor Tunnel, however, is part of a larger facility (the
Harbor Tunnel Thruway) which originally opened as a toll road and is
designed not to allow motorists in either direction to escape before
they have paid the toll and gone through the tunnel.

Also, in its current form the sign suggests that the Harbor Tunnel is
closer and more convenient than the Fort McHenry Tunnel when in fact it
is older, has fewer lanes, and uses a slightly lower unit lane width.
The sign thus operates against motorists' tendency to divert 'en masse'
to a larger and more modern facility, and may help bring traffic levels
into better balance between the two tunnels.

I.S.T.M. that the following sign design would escape the ambiguity.

Toll facilities to Phila & NYC
----------------------------
[I-95] Ft McHenry Tunnel 11
[I-895] Harbor Tunnel Thruway 1

Does the advance guide signing for the Harbor Tunnel Thruway exit have
bottom panels advising motorists that they will be trapped into paying
toll if they turn onto the Thruway? I can't remember.

[Location of K-Tag lanes W.R.T. cash lanes]

> > In most cases the K-Tag lanes have been grafted onto existing toll
> > plazas, which have received only cosmetic remodelling. It would indeed
> > be more sensible to have the K-Tag lanes on the left but the speed
> > differential involved is not that great since K-Tag does not (last I
> > travelled on the Turnpike) offer high-speed tolling.
>
> Perhaps there was a need to "cluster" the cash lanes together, to allow
> for flexibility in # of lanes per direction. You can't move the K-Tag
> lane, because of its special signage, etc. But if the K-Tag lanes were
> in the center, then there would always be X lanes on the EB side, and Y
> lanes on the WB side. With the lanes on each side, then the cash lanes
> can be configured in any configuration such that the EB lanes + WB
> lanes = X+Y. So if you have twice as much traffic going in one
> direction as the other, you can accommodate them.

That sounds reasonable and I am sure the design would have been guided
by such considerations. However, the Turnpike in general is not
particularly busy except on holiday weekends, and the traffic flow on
it does not have a pronounced tidal character except in the
Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City corridor currently being widened. Thus,
outside this corridor, cash tollbooths are often coned off and left
vacant at quiet times of the day, instead of being reconfigured to
serve traffic in the opposite direction. I believe there are also
combined cash/K-Tag lanes at some rural interchanges.

It has been suggested that tolls should be removed on certain parts of
the Turnpike to allow it to be used as an urban commuter route. This
has been done in the Kansas City area, where the K.T.A.-maintained 18th
St. Expwy. and the mainline Turnpike from Muncie Expwy. westwards have
been freed of toll and now are important commuter routes. However, the
Wichita M.P.O. has so far failed to persuade the K.T.A. to do something
similar in southeastern Wichita, where the Turnpike could theoretically
form one-quarter of an urban beltway. The K.T.A. is not interested in
any of the practical options for implementing this, which include
moving the mainline toll plaza to north of Wichita, building two
mainline toll plazas in the Wichita area so the length of Turnpike
between them can be toll-free, etc. Right now the Wichita M.P.O. is
considering alternatives like building an untolled freeway parallel to
the Turnpike.

.

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  • Re: Roadtrip Report: Milwaukee to Utah (8/31/05)
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