> >That's nothing! I have seen numerous cases of STOP SIGNS at the
> end of the
> >acceleration lanes! Talk about not having a clue!
>
> some of the expressways in the Chicago area have lights that are supposed
> to control the flow of cars onto the expressway. I am not sure how close
> they are to the end of the entrance ramp. Somebody who has lived here
I can't speak for Chicago, but the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area is #3 in
the country for the number of ramp meter lights (probably #1 in lights per
car). The lights here give plenty of room for anyone with half a car and
half a brain to get up to speed, some never make it.
We just went through a state legislature imposed test of shutting all the
meters down. Preliminary results were that accidents went up, speed in
congested areas went down and was more erratic, speed around the fringes
went up. Rumor is that the other cities with the meters signed up to get
the results before the tests even started.
When I moved here (about 20 years ago), I stayed in a hotel for a couple
weeks. The magazine with information about the cities included a warning
that the residents had a tendency to stop at the end of ramps. I think that
the reason was the poor ramp designs at the time. Many were old, short, and
had no visibility of the highway traffic. A small car with a V8 was handy
for getting up to speed.
|