Massachusetts Highway Design
So, I think the road designers here were missing something when they designed the transitions and on-ramps on highways. Despite popular evidence otherwise, I think a driver is supposed to accelerate out of a curve, and if entering a highway should be accelerating up to speed. The designs here don’t quite allow for that.
At the end of May I was driving back from a talk and had the pleasure of experiencing three off-ramps in quick succession to navigate some highway construction to get from Route 128/I-95 to Route 2. It sorta felt like this…
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
Inescapable Cloverleaf
Joking aside, the three transitions in quick succession lead me to realize why I’m having problems driving here. The ramp design forces the driver to slow down dramatically at the end of a curve, instead of allowing them to continue slowing gradually while positioning them to accelerate out of the curve in a fluid motion. Duh.
I even took a quick look at the state Highway Design Section (though right now their website is giving a great error: “Not enough storage is available to complete this operation.”). Their design guidebook has lots of pretty pictures with ideal tangents to the curves in the intersection design section and great tables of ideal speeds and such–but that hasn’t been matching reality on the roadways. Ok, so I’ve only done a really cursory look–but what am I missing here?
/sigh[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
