Merging - learn it

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jennyfell55

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This is not how you let someone merge! Come to a complete stop on the freeway to let a stopped van merge... great idea.

 
I wonder why they didn't move to a different lane rather than slow/stop.
Not much experience on that kind of road, I guess.
 
Is there an invisible stop or yield sign I didn't see?
 
Genki said:
Is there an invisible stop or yield sign I didn't see?
Click to expand...

No stop or yield sign. Merging cars stopping there is not that uncommon due to the amount of traffic in that area, but the genius slamming on the brakes for a stopped van really takes the cake!
 
I guess this is the kind of genius they had in mind when they put the "NO U TURN"signs on freeway on-ramps. I've only seen that in new England though... Guess it's obvious enough to not need them down south?

Street view of a random freeway on ramp in new Hampshire:
https://goo.gl/maps/DyG7WaexmNF2

This is not rocket surgery, folks!
 
Gibson99 said:
I guess this is the kind of genius they had in mind when they put the "NO U TURN"signs on freeway on-ramps. I've only seen that in new England though... Guess it's obvious enough to not need them down south?

Street view of a random freeway on ramp in new Hampshire:
https://goo.gl/maps/DyG7WaexmNF2

This is not rocket surgery, folks!
Click to expand...

WOW! Never seen a "No U-Turn" sign on an on-ramp! Apparently it's obvious enough over here in the west too haha!
 
I was caught behind 2 cars last week that couldn't figure out merging and nearly wrecked into them. I was looking over my left shoulder for other merging cars, hence the delay reaction.

 
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Whoa. That was scary.
Funny thing is, those roads you have are pretty much the equivalent of our motorways yet we have much longer slip road lanes to allow safe merging. Sometimes there's not even a need to merge, the slip roads just lead in to entirely new lanes.
 
sometimes our entrance ramps end up with their own lane as well - depends on how far it is to the next exit, or how much traffic the area sees. and how many lanes the freeway already has - if there's already 6 (in each direction!), there's not much point in adding another.
 
Here's the satellite view of the genius design for that section of freeway. Off-ramp from the northbound freeway to westbound is RIGHT before the on-ramp for southbound from westbound.

Screenshot_1.jpg
 

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I'll take your genius design over our idiot design any day.

At this intersection entering and exiting traffic share a lane in all four directions. :eek: Northbound traffic wanting to go west must move 1 lane to the right in order to get to the exit ramp. This same lane is used as the entrance ramp by eastbound traffic wanting to go north and must move 1 lane to the left in order to avoid the westbound exit ramp.

This 'cross merging' happens going north to west, south to east, east to north, and west to south. The irony is you have to deal with it twice, once when exiting the highway you started on and again when entering the highway you end up on. At night when it's raining it's terrifying if there's any traffic at all!

75-59.jpg

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.640...4!1sydppDXFlIQtUHCq0Duv4kg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
 
DT MI said:
I'll take your genius design over our idiot design any day.

At this intersection entering and exiting traffic share a lane in all four directions. :eek: Northbound traffic wanting to go west must move 1 lane to the right in order to get to the exit ramp. This same lane is used as the entrance ramp by eastbound traffic wanting to go north and must move 1 lane to the left in order to avoid the westbound exit ramp.

This 'cross merging' happens going north to west, south to east, east to north, and west to south. The irony is you have to deal with it twice, once when exiting the highway you started on and again when entering the highway you end up on. At night when it's raining it's terrifying if there's any traffic at all!
Click to expand...

wish the onramps and offramps in China were this simple, it's an adventure driving there I can assure you
 
jokiin said:
wish the onramps and offramps in China were this simple, it's an adventure driving there I can assure you
Click to expand...
I can only imagine, but given the population density in urban areas I'm sure it's not a lot of fun.
 
jokiin said:
have a zoom around here and have a look at some of the overlays https://www.google.com.au/maps/plac...0x3403f408d0e15291:0xfdee550db79280c9!6m1!1e1
Click to expand...
I could almost use the word 'elegant' to describe that. That's not saying I would use the same word if I had to drive it. :D

The issue I have with the intersection I posted is not the complexity, it's really a simple 'cloverleaf', but the traffic flow. The designers failed to consider that the exiting traffic had to reduce speed from 70mph to 25mph for the exit ramp while entering traffic had to increase speed from 25mph to 70mph in order to merge with the through traffic - and they are forced to do it in the same lane. The way it's designed the exiting traffic cannot move to the right until after the entering traffic has left their entrance ramp. Likewise the entering traffic must move left before the exit ramp as there is no continuation of the lane.

During peak traffic periods it's almost like bumper cars at an amusement park. :confused:

 
jokiin said:
Lanes don't matter in China, people just chop and change however they please without rhyme or reason
Click to expand...
That's one way to keep the daily commute interesting. :D
 
DT MI said:
I could almost use the word 'elegant' to describe that. That's not saying I would use the same word if I had to drive it. :D

The issue I have with the intersection I posted is not the complexity, it's really a simple 'cloverleaf', but the traffic flow. The designers failed to consider that the exiting traffic had to reduce speed from 70mph to 25mph for the exit ramp while entering traffic had to increase speed from 25mph to 70mph in order to merge with the through traffic - and they are forced to do it in the same lane. The way it's designed the exiting traffic cannot move to the right until after the entering traffic has left their entrance ramp. Likewise the entering traffic must move left before the exit ramp as there is no continuation of the lane.
Click to expand...

that's the problem with the intersection of I-10 and US49 in Gulfport, Mississippi - people coming onto I-10 need to accelerate from 20 to 70+ while people coming off I-10 have to slow down to 20... in the same lane. people familiar with the intersection will get in the far left lane to let people duke it out as they get on or off, but sometimes it doesn't work out very well:


the title is wrong - this is actually in Gulfport. the cam driver was coming FROM Biloxi, which is probably where the confusion comes from in the title. all the emergency vehicles that responded clearly say Gulfport.
 
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Gibson99 said:
that's the problem with the intersection of I-10 and US49 in Gulfport, Mississippi....
Click to expand...
Yep, same design. At least Gulfport has a shoulder to the right of the traffic lane - the I-75/M59 intersection doesn't even have than on the north/south portion.
 
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