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What a gem. I'm going to borrow that. One has to wonder just what the design engineers were thinking when that bridge configuration was originally built. Ah well, at least one poster doesn't think people drive fast enough which is what causes him an extra 5 minutes per trip or so. Nothing to do with design that just doesn't work anymore or anything like that.
Ha, ha, ha that picture is hilarious. I never saw it, but sure have been on that little stretch countless times and it does seem like you are always having to cross all lanes no matter what. Too funny.
One of the great benefits to driverless vehicle technology, and from my perspective the ONLY reason to not consider future major improvements like the ones in the OP, is that the current bottlenecks created by this old-fashioned design will be greatly reduced while the safety benefits will be infinite with or without a redesign of the roads.
there will be no stop and go traffic, rather everything will flow at the appropriate speed to handle that volume of traffic in the most efficient manner possible. Every merge point taking the appearance of a zipper where nary a brake needs to be tapped. At times there will be traffic but more likely at a slow speed of 20-30 mph instead of our constant maddening stop and go. Improvements could then be targeted very specifically to zones that are causing the worst bottlenecks. It's quite possible Banksville would still require some sort of redesign in this scenario but Carnegie and Greentree would require minimal intervention.
In that meme above, the left lane could be packed full of cars who are only going through the tunnel and it could prohibit merging at peak hours for example and the computers could allow a tight train of cars to proceed at a much higher speed past all of that merging. The same would hold true for traffic coming down Greentree Hill towards the banksville merge.
It sounds like a fantasy but seeing how quickly Uber and the orhers are working to make this a reality, and the near flawless safety record so far of the vehicles using the technology, it looks like a promising future.
It sounds like a fantasy but seeing how quickly Uber and the orhers are working to make this a reality, and the near flawless safety record so far of the vehicles using the technology, it looks like a promising future.
Glad I'll be dead when that happens. Just another way for Big Brother to keep track of us. No thanks.
This work is still in preliminary design also, so again there is a lot missing here as to what they actually plan to do. I believe the plan is to reconfigure the on ramps from Carnegie heading into the city completely. Instead of having 15' to merge onto a busy highway, Penndot will (most likely) make the ramp turn into a third lane and connect it to the exit lane/truck lane heading up Green Tree Hill. I also believe they will extend the off ramps to proper lengths as well.
The above needs to happen. That on ramp from Carnegie is awful. This last round of Parkway West work they did, I wondered if they'd fix the Carnegie EB on-ramp. Nope. Still sucks. That and the Poplar on-ramp need to be remedied.
Although, I never understood why they didn't address some of the Banksville Road intersections a few years ago. Crane & Banksville for example. Why doesn't one side of Crane have a green signal while everyone else stops...then the next side gets the green with everyone else stopped...and then Banksville Road goes...I've never understood why they allow intersections like that and Potomac to be free-for-alls when it really isn't necessary.
One of the great benefits to driverless vehicle technology, and from my perspective the ONLY reason to not consider future major improvements like the ones in the OP, is that the current bottlenecks created by this old-fashioned design will be greatly reduced while the safety benefits will be infinite with or without a redesign of the roads.
there will be no stop and go traffic, rather everything will flow at the appropriate speed to handle that volume of traffic in the most efficient manner possible. Every merge point taking the appearance of a zipper where nary a brake needs to be tapped. At times there will be traffic but more likely at a slow speed of 20-30 mph instead of our constant maddening stop and go. Improvements could then be targeted very specifically to zones that are causing the worst bottlenecks. It's quite possible Banksville would still require some sort of redesign in this scenario but Carnegie and Greentree would require minimal intervention.
In that meme above, the left lane could be packed full of cars who are only going through the tunnel and it could prohibit merging at peak hours for example and the computers could allow a tight train of cars to proceed at a much higher speed past all of that merging. The same would hold true for traffic coming down Greentree Hill towards the banksville merge.
It sounds like a fantasy but seeing how quickly Uber and the orhers are working to make this a reality, and the near flawless safety record so far of the vehicles using the technology, it looks like a promising future.
I think that may be greatly optimistic for a few reasons..
#1 - Driverless cars will put more cars on the road. Why pay for parking when you can just send it home.. Instead of 1 round trip per day, the cars will be taking 2.. effectively doubling the amount of cars on the roads during rush hour.
#2 - Though they will most definitely help the situation, an intersection like the fort pitt bridge still merges 6 lanes into 2.. I have a hard time believing that even with the increased efficiency of a 90% driverless road system, the fort pitt tunnel will truly be fixed.. Also, based on the left lane train concept, i am assuming you are predicting the exemption of driverless cars from current speed limits? This would definitely cause dangerous situations between driverless/non-driverless cars, as well things like pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, etc.
#3 - This may help our children, but will likely have no effect on us.. I assume that the timeline for driverless cars will go as follows:
-10-15 years for the tech to become perfected, affordable, and well received by the public. (would you trust the current driverless cars on steep hills in the snow?)
-10 years after that for laws requiring driverless features as standard on all new cars
-20-30 years after that for 90% driverless cars on our roads. (they are really only useful in easing congestion when a majority of the cars on the roads are driverless)
Personally, I don't think its a good idea to settle for poor design merely because a future technology will make it more efficient.. I want it fixed yesterday (that's why I pay all of the ridiculous PA "infrastructure" taxes that likely just end up in some politicians/contractors pocket)..In 40 years, I will be retired and won't care much about traffic.. I want my commute fixed NOW & any infrastructure improvements we do will surely help the flow of traffic even with when driverless cars become widespread.
No, I'm not trying to say that driverless cars are "scary", "useless", "the next donald trump", etc.. Just trying to make the point that driverless cars aren't the holy grail & won't solve all of our problems.. They will definitely help a lot when it comes to road capacity/traffic issues, but they will likely also create other issues that are unique to a driverless mode of transportation..
There are THREE Major Interchange Improvements coming to the parkway west in the coming years! FINALLY! The first is scheduled to start in 2019 and the other two are to follow.
CARNEGIE INTERCHANGE (I-376 interchange with 50) Work Begin: IN DESIGN
Work Finished: IN DESIGN
Project Cost: $25,054,125
Construct new ramp at Carnegie Interchange from Carnegie to I376 EB, construct new bridge and new
retaining walls.
This work is still in preliminary design also, so again there is a lot missing here as to what they actually plan to do. I believe the plan is to reconfigure the on ramps from Carnegie heading into the city completely. Instead of having 15' to merge onto a busy highway, Penndot will (most likely) make the ramp turn into a third lane and connect it to the exit lane/truck lane heading up Green Tree Hill. I also believe they will extend the off ramps to proper lengths as well.
Omg PLEASE! I try to avoid the parkway west as much as possible and never really had any experience using the Carnegie "on ramp" and one day ended up there at that stop sign trying to get on to the extremely busy highway with an endless stream of cars going 65 mph+. I almost had a panic attack and was going to try to back up, but the cars started to line up behind me and I had no choice... I waited and waited and waited until the hint of a break and pushed the pedal to the floor. NEVER will get on the Parkway West there again.
I think that may be greatly optimistic for a few reasons..
#1 - Driverless cars will put more cars on the road. Why pay for parking when you can just send it home.. Instead of 1 round trip per day, the cars will be taking 2.. effectively doubling the amount of cars on the roads during rush hour.
#2 - Though they will most definitely help the situation, an intersection like the fort pitt bridge still merges 6 lanes into 2.. I have a hard time believing that even with the increased efficiency of a 90% driverless road system, the fort pitt tunnel will truly be fixed.. Also, based on the left lane train concept, i am assuming you are predicting the exemption of driverless cars from current speed limits? This would definitely cause dangerous situations between driverless/non-driverless cars, as well things like pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, etc.
#3 - This may help our children, but will likely have no effect on us.. I assume that the timeline for driverless cars will go as follows:
-10-15 years for the tech to become perfected, affordable, and well received by the public. (would you trust the current driverless cars on steep hills in the snow?)
-10 years after that for laws requiring driverless features as standard on all new cars
-20-30 years after that for 90% driverless cars on our roads. (they are really only useful in easing congestion when a majority of the cars on the roads are driverless)
Personally, I don't think its a good idea to settle for poor design merely because a future technology will make it more efficient.. I want it fixed yesterday (that's why I pay all of the ridiculous PA "infrastructure" taxes that likely just end up in some politicians/contractors pocket)..In 40 years, I will be retired and won't care much about traffic.. I want my commute fixed NOW & any infrastructure improvements we do will surely help the flow of traffic even with when driverless cars become widespread.
No, I'm not trying to say that driverless cars are "scary", "useless", "the next donald trump", etc.. Just trying to make the point that driverless cars aren't the holy grail & won't solve all of our problems.. They will definitely help a lot when it comes to road capacity/traffic issues, but they will likely also create other issues that are unique to a driverless mode of transportation..
1- No one is quite sure yet how the new model of commuting will look in a driverless car world. One theory is that you could actually use your car to make you money while you aren't using it. So instead of it returning home to park in your garage all day, it could be out providing a service a la Uber. Also cars will be able to be hired for carpooling where an app could send one car to pick up 4 carpoolers who live along the same route. Maybe these aren't services you would use, but it will all seem more normal over time, as seeing the ones already on the road has already become. But overall, even if there are more vehicles on the road, the road space will be used at an incredibly higher Efficiency.
2-You admitted to assuming, and you sure did a lot of it regarding the train concept. the speed limit doesn't need to be exceeded, there could be a tight train of cars moving at 40 mph during rush hour and it would be a vast improvement over the current set up. How to avoid conflicts with non-driverless cars? Signs and paint. Countless cities have HOV lanes currently where a double strip of paint and signs saying when you can use it and when you can't and as far as I know as long as this technology has been in use there hasn't been a large rash of drivered cars crossing into the train of other drivered cars which typically moves at a significantly higher speed than the general traffic. No reason to believe Pittsburghers also couldn't learn this concept rather quickly. Also, since we are talking specifically about the Fort Pitt Bridge, the consideration for bikers/peds is moot. It's an interstate highway and they will not be in the traffic lanes.
3. I mostly agree with this, and for that I think these projects are still necessary because the future still appears to be far off. The thing is, even with drivered cars populating the roads for years (decades) to come, one of the biggest keys will be the COMMUNICATION between vehicles and that is something that is likely to be implemented much much earlier. So if Johnny tries to turn his car left into the train of cars moving at 50mph, his car and all the cars around it will immediately recognize what is happening and adjust to prevent an accident.
And as for the poster who mentioned Big Brother; it's too late for that, so might as well enjoy the benefits of the cool new things technology brings while accepting your privacy is gone. But seriously, what govt official is interested in the life of some boring old white guy and where he drives around to? Out of 300 million people, who cares if someone knows where you buy your meds or what you do behind your wife's back?
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