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I'm Fed Up With


wolverine

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This mess.

BARTONHILLSRAMPS.jpg

Anyone have any good ideas on how this mess can be fixed? Remember there isn't a whole lot of space to work with the ramps. You can take my sketch and draw all over it if you choose. A good place to start would be by putting in a ramp that allows you to go from mainstreet to M-14 heading SE towards I-94 instead of that crazy exit-re-enter strategy currently. I think it's safe to say you get up to 20 feet of working room on each side of the ramps and freeway. :thumbsup:

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I used to live right off that ramp on Barton Drive for my two years at TCAUP. That ramp is TERRIBLE! Anyone trying to get onto M-14 during the morning rush hour will be sitting there forever and then risks causing a major accident... Like you said, there isn't alot of room for them to work with... I'd almost suggest removing that ramp altogether

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You've laid down the gauntlet and you know I can't help but try my luck at it. Tell me though: there's got to be at least one historic structure in the way, right? :lol:

jbr12: I think you need to have an interchange there, but you're right that the current one is horrible.

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This interchange just baffles me and I really do feel like there is going to be an accident every time I drive past it. I would have to say that closing the E. Barton Dr. entrance ramp would be ok. That is the worst part. But it also looks as if that is the place where there is the most room to lengthen the entrance ramp. As far as getting to Main St., that is quite difficult, mostly because a lot of that area is also parks and wetlands. Then there is the railroad bridge there as well. I always go over and down Pontiac Trail which is pretty annoying.

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All right, this is me bored on a Sunday:

m14zb7.jpgm14ajt2.jpg

orange = M14; green = proposed changes; light gray = existing roads; dark gray = railroad; blue = Huron River

1 - Convert the current onramp and offramp from Barton Drive to onramp only. You could leave the current onramp as it is, but it could definitely benefit from a smoother approach. This gets rid of that suicidal exit from M14 north.

2 -- Remove the onramp, rebuild offramp for smoother exit and terminus at Barton Drive.

3 -- Redirect Barton Drive to a T-intersection with Whitmore Lake Rd. (May not be possible, but would make this area less confusing.)

4 -- Utilize existing Whitmore Lake/Park Rd bridge across the Huron River. Would have to ramp it up and over the railroad tracks, and connect with Main Street (see 7).

5 -- Redirect Huron River Drive to a T-intersection with new Main St/Whitemore Lake Rd. This is more intuitive and clears up that stupid intersection with the on and offramps of the current Main St/M14 setup.

6 -- New onramp to M14 south from redirected Main St. This could hug the southbound lanes of M14 to minimize footprint.

7 -- New offramp from M14 north to redirected Main St. This could hug the northbound lanes of M14 to minimize footprint.

I left the current on and offramps from M14 to Main St. (redirecting them only slightly) with the assumption that they are necessary for traffic flow into/out of the city during rush hour. But if it made sense, these could be removed entirely.

Benefits --

+ You now have a fully-functional, albeit still slightly confusing, interchange between M14 and Main St/Barton Drive. Proper signage would be crucial.

+ No more suicidal, 15 mph offramp, or enter/exit/re-enter BS to go south on M14.

+ Traffic on SB Whitmore Lk no longer needs to enter and exit M14 to continue south on Main St.

+ Traffic on NB Main St no longer needs to enter and exit M14 to continue north on Whitmore Lk.

+ Traffic on NB Main St no longer needs to follow M14 entrance ramp and then cross traffic on M14 exit ramp to continue on Huron River Dr.

Of course this is all way too ambitious. It calls for redirecting three roads, eating up a few acres of park land (although it would open up a few acres elsewhere), Barton Hills is involved, and I've probably grossly overlooked something like traffic volume, number of intersections requried, the plight of the grey squirrel, an historic stand of trees, whatever.

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Yah, the first time I had to use that thing, I was like, "WEEEEEEE!! ACCIDENT PRONE!!"...errrrch, flip, tumble, scratch, bang, boom, rrrehhhrrr, clash, crash, smash, flip, tumble, tumble, rock, rock, rest.

All of Ann Arbor's ring needs to be reworked and widened. It's a mess.

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The first time I used it I was nearly run off the road. Let's just say I didn't expect it. Yeah, the whole ring around Ann Arbor is woefully undersized for the population, and considering how much non-local traffic the ring carries (i.e. Busy, cross-state I-94). That said, you get a sweet-@ssed view of the skyline from around that exit.

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Very nice nofunk, I like the ramp arrangement. I definitely agree with ChiefJoJo, the intersections should at least be close to 90 degrees. (they almost appear as mergining lanes, although I'm sure you didn't intend it to be that way.) The speed limits on the surface streets are actually like 20 mph or something because there's a park, so it's not so much a high speed maneuver.

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Thanks for the compliments!

1. Align the SB M14 offramp to the T intersection at #5 or #6... either of which would reduce conflict points, intersections, etc.

2. Do the same (align ramp) with the Main St to NB M14 onramp and #7.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think that was one of my first threads ever posted here at urbanplanet.

It's interesting you found that, because I was searching for it, and I was going to revive it for this discussion. I was searching the Detroit forum (where AA discussions used to be), but couldn't find it. Who woulda thunk it was in the transit forums lol.

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