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Ramp Meters

all2neat

By all2neat
in Baton Rouge

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richyb83 Megalopolis

richyb83

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Ooohh...can hardly wait :stop: Not really...I really think this is a mistake...don't we already stop enough at countless unsynchronized traffic lights on our surface streets leading up to the on-ramps...all's we need is more stops; will people know how to use this?? Can't wait to see the texting drivers use it... don't understand how this will help?? What a wa$te of $$$!

Wanted to post this in Road Rants thread a while back

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cajun Town

cajun

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I'm worried about several things regarding ramp meters...I've had to endure them in several cities before, and people mostly hate them.

1. They are installing them on Airline HWY on ramps to I-12. Since this is a cloverleaf with X merging, it's important to match speed. Judging from where they are placing the foundations for the ramp meters there, you'd have to go full speed to accelerate onto 12 in normal traffic without causing an accident. And why on earth are they installing them on the southbound Airline to westbound 12 ramp? The access lane is at least a mile long and goes all the way to Drusilla. In the case of Essen to 12 westbound ramp meters, the backup is already apparent there- and the problem is that the traffic on the ramp and I-10 flyover lane already moves slower than the freeway, so exiting cars have to slow down. This will only be made worse when traffic is slowed even more by ramp meters.

2. Traffic already backs up on Sherwood, Millerville, Bluebonnet, and Essen....there's no more room to fit cars that would be sitting for 4 second at a time. A ramp meter would only make traffic back up onto the surface streets....making the North-South navigation in this town even more stressful. These things backed traffic up onto surface street in Atlanta pretty badly without helping rush hour traffic very much.

I guarantee that traffic will back up onto surface streets at the diamond intersections.

3. It penalizes local traffic for minimum improvements in congestion that will be exploited by suburban development.....Meters don't help when traffic is at a standstill, like it often is, and they are useless (often turned off) during mid day light flow where congestion at ramps is not a problem.

They could solve the same problems by having exit to exit access lanes like they do between Acadian and College. It wouldn't take that much time to do, and they could install extra lanes with minimum impact on thru traffic. Lanes like this minimizes the affect of local traffic on interstate congestion.

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cajun Town

cajun

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Yeah, not nearly enough room to accelerate to anything approaching freeway speeds. There will be accidents.

Not to mention that the merging cars have to waste way more gas accelerating from zero than from 40.

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xav13r Unincorporated Area

xav13r

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Have they started installing them yet? I'm curious to see how DOTD will implement this. In SoCal they have ramp meters on cloverleaves, loops, etc; but most freeway entrances are multi-laned out there vs. the single lanes in BR.

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all2neat Hamlet

all2neat

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Have they started installing them yet? I'm curious to see how DOTD will implement this. In SoCal they have ramp meters on cloverleaves, loops, etc; but most freeway entrances are multi-laned out there vs. the single lanes in BR.

The first one was scheduled to go active today on Essen and I-12 West. I don't drive by that area in the morning so I can't comment if they actually turned it on..

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cajun Town

cajun

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The first one was scheduled to go active today on Essen and I-12 West. I don't drive by that area in the morning so I can't comment if they actually turned it on..

It was on the last couple of days.

It actually works far better than I expected....although I'm still not looking forward to the Airline and Sherwood meters.

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  • 4 months later...
richyb83 Megalopolis

richyb83

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This is a big waste IMO...Not a fan so far...silly!

Getting ramped up

After weather and other delays, most of the state’s new traffic signals along Interstate 12 between Baton Rouge and Walker are set to be in operation by Dec. 9, officials said. The signals, which are called ramp meters, force cars and trucks to proceed one at a time along entrance ramps onto I-12 to make merging easier. A total of 14 are going up this year and the final two next spring. The lights will stretch from Essen Lane in Baton Rouge to the Walker/La. 447 exit. Nine of the meters are in operation now, mostly for westbound traffic. The work was set to be done by the end of October.

The signals, which are called ramp meters, force cars and trucks to proceed one at a time along entrance ramps onto I-12 to make merging easier.

A total of 14 are going up this year and the final two next spring.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/106864718.html

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  • 5 months later...
xav13r Unincorporated Area

xav13r

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Two problems here:

1) The on ramps were never built with ramp meters in mind. Some are just too short and could cause traffic backups.

2) You can't judge the meters effective/ineffectivness right now with the I12 construction.

I actually agree with itsjustme2 :scared:

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  • 6 months later...
steve3n8 Whistle-Stop

steve3n8

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I-12 ramp meters credited for fewer crashes, quicker travel

There have been 12% fewer crashes along the Interstate 12 corridor and travel times have improved by 17% since ramp meters were first installed in June 2010, says the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. "Overall, we see a noticeable improvement," says DOTD Secretary Sherri H. LeBas. "We embraced this new traffic management system because building new roads or widening current roads is only one way to address the needs of the traveling public." Fourteen of the 16 ramp meters are in place. The last two—for I-12 eastbound on-ramps at O'Neal Lane in Baton Rouge and Range Avenue in Denham Springs—will be installed once nearby interstate widening projects are complete. The ramp meters are currently active on I-12 westbound between 6 and 10 a.m. for the morning commute, and on I-12 eastbound between 2 and 7 p.m. for the evening commute. The meters are also activated for special events or incidents that cause increases in traffic.

Businessreport.com

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cajun Town

cajun

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Posted

Well, I don't live there anymore...but I did notice better traffic flow westbound in the mornings. You can actually use the right lane again.

People can't merge anymore. Some idiot will always try to bumper lock the car in front of him and then force his way into traffic.

It is probably not easy to judge evening traffic given the construction problems with 12 eastbound....but westbound in the AM definitely was much easier.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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