Friday, April 28, 2006

Malfunction Junction


My email to the SCDOT this morning:

I have gone through the I-20/I-26 malfunction junction every work day for the last six years. This morning, once again, I came upon a semi-truck laying on it's side at the bottom of a ramp. It seems that this happens approximately once a month. One can practically be reminded to change the calendar page upon seeing the overturned truck. I have no clue what prompted the terrible engineering compromise to build the interchange with decreasing radius turns on the ramps as the result is completely predictable. Each time a truck goes over costs emergency crew resources, insurance claims on the damaged trucks, and wasted time and gas for countless people stuck in the resulting traffic backups, not to mention the pain of injuries. It seems a comparative pittance to spend a few thousand dollars on some signage that would warn the truckers of the danger. The existing arrows just don't cut it. Signs showing a graphic of a truck tipping over and/or possibly a warning on approach to the interchange of decreasing radius turns along with the graphic of the tipping truck would give the drivers enough time to slow down and be ready. Those turns sneak up on people even in cars which spin out often when it rains. Please, please, put up some signs at malfunction junction! If it embarrasses the engineer who drew the plan, so much the better. Maybe his next design will be more sensible.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amen!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006 4:21:00 PM  
Blogger wingman said...

There was another one this morning.

Thursday, May 04, 2006 12:40:00 PM  
Blogger wingman said...

2 emails to SCDOT with no response. I sent a letter to the governor.

Friday, May 05, 2006 12:06:00 PM  
Blogger wingman said...

update:
The governor responded to my letter. Several times. He got the DOT into action and kept me informed by copying all the correspondance to me. Within about two months there were additional "truck tipping over" signs on all the ramps of malfunction junction. I would have put them at the approaches instead of at the turns themselves (yet more lame engineering), but it's way better than nothing. When I go through there now I tell my family they are "my" signs. Hopefully they will help alleviate the problem. And I really feel like my civic voice was heard. Kinda cool.

Sunday, August 27, 2006 2:26:00 AM  

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