Hybrid AWD

Has it dawned on anyone else that our road ways really haven't had any advancements over the years? Obviously there has been advancements in material but overall designs have hardly changed at all.

This article below was posted on AutoBlog.com and it made me start thinking about how we are so far behind in creating better road ways.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/14/s...ns-be-illegal/

The only improvements I can think of off hand are the better traffic light patterns. Something the USA doesn't use much of is the Round-A-Bouts but how efficient are those really?

Looking at the wait time, accident rate, congestion, and amount of traffic flow an intersection can have you'd think there would be something someone could come up with that better suits our needs with the every growing volume of traffic.

Why haven't we been able to come up with something yet? What is limiting us, I assume it would be overall cost?

Fabrik8

Some areas do. The area of Colorado where we live uses a lot of roundabouts, there's actually one right outside our townhouse and another half dozen down the side streets a few blocks away. They're a lot nicer than stop signs and stop lights, although people don't seem to understand how they work and can't figure out how to yield properly. It just replaces a 4-way stop with a 4-way yield and a roundabout, so there isn't any need to stop (usually just slow down for timing, if necessary).

I just smacked a curb (when it was snowing the other day) trying to avoid someone who entered the roundabout right in front of me while I was already in it. A few hundred bucks and some un-bent suspension parts later...

Anyway, I really like roundabouts but I can't figure out why they're so fucking difficult for the general population to use. I guess I like roundabouts but hate stupid people..

Oh, they do make things interesting for the fire station down the street. Those firefighters are masterful drivers though, they take an awesome line through the roundabout in spike of the width and wheelbase.

Computer_Nerd

Unions. They control the cost, schedule, and lobby for the transportation budgets.

Ever wonder why the companies get paid for the job, but the employees get paid by the hour? Several efforts to award bonuses to management for completing on time and under budget succeeded but were quickly fought over by unions as job killers.

MissmyE30

there's a couple roundabouts in Maine when i go to visit the in-laws and there's one on the VT campus. They're nice and seem to be fairly efficient at traffic control. but as stated, the problem is they're too difficult for most morons behind the wheel to understand.

dru

The one new road design that we can easily see now is the on/off ramps for greenbrier/battlefield on 64. I'm trying to find the article but I'm failing atm.

(minus the bullshit 464 entrance area combined with the 17S exit)

brandini

My annoyances with roads:
-No-yield left turns - I'm sitting there waiting fucking forever with no oncoming traffic, such a waste- at least henrico has started a trend of putting those yield left lights at tons more intersections
-Construction when a lane ends - fill in both lanes and put a bigass signs that say merge point in xxx feet & merge here & alternate cars - nobody gets butthurt and starts shit
-Make signs match the damn road, 64&95 is the biggest shitstorm ever and the arrows for lanes don't even represent what the road actually does
-Light timing should be smarter & have sensors placed farther ahead of the upcoming light to gauge the best time to allow for cross-traffic, this light turning red when a HUGE clump of cars is coming is getting old, so is the catching. every. light. crap that's easily preventable

bumada

The one at Virginia Tech doesnt count.

MissmyE30

it's on a road open to the public therefore it is on a public highway per the code of virginia.

SpeedJunkie

There are a couple scattered around Norfolk.

Quentin

There are round-a-bouts in DC and some of them are a PITA. They have lights, people trying to cross, and like 2 or 3 lanes of traffic.