This Brand New Interchange is Already Flawed
Vložit
- čas přidán 15. 05. 2024
- Sometimes road designs leave out a vital aspect.
Help support Streetcraft to educate and inspire change in the built environment by checking out Patreon:
/ streetcraft
Shop Streetcraft merch here:
shop.streetcraft.co/
Check out Streetcraft on:
/ streetcraft
/ streetcraft
/ streetcraft__
___________
References:
Florida interchange location:
maps.app.goo.gl/MB91ACaWgxXmB...
Ohio interchange location:
maps.app.goo.gl/6uvQyS8XR9Jxp...
Full-resolution concept images used in this video:
www.patreon.com/posts/full-re...
Chapters:
Intro 0:00
How it works: 0:25
What Went Wrong 2:46
Bike Problem 4:42
Imagining Improvements 5:33
Main Problem 8:34
What You Can Do 9:14 - Věda a technologie
That bike lane looks absolutely deadly.
I dare the designers of this interchange to bike there
I feel like a lot of these designs are intentional so they can later argue that bike lanes are dangerous and they can get rid of them again.
@@FlorianHWave "no one even uses this bike lane! this is why we shouldn't build more bike lanes"
I don't think I've ever seen a bike lane more stupidly designed anywhere. Ever.
@@FlorianHWave Yeah, that's the only way I can believe it. They make a crappy dangerous lane nobody uses, to justify never building any at all.
That should be the requirement - not that that the road designers must include a bike lane, but that they must ride a bike along the roads they design at least once a month for a year. See how much safer the bike lanes become after that.
Based on how projects are funded by my MPO, my guess is that the purpose of that bike lane was not to be useful for cyclist and ONLY to ensure the project could receive additional federal funding meant for active transportation projects. They don't expect any cyclist to use it but they do expect to use money allocated for cyclist for more car infrastructure.
Very likely
Yes. It is quite a sad paradox of the US federal funding system. I saw a similar design in Jackson, TN where the bike lane at a new interchange isn't attached to any other infrastructure and is designed to be converted to a car lane in the future.
I knew there was some cagey legal reason for that bike lane. To be totally honest, bike lanes don't belong on that road at all because it is designed exclusively for motor vehicles. Retro fitting cycling infrastructure on high speed roads is stupid.
There is time and place for cycling infrastructure, but that is definitely not it.
@@artemkatelnytskyi Amen. Here in Sweden biking on high speed roads is actually illegal. I was just flabbergasted when I saw that bike lane. For real? A Bike line on a high speed highway interchange? That road design over here wouldn't just be stupid it would be illegal.
This is why there should be clear standards on how bike lanes that qualify for funding should be built. It is sickening that this would have qualified for any increase in funding. At the least there should be a barrier between the bike lane and the traffic to the left so they cant cross over.
Sometimes in Dutch newspapers there are stories of tourists somehow ending up cycling on a Dutch highway. It never made sense to me how anyone in their right mind could end up there. I'd think 'ok maybe you confusedly took a wrong turn somewhere, I get that, but to then notice that it is a highway and just keep on cycling? That I do not understand.'
Seeing this, it makes more sense now. You guys' countries are wild.
That was embarrassing and enlightening to hear about. The US struggles for a lot that Northern Europe takes for granted.
A friend of mine did research into the topic and well over half of these cases are people using phone navigation to see where they are supposed to go assuming the cycle infrastructure will just manifest itself everywhere if it exists. Then when they reach the highway they do have the feeling that this might not actually be what they are supposed to be doing, but it is not obvious to people that alternatives exist or should exist. People can't quite fathom that the cycling infrastructure exists nation-wide.
@@alfonsstekebrugge8049 thx that's really interesting
@@jwhite5008 I'm confused. What are you trying to say?
1) That's not how roads and highways work in the Netherlands. There are no sidewalks on highway entrances, highway entrances are not kilometres long, and there are no roads that turn into obligate highway entrances, especially not ones with sidewalks. The concept is bizarre to me.
2) That's not how that works for cyclists. It's hard for a car to turn around and just go back the same way they came, but for a bicycle it's extremely easy. You can also just lift your bike over the guardrail and walk on the patch of grass next to it.
3) In the Netherlands Google maps has a bicycle button and it is absolutely not going to make you cycle on a highway. And you will immediately notice if your settings are still on the car button, because your route won't be a straight-ish line but will take large detours, because in most areas through-traffic isn't allowed or is intentionally made extremely slow (to disincentivize driving there), so car mode avoids those places. Dutch people are using Google maps. I don't know what tourists use.
4) Have you ever been to the Netherlands? Because I don't think you have. As a Dutch person I'm going to tell you that it is laughably untrue that 'very few drive a car'. Most people drive sometimes and cycle sometimes.
Also, no Dutch cyclists are ending up on highways. It's always a tourist, and it's so rare that it's newspaper-worthy. No proficient cyclist is ending up on a Dutch highway, I promise you that. It's not an easy mistake to make, at all. A lot has to go wrong before you end up on a highway. Road design here doesn't sück.
So... I'm still really confused as to what kind of point you were trying to make with any of this?
@@ryn2844 ok
Designers and government officials should be forced to bike on the new lanes they designed during rush hour on a normal day
Bike is a noun not a verb
@@PointNemo9 No, "Bike" is both a verb and a noun. Why did you even decide to comment that when it is objectively wrong.
@@GLitchesHaxandBadAudio You are completely wrong
@@PointNemo9 Look, to put it simply since either you are trolling, or you are just entirely ignorant of the matter, but "bike" is an intransitive verb whose usage as such is only a few years younger than the term as a noun to refer to a bicycle. It is both a noun and a verb. Case settled, source: Every Single English Dictionary Known to Mankind.
@@GLitchesHaxandBadAudio Try reading a British dictionary.
It should be required for every road designer to be asked "would you let your child take that bike path" because wow that thing is deadly.
would you let your chile ride in any bike lane when the speed limit is 55?
If you let your child ride a bicycle on a busy highway like that you obviously do not care about your child’s safety bicycles should not be allowed outside of residential neighborhoods with a speed limit under 35
@@ralan350Bike infrastructure should be designed to keep cyclists separate from highways so that it's safe for anyone to bike anywhere on it
@@complainer406 I completely agree
some of them might not really like their kids
From a Scottish viewer. That is not bike infrastructure, it’s called a “death strip” in active travel chats.
I just imagined your comment in a Scottish accent.
@@carultch I hear "daith strrripp."
I just read your very-informative comment in Sean Connery’s accent ! “From a Scottish viewer. That is not bike infrastructure, it’s called a “death strip” in active travel chats, Ms. Money Penny”! LOL! 😺!
I didnt at first, but after you said this, i re-read it in Scotty's (star trek) voice 😅 @@carultch
I am embarrassed as an American to read these comments. What, y'all's Scottish accent references haven't been updated since the 60s? No Ewan McGregor? No James McAvoy? No Kelly Macdonald? It's like everyone here has been living under a Trainspotting-less rock for 50 years. There are Scottish people in the 21st century! And their accents are still awesome.
This presentation was very well done. Thoughtful, visually engaging. As a former state highway design engineer, I concur with many of your points. Human factors are written into the design policy, but are often treated lightly in the design process. Unfortunately, the best teacher is life ... we don't start taking these design elements seriously until after we've made a mistake. And due to the compartmentalization of the planning-design-build-maintenance process, the silo effect often preempts learning even after a serious error is made.
My jaw dropped at that bike lane. That seems like something out of a dystopian scifi film.
I actually laughed in the intro when you showed the ‘bike lane’. The designers were definitely on something when they thought, “Lets put a bike lane one foot away front traffic right in the middle of the road”. One tumble the wrong way or a distracted driver is certain death
they just dont care about bikes but are legally required to put a bike lane in..
honestly, if someone gets hurt on a bike here the designers should be charged for negligence, putting that bike lane there is basically just a deathtrap for any poor soul unfortunate enough to use it
I doubt they actually expect anyone to ride along that. They just chose the cheapest option to check the bike infrastructure box and called it a day
and maybe to have more area already paved and unused ready to convert to an extra lane when somebody complains about the traffic @@Scrublord30
@@mats7492
Not so much legally required as financially incentivized. They could have built this without it but they would have had a smaller budget.
Hiya. Local resident here. This interchange makes the road to the west a living nightmare. Everybody who missed the ramp to go SB will make a U-turn to get on the SB ramp the other way. Plenty of backups.
I’m a part of some local bike groups and when they do group rides, they go over an overpass a bit to the south. It’s great for riding for the purpose of riding but impractical if you’re trying to go somewhere.
The main issue you would run into with the tunnels for the bike lanes is the water table. Houses here don’t even have basements because they would flood. There’s no way you could fit a tunnel in there. I live nearby (and I would argue even somewhat uphill) and my approximate elevation is 10ft. The ponds shown adjacent to the freeway are a great example for this.
flooding is exactly what i was thinking when he mentioned tunnels. it seemed like the crosswalk being farther back from the road is the best idea here, what do you think?
Tunnels also feel less safe for some people. Its usually poorly lit and not a lot of people. I think a surface crossing deeper in is the best solution. They can also add a pedestrian prioritized/motion sensing traffic light and make the crossing the same height as the sidewalk too. All of these should make the route sufficiently safe and comfortable.
Wouldn't a bridge be preferable to a tunnel anyway? It would have to be a little longer then a tunnel in order to accommodate the height of trucks, but aren't tunnels more expensive?
Most of the Netherlands is below sealevel and it's pretty wet (hence the name). Yet we have bike tunnels. The tunnels don't need to be very high and the roads above will often be elevated a bit so the tunnels don't need to be burried deep. The tunnels are waterproof. And drainage systems will drain rainwater. Sometimes the tunnels have basements to catch rainwater.
They do tunnels quite OK in the Netherlands, a land that is largely below sea level. That is because they do the engineering and have the knowledge of pumping infrastructure to keep them dry. Spend the time & money and you'll get the desired results.
I cannot express how much I love that your videos really are solutions oriented (like you say in your channel description). It's fun to see the different ways that things could be realistically improved without just tearing everything down and starting over. At some point it would be fun to see a deeper dive into advocacy. It seems like you would have good tips for who to contact and how to communicate effectively/politely.
Only problem with the tunnel crosswalk for bikes and pedestrians in that area is that it's FL. You can't dig without hitting water so instead you'd have to build up. The only other way to do a tunnel would be to build the road up and over the path which would require far more work. There's a reason you don't see basements and subways in this state. Even the infamous "Disney tunnels" aren't underground.
You only gave a reason to why tunnels would cost more but not impossible. Conditions in the Netherlands are roughly the same and we got enough tunnels you classify as impossible.
@@lordbigsnake Yabit in the netherlands they have pumps pipes and hoses and they actually maintain them. In Floriduh, they bury valves underground, forget about them, don't exercise them and then when they need to shut them they dont work. See Ft Lauderdale Public Water Debacle 2019. Look it up. I was there. IT was Stoooopid with a capital O.
there are basements in central fl.
@@lordbigsnake no no they arent last month we got 8 inches of rain in 3 hours. thats 20 centimeters. those tunnels will flood and you wont be able to unflood them.
@@lordbigsnake As a Dutchie, I was about to make the same comment.
That is the most terrifying bike infrastructure I've ever seen! Totally agree with your design.
Oh, Florida has plenty of interchanges worse than this.
So let's make pedestrians fear for the lives instead, that's a bike fan for you.
@@crinolynneendymion8755 imagine being a pedestrian in a world of cars and complaining about bikes
Bikes should not be on major roads. They should have their own infrastructure if at all possible.
@@crinolynneendymion8755 Agree - at least most motorists obey the rules and know what a sidewalk is!
First and foremost: A wonderful video with great visual design. Your solutions are so obvious from my European perspective - it's crazy that there was enough money to build a nine-lane highway with such complex traffic light features, but not enough to widen the sidewalk a bit to allow for safe cycling.
The people who design the infrastructure here in the US only care about cars and how to get cars from one place to another. All other forms of transportation are secondary and relatively unimportant (obviously I'm exaggerating, but still...).
@@dirkus3722Thank god for that. Nothing more annoying than a cyclist in the middle of the road who then proceeds to ignore traffic signals when it suits them.
@ryangrady5977 are you being sarcastic?
@@ryangrady5977 Just in case you're actually serious: Getting bikes off the motorway and onto a safe little bike path away from the road is exactly what is being suggested here. And for the same reason vehicles with a top speed below 60km/h aren't allowed on the german Autobahn: Putting vehicles with dramatically different speeds on the same road is inherently dangerous (and also annoying for all involved) and should be avoided if possible.
From a European perspective, those signs are sinfully bad.
We have signage standards for "two exits in a row from a continuous lane" and "two exits in a row from a divergent lane" which would make it clear at the very first sign which lane to take. What makes it even more puzzling is that they actually use the marking for the latter to indicate the junction before and the first highway ramp, but then put the second highway ramp sign over the wrong lane.
I used to sail (charter) out of St. Pete every year, frequently anchored off Bradenton and always stopped in Sarasota and Venice among other stops. I can't believe such an outrageous interchange is necessary. Florida used to be a relaxing place but I can't fathom dealing with such traffic. A recent "returnee" from Clearwater said they couldn't stand the traffic anymore, with a "five minute trip" now requiring 30 minutes. And btw, that bike lane....
Floriduh is Paradise Lost
Wild seeing the road you take to work everyday show up on some random video about interchanges.
Very wild to drive on dangerous roads!
@@bedri1 luckily the road I drive on is the interchange in Ohio he said was a good example!
Hope you’re not biking to work…. 😬😂
OMG that "bike lane" is insane. I'm an urban cyclist in Mexico City, so you can imagine the everyday challenges and my level of craziness, but I would never ever ever use that "lane". Great video, keep going bro!
I think this is added on top of America's extreme hatred towards bicyclists, scooters, or even pedestrians. Yes pedestrians. There are many places that side walks or cross walks don't exist
I'm Dutch, so before I got a car I used to drive my bicycle everywhere. I'd consider anyone riding their bicycle there reckless or suicidal.
Yeah this is just frankly insane, and at this point a waste of asphalt. In the Netherlands you'd have a separated bikepath somewhere else, sometimes even quite far from the actual highway. Bike paths that are designed for longer routes (like a highway is) usually go though much quieter areas, so usually highways don't have bike paths at all in the Netherlands. If you go by bike, you'd go through the areas surrounding it. It is criminal that there is no underpass though, since both sides are clearly lived in areas, so you'd expect a bike over or under (preferred, since it's much nicer on a bike to go down than up than the other way around) pass every couple of kilometers (or miles I guess) here.
@@uwu-egirl-azzy as ill-behaved as some car drivers can be, they are nowhere NEAR the level of disrespect that pedestrians and cyclists show towards traffic signs and traffic lights. Most of the times one of them gets run over, it's because they cut traffic without a care and the car couldn't possibly stop in time.
@@dudejo The law is pedestrian will always have the right of way.
But in speaking of personal experience I've seen otherwise. As I use all forms of transportation.
Sarasota and Bradenton are a booming nightmare that only gets worse as developers continue to miss the mark in the area. As an urban planner working in the Tampa Metro I'd love to chat about some similar infrastructure failures that are developing around the Bay Area!
Is about the new bay bridge ? I crossed the existing bridge last summer, he was mostly empty each time i drove over it.
@@tugpetit2204I think it’s more about the planned replacement for the Cortez bridge and a possible new bridge over the Manatee River between downtown Bradenton and Palmetto.
Tunnels are not usually an option in Florida due to drainage and the water table
This looks like the first and second sign are in the wrong location. Flip them and this will instantly reduce the last min lane shift. Love the commentary about the bike lanes.
Hey wait a second, the posts also look like they were designed for a larger and smaller sign respectively. It looks like the builders didn't know which sign to put where... and chose wrong.
Clearly installed incorrectly LOL
@@BaileyChapWhat's the difference between literally didnt know and didnt know?
How about writing Literally Tampa
Not Literally Naples on the Keep Right sign?!
@@gregp103 That's fair, I'll remove it! (Looks like my typing regressed 10 years there)
@@BaileyChap
It's rare I get a writer to agree about a superfluous literally. If we ever arrive at a Florida cloverleaf together, I'll wave you in.
the person(s) who designed that 'bike lane' should be forced to bike up and down it every day for a year, it might teach them something (or more likely solve the problem in another way)
I'm convinced the people who designed this secretly hate people on bikes but were forced to do at least something.
Anyone who designs a road, and especially bike lanes and pedestrian paths, should be forced to use it during rush hour. I can imagine many road designs in the US are designed by folks who never leave their car, with bike and foot paths as an afterthought. Anyone who cycles occasionally would cringe at even the thought of designing a bike lane like that.
@@DanAndHoe I would refuse to cycle there .
I cycled 20km to school in the 70s and even back then there was never something as deadly as this.
It did have a notorious crossing halfway due to what we call 'polderblindness', but it was just one crossing (and they changed it onto an underpass for cyclists later and the crossing to a roundabout)
maybe they already tried doing that, but for some reason people either died or quit after a few weeks
I've had the experience of driving in Tampa, and painted bicycle gutters on 45MPH stroads is a pretty standard design there. It's literally just token bike infrastrure that they can point to when people complain that cycling is sketchy there.
Or maybe they just didn't have enough infrastructure money to spend on bicycle lanes since bicyclists don't pay any taxes? Kinda hard to build a road to solely suite a bicycle when that bicycle brings in NO MONEY.
In Illinois at I 88 and Route 59 as well as I 55 and Weber Road. They have changed the intersection to a figure 8 style intersection and it seems to be working very well for pedestrians and traffic. They used to be backed up traffic three out of the five days of the week, and now I haven’t encountered a single back up other than traffic accidents and broken down vehicles.
Love your videos man, I have worked for both Sarasota County and currently work for Hillsborough County and I see these development patterns and lived in these very examples. I appreciate the in-depth breakdown of the street aspect.
The visuals are stunning and perfectly complement the script
It feels like the single 75 Tampa Naples sign and the double signs further up the road were installed in place of one another
I replied to another comment, but you are correct- the plans posted on the project website show them the other way around. I've sent an email to the FDOT District 1 Media address to hopefully pass it on to the proper party.
@@yuwtze It’s a really stupid mistake to make during the installation, considering that the gantries were installed correctly and one is clearly much larger than the other.
@@MartyFox Totally what it seems like!
@@MartyFox I think their original mistake was listing Lena Rd on the bigger sign (@3:55). When it turned out that Lena Rd is actually before the second gantry (27.439592746683832, -82.45355296756567), instead of fixing the sign, they decided to just swap first and second sign.
I live one exit north of this interchange (and used that roundabout everyday) and they spent years on this rebuild. Nobody walks or bikes across here (except for the panhandlers). The next interchange north is also currently being rebuilt, with new bridges for the exit and entrance ramps.
I'm so glad to see another urbanist from a nearby area! We need more people like you in discussing these topics and issues.
The issue with the tunnels for the bike lane suggestion is the depth to water table. You can easily see that the water table is only a few feet below grade as evidence by every undeveloped area being a pond or swamp.
wear rubber boots!
They could go over instead. Pedestrian bridges exist.
@@TheRealScooterGuythe bridges would need to be about 20 feet high and the ramps leading up would be enormous (think wheelchair accessibility). Then they have to dip under the freeway. It’s just not realistic or cost effective.
@@arcum -- We have such bridges where I live. Not a lot of them, but they exist.
I would take my chances with a little water in a tunnel over biking on that road.
Bike lane in the middle of a highway, unprotected... The mind boggles. And the cyclist's body crumbles.
Oh I'm waiting to see whete it goes on Ft myers...they r doing a diverging diamond where we drive in the other side of the road when under the interstate 😱another sate has the walk and bike paths in the middle of that... at least they have a concrete barrier but here I've yet to see the plans.
Great video! There is a new systems interchange in my city that routinely causes trucks in many cases with 2x53’ trailers make a late and abrupt illegal lane change that has many times causes close calls with other trucks or cars to go in the direction they need to go.
Never thought I'd be so entranced by a video about interchange design... and yet you've made it super engaging and interesting. Thanks for another great video!
That bike lane is HORRIFYING! I cannot begin to imagine cycling in an unbuffered bike "lane", in between two vehicle lanes that are marked at 45mph (likely with drivers going 55-60mph). That is not a commute, it is a death wish!
The fact that through traffic gets a barrier but not a bike lane is absolutely absurd.
This is a super well done video! Well done! Hopefully someone from the Florida DOT watches this for future projects.
CZcams recommended this video to me and quite quickly I started thinking, "I've heard that voice before", and then I realized from where :) Keep up with the videos, this one was very interesting, and I look forward for more. Thanks!
I just recently discovered your channel after your redesign of a suburb video. I'm very impressed by your visual designs and clear explanations and I am glad channels like yours exist. Keep the good content up!
Believe it or not his channel is only a couple weeks old!
Yeah! I couldn't believe it when I saw it for the first time.@@reilandeubank
Fantastic channel!
In the unlikely chance that I would cycle that route (as I'm in Missouri), there's a zero percent chance I'm using that bike lane. I'm biking on that sidewalk, and good luck giving me a ticket for it. Your re-design is perfection.
95% of bicyclers would use a walking path and even walkers would be ok with that if they were courteous. American walk paths are basically deserted of course a biike should use them... unless it's gravel a walk path is better for bike than road....
@@mostlyguesses8385 I agree, it's common sense to keep bike lanes off any roads, I would prefer your solution as well. Nothing more than annoying bikers who feel entitled to the road. Common sense is gone in infrastructure.
... Issues are complex but us people are morons me too.... Here's some real issues I bet most don't consider instead ..... BIKING EXTENDS LIFE... It's weird how we see oooh 300 bicyclists die each year in nation of 300,000,000 out of 30,000,000 bicyclists and we let that scare us from biking into cars. ... but it's actually more complex since bicycling studies show bikers are more HEALTHY and say for the 30m bikers it extend life avg of 0.1 year or .2% longer --- 30m x .2% is 60000 lifespans gained...... So actually yes biking kills 300 but adds 60000 lifespans... As proof in Australia they mandated bike helmets which made more kids Stop biking since it's a hassle and uncool, and experts realized the fall in exercise and more fat kids will kill more than bike accidents ever did. This has been used to block helmet laws in some places.. ......... . .. BIKE SAVES MONEY AND ADDS VACATION... Another issue is biking would save $10,000 a year of car costs which at $50wage take 200 hours of labor which out of 2000 hour work year is 1/10. If we biked we technically could work 1/10 less and SPEND THIS 10% ON VACATION OR FAMILY TIME. Those 30,000,000 bikers are losing 300 lives to bike accidents but they're working 10% less so easily gain more time than death takes... Hmmm i's like why not pass law saying everyone buy Armored Truck with big bumpers to be safe in, so work extra overtime on Saturday to afford this Armored Car, so 300,000,000 lose their Saturdays of freetime but we d avoid the current 15,000 car deaths ... Yes this is a real issue, just demanding of selves WE PICK HIGHEST SAFETY OPTION means we would live less good life!!! . . . .. . . . . Safety wise, we should Never have 1 beer or have any premarital sex or walk outdoors when there is any ice, but our gut tells us life would suck much more and it's worth the risk ... . . . . if cars cost double wouldn't that make biking a better choice even if slightly risky ...... Triple..... I myself have no car and honestly my entire life I've only worked HALFTIME except when in army . Soooooo I've had life of reading and swimming in ocean while you've slaved away at fulltime job to afford to be safe in your car.............. All this is true, but few ever analyze our choices ....... I mean this in fun, but again all this is true, just picking hi cost safer option leads to pathetic life and pathetic nation ... Hahaha ... Us humans are dumb ..... So let your kid bike even in risky areas the odds say that adds to his life instead of being pathetic fatso who never can get to his friends house..... PEACE
@@SirChoculaw
@@mostlyguesses8385Bruh you sound like you think you’re better than someone just because you use a bike for transportation. SMH
There is one very like it in New Mexico on NM-500 @ I-25. The difference is there is no off ramp on the other side of the Interstate due to available space, so the ramp coming off the I-25 on the loop side goes through a tunnel under the freeway and links up to that intersection. So not only do you have people entering the freeway crossing the pike path, but you also have people _exiting_ the freeway crossing it, too.
Hi 16 year resident of this area. This project was originally supposed to be a diverging diamond like the one just south of this one on University Pkwy. Accidents were almost daily after they finished this project and there has been a few fatalities since including two motorcyclists. I still see people cut through the opening of the barrier almost daily.
I'll go ahead and name this intersection: it appears to be Florida SR 70 and I-75 near Lakewood Ranch, just east of Bradenton. There's some more info out there if you search for "Florida SR 70 I-75 interchange project." Write your elected officials and show up to public meetings, if this is your state or region.
Recognized it instantly, I remember going westbound on SR 70 trying to enter I-75 for the first time after the new interchange was completed and the signage and layout of the on-ramps is atrocious. I can’t put all the blame on the drivers who make illegal maneuvers here when this aspect of the interchange was very poorly designed.
Love the fact that you drew bike lanes just like we have here in Netherlands!
Think I'll go for a bike ride!!
On John's Island, SC we had a bike lane that was in a similar place, and I never saw a person use it with a bike because most people used it to drive. Bike lanes should have to have some better grade separation to be considered actual bike lanes otherwise they are too dangerous for the cyclist.
Ideally, bike paths need to be completely separated from busy highways. I don't support the idea of bicycles in automobile lanes, either. Just like a car and a train is no-contest, a bicycle and a vehicle is pretty much the same. Bicycles are much closer to pedestrians than they are an automobile, and I can't ever see any good in forcing them together. (Same for street-running trains.)
Yeah, really the only time bike infrastructure and car infrastructure can and should be merged is low traffic slow traffic neighbourhood. The archetypical street. Streets don't have bike lanes, the whole road is a bike lane as well as a car lane, since you'd only see a single car once every couple of minutes at most anyways and both go at similar speeds. But as soon as you get to a road, a place people actually use to go from A to B, not just purely destination traffic, you need separation. Car traffic speeds up and bike lanes are pretty much mandatory. Any road that's more than 30 km/h (about 20 miles per hour) needs a separated bike lane that is not just separated by a line, but at least a curb.
@@jaspermooren5883 I mean bike lanes are an improvement to nothing at all.
@@randomrandom9570 I don't know if they are in this case. It just emboldens the argument against cycling infrastructure at all. It is dangerous infrastructure that isn't being used. It's one of those things where I do think doing very little is actually worse than nothing.
@@jaspermooren5883 In this case,that's probably a fair point. Particularly at situations like the 5 lane road where 2 is being split off and there's a byclist lane in between the 2 and 3 lanes.
In general though, people see byclist as dangerous on sidewalks and I think it's a reasonable viewpoint.
So they say cyclists should be on the road.
If cyclists are on the road, cars are going to want to pass them because no one wants to slug along at 20km/h in a standard 50km/h area.
So by putting byclist lanes on the side of the road, it's a space that byclists can be in, on the road, without impeding traffic.
Of course dedicating byclist paths also gets the job done but no doubt byclists lanes on the roads is a cheaper option that does work most of the time.
Great video and I really appreciate the drone shots. It elevates your production level far beyond simply using Google Maps/Google Street View. It brings us viewers into the video and makes us feel like we are there on location. Thanks once again!
Very good and clear video, the options you propose are much more safe! The same way I would redesign it. Nice to watch, thanks!
Wow I was literally just rewatching the last video and was hoping for more soon 😂
I'm so happy there are more CZcams channels popping up that talk about issues like this. I'll subscribe to every one and hope these problems with North American transportation and suburban life are solved within my lifetime
Loved your video. Beautiful and informative graphics and animations. Very nice narration as well. Extremely well done. 👏👏👏
Some images showed standing water next to where you proposed tunnels, which would seem to suggest that such tunnels would also hold water.
No it doesn't. It would only cost more to built a proper tunnel with watering solutions.
How do you keep the alligators out of it? Seems like a great cool down spot in the summer for them.
Re: bike lane tunnels. Tunneling is seldomly a feasable solution in Florida. You'll hit the water table in a few feet. There is a reason almost no homes in Florida have basements, those that do are in the north of the state where we have some elevation but for the most part they are not possible.
Sooo....overpass then. Done Probably cheaper than a tunnel too.
@@CanCobb That introduces a new problem. Not enough space to build an overpass with a decent grade.
So then it has a switchback if necessary. This happens in other places too. @@jrkorman
Yes that is why we in the Netherlands don't have bike lane tunnels. ......................oh wait.
@@jrkormannot enough space???
Did we watch the same video?
I love love love how you not only talk about the problems, but offer realistic solutions. Real hope-for-humanity type of stuff!
Thanks!! That's the goal
@@Streetcraft I would debate on the realisticness of building underpasses - theres one hell of a lot of ground water about in the footage which means construction is going to be above average in cost and theres going to be an on going cost to keeping it pumped out. .. but was not there so *shrug*
The problem is that the "realistic solutions" aren't politically or institutionally realistic in many places. It's going to take decades of retirements and elections to replace the people who not only build this, but cannot imagine why anyone would object to this. And that's even if the popular support was behind fixing this kind of thing which is very much not the case in many places.
This isn't actually meant as a criticism, but as a recognition that solving problems, most problems in society, but certainly traffic problems, is actually very easy technically, and the underlying social problems are the actual obstacles.
From my (admittedly limited) experience of driving in the USA, I remember being appalled at the directional signage along main roads, or rather the lack of it. Vague signs giving minimal indication of where any road goes or what path to take through the intersection for it, and little or no advance warning - which is not ideal when you've potentially got 4 lanes of traffic to cross to get into the lane you need!
This was a fascinating and well put together video. Thank you for not blaming the driver in this video, all too often I see people say "if people just paid attention" or "if they didn't cross a solid line then there'd be no danger", failing to realise that we don't live in a utopia where every road user knows every thing about what they need to do on their journey. Poor designs lead to poor driving, and this is a perfect example of that.
I still live in the area. I remember when they built this interchange. I've had to make that last minute dive over the gore. That area is nuts.
I remember one particular fun incident during construction where northbound got flooded down to just half a lane. It was during one of the summer afternoon showers that inevitably happens. Luckily they had the drainage fixed for the next downpour two days later.
It's under construction now, but I'm curious what your thoughts are about the crossing being built two exits north of there (I-75 meets US 301). They're building two additional bridges across the Manatee river so that local traffic doesn't have to get on the interstate to cross in that location.
BTW: the tunnel idea is a non-starter. This is Florida we're talking about. There isn't enough clearance to allow for drainage if you dig down.
I’m really liking these videos. You really seem to be offering some much more practical solutions that aren’t very drastic changes
Years ago I noticed a dangerous spot where there was a curve after an exit that was not marked with a "CURVE AHEAD" sign. The concrete wall in front of the curve was badly scarred from having been hit multiple times.
I contacted my city to make them aware of the situation, and to their credit they had a sign installed within a week.
Amazing videos. Love the work and keep it up
The quality of your first few videos is awesome! It says a lot that I thought this channel was super established. Keep up the excellent work! There's more to come.
A video comparing US and EU traffic circles would be cool. Because as a German all the traffic circles you show seem so extremely weird and convoluted
Edit: or traffic circles vs roundabouts
do we even have traffic circles in Europe?
i think i've never seen one, except maybe in the UK.
most of Europe prefers to build real roundabouts instead.
but even when building roundabouts they often screw up in North America.
for example they add a bend to the roads "feeding" traffic onto the roundabout which makes it so drivers don't have to slow down to enter the roundabout.
and if drivers don't slow down they don't have the time to notice cyclists or pedestrians in time.
you want the roads connected to the roundabout to go into it as straight as possible, so cars have to slow down to enter (or exit) the roundabout.
this gives the drivers more time to notice all the other road users and makes the roundabout a lot safer.
@@ChristiaanHW... Right, I forgot that's a difference. I thought it's like the difference between British English and simplified English
But yeah, that's what I meant with them looking convoluted
@@ChristiaanHWYes, we have traffic circles. Look at 49.40552948713211, 8.684580490161323 for example (sat view recommended, map view is boring). Looks horrible, doesn't it? Surprisingly, it actually works. At least if you know which road you need to take.
@@ChristiaanHW When you are differentiating roundabouts and traffic circles, do you mean like roundabouts and turbo roundabouts?
So traffic circle ~ traditional roundabout ~ driving a full circle requires staying in lane, versus roundabout ~ turbo roundabout ~ driving a full circle requires changing lanes as the lanes naturally spiral outwards?
@@peperoni_pepino the biggest difference between a roundabout (no matter the kind, normal, turbo or multi-lane) and traffic circle is that on a roundabout you have priority (the roundabout is a priority road).
and at a traffic circle you might have traffic lights or stop signs/light on the road that forms the circle.
a traffic circle is kinda just a road that happens to go in a circular form.
- Columbus Circle in New York is an example of a traffic circle. (notice the stop lines on the circular road.
and at these coordinates 52°20'20.9"N 5°36'50.6"E you''re able to see the 3 kinds of roundabouts
the lower left one being a normal one
the lower middle one a turbo roundabout
and the right one being a two lane roundabout.
Great visuals that aid in your technically proficient explanation of the physical infrastructure. Thoroughly enjoyed watching your work. Thank you.
Also, heading eastbound.. the traffic light were mounted vertically at first and the bridge would block the view of the red light until you were 100 feet from the intersection itself. Now they mounted them horizontally so as you drive, all 3 colors of the traffic light are revealed at the same time.
4:00 - This has to be a sign that shows direction for all lanes, not just what's changing - this way people will get reaffirming their direction and if they put arrows on top side - will inform them on where they need to lean. (but that's perspective coming from Eastern Europe and Germany)
This is really nice review and tangible options, I hope this reaches the people that will take it into consideration
GLWT. Floriduh is utterly corrupt.
This channel has a bright future! Keep doing what you do! :)
ok
Great video! One thing I’ll immediately do is to have a sign telling where the 3 lanes are going to, in addition to where the right (75 Tampa Naples) lane goes. That way people in the 3 lanes would know that their lane doesn’t go to the 75 and the only option to the 75 is the right-most lane. Also the first sign distinguishes between north and south by a separating vertical line, which can lead to think that the separation between north and south is the concrete element ahead.
It's crazy that they made this intersection when a few exits down has a diamond interchange that is WONDERFUL
Thanks for mentioning at the end what people can actually DO to fix issues that may exists in their area. To often I used to find myself binge watching these kinds of videos but hardly remember (to the best of my memory at least) many channels taking the time to explain HOW to do something as simple as calling ones local DOT. Instead I would just find myself getting worked up and screaming into the void about how crappy everything is, but I mean it eventually led to me taking action lol
They should've just hired you.
Even ignoring everything else, a 50 MPH road with no physical barrier between the bike lane and automobile traffic is just crazy!
You are going to be big bro. Keep up the good work!
Great video, it's a massive oversight to not leverage the existing sidewalk to use as a cycle track for a monstrous interchange like this. Hope local advocacy groups can put some pressure on the city to fix this.
As a Dutch citizen living in a country with proper infrastucture I am horrified to see that bikelane on that road. Sure, they had put in bike infrastructure, but as close by and without proper protection/width overflow just right next to a high speed carroad. I agree with the solution you put in the video.
This seems like bike "infrastructure" that was put in just to check a box, without any consideration of how a cyclist could safely use it in practice. Paint is not infrastructure.
A 3 lane road like that being that unused is a great example of induced demand. Make it 2 lanes, make people find alternatives, and offer viable alternatives.
Just for anyone wondering: I live near this area and this intersection is where Florida State Route 70 crosses I-75 in Bradenton, FL
It's rare for me to subscribe after watching just one video, but that's what I did yesterday after watching one of your videos. Then lo and behold I see another one posted today. Keep up the good work! The production values on these videos are excellent, you must really put a lot of time and effort into making them.
love your work! your content not only makes understanding road and suburban infrastructure so easy, but also highlights wonderfully how we can strive to improve it and practice imagining better designs for cities, and thereby our world!! really great stuff, appreciate you :)
I’d love to see your thoughts on the end of the 402 highway in Sarnia, Ontario approaching the international border. Trucks regularly get backed up crossing the border and block the exit ramps into the city. The solution was to separate the far right lane as a long exit access, however the trucks back up past the access to the exit lane. This is a very high accident stretch. In my opinion, the transport trucks should separate to the left just past the Highway 40 access exit ramp, and have the remaining lanes more like a traditional highway, but with the trucks needing to pass over the higher speed left lane to do this I’m not sure how this transition could realistically be done. Hope to hear your input 😊
I'm a Sarnian, and I agree with your comments. There have been a ridiculous amount of accidents in the last decade. They didn't really do as great a job updating the stretch as they probably should have.
I'm an experienced, fast and fearless cyclist ("vehicular cyclist"), but this bike lane gives me the chills. Did anyone else see the gas truck cross the line ( 1:23 )? Yeah, because it's a f***** line and not a physical barrier!
These videos are absolutely excellent! The motion graphics in particular, but the clarity of your points and clear illustrations from the drone footage really drive it home.
For the drivers the issue with the signs is they were installed backwards. The signs are flipped. If they fix this mistake all of the driving issues will go away. (First incorrect sign @ 3:37, second @ 3:55.) I suspect it will eventually get caught and fixed.
You are 100% correct. On the public website for the project, they have the drawings for the "Recommended Alternative", and they have those two signs drawn in the opposite position as they are installed in this video.
Here's the site:
fip.fdot.gov/Studies/Details/41
And here's the actual PDF (the signs in question are on the last three pages):
fdotfipdevstorage.blob.core.windows.net/public/studies/41/I-75%20at%20SR%2070%20Rec%20Alternative.pdf
I am Dutch and couldn't believen my eyes. A bikepath in the middle of a highway! It is mulder in the first degree.
"Traffic" by Tom Vanderbilt is a great book for showing the difference between engineering and the psychology of drivers when it comes to safe highway and road design.
You to be extraordinarily skillful to construct new bike infrastructure that actually discourages biking!
I can't shake the feeling that your channel's gonna be huge and I'm here from almost the beginning. Can't wait to see how it grows 👌🏻💚
At the 4:00 minute mark, those overhead signs should have read "All I-75 Traffic Right Lane Only".
3:40 the Tampa / Naples sign is right, at the point its saying if you're going to I-75 you need to be to the right of the 5 lanes, then you see the ground marking then at indicate the specific lane to be in.
New CZcams Channel about urban design in my recommendations? Yes please!
Great video with super clear graphics! Here in the UK we have similar issues particularly when upgrading road layouts to accommodate cyclists and to give priority for buses. Space is often very limited as is money so finding a suitable layout that pleases all users is often a huge challenge! I’ll look to see how you overcome more layout problems with interest! All the best !
But at least we don't put pretend "bike" lanes in the middle of high speed roads. It wouldn't even be considered. Thats just stupid.
@@simontay4851 Stupid to everyone, except Americans! Especially those in Florida
Exactly! Excellent analysis. I wonder how nobody thought of the precariousness of the bike lane location, being between lanes of traffic on both sides. Kind of a no brainer.....
They need to hire you. Your changes are ingenious
Great video! Covered things SUPER well. Keep it up :D
6:47 this option is WAY safer!
It's the standard in the netherlands, and they have the worlds best bike infrastructure by far.
Bicycles in the middle, that's a great idea 😅
Not surprised Florida put the cycle lane right in the middle, in the most dangerous place.
This is a perfect video about making good infrastructure and how to improve it, instead of simply complaining, you provide good solutions that matter.
Thanks for making this video.
That bike lane is a joke
Great content and impressive graphics! Subbed, awaiting new vids!
The oddest but most useful change in roadways i have seen, imho, in the last 5 or so years are crossover bridges for interstates for space restricted areas. you go from right lane, to left lane on the bridge and can access the highway from a dedicated lane and 2 lanes that stop as directed by lights, then cross back to the right once leaving the other side. it was weird at first, but genius.
one i saw maybe 10 or 15 years ago was in regards to rotaries/roundabouts in New Hampshire. as you approach the rotary, there is a dedicated lane for any plaza/business that may be there, keeping traffic out of the rotary. There is also a bypass merge lane from 2 opposing "corners" allowing traffic to bypass the rotary and move east or west. very efficient.
As someone whom live in a country were biking infrastructure is almost always a given for new roads (other then high speed highways) This bike lane gives me the chills and a fear that it's only a matter of time before someone get splattered on it.
No one’s going to get splattered on it, because NO ONE rides a bike on it.
Absolutely amazing video! I'm so glad the algorithm led me to this! I'm an aspiring transportation engineer and videos like these really help me learn and think about decisions and changes in todays society, Keep this content coming!:)
Also, just asking a silly question here... I'm all for the tunnel idea but aren't tunnels super difficult to build in Florida due to how wet the land is? I'm all for discussion here so if anyone could answer this for me that would awesome!
Thank you:)
Also curious about this, since there aren't many pedestrian/cycling tunnels in the US.
@ianw1387 I actually have one near my house and it's SUPER convenient for pedestrian cus it goes under a super busy "divided freeway". I live In ohio so tunnels are definitely not an issue here lol
Yes, having any sort of tunnel in this area of Florida wouldn’t work with the ground water level but also the volume of rain so it would flood often.
@JohnHallgren Thank you John! I had feeling it wouldn't. I've only been to Florida a couple times and have never seen any tunnels
@@aydnn7170 there’s a couple of underpasses on the interstate in Saint Petersburg that have flooded occasionally.
Facinating subject matter, looking forward to future videos! possible topic? the City's proud of our double diamond interchange here in Calgary. Been across it on a bus, but not sure I'd walk across if I didn't have to. great video, subscribed 😅❤
This is Florida, coastal . NO tunnels. With our heavy summer rains, the tunnels would flood, then bring in mosquitoes. Signs, lights, or at best, a bridge.