[Talk-us] Update on potential highway classification reform

[MoiraPrime]

To add in my knowledge, one example from the moveable bridges list is I-110 in Mississippi over the back bay of Biloxi. Opening it is rare and requires a 6 hour notice to open which means all openings of it are expected far ahead of time, making it more like a controlled closing. Obviously this is fine staying as motorway.


Sent from ProtonMail mobile



\-------- Original Message --------
On May 20, 2021, 9:47 AM, Adam Franco < adamfranco at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
>
> On Wed, May 19, 2021 at 2:02 PM Brian M. Sperlongano <[zelonewolf at gmail.com][zelonewolf_gmail.com]> wrote:
>
>
> > Anthony - thanks for this fascinating bit of Interstate trivia. I was totally unaware about these cases. I found a comprehensive list of exceptions on Wikipedia, and there's far more than I realized:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_gaps\_in\_Interstate\_Highways\#At-grade\_intersections][https_en.wikipedia.org_wiki_List_of_gaps_in_Interstate_Highways_At-grade_intersections]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Would we be okay with something like:
> >
> > \- Downgrading a section of Interstate to trunk for all cases on the "Major at-grade intersections" and "Other at-grade intersections" list
>
> This feels right and is very much in keeping with the "prioritize connectivity" theme of reforming trunk usage.
>
>
> > \- Retaining motorway for all cases on the "minor at-grade intersections", "Undivided and narrow freeways", and "movable bridges" list
>
>
>
>
> "minor at-grade intersections": I think these generally don't warrant a downgrade from motorway. All of the ones I've encountered out west are extremely low usage and don't appreciably change the character or usage of the roadway much more than an emergency pull-off would. These are generally present only in extremely remote areas and see so little traffic that downgrading would be more silly than not.
>
>
>
> "movable bridges": I would be ok with keeping these segments as motorway as long as the bridge-opening frequency is low enough that the motorway character and expectation of road users having priority isn't normally violated. At the extreme end, a drawbridge that is only operated in extremely rare circumstances (say normally once a year for testing/maintenance) would not impact road users enough to warrant downgrading. One that operates multiple times per day on the other hand probably would warrant downgrading as there should be the expectation of waiting on marine traffic. These may need to be taken case by case based on operational frequency.
>
>
>
> "Undivided and narrow freeways": I'm less convinced that these should stay motorway just because they are signed as part of the interstate system. By definition these don't meet *all* of the motorway physical characteristics and road users *should* expect to go more slowly in these constricted locations, so downgrading these to trunk feels more logically consistent with the classification scheme for non-interstate highways.
>


[zelonewolf_gmail.com]: mailto:zelonewolf at gmail.com
[https_en.wikipedia.org_wiki_List_of_gaps_in_Interstate_Highways_At-grade_intersections]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gaps_in_Interstate_Highways#At-grade_intersections
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-us/attachments/20210520/ede7ae5d/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: publickey - EmailAddress(s=MoiraPrime at pm.me) - 0x0E8CEA74.asc
Type: application/pgp-keys
Size: 697 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-us/attachments/20210520/ede7ae5d/attachment.key>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 294 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-us/attachments/20210520/ede7ae5d/attachment.sig>