www.infrastructurist.com has an interesting article on how road design impacts road speed: http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/03/23/can-roads-control-your-driving-the-truth-about-safety-enhancing-road-design/
My classic example of this in Madison is the stretch of Atwood Ave adjacent to Olbrich Gardens. I've gotten two speeding tickets here. The speed limit is marked as 25mph but traffic routinely travels at 40+ mph. I maintain this is due to the road being designed for higher speed than it's marked. This stretch is wide open, few trees impinge on the roadway, buildings are set far back. It LITERALLY is DIFFICULT to respect the speed limit here. Both times I was ticketed I was traveling at the prevailing speed of traffic. (I am not offering an excuse for my driving. Just an observation. I broke the law and I willingly paid the fine.) IF the posted speed limit is what is considered safe; AND if the preponderance of traffic on a road travel at a speed drivers consider safe and comfortable; AND if the preponderant speed is higher than the posted speed; THEN we are designing roads to operate at unsafe speeds. What other examples do you have from the Madison area of roads designed to operate at unsafe speeds? What should we do to address this issue? From an engineer's perspective, what's the issue here? Best, Jay Ferm _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
