SH 74 Widening

[ljbab728]

maybe. There is a ton of people who go 10-15 over the limit and older people do it to. I go under the speed limit in school zones and residential near parks and such, but I fail to see the issue of going 85 in a 70 which is common place in a lot of other cities. I was very surprised to see how fast people drove in St. Louis.

The issue is that it's illegal, plupan. even if everyone does it. I don't like paying taxes so I think I'll just quit. I know that some others don't too so I fail to see the issue if I don't.

[Roger S]

maybe. There is a ton of people who go 10-15 over the limit and older people do it to. I go under the speed limit in school zones and residential near parks and such, but I fail to see the issue of going 85 in a 70 which is common place in a lot of other cities. I was very surprised to see how fast people drove in St. Louis.

The issue is you are breaking the law.... Just because others do it doesn't make it right or responsible.

If all these other drivers were driving off a cliff would you do that too?

[rezman]

maybe. There is a ton of people who go 10-15 over the limit and older people do it to. I go under the speed limit in school zones and residential near parks and such, but I fail to see the issue of going 85 in a 70 which is common place in a lot of other cities. I was very surprised to see how fast people drove in St. Louis.

This topic side step has to do with speeding through a construction zone and giving plenty of advanced notice for the motorist. I've been an equipment operator in construction zones, and I can tell you there's some pretty stupid stuff that occurs by motorists. There is no shortage of dumba$$es who just can't get it through their thick skulls that there are people working on or right next to the roadway and to slow the heck down. I have come very close to getting hit several times. Once by a school bus driver with a bus full of kids. There was one operator we knew that was running one of our machines at I-40/I-35 intechange that survived having his machine plowed into and totaled. You never know where the workers are going to be. They may be up close to the construction zone threshold, or all the way down at the very end. They may be out there on Sundays and holidays... You just neverknow. The purpose is to give plenty of notice that workers are probably out there and to slow your a$$ down.

[Plutonic Panda]

This topic side step has to do with speeding through a construction zone and giving plenty of advanced notice for the motorist. I've been an equipment operator in construction zones, and I can tell you there's some pretty stupid stuff that occurs by motorists. There is no shortage of dumba$$es who just can't get it through their thick skulls that there are people working on or right next to the roadway and to slow the heck down. I have come very close to getting hit several times. Once by a school bus driver with a bus full of kids. There was one operator we knew that was running one of our machines at I-40/I-35 intechange that survived having his machine plowed into and totaled. You never know where the workers are going to be. They may be up close to the construction zone threshold, or all the way down at the very end. They may be out there on Sundays and holidays... You just neverknow. The purpose is to give plenty of notice that workers are probably out there and to slow your a$$ down.

Signs do virtually nothing to slow people down. If you want to slow people down, place jersey barriers to make very narrow lanes suitable for a 50 MPH speed limit, not a sign.

[BoulderSooner]

The issue is you are breaking the law.... Just because others do it doesn't make it right or responsible.

If all these other drivers were driving off a cliff would you do that too?

Of course if you are in the left lane blocking traffic. You are also breaking the law no matter your speed

[rezman]

Signs do virtually nothing to slow people down. If you want to slow people down, place jersey barriers to make very narrow lanes suitable for a 50 MPH speed limit, not a sign.

You have to have advanced warnings. You have to have signs because the numbskulls will say "well, there were no signs telling me to slow down". But sadly, you're probably right, though speaking from experience, narrow lanes do little to slow people down.

[jn1780]

Signs do virtually nothing to slow people down. If you want to slow people down, place jersey barriers to make very narrow lanes suitable for a 50 MPH speed limit, not a sign.

So are yellow lights pointless too? We should just have green and red?

[Roger S]

Of course if you are in the left lane blocking traffic. You are also breaking the law no matter your speed

Not sure how this comment is in any way relevant to the conversation but I only use the left lane for passing slower traffic when I'm on a highway.

And for the record the law says nothing about breaking the speed limit to use that left lane. So your irrelevant comment is not only irrelevant.... It's incorrect.

[Roger S]

So are yellow lights pointless too? We should just have green and red?

They are if you have no regard for traffic laws..... I don't need to name names because those that have none freely admit it on here.

[jn1780]

Not sure how this comment is in any way relevant to the conversation but I only use the left lane for passing slower traffic when I'm on a highway.

And for the record the law says nothing about breaking the speed limit to use that left lane. So your irrelevant comment is not only irrelevant.... It's incorrect.

Agreed, if someone is doing 65 on a 65 mph road in the left lane and someone going 75 to pass them on the right hand lane. I think its a no brainer who the cop is going to pull over.

[bchris02]

I understand where PluPan is coming from. If one is used to big city driving culture, then the way people drive around here - usually at or below the speed limit many times in the left lane - can be very frustrating. When I lived in Charlotte it was pretty normal to drive 10-15 over the limit just like they do in Dallas. It was rare for the NC highway patrol to pull people over unless they were going 15+ mph. It took some adjustment after moving back here to get used to the slower pace. I think unreasonably low speed limits and poor road engineering here also contributes to slow driving.

[Plutonic Panda]

So are yellow lights pointless too? We should just have green and red?

what a dumb comparison. A traffic light is little different than a sign that tells people to slow down. Speed limit signs and stop signs are a different scenario to.

[Plutonic Panda]

You have to have advanced warnings. You have to have signs because the numbskulls will say "well, there were no signs telling me to slow down". But sadly, you're probably right, though speaking from experience, narrow lanes do little to slow people down.

i think they should be there, but they still do almost nothing to protect the construction workers. I still think they need to have them so people can't use the "there wasn't a sign that said otherwise" line to get out of a ticket.

[White Peacock]

I've always found the "fines double in work zones" signs to be pretty effective at slowing my ass down.

[Plutonic Panda]

Well, I've always witnessed people still haul ass through construction zones regardless of there being a sign or not.

[rezman]

Well, I've always witnessed people still haul ass through construction zones regardless of there being a sign or not.

It will be interesting as the project unfolds to see how motorists handle a couple miles of 35 mph speeds on this busy corridor.

[hfry]

I was planning on stopping by the meeting tomorrow night so I'll double check but I think the main segment of 74 will be more than 35. Most of the work is a brand new build to the west of the existing road so I hope they will finish they out and move everyone to it and then do the east side service road. 150th is being widened now with about half done to the west and 164th to the east I believe will be widened within the year so while it will be a giant mess, but I'd rather it all be done at the same time.

[warreng88]

I have a few friends who live around Second Street and May and that is their way to work every day. Five years ago, they couldn't stop complaining about how bad traffic is and how they need to widen it quickly. Now, I am sure they will complain about the construction and traffic.

[bradh]

I have a few friends who live around Second Street and May and that is their way to work every day. Five years ago, they couldn't stop complaining about how bad traffic is and how they need to widen it quickly. Now, I am sure they will complain about the construction and traffic.

I could never live in that little pocket, takes forever to get to a damned highway of any sort.

[rezman]

I was planning on stopping by the meeting tomorrow night so I'll double check but I think the main segment of 74 will be more than 35. Most of the work is a brand new build to the west of the existing road so I hope they will finish they out and move everyone to it and then do the east side service road. 150th is being widened now with about half done to the west and 164th to the east I believe will be widened within the year so while it will be a giant mess, but I'd rather it all be done at the same time.

The stretch from just south of 150th to north of 178th is already reduced to 35mph. I haven't been north of there since the speed reduction to see how far it goes. I'm betting it will be that way for a while. Let us know what you find out.

For the police, it's guaranteed to be a ticket writing gold mine. ... I plan on avoiding that area as much as I can.

[corwin1968]

I have a few friends who live around Second Street and May and that is their way to work every day. Five years ago, they couldn't stop complaining about how bad traffic is and how they need to widen it quickly. Now, I am sure they will complain about the construction and traffic.

I also live near that intersection and have been complaining about traffic for a few years. However, I will gladly take inconvenience of about a year of construction to improve the situation. It used to that on days I left at 6:30, I could drive down to 74 and have a relatively smooth drive to Memorial. Lately, it's just as backed up at 6:30 as it used to be at 7:30. I mainly just go down May and get on the Kilpatrick at Memorial. I'd rather pay the toll than deal with the traffic on 74.

My biggest complaint is that the Hefner Parkway no longer seems capable of supporting rush hour traffic. I have to leave 15-30 minutes earlier than I did just a couple of years ago if I want to avoid coming to a stand-still at the Hefner road and NW Expressway interchanges.

[hfry]

Hope this wasn't you plupan.
Man cited going more than 100 mph on Hefner Parkway | NewsOK.com

[Plutonic Panda]

Hope this wasn't you plupan.
Man cited going more than 100 mph on Hefner Parkway | NewsOK.com

I was cited once for doing 110 on the Kilpatrick late at night several years ago in this area. The police officer wrote me a ticket for doing 9 over so it wouldn't go on my record. That's crazy though this made the news. I'm friends with an OPH trooper and he tells me the OHP stops at least 3 people a day in Oklahoma County alone for doing more than 100mph.

[Plutonic Panda]

Now I haven't done 100 in a long time, but when I got my second car, I was pulled over close to the Arbuckles for doing way over than what his guy was pulled over for and I got a wreckless and he let me on my way. Can't believe they towed his car for that. I've been pulled over multiple times for doing that, but they didn't tow my car. I wonder if it was during rush hour. 99% of my joy rides have been in the middle of the night wih no traffic around, so perhaps they were lenient due to that fact.

Regardless, no one should be going fast in traffic.

[TheTravellers]

Hope this wasn't you plupan.
Man cited going more than 100 mph on Hefner Parkway | NewsOK.com

Maj. Nelson's comment about complaints about speeding during rush hour seems like BS - there is no way you can go more than 30 MPH on the Parkway during morning or evening rush hour, no way at all, it's jammed from 10th pretty much all the way to Hefner... I agree with you, corwin, it's just too full, I use Western in the evenings if I have to leave from work (Reno/Portland) anytime between 4:30-6:00 (I go from the Kilpatrick to 10th in the morning and reverse in the evening).