respublica

Speed up when merging

Just don't understand why St. Louis drivers don't understand the concept of merging quickly onto interstates. Drive 64/40 or any other freeway and you'll see cars slowly heading down the merge lane especially at Kingshighway and Hampton going west. The idea is to get up to highway speed, but no, they creep along until the cars in the right lane have to almost stop and let them in or move over.

Highway Hypnosis

Every done some driving and realized later you have no memory of part of it? You may have experienced highway hypnosis.

"Most psychologists point to a number of factors, generally grouped into the monotony of the task, the fatigue and boredom of the driver, and the ease of the driving experience".

I've had this happen, mostly on the drives I do most frequently, like going back and forth from Collinsville, not the long boring vacation drives.

Lane closures on the Illinois side

IDOT warns of Madison County lane and exit ramp closures beginning to day along 55/70. I like the use of the word 'warn', it's perfect. But I wish IDOT's news release of these closures had included a map or that news outlets who reprinted it had used actual exit names instead of numbers. It's difficult to picture exactly where all these are when you read:

eastbound Interstate 55/70 near mile marker 13.2 from midnight to 3 p.m.,

westbound Interstate 55/70 near mile marker 7.9 and mile marker 16.4 from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Do most of us use mile markers as a way of explaining highway exits on a normal basis? Or do we tell people to "get off at 157" and etc?  My sister has an uncanny ability to think in terms of mile markers and geographic location but I'd bet most of us don't.  So if someone was going to drive from St. Louis to Collinsville today, what does this mean?

 

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/04/22/2588111/idot-warns-of-lane-closures-in.html#storylink=cpy

A good question

A question from a reader to the Post Dispatch's Road Crew:

"Why does MoDOT believe that it is acceptable to shut down I-64 so frequently? Is there any other interstate in the country that is shut down as frequently?"

We discussed this endlessly this weekend as we tried to direct out of town family to our house while I-64/40 was totally shut down between Hampton and Forest Park. Actually, there were even barricades across the access to 64/40 at Skinker so you couldn't even get over to Hampton to access 44 easily. It was a pain and if you noticed the Illinois side you'd see that IDOT took the Easter weekend off and it was just so frustrating that MoDOT couldn't have done the same.

We had many trips across the area over 4 days and it was an avoidable inconvenience in my opinion. To get to 44 from where we are we had to take McCausland up to Jamison or else go down Big Bend to Murdock. Hampton would have been so much more efficient. It was no fun for those who wanted to spend a beautiful Sunday at the zoo either.

Coming back from Collinsville Saturday morning we got off with everyone else at Forest Park and saw an unending line of traffic and myriad stop lights with cars sitting through several sequences of red and green lights.

The answer from MoDOT officials to the original question was:

"The work we have between Kingshighway and Vandeventer last weekend, there is just no other way to do it. A utility had to be put across the highway and it involved some rock blasting Saturday morning. You can’t really do that and keep the road open."

Bleh. They did not have to do it this weekend but I suppose next weekend's Cardinal games are more important than traveling over the Easter weekend.

MoDOT's tinkering with 40/64 through the central St. Louis corridor is endless and there really needs to be some relief.

Putting in the car seats

With Katie and Charlie arriving today, we needed car seats installed in my car so that they didn't have to lug theirs along on the plane. Nothing harder than two babies and two heavy car seats being moved from the plane to the gate and garage. So knowing nothing about hooking up car seats, I asked Nathan from our environmental services if he could help. Nathan has young kids and knows all about car seats and he graciously took the time to put ours in. I've heard all kinds of stories about how important it is to do this correctly and after watching Nathan, I was sure I would not have been able to figure this out.

First he did something with the hooks and straps and then leveled it to the correct point on the built in meter. Who knew car seats had level meters? When my kids were small there was no such thing as car seats, I mean, back seats of cars didn't even have seat belts back then. The person in the passenger seat held the baby or they were in back in a pumpkin seat! Pumpkin seat! My gosh.

Then before he was finished he used his knee to force the seat back and in while tightening the straps. What a process. But the level meter is at the middle where it should be and...

They're in and ready to make the trip to Lambert. 

Thanks Nathan!

8 things never to do in a hotel

From Smartertravel.com: 

1. Don't touch the remote-it's covered with bacteria. Either feel comfortable wiping it down with Lysol Wipes or just don't even touch it which means not watching tv

2. Don't forget to secure your valuables: Don't try to think you can hide things in a hotel room that some thief hasn't thought of

3. Don't neglect to put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign

4. Don't neglect looking in the seams of the matress for bed bugs

5. Don't give out your room number in public places

6. Don't touch the minibar. Avoid the minibar. It sounds like even if you just open it and jostle a candy bar a sensor will go off and you'll be charged.

7. Don't open the door to a knock until you know who is out there.

8. Don't drink the tap water. 

I guess the best advice would be to buy and RV and never set foot in a hotel room. All of this makes me a bit paranoid and as many times as we've traveled and stayed in a hotel room, we've never had many bad experiences. So, I don't know about this list, but I will surely never touch a remote again.

Best vehicles for driving your dog around

Safety first, roominess, climate control are major things to look for in a car you plan to put your dog in. Here are Edmonds.com's list of the best vehicles for taking your dog for a ride.

Dodge Journey, GMC Acadia, Hyundai Tuscon, Jeep Liberty, Mazda 5, Mitsubishi Outlander, Subaru Tribeca, Volvo XC70.

All makes have an explanation as to why they are good.

I have to say, our new Ford Explorer Sport Trac small pickup works really well for Ferdie. The backseat is as roomy as an SUV, the windows are tinted to keep the sun's heat off him and we can do backseat temperature control. Plus, the microfiber dog cover/hammock works perfectly over the leather seats. The floors are strong rubber, no fiber carpet which stays really clean. Also the windows roll as far down as you want and the rear window also comes down for great dog viewing.

Another 2 takes on St. Louis traffic

1. MoDOT's elimination of one lane in both directions and the narrowing of the others on Highway 40/64 between Hampton and Boyle has made traffic flow very dangerous. The narrow lanes are too narrow and painted with a solid white line. But, the old wider lane lines are still very visible which causes all kinds of trouble when navigating through that area. Especially at night.

2. So many intersection stoplights are set up in a time wasting way. This happens most often in south city and parts of south county. Each of the 4 directions has their own signal while the other 3 sit and wait. Why in the world can't the city, county or MoDOT have a left turn signal for east and west at the same time? Same for north and south. Why cycle through 4 individual green lights? 

Hampton at 44 and Wilson with the Drury on the west side and the Holiday Inn/Hardees on the east is a mess. When you're going south on Hampton and get to this stop light you wait through 4 cycles, one for each direction. Then if you want to turn left onto Wilson to get to The Hill, you can only turn left with the arrow. Many times no traffic is heading north and you could easily turn left but have to sit and wait again.

Same thing for Laclede at Big Bend. This is one of the longest lights in St. Louis. Every direction has its own signal when an east/west or north/south combined green would work fine. 

Another is the mess at Skinker and Clayton. There are at least 6 different signals in that area.

On the other hand, a busy intersection at Clayton and Big Bend has an efficient signal with the east/west and north/south combined with an added right turn arrow when the other direction gets their left turn arrow.

Timely advice from Channel 5

Headline from KSDK this morning:

Best Time to Buy Cruises, Products and Predictions

Now putting aside the idea that you can buy a prediction, I'd say the irony in getting a deal on a cruise today is pretty strong. Those poor people who've been stuck on the Carnival cruise ship which was disabled due to a fire in the engine room, might disagree that now is the time to consider a cruise.

A question from MoDOT

MoDOT asks: "What transportation needs exist in your area? Tell us"

My first thought was, "Less MoDOT".