respublica

Big trucks

Dale and I left for the Huzzah cabin on Friday around noon after the snow stopped falling and the sun came out. The first issue we saw was on 55/70 right on the north edge of Collinsville. A number of semi's had skidded into the guard rails and stopped all traffic heading west. One of the trucks was hanging half over the rails. We saw this before we got to the interstate at 157 and saw traffic at a stand still and so headed for the highway entrance at Black Lane. Nothing was coming from the east because of the truck accidents so we got right on at that point.

The same day a semi crashed into a school bus in Chicago carrying players and coaches from a high school hockey team. 16 were injured, 3 critically. After being hit, the bus flipped onto its side, ejecting at least one student, while the driver kept driving until he careened into a ditch off the freeway an eighth of a mile from the crash site, police said.

The semi driver was arrested later that day for driving drunk. He ran a red light and crashed into a school bus carrying an out-of-state high school hockey team, knocking it onto its side and leaving more than a dozen people on board with injuries.

This is one of the awful issues with semi's and as we headed down 44 there was one semi after another in all lanes speeding along, often passing other semi's and cars. They dominate the highways. It's a very dangerous time to share the road with these trucks which have become way too tall, way too wide and way too long. Anyone who passes or gets passed by a tractor trailer these day knows how small and vulnerable we are in a car.

Sharing the road going and coming, even on Sunday afternoon, was nerve wracking. I know full well they are driving these trucks above the speed limits. My opinion is there just has to be some plan in place to cut the size of these trucks down and do more to slow them down.. Anyone in a car is not going to do well if one skids into you. But they now own our interstates and this is not a good thing at all. And, when they get into cities the space they take up on normal streets in just beyond belief.

The truck driver in Chicago was drunk and driving what could well be termed a vehicle weapon.

Oh, I-44 you are a pain

Traffic is jammed for miles on I-44 in south St. Louis and beyond. It seems a semi jackknifed in the west bound lanes.

Here is an overhead view of the mess taken from Fox2Now's traffic copter.

This does not surprise me at all. We take 44 down to our place in the Huzzah and any day of the week or time of day, the highway is filled with way too huge semi's speeding along, changing lanes without warning, hanging on our bumper. There are too many times when they are on both sides of us, in front and behind all traveling way too fast for their size.

Two views of Paris

Our oldest grandson is in Europe with members of his Lutheran South High School class and he has been sending back photos. Yesterday we received two very different views of Paris. The first was of a gorgeous cathedral, the name of which he neglected to mention. The second picture is of something he called the highlight of the trip-a Nike Store.

Are we going north or south?

I'd long heard the saying about the direction of highway numbers was: "evens run east to west and odds run north to south."  But it wasn't until yesterday when a friend of mine posted two American highway maps with these routes. It is most certainly true about the evens and odds.

Traffic like I've never ever seen

I had to go over to St. Louis this morning and left around 9:30 which is normally a good time to go traffic wise. But as soon as I merged onto 55/70 from Collinsville I saw every one of the 3 lanes filled with bumper to bumper cars and trucks. Frankly I have never driven on a highway so filled. And, most of the vehicles were the huge semi trucks with a car maybe squeezed between now and then. I mean, all 3 lanes bumper to bumper and nothing moving more than 5 miles an hour. As I headed into a curve I saw the same endless lines of big trucks and some cars. Same going up or down a small hill. 5 miles an hour or no miles an hour at some points.

This did not end until we passed route 203. I finally learned from KMOX radio that IDOT started repairing some concrete wall along the interstate at Route 203 this morning and two left lanes were shut down before that point. When I came home noon, all that traffic was gone, it was smooth sailing westbound. So, IDOT completed the work and opened it up later in the morning. But my issue is, why the heck did they not do this work later in the morning rather than during the morning rush hours? It made no sense.

And, where were all those trucks coming from? We always see semi's on that road, but never in this kind of numbers. I got to wondering whether most of them were heading back west after being part of a truck demonstration in Washington DC. I just don't know, but it was awful driving...or not actually driving. Sitting and crawling.

Here is a picture I took when we were at a stand still. The same or worse image was in my rear view mirror.

Another bad part of all this was once the road opened up to normal speed, half the cars and trucks just stepped hard on the gas and it was a free for all of reckless speed.

This snow is not fun

KIds may like the major snow we have been getting for the third day, but boy, it makes things really hard. I'd like to be outside moving it, but there is just too much for me and Dale. The city plow came through a few minutes ago, but only cleared one side of the street. Weird.

We have food, no big deal, but most likely the grocery stores will be closed today again. Which is good policy. But once it gets to the point where we can all get out, we'll be heading for the grocery stores in big numbers again. I feel real sympathy for those workers, they just can't catch a break. First Thanksgiving, followed by Football playoff parties, then Christmas and new years, more football parties and now snow shopping.

We have several meal options still in fridge, freezer and cabinets, but it won't last forever. Looks like the snow wants to last forever, however.

The American Legion has pull for sure. They must have contracted plowing by a guy in a white pick-up truck. He cleared their lot yesterday afternoon and he's back already this morning. They aren't even open for anything today and if they go ahead with tomorrow's fish fry there is plenty of time to get things plowed tomorrow.

The Tally is back

So far this year 8 mattresses and 8 ladders have fallen onto St. Louis highways.

Last year the final total was: Ladders 84 and Mattresses 64

This wins the worst traffic award

The morning news has been covering a total botch-all on Virginia interstate 95. This highway is a main road, into and out of. the District of Columbia. Every day during rush hours it is filled with federal workers and others heading home from work.

Yesterday Virginia, DC and Maryland had a huge snow fall and not much in road clearing was done. Here is what happened, something which is the stuff of travel nightmares.

"Hundreds of motorists were stranded all night in snow and freezing temperatures along a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 95 after a crash involving six tractor-trailers in Virginia, where authorities were struggling Tuesday to reach them.

Both directions of traffic on I-95 came to a standstill Monday between Ruther Glen, Virginia, in Caroline County and exit 152 in Dumfries, Prince William County, the Virginia Department of Transportation said. “Crews will start taking people off at any available interchange to get them,” the agency tweeted at 5:20 a.m. Tuesday.

The tractor-trailer collision Monday afternoon caused no injuries, but brought traffic to a standstill, and it became impossible to move as the snow accumulated. Hours passed with hundreds of motorists posting increasingly desperate messages on social media about running out of fuel, food and water"

The images of bumper to bumper traffic at a stand still for miles since yesterday afternoon and all through the night is stuff of nightmares. 19 hours!

New rear truck doors

Semi-trucks are all over our roads and interstates in large numbers. In our experience it's impossible to theses days to not be dwarfed as we drive side by side, front to back, with these huge trucks. Some day there may be new regulations on just how big these things will be allowed to get, but so far its longer, higher, wider.

But one thing has changed for many of these trucks and that is the style of the rear doors. They are now being fitted with quilted steel doors. "The quilted steel stops light from reflecting directly backwards. It breaks bright reflections and angles them away from drivers."

This is a good thing. If you are behind a big semi with the sun behind you, the bright light reflecting off the normal back doors is blinding. If they won't stop going bigger and bigger, at least they can stop the reflection.

The long ignored tally is back

With the Covid shut downs and all that went with it keeping my mind away from everything else, I'd forgotten to put up the current tally of the number of mattresses and ladders which have fallen on St. Louis highways this year. So here we go, as of today:

Mattresses 58  Ladders 83.

Quite a few actually.