Last week I blogged about the Northside HOV Exit in Atlanta where the Bluffton University bus crash occurred. Since then, the Georgia Department of Transportation has installed some new pavement markings. Let’s take a look!
You can see the most obvious new feature for pavement markings in the images above. The giant Interstate 75 shield that has been placed on the roadway was a shock when we first drove over it. It’s not something I’m used to seeing on the roadway. I don’t know the exact dimensions of the shield, but it looks to me like nine feet wide by twenty feet long (or so). The Large SOUTH pavement marking is also new, leading up to that shield.
Another new pavement marking installed is the EXIT ONLY words and attendant raised pavement markers just on the left side of the dotted yellow stripe. You can see the white stripe, although you can’t read the words, in the second picture above. This is new.
Everything else you see has been in place for over a year. If you click through to the Flickr page on this photo, I’ve notated everything.
In the next few months, new overhead signs will be going up which will be in line with the MUTCD1.
Will this additional striping prevent all future accidental exits here at the Northside Drive HOV exit? I don’t think so. At least, not 100%. It will help; that I do not disagree with. Hopefully it will help enough to prevent another Bluffton.
1: There have been some significant changes in HOV-related signing in the past few years, significantly affected by the Bluffton crash. If you want to read the true skinny, go to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2003 Revision 2) and read starting at section 2E.59. Also be aware that another significant revision to the entire manual is under work, slated for publication this year.
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