Black Eyes for ALDOT
Posted: May 25, 2012 Filed under: Crazy ALDOT | Tags: AL Highway 35, Alabama Department of Transportation, ALDOT, Bloody 98, lawsuits, Mobile Alabama, Mobile County Alabama, Rainsville Alabama, Roads and Highways, Tornado shelter signs, U.S. Highway 280, U.S. Highway 98, UAB Media Class Leave a comment »So I wanted to share some recent stories that have brought the spotlight back to ALDOT in a negative way. This first story which made national news was about the town of Rainsville, Alabama and DeKalb County wanting to put up signs pointing people to a tornado shelter off of AL Highway 35. Here is a picture of the signs that are now going to be put up. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/08/red-tape-twister-alabama-county-blocked-from-putting-up-signs-directing-people/
From Fox News
The excuse from ALDOT on why the signs can not be put up was crazy. Someone from ALDOT said ”The use of shelter directional signs have not yet been approved for installation on state roads,” he wrote, adding that “the overuse and overcrowding of signs can be a distraction to motorist (sic) and often lead to a disregard or disrespect of necessary regulatory and roadway warning signs.” Just another crazy excuse from the folks of ALDOT. But after the national news exposure ALDOT decided to allow the signs.
But this is not the only crazy thing ALDOT is going through. Down in Mobile County Alabama U.S. Highway 98 has gone through numerous lawsuits over they way the 4-lane highway was built. The reason why was because the construction was polluting the water source for the city of Mobile Alabama. And the current 2-lane highway dubbed “Bloody 98″ has to be used because of mismanagement at ALDOT. Learn more about this embarrassment at http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/special_reports/special-report-the-road-to-nowhere.
But hey; we can keep holding back progress on U.S. 280 in Birmingham and keep adding stores and traffic lights because we can not zone off growth properly. Also we can’t think about mass transit because we just love our cars. This video from the UAB media class highlights the 280 problem perfectly!
Related articles
- Environmental groups revise lawsuit concerning Birmingham’s Northern Beltline (al.com)
- The Glencoe Speed Limits (youngsblog.com)
- US 280 traffic lights to aid flow go up in fall (al.com)
I-59 Road Work
Posted: May 16, 2012 Filed under: Road Work | Tags: Alabama Department of Transportation, ALDOT, concrete, Etowah County Alabama, Gadsden Alabama, Interstate 59, interstate closure, Interstate repair, Interstate road work, Road work Leave a comment »I took some photos of a closed interstate. Yep I went onto the closed portion of I-59 in the Etowah County work zone. Both lanes of traffic are currently on the northbound side. And the southbound side is currently closed and about to be worked on. As you can see this work is really needed.
ALDOT has had this project delayed for a long time and this entire project should have been done by now. Come on ALDOT; let’s get this done!
Crazy Interstate Stuff
Posted: May 6, 2012 Filed under: Crazy ALDOT | Tags: Alabama Department of Transportation, ALDOT, Interstate 20, Interstate 65, Road paint lines, Speed limit, U.S. Route 31 Leave a comment »I have even more photos to show off of some Alabama interstates. The first is I-20 in Cleburne County. On Saturday I saw a surprise I never thought I would see ever again.
Yep; ALDOT has finally raised the speed limit back to 70 from the Calhoun/Cleburne county line toward Georgia. But would this last? No! Right after exit 205 the speed limit drops down back to 55.
Someone getting killed by a pothole had to cause all of this. Oh well; no one follows the speed limit at all because this is crazy! Also in Birmingham last week I encountered this on the ramp from U.S. 31 to I-65 south in Fultondale.
That’s right; there is no paint lines on the road at all. This is a very dangerous situation especially at night. ALDOT; get some paint down in this location. At least this is not on a state highway. Taken on Lowery Pkwy. in Fultondale. Yes it’s a speed limit of 27.
More Broken Traffic Lights
Posted: May 2, 2012 Filed under: Traffic Lights | Tags: AL Highway 21, Alabama Department of Transportation, broken equipment, Guntersville Alabama, Traffic Control, Traffic light, U.S. Route 431, Weaver Alabama Leave a comment »Don’t you just love sitting at a traffic light for no reason. I found two more lights that ALDOT needs to check. The first is AL-21 at Anniston Beach Rd. in Weaver, AL. This light is on a 65-mph highway which is wrong in the first place. But this light always seems like is doing something wrong. This look at the video below.
The second light is along a row of three traffic lights on U.S. 431 at Wyeth Dr. and Guntersville High School. The light is not green long enough to get the traffic through. Then you get to sit there for no reason because of equipment failure. This needs to be fixed ASAP! Enjoy the soothing music to get you through the anger of these broken lights!
The I-20 Sinkhole
Posted: April 30, 2012 Filed under: Road Work | Tags: Interstate 20, Lane shifting, Oxford Alabama, Road work, Sinkhole, Sinkhole repair Leave a comment »I took some pictures on the sinkhole that is being worked on along Interstate 20 in the Oxford area. The westbound lanes has been shifted to the eastbound side with a concrete barrier while the sinkhole is being worked on.
Related articles
- Dealing With A Interstate Closure (youngsblog.com)
Interstate 20 Madness
Posted: April 29, 2012 Filed under: Crazy ALDOT | Tags: Alabama Department of Transportation, Alabama State Troopers, ALDOT, Interstate 20, Pell City Alabama, Road paint lines, Seinfeld, Traffic accident, Traffic congestion Leave a comment »
ALDOT decided to close a lane down at the Coosa River bridge on Interstate 20 with little warning! Before we got to this traffic backup I noticed something that was not good at all.
Someone at ALDOT decided to tar out the white line for miles on I-20. This is not much of a problem during the daytime; but at night who can see the lines on the road? While you are at it; go ahead and tar out the remaining lines on the road. All this is going to do is cause a major accident; oops! Too late.
This easily reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer paints over the lines on the road with black paint to make the lanes wider. This only causes a major problem.
This is just a major problem ALDOT continues to have. Let’s do stupid things to cause accidents and wrecks. And when someone gets killed because of poor roads; we lower the speed limit on I-20 to 55 for miles and let the Alabama State Troopers victimize ticket people. I wish the troopers would enforce drivers doing bad things on the road like hogging the left lane and going in and out of traffic. Interstate 20 from Birmingham to Atlanta has seen numerous wrecks and something needs to be done to stop the stupid drivers. Maybe its time to lower the speed limit all the way from Birmingham to Atlanta so drivers would be safer and we are not sitting in something like this.
Related articles
- A Couple of Rants (geekalabama.com)
- The Glencoe Speed Limits (youngsblog.com)
- Dealing With A Interstate Closure (youngsblog.com)
Construction Craziness
Posted: April 23, 2012 Filed under: Road Talk | Tags: Alabama Department of Transportation, ALDOT, Anniston Alabama, Anniston Star, Bessemer Alabama, I-20/59, interstate closure, pollution, road construction Leave a comment »It’s has been a while since I posted something. So I want to start off with the Anniston Eastern Bypass.
This project has since stalled and ALDOT is going to have to pay an over $20,000 fine for polluting a nearby creek. ALDOT also had to find another company to continue the work. This is just the latest example of corruption and numerous delays within ALDOT. Just read the story from the Anniston Star to learn more. http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/18141222/article-Work-on-parkway-still-stalled?
And at the same time. ALDOT is working to reconstruct I-20/59 through the Bessemer area. But they are doing this while causing numerous long traffic delays as one side of the interstate is closed while the work is done. This is another example of how crazy ALDOT is. Plus we are still relying on the federal government to fund most of the work. This has got to stop. Just look at some of the photos below.
Related articles
- Interstate 20/59 North paving work almost complete (al.com)
- The Glencoe Speed Limits (youngsblog.com)
Broken Traffic Light in Anniston
Posted: April 2, 2012 Filed under: Traffic Lights | Tags: Anniston Alabama, Broken traffic light, Traffic Control, Traffic light, Transportation and Logistics, U.S. 431 Leave a comment »Here is a video of a traffic light around Anniston that has been broken for over a year now. This light on U.S. 431 and Lindale Dr.; Sprague Ave; and W. 43rd St. annoys many drivers daily as it turns red and no one is waiting at the light. ALDOT has not fixed the broken sensor to fix this light. While I was here for around 30 minutes I witnessed several cars running the red light because people know this light is broken. Somebody needs to fix this light!
Here is another video of the same intersection.
Welcome to Redo’s AL’S Roads
Posted: March 30, 2012 Filed under: Road Talk | Tags: A Guy's Cuisine, Alabama roads, Geek Alabama, Redo Alabama's Roads, Traffic Light Pixels Comments Off
Welcome to the new Redo AL’S Roads. This blog/website is all about the infrastructure in Alabama. And yes it needs to be changed. Several times a month there will be new posts updating about stories and efforts to update our roads in Alabama. There will be more information soon as I am relaunching Young’s Blog as Geek Alabama. And I am also launching the new food blog A Guy’s Cuisine. Along with the photo blog Traffic Light Pixels. These blogs are growing each day. Thanks for stopping by!
Related articles
- I-85 HOT Lanes Failure And Why It Won’t Work In Alabama. (youngsblog.com)
- Roadscapes Wednesday (youngsblog.com)
