Hi everyone-
Finally back with a small update showing more of the South Wakeman Corridor Project, mentioned last time. In addition, you'll find out a little more about how TDOT works, examining its procedures on numbering highways and setting speed limits.
But first, replies:
Rich (papab2000): Thanks!
Pat: Yes, I'm all about kicking footballs short distances.
(Actually, I'm not terribly athletic . . .) I couldn't resist all those Pink Floyd puns, though. And yes, that does open up that area for development--there's not too much room there, but it's still prime Industrial land. Thanks for stopping by!
David (dedgren): I figured you'd get a kick out of the road name. Thanks for the kind words!
Haljackey: Thanks, glad you enjoyed the construction, and as far as the TLAs go, the TLA-3/Road intersections auto-convert right now . . . need some more RULs.
Dustin (thundercrack83): Thanks for the compliments, and I figured the Barrett-era reference was appropriate, in light of the propensity that the City of Wakeman has had for naming streets after Pink Floyd band members, and prog musicians in general. Hope you enjoy the latest installment!
Piotr (Sheep49): Hehe . . . I figured you'd enjoy the references. Always good to see more Floyd fans around--that's probably the biggest string of references I've seen there.
Thanks for the kind words on the update!
JoeST: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
bat: Thanks for the compliments!
David (Simpson): Thanks, I'm glad you liked the overview shot there (I need to show more of those
), and the construction. Much more of that to come, as you might imagine.
Arthur (art128): Thanks for the kind words!
Matt (threestooges): Thanks! I've always been a big user of the Avenue 90-Curves since
Chrno first came up with them (haven't seen him in ages--rather talented transit modder), and I try to work them in where ever I can. And thanks for catching the pic issue--seems I screwed up a URL somewhere.
deathtopumpkins: Thanks, glad you liked the bridges, and yes, indeed there will be a freeway . . . well, the start of one, anyways. And a lot more freeways after it. Finally getting enough stuff added into the RHW that I can implement all these crazy ideas I have.
metarvo: Thanks for the kind words--I'm glad it was an enjoyable read for you, and yes, indeed, there was some FAR in there (the new Topographic Drive alignment), and that stretch of 11th Avenue there is probably the first TLA-5 I put into a "real" city of mine.
Joan (Jmouse): Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the project and found it easy to follow--thanks again for your suggestion awhile back on having more overview pics, too. I do think it does help tie everything together. I'm not entirely sure how I do it myself, either. I can't help but try to tear up my roads time and time again.
Eric (EDGE4194): Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you liked the overview shot . . . I really should include more of them.
sebes: Thank you for the compliments, and I'm glad you find the construction interesting--I myself can't help but seek it out in RL. It's always absolutely fascinated me. And I hope your vacation was enjoyable, in spite of the Tarkusian Cities withdrawals.
dragonshardz: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, and well . . . that highway is pretty much finished now, though as I've hinted, there still will be "something" going on, on the other side of town (which you'll see a hint of this time).
Maarten (mrtnrln): Thanks for the kind words!
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South Wakeman Corridor ProjectThe purpose of this project is to construct a new limited-access freeway alignment on the south banks of the Cascadia River, running through the Cascadia Gorge, in order to better link up this area, including the City of Wakeman, to the surrounding parts of the region. The southern alignment was deemed to be a more cost-effective option, due to the fact the route would only have to cross the Bruford River, rather than a large stretch of both the Cascadia and Bruford Rivers at their convergence, just northeast of Wakeman. Wakeman is also expected to expand to the south, so a southern alignment will better accomodate future growth, though there is an option for the construction of an eventual north-south spur route on the west edge of the city.
This is the west edge of the Bruford River where the new freeway will cross. Shown here is the eastern terminus of Highway 24 (Wakeman Boulevard) at the existing Highway 28, which has a two-lane crossing of the Bruford River. The new freeway's crossing of the Bruford will follow the same general alignment. (Looking east)
This is the east edge of the Bruford crossing, where Highway 28 meets with Highway 289. (looking north)
Construction begins on the approach to the new bridge, on the west end. (both facing east) As you'll see in the second pic, Highway 24 will also be re-routed slightly. Eventually, an interchange will be built here.
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And now for a little overview of how TDOT handles a couple of rather important tasks. The first of these is route numbering. The TDOT system has some similarity to the systems used for the US Highway and Interstate system, but also draws upon the Oregon highway numbering system and has some unique elements of its own.
There are three classes of highways under TDOT jurisdiction.
The first of these is Primary Routes. The Primary Routes are effectively the major freeways running through the region. These routes always use single-digit numbers, with the north-south routes carrying odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) and the east-west routes carrying even numbers (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 ). The odd numbers increase from west to east, and the even numbers increase from north to south.
Primary Route Shield
The second of these is the Secondary Route System. These routes always carry double-digit numbers, with again, the NS routes carrying odd numbers and EW routes carrying even numbers. These routes vary in the standards at which they are built--some are freeway-grade routes, up to the standards of the Primary Routes (sometimes called "Sesquitary" routes, after the Latin
sesqui, for 1.5), or are partially freeway-grade, though some are also 2-lane routes and some are routed down surface streets.
Secondary Route Shield
The third of these is the Tertiary Route System. Tertiary routes carry three-digit numbers. They are similar in their condition to Secondary Routes, but are, by and large, relatively short routes. The first two digits are assigned by the county in which the route "starts" (based on the southern or western terminus), and the second by the direction.
A few County Codes are as follows:
Palmer County (Wakeman): 28X
Emerson County (Argentum): 34X
Delos County (Los Endos): 40X
Tertiary Route Shield
The new South Wakeman Corridor freeway, once it is completed through the Cascadia River Gorge, will carry a route number of 2. You may have noticed on some of my previous maps, that Highway 4 in Argentum is routed down some surface streets . . . that's actually a temporary routing roughly following the eventual freeway route. I'll be showing a few updates in Argentum in relatively short order (possibly next update, in fact).
Another thing which TDOT controls region-wide is the setting of speed limits, something very similar to the Oregon Department of Transportation's
Speed Zoning Program.
TDOT engineers from the Traffic Management Division (based in Los Endos), usually in cooperation with local city and county authorities, set speed limits on all public roadways. TDOT, unlike ODOT, does not specify "statutory" speed limits, in which a certain type of road has a default, unsigned speed limit (i.e. 25mph for residential streets), which are overriden by Speed Zone Orders. Instead, the Speed Zone Orders are the rule rather than the exception, though a city or county "blanket" limit may apply in certain situations, merely because of the sheer amount of work signing every little side street would entail.
A sample of a TDOT Speed Zone Order is shown below, for Argentum Boulevard--complete with some legalese, too.
That's it for Update 40--hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be back with more construction next time! And we're approaching the big #600 . . . looks like someone will be getting "on the map" shortly . . .
-Alex (Tarkus)
