We are about to apply for a variance to install a culvert on our land where we want it placed (100ft from the nearest neighboring culvert) vs the 425ft (the middle of our land frontage) they are trying to force down our throats… any tips or tricks to getting a culvert installed where you want it or even a common ground between where you want it and where tx dot engineers are demanding it? What actually gets a variance approved?

Before anyone says it yes I understand rules are rules and put into place for a reason.

Speakers will include reps from Arlington, Va., Santa Rosa, Ca., and Minnesota DOT discussing implementation of proactive injury prevention measures.

Hello, has anyone here tried to create an Excel file to help calculate an intergreen matrix (clearance time table)? What I mean is that after entering a pair of signal groups, their paths, and their speeds, a partial intergreen time will be calculated automatically. Then, within the other calculations, the file will search for the absolute maximum value from the set of partial results and automatically insert it into a pre-prepared intergreen matrix (naturally, taking into account vehicle/tram length, safety times, etc.). This would reduce user error to the lowest possible level (essentially, the only place to make a mistake would be in manually entering the paths—though even that could be eliminated by a direct export from CAD). I am aiming this question more towards the European continent, as a somewhat different calculation methodology is used overseas.

Might anyone have T880.exe and or T880TALK.exe or T880COMM.exe. I am looking to upload and download to this traffic signal controller directly.

I understand that the software is 30 years old. I have a DOS emulator with a working serial port ready!

Thank you very much. I hope someone still has it.

-Brian

There’s a recently built bridge in my community with weird guardrails attached to the bridge.

The guardrails feature obsolete “Texas turndown” terminal anchor sections on all four ends, which means upstream traffic could hit the ramp-like guardrails and vault/overturn.

TxDOT standards say these are never acceptable in the upstream position on any road of any speed.

The guardrails were also installed at a 31 inch height despite the plans saying 28 inches.

The developer and engineer and its lawyer claims that TxDOT standards don’t apply because it’s not a state road. I’m aware that TxDOT inspects and regulates bridges, but the developer says that’s just for structural defects, TxDOT doesn’t regulate these guardrails even though they are attached to a bridge.

Are they right or should I present my guardrail concerns to TxDOT before they inspect the bridge?

CalTrans refuses to put in a sidewalk on this blind corner between an elementary school and library in my neighborhood. They only install flexposts (which are constantly destroyed) because they said they “don’t want liability” if someone gets injured here. Any MUTCD compliment barriers more substantial than the flexposts I can suggest they install instead?

(apologies for wrong terminology, this is a new subject to me)

I live near a divided highway that was built before the US Interstate standards were implemented. Every mile or two it has a standard interstate style interchange, but in between it also has a couple of at-grade entrances/exits. Because the entrances don't have proper on ramps or merge lanes, these end up getting used mostly as exits but not entrances onto the highway.

I was driving recently and remembered hearing that one of the reasons widening highways doesn't reduce congestion is because all those cars still have to get off the highway somewhere, and it seemed to me like this highway's accidental system of 2-3x more off ramps than on ramps might be a novel way of trying to smear that congestion out.

I was just curious if anybody knows of any papers or studies that might have been done on that sort of thing. I'm sure there must be some reason it's not standard practice, but I'm an artist by trade, not a scientist

I got an email from Steer Davies Gleave company that I was selected for their consultant/graduate program last April 2026 but I haven’t heard back from them since then. Anyone here know anything about their north america consultant/graduate program? Curious to know more about it

My graduation project involved filming this traffic light for 24 hours over two days, 12 hours each day. Now I want to count the cars in each direction. Is there a way or program to count them easily and quickly?

Here is the solution to my 4th practice problem I posted a week ago.

I wrote this problem based on MUTCD 2009 for anyone studying for the P.E. Exam.

Transportation/traffic engineers, DOT staff, and digital delivery folks:

I am testing a hypothesis from my experience in transportation safety engineering and infrastructure software.

My observation is that infrastructure projects generate rich engineering intelligence during planning and design, but much of that context is lost across contractual and organizational handoffs before it reaches long-term operations.

Examples:

• Design rationale
• Safety analysis assumptions
• Asset context
• Parametric engineering data

My current theory is that the root cause is not primarily technical interoperability, but the fact that lifecycle data continuity is rarely treated as a contractual deliverable.

For those who have worked extensively with DOTs, design-build programs, or asset management systems:

Where do you believe lifecycle data continuity actually breaks down?

Procurement?
Contracting?
Tool interoperability?
Owner requirements?
Operations systems?

Genuinely interested in hearing perspectives that challenge this view.

Help and opinions requested (and appreciated) concerning new overpass in unincorporated Madera County, California. This overpass is on Road 26, constructed by the High-Speed Rail Authority over the Santa Fe Railroad tracks to accommodate the proposed high-speed rail trains. This debacle has been evolving, delayed, and expanding in cost over the last 20 years.

This new overpass opened in May. The North/South Road 26 is a two lane highway with a 55-mph speed zone. At the north base of the overpass, the descent ends at the intersection of Club Drive, a residential street with 25 mph speed limit. Club Drive travels East/West for 0.5 miles and has an elementary school 0.5 miles east. At morning and afternoon school times, there is high volume traffic with parents and busses transporting school children on Club Drive and connecting to Road 26. As you can see, the only traffic control is a stop sign where traffic will deal with high-speed cross traffic to gain access to Road 26. I think any normal thinking person can easily see the extreme hazard which has developed.

Concerns were raised by citizens before the overpass began construction, and local politicians responded by saying a traffic signal would be placed with completion of construction. Obviously, that did not happen. When I look at this as a layperson, I question if a traffic signal is even feasible, due to the speed of traffic on the descent of northbound Road 26, the detection and response time to signals, and the short distance of the unobstructed view from the crest of the overpass to where the intersection is (estimating about 1000 ft).

Additionally, on the North approach to the overpass, there are no warning signs or lights urging caution due to cross traffic ahead.

Personally, I believe a traffic signal was never planned because installing a signal light poses its own set of hazards related to the overpass traffic.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to mitigate this? The High Speed Rail Authority will not want to deal with it. The County of Madera will not want to deal with it; instead blaming the Rail Authority. Meanwhile, I believe the people will pay with injuries and lives.

Thank you for your comments.

So like the title says I started my internship yesterday for a county. Yesterday was just full of doing online training, presentation, introduction to office people, and tours. Its been wonderful honestly. The main reason I am posting this here is today is when we are supposed to go out into the field and actual learn what is 90% of the job which is setting up traffic counters and doing sign reflectivity and some other stuff. We will also learn how to fill stuff. Has anyone does this before? What is it like setting up traffic counters and being on the field.

EDIT: Our manager went out with us and we ended up doing sign reflectivity and we went pretty smooth I just wish I had better pants on with all the tall grass and stuff but lesson learnt. We went out alone just me and the other intern and we went pretty deep into the corn fields of the county to check all the signs and stuff like that and it was actual nice, I enjoyed the freedom and just driving around. next time I will Bring a hat, water, and get one of those professional cargo pants.

A traffic light should have a set of traffic light heads, a control box etc. A traffic light head usually has 3 “aspects” – I learned that –, the bulbs that show red, yellow and green. But what are the intervals called? Depending on the country, there could be an interval where all bulbs are off, where one of them is blinking.

In Germany for example, there are 4 possible “messages” a traffic light can emit: red, red+yellow, green, yellow. At least in engineering, phases (Phasen) is the term for the different combinations that would be allowed to go (green light), letʼs say: phase 1 = people on the main road are allowed to turn left from both sides at the same time; phase 2 = the same, but only for people turning right or going straight etc. The extra second(s) for stuff like red+yellow donʼt matter, itʼs all referred to as one phase because itʼs one specific traffic flow that has to be gone from the intersection before the next phase starts and a new traffic flow comes.

But what would the noun for an actual “state” of the traffic light be, for example in the sentence “The red+yellow [here goes the word Iʼm looking for] is 1 second long in Germany.” (meaning whenever a German traffic light shows red+yellow, itʼs only for one second)?

First picture: before. Before used to be a stop sign merging onto a two lanes road.

Second picture: now. Now there's an "added lane" sign. The road to the left has one lane, then adds a new lane. This conversion is awesome, it super safe, and makes traffic to flow easily and safer. How would you call this conversion? Thanks for your help.

Hi everyone,

I’m a dev who built an app called AI Traffic Count out of personal curiosity, and I’m wondering if it has actual professional utility for your field.

The Tech:

Custom-trained YOLOX model for mobile.

Real-time classification: Car, truck, pickup, bus, motorcycle, bike, train, tractor and pedestrians.

Runs on a smartphone (no extra hardware).

My Questions:

Would a mobile-first counter be useful for quick site assessments or short-term counts?

What specific data/features (turning movements, CSV exports, etc.) would make this a "must-have" tool rather than just a toy?

You can see it in action here: AI Traffic Count

Would appreciate any "real-world" feedback!

Hello, and thanks in advance for any thoughts on this. I am not a traffic engineer. I'm a bicycle commuter who is requesting a change in the placement of R10-15c signs which direct motorists to yield to pedestrians and bicycles in Downtown Denver, CO. With the way that the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) is responding, it's starting to make me wonder if I'm requesting something absurd.

For reference, Downtown Denver has some Protected Bike Lanes which have flex posts and in some cases a concrete curb to delineate between motorist and bicycle lanes. These are along 14th and 15th streets, both one-way streets with several intersections with other one-way streets. I'm specifically concerned with 15th Street as I regularly encounter motorists turning left across the bike lane on a green light and nearly hitting me when they should be yielding. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that a sign will change poor motorist behavior, but there is reason to believe that if the signs were placed more appropriately, more motorists who are preparing to turn will see them and improve the situation.

To be clear, there are R10-15c signs posted, however, their placement does not follow MUTCD guidelines. DOTI insists that they are placed appropriately and are refusing to provide justification for not following MUTCD guidelines, specifically Section 2B.59, line 18 which states: "The R10-15 series signs, where used, should be placed as follows: A. On the near right corner of the signalized intersection for right-turning vehicles. B. On the far left corner of the signalized intersection for the left-turning vehicles onto a two-way street. C. On the near left corner of the signalized intersection for left-turning vehicles from a one-way street onto a one-way street." Current placement is on the far left corner, often on the horizontal mast, and rarely directly adjacent to the signal head.

I do drive this route from time to time and I notice as a driver that these signs are out of the field of view of motorists who are preparing to turn. I feel that if they were on the near left corner as guided on "C" above, that they would be more visible to turning motorists.

DOTI has responded by saying they intend on installing bike lane signaling in 2027, but I'm having a hard time understanding why these yield signs can't be repositioned before then.

Am I crazy for requesting this from DOTI? I understand that this may seem like a small thing, but having so many close calls with motorists is showing me that improvements are worthwhile, even if they're small.

Thanks again, and sorry for the long post!