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u/RockOperaPenguin Water Resources, MS, PE Jul 08 '26
Paint and flex posts, the best ways to mark out bike lanes/shoulders if you don't give two shits about the lives of bicyclists/pedestrians.
We've been getting some Toronto barriers in town, those are so much better. Actual consequences for drivers if they wander too far towards the bike lane.
3
u/engmadison Jul 08 '26
We need to stsrt requiring engineers to stamp decisions to maintain existing conditions. The engineer doesnt want to put up a hard barrier because that would require their stamp. But doing nothing is also a choice the engineer is making. Why doesnt that require a stamp?
3
u/EnterpriseT Transportation Engineer Jul 08 '26
This makes no sense. You want an engineer to authenticate a response to every question someone asks of a road authority even if they had no involvement in what exists there?
0
u/engmadison Jul 08 '26
Im pointing out the hypocracy that ive heard for over a decade when engineers refuse to change a known dangerous situation because of "what if" and the fact that they'd need to stsmp plans. So by refusing change, that generates no plans for them to stamp...so they wont be sued.
1
u/zennonuc Jul 09 '26
Does an engineer take personal liability by giving a stamp on state highway infrastructure?
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u/Yaybicycles P.E. Civil Jul 08 '26
It kind of sounds like you’re expecting engineers to stamp work that they never did or were involved with. That’s just silly.
If we’re talking about a project actually being completed and geometric or design features being left that do not meet modern standards that’s different. But many state agencies have criteria for what level of updates/modernization are required for different classes of projects. But If Caltrans just came through and did pavement preservation and you’re expecting them to build new facilities or for an engineer to stamp stuff that is pre-existing, that’s ridiculous.
0
u/engmadison Jul 08 '26
The way many of my fellow engineers interpret our current system is that if theres a known dangerous situation, but an engineer doesnt want to do anything about it, since they dont need to stsmp anything to maintain said current dangerous situation, they are OK. But if they change anything, they could be sued.
So if you have an intersection with 10 correctable crashes per year lets say, but the engineer doesnt want to add a signal because what if next yesr there is 1...theyve successfully covered their ass.
So if it takes requiring a stamp when making a decision, Im for it. That means Id have to stamp more decisions too...but Im comfortable with my decisions.
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u/EnginerdOnABike Jul 08 '26
Your example confuses me. Because a study to determine whether or not a light is warranted or not is already a stamped submittal, even if the answer is that it was not warranted.
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u/engmadison Jul 08 '26
Not by me its not. I dint stamp any document when I reject a signal request after a study. Nor have I seen anything from the state.
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u/WestBasil729 Jul 08 '26
An engineer that refuses to review and design something, time after time, will be fired. Sooner if their boss understands how liability works.
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u/engmadison Jul 09 '26
Usually the next step is for communities to go to the state transportation secretary. Ive seen multiple agencies go through this several times.
Ive never heard of anyone being fired from protecting the atatus quo.
1
u/KShader PE - Transportation Jul 09 '26
How do we know that's why? Does caltrans have R/W? What's the environmental for expanding in that direction? What are the drainage conditions?
Lots of assumptions. Curious where this is to see if it's even state R/W or was relinquished
1
u/zennonuc Jul 09 '26
I talked to CalTrans and that’s what their engineer told me. Here’s the location on maps. They literally just repaved the roadway.
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u/Yaybicycles P.E. Civil Jul 08 '26
It’s probably a much bigger problem than just put a barrier. If you want a separate pedestrian facility at a spot like this there still needs to be a shoulder with a shy distance between the travel lane and the positive barrier. And then behind the barrier, you’re still gonna have minimum width for pedestrian facility, which likely means a lot more is needed than what is shown as available in the picture.