Comments on: Help Wanted: Road Curves

By: barefootmeg

barefootmeg — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:34:48 +0000

wow! looks like you’ve got a lot already.

this road near silverton is like that scene in pee wee herman’s big adventure where you get multiple curvy’s. there’s no specific addresses, but if you google for Silverton, U.S. 550, CO you’ll see what i mean in terms of curviness. many of those curves have signs before them.

By: Mike L.

Mike L. — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:10:40 +0000

It’s not the best pic of the sign, but it’s a hard corner with a suggested limit of 20mph.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=goodwin+rd+eliot+me&sll=43.185153,-70.7547&sspn=0.582774,1.674042&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Goodwin+Rd,+Eliot,+Maine&ll=43.156052,-70.784665&spn=0.004555,0.017166&z=17&layer=c&cbll=43.156094,-70.784556&panoid=X7RXWm1tu2ux9E6iohBOHA&cbp=12,249.03,,0,4.04

By: Aaron F.

Aaron F. — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:28:08 +0000

Here’s one in suburban Michigan!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.566523,-83.308575&spn=0.00467,0.017166&z=17&layer=c&cbll=42.566493,-83.308449&panoid=9QbI6CxZglgQ0P987kT7Uw&cbp=12,130.69,,0,-11.82

And here’s another!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=42.568749,-83.32497&panoid=KfllLYsdQTO_79btRDmGtg&cbp=12,90.89,,0,5&ll=42.568759,-83.325098&spn=0.009276,0.026157&z=16

Strangely, there’s no sign for drivers going the opposite direction…

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 03:34:07 +0000

The curve I drive down every day:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&ll=42.229073,-83.753302&spn=0.00224,0.005198&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.229167,-83.753295&panoid=_BCRaWh3pGX0oEuqCUoeLg&cbp=12,2.66,,0,5

Interestingly (though not surprisingly given what I’ve learned about how government agencies operate), there’s another speed limit sign for 10 mph faster before you actually get to this S-curve. . .

By: Olga

Olga — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:58:23 +0000

A little behind, I see.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Westbrook,+River+Road,+Windham,+ME&sll=43.669446,-70.35736&sspn=0.007217,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=River+Rd,+Windham,+Maine&ll=43.756697,-70.436633&spn=0.007207,0.01929&z=16&layer=c&cbll=43.756849,-70.43677&panoid=UB-KbKLlOJjlp5SkbrJPHg&cbp=12,301.2,,0,6.5
Hope it’s still useful.

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:14:23 +0000

The curve Elaine refers to is this one right here. I drove past it hundreds of times when I lived in Santa Cruz and it blew my mind every single time. It's my inspiration for this WCYDWT unit. @Everyone, thanks for helping out.

By: Ian H.

Ian H. — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:45:31 +0000

For those of us who drive using measurements that make sense, here’s one near where I live at the start of a fairly sharp “S” bend in the highway:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.070721,-105.761604&spn=0.123973,0.363579&t=h&z=12&layer=c&cbll=53.071081,-105.761759&panoid=u6By5m9jgsQ5WiBVDla6Wg&cbp=12,209.83,,0,5.94

By: Steven Peters

Steven Peters — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:32:56 +0000

None of my favorite crazy sharp turns have recommended speeds. They just have arrows pointing which way the turn is.

I did find a link to a highway design guide that may be interesting to you if you want to see how many of these turns are designed. They apparently call the constant radius turns “horizontal curves.”

http://www.grsproadsafety.org/themes/default/pdfs/Horizontal%20Curves.pdf

By: Elaine C.

Elaine C. — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 17:56:36 +0000

Don’t have the link/time to look it up right now… but if you’re ever near the south(ish) end of Santa Cruz, on the 1, coming into town… there’s that crazy right split where it joins the 17… the ‘Curve Sharpens’ sign where you need to drop to 15 mph before speeding up to avoid getting run over by the cars on the 17.

… If you’ve ever driven it, you’ll remember it. If not, I’ll try to post the link later…

By: Rachael

Rachael — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:44:11 +0000

And one from New Zealand (also in km/h) :-)
http://goo.gl/xXcAv