Thursday, May 04, 2006

WHY L.A. traffic sucks #9: Pesky annoying quirks: Signs


WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #9: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Signs

It's bad enough that you missed you exit and decided to take the next exit to make a U-turn, get back on the freeway and take the exit your missed. It is quite a surprise that - lo and behold! - there's NO easy way to make a U-turn and get right back on the freeway. It is quite a SHOCK to find out that the freeway entrance is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!! And - hold on to your seats! - there are NO clear signs ANYWHERE to help you find it. This isn't, say, Texas where everything has been planned and laid out very well and you can exit a freeway and get right back on or make a U-turn without any problem. At times L.A. seems a patchwork mess that came about and was put together who knows how! I have seen Japanese businessmen going very slowly on a freeway, completely lost and trying to figure out where in the world they are and how to get where they are going.

L.A. is not a city exclusively for "angelenos"/locals and newcomers moving to the area. L.A. is a world destination, a city that attracts millions of tourists, businessmen, professionals, conventioneers, entertainment people and just plain visitors. A great number of such people on the road, completely lost or disoriented, at any one time, is a guaranty that traffic will be affected. Hesitant drivers slow down traffic. Confident drivers keep traffic flowing.

SOLUTION #9: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?

While there's NOTHING that can be done about all those quirky freeway entrances and exits (there are way too many!). SOMETHNG can be done to make sure there are CLEAR and VISIBLE signs leading you to them and leading you CLEARLY AND CONFIDENTLY to your destination.
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Photo courtesy of Casey Cooper from his website Highway 56 Information
I'm not familiar with Highway 56. It's not in the L.A. area, I don't think. But this great pic makes my point perfectly: a sign out in the middle of nowhere that points to nowhere.
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Make it viral. Make it vital...

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