Ugh! The DOT is killing my gas mileage!!

[atomicradish]

The DOT has just finished building a new road into the main town where I live. The old road was a highly congested two laner which straddles a river and a mountainside. This road was fine with me because I could go at a leisurely 45 mph without disturbing traffic flow.

The new road is 55 mph, much wider, and slightly shorter. This would not bother me, but the biggest problem I have with it is the new layout. To get on the new highway, I will have to stop and make a left turn at a stoplight. This stop light is at the base of a giant hill. I used to be able to EOC down this hill (it was the longest EOC on my trip). Now I will be forced to come to an abrupt stop, losing about 60 mph worth of momentum. On the return trip, I will have to stop at the traffic light and make a right turn. Then I have to start up the hill from a dead stop.

This sucks. Haven't these people heard of on/off ramps???

[NeilBlanchard]

Well,

That makes three snippy comments with "hippy" used as an epithet.

It's getting old really fast...

To the OP: if you downshift and use the engine to brake, you'll get the maximum mileage on the hill -- but obviously, this is still not as good as coasting a long way.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

maybe you just shouldn't drive. or learn to deal with it you hippy.

"oh no i have to drive an extra mile" the world doesn't revolve around you. with the amount of mpg you already saved you can probably afford that extra mile. stop whining you hippy baby.

Kind of Harsh don't you think. You also made it clear to everyone on the boards that they're a hippie(hippy). Let's give it a rest now.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

...also down shifting causes higher rpm's thus wasting more gasoline than needed

Most cars actually shut off the fuel when you downshift, and don't use the accelerator. What you are suggesting is referred to as EOC (engine off coasting), and that is what the OP used to be doing on the hill.

[DoctorP82]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Kind of Harsh don't you think. You also made it clear to everyone on the boards that they're a hippie(hippy). Let's give it a rest now.

Isn't being registered to post on a hippie website the pot calling the kettle black?

[atomicradish]

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

maybe you just shouldn't drive. or learn to deal with it you hippy.

"oh no i have to drive an extra mile" the world doesn't revolve around you. with the amount of mpg you already saved you can probably afford that extra mile. stop whining you hippy baby.

I am going to stop driving next month when I get a road bike FYI.

Gee, I wasn't acting like the world revolves around me. Yeah, it's a little frustrating but I will be able to deal with it....

[dcb]

Any chance you can learn the timing of the light and hang it out on that left turn? Brake a little early rather than a lot and late, and carry a higher momentum through the light of course (assuming good timing)

[atomicradish]

Originally Posted by dcb

Any chance you can learn the timing of the light and hang it out on that left turn? Brake a little early rather than a lot and late, and carry a higher momentum through the light of course (assuming good timing)

I have thought about that. The problem is, the road I am coming in on is a back road. I used to could coast off of the mountain all the way to the end of the road and to the stop sign. This new road runs right across the old one, and is at the point where I have reached my top speed. I would have to crest the mountain at 0 mph and coast from a standstill to have any chance of timing the light. I think the biggest hindrance to trying to time the light is also the fact that the road I am coming from has very little traffic compared with the US highway that now intersects it. The left turn light will probably be red at almost all times. It is also a very sharp angle, and I doubt I could carry much more than 25 mph through it without severe protesting from my Geo.

I think my best shot will be to hopefully gauge the light that goes directly across and take the same route I have always taken. I can maintain full speed through that light if I get lucky. It's just unlikely to be green very often

Looking at this with the glass half full, my old route is likely to be much less crowded. Though traffic was never close to a grind or standstill, it was substantial enough to hinder P&G.

[Z man]

Hippies? Maybe.

Trying to save money on gas with a little passion and science? Yes!

Damn road construction.

Lights are better than stop signs in most situations if you can time them,
but there are some looonggg red lights out there.

[dann_04]

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

maybe you just shouldn't drive. or learn to deal with it you hippy.

"oh no i have to drive an extra mile" the world doesn't revolve around you. with the amount of mpg you already saved you can probably afford that extra mile. stop whining you hippy baby.

I will call you...the hippy troll lol. But really why are you here if you don't want to save gas...that's like the whole forum. Any who i hate the things the dot does. There is one light that has no sensors where i have to drive some times and there is a turn lane in each direction, but only one direction has an arrow, so you have to sit there and wait while cross traffic gets 2 minutes of green with no traffic anywhere. Then the oncomming lane gets the turn signal and green light (with no one there) for like a minute and then you finally get the light. And it's uphill and i normally coast through it. It is the light from hell...but anyway my rant is over and it sucks that your route is all screwed up. Any alternatives?

[i_am_socket]

I used to take a local road with lots of P&G opportunity to a circle to hop on the Parkway to get to work. The road surface at the circle was crappy and when they started construction on it I was happy.

Then they installed 4 lights around that little circle. If you need to go around it, you must pass through at least 2; I'd have needed to go through 3. My solution: found a route going the opposite direction that gets me to highway speed faster and connects to the Parkway a bit further up than the old one. Distance is a wash and the lights are timed better the new way.

--------------------------

And while we're ranting on lights One light I get stuck at on the way home is incredibly stupid. It's a T intersection; using the letter as the illustration I'd be going right to left across the top. The light has a left turn only signal that stops straight traffic through that intersection. HUH?!

At a nearby similar intersection (the next light specifically), but coming left to right across the top, there's a light for right turn traffic. At times it will stop right turn traffic while allowing straight across traffic. HUH?!