I knew, without even opening the thread, that the OP was talking about Pittsburgh, and it’s wonderful “slowing down before the tunnel” phenomenon. It’s not visiting Ohioans or Philadelphians doing the slowing down; it’s native Pittsburghers, people who have been here the majority of their lives.
I don’t have a cite, but I’ve been told that there was once a sign before the Squirrel Hill Tunnels telling drivers to slow down before entering the tunnel. It could be that some people who learn to drive in Pittsburgh are taught to slow down before tunnels because of the legacy of that damned sign.
The big one will hit while you’re on the viaduct, and your last sight will be the it crumbling down from the force of the earthquake while a wall of water reaches your car due to the sound tsunami-ing. Which one does the final damage, you’ll never know.
But yes, slowing down for tunnels is weird, it must just be Pittsburgh.
Hell yeah. I drive the bridge at about 7:00 a.m. so traffics not that bad yet but I still never fail to see brakelights and have to slow from 70ish to 40ish at the tunnel. Drives me up the wall. And it can’t be a light thing, because the damn things lit. Funny thing though, the tunnel after the Golden Gate Bridge northbound isn’t lit, but I’ve never had to slow down for that one.
I’ve thought that too and drive accordingly - like the Nazgul are right behind me. I suspect though, that when the thing really hits, I’ll be in my kitchen sipping coffee and won’t even have time to see the mountain overtake the house. :eek:
On Saturday, when I was through that area last, the sign posted said ‘Maintain Speed Through Tunnel’.
We love our hills that go straight up and straight down and surround our city. They confuse the hell out of any Ohioans who find their way to the 'burgh. Us Yinzers also love our bridges, and the fact that all 200-odd of them are yellow. When out of towners ask for directions we like to say ‘take da yella brich an go up da hill’, so as to really confuse them. Sometimes we send them on long detours to Eessahiya Stree and then wonder why they can’t figure out what the hell we’re saying.
If you wish to enter or leave Pittsburgh, you will either go over a gigantic steep fucking hill with streets poorly made of uneven brick or through a tunnel. Just for fun, we threw in bridges immediately following those hills and tunnels. Oh yeah, and because Yinzers are really fuckin sadistic bastards, during the last two summers we’ve closed the most major artery for leaving the city - the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel. Take that West End detour around rush hour, it’s almost like a walking tour of the city except slower.
And next week on ‘As the Yinzers Drive’: Potholes. Can they be repaired? Also, tune in for a special edition of our new reality TV show, ‘What Do You Mean Every Street in Oakland is A One Way Going in The Same Direction?’ Don’t miss the trailer for Pittsburgh’s new musical ‘Look Left For Buses’ now showing on Fifth Avenue.
Trust me, you don’t want to pass that tunnel with 150 km/h! Local speed limit is 100 km/h, and it’s filled to the brim with speed cameras. I’ve gotten numerous tickets in it over the years (mostly of the “103 km/h” variety), but I know people who temporarily lost their licenses for zooming through it with 160 km/h at night. Just a heads-up should you ever visit.
I haven’t been to Pittsburgh in a long time, but I always assumed it was because of traffic calming:
“Narrower streets, in contrast, calm traffic. Vehicle speeds decline.”
For whatever reason, when the road gets less wide, we slow down, and I would think that applies to tunnels, too.
It’s obviously the ‘black hole’ phenomenon. And it’s perfectly understandable. From the outside looking in, you can’t see a damned thing in the tunnel. When your visibility is reduced, you tend to slow down. That’s why many tunnels have canopies in front of the entrance, or bright lights going inside, even in daylight. It increases the efficiency of the tunnel with high traffic flow.
If you’ve got a busy tunnel where people slow down a lot before entering, it’s just bad engineering, and/or someone decided to trade off the lower traffic capacity for construction and operating cost.
I swear, all I can think of it whatsisname in The Stand, having to walk through that tunnel to get out of Manhattan. And, in the unabridged version, Trashcan Man coming back to tell The Kid that there’s a bottleneck at the “Eesenhoover Tunnel”.
Methinks it’s a factor in the hypothesis first expressed by the ancient philosopher Painintheass, regarding the ability of a driver, despite familiarity with a given route, to suffer a recto-crainial inversion without warning every .95 times he or she operates a motor vehicle.
This is the only explanation I’ve been able to reach regarding people who will, upon sight of a sign reading “LEFT LANE CLOSED 2 MILES AHEAD” slam on their brakes, despite clear roadway ahead, and my being behind them, driving a truck that weighs as much as their house.
I’m so glad I don’t drive a truck any more. My lifetime pucker factor is all used up. :eek:
