And how about those on-off ramps?
As long as we're on the subject of hazards to life and limb, how about those intersecting on and off ramps along Interstate 83 in Harrisburg? To readers who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, imagine that your exit ramp crosses the entrance ramp for somebody else. You're trying to get off, he's trying to get on, and you hopefully don't meet in the middle. Let's call them on-x-off ramps, the 'x' symbolizing the point where they cross.
My pick for the worst on-x-off ramp, which of course is the one I use the most, is where the on ramp from 13th Street crosses the off ramp for Second Street. If a tractor-trailer, or even just a lowly Kia, is coming off 13th he can potentially block you from the Second Street exit, forcing you onto the South Bridge and over the West Shore before you can turn around. In practice, most drivers will attempt death-defying maneuvers to get onto the Second Street ramp rather than be forced over to New Cumberland. Others have their own favorites. Patriot-News City Editor Mike Feeley nominates the Progress on-x-off ramp further up I-83.
Who was the engineer at PennDOT in the 1960s who thought on-x-off ramps were a good idea? Who was his supervisor who said "attaboy!"? What was going through their heads? They can't fall back on the argument that this was the industry standard of the time. I haven't seen them in many other states, if any. And now we're stuck with on-x-off ramps until the freeways are replaced or until Doomsday, whichever comes first.