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View Full Version : Bridge over Ball Rd.



tikiboy
04-21-2002, 05:26 PM
Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a real problem with the bridge coming out of the Mickey & Friends parking lot.

The problem occurs when you merge back into traffic to go onto the freeway. You have people coming off the bridge who try to merge right, so they can get to the soundbound on-ramp, and you have people on the road merging left, because they think they need to move over to get onto the northbound lane(which is not true).

I am amazed that with all the time and money the City of Anaheim, Disney, and Caltrans had with this, it's still a mess.

But then again, since Caltrans is involved, I can't say I'm surprised.

Uncle Dick
04-21-2002, 11:02 PM
Originally posted by tikiboy
Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a real problem with the bridge coming out of the Mickey & Friends parking lot.

The problem occurs when you merge back into traffic to go onto the freeway. You have people coming off the bridge who try to merge right, so they can get to the soundbound on-ramp, and you have people on the road merging left, because they think they need to move over to get onto the northbound lane(which is not true).
That's exactly why they block off the left of the two lanes coming from Disneyland Drive whenever the flyover is switched to "exit" mode. Personally, I've never seen any problems with folks trying to merge. It's really no different than any major freeway with a lot of traffic. As long as people are following the rules of the road, there shouldn't be any trouble.


I am amazed that with all the time and money the City of Anaheim, Disney, and Caltrans had with this, it's still a mess.

But then again, since Caltrans is involved, I can't say I'm surprised.
I totally disagree. If you've seen the backup at the Ball Rd. signal when the flyover has been neglected, you know that direct freeway access is absolutely necessary. Besides, how would the situation be any better if the flyover did not exist? People would still be attempting to merge left and right all over the place except things would get really backed up at the signal. The flyover keeps a constant stream of cars heading for the freeway and works very nicely considering the limitations of space.

tikiboy
04-22-2002, 07:35 AM
Don't get me wrong, the flyover is a great idea, and things would be worse without it.

My problem with it is that it forces people from 3 lanes to compete for one lane to get onto the freeway. To get onto the freeway, you have to be in the right lane of the flyover. And for people going on D-Land Dr, there is only one lane. When they see those pylons end and see that they can use two lanes, they move over, which is natural to assume. But a lot of times, they don't look back to see if traffic has come over the flyover. That's where the near accidents happen.

Also, you can't view this as normal merging because freeway merging gives you A LOT of time to figure out where you'll fit in. On the other hand, at the flyover, even though you're only doing about 35-40 mph, you only have a couple of seconds to merge.


OH, Uncle Dick, since I have you here, can you answer me this since you work in the parking lot?

Have you heard a reason as to why only a few levels of the parking structure were designed to use the flyover? If you park on the first floor, over by the handicapped spots, or anywhere between the second and 5th floors, you can't get over to the flyover without some "creative" driving. That's another design issue that's got me a little confused.

Uncle Dick
04-22-2002, 10:26 AM
Originally posted by tikiboy
Don't get me wrong, the flyover is a great idea, and things would be worse without it.

Also, you can't view this as normal merging because freeway merging gives you A LOT of time to figure out where you'll fit in. On the other hand, at the flyover, even though you're only doing about 35-40 mph, you only have a couple of seconds to merge.
Point well taken. I guess there're pros and cons to everything. :) And the speed limit on the flyover is 30 mph. Why are you doing 40? :eek: ;)


Have you heard a reason as to why only a few levels of the parking structure were designed to use the flyover? If you park on the first floor, over by the handicapped spots, or anywhere between the second and 5th floors, you can't get over to the flyover without some "creative" driving. That's another design issue that's got me a little confused.
Well, the overall idea is to even out the flow of traffic, sending some people over the flyover and some to Ball Road while at the same time, allowing people who need to get to Ball Road, and are in the flyover lanes, a chance to merge to the right. It's no big loss if someone who needs to get to the I-5 misses the flyover, because it's pretty easy to get there from Ball. But if someone misses Ball and gets stuck on the flyover, it's going to be very confusing for them to get back where they need to go.

Also, later on at night, cones are set out that direct traffic from all levels towards the flyover, making those hairpin merges a little bit eaiser to handle. Again, not a perfect system, but one that serves its purpose well and seems to work better than the old one. Remember the Brake Light Electrical Parade out of the old parking lot? :)

Ghoulish Delight
04-22-2002, 11:09 AM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick

Remember the Brake Light Electrical Parade out of the old parking lot? :) That was just because everyone insisted on going to Harbor. No one knew about the Katella exit. That was always easy to get to ;)

gn2dlnd
04-22-2002, 11:45 AM
On a related note, has anyone else noticed that on night rides on the Mark Twain the lights from the bridge and the parking structure are extremely visible through the trees?
I'm sure they could devise some sort of light covers to correct this. Any thoughts on this flourescent intrusion into the American Wilderness?

Uncle Dick
04-22-2002, 08:46 PM
Originally posted by gn2dlnd
On a related note, has anyone else noticed that on night rides on the Mark Twain the lights from the bridge and the parking structure are extremely visible through the trees?
I'm sure they could devise some sort of light covers to correct this. Any thoughts on this flourescent intrusion into the American Wilderness?
I've noticed it before from the train as well, but to me, it's no worse than the Maliboomer which towers above New Orleans Square. They've gotta have that access gate back there and I guess it's just not worth the expense to create an elaborate "shield". Personally, I just keep looking forward towards the Indian Village and ignore it. Maybe that'll be one of the "improvements" for the 50th anniversary. ;)

snappy
04-22-2002, 09:08 PM
Has anyone else noticed when leaving the parking structure one has to be to the far left to take advantage of the flyover. So many times I've seen cars take out the lane dividers to get to the flyover to save time. I also noticed that if you're way right there's no way to get over. Am I wrong with this. Any hoot, just a thought.

Uncle Dick
04-22-2002, 10:09 PM
Originally posted by snappy
Has anyone else noticed when leaving the parking structure one has to be to the far left to take advantage of the flyover. So many times I've seen cars take out the lane dividers to get to the flyover to save time. I also noticed that if you're way right there's no way to get over. Am I wrong with this. Any hoot, just a thought.
If you're coming out of Chip and Dale, there is no way to get over to the flyover, at all, but very few people park there so it's no big loss. Coming out of levels two, three, or four (I think) there is no access if you wait to merge over until after you've already exited the structure. Before you leave the structure, there is a chance to merge into the lane coming down from levels five and six and from there, you can get to the flyover. As mentioned above, late at night, there are usually cones that direct the traffic from levels 2-4 into flyover accessable lanes.

Again, it's designed this way to keep traffic spread out, to allow people in the far left lanes to exit onto Ball Rd., and to allow for easy reconfiguration into an entrance. For what it's worth, I've never experienced any problems exiting from any level.