Emergency Detour Route (Ontario)
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A permanently signed detour route (also known as an emergency detour route or emergency diversion route) is a type of route which is used temporarily during special circumstances. Various areas have developed these systems as part of
incident management An incident is an event that could lead to loss of, or disruption to, an organization's operations, services or functions. Incident management (IcM) is a term describing the activities of an organization to identify, analyze, and correct hazards ...
. The purpose of these routes is to provide a
detour __NOTOC__ A detour or (British English: diversion) is a (normally temporary) route taking traffic around an area of prohibited or reduced access, such as a construction site. Standard operating procedure for many roads departments is to route an ...
in the event that the parent route is impassable, due to either a
traffic jam Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...
s, traffic collision, or road closure (for a variety of reasons). Sometimes these routes are signed as a prefixed or suffixed numbered road, making them a type of special route. A permanently signed detour route should not be confused with a "permanent detour". The latter would be used if a particular roadway section, such as a bridge, were closed permanently.


Canada


Ontario

The province of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
in Canada is one jurisdiction outside the United States with a very prevalent system of these roads. The ''Emergency Detour Routes'', originally ''Emergency Diversion Routes'' (EDR), are a system of temporary detour routes paralleling many major highways in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Most of these follow county or municipal roads within the province that are not (currently) provincially controlled (though many were former provincial highways). These routes are designed to be used in the event of a closure on a major road or
400-series highway The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway ...
, such as construction or serious collisions. Though most EDRs are set up along 400-series highways, a select few have been established along two lane King's Highways, notably Highway 21 due to the lake effect of
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
, which can result in sudden snowsquall conditions during the winter. History Halton was the first jurisdiction in Ontario to create EDRs, although it initially referred to them as ''Emergency Diversion Routes''. In August 1999, the regional council approved the preparation of the ''Road Closure Action Plan'' (RCAP), which was developed with input from the
Halton Regional Police Services The Halton Regional Police Service provides policing service for the Regional Municipality of Halton, which is located west of Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. Halton Region encompasses the City of Burlington and the Towns of Oakville, Milton and Ha ...
and the
Ministry of Transportation of Ontario The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial ministry of the Government of Ontario that is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, when the pro ...
(MTO). The RCAP utilized folding signs that police could open to "activate" the route. Similar in appearance to the EDR signs of today, the RCAP signs featured a trapezoid shaped orange EDR sign, as opposed to an orange square with a black circle containing the letters EDR. These signs were first deployed along a limited stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Way in March 2001, between Dorval Drive and Trafalgar Road in Oakville and between Bronte Road and Burloak Drive in
Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...
, both the location of major ravines with limited alternative crossings. By the spring of 2003, when the deployment of the system was complete, the entire Queen Elizabeth Way, Highway 401 and Highway 403 had diversion routes within Halton Region. Following Halton's tests, the MTO and the Ontario Good Roads Association formed a joint task force, and using the RCAP as a model, developed the Emergency Detour Route program. In 2010 and 2011, an aggressive program was instituted to place EDRs alongside major routes throughout the province.


Alberta

Highway 2 uses Highway 2A as an Emergency Detour Route. On Highway 2, there are signs with flashing lights indicating when to take the next exit to use the detour route.


Germany

Every exit on the German
Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
and some other
expressways Expressway may refer to: *Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. *Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional slide ...
has a pre-posted "on-demand" detour route ''(
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
: Bedarfsumleitung)'' marked with a blue and white sign having a number starting with a "U" (short for "Umleitung", German for "detour".) In the event an Autobahn segment must be closed due to a crash, road work, or other incident, drivers can be diverted off the Autobahn to follow the numbered signs over the adjacent secondary road network to the next downstream Autobahn entrance. In the event that entrance is also closed, signs will indicate to motorists to follow the next sequentially-numbered route. Odd-numbered detour routes are used for northbound and eastbound travel, while even-numbered routes are used for southbound and westbound travel. The detours can also optionally be used to circumnavigate traffic jams. As the detours use secondary roadways, federal administrative rules require consultation with local authorities when planning the detour routes, and routes are selected to minimize distance, stops (i.e. traffic signals), and disruption to nearby communities as much as possible.


Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
use signs with white background and blue text for their permanent detour routes ''(
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
: permanent omledningsväg)'' on numbered roads. According to the Swedish Transport Administration's guidelines a permanent detour route should be able to handle all the traffic when it comes to capacity, weight, height, etc. as sorting traffic is almost impossible. In cases that for some reason need traffic sorting the
police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
will
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the traffic. However, there may be different routes for different travel directions as to not create accessibility problems or queues due to limited capacity; in these cases a letter for the
cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...
is added at the end. The guidelines also emphasize that the segments of the permanent detour route should be as short as possible with access to the main route whenever it is possible.


United Kingdom and Ireland

The
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the Republic of Ireland use yellow signs with a series of symbols for their emergency diversion routes. Symbols come in a shapes, with a solid and hollow version, including circle, triangle, square and diamond. When a roadway is closed, a trigger sign is opened at the last junction prior to the closure, displaying a symbol, which motorists can follow to rejoin the route at a point beyond the closure.


United States

The national MUTCD has not yet adopted standard signage for these routes. Some states have adopted their own systems.


Michigan

Michigan has a system of special routes called "Emergency" routes which parallel major highways, primarily in Southwestern Michigan. These routes provide relief in the event of emergency closures to a freeway due to accidents, weather, or other civil emergencies. Emergency routes have been gradually put in place as part of a broader plan by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to upgrade its ITS network across the state. These detours may or may not follow MDOT-maintained State Highways, however, and some portions of the routes pass through urban or suburban areas. Emergency routes exist on and parallel to Interstate 69 (I-69) and I-94 and US Highway 31 (US 31). These routes are signed with an auxiliary "Emergency" plate that is colored orange, indicating a temporary traffic control sign. Emergency US 31, which offers an alternative crossing of the Grand River in the event that the bascule bridge in
Grand Haven Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand H ...
, Michigan is unavailable for motorists, is one such route. According to MDOT, "this route would only be used in emergency situations and worst-case scenarios impacting the entire bridge structure."


Missouri

Missouri uses "Incident By-Pass Routes" along its highways.


Nebraska

Nebraska has created an alternate route for
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
.


New York

The
New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...
uses emergency detour signs to divert traffic from the Thruway in the event of weather conditions or other emergencies.


Ohio

Ohio has established a permanent detour scenario of Interstate 70 east of Columbus, due to frequent flooding. Alternate Interstate routes also exist for I-70 near Dayton as well as for Interstate 76 and
Interstate 77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...
in Summit County.


Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has a system of "color detour signs" in which any detour follows signs with a specific color. The detours are meant to be used if a limited-access highway has to be closed for an emergency situation such as a flood or car accident, directing motorists along local roads near the limited-access highway to the next exit. According to a document produced by the
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is the metropolitan planning organization for the Delaware Valley. Created in 1965 by an interstate compact, DVRPC is responsible for transportation and regional planning in the greater Phil ...
containing information from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, they are generally color-coded according to direction, with blue meaning north, red meaning south, green meaning east, and orange meaning west, with other colors sometimes being used when detour routes overlap with one another. However, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's own sign manual recommends that only black, blue, or orange be used.


West Virginia

The West Virginia Turnpike has a series of lettered detours, first posted in early 2012, along its route.


Wisconsin

Wisconsin has "alternate route designations" on local surface roads and streets for all five primary interstate highways and three auxiliary interstates, along with several U.S. highways and state trunk highways.


Notes


References


External links

*{{commonscat-inline, Permanently signed detour routes Road transport