New Jersey

[jeffandnicole]

But yet, if you pan westward, the next "Hightstown Bypass" does not have the (Toll Road) next to it.

The attributes for the road are likely by segment, and this first segment probably has some kind of "Toll=Y" that the rest do not. 

Oh, knock that crap off.  It's not a toll road, plan and simple.  Even if the absolute final segment south of 33 doesn't have any options other than going thru the toll booth, the moment you leave the turnpike and pass thru the toll plaza, it's not a toll road anymore. 

I never really noticed it before when driving it, but looking at 133 again on GSV the grassed median seems a little narrow for not having crossover protection, especially considering that NJDOT has been busily adding it on freeways.

The median crossover protection contracts are moving along.  Currently they are in contract #12 and #13 I believe.  I don't see 133 mentioned for either contract, but then again they are only getting around to Rt. 55 now, and that road has some similarly narrow median sections with a 65 mph limit.

[J Route Z]

Update: Street View has been updated a little bit in NJ with image dates from September 2014, and even August and July of 2014. Quite recent! Here is one example: http://goo.gl/maps/JwDNT  and I tried to follow the car, where it carried the updated imagery. 

[Zeffy]

Update: Street View has been updated a little bit in NJ with image dates from September 2014, and even August and July of 2014. Quite recent! Here is one example: http://goo.gl/maps/JwDNT  and I tried to follow the car, where it carried the updated imagery.

I wish Street View would grab new images of Downtown Somerville... half of the imagery is from 2007, and subsequently, looks like crap. The new apartment buildings downtown look great, and I only caught a small glimpse when I was in Somerville a few weeks back, so I was hoping they would have newer coverage. Nope. Oh well.

[J Route Z]

Update: Street View has been updated a little bit in NJ with image dates from September 2014, and even August and July of 2014. Quite recent! Here is one example: http://goo.gl/maps/JwDNT  and I tried to follow the car, where it carried the updated imagery.

I wish Street View would grab new images of Downtown Somerville... half of the imagery is from 2007, and subsequently, looks like crap. The new apartment buildings downtown look great, and I only caught a small glimpse when I was in Somerville a few weeks back, so I was hoping they would have newer coverage. Nope. Oh well.

Yeah same here..they do a half ass job. I don't get why they update one part, then leave the rest to shit. They have a listing of where they are currently driving and I saw once they were in Somerset County. But that was about a year ago. Not sure what they are really up to.

[Mr. Matté]

Update: Street View has been updated a little bit in NJ with image dates from September 2014, and even August and July of 2014. Quite recent! Here is one example: http://goo.gl/maps/JwDNT  and I tried to follow the car, where it carried the updated imagery.

I saw 8/2014 as far north as Route 70 (I noticed that when I was playing my Streetview game during my lunch break, I saw that the travel lanes were freshly paved with centerline rumble strips as I saw when I biked down it during the summer).

[vdeane]

I don't understand how they pick which areas to do.  In this last update, Bainbridge and Unadilla both got new imagery in NY... but Sidney, sandwiched between them (it's only two miles between towns here, and the car even went all the way to Sidney before turning around in one spot), did not.  In a previous update, St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University plus nearby streets got imagery, but none of the roads connecting them to the rest of the world did, or even other roads in the villages; Potsdam's new US 11 imagery from Clarkson still hasn't been fixed either, so it's on a slightly different path than the old imagery instead of replacing it.

[cl94]

It's a crapshoot when it comes to Street View. Some places around here have gotten new imagery a couple times in the past few years while others have imagery that is 7+ years old. Even the major roads aren't kept up to date in places. Take I-87 in Albany, where no post-reconstruction imagery exists, so I haven't had a chance to see the new traffic patterns or signs.

[KEVIN_224]

The time stamp on my Connecticut home says June 2012. Yay?

I didn't check any Garden State addresses except for Arm & Hammer Field in Trenton. The image at the corner of Cass Street and NJ Route 29 had the Trenton Thunder advertising sign reading "169 days until Opening Day 2014", along with the then-current jackpots for Mega Millions and PowerBALL.

http://goo.gl/maps/GqPgX

[storm2k]

Update: Street View has been updated a little bit in NJ with image dates from September 2014, and even August and July of 2014. Quite recent! Here is one example: http://goo.gl/maps/JwDNT  and I tried to follow the car, where it carried the updated imagery.

I wish Street View would grab new images of Downtown Somerville... half of the imagery is from 2007, and subsequently, looks like crap. The new apartment buildings downtown look great, and I only caught a small glimpse when I was in Somerville a few weeks back, so I was hoping they would have newer coverage. Nope. Oh well.

They're really doing a great job with Downtown Somerville. The new apartments and shopping are really nice, the new little arts district they've created is a great place to walk around, and some nice new street stuff (new intersections, etc.). In fact, I'll be there tomorrow.

[Zeffy]

They're really doing a great job with Downtown Somerville. The new apartments and shopping are really nice, the new little arts district they've created is a great place to walk around, and some nice new street stuff (new intersections, etc.). In fact, I'll be there tomorrow.

It's such a hidden gem in Somerset County. I would love to be able to live in Somerville. Plus, the access to the train station allows you to pretty much get anywhere in New Jersey (or, New York or Philadelphia) without needing a vehicle (though driving would still be my preferred option).

[bzakharin]

Plus, the access to the train station allows you to pretty much get anywhere in New Jersey (or, New York or Philadelphia) without needing a vehicle (though driving would still be my preferred option).

Have you ever actually tried using NJ Transit trains to do anything other than commute to NYC (or a point that happens to be between the station you live near and NYC)? I have, and it's not pretty. Here's how my trip from Morristown to Cherry Hill went:
Morristown line to Newark Broad Street station - about an hour
Newark Light Rail to Newark Penn Station - 15 minutes
Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton - another hour
River Line to Camden - yet another hour
PATCO to Cherry Hill - 15 minutes

That's 3.5 hours of just travel time for a 90 minute drive, and the connections are horrible.

Back to Somerville, though, you won't get a one-seat ride even to New York (except a few off-peak trains). Have to change trains at Newark Penn.

[vdeane]

It's a crapshoot when it comes to Street View. Some places around here have gotten new imagery a couple times in the past few years while others have imagery that is 7+ years old. Even the major roads aren't kept up to date in places. Take I-87 in Albany, where no post-reconstruction imagery exists, so I haven't had a chance to see the new traffic patterns or signs.

About 3/4 of the way down the page (after the Deegan photos): http://www.nysroads.com/photos.php?route=i87&state=NY

[DeaconG]

Have you ever actually tried using NJ Transit trains to do anything other than commute to NYC (or a point that happens to be between the station you live near and NYC)? I have, and it's not pretty. Here's how my trip from Morristown to Cherry Hill went:
Morristown line to Newark Broad Street station - about an hour
Newark Light Rail to Newark Penn Station - 15 minutes
Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton - another hour
River Line to Camden - yet another hour
PATCO to Cherry Hill - 15 minutes

That's 3.5 hours of just travel time for a 90 minute drive, and the connections are horrible.

Back to Somerville, though, you won't get a one-seat ride even to New York (except a few off-peak trains). Have to change trains at Newark Penn.

I just traced out your route on the Goog.
You, sir; are a man among men.

[jeffandnicole]

Plus, the access to the train station allows you to pretty much get anywhere in New Jersey (or, New York or Philadelphia) without needing a vehicle (though driving would still be my preferred option).

Have you ever actually tried using NJ Transit trains to do anything other than commute to NYC (or a point that happens to be between the station you live near and NYC)? I have, and it's not pretty. Here's how my trip from Morristown to Cherry Hill went:
Morristown line to Newark Broad Street station - about an hour
Newark Light Rail to Newark Penn Station - 15 minutes
Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton - another hour
River Line to Camden - yet another hour
PATCO to Cherry Hill - 15 minutes

That's 3.5 hours of just travel time for a 90 minute drive, and the connections are horrible.

Have you tried using another state's mass transit system to get nearly anywhere in the state?

You can't.  New Jersey has probably the most comprehensive system in the country.  (Delaware isn't too bad either.)

But in order to provide that convenience, it's going to be a long ride.  You can cut out a lot of time if the train went directly from the station you start at to the station you need without stopping at the other stations, but then that cuts away at the convenience of the service. 

It's also tough to cover an entire state, even in NJ.  People forget the "mass" in mass-transit.  It's supposed to be a system designed to moving a massive amount of people, not a shuttle service for individuals.  Someone in the Pine Barrens may complain they don't have bus service, but if there's a bus that came by every half hour but doesn't go to where the rider wants to go, it's pointless.

(BTW, you could've also taken the Riverline to the NJ Transit Atlantic City line transfer station, and taken a NJ Transit Train to Cherry Hill as well.)

[Zeffy]

Plus, the access to the train station allows you to pretty much get anywhere in New Jersey (or, New York or Philadelphia) without needing a vehicle (though driving would still be my preferred option).

Have you ever actually tried using NJ Transit trains to do anything other than commute to NYC (or a point that happens to be between the station you live near and NYC)? I have, and it's not pretty. Here's how my trip from Morristown to Cherry Hill went:
Morristown line to Newark Broad Street station - about an hour
Newark Light Rail to Newark Penn Station - 15 minutes
Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton - another hour
River Line to Camden - yet another hour
PATCO to Cherry Hill - 15 minutes

That's 3.5 hours of just travel time for a 90 minute drive, and the connections are horrible.

Back to Somerville, though, you won't get a one-seat ride even to New York (except a few off-peak trains). Have to change trains at Newark Penn.

3.5 hours is better than not being able to go anywhere because of a lack of a vehicle. Might be inconvenient because of all the transferring, but as said, if you don't have a vehicle, it allows you to get to places. 

Also, what's up with Trenton having little to none guide signs to help you get around? This afternoon, I came over the Trenton Makes Bridge thinking I would be able to get on US 1 North (I can access the bridge from US 1 SB to avoid the toll) near William Trent Place - I was wrong. It was marked with a flashing yellow traffic signal as well as a "NO TURNS" plaque at the first intersection. So I took a right at the next light, thinking that the onramp was there (note, there is a distinct lack of any signage in this area). Well, 0 for 2 on my guesses, because I found myself in the city streets. I was able to find my way back using US 206 to NJ 129 (and at that point, I decided on using I-295 to get home instead of US 1), but the only reason I could do that was because I was following the signs for the Sun National Bank Center, which lead me to Cass Street (where I got stuck behind the gates at the crossing for the River Line Station for about 8 minutes...), and then I turned left onto NJ 129 and followed that to 295.

At the intersection of Broad Street (206) and Bridge Street, there is no signs to tell you that you are at the intersection with US 206. It's not reflected on the street signs, and there are no trailblazer assemblies. What gives? The average person would probably have been lost at that point, but I knew that Broad Street was US 206.

I realized now that I could've avoided this if I went up one more intersection to US 1 from PA 32, but I could've sworn you could get to US 1 north from that bridge. Well, I guess I know now that you can't.

[jeffandnicole]

Plus, the access to the train station allows you to pretty much get anywhere in New Jersey (or, New York or Philadelphia) without needing a vehicle (though driving would still be my preferred option).

Have you ever actually tried using NJ Transit trains to do anything other than commute to NYC (or a point that happens to be between the station you live near and NYC)? I have, and it's not pretty. Here's how my trip from Morristown to Cherry Hill went:
Morristown line to Newark Broad Street station - about an hour
Newark Light Rail to Newark Penn Station - 15 minutes
Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton - another hour
River Line to Camden - yet another hour
PATCO to Cherry Hill - 15 minutes

That's 3.5 hours of just travel time for a 90 minute drive, and the connections are horrible.

Back to Somerville, though, you won't get a one-seat ride even to New York (except a few off-peak trains). Have to change trains at Newark Penn.

3.5 hours is better than not being able to go anywhere because of a lack of a vehicle. Might be inconvenient because of all the transferring, but as said, if you don't have a vehicle, it allows you to get to places. 

Also, what's up with Trenton having little to none guide signs to help you get around? This afternoon, I came over the Trenton Makes Bridge thinking I would be able to get on US 1 North (I can access the bridge from US 1 SB to avoid the toll) near William Trent Place - I was wrong. It was marked with a flashing yellow traffic signal as well as a "NO TURNS" plaque at the first intersection. So I took a right at the next light, thinking that the onramp was there (note, there is a distinct lack of any signage in this area). Well, 0 for 2 on my guesses, because I found myself in the city streets. I was able to find my way back using US 206 to NJ 129 (and at that point, I decided on using I-295 to get home instead of US 1), but the only reason I could do that was because I was following the signs for the Sun National Bank Center, which lead me to Cass Street (where I got stuck behind the gates at the crossing for the River Line Station for about 8 minutes...), and then I turned left onto NJ 129 and followed that to 295.

And those city streets aren't in the best of neighborhoods either!  If you turned right under the overpass instead of left, you would've run into NJ 29 pretty quickly.

You're right - there aren't any signs for US 1 North after crossing the Trenton Makes, but then again that street doesn't intersect with US 1 North either, and Jersey in general doesn't post a whole lot of "To" signage if you're more than an intersection away from the desired route.

If you went up two more intersections to Market Street and turned right, that would've been your preferred route.  But you would've had to know that as well.

At the intersection of Broad Street (206) and Bridge Street, there is no signs to tell you that you are at the intersection with US 206. It's not reflected on the street signs, and there are no trailblazer assemblies. What gives? The average person would probably have been lost at that point, but I knew that Broad Street was US 206.

The average person probably wouldn't care about the route number either, especially coming from the inner city streets like that.  Most people I talk with in Trenton when we're talking directions or locations care about "Broad Street", not "US 206". 

[Zeffy]

Plus, the access to the train station allows you to pretty much get anywhere in New Jersey (or, New York or Philadelphia) without needing a vehicle (though driving would still be my preferred option).

Have you ever actually tried using NJ Transit trains to do anything other than commute to NYC (or a point that happens to be between the station you live near and NYC)? I have, and it's not pretty. Here's how my trip from Morristown to Cherry Hill went:
Morristown line to Newark Broad Street station - about an hour
Newark Light Rail to Newark Penn Station - 15 minutes
Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton - another hour
River Line to Camden - yet another hour
PATCO to Cherry Hill - 15 minutes

That's 3.5 hours of just travel time for a 90 minute drive, and the connections are horrible.

Back to Somerville, though, you won't get a one-seat ride even to New York (except a few off-peak trains). Have to change trains at Newark Penn.

3.5 hours is better than not being able to go anywhere because of a lack of a vehicle. Might be inconvenient because of all the transferring, but as said, if you don't have a vehicle, it allows you to get to places. 

Also, what's up with Trenton having little to none guide signs to help you get around? This afternoon, I came over the Trenton Makes Bridge thinking I would be able to get on US 1 North (I can access the bridge from US 1 SB to avoid the toll) near William Trent Place - I was wrong. It was marked with a flashing yellow traffic signal as well as a "NO TURNS" plaque at the first intersection. So I took a right at the next light, thinking that the onramp was there (note, there is a distinct lack of any signage in this area). Well, 0 for 2 on my guesses, because I found myself in the city streets. I was able to find my way back using US 206 to NJ 129 (and at that point, I decided on using I-295 to get home instead of US 1), but the only reason I could do that was because I was following the signs for the Sun National Bank Center, which lead me to Cass Street (where I got stuck behind the gates at the crossing for the River Line Station for about 8 minutes...), and then I turned left onto NJ 129 and followed that to 295.

And those city streets aren't in the best of neighborhoods either!  If you turned right under the overpass instead of left, you would've run into NJ 29 pretty quickly.

You're right - there aren't any signs for US 1 North after crossing the Trenton Makes, but then again that street doesn't intersect with US 1 North either, and Jersey in general doesn't post a whole lot of "To" signage if you're more than an intersection away from the desired route.

If you went up two more intersections to Market Street and turned right, that would've been your preferred route.  But you would've had to know that as well.

Yup, but I was like "shit, what did I do?" at the time, and chose to go left, not noticing the "ROUTE 29 ->" sign on top of the stop sign to the right. The area wasn't too bad though, and I wasn't scared, considering I've been thru Trenton plenty of times before. I just think it's ridiculous that there is no signage in the area. I get it, it's in the ghetto, but considering the Sun National Bank Center is right there, a few signs would've been nice.

[NE2]

Weird. Looking at old aerials, that ramp didn't exist until the 1980s. Instead the underpass carried a ramp from US 1 north to Bridge Street north. There was also no southbound exit to Bridge Street, but an entrance from Centre Street with a branch off to Bridge where the current offramp is now. So NJ 33 was the last exit before and first entrance after the toll bridge.

[bzakharin]

(BTW, you could've also taken the Riverline to the NJ Transit Atlantic City line transfer station, and taken a NJ Transit Train to Cherry Hill as well.)

This Is true, but:

1. The station did not exist  when I needed to make such trips
2. The schedule is so infrequent that PATCO is almost always faster even from 30th street station (via the Market Frankford subway line)

[Roadrunner75]

Yes, Trenton is a confusing mess.  Every once in awhile I have to go down to NJDEP on State St. and if it's around lunch time I like to drive across the Trenton Makes bridge to have lunch at a really good deli in Morrisville.  I don't do it that often, so I always find myself stumbling around trying to find the bridge, which is not well marked.  For some reason, I always think it will be somewhat of a straight shot west toward the water, and forget I have to swing a left at some point to loop around to the bridge.  Years ago if I recall correctly, this was signed as ALT US 1, which would have made this a lot easier today.

[roadman65]

Jeff and Nicole got it right not about Trenton, but every major city.  Locals use street names in almost every place, so if shields go missing no one (including cops) even bother to notice.

Try driving US 1 through Baltimore or Providence and see how little to none US 1 trailblazing is.

One thing that gets me is New Jersey will sign toll road trailblazing in many places far away from the actual freeway, but interstate and US routes nearby along major arteries get none.  Even I-78 from US 22 gets only signed at the eastern terminus at the Newark Tangle, Bonnie Burn Road in Scotch Plains, I-287, and an East assembly in Lebanon at the road to Cokesbury.   There are plenty of connections between the two routes even though the Watchung Mountain creates an obstacle, nonetheless if I-78 were the Parkway or the Turnpike there would be shields at Warrenville Road in Greenbrook  as well as CR 531 in North Plainfield and even CR 523 in Whitehouse along Route 22 leading  to it on those side roads.

Also at NJ 31 northern terminus, if I-80 were a toll road would have a TO I-80 shield at the US 46 intersection directing the motorists West on Route 46, then at the CR 519 intersection have motorists for I-80 EB to turn north there and for those heading west on I-80 to keep straight on Route 46.

It is interesting how many trailblazers for free NJDOT maintained freeways or arterials have lack of shields even just a few blocks away while the Parkway has shields to it even as far away as Sussex County.  Heck I think I have seen the NJT with trailblazers over 50 miles away from it in some other areas of NJ.

[Zeffy]

Spotted some new signs on US 22 WB in Bridgewater yesterday. It looks like Steve may have been totally right about NJDOT ditching the black-backing on state and US shields practice, because of the one good decent crappy picture I managed to get, you can clearly see the US 22 shield does NOT have a black-backing like it normally would've. This is also true for each of the subsequent signs approaching Finderne Avenue.

Here's the crappy photo:

Jeff and Nicole got it right not about Trenton, but every major city.  Locals use street names in almost every place, so if shields go missing no one (including cops) even bother to notice.

At least in Camden they sign numbered roads on the street signs. In all my travels through Trenton, I'm not sure if I've seen even one signed. Most of the trailblazers are in some obsecure spots too.

There are plenty of connections between the two routes even though the Watchung Mountain creates an obstacle, nonetheless if I-78 were the Parkway or the Turnpike there would be shields at Warrenville Road in Greenbrook  as well as CR 531 in North Plainfield and even CR 523 in Whitehouse along Route 22 leading  to it on those side roads.

US 22 EB has Parkway trailblazers as far away as the border of Somerville. I would think people would've used I-287 to get to the Parkway instead of dealing with all the signalized intersections and jughandles US 22 contains.

Yes, Trenton is a confusing mess.  Every once in awhile I have to go down to NJDEP on State St. and if it's around lunch time I like to drive across the Trenton Makes bridge to have lunch at a really good deli in Morrisville.

There's lots of hidden delicacies in Downtown Trenton along Front Street. I went to Settimo Cielo one night and didn't feel any danger at all, plus, the Italian food was as good as I'd find in Brooklyn. Wish more people would give some of the restaurants in Trenton a try!

[jeffandnicole]

Yup, but I was like "shit, what did I do?" at the time, and chose to go left, not noticing the "ROUTE 29 ->" sign on top of the stop sign to the right.

It's bizarrely interesting, because you pretty much need to know where you're going in order to run into this sign in the first place.  It's the only known sign like this as well. 

[storm2k]

Spotted some new signs on US 22 WB in Bridgewater yesterday. It looks like Steve may have been totally right about NJDOT ditching the black-backing on state and US shields practice, because of the one good decent crappy picture I managed to get, you can clearly see the US 22 shield does NOT have a black-backing like it normally would've. This is also true for each of the subsequent signs approaching Finderne Avenue.

Yup, I pointed that out back in the summertime. Wave of the future. Also happening on 18 at the Turnpike where they are building the additional lanes and expanding the overpass.

[motorway]

Jeesh, I'm glad there's a large and well-tended photographic archive of the "personality" NJDOT and NJTA signage will once have had.