There have been a bunch of recent changes in New Haven that are making me think that it could be a good area for a meet some time next year. They include the removal of the Oak Street Connector (CT 34), the completion of the Q Bridge reconstruction, and the realignment of the exits for CT 10 on the Connecticut Turnpike (I-95). Since these are all very close together, we would then have time to head out to the Connecticut River Valley and check out some of the bridges in the area, including the causeway on CT 154, the swing bridge on CT 82, and the Arrigoni Bridge (CT 17/CT 66). If time were to permit, we could come back via the mountain tunnel on the Wilbur Cross Parkway (CT 15) or the Mount Carmel Connector (CT 40), which is an expressway to nowhere with cliffs. Who's interested?
I'm up for it, but as usual, it depends on when.
I'd be interested in attending. I haven't done much off-freeway exploring in Connecticut. Was there any particular month next year that you were considering hosting this meet? Or is it too early in the planning stages for that?
Awesome. Might I suggest July or later? The spring season is pretty full already.
It's a day trip for me, and one that would allow me to clinch a good chunk of the remaining CT interstates too.
Quote from: vdeane on November 08, 2015, 02:08:23 PM
Awesome. Might I suggest July or later? The spring season is pretty full already.
It's a day trip for me, and one that would allow me to clinch a good chunk of the remaining CT interstates too.
Yes, I was figuring as much since it sounds like Central PA and Corridor H will be in the spring. I also want to make sure that I don't conflict with your Albany meet, since I'm planning to come to that one as well. That's still TBD, right?
Has there ever been a road meet focused around the removal of a freeway before? Maybe we should hold a funeral for it. :P
Also, I didn't drive down it to fully confirm, but when I was in New Haven a few weeks ago, the one lane ramp through the former freeway bed leading to the air rights garage was intact and had no barriers blocking it or "authorized vehicles only" signs. We knew from the plans that this access was going to be preserved but I wasn't expecting it to be open to the public. If it is, definitely worth checking out, but would need to be scoped out in advance.
Quote from: Duke87 on November 08, 2015, 08:20:05 PM
Has there ever been a road meet focused around the removal of a freeway before? Maybe we should hold a funeral for it. :P
ConnDOT
natan, ConnDOT
lakach, yehi shem ConnDOT
mevorach.ConnDOT has given, ConnDOT has taken, the name of ConnDOT will be blessed.
Oy!
ANTONY
Friends, New Haveners, Yankees;
I come to bury* Route 34, not to praise it.
The evil that men** do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with Route 34.
* not a Big Dig
** Richard C. Lee, mainly
Quote from: Duke87 on November 08, 2015, 08:20:05 PM
Has there ever been a road meet focused around the removal of a freeway before? Maybe we should hold a funeral for it. :P
Also, I didn't drive down it to fully confirm, but when I was in New Haven a few weeks ago, the one lane ramp through the former freeway bed leading to the air rights garage was intact and had no barriers blocking it or "authorized vehicles only" signs. We knew from the plans that this access was going to be preserved but I wasn't expecting it to be open to the public. If it is, definitely worth checking out, but would need to be scoped out in advance.
Hard to tell from street view, but cars do need to get into the garage, right?
Honestly, if you're keeping the freeway, what was the point of forcing more traffic onto the frontage roads? If you're not making it an urban boulevard, seems like they're just lowering the LOS at the signals for the heck of it.
Quote from: dgolub on November 08, 2015, 07:49:44 PM
Quote from: vdeane on November 08, 2015, 02:08:23 PM
Awesome. Might I suggest July or later? The spring season is pretty full already.
It's a day trip for me, and one that would allow me to clinch a good chunk of the remaining CT interstates too.
Yes, I was figuring as much since it sounds like Central PA and Corridor H will be in the spring. I also want to make sure that I don't conflict with your Albany meet, since I'm planning to come to that one as well. That's still TBD, right?
Most likely date is in the September-October range for that. I'm not gonna rush to schedule it when nearly everyone else is content to hound spring. The only other non-spring meet I know of is Duluth, so the calendar is wide open.
And my Central PA date is most likely going to be Saturday April 9, been very busy lately but plan to set up the facebook event soon, probably the end of the month when I will be in central PA doing some scouting.
Quote from: vdeane on November 09, 2015, 12:59:16 PM
Hard to tell from street view, but cars do need to get into the garage, right?
There are entrances to the garage from the street. Or at least, the main part of it. Somewhere back in the 1990s the city decided to take the unused freeway stub underneath the garage and turn it into more parking, but these spaces were only open to "authorized vehicles". AFAIK there is no connection within the garage from the main parking levels to the freeway bed that was never intended to be part of it. It was only accessible from the end of the CT 34 connector. If the freeway were totally removed with no provision for maintaining this access, the space underneath the garage could no longer be used for parking... or for much of anything, really.
QuoteHonestly, if you're keeping the freeway, what was the point of forcing more traffic onto the frontage roads? If you're not making it an urban boulevard, seems like they're just lowering the LOS at the signals for the heck of it.
That is a very good question and one which I had posed as well back when this was revealed.
One practical reason is that for the developers building buildings on the land, it is easier for them to accommodate a pair of single lane roadways underneath than for them to accommodate a full width highway
and exit ramps.
Beyond that, though, it's a simple question of the fact that the city of New Haven is not looking at this from the perspective of "how can we most effectively move the most cars at the highest speed". They are looking at it from the perspective of "how can we make this a vibrant and thriving neighborhood". For that, more traffic on the frontage roads is exactly what the city of New Haven wants. People won't see a place as hip and happening if the streets are relatively empty with what cars there are whizzing by at high speed, they will see it has hip and happening if the streets are crowded and traffic is slow. Furthermore, extra traffic on the streets is good for local businesses since it functions as advertising for them when drivers see their storefronts - this benefit is not realized if drivers get to speed through on a highway and ignore what's on either side of it.
Quote from: kurumi on November 09, 2015, 11:18:00 AM
ANTONY
Friends, New Haveners, Yankees;
I come to bury* Route 34, not to praise it.
The evil that men** do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with Route 34.
* not a Big Dig
** Richard C. Lee, mainly
Nice!