New York

[cl94]

Bridge replacement project on I-290 at NY 265/384 is making progress. Exit 1 (NY 384) has been converted to a partial diamond for the duration of construction and no entrance is provided to WB I-290, requiring a 10 minute detour to access I-190 from NY 384. 4 lanes total through the site. NYSDOT borrowed something I've only seen in Ohio- instead of running all lanes over one span or building a temporary span to keep all lanes together, one EB lane runs contraflow through the site and the other runs on the EB side.

Needless to say, the area is quite a mess right now and US 62 and NY 384 are clogged as a result. If you're going to Niagara Falls and don't want to get stuck in it, I'd recommend using I-190 or NY 33 and NY 198 to bypass it.

[Buffaboy]

Bridge replacement project on I-290 at NY 265/384 is making progress. Exit 1 (NY 384) has been converted to a partial diamond for the duration of construction and no entrance is provided to WB I-290, requiring a 10 minute detour to access I-190 from NY 384. 4 lanes total through the site. NYSDOT borrowed something I've only seen in Ohio- instead of running all lanes over one span or building a temporary span to keep all lanes together, one EB lane runs contraflow through the site and the other runs on the EB side.

Needless to say, the area is quite a mess right now and US 62 and NY 384 are clogged as a result. If you're going to Niagara Falls and don't want to get stuck in it, I'd recommend using I-190 or NY 33 and NY 198 to bypass it.

Sounds pretty busy. How is the Cleveland Dr. project going?

Also, question that just jumped into my head: could the Buffalo area implement HOV lanes on highways, and if it could, where and if not, why?

[cl94]

Bridge replacement project on I-290 at NY 265/384 is making progress. Exit 1 (NY 384) has been converted to a partial diamond for the duration of construction and no entrance is provided to WB I-290, requiring a 10 minute detour to access I-190 from NY 384. 4 lanes total through the site. NYSDOT borrowed something I've only seen in Ohio- instead of running all lanes over one span or building a temporary span to keep all lanes together, one EB lane runs contraflow through the site and the other runs on the EB side.

Needless to say, the area is quite a mess right now and US 62 and NY 384 are clogged as a result. If you're going to Niagara Falls and don't want to get stuck in it, I'd recommend using I-190 or NY 33 and NY 198 to bypass it.

Sounds pretty busy. How is the Cleveland Dr. project going?

Also, question that just jumped into my head: could the Buffalo area implement HOV lanes on highways, and if it could, where and if not, why?

Bridge is down. I have a picture of the monotube that I've yet to post. It'll be done by the end of the summer.

Region 5 won't implement HOV lanes. I can almost guarantee it. There aren't enough HOVs and, due to ROW constraints, construction would be prohibitively expensive, especially given how little they'd be used. Heck, there are only a few places where another general purpose lane is needed (and many of those are currently 4 lanes). Main issues around here are related directly to interchange geometry. I-90 Exit 51's auxiliary lanes are very substandard and Exit 50 doesn't have enough lanes to accommodate the main movement.

[Buffaboy]

Bridge replacement project on I-290 at NY 265/384 is making progress. Exit 1 (NY 384) has been converted to a partial diamond for the duration of construction and no entrance is provided to WB I-290, requiring a 10 minute detour to access I-190 from NY 384. 4 lanes total through the site. NYSDOT borrowed something I've only seen in Ohio- instead of running all lanes over one span or building a temporary span to keep all lanes together, one EB lane runs contraflow through the site and the other runs on the EB side.

Needless to say, the area is quite a mess right now and US 62 and NY 384 are clogged as a result. If you're going to Niagara Falls and don't want to get stuck in it, I'd recommend using I-190 or NY 33 and NY 198 to bypass it.

Sounds pretty busy. How is the Cleveland Dr. project going?

Also, question that just jumped into my head: could the Buffalo area implement HOV lanes on highways, and if it could, where and if not, why?

Bridge is down. I have a picture of the monotube that I've yet to post. It'll be done by the end of the summer.

Region 5 won't implement HOV lanes. I can almost guarantee it. There aren't enough HOVs and, due to ROW constraints, construction would be prohibitively expensive, especially given how little they'd be used. Heck, there are only a few places where another general purpose lane is needed (and many of those are currently 4 lanes). Main issues around here are related directly to interchange geometry. I-90 Exit 51's auxiliary lanes are very substandard and Exit 50 doesn't have enough lanes to accommodate the main movement.

I saw your concept for Exit 51 awhile ago in the Fantasy forum, it's definitely appropriate for the 21st century. Great? Yes. Feasible? Probably no time soon.

[Dougtone]

I came across the history of the Adirondack Northway (I-87), including a number of different ways that it could have been routed, plus the story of the missing  Exit 3.

http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2015/05/27/northway-history

[cl94]

I came across the history of the Adirondack Northway (I-87), including a number of different ways that it could have been routed, plus the story of the missing  Exit 3.

http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2015/05/27/northway-history

What it doesn't mention is the reason for the odd design of Exits 4-5 on the SB side. Per the plans I've seen (can't remember where), I-687 was to branch off of or weave around the C/D road between Exits 5 and 4. The Exit 1 reconstruction removed the necessity of the freeway, but things would have been interesting.

[vdeane]

It would be interesting to see how commuting patterns would change if I-687 had been built.  On the one hand, the merges at I-90 and NY 7 would be less intense; on the other, there would be yet another big merge added in right on top of the exit 4 big merge.

[cl94]

And there would still be a bottleneck at the bridges, except the backup would extend onto another expressway. Really, not much would be different unless there was another major Mohawk River crossing which, from what I can tell, was never in the plans.

[vdeane]

From the times I've had to go north of the Twin Bridges during rush hour, it seems like the bridges themselves don't actually cause the backup, and that reporting backups as such is more an anomaly of traffic reporters than anything else.  The evening backups start as isolated backups at I-90, NY 5, Albany-Shaker Rd, NY 2/NY 7, and NY 7, and eventually merge into one big backup, with traffic picking up north of NY 7 and remaining slow through exit 9.  The morning backups are at exits 9, 8A, and 8, with slow traffic all the way down to NY 7.

NY 7 currently backs up to Troy.  I-90 can back up all the way to Everett Rd depending on the number of tourists.  I-90's issues seem to be caused more by the Thruway having toll booths than anything else.

[cl94]

From the times I've had to go north of the Twin Bridges during rush hour, it seems like the bridges themselves don't actually cause the backup, and that reporting backups as such is more an anomaly of traffic reporters than anything else.  The evening backups start as isolated backups at I-90, NY 5, Albany-Shaker Rd, NY 2/NY 7, and NY 7, and eventually merge into one big backup, with traffic picking up north of NY 7 and remaining slow through exit 9.  The morning backups are at exits 9, 8A, and 8, with slow traffic all the way down to NY 7.

NY 7 currently backs up to Troy.  I-90 can back up all the way to Everett Rd depending on the number of tourists.  I-90's issues seem to be caused more by the Thruway having toll booths than anything else.

Yeah, I know. The Northway needs 8+ general purpose lanes south of Malta regardless of what Region 1 is willing to admit. I don't have the peak hour volumes to run the calculations myself, but I'm pretty certain that, to ensure LOS D or better, more lanes are needed. I know the Twin Bridges are the main thing preventing that from happening, but it's been a cluster for decades. It was a cluster when my mom was growing up in the area back in the 70s and 80s. Daily backups were happening for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is being stuck in rush hour traffic in the mid-late 90s near the bridges when going home from Crossgates. The Exits 24/1 project in the late 80s helped a bit, but the surge in population made things worse than they were before.

The bridges might not be what's causing the issue, per se, but they're a bottleneck, even if it's only virtual.

[vdeane]

One thing I thought of was the idea of setting up movable barriers on the Northway to create a reversible 4/2 lane situation rather than the current 3/3.  During non-peak times it would remain 3/3 just as it is now, but in rush hour an "express" lane could be carved out from the opposite direction carriageway.

There's probably a million reasons not to do that, but it's something I thought of when commuting one day.

[cl94]

One thing I thought of was the idea of setting up movable barriers on the Northway to create a reversible 4/2 lane situation rather than the current 3/3.  During non-peak times it would remain 3/3 just as it is now, but in rush hour an "express" lane could be carved out from the opposite direction carriageway.

There's probably a million reasons not to do that, but it's something I thought of when commuting one day.

I had another idea that would allow them to only build one new Mohawk River bridge while keeping the capacity. Build a new 4 lane arch bridge with full shoulders and the capacity for an additional lane for SB traffic and split the northbound carriageway into two 2-lane sections for the bridge. Might be weird, but it would certainly be cheaper and faster than replacing both spans.

[Buffaboy]

A little off topic, but in my fantasyland, I imagine I-90 running from St. Johnsville, through Gloversville and Saratoga Springs to connect with MA 2 in Erving, MA. Why? I don't have a practical reason other that the fact that it seems "complete."

[froggie]

How many hours of congestion does the Northway have in each direction?  Unless it's more than 2-3 hours a day, probably not worth the expense of widening.

[Snappyjack]

During normal rush hour times, heavy traffic usually doesn't last more than 3 hours. However the summer months cause bottlenecks on the weekends. Friday and Sunday evenings can be pretty rough, and if there's an accident then you can expect to be stuck awhile.

[cl94]

And, while you might not get more than 3 hours, the traffic caused on the few parallel bridges would likely be alleviated if the Northway had more capacity. US 9 is quite bad if the Northway is bad.

[vdeane]

Parallel roadways too.  Wolf Rd, Maxwell Rd, and Old Niskayuna Rd can all be BRUTAL if people are trying to bypass the Northway on them.  It's so bad that it's faster to take the Northway even when it's a parking lot.  Heck, it's so bad that it even has me considering a move to downtown Albany after a life spent in the suburbs!

[froggie]

Heck, it's so bad that it even has me considering a move to downtown Albany after a life spent in the suburbs!

To be fair, if you're going to be Region 1's Bike/Ped Coordinator (as you'd mentioned on Facebook), this might not be a bad thing...

[Buffaboy]

In a perfect world, I think that Delaware Park should be lidded across the 198, like that highway in San Fransisco, or the lid on St. Louis. Unfortunately, Buffalo is not SFO and NY is not Texas, so there likely will be no money for such a thing. But in the interim, what do you make of this?

The speed limit on the section of the Scajaquada Expressway where a car jumped a curb, crossed a grassy median and killed a 3-year-old boy on Saturday was lowered to 30 mph Sunday on orders of the governor.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo directed state Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald to immediately lower the speed limit from the current 50 mph and install “park-appropriate” guard rails where the expressway passes through Delaware Park.

In his letter, sent late Sunday, Cuomo also directed the department to install speed messaging boards to alert drivers of the change, which is effective immediately.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic car crash in Buffalo on Saturday that claimed the life of a young child and severely injured another,” Cuomo wrote in his letter. “While law enforcement agencies are still investigating the circumstances surrounding this terrible crash, it is clear that immediate action needs to be taken to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians on the portion of the Scajaquada Expressway that passes through Delaware Park.”

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/police-courts/speed-limit-lowered-to-30-after-deadly-delaware-park-accident-20150531

I like thinking about things from a practical standpoint. Does it make sense to tear it up, or would it be better to submerge it?

[vdeane]

Yeesh.  More politicians just pulling numbers out of their rears.  When will Cuomo start letting the agencies do their jobs instead of doing it for them?

Any idea of the specific limits of where it will be 30?  The limits of the park appear to be rather ambiguous on Google Maps, the western side in particular, and the location of the eastern end leaves me wondering if it will be before or after the intersection.

Heck, it's so bad that it even has me considering a move to downtown Albany after a life spent in the suburbs!

To be fair, if you're going to be Region 1's Bike/Ped Coordinator (as you'd mentioned on Facebook), this might not be a bad thing...

Well, it will be a bit of time before I move if I do anyways.  My current lease goes through next April.  Next year isn't looking like an opportune time to move, which will push it out another year.  That's probably a good thing; the rent at the place I'm looking at is a couple hundred more a month for the cheapest unit (compensated with included internet, however) than what I have now and I'm not sure how utility costs will pan out (especially since my current apartment includes heat in the rest and the one I'm looking at comes with a washer and dryer in the unit; my salary increases a bit each year until I reach top of grade).  Between the off street parking (some of which is indoors), the in-unit washer/dryer (which has been on my wish list for a year now), and the wonderful location (right on top of both I-787 and the bus line that goes to NYSDOT, and right in the heart of Albany) makes it seem too good to be true.

[cl94]

Yeesh.  More politicians just pulling numbers out of their rears.  When will Cuomo start letting the agencies do their jobs instead of doing it for them?

Any idea of the specific limits of where it will be 30?  The limits of the park appear to be rather ambiguous on Google Maps, the western side in particular, and the location of the eastern end leaves me wondering if it will be before or after the intersection.

I'll check it out when I drive into work tomorrow. The MPO has me on Elmwood all week, so I may as well drive through the area instead of taking 190. Personally, I think it's BS. Install the Jersey barriers that should have been there all along and that would stop it. Problem is that people in Buffalo don't know how to stay in their lanes or control their vehicles. Someone drives into a building at least 1-2 times a week around here.

Oh, and the GBNRTC did a study on what would happen if the speed limit was lowered to 30 on NY 198. LOS F during weekday rush hour. Things are going to be pretty bad come 8:00 tomorrow morning.

[Buffaboy]

Yeesh.  More politicians just pulling numbers out of their rears.  When will Cuomo start letting the agencies do their jobs instead of doing it for them?

Any idea of the specific limits of where it will be 30?  The limits of the park appear to be rather ambiguous on Google Maps, the western side in particular, and the location of the eastern end leaves me wondering if it will be before or after the intersection.

I'll check it out when I drive into work tomorrow. The MPO has me on Elmwood all week, so I may as well drive through the area instead of taking 190. Personally, I think it's BS. Install the Jersey barriers that should have been there all along and that would stop it. Problem is that people in Buffalo don't know how to stay in their lanes or control their vehicles. Someone drives into a building at least 1-2 times a week around here.

Oh, and the GBNRTC did a study on what would happen if the speed limit was lowered to 30 on NY 198. LOS F during weekday rush hour. Things are going to be pretty bad come 8:00 tomorrow morning.

I can only imagine how bad the commute tomorrow will be. The good news is that it appears the limit doesn't go past Elmwood. While its certainly a tragic accident, knee jerk reactions from deadly accidents can have long term impacts. A portion of US 20 in Hamburg was lowered from 50 to 45 due to an accident. This happened about 10 years ago and it's still the same.

At the same time, is it feasible to submerge the 198 to Elmwood, which would include going under a creek?

[Buffaboy]

Off topic again, but I was on Lakeview Road in Lakeview the other day, and noticed a quarter mile of it was signed as a 55 MPH road. It's pretty cool, it almost felt like I went on a test track after I came off some railroad tracks. But why is such a short stretch of road signed so high?

[cl94]

It was never lowered and there's no reason for it to be higher. Seriously. Same reason there are a bunch of short default speed zones all over the country.

[cl94]

NY 198 is 30 east of Grant St. Basically the entire thing. Some people are going 30, others 60, so it's very unsafe. Nowhere for a cop to sit, either, so it's the wild west out there. I expect accidents to skyrocket.