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A few NY and CT travel notes
Dougtone:
I headed down to Long Island last weekend from Binghamton, where I recently relocated to, and I have a few field notes that I wanted to mention for the masses. My field notes are for the trip down, as I couldn't think of as much that was noteworthy on the trip back Upstate.
NY 17 - I saw that the speed limits at times was posted at 55mph along the future I-86 in sections where I would expect the speed limit to be 65mph. This would be between Hancock and Roscoe, in Monticello and also in Wurtsboro.
Understandably, the speed limit is posted as 55mph between Deposit and Hancock, and also in Parksville due to at-grade intersections, driveways and the like. Is the section between Hancock and Roscoe just not up to Interstate standards? It can be a little curvy at times, but to me, it seemed that it would be suitable for 65mph.
The other two sections of road I mentioned may be more valid as to having the lower speed limit. In Monticello's case, you have a town there that may have a lot of traffic that enters and exits NY 17 due to the Monticello Raceway and the accompanying racino, also the resorts and related traffic. In Wurtsboro, there is a long downgrade of NY 17 into the valley below, and this is on both sides of the road.
Old NY 17 - I took the old section of NY 17 between Wurtsboro and Bloomingburg. I found it to be a decent alternative to the Quickway and could be advertised as such if NY 17 is not the best option due to heavy traffic or an emergency situation. One major issue with that is that the route numbering of the old road changes quite a bit. For instance, Sullivan County employs different route numbers for each section of old NY 17. Consistency would be nice, but that doesn't seem to be a priority of NYSDOT or the county highway departments. I may do some extra exploration of old sections of NY 17 in Sullivan County on the way to or from the Upper Delaware River Valley Meet (to be held in NY and PA) in late February.
I-84 - Didn't see the 65mph signs up in Dutchess and Putnam Counties yet.
US 7 - In Danbury and into Brookfield, ConnDOT may want to consider adding a third lane (for exit only purposes) between I-84 and the Federal Road exit as shopping traffic clogs up the right lane now, making life difficult for through traffic.
US 7 Bypass - There is currently a bypass under construction that will extend the US 7 freeway in Brookfield and into New Milford. If I'm in the area, I'll check out any progress of the road construction. Based on observation, police like to patrol the under construction part of road, so it would be difficult to do some in depth exploring on your own, unless you take pictures from the overpass at where the freeway ends currently.
I went up to where the future freeway will cross over North Mountain Road in Brookfield, and see that support beams for an overpass has been constructed, but I am thinking that the bulk of the overpass will be constructed once spring rolls around. As per ConnDOT, construction is slated to be complete for the entire freeway extension in November 2009, so it may be ripe for a possible mini-meet during the year.
I-287 - I drove through the reconstruction in White Plains, and see that there's some bridge construction, lane shifting, and I'm not too sure what else. The reconstruction does not appear to be adding extra capacity, which may help on the Cross Westchester Expressway. I'm not too familiar with this project's goals, to be honest, so if I can be enlightened, please give some information. Hopefully the reconstruction will be over and done with fairly quickly, as I would imagine it's a nightmare to go through on a regular basis.
V'Ger:
Thanks for these, I was wondering how 86 was doing. Strange how they can't decide on a speed limit though.
us44mt:
I use old 17 quite often instead of NY 17 in that area. A much calmer drive.
I don't quite understand why I 84 in New York east of the Hudson is 55 mph. It's pretty rural until the Brewster and Danbury areas.
Dougtone:
--- Quote from: voyager on January 26, 2009, 12:51:05 PM ---Thanks for these, I was wondering how 86 was doing. Strange how they can't decide on a speed limit though.
--- End quote ---
I'm not sure if it's the design speed in sections, or politics, or what. New York is an odd state as speed limits go. For a while, any stretch of 65 mph speed limit on a freeway had to be approved by the state legislature then signed into law. Now, it's left up to the engineers at the DOT.
Dougtone:
--- Quote from: us44mt on January 26, 2009, 02:23:47 PM ---I use old 17 quite often instead of NY 17 in that area. A much calmer drive.
I don't quite understand why I 84 in New York east of the Hudson is 55 mph. It's pretty rural until the Brewster and Danbury areas.
--- End quote ---
I plan on using old 17 more often as I plan to be in Sullivan County quite a bit, for both work (the office I work out of for New York State covers Sullivan County) and recreational purposes.
As for I-84, it does seem like 65mph could've been set as a speed limit between Exit 10 (NY 9D) and Exit 19 (NY 312) for some time now.
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