http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/230759/37/New-Push-to-Boost-State-Speed-Limit-to-75mph
The "Cadillac of Welfare" ultimate nanny state will never go for it.
It mentions the Thruway, but not I-88. What about I-88?
As much as I think it would be great to see 75 on many stretches of interstate in New York, I strongly doubt that this has any chance of getting through the legislature. The fact that it was introduced by an assembly democrat from the Bronx and the article quotes another assembly democrat from western New York gives me a little hope, though. I would expect most of the opposition to come from democratic legislators from the urban areas.
My intuition is giving me mixed signals here.
This from the state that calls toll plazas toll barriers. They'll cut taxes on the rich before this passes. Socialism reigns here and always will. Thank god foreigners bring their money to nyc and keep things a float. Sorry for the tangent.
Would be nice though. People slam on their brakes when they are going 75 on 684, which is very dangerous. Everyone knows no one gets pulled over for 75, but people still panic. I blow by state police even at 80 and have never had a problem. I think the unwritten enforcement level is 80+ .
Lots of states are jumping on the 75-80 bandwagon lately, especially those that never had it. I wonder what the progress is up in MI? In NY, it's a long shot at best.
Quote from: mc78andrew on October 27, 2013, 08:26:51 PM
They'll cut taxes on the rich before this passes. Socialism reigns here and always will. Thank god foreigners bring their money to nyc and keep things a float.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic4.fjcdn.com%2Fcomments%2FSomebody%2Bcall%2Bthe%2BsWAT%2Bteam%2Bsomeone%2Bjust%2Bbroke%2Bthe%2Blaw%2B_ee96a5b72089d1478b85c02ec7d1451b.jpg&hash=ebf92aa5cd316657c2c0e6b3f91196cbfb4a63bb)
Dylan T. Lainhart / Binghamton, N.Y.
Doubt it...the only state east of the Mississippi with a speed limit of 75 is Maine (and that is in the extremely sparsely populated area north of Bangor). I think that 70 may be more realistic in the upstate. I do think that suburban NYC highways (LIE, NYS Thruway north of Yonkers, Cross Westchester) should go to 65 and some NYC highways outside the inner city should go to 55.
Only places that I think would be considered for 75:
Thruway from 25A to Williamsville except Syracuse area. Also ticket system SW of Buffalo.
I-81 from PA line to Watertown except Syracuse areas.
I-87 Northway from north of Lake George to Plattsburgh area.
I-88 from east of Binghamton to just before Thruway.
I-86 west of future I-99.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on October 29, 2013, 03:57:19 PM
Only places that I think would be considered for 75:
I-81 from PA line to Watertown except Syracuse areas.
Hmm, why not north of Watertown?
Quote from: mc78andrew on October 27, 2013, 08:26:51 PM
They'll cut taxes on the rich before this passes. Socialism reigns here and always will.
:nod:
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on October 29, 2013, 03:57:19 PM
Only places that I think would be considered for 75:
Thruway from 25A to Williamsville except Syracuse area. Also ticket system SW of Buffalo.
I-81 from PA line to Watertown except Syracuse areas.
I-87 Northway from north of Lake George to Plattsburgh area.
I-88 from east of Binghamton to just before Thruway.
I-86 west of future I-99.
If anything, I-81 between I-781 and the Thousand Islands Bridge could easily be 75. Only one interchange between I-781 and NY 12 (which is not used by many) and not much traffic.
I-86 between I-390 and Corning could probably only be 70 due to traffic, curves, and a couple of bridges that technically don't meet interstate standards.
I-87 on the Thruway also has sparse interchanges and could probably be 75.
Quote from: NE2 on October 29, 2013, 08:21:37 PM
Quote from: MBHockey13 on October 29, 2013, 07:33:43 PM
Quote from: mc78andrew on October 27, 2013, 08:26:51 PM
They'll cut taxes on the rich before this passes. Socialism reigns here and always will.
:nod:
:koolaid:
Look, this place sucks. I have to live here so let me vent a little. Prentend you are apolitical if you want to. And send a check if you think it's not an issue.
Folks keep mentioning the more rural parts of the state for 75 MPH. I'm not an engineer, but wouldn't the thruway from 287 to the last toll "barrier" be a good candidate based on its design? 684 its entire length seems like an obvious one. 287 in westchester has been largely brought up to modern standards from my perspective, but probably lacks some design elements that would allow for a higher posted speed limit. Couldn't the LIE be a candidate in Nassau county as well where the HOV lanes are?
Existing convention generally reserves higher speed limits for rural areas and uncongested roads. Don't count on seeing a 75 zone anywhere downstate even on the off chance this does pass. Although I could see a few downstate roads as 70.
I also concur with the sentiment that some roads with limited below the existing maximum need them raised. The Sprain Parkway should be 65, as should the Taconic from Hawthorne to Jefferson Valley. The LIE could go to 65 once it gets out of Queens... and to 70 or 75 at the eastern end. Likewise for the freeway section of NY 27/Sunrise Highway: the whole damn thing is 55 why? Most of it probably should be 70-75. 65 would be appropriate from Islip west, and then drop it to 55 when you hit the first signal.
QuoteI-86 between I-390 and Corning could probably only be 70 due to traffic, curves, and a couple of bridges that technically don't meet interstate standards.
For similar reasons, I don't realistically see I-81 south of about Homer going above 70. An argument could be made for "south of Syracuse" in general.
QuoteExisting convention generally reserves higher speed limits for rural areas and uncongested roads.
Interchange spacing plays a factor as well, which would rule out the Westchester (i.e. 287), most of the LIE, and the Thruway south(east) of Ramapo/Suffern.
While free-flowing traffic is often going faster, I don't reaslitically see a speed limit above 70 on the Thruway all the way up to Albany, especially between 287 and Newburgh. Lots of hills, curves, traffic, or a combination of all three.
Quote from: Duke87 on October 29, 2013, 11:34:33 PM
Existing convention generally reserves higher speed limits for rural areas and uncongested roads. Don't count on seeing a 75 zone anywhere downstate even on the off chance this does pass. Although I could see a few downstate roads as 70.
I also concur with the sentiment that some roads with limited below the existing maximum need them raised. The Sprain Parkway should be 65, as should the Taconic from Hawthorne to Jefferson Valley. The LIE could go to 65 once it gets out of Queens... and to 70 or 75 at the eastern end. Likewise for the freeway section of NY 27/Sunrise Highway: the whole damn thing is 55 why? Most of it probably should be 70-75. 65 would be appropriate from Islip west, and then drop it to 55 when you hit the first signal.
This.
No one drives 55 on the Taconic. 65-70 seems to be the usual apeed. I'd post most of it at 65, with some of the areas with tight curves at 55.
No one, really,
no one drives 65 on the Northway and with reason. It should be 75 from Saratoga Springs to Plattsburgh.
Some parts of I-81 could use a 75 mph limit too.
I don't drive enough on the Thruway to care about it.
With regards to the Thruway, the current south end of the 65 zone is at the Spring Valley toll plaza. An argument could perhaps be made for moving that either to the Tappan Zee toll plaza or the Yonkers toll plaza.
I agree that 75 would be excessive anywhere south of Albany but 70 north of Woodbury seems reasonable. Some parts of the Thruway as I-90 might be able to get away with 75. The Northway probably shouldn't go above 70 thanks to the curves and hills except perhaps in Clinton County.
When I brought up the Taconic I was thinking of the part that's been widened and modernized (Westchester County). In Putnam County 55 is plenty. Further north the road isn't so curvy and hilly or narrow, but it still completely lacks shoulders and still has at-grade intersections (which tend to lack turn lanes), so I dunno. People do drive that fast but raising the limit seems like a harder sell for that section. Most rural divided highways in other states posted at 65 or 70 are built to significantly higher standards.
The old posted speed limit on the Taconic State Parkway, prior to the uniform federal speed limit of 50, and then 55 mph, was 60 mph.
I would say the 75mph zones would be NYS thruway Spring Valley to Williamsville and the entire Berkshire extension, but 65 mph urban speed limit in Utica, and Syracuse areas and from Spring Valley to the Westchester Bronx county line including the Tappan-Zee Bridge.
I-81 Binghamton to Syracuse, and Syracuse to the NY/ON border
I-87 from I-90 in Albany to the Canadian Border, but signs in Clinton County would need to say 75mph 120km/h so that Quebec drivers know that 120km/h is the metric version of 75mph
For what it's worth, I've been setting my cruise control to 75 for the Thruway portion of my commute this week between exits 24 and 27 (where possible given some rush hour congestion). I did pass a good number of cars and especially trucks, but I'd say there were more people passing me, some going significantly faster. Normally, I set to 72 or 73.
Quote from: Interstatefan78 on November 01, 2013, 11:27:10 AM
I would say the 75mph zones would be NYS thruway Spring Valley to Williamsville and the entire Berkshire extension, but 65 mph urban speed limit in Utica, and Syracuse areas and from Spring Valley to the Westchester Bronx county line including the Tappan-Zee Bridge.
Why Utica? There's only the one interchange, and no appreciable change in the level of congestion there. Albany/Schenectady, certainly.
Quote
I-81 Binghamton to Syracuse, and Syracuse to the NY/ON border
I'm sure you're generalizing a bit, but of course you'd only take the 75mph limit up to the Thousand Islands Bridge approach. The bridge complex and everything on Wellesley Island, up to the border, would stay as it is, surely.
Quote from: froggie on October 30, 2013, 08:49:03 AM
While free-flowing traffic is often going faster, I don't reaslitically see a speed limit above 70 on the Thruway all the way up to Albany, especially between 287 and Newburgh. Lots of hills, curves, traffic, or a combination of all three.
IMO, it should stay 65 from Woodbury (N.Y. 17) south. Woodbury is the southern limit of the "main" section of the Thruway's "closed" or "ticket" system. With that in mind, I think it could be 70 or even 75 from a point north of Woodbury up to someplace near Albany.
It's reasonably straight and not all that hilly. And yes, the Thruway should be
six lanes wide all the way to Albany.
I have not driven much of the I-90 part of the Thruway, except the Berkshire Section, so I will not comment about that.
Personally, this is how I'd do the Thruway:
-NYC-Yonkers Toll Barrier: 55
-Yonkers Toll Barrier-Sloatsburg/Ramapo: 65
-Sloatsburg/Ramapo-I-481: 75
I-481-I-81: 70
I-81-I-690: 65
I-690-Depew: 75
Depew-Williamsville: 65
Williamsville-Lackawanna: 55 or 65
Lackawanna-Ripley: 75
Berkshire Spur: 75
New England Thruway: 65
Quote from: vdeane on November 01, 2013, 08:05:45 PM
Personally, this is how I'd do the Thruway:
-NYC-Yonkers Toll Barrier: 55
-Yonkers Toll Barrier-Sloatsburg/Ramapo: 65
-Sloatsburg/Ramapo-I-481: 75
I-481-I-81: 70
I-81-I-690: 65
I-690-Depew: 75
Depew-Williamsville: 65
Williamsville-Lackawanna: 55 or 65
Lackawanna-Ripley: 75
Berkshire Spur: 75
New England Thruway: 65
Just don't see the New England Thruway going 65 unless CT raises its section of I-95 to match it. Berkshire Thruway should be 65 east of the Canaan toll barrier to be consistent with the Mass Pike, then 75 west. Still think 55 will remain on the Thruway south of the Spring Valley toll plaza until the Tappan Zee construction is complete, then go to 65 from there to the Woodbury barrier.
Quote from: empirestate on November 01, 2013, 04:22:43 PM
Quote from: Interstatefan78 on November 01, 2013, 11:27:10 AM
I would say the 75mph zones would be NYS thruway Spring Valley to Williamsville and the entire Berkshire extension, but 65 mph urban speed limit in Utica, and Syracuse areas and from Spring Valley to the Westchester Bronx county line including the Tappan-Zee Bridge.
Why Utica? There's only the one interchange, and no appreciable change in the level of congestion there. Albany/Schenectady, certainly.
Quote
I-81 Binghamton to Syracuse, and Syracuse to the NY/ON border
I'm sure you're generalizing a bit, but of course you'd only take the 75mph limit up to the Thousand Islands Bridge approach. The bridge complex and everything on Wellesley Island, up to the border, would stay as it is, surely.
You mean 65 mph from exit 23-26 on the thruway itself, but when I drove it this summer most drivers do 75 on the stretch from exit 24-23 or exit 26-23
I think 75 is pushing it. 70 would be good, especially from Ramapo/ Sloatsburg to the Berskshire Connection. Then 65 until west of Schenectady and possibly 70 through Syracuse, but back to 70 at Baldwinsville to the Williamsville plaza, then either 60 or 55 through the free section between the two closed systems. Finally back to 70 until the Ripley plaza.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on November 02, 2013, 01:26:50 AM
Quote from: vdeane on November 01, 2013, 08:05:45 PM
Personally, this is how I'd do the Thruway:
-NYC-Yonkers Toll Barrier: 55
-Yonkers Toll Barrier-Sloatsburg/Ramapo: 65
-Sloatsburg/Ramapo-I-481: 75
I-481-I-81: 70
I-81-I-690: 65
I-690-Depew: 75
Depew-Williamsville: 65
Williamsville-Lackawanna: 55 or 65
Lackawanna-Ripley: 75
Berkshire Spur: 75
New England Thruway: 65
Just don't see the New England Thruway going 65 unless CT raises its section of I-95 to match it. Berkshire Thruway should be 65 east of the Canaan toll barrier to be consistent with the Mass Pike, then 75 west. Still think 55 will remain on the Thruway south of the Spring Valley toll plaza until the Tappan Zee construction is complete, then go to 65 from there to the Woodbury barrier.
I don't think we should have lower limits in certain areas just to match other states. When I drove the NE Thruway, I was going 55-60, which felt REALLY slow (especially after driving 75 down the NJ Turnpike less than half an hour earlier), and I was being passed by everyone else like I was standing still. With the Berkshire section, you'd have several miles of 65 for no reason if you did that; Canaan is closer to the Taconic than to the MassPike. Given the distance between Ardsley and I-287, and the (relative) rural character of the road, no reason to keep it 55. Also no reason to keep the section from Sloatsburg/Ramapo-NY 17 65 either; while there's more traffic than to the north, the extra lane compensates perfectly.
Should I-88 be 75 MPH? (Or 88 MPH, to match I-88?)
Quote from: Interstatefan78 on November 02, 2013, 11:32:48 AM
Quote from: empirestate on November 01, 2013, 04:22:43 PM
Quote from: Interstatefan78 on November 01, 2013, 11:27:10 AM
I would say the 75mph zones would be NYS thruway Spring Valley to Williamsville and the entire Berkshire extension, but 65 mph urban speed limit in Utica, and Syracuse areas and from Spring Valley to the Westchester Bronx county line including the Tappan-Zee Bridge.
Why Utica? There's only the one interchange, and no appreciable change in the level of congestion there. Albany/Schenectady, certainly.
Quote
I-81 Binghamton to Syracuse, and Syracuse to the NY/ON border
I'm sure you're generalizing a bit, but of course you'd only take the 75mph limit up to the Thousand Islands Bridge approach. The bridge complex and everything on Wellesley Island, up to the border, would stay as it is, surely.
You mean 65 mph from exit 23-26 on the thruway itself, but when I drove it this summer most drivers do 75 on the stretch from exit 24-23 or exit 26-23
In particular, between 24 and 25A; this is where you'll have the most urban-style entering and exiting traffic. Between 23 and 24, and between 25A and 26, that's really all thru traffic so you could bump the limit up there I suppose.
But basically I was suggesting that if you feel the limit should be lower in Utica because it's more urban, skip that and make the change at Albany/Schenectady instead.
Quote from: 1 on November 02, 2013, 04:42:21 PM
Should I-88 be ... (Or 88 MPH, to match I-88?)
In a word:
Yes.
Quote from: dlainhart on November 21, 2013, 04:59:14 PM
Quote from: 1 on November 02, 2013, 04:42:21 PM
Should I-88 be ... (Or 88 MPH, to match I-88?)
In a word: Yes.
Just don't drive a DeLorean down it unless you want to activate the flux capacitor.
Quote from: Duke87 on October 29, 2013, 11:34:33 PMThe LIE could go to 65 once it gets out of Queens... and to 70 or 75 at the eastern end. Likewise for the freeway section of NY 27/Sunrise Highway: the whole damn thing is 55 why? Most of it probably should be 70-75. 65 would be appropriate from Islip west, and then drop it to 55 when you hit the first signal.
You know, I'd like that. But, when I drove the LIE last week, I was barely able to get up to 55, and that was in the Town of Brookhaven.
What about 70 mph on the Berkshire Extension from I-87 Exit 21A up to the MA/NY border this is done due to MA raising their speed limit to 70 mph from the current 65 mph on the Mass Pike, but the I-90 Erie segment of the thruway from Exit 61 to Exit 55 goes to 70 mph to match the 70 mph zone on I-90 in Erie County PA
I don't think speed limits should be lowered just to "match" other states. If you want to match them, only do it immediately at the border. I doubt Dunkirk traffic, for example, would be pleased if they had to drive slower just to match the speed limit in PA.
QuoteAlso no reason to keep the section from Sloatsburg/Ramapo-NY 17 65 either; while there's more traffic than to the north, the extra lane compensates perfectly.
I'd argue that the extra lane is less than a "perfect compensation". Still have a lot of curves and heavy traffic on that stretch. I'd leave it 65.
Quote from: froggie on November 29, 2013, 09:28:37 PM
QuoteAlso no reason to keep the section from Sloatsburg/Ramapo-NY 17 65 either; while there's more traffic than to the north, the extra lane compensates perfectly.
I'd argue that the extra lane is less than a "perfect compensation". Still have a lot of curves and heavy traffic on that stretch. I'd leave it 65.
I know that part of the Thruway pretty well. How much of the Thruway traffic north of Sloatsburg/Ramapo heads south to or comes north from I-287/N.J. 17?
QuoteHow much of the Thruway traffic north of Sloatsburg/Ramapo heads south to or comes north from I-287/N.J. 17?
Just over half. The directional split between the movements at the 87/287 interchange is fairly close to even, but that 87 North/287 South movement is the biggest one at the interchange.
Quote from: vdeane on November 29, 2013, 07:50:03 PM
I don't think speed limits should be lowered just to "match" other states. If you want to match them, only do it immediately at the border. I doubt Dunkirk traffic, for example, would be pleased if they had to drive slower just to match the speed limit in PA.
If/when the Canaan toll plaza goes to ORT, then I'll agree. But since traffic has to stop or slow to 15 MPH even for EZ Pass, why not make the switch here rather than right at the border? Same with the Ripley plaza before the PA line.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on November 30, 2013, 10:28:36 AM
Quote from: vdeane on November 29, 2013, 07:50:03 PM
I don't think speed limits should be lowered just to "match" other states. If you want to match them, only do it immediately at the border. I doubt Dunkirk traffic, for example, would be pleased if they had to drive slower just to match the speed limit in PA.
If/when the Canaan toll plaza goes to ORT, then I'll agree. But since traffic has to stop or slow to 15 MPH even for EZ Pass, why not make the switch here rather than right at the border? Same with the Ripley plaza before the PA line.
Because, unlike Ripley, you have several miles to go before exit B3. Plus the post I was immediately responding to suggested a much larger area. I have no problem with matching from Ripley to the PA line, or exit B3 to MA, but another issue with matching is that they'll go out of sync the moment the other state changes the limit... NY doesn't re-evaluate speed limits often.
Berkshire Spur eastbound is a no go. It's all 2 lane, and hilly. I run this route often, when I go to see my parents in Connecticut. The trucks get down to under 40 mph, then you get some slowpoke in the left lane. This is especially true of truckers. The loaded ones are under 40, but then you have some empty truck. Many carriers govern the trucks to 62-65 mph. One of these brain surgeons gets out to pass, and ends up plugging up the works. This is especially true between free 90, and the Taconic.
I feel the same way about I88. Climbing lanes are absent in places that need them. The Northway is much to curvy between Lake George, and Ausable.
Since this got revived, my personal opinion is that the I-90 portion of the Thruway is New York's only real candidate for 75 mph. 70 mph would be great for I-81, portions of I-86, I-87, I-88, and I-390 but I just don't foresee 75 mph on anything besides the Thruway.
There are a number of of 55 mph roads that should bump up to 65 mph, namely free I-90 and I-290 in the Buffalo area and the NY 104 freeway in Webster.
Fortunately NY is a bit better than PA about urban areas and already has 65 mph posted on several high-intensity roadways: I-190 on Grand Island, I-490 southeast of Rochester, and I-690 near Syracuse.
How could you forget the unnecessary 55 mph speed limit on I-84.
Quote from: Rothman on November 25, 2018, 12:48:53 PM
How could you forget the unnecessary 55 mph speed limit on I-84.
Oh yeah. And NY 17 (which I think has been hashed over before, but should also be 65 mph outside of Hale Eddy). There is precedent for posting 65 mph and 60 mph advisories on the curves; see: NY 531.