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New York State Thruway

Started by Zeffy, September 22, 2014, 12:00:32 AM

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vdeane

Doing like the I-495 exit on the MassPike seems excessive; not only is this the I-90 mainline, there's double the length for traffic to sort itself out, a tandem lot, and two ramps going right, not just one.  It definitely could use a repave/re-striping and more advance signage, though.  I think there is more work yet to be done; they just rushed to get everything removed by winter, so I would think/hope that these issues would be addressed as the toll booth removal project progresses.  If it were me, I'd have an "I-90, keep left; I-87/US 20/Crossgates, keep right" sign on each approach and a gantry with advance signs where the ramps come together.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.


lstone19

I would think there shouldn't be much weaving going on at 24. The dominant flows should be 87 to 87 and 90 to 90. In both directions, 87 enters on the right and then departs on the right. Although no doubt some see the former site of the toll plaza to be a passing opportunity rather than just going with the flow until they're established on the next highway. If inadequate signage has been provided as mentioned above, they really need to be fixing that (perhaps some NYSTA vs. NYDOT issues like neither sees the need to provide advance signage for what happens on the other's road).

cl94

Quote from: lstone19 on February 11, 2021, 01:20:21 PM
I would think there shouldn't be much weaving going on at 24. The dominant flows should be 87 to 87 and 90 to 90. In both directions, 87 enters on the right and then departs on the right. Although no doubt some see the former site of the toll plaza to be a passing opportunity rather than just going with the flow until they're established on the next highway. If inadequate signage has been provided as mentioned above, they really need to be fixing that (perhaps some NYSTA vs. NYDOT issues like neither sees the need to provide advance signage for what happens on the other's road).

There is more weaving than you would think. Sure, there's little traffic between the south and east, but that movement is handled by 787. North and west has a surprising amount of traffic and there's no good alternate unless you're coming from a ways into Saratoga County.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

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PurdueBill

Quote from: deathtopumpkins on February 11, 2021, 09:16:19 AM
Drove the Thruway from Albany to PA and back over the last 2 days, and made a few observations:

All the mainline plazas were gone except Ripley (which I was the only one to slow down at all from highway speed to go through). This is very nice indeed!

The weave at 24 is awful now. I think it would help in the interim to separate the lanes from each ramp with at least a double solid line, if not a buffer, and provide advance signage for which lane to be in, so no one should ever need to make more than 1 lane change in the weave area. MassDOT did exactly this at old Exit 11A (I-495) on the MassPike.

Is it just me or should the signs before each AET gantry that instruct motorists without E-ZPass have a question mark after the E-ZPass logo? Presently they read "NO E-ZPASS - CALL **866" (or whatever the number is). As written the sign implies E-ZPass is not accepted and if you were hoping to pay with it you should call the number. I like to think people are more intelligent than that, but I do wonder if they've gotten calls along those lines before...

That was my exact thought when I saw a photo of that sign.  I don't get why they don't have a question mark or alternately didn't phrase it differently. 

Buffaboy

Quote from: deathtopumpkins on February 11, 2021, 09:16:19 AM
Drove the Thruway from Albany to PA and back over the last 2 days, and made a few observations:

All the mainline plazas were gone except Ripley (which I was the only one to slow down at all from highway speed to go through). This is very nice indeed!

You mean people were threading their cars through the booths at 70 MPH...?
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deathtopumpkins

Quote from: Buffaboy on February 11, 2021, 09:08:58 PM
Quote from: deathtopumpkins on February 11, 2021, 09:16:19 AM
Drove the Thruway from Albany to PA and back over the last 2 days, and made a few observations:

All the mainline plazas were gone except Ripley (which I was the only one to slow down at all from highway speed to go through). This is very nice indeed!

You mean people were threading their cars through the booths at 70 MPH...?

Probably not quite 70 but close. I slowed down to about 30 (posted limit is 20) and a truck flew past me in the lane to my right. I was in front of them approaching the plaza and they were long gone by the time I got back up to speed.

As annoying as it is to have the plazas gated in IL, IN, and OH, at least it forces people to actually slow down!
Disclaimer: All posts represent my personal opinions and not those of my employer.

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Buffaboy

^^^ Now that's wild.

I was able to drive on the Thruway from Exit 57 to Exit 52 this afternoon. It's amazing how much different the area around the former Lackawanna toll barrier looks. My whole trip felt faster even though I've been using EZPass for several years now.
What's not to like about highways and bridges, intersections and interchanges, rails and planes?

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Jim

My newest E-ZPass statement from NYSTA looks a lot more like it did before AET now.  Tolls are posting quickly, and they're compressing trips to single lines like the Mass Pike does, with entry and exit interchanges shown only, not separated out into multiple pieces when passing through the mainline gantries.
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02 Park Ave

it appears that work has started on the removal of the old northbound toll booths at Woodbury.  The Harriman toll plaza remains as it was.

They are still using two portable VMSs to advise northbound through travelers to use the two left lanes transiting the Exit 16 area.  There is a large permanently mounted overhead VMS in that area which could be used for that purpose but it displays still another COVID message.

Along the northbound ramp for Exit 16 there still is a "PAY TOLL ½ MILE" sign.  That sign must be out of date by two years or so.  Subsequent to that sign there is also one for E-ZPass and pay by mail.

There is a lot of work to be done in this area.
C-o-H

vdeane

That doesn't sound different from the way it's looked since AET went live in November.  NY didn't have entry cameras at the toll barriers, so the fact that all traffic is being routed through the gantry doesn't mean anything.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

They've announced the next set of toll barriers to be removed.  Some of these are what I expected (exits 23, 25A, and 47), but others surprised me.  I would have thought exit 44, exit B1, and Ripley would have taken higher priority over exits 34A, 48, and especially B2 (which I would have thought to be one of the lowest priorities for removal!).

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-toll-booth-removal-and-interchange-reconstruction-resume-nys-thruway
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

webny99

Quote from: vdeane on March 15, 2021, 09:20:01 PM
They've announced the next set of toll barriers to be removed.  Some of these are what I expected (exits 23, 25A, and 47), but others surprised me.  I would have thought exit 44, exit B1, and Ripley would have taken higher priority over exits 34A, 48, and especially B2 (which I would have thought to be one of the lowest priorities for removal!).

Interesting. 48 is the most surprising one on the list to me (that and 43 would have been my last two picks for the Buffalo-Syracuse segment), while Ripley is the most surprising omission. B2 is an interesting one. You'd think they were prioritizing cases where the route ends at the Thruway, but then 44 should have made the cut.

Of the double trumpets, I'd have guessed both 39 and 46 over 34A, but 34A makes a good trial because it's got the longest merge area. Signage is going to have to be significantly improved at all three (that's what I thought about 45, too, but no improvements there yet).

Jim

Quote from: webny99 on March 15, 2021, 09:40:36 PM
**text snipped**

Signage is going to have to be significantly improved at all three (that's what I thought about 45, too, but no improvements there yet).

Speaking of signage improvements, 24 remains a mess, with no advance indication for those unfamiliar where to be to get on I-87 or I-90 in either direction.  Nothing suggesting a lower speed through the weave areas.  Now that it's been configured like this, some regulars seem to feel the need to do 80+ through the whole thing and refuse to let people complete their weaving, while others are very timid, confused, and dangerously slow as they come through.  I can't believe they've let it stay this way for months after the toll plaza removal was completed.
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vdeane

Quote from: webny99 on March 15, 2021, 09:40:36 PM
Quote from: vdeane on March 15, 2021, 09:20:01 PM
They've announced the next set of toll barriers to be removed.  Some of these are what I expected (exits 23, 25A, and 47), but others surprised me.  I would have thought exit 44, exit B1, and Ripley would have taken higher priority over exits 34A, 48, and especially B2 (which I would have thought to be one of the lowest priorities for removal!).

Interesting. 48 is the most surprising one on the list to me (that and 43 would have been my last two picks for the Buffalo-Syracuse segment), while Ripley is the most surprising omission. B2 is an interesting one. You'd think they were prioritizing cases where the route ends at the Thruway, but then 44 should have made the cut.

Of the double trumpets, I'd have guessed both 39 and 46 over 34A, but 34A makes a good trial because it's got the longest merge area. Signage is going to have to be significantly improved at all three (that's what I thought about 45, too, but no improvements there yet).
Interesting is certainly one way to put it.  B2 is a former double trumpet where the extension of the Parkway further north was cancelled, and the road was later modified to remove that end of the interchange and feed directly into the Thruway.  For some reason, they only modified it northbound, and southbound still narrows to one lane with a visible "stub".  Traffic counts are very low there - they only have three toll lanes (total)!

Quote from: Jim on March 15, 2021, 10:07:23 PM
Quote from: webny99 on March 15, 2021, 09:40:36 PM
**text snipped**

Signage is going to have to be significantly improved at all three (that's what I thought about 45, too, but no improvements there yet).

Speaking of signage improvements, 24 remains a mess, with no advance indication for those unfamiliar where to be to get on I-87 or I-90 in either direction.  Nothing suggesting a lower speed through the weave areas.  Now that it's been configured like this, some regulars seem to feel the need to do 80+ through the whole thing and refuse to let people complete their weaving, while others are very timid, confused, and dangerously slow as they come through.  I can't believe they've let it stay this way for months after the toll plaza removal was completed.
Lane-wise, it's pretty much in its final configuration, though I would expect they would eventually get around to resurfacing it.  Signage-wise, can they even put down the concrete foundations for a new overhead sign structure in the winter?
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Jim

Quote from: vdeane on March 15, 2021, 10:10:28 PM
Lane-wise, it's pretty much in its final configuration, though I would expect they would eventually get around to resurfacing it.  Signage-wise, can they even put down the concrete foundations for a new overhead sign structure in the winter?

I don't know about that, but it seems at least some actual or advisory speeds and temp construction-type signage to warn people, something like "I-90 left 2 lanes, I-87 right two lanes" at or near the merge points in each direction.
Photos I post are my own unless otherwise noted.
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Travel Mapping: https://travelmapping.net/user/?u=terescoj
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cl94

The thing with 48 is that it's not particularly prone to getting lake effect snow. West of there starts getting into the snow belt. You can't realistically touch 61 until lake effect season is over.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

webny99

Quote from: cl94 on March 15, 2021, 10:51:00 PM
The thing with 48 is that it's not particularly prone to getting lake effect snow. West of there starts getting into the snow belt. You can't realistically touch 61 until lake effect season is over.

Batavia can get its fair share of lake effect snow, but certainly less than points south and west.
44 or 46 would have also worked; they're both busier than 48 and even further out of Lake Erie's range.

empirestate

Quote from: webny99 on March 15, 2021, 09:40:36 PM
Interesting. 48 is the most surprising one on the list to me (that and 43 would have been my last two picks for the Buffalo-Syracuse segment), while Ripley is the most surprising omission. B2 is an interesting one. You'd think they were prioritizing cases where the route ends at the Thruway, but then 44 should have made the cut.

Well, B2 is already in the midst of an overpass replacement, so perhaps it was just as easy to knock down the toll booth while they're in the neighborhood.

webny99

Quote from: empirestate on March 17, 2021, 11:46:17 AM
Quote from: webny99 on March 15, 2021, 09:40:36 PM
B2 is an interesting one. You'd think they were prioritizing cases where the route ends at the Thruway, but then 44 should have made the cut.

Well, B2 is already in the midst of an overpass replacement, so perhaps it was just as easy to knock down the toll booth while they're in the neighborhood.

That's probably it. That's a bit out of my usual range, so I wasn't aware of the bridge replacement going on there.

empirestate

Quote from: webny99 on March 17, 2021, 12:33:03 PM
Quote from: empirestate on March 17, 2021, 11:46:17 AM
Quote from: webny99 on March 15, 2021, 09:40:36 PM
B2 is an interesting one. You'd think they were prioritizing cases where the route ends at the Thruway, but then 44 should have made the cut.

Well, B2 is already in the midst of an overpass replacement, so perhaps it was just as easy to knock down the toll booth while they're in the neighborhood.

That's probably it. That's a bit out of my usual range, so I wasn't aware of the bridge replacement going on there.

We go through regularly, as it's the fastest way between Dutchess County and northern New England that doesn't involve Connecticut.

vdeane

Looks like the Thruway has finally put the schedule of toll booth removals/reconstructions on their website.
http://thruway.ny.gov/cashless/demo-schedule.html
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Rothman

Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2021, 12:55:49 PM
Looks like the Thruway has finally put the schedule of toll booth removals/reconstructions on their website.
http://thruway.ny.gov/cashless/demo-schedule.html
Ramp from Thruway EB to I-690 is in sore need of reconstruction.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

webny99

Quote from: Rothman on April 01, 2021, 04:40:14 PM
Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2021, 12:55:49 PM
Looks like the Thruway has finally put the schedule of toll booth removals/reconstructions on their website.
http://thruway.ny.gov/cashless/demo-schedule.html
Ramp from Thruway EB to I-690 is in sore need of reconstruction.

Agreed, and really all of Exit 39.

kalvado

Quote from: Rothman on April 01, 2021, 04:40:14 PM
Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2021, 12:55:49 PM
Looks like the Thruway has finally put the schedule of toll booth removals/reconstructions on their website.
http://thruway.ny.gov/cashless/demo-schedule.html
Ramp from Thruway EB to I-690 is in sore need of reconstruction.
I wonder what are the plans for 24  - just re-stripping, or something beyond that? They are planning  2 months of work; that is a lot for stripping and signs, but  not enough for anything serious...
23 has a longer allocation. Are they planning for some reconfiguration? I can see some, but a flyover would be required...

vdeane

I believe there's a link to the final configurations a few pages back.  The work includes pavement reconstruction work around the former plaza and probably signage.

I imagine things would take longer at 23 because there's still a toll barrier there.  The booths there were not part of the quick demo rush last fall.  It also looks like they will be working on a LOT of booths concurrently in the June-August timeframe.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.



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