Interstate 81 in Syracuse

[vdeane]

Meh. The signage is such a mess right now.  Showing I-81 as an exit off of I-81 coming up from the south now.  I'd wait for it to get sorted out further.

Normally I wait until projects are close to opening, but with this all being a mess, and me starting to do historical exit lists (see bottom of page) for freeway removals (note to self: FOIL the Photolog for the Robert Moses State Parkway...), I'm willing to be a bit early (just not too early, hence why I haven't already).  Although I do need to also figure out whether the Hastings area should be marked as "temporarily closed" in the historical list, and if not, whether to add the Text Stop that is clearly greened out on the signs.

The orange color was meant for stuff like this too, but at some point I stopped using it.  In any case, I have at least 2-3 weeks to figure this out until my next planned update, which is I-81-centered regardless (I want to adjust the links to the project site since the FEIS is buried, add a note for the Central NY Welcome Center, and debut the I-81 Removal article).

[Rothman]

Southern interchange is set to be complete by the end of the construction season.  CSX bridge, next year.

[vdeane]

Southern interchange is set to be complete by the end of the construction season.  CSX bridge, next year.

"Open" in this case being what affects how the system fits together... so not affected by the CSX bridge (though I'm surprised it's that late; weren't the I-481 projects supposed to all be done this year?).  In any case, I just considered how Regions 7 and 9 have yet to convert I-81 to mile-based... probably best to wait until that happens.

My current plan is as follows:
I-81/I-481/BL 81 exit lists: when R7 and R9 convert to mile-based
I-690 exit list: when mile-based numbers appear or when I-81/I-481/BL 81 is done (whichever is later)
I-90/Thruway exit lists: when the designations actually swap
I-81/I-481/BL 81 photo pages: whenever the first time is I have to touch them after I switch the exit lists, or when the designations swap (whichever is first) (still debating whether to move the photos wholesale or use historic pages)

[Jim]

Interesting that @vdeane seems to be more thoughtful about keeping a website updated consistently with these changes than NYS is about doing this in a way that is coordinated and quick to reduce confusion to drivers.

[Rothman]

Interesting that @vdeane seems to be more thoughtful about keeping a website updated consistently with these changes than NYS is about doing this in a way that is coordinated and quick to reduce confusion to drivers.

Even as someone that is somewhat "on the inside," I'm still confused over how things ended up the way they did, since there were assurances in the development process that things would be better coordinated across the NYSDOT Regions.

That said, I'm not so surprised with the state of the signage right at the northern and southern interchanges and within the work zones given the amount of work remaining.

Still, seeing an exit tab on an advanced guide sign on I-81N for I-81N makes me irrationally irritated.

(personal opinion emphasized)

[Flyer78]

Saw the I-81NB "exit" you are referring to... Have to admit I got a laugh that it is (will be) Exit 81...

Perhaps this is a captain obvious comment: If they simply covered up the signs that are either no longer needed (The signage for I-481 through the southbound work) or the new exit panels (for Exit 81, mentioned) above, it would at least remove some of the confusion.

[mgk920]

Restore the former NYC mainline though the city and past the old train station along I-690 for rail passenger service, too?

Mike

[vdeane]

I ended up updating my website with the new information yesterday.  The old information is still there, under "historical".  Since the viaduct tear-down is later in the project than the I-81 move, the BL 81 exit list is still a hybrid of old and new.  There's some educated guessing with respect to the I-81/BL 81/NY 481 interchange given that the exit numbers listed in the PDF of new exit numbers were a little... odd (also with where the speed limit change will be for dropping down to downtown on the northern section, but that's commented out right now).  I would not be surprised if I need to make some minor adjustments once the signage goes up.

If you want to see the eventual configuration of BL 81, that's actually possible; I wrote the whole thing, it just requires going into the browser developer tools (on Chrome, right click and choose Inspect) and editing the HTML:
1. Right click the "main" element and choose "edit as HTML".
2. Uncomment out the HTML that's commented out (the header for the southern section, end of the southern section, beginning of the northern section, exit 3A, and exit 4).
3. Delete the old data (everything between the southern and northern sections, the speed limit 55/45 change south of exit 20, exit 20, and exit 21).
4. Change exit 19 to exit 3B.
5. Click out of the text box to apply the changes (at least until the next page refresh).

https://nysroads.com/list-i81.php
https://nysroads.com/list-i481.php
https://nysroads.com/list-bl81.php

I-690 is going to be interesting when the mile-based exit numbers appear.  I still haven't decided whether I want to do a historical exit list for it or not, which will likely be determined by whether the mileposts get reset at the I-90 interchange (which the PDF of new exit numbers indicated it would, but which the contract plans say it won't; note that NY 481 also had a conflict between that PDF and the contract plans, and that PDF turned out to be right); right now the best option in that scenario is probably to use two sets of milemarkers like with US 209/NY 199 (or how I did for I-481/NY 481 prior to yesterday's split of the historical data).

I also created an article for the I-81 history.  Right now it's mostly satellite imagery of the current configuration, but I do have a couple old ones north of downtown.  I had thought of using the images from the FEIS, but decided not to after I noticed how many text boxes and other things there were, and how much the designs have changed since it came out.

https://nysroads.com/art-i81.php