Dear NYSDOT

[hbelkins]

If you are going to close a major road, like NY 17 or I-88, you should at least post marked detours to allow drivers to be able to make their way back to the freeway. And maybe even signs posted several miles from the closure to assist long-distance through traffic? Don't just close the road and force people to use an off-ramp and then not give them directions on how to get back to the main road beyond the closure point.

Because of your incompetence, I wasted nearly 5 hours today trying to drive what is normally a one-hour drive from Elmira to Binghamton. Had I known the road was closed with no good way to get back on it, I could have detoured via another route and saved a couple of hours of trying to guess where I was going.

In short, you suck.

Sincerely, a frustrated motorist

[Scott5114]

Is this Irene-related? I remember NPR mentioning that VTrans was having problems keeping road closures in Vermont properly posted because they actually ran out of temporary traffic control devices. Granted, that was a couple weeks ago, but...

[froggie]

Moreso related to the remnants of Lee which have dropped a lot of rain in the area this week.

HBe: were you not aware of the 511NY website?  It shows the closures quite prominently.  It's also a major link on the main NYSDOT website.

[kurumi]

Related:

"Dear Caltrans: if you're closing an exit, please put a sign before the previous exit letting us know. Otherwise, when we find out, it's too late to do anything, and we have to backtrack."

[vdeane]

We were talking about this before the Watertown meet and I have a clarification to make: though Sidney was unscratched from Irene, they were less fortunate with Lee.  Major flood damage has NY 8 closed according to the 511 site and my former boss emailed us interns about the flood damage to Amphenol last night.

[Alps]

NYSDOT handled the I-81 mess fairly well around Bingo, except they did not effectively use the VMS to say where delays began. Could have saved 40 minutes with _that_ info.

[mtantillo]

Many of the roads near Bingo were open the day before.  I know because I was checking often to try to make a go/no-go decision on attending the Watertown meet (and those who are FB friends with me know I was debating that one until the very last minute).  On Thursday night/Friday, things got out of hand and they had to shut a number of roads. 

The state DOT has limited resources.  Detour signs don't just magically appear, and the detour routes can change rapidly depending on the local conditions.  I'd say that in an un-expected closure situation, like I-81 in Binghamton, its realistic to assume that it could take a day or so to get signs up.  Should NYS DOT have posted the info on a VMS in advance of the issue with a warning to exit and use an alternate route?  Sure.  But expecting a marked detour to appear at the same time as the actual road closure during an emergency situation is honestly asking for a bit much.  I think its also realistic to assume that you might run into problems when trying to drive through an area where there is an emergency situation occurring.  In otherwords, completely detouring around the entire Binghamton area would have been wise for anyone with non-essential travel through (as opposed to "to") that area. 

Not trying to be harsh, and that was certainly not directed at you personally, HB, but this was an atypical situation that occurred last week. 

[hbelkins]

I was totally unaware of any flooding issues in the area until Friday morning. I've been a bit out of pocket, as I moved last weekend and had not been seeing much TV or even online as much as usual.

While I agree that it may be hard to sign detours for surface routes (like NY 17C) I don't think it is unreasonable to do something to post alternate routes for major highways, like I-86/NY 17 or I-88. To force traffic off the highway onto an exit ramp and not give drivers any indication of a detour around the closure, in my opinion, is unreasonable and borders on incompetent.

In my case, I was forced off I-86/NY 17 at US 220 and there was no indication on how through traffic could get to Binghamton. In retrospect I should have just taken US 220 south to US 6, or NY 34 north to NY 79, but I had no way of knowing. I followed some poor tractor-trailer driver up a gravel road trying to get back to NY 17C. I'm sure he would have appreciated more information.

As for I-88, the closure was signed on I-81 and the ramp was blocked off. I used NY 12 to NY 12A to get back over to I-88, but found the ramp blocked there. When I turned back around I saw detour signs, which I followed over to I-88 at, I think Exit 3. But when I got near Oneonta I was forced off at Exit 12 by cones and a flashing arrow, not even any "Road Closed" signs. No detour was posted. I tried NY 7 but it was flooded; then discovered that CR 48 was also flooded. Used some back road that showed up on my GPS to get over to Franklin and NY 357, which I took to NY 28 to Oneonta and back on I-88. Detour signs were posted for westbound I-88 traffic. But I was on my own and I have no idea there the tractor-trailer I saw exiting I-88 when I backtracked on NY 7 to Exit 12 ended up going.

I work for a DOT, I know the steps that are required to get signs up, and I know that the backroads are a much lower priority. But through traffic on an interstate should be given an indication on how to detour a closure, especially for truckers or vacationers who are not local and don't know the bypasses.

I could probably work my way around an unsigned closure on any of Kentucky's interstates or parkways, especially those in this part of the state. But i wouldn't expect someone from Owego or Binghamton or Oneonta, NY, to know how to do it.

[NE2]

But expecting a marked detour to appear at the same time as the actual road closure during an emergency situation is honestly asking for a bit much.

Station a couple cops at the end of the ramp to give directions to non-locals.

[vdeane]

Given that EVERY road on the Elmira-Binghamton-Oneonta corridor follows the Susquehanna, it's same to assume that nothing was open (at least consistently enough to sign a detour).  NY doesn't have permanent VMS signs everywhere.

[Alps]

I-81 had VMS up but they didn't have any information on them. And the closure had been in place for several hours, enough to get over there. I agree, it's most essential on major Interstates, which is where I was...

[hbelkins]

Given that EVERY road on the Elmira-Binghamton-Oneonta corridor follows the Susquehanna, it's same to assume that nothing was open (at least consistently enough to sign a detour).  NY doesn't have permanent VMS signs everywhere.

Which brings me to my next point -- if it's going to be an interstate, it needs to be out of the flood plain.

[froggie]

Thanks to topography, you don't always have that option.

[vdeane]

And these are "once in 500 years" floods that we seem to be seeing every 5 years these days.