New York State Thruway

[machias]

You bring up an excellent point regarding Exit 31. What other exit on the Thruway, or any other Interstate for that matter, brings you to a side street to get on an auxilliary Interstate? In addition I think for the width of the city of Utica, there aren't enough Thruway access points like in the other Thruway cities.

If this was a post in the Fantasy forum, what I would do is keep the trumpet but make I-790 into a Y-split with it being parallel to I-90 and connect it to NY 5s by crossing southeast over the Mohawk River, Erie Canal and Sewage Plant Road. Then:

• from 31 EB, make a flyover ramp to I-790 WB after the toll barrier at the bridge over Genesee St. Then add a u-turn on that same ramp to I-790 EB ramp to NY 5s
• from 31 WB, it would follow the same path
• Since there isn't enough room for an I-790/NY 5s WB interchange with I-90, an access road can be constructed to Bleeker St., 1-2 miles east of current Exit 31 that intersects NY 5s and I-90 (a new exit 31a/whatever mile post it would be), and crosses Mohawk River/Erie Canal.

Just an idea.

Thruway Exit 31 was reconfigured to the current setup in 1988-89. Prior to that, Interstate 790 had a direct connection in both directions to the Thruway, the problem is that the section from NY 5/8/12 to the Thruway was a two-lane roadway. There was a third phase to the project that never materialized, which would have connected the east end of the expressway that straddles the Thruway with either NY 5 or NY 5S (sources conflict) near Dyke Rd.

With revitalization efforts of Downtown Utica, there has been talk of making the downtown area more pedestrian friendly, including making it walkable to the North Utica/Harbor Point area. I made the same suggestion you have about connecting NY 5S at Culver Ave to the stub end of Interstate 790 at Leland Ave., which would help get through traffic out of downtown, making that area feel more intimate and getting through traffic onto I-790 and related roadways.

I also suggested to the Thruway Authority that an E-ZPass only interchange be built at CR 840/Judd Rd., but they said that'd never happen. There is a politician pushing for an E-ZPass only interchange with NY 49 right before it stops straddling the Thruway, and I believe that's mentioned on the HOCTS long-range wish list, but the idea lacks adequate funding. Part of converting NY 49 to Rome to Interstate 790 would probably help with that idea.

[Buffaboy]

You bring up an excellent point regarding Exit 31. What other exit on the Thruway, or any other Interstate for that matter, brings you to a side street to get on an auxilliary Interstate? In addition I think for the width of the city of Utica, there aren't enough Thruway access points like in the other Thruway cities.

If this was a post in the Fantasy forum, what I would do is keep the trumpet but make I-790 into a Y-split with it being parallel to I-90 and connect it to NY 5s by crossing southeast over the Mohawk River, Erie Canal and Sewage Plant Road. Then:

• from 31 EB, make a flyover ramp to I-790 WB after the toll barrier at the bridge over Genesee St. Then add a u-turn on that same ramp to I-790 EB ramp to NY 5s
• from 31 WB, it would follow the same path
• Since there isn't enough room for an I-790/NY 5s WB interchange with I-90, an access road can be constructed to Bleeker St., 1-2 miles east of current Exit 31 that intersects NY 5s and I-90 (a new exit 31a/whatever mile post it would be), and crosses Mohawk River/Erie Canal.

Just an idea.

Thruway Exit 31 was reconfigured to the current setup in 1988-89. Prior to that, Interstate 790 had a direct connection in both directions to the Thruway, the problem is that the section from NY 5/8/12 to the Thruway was a two-lane roadway. There was a third phase to the project that never materialized, which would have connected the east end of the expressway that straddles the Thruway with either NY 5 or NY 5S (sources conflict) near Dyke Rd.

With revitalization efforts of Downtown Utica, there has been talk of making the downtown area more pedestrian friendly, including making it walkable to the North Utica/Harbor Point area. I made the same suggestion you have about connecting NY 5S at Culver Ave to the stub end of Interstate 790 at Leland Ave., which would help get through traffic out of downtown, making that area feel more intimate and getting through traffic onto I-790 and related roadways.

I also suggested to the Thruway Authority that an E-ZPass only interchange be built at CR 840/Judd Rd., but they said that'd never happen. There is a politician pushing for an E-ZPass only interchange with NY 49 right before it stops straddling the Thruway, and I believe that's mentioned on the HOCTS long-range wish list, but the idea lacks adequate funding. Part of converting NY 49 to Rome to Interstate 790 would probably help with that idea.

I heard the Judd Rd argument from here as well. I don't understand the ambivalence about it when the spacing seems appropriate for such an exit.

Never thought about the impact of such an idea acting as a beltway and tying the city together; if they allocate more $$$ in the budget to infrastructure (they won't) such an idea wouldn't be a fantasy


iPhone

[cl94]

Judd Rd is 3 miles from the next exit west. It's under 5 minutes from NY 840 to Exit 32. I'd take NY 49 and/or NY 69 over Judd Rd.

[machias]

Judd Rd is 3 miles from the next exit west. It's under 5 minutes from NY 840 to Exit 32. I'd take NY 49 and/or NY 69 over Judd Rd.

Normally I'd agree with you but while the roads between NY/CR 840 and Exit 32 are county maintained roads, they were never really designed to handle the traffic that they handle now. Unfortunately CR 840 feels like it goes nowhere. I know that there's been mentions of somehow connecting CR 840 to NY 49, but I don't know how they would do that.

[vdeane]

Improving CR 32 seems like the obvious choice.

[cl94]

Yeah, it's not like much would have to be done to really improve the current network. Realign two intersections to favor movements between NY 840 and the Thruway and you're good.

[Buffaboy]

Improving CR 32 seems like the obvious choice.

That would seem to be best, but why is the aux Interstate disconnected?

[Duke87]

Regarding Exit 23, an elevated roadway, built above the Thruway itself, could be used to make a direct connexion with Route 23.

Would have to be a really long one!

I'm hoping they meant Exit 21. Honestly, Exit 21 is the only one I mentioned that might not need a rebuild just due to expense. The terrain certainly isn't forgiving. You'd basically have to replace the trumpet with a modified diamond similar to I-88's Exit 25 to avoid building through Home Depot. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that exit gets much in the way of traffic bound for NY 23.

Indeed. Getting from NY 23 to the Thruway, despite not being a "direct" connection, is pretty painless. I've never felt inconvenienced any time I've done it. Getting off of the Thruway requires passing through one traffic signal. Getting to the Thruway requires passing through one stop sign. Traffic counts doing this are low enough that a four-lane toll plaza more than suffices. Meh.

[machias]

Improving CR 32 seems like the obvious choice.

Yeah, I agree that would be a good approach, but part of CR 32 goes through a gorge between Judd Rd and Oriskany, that could pose an issue.

[Jim]

So there's exactly one Albany-area traffic reporter (Carrie Lee?), who does traffic for the Clear Channel stations here, who always uses the term "Duanesburg Interchange Toll Bar" for the toll barrier at the east end of I-88 at its junction with Thruway Exit 25A.  I know it shouldn't bother me so much, but I've never heard anyone else use the term.  To the best of my memory, nowhere on the Thruway is "Duanesburg" listed on any Exit 25A signage, and the term "toll bar" isn't one in common usage in this area.  A Google search for the term shows it used only in a series of reports from a sigalert.org (until Google indexes this post, I suppose), which appears to be another Clear Channel product.  I'm guessing Ms. Lee is based somewhere else and is reading these without any idea that no one calls it that.  I've heard the location more commonly referred to as "the 25A tolls".

[NE2]

"Toll Bar" is probably cut off because the full name is too long for the field.

[1995hoo]

I've heard a number of traffic reporters, typically the ones on XM Radio, who simply read whatever the display says without thinking about what they're saying. It leads to weird results when the people who put in the information leave out articles and the like under the assumption the reporters will know to add them. Bad assumption. It leads to stuff like "I-395 is backed up from Capital Beltway to Occoquan River" (both should have "the"), but then you also get reporters who insert articles when they should not (example: there is a town in Virginia named Triangle, but some XM reporters apparently assume that word refers to an actual triangle and will say "I-95 is slow past the Triangle"–no, "the Triangle" is an area in North Carolina). Evidently you have to type in exactly what you want read and train them to read exactly that with no thought, which is kind of pathetic.

It sounds like this is something similar: as NE2 suggests, they abbreviated something,maybe for space reasons, but didn't use a period after the abbreviation. Some people seem to find that confusing for whatever reason. I wonder what this reporter would do if it said "Toll Plz" (for "plaza").

[02 Park Ave]

Shouldn't there be a "The" preceding "I-395" also?

[cpzilliacus]

Shouldn't there be a "The" preceding "I-395" also?

Not ever in the Washington, D.C. media market.

[cpzilliacus]

I've heard a number of traffic reporters, typically the ones on XM Radio, who simply read whatever the display says without thinking about what they're saying. It leads to weird results when the people who put in the information leave out articles and the like under the assumption the reporters will know to add them. Bad assumption. It leads to stuff like "I-395 is backed up from Capital Beltway to Occoquan River" (both should have "the"), but then you also get reporters who insert articles when they should not (example: there is a town in Virginia named Triangle, but some XM reporters apparently assume that word refers to an actual triangle and will say "I-95 is slow past the Triangle"–no, "the Triangle" is an area in North Carolina). Evidently you have to type in exactly what you want read and train them to read exactly that with no thought, which is kind of pathetic.

I am a reasonably satisfied customer of theirs, but not for traffic reports for reasons you state above - their traffic content is annoying, often out-of-date and not helpful. 

Even a rookie traffic anchor on WTOP (or, for that matter, WCBS in New York, WBZ in New England or KNX in Los Angeles) is better.

[cl94]

Shouldn't there be a "The" preceding "I-395" also?

Not ever in the Washington, D.C. media market.

Damn straight. I hate how everyone in Buffalo puts "the" in front of everything.

[vdeane]

It sounds like this is something similar: as NE2 suggests, they abbreviated something,maybe for space reasons, but didn't use a period after the abbreviation.

NYSTA called the toll booths "toll barriers", so they could have just as easily chopped off the end in their database (perhaps a character limitation) instead of abbreviating it.

[machias]

So there's exactly one Albany-area traffic reporter (Carrie Lee?), who does traffic for the Clear Channel stations here, who always uses the term "Duanesburg Interchange Toll Bar" for the toll barrier at the east end of I-88 at its junction with Thruway Exit 25A.  I know it shouldn't bother me so much, but I've never heard anyone else use the term.  To the best of my memory, nowhere on the Thruway is "Duanesburg" listed on any Exit 25A signage, and the term "toll bar" isn't one in common usage in this area.  A Google search for the term shows it used only in a series of reports from a sigalert.org (until Google indexes this post, I suppose), which appears to be another Clear Channel product.  I'm guessing Ms. Lee is based somewhere else and is reading these without any idea that no one calls it that.  I've heard the location more commonly referred to as "the 25A tolls".

I wonder if Exit 25A is called Duanesburg somewhere in the Thruway database because they already have Schenectady East and Schenectady West.  It's like Exit 39 is called State Fair Interchange even though it's a few miles away from the State Fairgrounds.

And I agree with Valerie, Toll Bar is probably an abbreviated Toll Barrier.

[cl94]

So there's exactly one Albany-area traffic reporter (Carrie Lee?), who does traffic for the Clear Channel stations here, who always uses the term "Duanesburg Interchange Toll Bar" for the toll barrier at the east end of I-88 at its junction with Thruway Exit 25A.  I know it shouldn't bother me so much, but I've never heard anyone else use the term.  To the best of my memory, nowhere on the Thruway is "Duanesburg" listed on any Exit 25A signage, and the term "toll bar" isn't one in common usage in this area.  A Google search for the term shows it used only in a series of reports from a sigalert.org (until Google indexes this post, I suppose), which appears to be another Clear Channel product.  I'm guessing Ms. Lee is based somewhere else and is reading these without any idea that no one calls it that.  I've heard the location more commonly referred to as "the 25A tolls".

I wonder if Exit 25A is called Duanesburg somewhere in the Thruway database because they already have Schenectady East and Schenectady West.  It's like Exit 39 is called State Fair Interchange even though it's a few miles away from the State Fairgrounds.

And I agree with Valerie, Toll Bar is probably an abbreviated Toll Barrier.

It is somewhere, but it isn't common. I did a quick Google search and got this: http://www.homefacts.com/environmentalhazards/New-York/Schenectady-County/Duanesburg/Tanks-Nys-Thruway-Authority-Nytank42994.html

[1995hoo]

Shouldn't there be a "The" preceding "I-395" also?

Why would there be? Why would there be any reason to put an article there? You don't normally say "the Interstate 395" unless it's in the context of something like "the Interstate 395 construction project continues near Landmark."

(Comments about XM traffic reporters omitted)

I am a reasonably satisfied customer of theirs, but not for traffic reports for reasons you state above - their traffic content is annoying, often out-of-date and not helpful. 

Even a rookie traffic anchor on WTOP (or, for that matter, WCBS in New York, WBZ in New England or KNX in Los Angeles) is better.

I've had XM service since 2004 and I am also satisfied, but I seldom listen to the traffic reports except when I'm in another city. If I'm driving near, say, Orlando, I'll tune in the XM traffic report rather than searching around for an FM report when I don't know which FM station I need. Also, when I'm in a different city it's the one time I find the XM reporters' sometimes odd wording to be helpful–they're less likely to use solely local jargon like road names out-of-area drivers may not know. (Of course, this is part of what can make it annoying to locals!) If I were driving in Chicago, for example, I wouldn't know any of the little names they use instead of Interstate numbers.

When I first got XM in 2004, each city had its own traffic channel on a recorded loop. That was useful if I missed the FM report because with FM, I'd have to wait ten minutes for the next report. Those ten minutes were crucial because I'd have to commit to a route by then, so the XM reports' continuous loop was useful. Nowadays, the XM channels are shared: DC and Baltimore being on the same channel makes a lot of sense, but the third city on that channel is Atlanta and that makes no sense at all. So you have a ten-minute wait now. I just opt for FM instead.

[NJRoadfan]

Don't know if its the case now, but back in 2005, Sirius was using Shadow Traffic for their reports (then a part of Westwood One). I would hear the very same traffic reporters on Sirius that I did on the local FM stations. NY and Philly shared a station, so it worked well for driving in NJ since it basically covered the whole state.

[cpzilliacus]

I've had XM service since 2004 and I am also satisfied, but I seldom listen to the traffic reports except when I'm in another city. If I'm driving near, say, Orlando, I'll tune in the XM traffic report rather than searching around for an FM report when I don't know which FM station I need. Also, when I'm in a different city it's the one time I find the XM reporters' sometimes odd wording to be helpful–they're less likely to use solely local jargon like road names out-of-area drivers may not know. (Of course, this is part of what can make it annoying to locals!) If I were driving in Chicago, for example, I wouldn't know any of the little names they use instead of Interstate numbers.

I just use the Inrix app on my Android tablet for out-of-town, unless I am in a city with a CBS all-news radio station (those tend to have good traffic reports, even though the traffic reports are often provided by a third party traffic reporting firm).

When I first got XM in 2004, each city had its own traffic channel on a recorded loop. That was useful if I missed the FM report because with FM, I'd have to wait ten minutes for the next report. Those ten minutes were crucial because I'd have to commit to a route by then, so the XM reports' continuous loop was useful. Nowadays, the XM channels are shared: DC and Baltimore being on the same channel makes a lot of sense, but the third city on that channel is Atlanta and that makes no sense at all. So you have a ten-minute wait now. I just opt for FM instead.

Baltimore and Washington together are fine, given how close together they are.  But Atlanta on the same channel makes no sense at all.

I could even see New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington together on the same channel. 

[empirestate]

I wonder if Exit 25A is called Duanesburg somewhere in the Thruway database because they already have Schenectady East and Schenectady West.  It's like Exit 39 is called State Fair Interchange even though it's a few miles away from the State Fairgrounds.

I'm still hoping to find a full list of what NYSTA considers to be the formal interchange names.

[xcellntbuy]

I think the closest thing to formal interchange names would be what was printed on the old full-size tickets.  I would not be surprised that one of our members has an old ticket from the days when the controlled system began in Spring Valley in their collection of road memorabilia.

[vdeane]

I wonder if Exit 25A is called Duanesburg somewhere in the Thruway database because they already have Schenectady East and Schenectady West.  It's like Exit 39 is called State Fair Interchange even though it's a few miles away from the State Fairgrounds.

I'm still hoping to find a full list of what NYSTA considers to be the formal interchange names.

Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

I think the closest thing to formal interchange names would be what was printed on the old full-size tickets.  I would not be surprised that one of our members has an old ticket from the days when the controlled system began in Spring Valley in their collection of road memorabilia.

This one from the 90s is the one that seems to be easy to find online: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/New_York_Thruway_Toll_Ticket.jpg