New York

[Michael]

I took a day trip to our church camp (near Rome) with some friends on July 3rd last summer (I meant to post this on July 4th, but I'm just getting to it now, ten months later ), and I made some observations along the way.  I was only able to get one picture since I was riding in the back seat on the way there (I had a perfect angle at a stoplight), and although I rode back in the front, it was dark.

Thruway:

- Some street name signs on bridges have been replaced with Clearview ones

- Advance signage located across from the Warners Service Area for the Dewitt Service Area has been replaced with Clearview

- I could have sworn just the word "EXIT" on one of the supplemental signs for Exit 39 eastbound was in Clearview

- Signage in both directions at the new Buckley Road bridge near the I-81 interchange has been replaced with Clearview, and the new eastbound I-81 exit sign was moved to the ground.  The new Electronics Parkway sign for westbound traffic is still mounted on the bridge.

- Gore point striping for the westbound Electronics Parkway exit is diagonal, not chevron shaped.  I think the I-481 exit was the same way (I couldn't tell because it was dark).  There may be more, but I didn't pay attention.

- The CR 57 shields on the 1 mile and exit signs for Exit 38 westbound don't reflect at all, and the colors seemed off on the 1 mile sign

- The mileage signs below the "NO U-TURN" signs are mostly in Clearview (black on yellow too, but that's another thread), and some looked to be Arial or Helvetica

Surface Roads:

- In Oneida County, Reference Markers used a different font, and the numbers were smaller than normal.  The ones in the city of Rome looked normal.

- Along the NY 46/NY 49 duplex, all of the Reference Markers were on the north/east side of the road

- Street name signs along Black River Blvd. in Rome are HUGE, and I thought they were Clearview until I compared the picture I took of one with the Roadgeek Fonts.  I'd say it might be Series C or D:


As for why this intersection is pictured, we missed the turn to stay on NY 26 north, so we were waiting to turn to get back to it.

- I was unable to get a picture, but there was a sign that read "THOMAS st" (in that exact upper/lowercase combination).  If I could have gotten a picture, I'd post it in "Worst of Road Signs".

I also posted in the Incorrect Highways Marked On Google Maps thread about the horrible directions that sent us literally zigzagging around Oneida County.

[machias]

- In Oneida County, Reference Markers used a different font, and the numbers were smaller than normal.  The ones in the city of Rome looked normal.

- Along the NY 46/NY 49 duplex, all of the Reference Markers were on the north/east side of the road

- Street name signs along Black River Blvd. in Rome are HUGE, and I thought they were Clearview until I compared the picture I took of one with the Roadgeek Fonts.  I'd say it might be Series C or D:


As for why this intersection is pictured, we missed the turn to stay on NY 26 north, so we were waiting to turn to get back to it.

- I was unable to get a picture, but there was a sign that read "THOMAS st" (in that exact upper/lowercase combination).  If I could have gotten a picture, I'd post it in "Worst of Road Signs".

I've never noticed the reference markers in Oneida County using different lettering. I've always thought it was region 9 (especially Delaware County) that used the different lettering. I'll have to pay closer attention here in Oneida County, but I've never seen it. Where did you observe this?

The street name signs along Black River Blvd. are very, very big for their application. That's Series D lettering you see there. I love mixed case Series D when it uses the "older" version of the lettering (like shown in the photo). It's the same lettering seen on the freeway signs in Georgia.  The newer version of the lettering has weirdly shaped "s"s and "w"s.

[Michael]

@upstatenyroads: I can't remember the exact location of the reference markers, but I do remember that they returned to normal when we entered the town of Rome.



If anyone is near the Auburn area, you might want to get pictures of the older signs along the Arterial (US 20/NY 5) and intersecting side streets while you still can.  There's a sign replacement project underway, and they've done from NY 326 to the western end of the NY 38 multiplex.  Signs intended to be replaced are marked with a white X spray painted on either the post or the sign itself.  There's also underground utility markings and/or marker flags near the posts.  Some signs only have the utility markers.  They've split the project into segments between major intersections, and are working eastward.  They've done one segment per week for the last three weeks.  They're probably going to go to NY 34 next week.

I took pictures of most of the route shields from NY 38 to the US 20/NY 5 split in the summer of 2010.  I went out today to get anything I missed, along with the remaining distance signs.  I got pictures of some of the new signs as well.  New destination signs lack distances, and I saw two double-sided street name signs that could only be seen in one direction.

The sign pictured below from Steve's NY 326 page is now gone.  All of the other signs on the page probably gone now too.


On a side note, NYSDOT seems to like Series D for new distance, town/city/village, and street name signs, including ones in the project mentioned above.  I hated it at first, but I've grown to like it a bit.  I still prefer Series E(M) over D though.

[mc78andrew]

Just a warning...the ramp onto the GWB from the Henry Hudson pkwy south is an absolute mess!  As I was driving over this mess this morning at 515 I was grateful that I don't have the crazy sports car that I want and thinking just what would happen to such a car over such bad pavement. 

Then what do you know...1/3 of the way across the bridge the TPM says I have a flat.  As I creep across the bridge getting passed by everyone I pull over to see my tire hissing air and a nice chuck ripped out of the sidewall. 

[D-Dey65]

Just northwest of where the widened median on Southern State Parkway near Belmont Lake State Park begins, there's a strip of undeveloped land along Lakeway Drive and Hilltop Avenue running as far as Little East Neck Road. Was this part of some proposed spur to and from Southern State?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:40.713333,-73.357222&hl=en&ll=40.733308,-73.365111&spn=0.011105,0.026157&t=h&z=16

If not, why does that strip of undeveloped land exist in the first place?

[empirestate]

Just northwest of where the widened median on Southern State Parkway near Belmont Lake State Park begins, there's a strip of undeveloped land along Lakeway Drive and Hilltop Avenue running as far as Little East Neck Road. Was this part of some proposed spur to and from Southern State?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:40.713333,-73.357222&hl=en&ll=40.733308,-73.365111&spn=0.011105,0.026157&t=h&z=16

If not, why does that strip of undeveloped land exist in the first place?

I don't know, but I would guess the name Lakeway Drive is a clue, along with the fact that Belmont Lake is the location of the Long Island state parks headquarters. Perhaps Lakeway Drive was originally conceived as a grand-ish entry way to the state park at Belmont Lake?

[roadman65]

The Northway missing Exit 3.  It is obvious that there is another interchange that is eventually to be added to I-87 in Colonie, NY.  It lies between the Albany Airport exit and NY 5 as the Airport is Exit 4 and Route 5 is Exit 2.  There are no known corridors there, so am I to assume that someday the Albany Airport will have a direct connection? 

Also, will NY 7 ever have a full freeway between I-890 and I-87?  I see a trumpet is at Interchange 7 on I-87 that means it might not ever extend west to Schenectady or else other ramps would have been constructed.  Then again trumpets are easy to convert into almost anything, so NY, for once, might of been proactive and thought about the reality.  As we all know the abandoned Richmond Parkway on Staten Island left behind many ghost ramps and unused bridges and then in other cases you see no ROW left behind or other such ghost ramps around.

[xcellntbuy]

Exit 3 on Interstate 87/Adirondack Northway was for the proposed Interstate 687 that was to connect to Interstate 90 on the northside of Albany.  The Interstate 687 ramps, overpass, even lighting were built in the early 1970's over Interstate 90 at was is now Exit 5A--Corporate Woods Blvd.  There are constant proposals to have a direct connection between Interstate 87 and Albany International Airport.

To my knowledge there was never any plan to expand NY 7 west from the Northway to Schenectady.  Building the current NY 7 from the Collar City Bridge in Troy to the Northway was a huge legal fight by homeowners in its path that lasted 20 years, 1966-1986.  The State of New York won, but highway expansion plans in the Capital District have largely ended since 1989.

[Jim]

For those interested, a search on "Northway Exit 3" brings up several news stories from the last year about the plans and progress (or lack thereof) for a direct link from I-87 to ALB.

[Dougtone]

It is my understanding that one of the early proposals for Interstate 88 was to follow a route close to NY 7 between I-890 and the Northway (I-87) and then out to Troy along the modern day NY 7 Expressway (or Alternate Route 7 to the locals).  This of course was one of a number of proposals for an eastern extension of I-88.  To my knowledge, there was never any proposal to expand NY 7 as an expressway or freeway itself between Latham and Schenectady.

[Mergingtraffic]

Anybody know the history of NY button copy?  For example, CT used non-reflective button copy until 1980 or so and then switched to rivted and then to reflectorized button copy by 1985.  Then phased out all button copy in 1995ish.

[machias]

Anybody know the history of NY button copy?  For example, CT used non-reflective button copy until 1980 or so and then switched to rivted and then to reflectorized button copy by 1985.  Then phased out all button copy in 1995ish.

I believe button copy was phased out around 1990, though I remember some non-button copy signs that said "MacArthur Stadium NEXT RIGHT" on the original alignment of Interstate 81 near now-Carousel Center as early as 1980. The non-button copy signs were first made of wood (replacements for I-81 SB advance exit signs for Exits 31 and 36 were like this).

The rebuilding of Interstate 790 in 1989 used button copy on reflectorized signs, however, the sign rehab project on NY Route 49 expressway in 1991 was non-button copy.

[roadman65]

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Elmhurst,+Queens,+NY&hl=en&ll=40.735584,-73.925457&spn=0.005593,0.014999&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=24.039383,61.435547&oq=elm&t=h&hnear=Elmhurst,+Queens,+New+York&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.73565,-73.925698&panoid=Paxd5IWK_IaVKs7IkM2hrw&cbp=12,135,,0,0

What is up with the Alternate I-495 designation?  I have never seen that ever in the system for interstates.  I am guessing that its an alternate way to I-495, but no such designation really exists/

[NE2]

What is up with the Alternate I-495 designation?

It's essentially a C/D road that uses the lower level through the cemeteries.

[roadman65]

If that is the case, then it is part of I-495 proper as it is a c/d road even though underneath the mainline instead of on the sides.  The Alternate is not a bannered route, but just a secondary alignment that is acting like an alternate.

On another note, I like the way NYCDOT pleases both the feds and themselves at the same time using both "Riverhead" and the traditional "Eastern LI" on the guide signs.

[Alex]

If that is the case, then it is part of I-495 proper as it is a c/d road even though underneath the mainline instead of on the sides.  The Alternate is not a bannered route, but just a secondary alignment that is acting like an alternate.

On another note, I like the way NYCDOT pleases both the feds and themselves at the same time using both "Riverhead" and the traditional "Eastern LI" on the guide signs.

As NE wrote, it is just another way to indicate to traffic that the forthcoming lower level continues through.

Another instance of ALT Interstate signage in NYC is for Astoria Boulevard, which trucks are directed to in place of the GCP to make the connection between I-278 (BQE) and I-678 (Van Wyck) for LaGuardia Airport.

[PHLBOS]

If that is the case, then it is part of I-495 proper as it is a c/d road even though underneath the mainline instead of on the sides.  The Alternate is not a bannered route, but just a secondary alignment that is acting like an alternate.

On another note, I like the way NYCDOT pleases both the feds and themselves at the same time using both "Riverhead" and the traditional "Eastern LI" on the guide signs.

As NE wrote, it is just another way to indicate to traffic that the forthcoming lower level continues through.

Another instance of ALT Interstate signage in NYC is for Astoria Boulevard, which trucks are directed to in place of the GCP to make the connection between I-278 (BQE) and I-678 (Van Wyck) for LaGuardia Airport.

That one's a little different and more technically correct/accurate because of the word TO being situated between the ALT wording and I-278 shield.

[roadman65]

Yeah this one is more correct with the TO as it is stating that it is an alternate route to I-278 as it really is.  The other on the LIE is also an alternate to I-495 East, but in reality it actually uses a c/d road that is part of the interstate.  I am sure the engineer who wrote the sign did not do it for that purpose, but like Alex said that it just informs the drivers that they can use the lower level as well to continue on to I-495 EB.  However, you look at it with TO or no TO its still an alternate to the main route.

[SignBridge]

NYS DOT screwed up on the left sign. The words NY Airports should be in mixed-case lettering and the arrows are supposed to be over the lanes affected. How can DOT or their contractor be so sloppy?

[WillWeaverRVA]

NYS DOT screwed up on the left sign. The words NY Airports should be in mixed-case lettering and the arrows are supposed to be over the lanes affected. How can DOT or their contractor be so sloppy?

Isn't this part of I-278 maintained by NYCDOT, though?

[SignBridge]

The signs in NYC are put up by NY State DOT. Ya' should have been around in the 1960's when the City fought with NYS DOT to put the highways names on the signs along with the route shield. And in the 1970's when the State re-signed all NYC highways with names and numbers on the top line.

[NE2]

Isn't this part of I-278 maintained by NYCDOT, though?

I don't think so: https://www.dot.ny.gov/regional-offices/region11/general-info/built-and-unbuilt-arterial-system

[Duke87]

Psst, guys... that pair of signs was installed by MTA Bridges & Tunnels (a.k.a. TBTA), being physically located on the structure of the Triboro Bridge and all. 

TBTA, like lots of agencies that just maintain bridges and their approaches, has given us plenty of signage monstrosities since it isn't something they have a lot of experience with or pay a lot of attention to. Those signs are pretty much standard expectation for TBTA, there is worse out there.

[cpzilliacus]

TBTA, like lots of agencies that just maintain bridges and their approaches, has given us plenty of signage monstrosities since it isn't something they have a lot of experience with or pay a lot of attention to. Those signs are pretty much standard expectation for TBTA, there is worse out there.

It would make far too much sense for the TBTA to just have NYSDOT do the sign work (or hire contractors to do it), right?

[SignBridge]

Okay, so it's MTA B&T's fault, not NYSDOT; my error. Either way the sign is poorly engineered and not in compliance. The Port Authority does signing too and theirs is generally correct, such as in the Geo. Wash. Bridge complex. Anyone remember their signs with slightly tapered sides? Don't even know if they still build them that way. I should take note of that........