NY 17/"I-86"

[The Ghostbuster]

It wouldn't surprise me. Once all of NY 17 becomes Interstate 86 (if it ever happens), NY 17 should probably be truncated to Exit 131, and only exist from Harriman southward.

[Rothman]

Decommissioning routes on NY makes a lot of people groan, even when it is the obvious thing to do.  I am not sure of the details of the total process, but it can take a very long time.

[seicer]

Well, I guess we'll need to keep NY 17 through the Allegany Reservation, too.

[Alps]

Are there plans to de-commission NY 17? I noticed further west that NY 17 signage has been getting sparse and not being replaced - in lieu of just using I-86 shields.

See if a certain CJ weighs in on this...

[Roadgeek Adam]

CJ has stated on a few occasions that he is in the process of replacing NY 17 shields with none on signs.

[GenExpwy]

Are there plans to de-commission NY 17? I noticed further west that NY 17 signage has been getting sparse and not being replaced - in lieu of just using I-86 shields.

Not just "not being replaced" , but being actively removed. There was a publicly-bid project last year to remove the ground- mounted NY 17 signs along the expressway in Steuben County. The only NY 17 signs left in the county, I think, are on some BGS at the Hornell and Corning-area exits.

[machias]

We'll always have the reference markers

[seicer]

Interesting - I wonder how the Allegany Reservation issue will be resolved. Could they just use "TO I-86" shields? It wouldn't be any different than what was done with the West Virginia Turnpike in the 1970s and 1980s, or with I-93 through the Notch.

[cockroachking]

Interesting - I wonder how the Allegany Reservation issue will be resolved. Could they just use "TO I-86" shields? It wouldn't be any different than what was done with the West Virginia Turnpike in the 1970s and 1980s, or with I-93 through the Notch.

There is still this assembly within their Reservation that features only an I-86 shield and a Southern Tier Expy shield, but with a NY-17 enhanced mile marker in the background.

There is also this I-86 enhanced mile marker located about 1/10ths of a mile inside of the "Welcome to Allegany Reservation" sign.

[seicer]

Those look new. I moved out of New York state a while back and when I was last through there, there were just posts for shields and mileposts that had been removed.

[webny99]

I think the Southern Tier Expy signs are kind of cool. I hope they get put up on the whole route eventually.

[Roadgeek Adam]

That's only the name 1 for one segment. The rest is the Quickway, which is 100% unofficial.

[seicer]

I found a 1951 article explaining the reconstruction of NY 17 to provide a ultra-modern "Quickway." It seemed to have been an unofficial designation by proponents of the route, a take on the New York "Thruway."

Check out some early graphics of the "quickway" in Binghamton from 1957, where the "quickway" was described as an unofficial term:



Later articles describe it either as "quickway" or "Quickway," but never in any official capacity. It seemed to have been a marketing term and was an easy way to differentiate the old road from the new.

[dzheng35]

How fast do people really drive in the 55 MPH sections on the quickway section? Because no one drives that slow and based on my experience in 55 mph zones on other freeways, even 60-65 in a 55 can sometimes be a crawl and there's is a chance that I may end up driving on the quickway this summer? So to anyone who's driven on the quickway before, can anyone tell me how fast people really drive in low speed limit areas and how much tolerance do cops give before they mess with you to help me decide how fast I could really get away with. Thanks.

[webny99]

The 55 mph zone is quite long, much longer than the section with at-grades. Traffic might slow down a little through Hale Eddy, but not much. Like most 55 mph freeways in NY, you will get traffic going up to 75 or so. I would say anything under 70 mph should be fine for the most part, maybe under 65 if you want to play it extra safe.

[vdeane]

The last time I was on that section it was crawling with cops, so that probably says something about how little people slow down there.  And yes, going even 60 there feels really slow.

[dzheng35]

The last time I was on that section it was crawling with cops, so that probably says something about how little people slow down there.  And yes, going even 60 there feels really slow.

Did the cops pull people over?

[vdeane]

The last time I was on that section it was crawling with cops, so that probably says something about how little people slow down there.  And yes, going even 60 there feels really slow.

Did the cops pull people over?

I would presume so.  They were in the median and other places laying in wait.

[seicer]

At one point, I posted information about the 85% percentile speeds for NY 17's 55 MPH sections and they were in the 70 MPH range.

[empirestate]

Yes, speed enforcement is frequent and visible on the 55-mph sections, especially in the town of Hancock (which is very large). People do go normal freeway speeds, so probably close to 65, but of course they are constantly braking whenever a cop appears. (Then again, so do those who are going 55...)

[SGwithADD]

Has anyone noticed that the NY-17 shields in Tioga County are actually covering up I-86 shields? If you look carefully at the back of the 17 shield on google street view, you can see the outline of the interstate shield.
link

Wow, that's an old-looking shield. What font is that? I'm not sure I've seen it before.

The EAST banner appears to be covered up as well (or maybe just extremely faded).

It looks like they've been recycling a bunch of old signs for the covers (R9 used to have a lot of the old-style NY 17 shields up through Delaware and Sullivan Counties, IIRC). I think I've posted this before, but the chopped-up STE shield to cover the direction banner always upsets me a little when I pass it: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0714712,-76.1510939,3a,75y,342.41h,88.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYiDj2GWjs4fNxNKyrv7fKQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[dzheng35]

Yes, speed enforcement is frequent and visible on the 55-mph sections, especially in the town of Hancock (which is very large). People do go normal freeway speeds, so probably close to 65, but of course they are constantly braking whenever a cop appears. (Then again, so do those who are going 55...)

Outside of hale eddy, are there plans to raise the speed limit in the 55 mph zone areas?

[sprjus4]

^ Given it's New York, and highways such as I-495 on Long Island are still subject to outdated 55 mph limits, I'm going to guess no.

[webny99]

^ Given it's New York, and highways such as I-495 on Long Island are still subject to outdated 55 mph limits, I'm going to guess no.

I think if/when it's ever completed, and more importantly, signed as I-86, the limit will be raised to 65 mph along the whole route. For a would-be interstate route, it's too rural to leave at 55 mph, even relative to egregious 55 mph zones on Long Island, etc.

[seicer]

Probably not, this being New York and maximum speed limits are only at 65 MPH for the most empty of freeways. Even with a 85% percentile of around 70 MPH for much of the mountainous segments, 55 MPH is too low. The argument could be made that there are curves, but they are not -that- numerous to justify a 55 MPH speed limit for 44 miles. Advisory signs can work just as well.

See also: West Virginia Turnpike which has a 60 MPH limit and West Virginia's corridor routes which have many more curves, steep grades, and intersections and have a 65 MPH limit.