New York

[webny99]

Irondequoit Bay Bridge carries around 67K vehicles per day according to wiki.

That's 33,500 per direction, so my guess of 32,000 was close - actually a tad low.

Also, I expect already crowded NY 441 is being impacted by this as well with drivers using Five Mile Line Rd. and NY 250 to reach points north.

Yeah, NY 441 at Five Mile is always bad, including yesterday and today. It didn't seem to be much worse than normal though; it's enough further south, and it doesn't have the good northbound connections like Creek and Scribner, generally making it less practical as a detour. Anyone heading from Irondequoit/Greece to that part of Penfield is already going to be using 590/490/441 - not the Bay Bridge.

Seems to be Empire and Browncroft that are most affected, with the intersection of Browncroft, Blossom, and Creek St. getting the absolute worst of it. Plank and Creek St. was really bad too, but they've obviously retimed it to give Plank more green time (which made Creek back up, but I think that's the lesser of two evils at this point).

[D-Dey65]

Anyone remember that in the early-1980's when all the old wooden park signs along the Southern State Parkway were replaced, they replaced them all with overhead Big Brown Signs in Nassau County, and then later on in the decade, they replaced them with Big Green Signs to be MUTCD-compliant? They left the brown signs for Valley Stream State Park behind.

I actually convinced them to do that, because it was an exit for a park.

[roadman65]

I miss the original blue Thruway signs on both the mainline and NE Thruway.  I even remember that US 1 was texted as Route 1 at one interchange in New Rochelle and Exit 14 near Spring Valley was signed as Route 59 up until the late 80's when the NYSTA replaced the signs with the current overhead guides in Rockland County.

[machias]

I miss the original blue Thruway signs on both the mainline and NE Thruway.  I even remember that US 1 was texted as Route 1 at one interchange in New Rochelle and Exit 14 near Spring Valley was signed as Route 59 up until the late 80's when the NYSTA replaced the signs with the current overhead guides in Rockland County.

I remember very dark green signs saying "ROUTE 59", and "ROUTE 98 / Batavia" (separate lines) as late as 1987, but I don't remember any of the original 1950s blue signs being up that long.

[webny99]

News just came out that NYSDOT will be doing some temporary striping this weekend at 590N and 104E to provide 2 lanes on the ramp. Makes sense, considering there's no merging traffic right now with the closed ramp. Honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't done sooner. This will provide massive relief for Empire, Browncroft, and Blossom.

My guess is that about 50% of traffic is using the posted detour now, and that will increase to about 75% with the widened ramp. Because the detour uses both sides of the same highway, anybody detouring via 590 South can clearly see what's happening on 590 North. So if that's backing up, they're going to start considering their alternatives. In short, reducing northbound backups gives drivers the all-clear signal to use that leg of the posted detour, so more are going to start doing so.

[D-Dey65]

I miss the original blue Thruway signs on both the mainline and NE Thruway.  I even remember that US 1 was texted as Route 1 at one interchange in New Rochelle and Exit 14 near Spring Valley was signed as Route 59 up until the late 80's when the NYSTA replaced the signs with the current overhead guides in Rockland County.

Care for some old blue Thruway signage from a movie?
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_308513-Plymouth-1957.html

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_308530-Chevrolet-Nomad-1958.html

[steviep24]

I remember when the older section of Lake Ontario State Parkway had white on black guide signs made of wood. Some lasted into the 80's.

[SignBridge]

I too miss the old blue Thruway (and Connecticut Turnpike) signs. I've seen that movie that was linked above. I believe that first photo was on the Mainline at the interchange of I-287, the Cross-Westchester Expwy. Note the median island with no barrier protection as originally built. Steel guide rails wouldn't be built there until the late 1960's after many serious crossover crashes.

[D-Dey65]

I wish I could've found more for you besides those... and from real life too.

[Mccojm]

Anyone remember that in the early-1980's when all the old wooden park signs along the Southern State Parkway were replaced, they replaced them all with overhead Big Brown Signs in Nassau County, and then later on in the decade, they replaced them with Big Green Signs to be MUTCD-compliant? They left the brown signs for Valley Stream State Park behind.

I actually convinced them to do that, because it was an exit for a park.

That's pretty cool, there also brown sign for Belmont lake state park e/b southern state pkwy. All of the overhead signs on Robert Moses Causeway south of the GSB bridge are brown as well recently put up. There use to be a brown sign for e/b heckscher pkwy on w/b sunrise hwy service rd too but has been changed to green when the bridge deck was relaxed couple years ago.

[Michael]

While looking at roads around Irondequoit after reading the discussion about the NY 104 detour, I came across this interesting bridge on NY 404.  The rail on the eastbound side is the original 1960s rail, and the rail on the westbound side is 2000s style rail.  Normally, NYSDOT replaces all old rail with the 2000s style rail, and has been replacing a lot of bridge rails over the past several years.  My best guess is that the new rail is because of the sidewalk on that side of the bridge, but I find it interesting that they only replaced one side.

[Buffaboy]

I just discovered this planning map from the 1960s today...

It makes me wonder, is there still a chance of an I-190/NY-400 direct connection?

[D-Dey65]

Anyone remember that in the early-1980's when all the old wooden park signs along the Southern State Parkway were replaced, they replaced them all with overhead Big Brown Signs in Nassau County, and then later on in the decade, they replaced them with Big Green Signs to be MUTCD-compliant? They left the brown signs for Valley Stream State Park behind.

I actually convinced them to do that, because it was an exit for a park.

That's pretty cool, there also brown sign for Belmont lake state park e/b southern state pkwy. All of the overhead signs on Robert Moses Causeway south of the GSB bridge are brown as well recently put up. There use to be a brown sign for e/b heckscher pkwy on w/b sunrise hwy service rd too but has been changed to green when the bridge deck was relaxed couple years ago.

Those were later additions, but they need more of them in the vicinity of Belmont Lake State Park. I also remember recommending them in that area. In fact, I think they should have them for Hempstead Lake State Park as well, or at least a split brown and green one for that. If I recall, there was an old proposal to upgrade the interchange at Exit 18 with some ramps for Eagle Avenue and other strictly for the park. Had this been built, separately colored signs would've been a good idea there instead.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I just discovered this planning map from the 1960s today...

It makes me wonder, is there still a chance of an I-190/NY-400 direct connection?

Is there a reason? Getting to I-190 from 400 is really quick on 90. It makes no difference and would be incredibly redundant. Yes, that stretch of 16 can be slow. Incredibly slow at times.

Also, this would involve demolishing houses, Tim Russert Park and an active freight line.

[webny99]

I just discovered this planning map from the 1960s today...
It makes me wonder, is there still a chance of an I-190/NY-400 direct connection?

Is there a reason? Getting to I-190 from 400 is really quick on 90. It makes no difference and would be incredibly redundant. Yes, that stretch of 16 can be slow. Incredibly slow at times.
Also, this would involve demolishing houses, Tim Russert Park and an active freight line.

I agree; of all the cases of driving two sides of a triangle, I have never been annoyed by that one in particular. It's already an all-freeway connection, and that stretch of I-90 has 8 lanes.

I imagine the connector was supposed to create a situation like I-270 at the Beltway in DC, where the connections between I-190 and I-90 would have been split between the 2 points. The current ramps between I-190 and the Thruway to and from the west would be eliminated in favor of those connections being available at Exit 54. Basically, Exit 54 would become a full four-direction interchange, while Exit 53 would be scaled back to a half-interchange with just 2 ramps. That's not to say it's needed; just fantasizing as to what the intention was.

[okc1]

I wonder if the "Legislated Expressways" that weren't built still have that authorization? Or were they removed officially from statute? I don't think we'll see any of them, just curious.

[webny99]

News just came out that NYSDOT will be doing some temporary striping this weekend at 590N and 104E to provide 2 lanes on the ramp. Makes sense, considering there's no merging traffic right now with the closed ramp. Honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't done sooner.

As of today, the VMS on NY 590 northbound at Exit 7 reads "TRAFFIC CONGESTION NEXT 3 MILES / EXPECT DELAYS".

To be honest, I have never seen such a poorly executed road closure / detour by NYSDOT. They made a number of signal modifications after the original setup turned out to be a disaster, then restriped the NY 590 N to NY 104 E ramp to provide two lanes, and since that hasn't improved the northbound backups, they have now resorted to simply acknowledging the mess and telling motorists to deal with it. Yikes.

[vdeane]

Yeah, I was scratching my head when it was announced, especially with the Driver's First initiative.  They say that they can't safely do the project without a full closure, but I've been wondering if it could have been done by having a single, narrow lane with no shoulders and a jersey barrier.  The narrow lane might be narrow enough to still require a truck detour, and they would probably still need weekend closures, and the project would probably take a year instead of a month, but it seems like that wouldn't have had the same traffic impacts as what we're seeing now.

(personal opinion)

[webny99]

Even a single lane between noon and 8 PM might have been feasible, and would have significantly reduced backups on 590 North and the other routes across Irondequoit Creek.

I heard today that they are studying the option of making the 590NB to 104EB ramp two lanes permanently. I hope it happens, as the discrepancy vs. the WB to SB ramp has always been irksome to me.

[astralentity]

Welp... that didn't take long.  The new Exit 58 gore sign on I-84 westbound has been taken out.

Barely a month?

[D-Dey65]

Welp... that didn't take long.  The new Exit 58 gore sign on I-84 westbound has been taken out.

Barely a month?

You don't think it was targeted, do you? Or was it just another drunk, stoned, or distracted driver that plowed into it?

[abqtraveler]

Welp... that didn't take long.  The new Exit 58 gore sign on I-84 westbound has been taken out.

Barely a month?

You don't think it was targeted, do you? Or was it just another drunk, stoned, or distracted driver that plowed into it?

Probably a stereotypical East Coast motorist who has no clue on how to drive.

[crispy93]

Welp... that didn't take long.  The new Exit 58 gore sign on I-84 westbound has been taken out.

Barely a month?

When it was still Exit 17, the gore sign went missing for a few weeks, then it was replaced with an Exit sign with "17" patched onto where the number was supposed to go. Lime Kiln Road (new Exit 50) and US 9 (new Exit 46 AB) are now installed. The Exit 50 sign says CR 27/Lime Kiln Rd/iPark Blvd

[astralentity]

Welp... that didn't take long.  The new Exit 58 gore sign on I-84 westbound has been taken out.

Barely a month?

You don't think it was targeted, do you? Or was it just another drunk, stoned, or distracted driver that plowed into it?

Would not surprise me....  if it was the winter I would bet it was someone who lost control because of the conditions.

Targeted?  No.  The sign was twisted around.

[roadman65]

Googlemaps show the removal of the WB NY 17 ramp from NY 32 SB in Woodbury, NY.  For traffic heading west from NY 32 now has another ramp at US 6.  Is that a permanent thing, or is that a temporary ramp during the NY 17 & 32 Bridge replacement?