New York

[Jim]

I-687 is the main reason Exits 4-5 on I-87 are so messed up. The C-D setup was supposed to continue on as I-687. Now that Exit 1 has been rebuilt to handle heavy traffic to/from the north, an expressway would be redundant.

Plus we now have the "Alternate 7" freeway connecting the Northway at Exit 7 to I-787 in Green Island/Watervliet that handles a lot of the traffic from the north into Albany.

[Rothman]

I-687 is the main reason Exits 4-5 on I-87 are so messed up. The C-D setup was supposed to continue on as I-687. Now that Exit 1 has been rebuilt to handle heavy traffic to/from the north, an expressway would be redundant.

Plus we now have the "Alternate 7" freeway connecting the Northway at Exit 7 to I-787 in Green Island/Watervliet that handles a lot of the traffic from the north into Albany.

It is way, way, way, way past time for people to be still calling it Alt 7.  It's become the MA 128 of the Capital Region of NY.

[cl94]

I-687 is the main reason Exits 4-5 on I-87 are so messed up. The C-D setup was supposed to continue on as I-687. Now that Exit 1 has been rebuilt to handle heavy traffic to/from the north, an expressway would be redundant.

Plus we now have the "Alternate 7" freeway connecting the Northway at Exit 7 to I-787 in Green Island/Watervliet that handles a lot of the traffic from the north into Albany.

It is way, way, way, way past time for people to be still calling it Alt 7.  It's become the MA 128 of the Capital Region of NY.

Only difference is that Route 128 is still signed as such. Alternate 7 signs haven't even existed in my lifetime.

[Rothman]

I-687 is the main reason Exits 4-5 on I-87 are so messed up. The C-D setup was supposed to continue on as I-687. Now that Exit 1 has been rebuilt to handle heavy traffic to/from the north, an expressway would be redundant.

Plus we now have the "Alternate 7" freeway connecting the Northway at Exit 7 to I-787 in Green Island/Watervliet that handles a lot of the traffic from the north into Albany.

It is way, way, way, way past time for people to be still calling it Alt 7.  It's become the MA 128 of the Capital Region of NY.

Only difference is that Route 128 is still signed as such. Alternate 7 signs haven't even existed in my lifetime.

HA!  Good point.

[cl94]

I-687 is the main reason Exits 4-5 on I-87 are so messed up. The C-D setup was supposed to continue on as I-687. Now that Exit 1 has been rebuilt to handle heavy traffic to/from the north, an expressway would be redundant.

Plus we now have the "Alternate 7" freeway connecting the Northway at Exit 7 to I-787 in Green Island/Watervliet that handles a lot of the traffic from the north into Albany.

It is way, way, way, way past time for people to be still calling it Alt 7.  It's become the MA 128 of the Capital Region of NY.

Only difference is that Route 128 is still signed as such. Alternate 7 signs haven't even existed in my lifetime.

HA!  Good point.

I was out there on Sunday and one of the radio stations referred to it as Alternate 7. I didn't know if I should laugh hysterically or feel sorry for the tourists/people who moved there in past 25 years and don't know what Alternate 7 is.

[Rothman]

Traffic reports routinely call it "Alternate 7" or "Alt 7" still here.  They have over the years I've lived here, anyway.

[route17fan]

Traffic reports routinely call it "Alternate 7" or "Alt 7" still here.  They have over the years I've lived here, anyway.

That also used to annoy me when I lived in the Capital District - I kept shouting (to the radio) "it IS Route 7!" 

[Jim]

I'm with everyone on that.  It's way past time just to call it Route 7.  The funny thing is, I don't hear many "normal" people refer to it that way, but the traffic reporters call it "Alternate 7" every time.  Of course, as I griped in a post a while back, they're the same ones (OK, at least one) who think Thruway Exit 25A's toll plaza is the "Duanesburg Interchange Toll Bar".

[vdeane]

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

I wouldn't call I-687 obsolete.  I-90 has large backups every single day west of exit 5 at every single merge (and I-787 and NY 7 have their own issues as well).  Diverting some of that traffic away would help matters.

[noelbotevera]

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

I wouldn't call I-684 obsolete.  I-90 has large backups every single day west of exit 5 at every single merge (and I-787 and NY 7 have their own issues as well).  Diverting some of that traffic away would help matters.

Since when did I-684 move 140 miles north?

[Pete from Boston]

Corporate Woods Boulevard

I would just like to take a moment to say this name made me smile.

[Rothman]

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

No, they don't.  It's NY 7 west of the Northway and NY 7 east of Northway and nothing ever happens on the segment of NY 7 west of the Northway except for traffic getting backed up at Wade Road and the Sonic now.

There is no reason to all anything "Alternate 7" at all.

[cl94]

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

No, they don't.  It's NY 7 west of the Northway and NY 7 east of Northway and nothing ever happens on the segment of NY 7 west of the Northway except for traffic getting backed up at Wade Road and the Sonic now.

There is no reason to all anything "Alternate 7" at all.

Yep. Everyone knows "old NY 7" as NY 2 or the road name. It's been in its current place for 30 years. Heck, it was never signed as NY 7 Alternate. That was only the number used before they decided to extend NY 2.

[vdeane]

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

I wouldn't call I-684 obsolete.  I-90 has large backups every single day west of exit 5 at every single merge (and I-787 and NY 7 have their own issues as well).  Diverting some of that traffic away would help matters.

Since when did I-684 move 140 miles north?

Since I made that typo.

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

No, they don't.  It's NY 7 west of the Northway and NY 7 east of Northway and nothing ever happens on the segment of NY 7 west of the Northway except for traffic getting backed up at Wade Road and the Sonic now.

There is no reason to all anything "Alternate 7" at all.

Once in a blue moon the traffic reports even mention accidents on random side streets in faraway towns, so it's not impossible.  Plus, if one were to say "backups on the Northway from Route 7 to the twins", to which exit (6 or 7) would they be referring?  Could be either.

[machias]

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

I wouldn't call I-684 obsolete.  I-90 has large backups every single day west of exit 5 at every single merge (and I-787 and NY 7 have their own issues as well).  Diverting some of that traffic away would help matters.

Since when did I-684 move 140 miles north?

Since I made that typo.

They'd still need to differentiate it from the rest of route 7, which is a completely different exit (plus the amount of traffic moving between the two segments of NY 7 is quite low; they might as well be different routes for all intents and purposes).

No, they don't.  It's NY 7 west of the Northway and NY 7 east of Northway and nothing ever happens on the segment of NY 7 west of the Northway except for traffic getting backed up at Wade Road and the Sonic now.

There is no reason to all anything "Alternate 7" at all.

Once in a blue moon the traffic reports even mention accidents on random side streets in faraway towns, so it's not impossible.  Plus, if one were to say "backups on the Northway from Route 7 to the twins", to which exit (6 or 7) would they be referring?  Could be either.

They should go full blown NYSDOT and call it "Interstate 787A".

[Jim]

Once in a blue moon the traffic reports even mention accidents on random side streets in faraway towns, so it's not impossible.  Plus, if one were to say "backups on the Northway from Route 7 to the twins", to which exit (6 or 7) would they be referring?  Could be either.

I suspect that a lot of people think of Exits 6 and 7 as one big interchange anyway.  To continue either direction on Route 7, one never enters a mainline Northway lane.

[Rothman]

Once in a blue moon the traffic reports even mention accidents on random side streets in faraway towns, so it's not impossible.  Plus, if one were to say "backups on the Northway from Route 7 to the twins", to which exit (6 or 7) would they be referring?  Could be either.

It's a very short distance between those exits, so it really doesn't matter.

[cl94]

Once in a blue moon the traffic reports even mention accidents on random side streets in faraway towns, so it's not impossible.  Plus, if one were to say "backups on the Northway from Route 7 to the twins", to which exit (6 or 7) would they be referring?  Could be either.

It's a very short distance between those exits, so it really doesn't matter.

Precisely. The concurrency is shorter than Latham Farms (the adjacent strip mall) is long. WB NY 7 even stays on a C/D road. If Exit 7 is backed up, Exit 6 is almost always congested as well.

[cl94]

On a different note...

I was on I-86 near Salamanca earlier today. The rebuild is evidently being completed in 2+ segments, with the dividing line in the middle of the US 219 concurrency. The western segment (that brought the full closure) had a full-depth reconstruction last year. Wearing course is asphalt, which Region 5 seems to be preferring as of late. Eastern segment. which was reconstructed this year, is having the top layer of asphalt paved as we speak. Down to one lane in each direction. As part of the work, maintenance was done to the bridges and the median jersey barrier was replaced with a constant slope barrier. Enhanced milemarkers were installed, but most other signs were not replaced. Any and all mention of NY 17 has been removed from this segment.

[JakeFromNewEngland]

Going back to the discussion of I-87 and the Albany area.. Has NYSDOT ever had plans of widening the Northway between the Thruway and the Twin Bridges from 6 lanes to 8 lanes? Last time I was in the area it seemed pretty congested.

[cl94]

Going back to the discussion of I-87 and the Albany area.. Has NYSDOT ever had plans of widening the Northway between the Thruway and the Twin Bridges from 6 lanes to 8 lanes? Last time I was in the area it seemed pretty congested.

As bridges south of Exit 13 are replaced, they are being widened to accommodate 8 lanes. At this point in time, it's not being widened, nor is any plan to do so in the near future. Most of this is because the bottleneck is between Exits 7 and 8. Except on the segment south of NY 5, traffic counts on I-87 are highest between Exits 5 and 8. To eliminate the bottleneck, you'd have to replace the Twin Bridges or build another span for one direction of traffic and have the other carriageway split.

In reality, it needs 8 lanes south of Exit 9. Doing this would reduce traffic on US 9 to a reasonable level and might even divert traffic from NY 32. Yet, due to not having several million dollars to replace the bridges, nothing is being widened.

[Rothman]

To eliminate the bottleneck, you'd have to replace the Twin Bridges or build another span for one direction of traffic and have the other carriageway split.

^This, ^this, ^this.  Probably have to straighten the curves out as well.

[route17fan]

On a different note...

I was on I-86 near Salamanca earlier today. The rebuild is evidently being completed in 2+ segments, with the dividing line in the middle of the US 219 concurrency. The western segment (that brought the full closure) had a full-depth reconstruction last year. Wearing course is asphalt, which Region 5 seems to be preferring as of late. Eastern segment. which was reconstructed this year, is having the top layer of asphalt paved as we speak. Down to one lane in each direction. As part of the work, maintenance was done to the bridges and the median jersey barrier was replaced with a constant slope barrier. Enhanced milemarkers were installed, but most other signs were not replaced. Any and all mention of NY 17 has been removed from this segment.

Admittedly, once that eastern segment is done, it will be smooth as silk! I visited family in Olean and observed the same thing. 

[cl94]

This is huge: Region 10 is adopting flashing yellow arrows (plans)

Intersection of Northern Boulevard (NY 25A) and Cedar Swamp Rd (NY 107) in Nassau County is getting FYAs for left turn movements from NY 25A. Other than NYCDOT using them at intersections with no through movement, I think this is the first application downstate and the first "standard" installation in the region.

[cu2010]

As is Region 7, surprisingly.