New York

[cl94]

My issue is that unless you want to drive up 17, it's nearly impossible to get into Harriman without 15A. Harriman State Park is a large park, some kind of access.

There is. Come in from the Palisades Parkway or head up Seven Lakes Drive. Not like the terrain is great for building an exit in that area. Only place to put it is CR 106 and the Thruway ROW is surrounded by protected land on the east and the Ramapo River on the west side, which is a source of drinking water for Rockland and North Jersey.

That's great, but what about drivers coming in from the north. 15A works going northbound, but there are drivers to the south. We're going to make them get off at 16 and then drive for a long distance down to Arden Valley Road then deep into the park onto 7LD? An exit at 17A/106 would be nicer for traffic on 17A and into Harriman from the north.

People from the north would likely get off at Exit 17 and head down 9W. That's how NYSTA directs people to the adjacent Bear Mountain State Park.

[Roadgeek Adam]

That also sounds horribly inconvenient. Another minor benefit of an interchange at 17A/106, as much as they don't want it, Southfields could use some revitalization and maybe be enough to get the Red Apple Rest (a rebuilt one) a second chance

[Buffaboy]

I clinched NY 75 today. Lots of leaves changing colors along the way.

[kalvado]

Just passed through a work zone with VMS reading
SPEEDING NOT TOLERATED / RADAR IS RUNNING / SPEEDING TICKETS IN MAIL  (last one wasn't there yesterday, BTW)
While I understand folks frustrated by working in a closed lane on arterial during commute, my radar detector didn't pick up anything..
But the real question: can speeding tickets be issued by mail in NYS? Or this is just a low-level initiative to actually slow people down?

[cl94]

Just passed through a work zone with VMS reading
SPEEDING NOT TOLERATED / RADAR IS RUNNING / SPEEDING TICKETS IN MAIL  (last one wasn't there yesterday, BTW)
While I understand folks frustrated by working in a closed lane on arterial during commute, my radar detector didn't pick up anything..
But the real question: can speeding tickets be issued by mail in NYS? Or this is just a low-level initiative to actually slow people down?

They can't do crap. In New York, the officer running radar has to personally issue the ticket.

[vdeane]

Pretty sure speed cameras are only legal in NY in school zones in NYC.

[cl94]

Pretty sure speed cameras are only legal in NY in school zones in NYC.

And in E-ZPass lanes to issue warnings.

Compare that to DC, where they are along 295. Watch everyone slam on the brakes as they approach them.

[SignBridge]

Interesting. Many years ago an accusation was made by a columnist in Car & Driver Magazine that the Thruway Authority was using E-Z Pass records as a speed enforcement tool and issuing tickets by mail. The TA vigorously denied that they were doing this or that it would even be legal because as the poster above stated, an officer has to witness the violation. The columnist ended up apologizing to the NYSTA in a later column.

[cl94]

Yeah, there are significant restrictions on speed enforcement in this state. Even the setups where a cop stands on the bridge with the radar gun and a bunch of cars are waiting a mile down the road will be thrown out if you take them to court here.

[cl94]

On a different topic, clinched NY 7, NY 7A and NY 10 today and noticed a few things:

- I-88 reconstruction Exits 3-6 is progressing nicely. Final paving on the NB side is ongoing and it will hopefully be open to traffic soon.
- NYSDOT put a staffed gift shop/snack bar in the I-81 welcome center at Mile 2. I wonder how long it will be until the Feds remind them that new facilities of the sort are illegal on the Interstate system.
- A boatload of erroneous US 10 signs exist south of NY 28. All NY 8 shields are correct, even if a US 10 sign is on the same posts.

[Buffaboy]

Question: I know why NY-33 terminates the way it does in downtown Buffalo. But why does the expressway end the way it does in Cheektowaga? Were there plans for expansion? It makes an awkward curve.

[cl94]

Question: I know why NY-33 terminates the way it does in downtown Buffalo. But why does the expressway end the way it does in Cheektowaga? Were there plans for expansion? It makes an awkward curve.

Where does it end, though? Not NY 5, but NY 384. Yeah. Franklin/Tupper are state-maintained with RMs for NY 33. Discovered that when working at the MPO.

Yes, there was an expansion plan. Would have followed the railroad ROW to the Thruway. From what I know, that died when they decided to build the football stadium in Orchard Park instead of Lancaster.

[kalvado]

- NYSDOT put a staffed gift shop/snack bar in the I-81 welcome center at Mile 2. I wonder how long it will be until the Feds remind them that new facilities of the sort are illegal on the Interstate system.

given the way  this tourism promotion is handled, I wonder if NYSDOT was actually informed about new development...

[Flyer78]

When it first opened (or at least the first few times I was there) it was self-service check-out, and I wondered if that was a loop-hole. More recently, the checkouts have been staffed.

I seem to recall the PA Welcome Center, when new, also had a staffed PA gift-store, but that has long since been removed.

[cl94]

I thought it was self-service as well. Definitely a person there running the thing.

[Buffaboy]

 I really don't understand what the objective here is with all of this.

[SignBridge]

Why would a snack bar at a Welcome Center be illegal on the Interstate System?

[cl94]

Why would a snack bar at a Welcome Center be illegal on the Interstate System?

From the FHWA website...

[SignBridge]

Thanks cl94. Okay, I read the section. And I think it's ridiculous. I for one (in the course of my travels throughout the Northeast) hate having to leave the Interstate and hunt for a fast-food restaurant or convenience store and then work my way back onto the Interstate. It's so much better with service areas on the highway itself. I'm glad I can at least buy a candy bar or a soda from a rest-area machine that's not illegal. Sheesh!

Could be my Dad was right about the old style highways being better in some ways, like being able to access gas stations, diners, restaurants, etc. right on the road itself. He didn't like the sterile, hypnotic new Interstate highways.   

And BTW how is Connecticut allowed to continue having service areas on I-95 when that road no longer has tolls? I guess they're grandfathered?

[cl94]

Thanks cl94. Okay, I read the section. And I think it's ridiculous. I for one (in the course of my travels throughout the Northeast) hate having to leave the Interstate and hunt for a fast-food restaurant or convenience store and then work my way back onto the Interstate. It's so much better with service areas on the highway itself. I'm glad I can at least buy a candy bar or a soda from a rest-area machine that's not illegal. Sheesh! 

And BTW how is Connecticut allowed to continue having service areas on I-95 when that road no longer has tolls? I guess they're grandfathered?

I don't disagree with you. While it may cost more, there is a real convenience in being able to get something at a service area and have restrooms that are decent at the same location. Every other country allows this stuff. Ironically, the reason for the law was to protect small businesses, but it only allowed truck stops to proliferate and put those same small stores out of business.

The service areas in Connecticut and Massachusetts are grandfathered because facilities existed in their position before the road became part of the Interstate system. Ditto for the service areas on the Deegan just south of the Westchester border. Connecticut was a toll facility until the 80s, so that has an additional grandfather factor. Toll facilities that still operate as such can still add service areas and stores, hence why the new gift shops on the Thruway are allowed. NH's infamous liquor store rest areas are all on toll roads and NHDOT has specifically stated that they can't build liquor store rest areas on roads that aren't tolled on multiple occasions because the grandfathering does not apply.

[Beeper1]

Yes, anything that had services on it before 1960 was grandfathered in.  That's also how the service areas on I-95 in MA were allowed to stay, even though that was never a toll road.

[vdeane]

I've read that the new one on Long Island only gives out free samples and doesn't sell anything as a means to get around the prohibition.

Regarding NY 33, its terminus has moved around several times in downtown Buffalo.  Wikipedia mentions that in the 70s, NY 5 was realigned onto a split one-way pair, resulting in the truncation of NY 33; perhaps the old alignment was NY 384?  All NYSDOT documentation has NY 33 ending at NY 5, but we don't always remove reference markers if a route is relinquished.

[SignBridge]

Well Beeper1, looks like Connecticut just got in under the wire! Wasn't the Turnpike built circa 1958? And I remember it had Interstate-95 markers on it in 1960, the first time I ever rode on it as a kid.

[cl94]

All NYSDOT documentation has NY 33 ending at NY 5, but we don't always remove reference markers if a route is relinquished.

It's definitely state-maintained to NY 384. Highway inventory lists Tupper and Edward as NYSDOT-maintained, but without a designation. 3 blocks west of Main St.

A really easy way to tell if you don't have access to that stuff is the lane markings. Buffalo DPW uses extra-long dashed lines.

[GenExpwy]

I really don't understand what the objective here is with all of this.

It will be obvious two years from now, when Cuomo will be running non-stop re-election ads claiming that his "promotion of tourism" is creating a new golden era of prosperity for the state .

So the objective of all this government spending is not any government purpose, but the re-election of King Andy.