New York

[cl94]

The miserable NB I-87 rest area in Queensbury is being replaced with a new facility. Plans should be out around 12/22 per the contract page's Q & A. Letting notice makes it appear similar to the other recent rest area projects (improved tourist info, play area, etc.), but with a boat wash station and minus the retail area.

[cl94]

Major reconstruction/resigning project in Watkins Glen coming up next year (plans). If you look at the plans and sign face layouts, the signs were done by a fellow roadgeek, so this may be the first major NYSDOT project where I have seen no sign errors.

[Alps]

Major reconstruction/resigning project in Watkins Glen coming up next year (plans). If you look at the plans and sign face layouts, the signs were done by a fellow roadgeek, so this may be the first major NYSDOT project where I have seen no sign errors.

That region does pretty well but I disagree with its lack of NY 15 signage.

[cl94]

Major reconstruction/resigning project in Watkins Glen coming up next year (plans). If you look at the plans and sign face layouts, the signs were done by a fellow roadgeek, so this may be the first major NYSDOT project where I have seen no sign errors.

That region does pretty well but I disagree with its lack of NY 15 signage.

Because NY 15 was officially truncated a while back. Any remaining NY 15 signage is errant (and the sign guy refuses to sign a route that no longer exists).

[Alps]

Major reconstruction/resigning project in Watkins Glen coming up next year (plans). If you look at the plans and sign face layouts, the signs were done by a fellow roadgeek, so this may be the first major NYSDOT project where I have seen no sign errors.

That region does pretty well but I disagree with its lack of NY 15 signage.

Because NY 15 was officially truncated a while back. Any remaining NY 15 signage is errant (and the sign guy refuses to sign a route that no longer exists).

I'm just saying 15 and 15 should connect.

[WNYroadgeek]

Major reconstruction/resigning project in Watkins Glen coming up next year (plans). If you look at the plans and sign face layouts, the signs were done by a fellow roadgeek, so this may be the first major NYSDOT project where I have seen no sign errors.

That region does pretty well but I disagree with its lack of NY 15 signage.

Because NY 15 was officially truncated a while back. Any remaining NY 15 signage is errant (and the sign guy refuses to sign a route that no longer exists).

I'm just saying 15 and 15 should connect.

I'd rather decommission NY 15 and re-extend US 15 back to Rochester.

[Alps]

I'm just saying 15 and 15 should connect.

I'd rather decommission NY 15 and re-extend US 15 back to Rochester.

I'd rather move 17 back onto surface roads wherever possible when I-86 is fully commissioned. I'd also rather extend US 46 and 22 onto Long Island and eat fine cuisine every day without having to work.

[GenExpwy]

Because NY 15 was officially truncated a while back. Any remaining NY 15 signage is errant (and the sign guy refuses to sign a route that no longer exists).

I'm just saying 15 and 15 should connect.

I'd rather decommission NY 15 and re-extend US 15 back to Rochester.

And I think that, between Rochester and Harrisburg, the freeway* ought to be I-83, and the old road* ought to be US 15. There is no good reason for anything more complicated than that.

*where it exists, to the maximum extent possible, with a goal of having both eventually be 100% complete.

[jemacedo9]

Major reconstruction/resigning project in Watkins Glen coming up next year (plans). If you look at the plans and sign face layouts, the signs were done by a fellow roadgeek, so this may be the first major NYSDOT project where I have seen no sign errors.

That region does pretty well but I disagree with its lack of NY 15 signage.

Because NY 15 was officially truncated a while back. Any remaining NY 15 signage is errant (and the sign guy refuses to sign a route that no longer exists).

I'm just saying 15 and 15 should connect.

I'd rather decommission NY 15 and re-extend US 15 back to Rochester.

When PA gets around to commissioning I-99 north of Williamsport, I'd rather truncate US 15 to Williamsport and leave NY 15 as is.
Really - I'd actually rather truncate US 15 to Camp Hill PA, leave US 11 as-is, and the piece of US 15 between Shamokin Dam and Williamsport can become PA 61.

[cl94]

I'd rather decommission NY 15 and re-extend US 15 back to Rochester.

When PA gets around to commissioning I-99 north of Williamsport, I'd rather truncate US 15 to Williamsport and leave NY 15 as is.

And as much as I hate to say this, extend I-99 up to Rochester and dump I-390. Give the corridor one number.

[GenExpwy]

I'd rather decommission NY 15 and re-extend US 15 back to Rochester.

When PA gets around to commissioning I-99 north of Williamsport, I'd rather truncate US 15 to Williamsport and leave NY 15 as is.

And as much as I hate to say this, extend I-99 up to Rochester and dump I-390. Give the corridor one number.

The big problem with I-99 is that it doesn't go anywhere. It goes to Altoona. Who the blazes wants to go to Altoona?

Meanwhile, the current plan for the major Baltimore-to-Rochester corridor is: take I-83 to I-81 to US 22&322 to US 11&15 to PA 147 to I-180 to I-99 to I-86 to I-390. That's a slight failure of "route number continuity" , which a 390-to-99 swap would not do enough to fix.

[seicer]

It does go somewhere - the Turnpike north to I-86. It's pretty well traveled, and despite the disconnected segments, it would be nice to have a fully finished freeway that doesn't require two-lane jaunts.

[empirestate]

The big problem with I-99 is that it doesn't go anywhere. It goes to Altoona. Who the blazes wants to go to Altoona?

I'm not too sure what you mean by "doesn't go anywhere"...as one example, it goes from I-80 to US 22, and as such is a major component of my route to Pittsburgh. As another, it goes to State College, PA, a location where a small handful of students are known to congregate once or twice a year...

And as a third example, it goes to Altoona, where nearly fifty thousand people live just in the city limits, within a greater metro population of 127,000. I get that you're probably just making a joke about Altoona not being cool enough to warrant being on the road network, but of course we all know that's not really how road networks work. :-)

[roadman]

The big problem with I-99 is that it doesn’t go anywhere. It goes to Altoona. Who the blazes wants to go to Altoona?

For starters, just about any railfan who's even heard of Horseshoe Curve.

And you may hate the number, but I-99 is far better than the old two-lane US 220 out of Milesburg was.

[Rothman]

Staple Bend Tunnel is also out there somewhere.

[GenExpwy]

The point is that the traffic to Altoona via I-99 is minuscule compared to that headed to Harrisburg or Baltimore via the Susquehanna Valley number hodgepodge.

Sure, there may be a handful of people from Western NY headed to Altoona or Penn State. But the vast majority would be headed toward Harrisburg, because that's where you connect to highways going to places like Philadelphia and Washington and the entire southeastern United States. Sorry, but Horseshoe Curve just doesn't begin to compare in importance.

(And Rochester to Pittsburgh already has I-90 to I-79; I don't see how I-99 to US 22 is that much of an improvement.)

[vdeane]

While I would also like to see an interstate route connecting Rochester to everywhere (though Rochester-Philadelphia is already served by I-476 and I-81), I'm not sure how one would go about upgrading the middle portion.  US 11/15 was done not too long ago and has numerous at-grades with ROW constrained by a river.  Further, US 22/322 on Duncan Island has no ROW period.  Even without the businesses, I don't see how an interchange with PA 849 would even be possible.

Plus traffic from Rochester to DC and south is generally routed along US 15 and I-270, not I-83, so that would need to be upgraded too to provide an all-freeway connection.

[empirestate]

(And Rochester to Pittsburgh already has I-90 to I-79; I don't see how I-99 to US 22 is that much of an improvement.)

Well, simply because from the greater NYC metro to Pittsburgh, Rochester is wayyyyy out of the way...

[cpzilliacus]

Plus traffic from Rochester to DC and south is generally routed along US 15 and I-270, not I-83, so that would need to be upgraded too to provide an all-freeway connection.

Wonder how the Wegmans trucks that I see on U.S. 15 travel once past Harrisburg?

It's about 265 miles from the U.S. 15 junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Harrisburg to Rochester, and most of those miles, if routed with Google, are on non-freeway U.S. 15. 

But Wegmans also has a warehouse complex in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania off I-81 at PA-901 - less than 65 nearly all-freeway miles from the same location in Harrisburg, so maybe that's where most of the trucks I see on U.S. 15 are coming from or going to?

[Buffaboy]

Plus traffic from Rochester to DC and south is generally routed along US 15 and I-270, not I-83, so that would need to be upgraded too to provide an all-freeway connection.

Wonder how the Wegmans trucks that I see on U.S. 15 travel once past Harrisburg?

It's about 265 miles from the U.S. 15 junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Harrisburg to Rochester, and most of those miles, if routed with Google, are on non-freeway U.S. 15. 

But Wegmans also has a warehouse complex in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania off I-81 at PA-901 - less than 65 nearly all-freeway miles from the same location in Harrisburg, so maybe that's where most of the trucks I see on U.S. 15 are coming from or going to?

They only have 1 warehouse to service all of its mid Atlantic territory.

[cl94]

Plans for reconstruction of the I-90/NY 75 interchange in Hamburg were posted. Trumpet on the NY 75 half of the interchange is being removed and replaced with a signal. Some of the temp signals will have 3 up arrows, something I haven't seen in several years.

[RobbieL2415]

The LOSP should be re-named to NY 18 and NY 18 to NY 18A.  Give the western end a proper terminus instead of the dinky little stub it has now.

[Roadgeek Adam]

The LOSP should be re-named to NY 18 and NY 18 to NY 18A.  Give the western end a proper terminus instead of the dinky little stub it has now.

1. That's a complete waste of time. The LOSP is fine as its own.

2. NYSDOT has basically ended the practice of suffixed routes. If not, we'd probably have NY 207A instead of NY 747.

[Buffaboy]

Plans for reconstruction of the I-90/NY 75 interchange in Hamburg were posted. Trumpet on the NY 75 half of the interchange is being removed and replaced with a signal. Some of the temp signals will have 3 up arrows, something I haven't seen in several years.

I live down the street from that. I'll miss the trumpet interchange, but I understand the need to free up land on the other side and replace what is a structurally deficient bridge and ramps with little room to merge onto NY 75.

[cl94]

Huge day for NYSDOT plans:

- NB I-87 rest area plans released. This will be similar to the other recent welcome centers, but in full compliance with federal regulations. Contract info here. Some highlights:
   * Old building being demolished, temporary restrooms adjacent to truck parking will exist during construction.
   * Fenced playground being installed on north side of new building. Will feature a play structure designed to look like a fire tower and a zip line.
   * Chair swing using an old ski lift chair will be installed next to car parking.
   * Fenced dog area will be installed on south side of building.
   * Walk of fame will be installed at entrance, similar to the LI rest area and the upcoming Grand Island one.
   * Taste NY stuff will be entirely through vending machines, but with a prep area behind closed doors. No idea what will be in the machines, but as it's vending machines, it is 100% in compliance.
   * Seating area with Adirondack chairs
   * Floor map with tourist attractions

- Major sign replacements in New York City on most of the expressways/parkways in the outer boroughs that haven't received recent replacements. New shields for the Bronx River Parkway and Korean War Veterans Parkway (which is finally getting the "renamed" signs removed), Grand Central Parkway will have new shields installed along much of the length. That button copy sign on the Bruckner north of the Cross Bronx is safe for now. Contract info here.

Edit: contract info added