New York

[mariethefoxy]

Something else I noticed on the LIE, the state DOT seems adverse to using those really really tall streetlights with the group of lights at the top, at Exit 49, each quadrant of the cloverleaf had one, now two of the quadrants are missing them with regular streetlights installed instead up the ramps.

Then there is the unexplainable way that the streetlights and sign backs are painted brown in Nassau county, but other expressways in Nassau (135 and 878) have bare metal ones.

[SignBridge]

Signbacks, streetlights and guide rails being painted brown is only on the Long Island State Parkways, formerly run by the Long Island State Park Commission until about 1976. I assume the reason was to maintain a "park like" appearance on the parkways, to maintain kind of a tradition on those particular roads.

The brown paint is mostly on original fixtures that were done as part of large scale replacement projects. Newer signs, guide rails etc. that replaced damaged ones are usually the standard metal color.

[storm2k]

Signbacks, streetlights and guide rails being painted brown is only on the Long Island State Parkways, formerly run by the Long Island State Park Commission until about 1976. I assume the reason was to maintain a "park like" appearance on the parkways, to maintain kind of a tradition on those particular roads.

The brown paint is mostly on original fixtures that were done as part of large scale replacement projects. Newer signs, guide rails etc. that replaced damaged ones are usually the standard metal color.

NJDOT did that on the part of 78 through the Watching Reservation that was opened in the mid 80s. I believe it was done for the same reason (more wildlife kinda setting) but as signs have been replaced over the years, they have standard plain backs and posts.

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

NY seems to be very averse to highway lighting compared to other states. I guess it's sort of a good thing due to reduced light pollution, but it makes driving at night much more unpleasant.

[cl94]

NY seems to be very averse to highway lighting compared to other states. I guess it's sort of a good thing due to reduced light pollution, but it makes driving at night much more unpleasant.

New York removed a lot of lighting in the 70s as an energy-saving measure. Since the local municipality has to pay to operate the lights in most parts of the state (even on freeways), it hasn't been put back when removed. The Hudson Valley and Capital District in particular are quite averse to lighting, with Region 1 having no freeway lighting apart from bridges and former toll plazas and Region 8 keeping it to southern Westchester County, while lighting in Regions 3 and 5 is mostly limited to the city limits of Syracuse and Buffalo, respectively.

[seicer]

It's nice to have dark sky areas in the Adirondacks. Those sodium vapor lights (and non-recessed light fixtures) were awful for bleeding out into the countryside.

[SignBridge]

After removing the old incandescent lights on some Long Island Parkways in the 1970's, Region-10 has installed new lights in recent years to restore the old lighting with newer style lamps such as sodium vapor which are still in use. No LED lighting yet but I actually think the S.V. lights are brighter and more effective.

[mariethefoxy]

After removing the old incandescent lights on some Long Island Parkways in the 1970's, Region-10 has installed new lights in recent years to restore the old lighting with newer style lamps such as sodium vapor which are still in use. No LED lighting yet but I actually think the S.V. lights are brighter and more effective.

They ripped out the wooden lights on Ocean Parkway and replaced them with nothing, only the far eastern end of hte parkway has some retro woodie streetlights

[Dougtone]

Did you know that it's all the rage to have a NY 990V page? A new blog article on the curiously numbered NY 990V in Schoharie County, New York is now here.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/01/the-curious-case-of-ny-990v.html

[storm2k]

After removing the old incandescent lights on some Long Island Parkways in the 1970's, Region-10 has installed new lights in recent years to restore the old lighting with newer style lamps such as sodium vapor which are still in use. No LED lighting yet but I actually think the S.V. lights are brighter and more effective.

My personal take here, but the newer generations of LED lighting do a much much better job than some earlier variants of LEDs or SV's, and without as much light pollution to boot. Take these fixtures that were installed at the end of NJTP Exit 12 at the interchange with Drift Rd/Industrial Highway in Carteret. They replaced SV fixtures sometime in 2017-18 and the light they put out is both brighter and cleaner than the SV's they replaced (which were installed when Exit 12 was reconstructed so they weren't that old, maybe 10 years or so?). These LEDs are way better than, for example these fixtures that PSEG favored and installed a ton of in the mid aughts. I think newer, better, and far more efficient fixtures that are now available will help accelerate the conversion to LED lighting as time goes on.

[kalvado]

Maybe a small thing... They were putting murals on a ramp of newly built exit 3 of I-87 "Northway".
Story behind:
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Mohican-Nation-says-New-York-silent-about-not-15817599.php
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/State-reverses-again-will-put-Native-American-15891716.php

[vdeane]

NYSDOT posted the presentation from last night's public meeting on the NY 363/NY 434 interchange project in Binghamton.  They've narrowed down to two alternatives.
https://www.dot.ny.gov/363gateway/projectdocuments

[74/171FAN]

NYSDOT posted the presentation from last night's public meeting on the NY 363/NY 434 interchange project in Binghamton.  They've narrowed down to two alternatives.
https://www.dot.ny.gov/363gateway/projectdocuments

I would recommend Alternative 1.12.  Alternative 1.11b puts all of the NY 363 SB to NY 434 WB traffic to city streets that is unnecessary.

The bonus with 1.12 is getting a very sizeable area of green space that would not be affected by the city street increase in 1.11b.

[froggie]

Agree with 1.12 over 1.11b.  More direct 363/434 connections than 1.11b despite the traffic signal, and also eliminates the NB/SB lane crossover jumble.

[Alps]

I wonder if C1.12 can really handle traffic volumes on 434. I've been there during near-peak times and it's not inconsiderable.

[cl94]

I wonder if C1.12 can really handle traffic volumes on 434. I've been there during near-peak times and it's not inconsiderable.

PHV for the movement from 363 to 434 is 460 veh/hr. A double left turn could probably handle that as well as a loop ramp if the phasing is correct.

[Alps]

I wonder if C1.12 can really handle traffic volumes on 434. I've been there during near-peak times and it's not inconsiderable.

PHV for the movement from 363 to 434 is 460 veh/hr. A double left turn could probably handle that as well as a loop ramp if the phasing is correct.

That light? I'm surprised. But I defer to the traffic engineers.

[cl94]

I wonder if C1.12 can really handle traffic volumes on 434. I've been there during near-peak times and it's not inconsiderable.

PHV for the movement from 363 to 434 is 460 veh/hr. A double left turn could probably handle that as well as a loop ramp if the phasing is correct.

That light? I'm surprised. But I defer to the traffic engineers.

I'll build a Synchro model at some point tonight to test this out. At worst, I don't think it would perform any worse than the current weavefest.

Full alternative list is here. 1.12 is by far the best of the group.

[roadman65]

Does the LIE have mileage signs along it? Back in 1988 my one and only time on it I remember only one East of the Queens- Nassau Border for Riverhead and nothing eastward.  Never been on it west except in Queens near former Shea Stadium and to the Midtown Tunnel and of course none I never saw there.

LIE has no big cities of interest along it may be why, but without mile based numbers on exits makes the 70 plus miles drive very long as no major reference points to note along its way does not help either.

[cl94]

Does the LIE have mileage signs along it? Back in 1988 my one and only time on it I remember only one East of the Queens- Nassau Border for Riverhead and nothing eastward.  Never been on it west except in Queens near former Shea Stadium and to the Midtown Tunnel and of course none I never saw there.

LIE has no big cities of interest along it may be why, but without mile based numbers on exits makes the 70 plus miles drive very long as no major reference points to note along its way does not help either.

Please, the LIE doesn't even have mileposts. Region 10 doesn't use them.

[vdeane]

I think the travel time VMS signs include mileage, but as for regular ones, I don't think so.

[The Ghostbuster]

Why does the LIE's exit sequence start at 13? It's not like there would have been 13 exits along the Mid-Manhattan Expressway had that route been built. I understand why the Southern State Parkway starts at Exit 13, since Exits 25 through 36 on the Cross Island Parkway were once numbered 1 though 12, increasing as one went south. The exits on the LIE probably should have been numbered 1-60 (or 3-63 if you include the two exits on the unbuilt MME). If the LIE exits were mileage-based, they would probably be numbered 1A-71.

[dkblake]

Why does the LIE's exit sequence start at 13? It's not like there would have been 13 exits along the Mid-Manhattan Expressway had that route been built. I understand why the Southern State Parkway starts at Exit 13, since Exits 25 through 36 on the Cross Island Parkway were once numbered 1 though 12, increasing as one went south. The exits on the LIE probably should have been numbered 1-60 (or 3-63 if you include the two exits on the unbuilt MME). If the LIE exits were mileage-based, they would probably be numbered 1A-71.

I always presumed it's because 34th Street (or one of the nearby streets) acts as the "connection" between NJ 495 and I-495, and that stretch of Manhattan goes from 1st to 12th Ave.

[storm2k]

Why does the LIE's exit sequence start at 13? It's not like there would have been 13 exits along the Mid-Manhattan Expressway had that route been built. I understand why the Southern State Parkway starts at Exit 13, since Exits 25 through 36 on the Cross Island Parkway were once numbered 1 though 12, increasing as one went south. The exits on the LIE probably should have been numbered 1-60 (or 3-63 if you include the two exits on the unbuilt MME). If the LIE exits were mileage-based, they would probably be numbered 1A-71.

Does this account for the NJ stretch of 495? The Staten Island Expwy starts at 3 because there are two exits on the NJ stretch before the Goethals. Maybe they were going to do something similar here?

[Alps]

Why does the LIE's exit sequence start at 13? It's not like there would have been 13 exits along the Mid-Manhattan Expressway had that route been built. I understand why the Southern State Parkway starts at Exit 13, since Exits 25 through 36 on the Cross Island Parkway were once numbered 1 though 12, increasing as one went south. The exits on the LIE probably should have been numbered 1-60 (or 3-63 if you include the two exits on the unbuilt MME). If the LIE exits were mileage-based, they would probably be numbered 1A-71.

Does this account for the NJ stretch of 495? The Staten Island Expwy starts at 3 because there are two exits on the NJ stretch before the Goethals. Maybe they were going to do something similar here?

The interesting thing is that NJ has never done sequential. Only the Turnpike has. (Okay, and the lettered exits in Atlantic City, but that's a bit different.) 495 would have gotten into the 2s in NJ, so exiting in NY would get you at most 3-4 on the west side of Manhattan. How do you get from 4 to 13?