Cross Bronx Sign Makeover

[shadyjay]

So I was bored last night and decided to use Google Maps street view to zoom around the Cross Bronx Exp'y in NYC to see if any of the old signs had been replaced.  Not only has the button copy been replaced, but some signs installed during the Brucker overhaul of the 1990s have also gotten replaced.  Signs which once advertised just a route and a bridge now have a destination as well.  Mentions to some expressways are gone, such as SB for I-278, where "BRUCKNER EXPY/TRIBORO BR" has become "RFK BR/MANHATTAN".  US 1 is given full respect when it leaves the CBX with full mention on a BGS, and there's even some cool pull-throughs and diagrammatics.

And not only the BGSs have been replaced, but most of the secondary signage as well, some lighting, and even noticed some new median sections and some grass.  Some of the SB views are not up to date but you can see the new signage from the newer NB view.  Here's a link to get you started, if you feel so inclined:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=new+york,+ny&hl=en&ll=40.830591,-73.851872&spn=0.000345,0.000966&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,93.076172&vpsrc=6&hnear=New+York&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=40.830591,-73.851872&panoid=N22mdjeg4ZCc3L3rQ_HrWg&cbp=12,96.41,,0,-4.25

And it should be noted as well that exit numbers on the CBX remain the original mile-based system, though those on the Trans-Manhattan Expy EB portion still have the EXIT 1/2/3 for EXITS 1A/1B/1C. 

[Roadgeek Adam]

It's a little signage dependent, I remember as of recently, Exits 1C - 4B have had old signage before. I remember a few Jerome Avenue/Webster Avenue signage but a lot has yes been replaced.

[Duke87]

Interesting to note that southbound there is now an exit 1D.

Traditionally, the arrangement has been that the first three interchanges were numbered 1A, 1B, and 1C, with no regard given to individual ramps. The temporary sequential renumbering gave I-87 3S and 3N, but only after the ramp left the highway.

1B for the Harlem River Drive (and Amsterdam Avenue/Washington Bridge) is NB off/SB on, so there previously wasn't a 1B southbound. It seems as though now NYSDOT has elected to make the Washington Bridge exit southbound (previously just part of 1C) into 1B (which I guess makes sense, since destinationwise it matches the NB exit 1B), and turn I-87 NB and SB into 1C and 1D, respectively.





The Washington Bridge exit does, however, remain initially hidden. And there is still no mention of the name "Washington Bridge" (understandable, avoids confusion).

[empirestate]

The Washington Bridge exit does, however, remain initially hidden. And there is still no mention of the name "Washington Bridge" (understandable, avoids confusion).

I've heard it referred to as the 181st Street Bridge.

As for the exit numbering, I should really pay closer attention as I live right there now, but with the GWB/Highbridge Int. project I seldom drive through that area. Even at 3am it's subject to huge delays...

[NJRoadfan]

Wow, a control city of Newark, NJ for I-95/US-1 appeared at exit 3. Better then just "G Washington Br", or worse, the inaccurate "Trenton, NJ" (this appears on PA signage on the NJ side of the bridge). I wonder when the Port Authority is going to change the first 3 exits in NY back to mileage based exits, those signs were put up in 2002 when NY was determined to go sequential on the Cross Bronx.

[shadyjay]

Wow, a control city of Newark, NJ for I-95/US-1 appeared at exit 3. Better then just "G Washington Br", or worse, the inaccurate "Trenton, NJ" (this appears on PA signage on the NJ side of the bridge).

There were a couple on the NY side that said Trenton and they still exist on the Deegan.  Newark is much better, though I think the control points should've been NEW JERSEY (SB) and NEW ENGLAND (NB).  Or, to be creative, NYCDOT could've made the SB control point "TO ALL NEW JERSEY POINTS", a la New Hampshire. 

Regardless, anything's better than Trenton!

[SignBridge]

I agree that "Newark is much better than "Trenton" for the GWB. And I like "New Jersey" and "New England" too, but for better or worse the Feds mandate that city, not state names must be used for destinations.

[HighwayMaster]

NYSDOT should have finished what they started with the exit numbers. If I-278's getting new numbers, why can't I-95?

[KEVIN_224]

I agree that "Newark is much better than "Trenton" for the GWB. And I like "New Jersey" and "New England" too, but for better or worse the Feds mandate that city, not state names must be used for destinations.

That's all well and good. However, there's still an on ramp sign in New Rochelle, possibly at Exit 16, that simply reads I-95 NORTH: CONN.

My one wish for signage in New York will likely never happen: Start with MILE 0 at the state line on the GW Bridge. It's so strange to see the MM NE 15 sign a foot away from the Connecticut state line on the Byram River Bridge in Port Chester. Yes, I am aware that the New England Thruway section (hence the "NE") starts near Exit 8 in the Bronx.

[Duke87]

However, there's still an on ramp sign in New Rochelle, possibly at Exit 16, that simply reads I-95 NORTH: CONN.

Yup. Exit 16. And it's a hideous sign...

My one wish for signage in New York will likely never happen: Start with MILE 0 at the state line on the GW Bridge. It's so strange to see the MM NE 15 sign a foot away from the Connecticut state line on the Byram River Bridge in Port Chester. Yes, I am aware that the New England Thruway section (hence the "NE") starts near Exit 8 in the Bronx.

If the murmur about merging NYSTA with NYSDOT actually becomes reality, that may very well happen.

[KEVIN_224]

Wow! And that's a new sign no less, too! I guess they had no room to squeeze in "NEW HAVEN"? Yikes!

[connroadgeek]

Wow! And that's a new sign no less, too! I guess they had no room to squeeze in "NEW HAVEN"? Yikes!

Well it would be "New Haven CT" since all the new NY signage shows it that way. Guess New Haven is small enough that people might not know where it is without the state.

[KEVIN_224]

New Haven has a population of almost 130,000 people and it has the junction of I-91 and I-95. I think many could find it easy. Ha ha!

[machias]

I have always been a proponent of including the state name on out of state control cities; NYSDOT does this sporadically. I don't think I've ever seen "New Haven CT" on a sign though.

[KEVIN_224]

I hadn't seen that either, until they updated some of the signs recently along I-278 East in the Bronx.

Take note the next time you're on I-278 East: Nearby exits are for White Plains Avenue and Castle Hill Road. Combine the two and you'd get...yes, White Castle. Oddly enough, there's one in the vicinity of those two exits. Neat!

[Duke87]

White Plains Avenue and Castle Hill Road.

That's White Plains Road and Castle Hill Avenue, good sir.

[KEVIN_224]

I stand corrected! It still makes for the odd association with the nearby White Castle though!

[SidS1045]

Someone at the sign shop was asleep that day.  "Expwy" is out of line with "Maj Deegan."

[roadman]

Someone at the sign shop was asleep that day.  "Expwy" is out of line with "Maj Deegan."

It could be that the sign was shipped to the field in more than one piece, and that the "Expwy" legend was added after the panel was re-assembled.