New York

[cockroachking]

FWIW, it is generally illegal for minors (either with a permit or a license) to drive on any parkway in NYS or within NYC city limits.

The restrictions (as follows) are for permit holders, rather than age:

You may not drive with a learner permit:

on any street within a park in New York City
on any bridge or tunnel under the jurisdiction of the Tri-borough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
on the Cross County, Hutchinson River, Saw Mill River, or Taconic State parkways in Westchester County
in a DMV road test area

[RobbieL2415]

FWIW, it is generally illegal for minors (either with a permit or a license) to drive on any parkway in NYS or within NYC city limits.

The restrictions (as follows) are for permit holders, rather than age:

You may not drive with a learner permit:

on any street within a park in New York City
on any bridge or tunnel under the jurisdiction of the Tri-borough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
on the Cross County, Hutchinson River, Saw Mill River, or Taconic State parkways in Westchester County
in a DMV road test area

Any street within a park? As in, the traverses across Central Park? Seems weird to only exclude those roads, but whatever.

[vdeane]

FWIW, it is generally illegal for minors (either with a permit or a license) to drive on any parkway in NYS or within NYC city limits.

The restrictions (as follows) are for permit holders, rather than age:

You may not drive with a learner permit:

on any street within a park in New York City
on any bridge or tunnel under the jurisdiction of the Tri-borough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
on the Cross County, Hutchinson River, Saw Mill River, or Taconic State parkways in Westchester County
in a DMV road test area

There are also restrictions for people with a junior license (those under 18 who haven't taken an approved Driver's Ed course - a full one, not the required five-hour pre-licensing course).  Upstate this consists of restrictions on passengers and driving at night, but downstate is quite strict - Long Island treats them the same as a permit unless driving to/from work or school, and NYC doesn't allow driving with one at all (to the point where they advise delaying the road test to age 18 unless someone has taken an approved Driver's Ed course).

https://dmv.ny.gov/younger-driver/new-york-city-five-boroughs-junior-license-restriction-0
https://dmv.ny.gov/younger-driver/long-island-nassau-suffolk-junior-driver-license-restrictions
https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/upstate-new-york-junior-driver-license-restrictions

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't know if any of you recall the Taconic State Parkway crash back in the summer of 2009 which killed 8 people. I was of course to young to recall it, but I heard about somewhere and went into a rabbithole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Taconic_State_Parkway_crash

The minivan was being driven by Diane Schuler, who was allegedly drunk. Her husband denies this, but her husband seems like a bit of a tool so whatever. There was a documentry made about it. Haven't watched it yet but I intend to eventually.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2011325/

I did read Jackie Hance's book (the mother of three of the girls killed and Diane's sister-in-law), and it mostly focuses on her experiences and famiy though it has some details on the crash. Just a warning, I don't cry much at all and this book made me cry.

https://www.amazon.com/Ill-See-Again-Jackie-Hance/dp/147675800X

The reason I bring this up on this forum is I saw many people on reddit blame the Taconic Parkway itself for the crash, as the road isn't super great. But I'm wondering is there an issue with the road or was this just a tragic accident (or not an accident)?

They were going the wrong direction on the Parkway.  That's on them.

The exact cause of the crash was well established by the investigation. It was caused by the extremely drunk female driver of the van that drove south in the northbound lanes. Her state of intoxication was determined by the official autopsy. She entered the Parkway in the wrong direction by going the wrong way up an exit ramp that was clearly marked. Weather and visibility were excellent at the time.

That section of the Taconic Parkway is a rebuilt modern divided highway with completely controlled access. There was nothing wrong with the road; only with the errant driver. End of story.

I do recall hearing in the news that the state specifically went back to the exit ramp where she allegedly entered the wrong way and put more and larger Do Not Enter / Wrong Way signs and new no left/right turns signs up. Compare the 2008 imagery to more recent times: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.142646,-73.8138526,3a,75y,338.02h,81.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgZQv-syvITLSjlkLUWVhIw!2e0!5s20081101T000000!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

(Edited for grammar)

Different theory about the crash that her husband might have been happier with: she wasn't drunk, she just forgot for a second that the American Revolution happened and thought that we still were the UK where people drive on the left. Call it a time trance.

[webny99]

The exact cause of the crash was well established by the investigation. It was caused by the extremely drunk female driver of the van that drove south in the northbound lanes. Her state of intoxication was determined by the official autopsy. She entered the Parkway in the wrong direction by going the wrong way up an exit ramp that was clearly marked. Weather and visibility were excellent at the time.

That section of the Taconic Parkway is a rebuilt modern divided highway with completely controlled access. There was nothing wrong with the road; only with the errant driver. End of story.

I do recall hearing in the news that the state specifically went back to the exit ramp where she allegedly entered the wrong way and put more and larger Do Not Enter / Wrong Way signs and new no left/right turns signs up. Compare the 2008 imagery to more recent times: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.142646,-73.8138526,3a,75y,338.02h,81.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgZQv-syvITLSjlkLUWVhIw!2e0!5s20081101T000000!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

(Edited for grammar)

By exit ramp standards, that one does look rather easy to accidentally enter, since it's fairly long and straight and there's no corresponding entrance ramp across from it. But even though the design isn't great, the driver is still fully responsible for blowing past the wrong way signage and especially for getting up to freeway speeds without realizing something was majorly wrong.

[Roadgeekteen]

The exact cause of the crash was well established by the investigation. It was caused by the extremely drunk female driver of the van that drove south in the northbound lanes. Her state of intoxication was determined by the official autopsy. She entered the Parkway in the wrong direction by going the wrong way up an exit ramp that was clearly marked. Weather and visibility were excellent at the time.

That section of the Taconic Parkway is a rebuilt modern divided highway with completely controlled access. There was nothing wrong with the road; only with the errant driver. End of story.

I do recall hearing in the news that the state specifically went back to the exit ramp where she allegedly entered the wrong way and put more and larger Do Not Enter / Wrong Way signs and new no left/right turns signs up. Compare the 2008 imagery to more recent times: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.142646,-73.8138526,3a,75y,338.02h,81.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgZQv-syvITLSjlkLUWVhIw!2e0!5s20081101T000000!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

(Edited for grammar)

By exit ramp standards, that one does look rather easy to accidentally enter, since it's fairly long and straight and there's no corresponding entrance ramp across from it. But even though the design isn't great, the driver is still fully responsible for blowing past the wrong way signage and especially for getting up to freeway speeds without realizing something was majorly wrong.

Mulltiple cars going the other direction were honking at her, just didn't notice. Must have been very drunk. She was also going about 85 mph, which is a good 30 mph above the speed limit on the Taconic. The horrifying thing his is that her brother (the dad of her nieces) clearly noticed on a phone call that she was in no shape to drive, and told her to stop. She didn't listen and ended up killing herself and seven other people. Never drive drunk.

[D-Dey65]

I'm pissed off. At Montauk Point State Park, there are a pair of "Do Not Enter" signs at a pedestrian crosswalk near the entrance to the parking areas. One on the north side of this loop of NY 27 was supplemented by an "Exit Only" sign while the other was supplemented by the standard "Wrong Way" sign. Somebody captured the "Exit Only" sign, which was posted in the Wikimedia Commons;


I wanted to capture an image of both in one shot;
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0726797,-71.8595788,3a,75y,106.24h,88.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suvBllpg9SRweYO4zV91siQ!2e0!5s20131001T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Now I find that the "Exit Only" supplemental sign is gone, and has been gone since November 2019. I was there in November 2019, and I didn't notice whether or not it was there.

[D-Dey65]

The exact cause of the crash was well established by the investigation. It was caused by the extremely drunk female driver of the van that drove south in the northbound lanes. Her state of intoxication was determined by the official autopsy. She entered the Parkway in the wrong direction by going the wrong way up an exit ramp that was clearly marked. Weather and visibility were excellent at the time.

That section of the Taconic Parkway is a rebuilt modern divided highway with completely controlled access. There was nothing wrong with the road; only with the impaired driver. End of story.

Given that, and Mr. Matte's link to the ramp where Diane Schuler went the wrong way, I know you're right. There was nothing wrong with this section of the road. There are other sections of the road that need major work, which was the reason many here incorrectly blamed the road itself.

[Roadgeekteen]

The exact cause of the crash was well established by the investigation. It was caused by the extremely drunk female driver of the van that drove south in the northbound lanes. Her state of intoxication was determined by the official autopsy. She entered the Parkway in the wrong direction by going the wrong way up an exit ramp that was clearly marked. Weather and visibility were excellent at the time.

That section of the Taconic Parkway is a rebuilt modern divided highway with completely controlled access. There was nothing wrong with the road; only with the impaired driver. End of story.

Given that, and Mr. Matte's link to the ramp where Diane Schuler went the wrong way, I know you're right. There was nothing wrong with this section of the road. There are other sections of the road that need major work, which was the reason many here incorrectly blamed the road itself.

Hey I wasn't blaiming the road itself. I just saw several other people on other sites do that.

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/report-widower-sues-state-after-tragic-wrong-way-crash-on-taconic-parkway/

Diane's husband did sue the state however, though he was likely just coping.

[D-Dey65]

Oh, I know you weren't blaming the road, and neither am I. I was just reminding everyone here that there are too many segments where NYSDOT refuses to upgrade, and too many communities refused to allow upgrades, and this is more than likely what made others blame the road at first.

While doing a GSV scan of Taconic, and other parkways in Westchester, I noticed a pair of U-turns south of Millwood;
https://historicaerials.com/?layer=map&zoom=12&lat=40.791667&lon=-73.405556
Why? I thought it might've been something leftover from Taconic State Park Commission and Westchester County Parks Commission days (toll booth, service plaza, or whatever), but I see that it wasn't there until the road was widened in the 1990's.

[SignBridge]

Probably built with the modernization for use by official vehicles only.

[astralentity]

The CSX crossing on Blue Barns Road in Clifton Park remains untouched.  I fear its gonna get worse as the weather lumbers its way through April.

[Rothman]

The CSX crossing on Blue Barns Road in Clifton Park remains untouched.  I fear its gonna get worse as the weather lumbers its way through April.

Rail crossings are the responsibility of the railroad to maintain.

[astralentity]

The CSX crossing on Blue Barns Road in Clifton Park remains untouched.  I fear its gonna get worse as the weather lumbers its way through April.

Rail crossings are the responsibility of the railroad to maintain.

I am aware.  Guilford/Pan Am just let it sit there while CP fixed theirs up nicely.  I'm hoping CSX steps it up with maintenance now that they own that line.

[kalvado]

The CSX crossing on Blue Barns Road in Clifton Park remains untouched.  I fear its gonna get worse as the weather lumbers its way through April.

And what exactly is the problem we're talking about?

[astralentity]

The CSX crossing on Blue Barns Road in Clifton Park remains untouched.  I fear its gonna get worse as the weather lumbers its way through April.

And what exactly is the problem we're talking about?

Its been falling apart for years and Pan Am neglected it.  There are times when the frost gets the better of it and it'll almost knock your teeth out.

I suspect that not only do they need to coordinate with DOT on it, but they also need to coordinate with Saratoga County as well because it's a county highway.

[vdeane]

I will note one thing: CSX is not actually taking over this crossing.  This PanAm line is being spun off into a child railway, the Berkshire and Eastern, as part of the deal between CSX and Norfolk Southern to allow the CSX/PanAm merger to go through.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_and_Eastern_Railroad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Systems#CSX_acquisition

[02 Park Ave]

The Storm King Highway portion of NY218 has reopened for the season.

[ixnay]

I will note one thing: CSX is not actually taking over this crossing.  This PanAm line is being spun off into a child railway, the Berkshire and Eastern,

You do Kalmbach Publishing (owners of Trains and Classic Trains) and White River Productions (owners of Railfan & Railroad, Trains and Railroads of the Past, and Railpace, the Northeast's Own Rail Magazine) justice with that term, vdeane.

[mariethefoxy]

be careful if you are driving on the Northern State Parkway in Suffolk County, there are a few really bad potholes between Exit 41 and 42, there were a few vehicles pulled over on the side of the road after one particularly bad one.

It's getting bad by Long Island pavement standards.

Edit: the crater by the Wolf Hill Road off-ramp has been filled

[SignBridge]

Yeah, the Suffolk County section of Northern State Pkwy. is apparently in very bad shape. People have even been writing letters to local newspapers about it.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/hWWs9RMjZHoAuGgB6
What’s up with NY 17M ending randomly instead of at Exit 118 on NY 17 as it should being it’s mother to child relationship?
https://goo.gl/maps/ygR6surxSVZMXADMA

[seicer]

Do a search on historicaerials.com for 41.50055558979486, -74.4094283166162. NY 17M once extended onto now-removed ramps for NY 17.

I am kind of shocked that New York had removed ramps on NY 17 at some point. Many more need to go.

[baugh17]

Unless I missed something, I didn't think that stretch was all that bad when I drove through there a few weeks ago.

NY 109 and the southern part of NY 110, OTOH...

be careful if you are driving on the Northern State Parkway in Suffolk County, there are a few really bad potholes between Exit 41 and 42, there were a few vehicles pulled over on the side of the road after one particularly bad one.

It's getting bad by Long Island pavement standards.

Edit: the crater by the Wolf Hill Road off-ramp has been filled

[74/171FAN]

^Well David Golub drove that part of the Northern State Pkwy so I did not have to.