Poll
Question:
Which dates are good for you?
Option 1: July 9
votes: 5
Option 2: July 16
votes: 5
Option 3: July 23
votes: 7
Option 4: July 30
votes: 5
Option 5: August 6
votes: 6
Option 6: August 13
votes: 6
Option 7: August 20
votes: 4
Option 8: August 27
votes: 5
As discussed of a prior thread, I'm planning to host a meet this summer in New Haven and the Connecticut River Valley. It will be a one-day meet based in New Haven on a Saturday, probably with an optional pre-meet walking tour of the Yale campus for anyone who's interested. Highlights of the meet itself will include the following:
* Oak Street Connector (CT 34) removal
* CT 154 causeway in Old Saybrook
* CT 82 swing bridge in East Haddam
* Arrigoni Bridge (CT 17/CT 66)
* CT 17 and CT 3 expressways, clinched
* Mount Carmel Connector (CT 40) highway-to-nowhere with rock cliffs
* Mountain tunnel on the Wilbur Cross Parkway (CT 15)
So, if you're interested, please indicate your date preferences above.
I can't make this one, but you might also like the East Rock Connector freeway stub at I-91 exit 6. This route was going to straddle the Mill River and connect to Route 10A.
There's no option to pick more than one date.
Quote from: froggie on May 03, 2016, 07:30:45 AM
There's no option to pick more than one date.
Is there a way to configure it so that you can? I couldn't find anything.
"Maximum votes per user" under Poll options. To let a user pick up to 3 options, you set that to 3. If a user can select all options, set the number to how many options you have (in this case, 8).
I'm interested. My calendar is open right now on all those dates, though I'd prefer not July 9 or August 27 and back to back roadtrips can be tiring.
How much of I-95 and CT 15 do you plan to clinch in the tour? May affect my drive over.
Quote from: vdeane on May 03, 2016, 01:29:05 PM
I'm interested. My calendar is open right now on all those dates, though I'd prefer not July 9 or August 27 and back to back roadtrips can be tiring.
How much of I-95 and CT 15 do you plan to clinch in the tour? May affect my drive over.
Most likely I-95 exits 44-69 and CT 15 exits 59-67, although I have yet to finalize the route, so it might change a little around the edges.
Quote from: froggie on May 03, 2016, 11:23:42 AM
"Maximum votes per user" under Poll options. To let a user pick up to 3 options, you set that to 3. If a user can select all options, set the number to how many options you have (in this case, 8).
I see. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it lets you change that once the poll has been created.
Could always ask the mods to fix it. Or ask them to delete the thread and start afresh.
At present, my available Saturdays are July 9 & 30 plus August 6, 13 & 27.
It's adjusted now so that you can select up to eight options in the poll.
I should remember to keep an eye on this so it doesn't interfere with the Tappan Zee meet. That said, I may find out my weekend options are relatively limited. Let's be in touch.
For my part, I put the three weekends I'm tentatively available. We've got a concert the last weekend of July, and my wife is trying to get me to take part in Ride the Dragon (http://ridethedragon.org), a charity event on Lake Champlain. Even if I don't participate, I'll be supporting her, so that rules out 7/16 and 8/6. Classes begin 8/22 so that rules out anything for me from 8/20 on.
As a side note, if anyone's interested in coming up to Burlington on 8/7, that's the day of the charity event.
I might be able to swing this assuming that it doesn't conflict with the Tappan Zee meet. Would give me an excuse to clinch I-91 and the Merritt.
Quote from: cl94 on May 23, 2016, 10:59:22 AM
I might be able to swing this assuming that it doesn't conflict with the Tappan Zee meet. Would give me an excuse to clinch I-91 and the Merritt.
I doubt that two meets relatively close together, that would draw from the same pool of potential attendees, would be scheduled on the same date. What are the two locations, 90 minutes apart? Wouldn't make a lot of sense to have them conflict.
It looks like August is winning for mine but July is winning for this, if that helps.
Quote from: hbelkins on May 23, 2016, 12:10:05 PM
Quote from: cl94 on May 23, 2016, 10:59:22 AM
I might be able to swing this assuming that it doesn't conflict with the Tappan Zee meet. Would give me an excuse to clinch I-91 and the Merritt.
I doubt that two meets relatively close together, that would draw from the same pool of potential attendees, would be scheduled on the same date. What are the two locations, 90 minutes apart? Wouldn't make a lot of sense to have them conflict.
Probably closer to an hour apart. I'm hosting this meet and planning to attend Steve's TZ meet, so I'll be making sure they don't get scheduled for the same day.
I've been through the Heroes Tunnel on CT-15 many times. It's the only highway tunnel through rock in New England, if memory serves. Good choice.
Connecticut is also, as you probably know, chock full of stubs of highways cancelled by an epidemic of NIMBY-ism. Some of these you might consider, if you haven't already:
CT-72 in Bristol.
I-84 exit 11 in Newtown (what the heck was that thing supposed to connect to?).
Portions of US-7 in Fairfield County from I-95 up to New Milford. Bet THAT road has a few stubs!
The CT-9/I-84 interchange (I-84 exit 39A/CT-9 Exit 31) by the West Farms Mall in Bristol. South Road may be a good place for a meet photo, although there are sound barriers there that may prevent a good view of the stub -- I've always been a passenger here and the driver has not stopped. You'll have to do some scouting.
How about a clinch of CT-11, and a look at its stub end at CT-82?
The CT-25 expressway from CT-8.
Despite several visits to the Hartford area owing to my in-laws living there, I haven't seen any of these.
CT-8 has some absolutely fantastic scenery.
CT-9 is potentially interesting in the Middletown area. I think there's a numbered "exit" for an at-grade intersection there, but I haven't been down that highway in a long while.
All of the weekends in the poll are currently open for me, and my wife is also interested in going (of course combining it with a family visit).
Depending on how geographically spread you want this, you might also do a drive up I-395 to show Connecticut's first milepost-based exit numbers.
Quote from: tckma on May 31, 2016, 02:24:19 PM
I've been through the Heroes Tunnel on CT-15 many times. It's the only highway tunnel through rock in New England, if memory serves. Good choice.
Connecticut is also, as you probably know, chock full of stubs of highways cancelled by an epidemic of NIMBY-ism. Some of these you might consider, if you haven't already:
CT-72 in Bristol.
I-84 exit 11 in Newtown (what the heck was that thing supposed to connect to?).
Portions of US-7 in Fairfield County from I-95 up to New Milford. Bet THAT road has a few stubs!
The CT-9/I-84 interchange (I-84 exit 39A/CT-9 Exit 31) by the West Farms Mall in Bristol. South Road may be a good place for a meet photo, although there are sound barriers there that may prevent a good view of the stub -- I've always been a passenger here and the driver has not stopped. You'll have to do some scouting.
How about a clinch of CT-11, and a look at its stub end at CT-82?
The CT-25 expressway from CT-8.
Despite several visits to the Hartford area owing to my in-laws living there, I haven't seen any of these.
CT-8 has some absolutely fantastic scenery.
CT-9 is potentially interesting in the Middletown area. I think there's a numbered "exit" for an at-grade intersection there, but I haven't been down that highway in a long while.
All of the weekends in the poll are currently open for me, and my wife is also interested in going (of course combining it with a family visit).
All excellent ideas, although a bit further from New Haven than I was planning to have the meet take us, with the exception of CT 9 in Middletown, which will be part of the meet. That said, if people are interested, I'd be open to the possibility of adding an informal second day to explore points of interest in the northern and eastern areas of Connecticut, including any or all of your suggestions.
OK, I've scheduled the meet for July 23, since that seems to work for the most people. The Facebook page for the meet is up at https://www.facebook.com/events/742170809219701/. I'm also planning to host an optional pre-meet walking tour of the campus of Yale University, which happens to be my alma mater. I've created a separate Facebook event for that at https://www.facebook.com/events/1759501847618948/. Please RSVP separately for both so that I know how many people to expect for each. Thanks!
Hate to do this, but after this weekend and plans that were made, I have to pull my vote for the 23rd.
FYI, there's a park and ride near CT 40 if you want to pull an Ottawa. Otherwise, the best parking would appear to be the garage on CT 34... the parking in the median of Broadway is REALLY expensive!
Quote from: vdeane on June 01, 2016, 12:29:01 PM
FYI, there's a park and ride near CT 40 if you want to pull an Ottawa. Otherwise, the best parking would appear to be the garage on CT 34... the parking in the median of Broadway is REALLY expensive!
There's also parking at the train station in West Haven, which appears to be free on weekends.
http://ctrides.com/parking
If I may suggest something... when I organized my 2011 New Haven meet we started at a restaurant in Hamden explicitly because no place in downtown New Haven had readily available free parking/parking where people could leave their cars undisturbed as we did the tour.
While the particular restaurant we ate at no longer exists (a self storage facility now occupies the property), I would strongly consider doing something similar and starting away from downtown. To have the meetup location for a road meet be in a spot that does not have plentiful free parking is not entirely unprecedented, but it is certainly both unusual and undesirable since almost everyone will be arriving by car.
EDIT: also bear in mind that depending on attendance the venue may need to be capable of accommodating a large group. Not all restaurants are.
Quote from: Duke87 on June 01, 2016, 11:13:27 PM
If I may suggest something... when I organized my 2011 New Haven meet we started at a restaurant in Hamden explicitly because no place in downtown New Haven had readily available free parking/parking where people could leave their cars undisturbed as we did the tour.
While the particular restaurant we ate at no longer exists (a self storage facility now occupies the property), I would strongly consider doing something similar and starting away from downtown. To have the meetup location for a road meet be in a spot that does not have plentiful free parking is not entirely unprecedented, but it is certainly both unusual and undesirable since almost everyone will be arriving by car.
EDIT: also bear in mind that depending on attendance the venue may need to be capable of accommodating a large group. Not all restaurants are.
I definitely hear you, the only catch is that those of us who are doing the Yale tour will need to be on the ground in New Haven proper anyway. It looks like parking in the Broadway lot only gets really expensive if you're staying there for an extended period of time; at first it's only $1.50/hour. I'm thinking we do that for lunch and then move the extra cars to the train lot in West Haven where it's free.
Or skip lunch and have folks congregate at a given hour for the tour. From experience, it gives a bit more flexibility in scheduling and those traveling to the location, and you're not beholden to poor timing or delays at a restaurant. Those who were at a certain SEPA event will know exactly what I'm talking about.
For the Ottawa meet, we met at the park and ride and carpooled to lunch. Perhaps that could work here? You could have everything based at either the train station or the park and ride (the latter works better for having daylight for my clinch of I-91 when I leave, but the former works better for clinching everything else in the morning because then I wouldn't have to cross New Haven before the meet; plus it appears to have more space) and carpool over to Yale and the restaurant. Plus, then nobody would have to pay for parking unless they volunteer to be a driver on the tours. I would expect someone who parked at Broadway who was attending the Yale pre-meet to be parked there a minimum of 2-3 hours; two hours for lunch is usually the assumed amount when planning.
I never was a fan of the dance of everyone moving their cars between lunch and the tour; seems like it just adds a chance for everyone to get separated. It seems that the trend started at Monticello is here to stay, though (I assume due to reservations and people not always showing up on time, which is why I capitulated to the trend for the Capital District meet).
Quote from: vdeane on June 03, 2016, 01:08:27 PM
Plus, then nobody would have to pay for parking unless they volunteer to be a driver on the tours.
How big is the Yale campus anyway? For some reason I assumed the pre-meet campus tour would be a walking tour.
Quote from: tckma on June 03, 2016, 02:00:37 PM
Quote from: vdeane on June 03, 2016, 01:08:27 PM
Plus, then nobody would have to pay for parking unless they volunteer to be a driver on the tours.
How big is the Yale campus anyway? For some reason I assumed the pre-meet campus tour would be a walking tour.
It would be, but the campus is in New Haven proper, so people would need to get there from West Haven or Hamden.
Quote from: froggie on June 03, 2016, 07:59:35 AMThose who were at a certain SEPA event will know exactly what I'm talking about.
This came up during the Corridor H meet, but I don't remember why or in what context.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 03, 2016, 07:40:40 PM
Quote from: froggie on June 03, 2016, 07:59:35 AMThose who were at a certain SEPA event will know exactly what I'm talking about.
This came up during the Corridor H meet, but I don't remember why or in what context.
It comes up pretty much every time we ask a restaurant to do separate checks. "Hopefully it won't take two hours this time like it did at the Southeast PA meet!"
Quote from: Duke87 on June 03, 2016, 07:59:13 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 03, 2016, 07:40:40 PM
Quote from: froggie on June 03, 2016, 07:59:35 AMThose who were at a certain SEPA event will know exactly what I'm talking about.
This came up during the Corridor H meet, but I don't remember why or in what context.
It comes up pretty much every time we ask a restaurant to do separate checks. "Hopefully it won't take two hours this time like it did at the Southeast PA meet!"
You need to tell your server you'll want separate checks as soon as she says, "Hi my name is Lulabelle and I'll be taking care of you folks today." It's more work to split a check once the order has been placed. This way they actually put them in as separate orders.
(spoken as someone who goes to a lot of group lunches for work that our company does not pay for).
Quote from: tckma on June 03, 2016, 10:55:15 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on June 03, 2016, 07:59:13 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 03, 2016, 07:40:40 PM
Quote from: froggie on June 03, 2016, 07:59:35 AMThose who were at a certain SEPA event will know exactly what I'm talking about.
This came up during the Corridor H meet, but I don't remember why or in what context.
It comes up pretty much every time we ask a restaurant to do separate checks. "Hopefully it won't take two hours this time like it did at the Southeast PA meet!"
You need to tell your server you'll want separate checks as soon as she says, "Hi my name is Lulabelle and I'll be taking care of you folks today." It's more work to split a check once the order has been placed. This way they actually put them in as separate orders.
(spoken as someone who goes to a lot of group lunches for work that our company does not pay for).
Honestly, it's best to mention it when making the reservation so they put a note in the system. At some places, they'll number the seats and do everything by seat number. This was the case at the Toronto meet.
Basically, with the SEPA meet of 2010, the waitress took the better part of 30 minutes with our cash/credit cards.
Jeff Kitsko had other complaints about Sly Fox, but that's the well known one.
Ooh, we may be able to make this meet. Now that I'm not a full time student anymore, we can branch out a bit from just staying in the mid-atlantic.
Quote from: Roadgeek AdamBasically, with the SEPA meet of 2010, the waitress took the better part of 30 minutes two hours with our cash/credit cards.
FTFY. It was well over an hour, not 30 minutes.
As for the meet and the date, I'm about 70% that I'll be able to make it. May have some Upper Midwestern swag to bring with me.
It's been 6 years, pardon my lack of memory of how long it took.
I posted this to the Facebook event, and I'll post it here in case there's anyone who isn't getting notifications:
There have been a number of people expressing a preference for having the meet restaurant be in the suburbs so that it's not necessary to pay for parking. If I moved it to Pizerria Uno in Milford, there's free station parking a few blocks away there. The catch is that Milford is about 15 minutes away from New Haven, so we'd need to shorten the Yale tour. Alternatively, I could move up the meet to 11:00 AM and then do the Yale afterwards, somewhere in the 5-6 PM range, and then have dinner in New Haven. Anyone have any preferences on how we do this?
It sounds to me like you're trying to cram a lot in. In that case, I'd suggest a meet point at a P&R and attendees can get their own lunch beforehand. Those who would like to do so can get together for dinner afterwards.
The main benefit of this is that you're not tied to keeping lunch to a certain (usually-running-late-anyway) time period.
Quote from: froggie on June 19, 2016, 09:03:44 AM
It sounds to me like you're trying to cram a lot in. In that case, I'd suggest a meet point at a P&R and attendees can get their own lunch beforehand. Those who would like to do so can get together for dinner afterwards.
The main benefit of this is that you're not tied to keeping lunch to a certain (usually-running-late-anyway) time period.
I agree. Given the traffic we might see in the area, I picture lunch running late if people arrive late.
Of course, if we shift lunch to dinner, then people have to leave earlier to catch food on the way and I'm less likely to have daylight for when I clinch I-91 on the way back.
Quote from: vdeane on June 19, 2016, 03:17:42 PM
Of course, if we shift lunch to dinner, then people have to leave earlier to catch food on the way and I'm less likely to have daylight for when I clinch I-91 on the way back.
Or you could skip dinner with the group -- which is what I will do if I end up coming and there is no lunch. I'll leave at the end of the tour and not do the dinner.
QuoteOf course, if we shift lunch to dinner, then people have to leave earlier to catch food on the way and I'm less likely to have daylight for when I clinch I-91 on the way back.
The amount of time required for one to catch their own lunch beforehand is far less than the amount of time required for a group lunch. This is far less of an issue than you're making it out to be.
Still, it's unpredictable. The moment I start to have to factor in unpredictable things, the more likely it is that I'll arrive early and get stuck sitting around doing nothing while I wait for people to show up (seriously, I've found myself a whole half hour earlier than everyone else before even without getting food on the way since I tend to pad time "just in case"; it's not fun). Plus I don't do the "peel off early" thing, so daylight is indeed a factor (though I've clinched interstates at night before, I try to avoid it).
Bring a book. Play a game on your phone or tablet. Read and answer emails. Surf the 'Net. Read this forum. There's plenty of things to do to pass the time if you're early. And it's very likely that some others will be early, too, and you can visit with them if that's your thing until the whole group gets there. I'd rather be early than late.
Now that we're less than 3 weeks out, any updates?
From what has been posted on Facebook:
11 AM at Friday's on US 1 in Orange (Turnpike Exit 41)
Quote from: cl94 on July 04, 2016, 11:22:18 PM
From what has been posted on Facebook:
11 AM at Friday's on US 1 in Orange (Turnpike Exit 41)
Yep. We'll have an early lunch and then head out. I've moved the Yale tour to after the meet, so that way it won't delay things and anyone who isn't interested can just peel off when the meet ends. I scouted out the meet route on Saturday, and it looks like we should probably be able to fit in CT 11, but it's easy to cut out if we get behind schedule and need the extra 35 minutes, so we can make a game-time decision when we're in Old Saybrook.
I'm very close to finalizing the directions at this point, so I should have them posted on Facebook within a week or so.
Guessing I missed it, but where/when on Facebook was it posted?
My current inclination is to drop by for lunch and go on CT route clinching otherwise.
Quote from: froggie on July 05, 2016, 09:21:32 AM
Guessing I missed it, but where/when on Facebook was it posted?
Event page, some point over the past couple days.
Quote from: cl94 on July 05, 2016, 06:21:54 PM
Quote from: froggie on July 05, 2016, 09:21:32 AM
Guessing I missed it, but where/when on Facebook was it posted?
Event page, some point over the past couple days.
The event has been up on Facebook for a while at https://www.facebook.com/events/742170809219701/.
Quote from: Alps on July 05, 2016, 05:42:37 PM
My current inclination is to drop by for lunch and go on CT route clinching otherwise.
What are you planning to clinch?
Barring an unforeseen circumstance, I am in. Have a friend who is interning in the New Haven area, so I could theoretically visit him after the meet to combine trips.
Quote from: dgolub on July 05, 2016, 07:36:10 PM
Quote from: Alps on July 05, 2016, 05:42:37 PM
My current inclination is to drop by for lunch and go on CT route clinching otherwise.
What are you planning to clinch?
The state highway system. I have two trips left, and one will knock out most of it.
Quote from: Alps on July 06, 2016, 12:05:36 AM
Quote from: dgolub on July 05, 2016, 07:36:10 PM
Quote from: Alps on July 05, 2016, 05:42:37 PM
My current inclination is to drop by for lunch and go on CT route clinching otherwise.
What are you planning to clinch?
The state highway system. I have two trips left, and one will knock out most of it.
Yeah, I still have quite a bit left to cover in CT, so there's probably a good fraction of what you're doing that's stuff I don't have yet. I would have said I'd be interested in tagging along if not for the fact that I'm hosting the meet at the same time.
It is starting to look like my budget will not allow me to attend this meetup. I'm going to need to talk to my wife, but at this point I don't see how I can go to this one. :(
We're now a week out, so please update your replies on Facebook if you haven't done so yet. I'm planning to make the reservation over the next couple of days.
I'm booked for 2 nights at the Hampton Inn at Exit 42. Looking forward to meeting everyone.
Will there be any more changes to the meet notes before Saturday? Just asking so I know if I can print them out before I leave tomorrow morning.
Quote from: cl94 on July 21, 2016, 02:14:48 PM
Will there be any more changes to the meet notes before Saturday? Just asking so I know if I can print them out before I leave tomorrow morning.
There are no plans to change anything. What's at the link should be final.