New Jersey

[Roadrunner75]

and the revamp of the interchange at Routes 9 and 35: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/tcp15/sec4/route/rt9.pdf (listed at bottom of page)

Wow - finally.  Fixing that "interchange" should have been a priority long ago. 

[J Route Z]

and the revamp of the interchange at Routes 9 and 35: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/tcp15/sec4/route/rt9.pdf (listed at bottom of page)

Wow - finally.  Fixing that "interchange" should have been a priority long ago.

I assume you have driven through it? Heh. Yeah it sure should have.

[Zeffy]

Saw some road work on I-95 north in Ewing today - looks like Exit 2 for CR 579 was closed off among other things. I looked on NJDOT's website, Mercer County's website, couldn't find nothing on it. Anyone know what's going on?

[storm2k]

So is all the money going to fixing potholes and that's it? For example; US 206 in Somerset County is listed, but what are they going to do there? There's already repaving work in Mercer County (where the pavement degrades in quality the moment you cross from Montgomery) on 206, but no repaving is going to alleviate the horrible congestion the road has. If you're stuck behind a truck you're practically SOL until you get to a passing zone, which lasts all of about 1/2 mile most of the time. The congestion from Hillsborough all the way up to the Somerville Circle (and even further north all the way up to I-287) during rushhour is insane. Unless the bypass of US 206 is signed as the truck route while the mainline US 206 is signed for local deliveries only, Hillsborough congestion isn't going to get better even when the bypass is completed. Having ridden the open portions, it's a one-land road both ways, just like US 206 itself in Hillsborough is.

I know that money isn't magical, but something needs to be done so we can replenish our depleted Highway Trust Fund. Once that is done, we need to find ways to improve roadways that aren't simply repaving.

The good part about the bypass is that it will take traffic away from the "main street" part of current 206 in Hillsborough, around Amwell, new Amwell, Triangle, etc., which will help. I'm not really all that sure why they striped the damn thing as divided super 2 (much like the 33 bypass in freehold), but i'm sure a good dose of nimby'ism was involved. i was disappointed when i rode that section, both that there is only 2 lanes **and** that there are traffic lights.

The truth, though, is that nnless they ever figure out how to rebuild the section of 206 between the eventual northern end of the bypass and where they built the 4 lane segment 15 years ago, nothing will improve in any tangible fashion. The Conrail overpass really mucks up the ability to do much in that area. I doubt that NJDOT can get Conrail to build up their tracks to allow for a better overpass, and there isn't the room to construct an overpass of 206 over the tracks without some serious landtaking, so we're kind of stuck with another half finished and not very useful road bypass that will do little more than lip service to fix the traffic problems of the area.

[jeffandnicole]

Can't wait for the replacement of the Route 495 bridge over Route 1/9: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/tcp15/sec4/route/rt9.pdf

and the revamp of the interchange at Routes 9 and 35: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/tcp15/sec4/route/rt9.pdf (listed at bottom of page)

They should be going out to bid sometime next year?

9 & 35: They are in the PE (Planning & Engineering, I believe) phase...a very early phase.  The construction part of the project isn't until FY2020 at the earliest.

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/stip1423/sec3/routes/rt35.pdf

[akotchi]

Saw some road work on I-95 north in Ewing today - looks like Exit 2 for CR 579 was closed off among other things. I looked on NJDOT's website, Mercer County's website, couldn't find nothing on it. Anyone know what's going on?

Was just up there this morning -- my wife works at the new hospital at Exit 3, and my office is at Exit 8 (though I take U.S. 1).  On the northbound side, an overhead sign structure providing guide signs for Exit 2 has been down for a time, possibly due to structural issues.  The work in this area might be to replace the structure -- some is in the median, some on the outer northbound side.  Could not tell for sure behind the barriers, but the work may include new foundations and guide rail treatments, too.  Portable VMS are there providing the missing messages:  one on the right for Exit 2, one on the left for the downstream Exit 3.

This seems to be the only construction work going on there.  Not sure why the exit ramp would have been closed last weekend.

[Zeffy]

For this month only, tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway will be waived on every Tuesday:

http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2014/10/atlantic_city_expressway_rolls_out_toll_free_tuesdays.html#incart_river

ATLANTIC CITY – There will be no tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway on Tuesday this month for eastbound travelers.

In an effort to bring visitors into Atlantic City in the middle of the week, travel along the highway will be free from noon to midnight starting today, the Atlantic City Alliance announced. Drivers can proceed through the Egg Harbor and Pleasantville toll plazas without stopping.

The alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes the city, also unveiled a series of low-cost hotel packages.

In addition, the parking fee will be waived at the The Wave Parking Garage at Mississippi and Fairmount avenues on Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m..

I'm not sure if that will help Atlantic City, because there are alternate toll-free routes into AC, plus, people are, well, working on Tuesdays usually.

[Pete from Boston]

For this month only, tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway will be waived on every Tuesday:

http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2014/10/atlantic_city_expressway_rolls_out_toll_free_tuesdays.html#incart_river

ATLANTIC CITY – There will be no tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway on Tuesday this month for eastbound travelers.

In an effort to bring visitors into Atlantic City in the middle of the week, travel along the highway will be free from noon to midnight starting today, the Atlantic City Alliance announced. Drivers can proceed through the Egg Harbor and Pleasantville toll plazas without stopping.

The alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes the city, also unveiled a series of low-cost hotel packages.

In addition, the parking fee will be waived at the The Wave Parking Garage at Mississippi and Fairmount avenues on Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m..

I'm not sure if that will help Atlantic City, because there are alternate toll-free routes into AC, plus, people are, well, working on Tuesdays usually.

Good
friggin'
luck.

This is mostly a way to invent something positive to attach the words "Atlantic City" to in the news.  And since the effort's futile and sad, it completely backfires in this regard. 

[odditude]

Saw some road work on I-95 north in Ewing today - looks like Exit 2 for CR 579 was closed off among other things. I looked on NJDOT's website, Mercer County's website, couldn't find nothing on it. Anyone know what's going on?

Was just up there this morning -- my wife works at the new hospital at Exit 3, and my office is at Exit 8 (though I take U.S. 1).  On the northbound side, an overhead sign structure providing guide signs for Exit 2 has been down for a time, possibly due to structural issues.  The work in this area might be to replace the structure -- some is in the median, some on the outer northbound side.  Could not tell for sure behind the barriers, but the work may include new foundations and guide rail treatments, too.  Portable VMS are there providing the missing messages:  one on the right for Exit 2, one on the left for the downstream Exit 3.

This seems to be the only construction work going on there.  Not sure why the exit ramp would have been closed last weekend.

i drive by this every day (exit 2 is home). looks like they're doing drainage work, and needed to take the gantry down for full access under the support tower in the median.

the new sign for "no trucks over 4 tons on 579 North" on northbound 95 is very poorly placed; it partially occludes the 1/4 advance sign for the exit. it should be farther away from the edge of the road and possibly 20 feet forward.

[J Route Z]

They already closed 7 casinos.  The tolls are what make AC stay alive.

[Pete from Boston]

Seven?  The story apparently got old here after five.  Reporting on it also hurts our new best friends the casino developers of Massachusetts.

[jeffandnicole]

I assume we're just making up random numbers now, right?

This year, Hilton, Revel, Showboat & Trump Plaza have closed. 4 total. Not 5. Definitely not 7.

[Pete from Boston]

I thought Taj Mahal was done.  Must have been speculation that I heard.

[Zeffy]

I assume we're just making up random numbers now, right?

This year, Hilton, Revel, Showboat & Trump Plaza have closed. 4 total. Not 5. Definitely not 7.

I was about to say. NJ.com reported all of these, and I sure hope they would continue to report those that continue to close. RIP Atlantic City... 

the new sign for "no trucks over 4 tons on 579 North" on northbound 95 is very poorly placed; it partially occludes the 1/4 advance sign for the exit. it should be farther away from the edge of the road and possibly 20 feet forward.

I noticed this as well. It's not particularly conspicuous either, being more of a small white sign than anything else. Did 579 always have truck restrictions on it?

[jeffandnicole]

It's pretty much National news when a casino closes. The Taj has threatened that they may be next, but nothing beyond that.

[PHLBOS]

There's also a rumor that the recently-closed Revel (a casino that shouldn't have been built in the first place IMHO due to casino competition in neighboring states) may be getting a new buyer that will still operate it as a casino/hotel.

Reporting on it also hurts our new best friends the casino developers of Massachusetts.

Should that MA casino ballot question pass next month; Wynn will just pack up & leave; he has a history of doing such. 

He ditched Philly twice already: once for the originally-planned Foxwoods Casino and than later for his own casino (the rendering looked exactly like the one he's proposing for Everett) along the Delaware.

[roadman65]

Hey does NJ still require the drawbridge operator to leave his station and manually close the added safety gates that other states do not use?

One of things I hated about drawbridge openings in New Jersey was that added steel safety gates that other states do not use that were manually operated that would add more time to the wait then was actually needed.

Where other states would have just the lower down gate at the signal stopping traffic which as we know is fully automatic just like the rail road gates are, the Garden State has hard steel swing gates on both sides of the draw spans that must be closed by hand.    If the road is over two lanes wide then there are two gates opposite each other having a total of four gates.  The operator would have to get out of his booth, walk to the one side to close one gate, lock it, and then move across the street to the other gate, close it, and then lock it before doing the same on the other side of the bridge again.

This all takes more time as  even in the end, again,  he has do the reverse and unlock and open the four gates individually and then go back to his controls.

I was wondering if NJDOT finally decided to fully automate all gates so the operator not only has to do more work, but time is cut to the wait for the whole process?

[Alex]

For this month only, tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway will be waived on every Tuesday:

http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2014/10/atlantic_city_expressway_rolls_out_toll_free_tuesdays.html#incart_river

I saw a billboard touting Toll Free Tuesdays for the ACX along Interstate 95 southbound in Philly on Friday.

[odditude]

Some nonstandard 3di-sized shields using Series D were installed as part of the replacement overhead signage at exit 47A (CR 541) on I-295 northbound after the full-depth reconstruction a few years back (GSV); while driving through on Saturday I noticed those shields have been replaced with standard shields using Series B. I didn't notice any other changes - although fixing the abysmal lack of padding would require either new signage or going back to the previous text size.

Does anyone have any idea when they're planning on reinstalling the gantry at 52A? That was taken down shortly after the assembly at 47, but still hasn't been replaced.

[PHLBOS]

Some nonstandard 3di-sized shields using Series D were installed as part of the replacement overhead signage at exit 47A (CR 541) on I-295 northbound after the full-depth reconstruction a few years back (GSV)

The font on that I-295 shield is Series C.  Truth be told, I wasn't aware of that 3di shield being one of those subtle asymetrical shields (as seen on some I-287, I-195 (along the NJ Turnpike) & even one or two I-276 shields) until I zoomed in on GSV. Never mind.

[odditude]

Some nonstandard 3di-sized shields using Series D were installed as part of the replacement overhead signage at exit 47A (CR 541) on I-295 northbound after the full-depth reconstruction a few years back (GSV)

The font on that I-295 shield is Series C.  Truth be told, I wasn't aware of that 3di shield being one of those subtle asymetrical shields (as seen on some I-287, I-195 (along the NJ Turnpike) & even one or two I-276 shields) until I zoomed in on GSV.

I was referring to the county route shields.

[Zeffy]

Some nonstandard 3di-sized shields using Series D were installed as part of the replacement overhead signage at exit 47A (CR 541) on I-295 northbound after the full-depth reconstruction a few years back (GSV)

The font on that I-295 shield is Series C.  Truth be told, I wasn't aware of that 3di shield being one of those subtle asymetrical shields (as seen on some I-287, I-195 (along the NJ Turnpike) & even one or two I-276 shields) until I zoomed in on GSV.

I was referring to the county route shields.

They stretched the shield to fit the D numerals. To be honest, it's not exactly easy to fit any CR number that doesn't include a 1 somewhere with D or C in a standard width shield. To normally do so, you'd need to use Series B, like shown here.

(On a side note - is that sign using Series E half-modified (no stroke width modification but increased character spacing? This sign however was replaced along with a bunch of new signs on I-95 north of Trenton as well as I-295 east of Trenton.)

[PHLBOS]

I was referring to the county route shields.

My previous post has since been modified to reflect such.

[roadman65]

One thing about New Jersey is the fact that there is no long distance state route designation running N-S.  The longest state route designation is NJ 47 at 75 miles, but does not go even half the state's length.

I thought that it is interesting as there are no N-S numbered routes in North Jersey that are in South Jersey other than US 9 and US 206, but they are US route designations.  The Parkway is not numbered although it is the longest road in the state.   

[jeffandnicole]

US 130.