New York

[vdeane]

It's worth noting that NYSDOT uses the MUTCD standard "round down" method of assigning numbers.  Also that this might not be the only affected location - the PDF with the Region 3 changes (since taken down) had I-690 exit 6 becoming exit 4 EB and 5A WB.

The southbound exit is actually at roughly 39.9.

The numbers @SGwithADD mentioned line up with my site, so I'm guessing that's where they came from.  Ever since I did the re-launch, I decided to split up interchanges like former exit 9 to be more accurate to the mileage.  In those cases, ramps that hit a side road are measured from the "theoretical cross street" where they touch down.

Renumbering old Exit 9 southbound as Exit 39 on Interstate 81 was the right move for NYSDOT. After all, the exit is just to the south of Milepost 40. Does anyone else find it odd they are not signing the old exit numbers with the new exit numbers? Usually, they co-sign the old and new exit numbers to give the public time to adjust to the new numbers.

They are, but better not miss that first sign.

[SGwithADD]

The numbers @SGwithADD mentioned line up with my site, so I'm guessing that's where they came from.  Ever since I did the re-launch, I decided to split up interchanges like former exit 9 to be more accurate to the mileage.  In those cases, ramps that hit a side road are measured from the "theoretical cross street" where they touch down.

Indeed I did.

Renumbering old Exit 9 southbound as Exit 39 on Interstate 81 was the right move for NYSDOT. After all, the exit is just to the south of Milepost 40. Does anyone else find it odd they are not signing the old exit numbers with the new exit numbers? Usually, they co-sign the old and new exit numbers to give the public time to adjust to the new numbers.

Maybe I'm too old these days, and it's less relevant with the proliferation of GPS, but businesses used to advertise as being off of a certain exit, and people could just give one exit number when giving directions to their place. How does that work in a case like this? As an engineer with OCD, I know that it can seem logical to follow rules to the letter, but this is missing a bunch of human-facing issues IMO.

[vdeane]

Major construction is beginning on I-490 soon.  Around Bushnell's Basin, I-490 will be reduced to one lane, which is expected to lead to significant congestion (I would go so far as to say that it's Rochester's Carmageddon).  There's advice to "avoid the area", but given that this is the road that one would take to get to the mall or Finger Lakes, that's easier said than done.  This year is going to suck, to the point where I'm considering skipping two family gatherings because I just don't want to deal with it.

Also, if they're doing eastbound this year and westbound next year, what's being done in 2027?

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2025/2025-03-171

[webny99]

Major construction is beginning on I-490 soon.  Around Bushnell's Basin, I-490 will be reduced to one lane, which is expected to lead to significant congestion (I would go so far as to say that it's Rochester's Carmageddon).  There's advice to "avoid the area", but given that this is the road that one would take to get to the mall or Finger Lakes, that's easier said than done.  This year is going to suck, to the point where I'm considering skipping two family gatherings because I just don't want to deal with it.

Also, if they're doing eastbound this year and westbound next year, what's being done in 2027?

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2025/2025-03-171

Yikes. Thanks for the heads up. Great to see NY is actively implementing the zipper merge concept, but not with a long-term lane closure here, of all places. When they did Marsh Rd, even the weekend lane closures caused issues, so this is going to create major issues in the afternoon rush hour, to say the least. And Exit 26 barely handles traffic as it is, so any additional traffic there is only going to exacerbate issues on I-490. Also interesting that they'll be able to maintain two lanes westbound, but not eastbound.

One small positive: at least there won't be backups getting on the Thruway at Exit 45 this season 

[RobbieL2415]

Major construction is beginning on I-490 soon.  Around Bushnell's Basin, I-490 will be reduced to one lane, which is expected to lead to significant congestion (I would go so far as to say that it's Rochester's Carmageddon).  There's advice to "avoid the area", but given that this is the road that one would take to get to the mall or Finger Lakes, that's easier said than done.  This year is going to suck, to the point where I'm considering skipping two family gatherings because I just don't want to deal with it.

Also, if they're doing eastbound this year and westbound next year, what's being done in 2027?

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2025/2025-03-171

Are they going to close the canal, too?

[vdeane]

Also interesting that they'll be able to maintain two lanes westbound, but not eastbound.

The press release says "one lane each direction", so they won't.  As for why two lanes next year, note how much wider the Marsh road is than the canal bridge or Kreag.  I'm guessing they can't fit four lanes on one side with the existing bridges, and whatever staging they did for Marsh must be something they're either unable or unwilling to do (it's worth noting that Marsh was done under Cuomo's "Driver's First" policy that eased work zone congestion at the literal cost of making projects much more expensive, a policy that no longer exists as he's no longer governor; also fun fact: traffic impacts on the Twin Bridges similar to what we might have with this project are the reason Cuomo made Driver's First in the first place).

(personal opinion)

[webny99]

Also interesting that they'll be able to maintain two lanes westbound, but not eastbound.

The press release says "one lane each direction", so they won't.  As for why two lanes next year, note how much wider the Marsh road is than the canal bridge or Kreag.  I'm guessing they can't fit four lanes on one side with the existing bridges, and whatever staging they did for Marsh must be something they're either unable or unwilling to do (it's worth noting that Marsh was done under Cuomo's "Driver's First" policy that eased work zone congestion at the literal cost of making projects much more expensive, a policy that no longer exists as he's no longer governor; also fun fact: traffic impacts on the Twin Bridges similar to what we might have with this project are the reason Cuomo made Driver's First in the first place).

(personal opinion)

Makes sense; I was referring to having two lanes open next year, not the westbound lanes during this year's project.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Ok, canceling family events because 490 is down to 1 lane in a direction is a bit unnecessary.

Let's look in this approach having driven that stretch of 96 that parallels tons of times:

96 will not be overloaded. 96 at the mall doesn't get that backed up. I delivered there all the time at peak hours. It's not gonna be Carmageddon and it's just gonna be an inconvenience. Exit 27 sucks, yes. But it's still bypassable in multiple areas. Take exit 29 and just take 96. I dunno where in the Rochester area your family lives, but it's not like this is the bridges downtown.

[vdeane]

Ok, canceling family events because 490 is down to 1 lane in a direction is a bit unnecessary.

Let's look in this approach having driven that stretch of 96 that parallels tons of times:

96 will not be overloaded. 96 at the mall doesn't get that backed up. I delivered there all the time at peak hours. It's not gonna be Carmageddon and it's just gonna be an inconvenience. Exit 27 sucks, yes. But it's still bypassable in multiple areas. Take exit 29 and just take 96. I dunno where in the Rochester area your family lives, but it's not like this is the bridges downtown.

People on r/Rochester were expecting a significant amount of traffic, which, given the trifecta of lights at exit 27, Kreag Road, and Marsh Road, all of which are high traffic already and will be involved with detouring traffic, is not unwarranted.  That lane closure is going to be nasty - they had a similar one eastbound during non-peak times last year while staging some stuff for this, and it was causing stop and go traffic a mile or two down the road with 5+ minute delays.  Exit 46 is probably going to be the least bad option, but using that exit just feels wrong for some reason.

On a more personal note, I'm rigid enough that I hate diverting off a regular route for anything.  And my brain seems to base all geography off the interstate system, so going between two points on the system via a non-interstate route feels weird to me in a way that's hard to describe (I pretty much only do so to clinch things).  Yeah, I'm a mess.  Compounding the issue is the fact that my parents live in Brighton and haven't moved in my lifetime, so we're dealing with a route that has been set in my brain practically since birth.  In my head, Thruway-490-590 is what you do, and going straight from the Thruway to a local road isn't (especially since Rochester is bypassed by the Thruway, so until Farmington became an exurb, commuting on it was unheard of; it was strictly the road for long-distance traffic that you used the local freeways to get to, and I can't shake that mentality).

There's a reason I specifically said two.  There's a method to the madness here.  Of the 8 trips to Rochester I have planned for this year (one already completed - and I never want to drive back to Albany on the day of the time change again, because I fell like I'm still recovering from that two weeks later), most are affected by this (all except the one I took for the bridal shower, Christmas, and maybe Thanksgiving).  The two I'm contemplating skipping have other complications, so really it's the straw that broke the camel's back (specifically, one is the most minor gathering of the year and right on top of a family wedding that I'll also be traveling for, making this year particularly exhausting and making me use the peak travel days to not have a one-day work week, and the other is one my parents can't attend anyways, so I'd be going on my own).  Not to mention that the summer gatherings are at Canandaigua Lake, even the local trip is affected by this, and my parents have grown extremely intolerant of traffic that isn't free-flow as they've gotten older.