Interstate 81 in Syracuse

[Rothman]

Is there a reason why after the Sandy Creek/Lacona exit going north, the exit renumbering was substantially delayed?  I'm sure it gave drivers whiplash seeing the exit numbers go from 121 to 125 to 131, then suddenly 38, 39, 40.  Anyone driving from Binghamton up to the Canadian border in the past year drove by two exit 38's, two exit 50's, and two exit 52's.

Because the switchover was not coordinated across NYSDOT Regions as well as had been hoped.

(personal opinion emphasized)

[cockroachking]

Is there a reason why after the Sandy Creek/Lacona exit going north, the exit renumbering was substantially delayed?  I'm sure it gave drivers whiplash seeing the exit numbers go from 121 to 125 to 131, then suddenly 38, 39, 40.  Anyone driving from Binghamton up to the Canadian border in the past year drove by two exit 38's, two exit 50's, and two exit 52's.

Because the switchover was not coordinated across NYSDOT Regions as well as had been hoped.

(personal opinion emphasized)

Two different Sign Requirements Contracts, right?

[Rothman]

Is there a reason why after the Sandy Creek/Lacona exit going north, the exit renumbering was substantially delayed?  I'm sure it gave drivers whiplash seeing the exit numbers go from 121 to 125 to 131, then suddenly 38, 39, 40.  Anyone driving from Binghamton up to the Canadian border in the past year drove by two exit 38's, two exit 50's, and two exit 52's.

Because the switchover was not coordinated across NYSDOT Regions as well as had been hoped.

(personal opinion emphasized)

Two different Sign Requirements Contracts, right?

Of course.  I believe it even ended up being one per Region.

(personal opinion emphasized)

[The Ghostbuster]

I got my 2027 Rand McNally Road Atlas over the weekend, and it still shows Interstate 81's exit numbers as sequential (Interstate 481 and Interstate 690 still have their sequential numbers as well). Maybe they'll finally be updated in the 2028 edition.

[Rothman]

I got my 2027 Rand McNally Road Atlas over the weekend, and it still shows Interstate 81's exit numbers as sequential (Interstate 481 and Interstate 690 still have their sequential numbers as well). Maybe they'll finally be updated in the 2028 edition.

I might be wrong, but I don't think NYSDOT Region 7 is done yet.

[kramie13]

Google Maps is now displaying the new exit numbers for most of the exits in Jefferson County.  However...

• The US 11 exit just north of Lacona is still displaying its old sequential number, 38.
• The NY 178 exit (old exit 41) is incorrectly listed as "exit 173" going south, but is correctly listed as exit 143 going north.
• NY 12 is the northernmost exit that is marked with its new mile-based exit number on Google Maps.  From NY 342 up to the Canadian border, Google still displays the old sequential numbers (48 through 52).

[vdeane]

Google Maps is now displaying the new exit numbers for most of the exits in Jefferson County.  However...

• The US 11 exit just north of Lacona is still displaying its old sequential number, 38.
• The NY 178 exit (old exit 41) is incorrectly listed as "exit 173" going south, but is correctly listed as exit 143 going north.
• NY 12 is the northernmost exit that is marked with its new mile-based exit number on Google Maps.  From NY 342 up to the Canadian border, Google still displays the old sequential numbers (48 through 52).

For the first, I'm guessing that fell through the cracks.  The second looks like a typo.  The third makes me curious, however - is that as far as they've gotten with the rest on hold or something?  Sadly there aren't a ton of traffic cameras on that stretch, and the two that are there don't have great resolution, but the gore for exit 143 does look different (in particular, it appears wider) from what's in street view, so I'm inclined to believe that the number has indeed changed, but looking at the one around exit 50, it doesn't appear to have changed (though the sign is unreadable enough that I can't rule it out, either).

Meanwhile down near Syracuse, I can see from the traffic cameras that future BL 81 now has the exit gore signs updated with the new numbers and some additional ground-mounted signage, but I don't see tenth mile markers on it (though those don't always show up on the cameras, so I can't definitively rule them out; that said, there aren't any visible from the Thruway either).  Most of the traffic cameras south of I-690 are off for some reason, but it appears that paving is finally underway on the last ramp at the southern interchange!

Meanwhile, 511 has this interesting notice:

Roadwork on I-81 southbound between Exit 131 - CR 15; Sandy Creek; Lacona (Sandy Creek) and Exit 102, US-11 Bartell Road; Brewerton (West Monroe) ; Mobile lane closure, Friday April 17th, 2026 thru Thursday May 21st, 2026, Monday thru Friday, 08:00 AM thru 04:00 PM All lanes open

There's an equivalent notice for northbound.  I was wondering if this might be to install tenth mile markers in Oswego County, but I haven't seen any on the cameras (that said, the usual disclaimer about tenth mile marker visibility on cameras applies).  No idea if they've gotten around to updating the mile markers from MP 97 to MP 103 (last time I was there, they were still using the old mile markers on that stretch, so it goes 97, 95-100, 103).  I'm also waiting with bated breath on mile markers for the southern section (where the old ones cut off at the start of the work zone through I-690), because I want to see how they handle the jump.  I'm not sure they're even aware that the mile markers between exits 29 and 81 are all off; I would have hoped that the issues with exits 63 and 67 would have clued them in, but they assumed the problem was with the exit numbers and not the mile markers (they were previously 62 and 66, originally 13 and 14).

Who knows when they'll get around to swapping the designations, though.  At this point I'm wondering if they're going to wait for both contracts 1 and 2 to be finished before bothering Congress with it (why they think they need to bother Congress in the first place, I have no idea).  The work zone traffic control plans for contract 6 even have some phases refer to "I-81", which makes me think that it might even be expected that the swap might not even occur before the viaduct is closed!

(personal opinion)

EDIT: Future BL 81 does indeed have tenth mile markers now.

[cu2010]

There are signs up for BL-81 now; they are behind the current signs. They are completely uncovered.

Renumbering is done at least up to old Exit 50. A few service signs retain the old numbers north of Watertown.

For the most part R7 did a good job. They covered the entire legend on most service signs (and replaced a few others outright); they didn't replace any BGSs though (a shame, some really need replacement, especially the ones installed in the early 2010s around when I-781 opened; those ones all seem to have peeling issues).

[vdeane]

There are signs up for BL-81 now; they are behind the current signs. They are completely uncovered.

I wonder what the status of that act of Congress is.  I noticed in the 511 cameras that the last ramp at the southern interchange is paved and striped, so I would expect it to open soon.  I wonder how far we are from the big swap.  Or if they've gotten around to installing tenth mile markers in the southern section or updating the markers in northern Onondaga County to the new mileage yet.

[cu2010]

Mileposts were updated up to Exit 96 (old 30), complete with tenth markers.

[The Ghostbuster]

How long might it take to complete erecting the new exit numbers and mileposts?

[cockroachking]

How long might it take to complete erecting the new exit numbers and mileposts?

Depends on whether or not the contractor is experiencing erectile dysfunction.

[vdeane]

Mileposts were updated up to Exit 96 (old 30), complete with tenth markers.

Sounds like progress... the last time I was there, they were only done up to MP 97, just north of old exit 29.

How long might it take to complete erecting the new exit numbers and mileposts?

From the way cu2010 phrased things, exit renumbering is probably complete for I-81, as old exits 51 and 52 are on an island and you have to go out of your way to check them out unless heading to/from Canada.  Mileposts, who knows; they're mostly done (outside of possibly the section with no existing mile markers in the area of contract 2), just missing some stuff in northern Onondaga County that Region 3 may or may not have forgotten about.  Hopefully it's just a punch list item on Contract 1.

As for the exit numbers on future BL 81, that will take longer.  Those are mostly done; from what I've observed and from the verbiage of at least one 511 notice, I can gather that all the exits south of the viaduct have been renumbered, as have the ones north of the main project area.  NB, it's exit 18, 22, and 23/24A/24B that are still unnumbered, all of which will be handled when Contracts 6 and 7 remove or reconstruct/replace the ramps in question.  SB, it's just exits 20, 19, and 18, all of which will be removed/reconfigured under Contract 6, along with some signage for exits 23A/23B/22 which will be handled when Contract 7 reconfigures the ramps (all mainline stuff for those exits has been changed).