New York

[kalvado]

.

There is a discussion of a company which wants to raze newly built apartment complex and chop some Pine Bush in Albany for a new fab. Because they got the money!

Wait what?  I'm familiar with the one on the south end that's become controversial (I think near the Thruway?)... there's another one?

That's a totally different story, and it's on a rumor level yet, I think nothing is officially public

So...from whence the rumors?

Something about me not being sure if it falls  under my non disclosure...

*blinks*

Erm, if that was an issue, you shouldn't have said something in the first place.

Maybe. But I don't know anything officially...

[vdeane]

I'm trying to figure out which apartments fit the criteria of being new and around the Pine Bush.  Could the The Apex at Crossgates, which I've heard negative things about.  Hopefully not the Landmark Albany (which is near the Nanotech complex), which is on my (very) short list of potential places to move to if I decide (or am forced to by the housing market) to continue renting, as staying where I am is extremely undesirable due to bad maintenance/management.

[Rothman]

I'm trying to figure out which apartments fit the criteria of being new and around the Pine Bush.  Could the The Apex at Crossgates, which I've heard negative things about.  Hopefully not the Landmark Albany (which is near the Nanotech complex), which is on my (very) short list of potential places to move to if I decide (or am forced to by the housing market) to continue renting, as staying where I am is extremely undesirable due to bad maintenance/management.

I wouldn't worry about what kalvado said.

[kalvado]

I'm trying to figure out which apartments fit the criteria of being new and around the Pine Bush.  Could the The Apex at Crossgates, which I've heard negative things about.  Hopefully not the Landmark Albany (which is near the Nanotech complex), which is on my (very) short list of potential places to move to if I decide (or am forced to by the housing market) to continue renting, as staying where I am is extremely undesirable due to bad maintenance/management.

I wouldn't worry about what kalvado said.

I would say that chances of rumors ending up with actual concrete are much less than 100%. Partially because localities may be unimpressed with AI money. That was exactly the original message re what Micron may ask for vs what NYSDOT would do.

[Rothman]

I'm trying to figure out which apartments fit the criteria of being new and around the Pine Bush.  Could the The Apex at Crossgates, which I've heard negative things about.  Hopefully not the Landmark Albany (which is near the Nanotech complex), which is on my (very) short list of potential places to move to if I decide (or am forced to by the housing market) to continue renting, as staying where I am is extremely undesirable due to bad maintenance/management.

I wouldn't worry about what kalvado said.

I would say that chances of rumors ending up with actual concrete are much less than 100%. Partially because localities may be unimpressed with AI money. That was exactly the original message re what Micron may ask for vs what NYSDOT would do.

And Fab 1 is being built, so Micron is well-beyond the kalvado-shouldn't-have-spread-the-rumor stage. ;D

[vdeane]

Interestingly enough, I ran into a site that lists AI companies and how profitable they are.  Some, like Amazon and Google, are losing unbelievable amounts of money, but others are less imbalanced and Micron is one of three actually making a profit (along with AMD and Nvidia).  So a bust would probably affect the scale of their operations but probably not bring them under unless they're unprepared for it.

https://isaiprofitable.com

[roadman65]

Why does NYSDOT hold US 11 to different signing standards than both US 4 and US 62?

Both even numbered US routes are signed N-S due to their awkward alignments as both run more north- south than east to west.  US 11 does run north and south paralleling I-81, but turns E-W between Watertown and Rouses Point.

Considering that US 11 does run E-W for a much longer distance than US 4 does in the state as N-S, I would say that signing the route differently between Watertown and the Canadian Border would be warranted.

 Plus its awkward in some places especially at NY 37 in Watertown.  EB NY 37 heads to the west of US 11 which is counter logical as east routes should head to the right of north except on interstate beltways or other loop routes.  Even states like Texas and Florida change cardinal directions hence when the route's alignment changes for a considerable distance.

To me the same hierarchy is using different practices under the same circumstances/

[vdeane]

Why does NYSDOT hold US 11 to different signing standards than both US 4 and US 62?

Both even numbered US routes are signed N-S due to their awkward alignments as both run more north- south than east to west.  US 11 does run north and south paralleling I-81, but turns E-W between Watertown and Rouses Point.

Considering that US 11 does run E-W for a much longer distance than US 4 does in the state as N-S, I would say that signing the route differently between Watertown and the Canadian Border would be warranted.

 Plus its awkward in some places especially at NY 37 in Watertown.  EB NY 37 heads to the west of US 11 which is counter logical as east routes should head to the right of north except on interstate beltways or other loop routes.  Even states like Texas and Florida change cardinal directions hence when the route's alignment changes for a considerable distance.

To me the same hierarchy is using different practices under the same circumstances/

You really need to look more at percents than raw numbers.  US 4's north-south distance is only "short" because it doesn't spend nearly as much time in the state as US 11.  The overwhelming majority of the route is pure north-south with only the last 6 miles east of Whitehall being east-west.  US 11 is, at worst, a 50/50 split, and that's only if you count the whole distance beyond Watertown as east-west.  In reality, it's a diagonal up until around Potsdam or so, which leaves only 25% of the route as true east-west.  US 62, meanwhile, is pure north-south.  To the extent it has any east-west mileage at all, it's in the wrong direction.

As for "heading east from a 'north' direction should be to the right", that strikes me as tolbs levels of nitpicking.  In the real world, route directions can be messy, especially in places where the roads predate any system of surveying land in grids (now that I think of it, I wonder if this is why Europe doesn't use route directions).  I don't see why NY 37 should have have three sets of direction markers just to satisfy such a decree.  Even NY 8 doesn't change directions, and it has much more reason to (and the less said about NY 28, the better).

[froggie]

By that I was mostly referring to widening. I-81/NY 31 and I-481 Exit 2 are really the only interchanges where I could see major changes.

IIRC there was a proposal related to Micron involving building a new interchange between exits 98 and 102, I think at Sneller Road.  I've also read articles mentioning Micron wanting massive widening on NY 31 and new roadway connections; those might be less likely.

We'll see what happens...

31 between Clay and Cicero has needed 4-laning for over 20 years.  If the Micron project actually jump-starts that, I don't see an issue.

Of course, this being New York...

[SGwithADD]

Ground has broken for the NY 363 redesign: https://www.wbng.com/2026/07/30/construction-begin-46m-binghamton-gateway-project-creating-new-pedestrian-access-downtown/

Expected to be done in 2028.

[vdeane]

Around Empire State Plaza, OGS has a lane closed for construction westbound so they opened a temporary lane through what would have been the tunnel for the westbound South Mall Expressway.  This is a rare chance to drive on the alignment of the never-built road (which would have ended at an underground interchange with the Mid-Crosstown Expressway, also never built).  Interestingly, the sign at the split says "through traffic" instead of the usual "thru traffic"!

[webny99]

A nightmare scenario has unfolded for anyone trying to cross the Irondequoit Bay / Irondequoit Creek valley this morning due to accidents on both NY 104 and NY 404. With the Bay Bridge backed up beyond Bay Rd, traffic pouring off at Bay Rd is feeding right into the backup on NY 404, causing the backup to reach Plank Rd. To make matters worse, NY 286 is reduced to one lane for construction through the valley, so it backs up at NY 590 even without any extra traffic - and Blossom Rd also backs up whenever NY 286 does.

That means traffic starting from the NY 104 corridor would need to go as far south as Penfield Rd or NY 441 to avoid backups. And when combined with heavy back to school traffic on NY 286 and NY 441, taking this cut-through to Penfield Rd is the only possibility of avoiding major delays north of East Rochester.

[vdeane]

Remember when I mentioned that rumor of the I-88 exit numbers changing?  I saw a couple interesting notices in the 511 construction layer:

Roadwork on I-88 both directions from Exit 3 (Various) to Exit 23 1 lane may be of 4 lanes closed Replacing existing exit panels on advance exit signs with new exit numbers. Replace existing gore exit signing with new exit numbering, overlay existing specific service and supplement exit signs with new exit numbering. Shoulder closures to start then there will be right lane closures in multiple areas of I88. 8/17 to 10/30 from 7:00am to 5:00pm. Weather dependent, no flagger present.

Roadwork on I-88 both directions between Exit 14 - Main Street (Oneonta) and Exit 18 - Route 7 Schenevus (Maryland) 1 right lane and shoulder of 4 lanes blocked for exit sign replacement & post foundation work on I-88E/W between Exits 14-18 in the right lane & shoulder from 7/7 to 11/25 between 6am & 5pm. this work is weather dependent, and no flag personnel are present. D265707 IR: 10769090

[The Ghostbuster]

The Interstate 88 (New York) Wikipedia page has not been updated to mention the exit renumbering conversion.

[Rothman]

The Interstate 88 (New York) Wikipedia page has not been updated to mention the exit renumbering conversion.

Why would it have?

[The Ghostbuster]

Is the conversion news inaccurate? I know one should take Wikipedia articles with a grain of salt, but the Cross County Parkway page said its exit numbers were to be converted to mileage-based, via a sign replacement project that was supposed to start in Spring 2025 (the exits have not been renumbered). On other pages, on roads that have or were planning to have their exits renumbered to mileage-based numbers, their pages' exit numbers were pre-changed to show the new numbers alongside the old numbers.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The Interstate 88 (New York) Wikipedia page has not been updated to mention the exit renumbering conversion.

I'd rather wait for the official exit list from NYSDOT than predicting the new exit numbers.

[RobbieL2415]

The Interstate 88 (New York) Wikipedia page has not been updated to mention the exit renumbering conversion.

I'd rather wait for the official exit list from NYSDOT than predicting the new exit numbers.

"You mean you don't wanna play Exit Number Bingo with me??"

[Declan127]

Personally I don't like mile-based exit numbers. I don't know, something just bothers me about not knowing how many exits there are or thinking we've missed an exit.

[SignBridge]

Personally I don't like mile-based exit numbers. I don't know, something just bothers me about not knowing how many exits there are or thinking we've missed an exit.

I agree with you. To me the whole purpose of exit numbers is that they be sequential which is logical and to me is the whole purpose of numbering.

But I also think exit numbers of either type can sometimes cause complication in signing and maybe should be abolished. California got along fine with no exit numbers on their Freeways for generations until the Feds forced them to comply with the Manual.

[74/171FAN]

Well I was not expecting to see two posts in a row on here of people supporting sequential exit numbers....

[Rothman]

Well I was not expecting to see two posts in a row on here of people supporting sequential exit numbers....

Right.  I didn't like mileage-based exit numbers...when I was about 8 years old.  For me and I bet for most long-distance drivers, knowing how far it is to my exit helps a ton with time management.

Of course, I work with a bunch of skeptics in that regard, and they typically think two hours to drive somewhere is an adventure.  Therefore, my question to them when they bellyache about mileage-based exit numbers is/was: "How far away is Exit 59 on the Thruway?"  They can't answer and I tell them in practically every other state I could give them an answer in two seconds.

I've said to both my colleagues and superiors that coming back to NY feels like returning to the land of the pinheads in this regard.

"Butbutbut GPS" is met with, "I can't believe engineers would oppose using exit numbers with an additional layer of information embedded in them."

Very happy the conversions are happening little by little, but it'll be a great day when the Thruway in particular is converted (especially since its exits are backwards already in any matter).

[vdeane]

Is the conversion news inaccurate? I know one should take Wikipedia articles with a grain of salt, but the Cross County Parkway page said its exit numbers were to be converted to mileage-based, via a sign replacement project that was supposed to start in Spring 2025 (the exits have not been renumbered). On other pages, on roads that have or were planning to have their exits renumbered to mileage-based numbers, their pages' exit numbers were pre-changed to show the new numbers alongside the old numbers.

I wouldn't think it would be on 511NY if it wasn't happening.  That said, I haven't seen a press release or news article on it yet, and NYSDOT doesn't always share the new numbers proactively, so I've had to email public information officers for them in the past.  The I-88 exit numbers are being done via a Region 9 work order contract, so there aren't any plans online showing them.  And the fact that 511 only mentions exits 3-23 is another wrinkle; while exits 1 and 2 can be reasonably expected to keep the same numbers, exits 24 and 25 can't, so we might have a similar situation to what I-81 had, only now with Region 1.

On another note, I seem to remember discussions on this forum about Wikipedia jumping the gun on things (much like Google Maps) or even outright making stuff up.  In any case, the roadgeek editors have migrated to the AARoads Wiki, so Wikipedia can be considered even less reliable than before.  I'm not sure why so many here are still obsessed about what it says.

Finally, IIRC there was an issue with the Cross County sign job that caused that contract to be delayed and re-bid.

Very happy the conversions are happening little by little, but it'll be a great day when the Thruway in particular is converted (especially since its exits are backwards already in any matter).

I'm curious if we'll end up at a point where the upstate NYSDOT roads are converted while the Thruway and Regions 10 and 11 are all still sequential.

[SignBridge]

Is the conversion news inaccurate? I know one should take Wikipedia articles with a grain of salt, but the Cross County Parkway page said its exit numbers were to be converted to mileage-based, via a sign replacement project that was supposed to start in Spring 2025 (the exits have not been renumbered). On other pages, on roads that have or were planning to have their exits renumbered to mileage-based numbers, their pages' exit numbers were pre-changed to show the new numbers alongside the old numbers.

I wouldn't think it would be on 511NY if it wasn't happening.  That said, I haven't seen a press release or news article on it yet, and NYSDOT doesn't always share the new numbers proactively, so I've had to email public information officers for them in the past.  The I-88 exit numbers are being done via a Region 9 work order contract, so there aren't any plans online showing them.  And the fact that 511 only mentions exits 3-23 is another wrinkle; while exits 1 and 2 can be reasonably expected to keep the same numbers, exits 24 and 25 can't, so we might have a similar situation to what I-81 had, only now with Region 1.

On another note, I seem to remember discussions on this forum about Wikipedia jumping the gun on things (much like Google Maps) or even outright making stuff up.  In any case, the roadgeek editors have migrated to the AARoads Wiki, so Wikipedia can be considered even less reliable than before.  I'm not sure why so many here are still obsessed about what it says.

Finally, IIRC there was an issue with the Cross County sign job that caused that contract to be delayed and re-bid.

Very happy the conversions are happening little by little, but it'll be a great day when the Thruway in particular is converted (especially since its exits are backwards already in any matter).

I'm curious if we'll end up at a point where the upstate NYSDOT roads are converted while the Thruway and Regions 10 and 11 are all still sequential.

Well LOL, I'm from Region-10 and I'm curious........ Why do you think this region in particular would stick with sequential if/when the rest of NYS DOT changes over. 

[Rothman]

Very happy the conversions are happening little by little, but it'll be a great day when the Thruway in particular is converted (especially since its exits are backwards already in any matter).

I'm curious if we'll end up at a point where the upstate NYSDOT roads are converted while the Thruway and Regions 10 and 11 are all still sequential.

Certainly seems that way.  NY's adherence to ye olde mentalities about public authorities' strict independence is certainly a persistent obstacle that no governor wants to tackle (like Mitt Romney did in MA).

(personal opinion emphasized)