New York

[Rothman]

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.

Local opposition backed by actual clout?

[cockroachking]

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.

I noticed that too. At least current Exit 7 and 8 will likely become 23 and 29 so there won't be any duplicates if R1 decides to send to work order out tardy or the contractor takes their sweet time responding to said work order.

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.

Sheeple.

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

Yep. The first estimate was way too low, all bids were rejected, the contract was re-let this spring, and the bids were even higher. Waste of $3 million. One day maybe someone will understand that a ton of short term WZTC setups on the Cross County is expensive...

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.

That will probably be the case sooner rather than later. Now watch R10 or R11 make me eat my words by putting everything at once in a capital project (like Massachusetts did IIRC) and have their whole region done within the next two years.

(personal opinions)

[froggie]

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.

Exits 21B and 21A would like to have a word with you...

[kalvado]

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.

Exits 21B and 21A would like to have a word with you...

Life is uncertain... Eat dessert first!

[froggie]

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.

Exits 21B and 21A would like to have a word with you...

Life is uncertain... Eat dessert first!

Wise words from a lieutenant I used to serve under...

[D-Dey65]

I recently stumbled upon this project for Centre Avenue in New Rochelle;
https://www.thruway.ny.gov/about/news/updated-travel-advisory-centre-avenue-bridge-over-i-95-westchester-county-reopen-friday
Nothing about the bridge over the Northeast Corridor, though. You people remember when I brought that up, right?

[Jim]

NYSDOT strikes again with a silly lane reduction in Amsterdam.  The right lane of the Route 5 arterial eastbound from Caroline St to the ramp to 30 South has been striped over.

Here's what Amsterdam Mayor Cinquanti has posted about it on Facebook:

We have received several inquiries regarding why D.O.T. has restricted eastbound traffic on the Rt. 5 arterial running through our city to one lane. This was a decision made by D.O.T. who has jurisdiction for such matters on all three state routes (5, 30 and 67) running through our city. My office was not notified the striping was taking place before hand. I have asked our Engineering office to contact D.O.T. for an explanation.
This technique is typically used to calm traffic (a.k.a. slow it down). As soon as we've received D.O.T.s response I will share it via this Facebook page. I will also review their rationale for the change with our Police Chief and if we have questions or disagree, we will meet with D.O.T. to voice them.

I'm not sure what problem they are trying to solve.  No change to the 55 MPH speed limit (yet).

[webny99]

NYSDOT strikes again with a silly lane reduction in Amsterdam.  The right lane of the Route 5 arterial eastbound from Caroline St to the ramp to 30 South has been striped over.

Here's what Amsterdam Mayor Cinquanti has posted about it on Facebook:

We have received several inquiries regarding why D.O.T. has restricted eastbound traffic on the Rt. 5 arterial running through our city to one lane. This was a decision made by D.O.T. who has jurisdiction for such matters on all three state routes (5, 30 and 67) running through our city. My office was not notified the striping was taking place before hand. I have asked our Engineering office to contact D.O.T. for an explanation.
This technique is typically used to calm traffic (a.k.a. slow it down). As soon as we've received D.O.T.s response I will share it via this Facebook page. I will also review their rationale for the change with our Police Chief and if we have questions or disagree, we will meet with D.O.T. to voice them.

I'm not sure what problem they are trying to solve.  No change to the 55 MPH speed limit (yet).

Interesting if it turns out true that NYSDOT acted independently here. My experience has been that they are typically fairly hands-off with making changes of this nature unless prompted by the local jurisdiction.

[vdeane]

NYSDOT strikes again with a silly lane reduction in Amsterdam.  The right lane of the Route 5 arterial eastbound from Caroline St to the ramp to 30 South has been striped over.

Here's what Amsterdam Mayor Cinquanti has posted about it on Facebook:

We have received several inquiries regarding why D.O.T. has restricted eastbound traffic on the Rt. 5 arterial running through our city to one lane. This was a decision made by D.O.T. who has jurisdiction for such matters on all three state routes (5, 30 and 67) running through our city. My office was not notified the striping was taking place before hand. I have asked our Engineering office to contact D.O.T. for an explanation.
This technique is typically used to calm traffic (a.k.a. slow it down). As soon as we've received D.O.T.s response I will share it via this Facebook page. I will also review their rationale for the change with our Police Chief and if we have questions or disagree, we will meet with D.O.T. to voice them.

I'm not sure what problem they are trying to solve.  No change to the 55 MPH speed limit (yet).

Interesting if it turns out true that NYSDOT acted independently here. My experience has been that they are typically fairly hands-off with making changes of this nature unless prompted by the local jurisdiction.

Especially since I think I remember something from Amsterdam's DRI about potentially closing NY 5 EB in the area and re-routing along the WB alignment.  The project to make the WB lanes bidirectional is completed; could this be another step in that direction?

[Jim]

Especially since I think I remember something from Amsterdam's DRI about potentially closing NY 5 EB in the area and re-routing along the WB alignment.  The project to make the WB lanes bidirectional is completed; could this be another step in that direction?

Yes, the long-term plan is to reroute 5 East onto the current ramp to what is now a 2-way arterial that carries 5 West from Schuyler St to West Main, and remove the overpass to 30 South and all of the arterial between downtown and the riverfront.  As I understand it, the development plan that was to use that area of land has long since fallen through.  I don't look forward to having an extra light even though it's s right turn on my commute from 5 East to 30 South if that ever comes to pass.

In what I'd like to think is a pretty well-informed but admittedly non-engineer opinion, recent changes have been kind of 50/50 good vs. bad.  Making the 5 West arterial mentioned above into a 2-way street, the roundabout with that stretch and Market St, and the two-way traffic on Church St in front of the post office and library have been big wins.  Closing a lane on the 30 North flyover from Church St to Market St has been a negative but not horrible unless your goal was to cut down Prospect to get to Brookside or Locust and you now have to wait with everyone else to get up onto Market Hill.  The lane removal on the 30 North bridge over the river has been a disaster, with much longer and more frequent backups.  The lane reduction and speed limit reduction on 5 and 67 between the 67 junction in Fort Johnson has been annoying but there's rarely enough traffic to make a real difference.  The lane reduction on 5 East leaving the city and all the way out to Truax is really only a problem when there's a slow moving vehicle and at least there I can see the benefit of a dedicated left lane for traffic to merge in when coming off Widow Susan and Truax to prevent the need to stop and wait in the median.

If they really want to fix something to have a genuine positive impact, a roundabout at the Thruway ramp and 30 seems like a no brainer with all of the left turns there.

[vdeane]

The conversion of I-88 begins Monday.  Sadly, the press release doesn't include what the new exit numbers are (other than 4 and 117), so it looks like we'll have to wait for someone to drive the route and report on them (especially as both Google Maps and OSM have proven to be untrustworthy on this - Google once thought I-81 exit 13B was exit 14, and OSM was flagrantly wrong with respect to I-81's exit numbers for a while, and still isn't 100% accurate).

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2026/2026-09-24

[The Ghostbuster]

Let us know if the new numbers are revealed.

[cu2010]

The conversion of I-88 begins Monday.  Sadly, the press release doesn't include what the new exit numbers are (other than 4 and 117), so it looks like we'll have to wait for someone to drive the route and report on them (especially as both Google Maps and OSM have proven to be untrustworthy on this - Google once thought I-81 exit 13B was exit 14, and OSM was flagrantly wrong with respect to I-81's exit numbers for a while, and still isn't 100% accurate).

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2026/2026-09-24

Wait...so are R9 and R1 actually coordinating exit renumbering so it's done in one go, and not piecemealed over the span of two years?

Why was I-81 so dysfunctional then? Clearly regions can work together...

[cl94]

To be fair, I-88 has 2 exits in Region 1. It's possible this is like the Hutch renumbering, in that it's a Region 9 project that just happens to have a small portion in Region 1 (unless someone in NYSDOT can confirm otherwise).

[Jim]

Do these regions have incompatible email and phone systems and no other way to coordinate with each other?  Shouldn't cooperation and coordination on a major public-facing project be the norm, not some miracle to be praised when it happens to work out?

[The Ghostbuster]

The new numbers have been added to the Interstate 88 (New York) page on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_88_(New_York)#Exit_list.

[Rothman]

Do these regions have incompatible email and phone systems and no other way to coordinate with each other?  Shouldn't cooperation and coordination on a major public-facing project be the norm, not some miracle to be praised when it happens to work out?

Eh, to be fair, when cooperation and coordination works, it doesn't make the news.  In my experience, most multiregional projects progress without issue.  The only minor hangup is making sure appropriate funding is transferred between NYSDOT regions, but that's mostly a spreadsheet exercise.

Of course, I-81's numbering ended up being individual regional contracts...and I'll probably need to stop there.

(personal opinion emphasized)

[vdeane]

I sent an email to NYSDOT asking about this last night.  I got a response back today!  And the new numbers are:

1->no change
2->no change
3->4
4->8
5->12
6->16
7->23
8->29
9->33
10->37
11->40
12->46
13->53
14->55
15->56
16->58
17->61
18->71
19->76
20->87
21->90
22->95
23->101
24->111
25->116

Interestingly, there's also some suggestion that the Thruway might become exit 117, but I'm not as sure of that and it would be interesting to see how that would work given the existing NYSTA signage.  Perhaps on the overheads approaching exit 25 and then existing signage east of there?  I think we'll have to wait and see on that.

The new numbers have been added to the Interstate 88 (New York) page on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_88_(New_York)#Exit_list.

I have no idea why you're so obsessed with Wikipedia.  We've seen in the past that sometimes people there just put in "new" exit numbers that are speculative at best, and that appears to be the case here, given that there are differences from the list I got from NYSDOT.  Especially since the roadgeek editors moved to the AARoads Wiki; honestly, a part of me hopes that Wikipedia moves forward with removing the road articles so that search engines will start pointing to the AARW instead.

[Jim]

Back in Amsterdam again, it makes me wonder if there are still plans to remove the 5/67 East to 30 South overpass in the not-too-distant future since they had it closed today and were paving part of it along with some of 30 South.  Seems wasteful to mill and pave if it's still planned for closure.

[bob7374]

The conversion of I-88 begins Monday.  Sadly, the press release doesn't include what the new exit numbers are (other than 4 and 117), so it looks like we'll have to wait for someone to drive the route and report on them (especially as both Google Maps and OSM have proven to be untrustworthy on this - Google once thought I-81 exit 13B was exit 14, and OSM was flagrantly wrong with respect to I-81's exit numbers for a while, and still isn't 100% accurate).

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2026/2026-09-24

Here's a news article from Monday about the I-88 exit number changes, or as the text describes "The project will make current chronological exit markers match their actual mileage along the 117-mile strip connecting the Southern Tier and the Capital Region."
https://www.wbng.com/2026/09/28/nysdot-begins-11-million-project-convert-interstate-88-mile-based-exit-numbers/

[webny99]

The conversion of I-88 begins Monday.  Sadly, the press release doesn't include what the new exit numbers are (other than 4 and 117), so it looks like we'll have to wait for someone to drive the route and report on them (especially as both Google Maps and OSM have proven to be untrustworthy on this - Google once thought I-81 exit 13B was exit 14, and OSM was flagrantly wrong with respect to I-81's exit numbers for a while, and still isn't 100% accurate).

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2026/2026-09-24

Here's a news article from Monday about the I-88 exit number changes, or as the text describes "The project will make current chronological exit markers match their actual mileage along the 117-mile strip connecting the Southern Tier and the Capital Region."
https://www.wbng.com/2026/09/28/nysdot-begins-11-million-project-convert-interstate-88-mile-based-exit-numbers/

I guess a strip in NY is a little different than a strip in PA. 

[Jim]

Back in Amsterdam again, it makes me wonder if there are still plans to remove the 5/67 East to 30 South overpass in the not-too-distant future since they had it closed today and were paving part of it along with some of 30 South.  Seems wasteful to mill and pave if it's still planned for closure.

Messy traffic morning in Amsterdam.  As I was trying to get across to get on the Thruway, The onramp to 30 South across the bridge was completely closed, and at peak morning traffic time to boot.  Fortunately I was able to work my way back to 5 East.  Traffic looked to be backed up well up the hill on Market Street.

[vdeane]

strip in NY

But Google clearly says that image is from Maryland!

[roadman65]

The conversion of I-88 begins Monday.  Sadly, the press release doesn't include what the new exit numbers are (other than 4 and 117), so it looks like we'll have to wait for someone to drive the route and report on them (especially as both Google Maps and OSM have proven to be untrustworthy on this - Google once thought I-81 exit 13B was exit 14, and OSM was flagrantly wrong with respect to I-81's exit numbers for a while, and still isn't 100% accurate).

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2026/2026-09-24

Here's a news article from Monday about the I-88 exit number changes, or as the text describes "The project will make current chronological exit markers match their actual mileage along the 117-mile strip connecting the Southern Tier and the Capital Region."
https://www.wbng.com/2026/09/28/nysdot-begins-11-million-project-convert-interstate-88-mile-based-exit-numbers/

I see that they are slowly, but surely making the change.  All that is left is free I-87, I-90, and the three digits.  Oh yeah, can't forget about I-86/ NY 17.

Be interesting to see I-278 when it comes to that route, as current sequence numbers have the highest exit higher than its mileage in the state.

[The Ghostbuster]

The one I'm going to find the most interesting is Interstate 495. Presently, the exits are numbered 13-73. Exit 13 will likely become 1A, and Exit 73 would probably be numbered 71B.