I-95 NYC Exits Renumbered Again?

[NJRoadfan]

I would say that logically continuous pieces of the same highway should have a consistent exit numbering scheme even if the name (or the number!) changes. Otherwise, you create confusion and necessitate instructions "take this highway to exit 4.... no, not the first exit 4, the second exit 4". Only time the numbers should ever reset is at a state line.

Like *cough*, I-87... which has no less then THREE sets of exits and it doesn't even leave NY.

[vdeane]

I see no reason why the exit numbers couldn't continue in this situation.  I agree that they should, but I don't see how it ties in with sequential vs. distance-based numbers.

[yakra]

I am not a real fan of alphabet soup when exit number suffixes get past C, especially when they are independent exits.  That seems confusing enough.

How palatable is this thought:  Where exits are clustered so closely, such as in NYC, keep them sequential, except for cloverleaf-type arrangements, and "catch up" on the outskirts where the exits are spaced further apart.  I don't think that distance is as much an issue in town as it is on the long-haul.

Thoughts?

Maine did this on I-295 during the 2004 renumbering.
Exits 1 thru 10 kept their numbers, even though the center of the Exit 7 interchange is at mp 5.9.
My notes list Exit 9 at mp 7.48... but don't note whether I'm referring to exit 9 north or south. Stupid notes!
Things finally catch up at Exit 10 @ mp 10.72, followed by Exit 11 @ mp 11.06.

[shadyjay]

If CT ever goes to mile-based, it'd be best not to even touch I-95's exits until you get some 60 miles from the border... why?  Because those exits are essentially already mile-based, but by pure coincidence.  Exit 56 is at Mile 56.  In Bridgeport, things do get tight but is adjusting exit numbers by 1 really worth it? 

Best place where it would help is the Merritt/W Cross, which starts at the border with Exit 27. 

Worst location would be on I-84 in Hartford... though with the elimination of exits over the years, may not be all THAT bad, but still would involve some suffixes.   

[Duke87]

If CT ever goes to mile-based, it'd be best not to even touch I-95's exits until you get some 60 miles from the border... why?  Because those exits are essentially already mile-based, but by pure coincidence.  Exit 56 is at Mile 56.  In Bridgeport, things do get tight but is adjusting exit numbers by 1 really worth it?

New York is in the same position with NYSTA's portion of I-95. Compare existing sequential numbers to their milepost equivalents:
9    9A
10   9B
11   10A
12   10B
13   11A
14   11B
15   13
16   15
17   16
18   18
19   21
20   22A
21   22B
22   23

I'd show Connecticut as well but it'd make this post stretch down too long. Now if only we had spoiler tags here...

Worst location would be on I-84 in Hartford... though with the elimination of exits over the years, may not be all THAT bad, but still would involve some suffixes.    

40   57A
41   57B
42   58A
43   58B
44   59
45   60
46   61A
47   61B
48A 62A
48B  62B
49   62C
50   63A
51   63B
52   63C
53   63D
54   63E
55   63F
56   63G
57   64
58   65
59   66

Yeah... "some".

[vdeane]

I bet lot of those on I-84 could be combined.  55 and 56 are even the same exit, just with a different number for each direction!

[Kacie Jane]

...
48A   62A
48B   62B
49   62C
50   63A
51   63B
52   63C
53   63D
54   63E
55   63F
56   63G
...

See, the problem with I-84 isn't mileposts are bad/sequential is good (or vice versa).  It's why the f** are there 10 exits in a two-mile span???

Here in Washington, I-5 runs pretty much straight through downtown Seattle, and survives using milepost exit numbers.  Every mile from 161 to 179 has an exit, but usually only one, and the suffixes never get higher than B. (I-90 has a 2C, but that's a quirk of history, there's no 2A.)

I'm kind of neutral on the whole issue - I somewhat prefer mileposts, but if some state wants to keep sequential numbers, IDGARA - but when a freeway can't handle milepost numbers, that's a problem with the design of the highway, not a problem with using mileposts.

[Duke87]

See, the problem with I-84 isn't mileposts are bad/sequential is good (or vice versa).  It's why the f** are there 10 exits in a two-mile span???

Well, let's examine the situation.

48A&B are actually only one exit, but the eastbound ramp splits into two branches that go in two different directions. It's signed as two exits eastbound so as to be able to get people into the proper lane for each ahead of actually leaving the freeway. Westbound it's only signed as one exit (48).
49 is EB off/WB on only, and all of two blocks from 50, where US 44 enters the freeway. Yeah, there's some redundancy there.
51&52 are for I-91 north and south, respectively. Since the ramps are separate, two numbers are needed. However, there are no WB-SB or NB-EB ramps (those movements use CT 15)
53 is where US 44 leaves the freeway. There is no WB offramp here.
54&55 are for CT 2 west and east, respectively. 54 is WB off/EB on.
56, scrunched with in the same interchange, is a long offramp to Governor street that was to be the beginning of I-284. With the freeway never built, it is largely redundant with 53 save for the lack of a WB offramp there.

All that considered, there are eight eastbound exits and seven westbound exits. Combining a couple numbers could eliminate the need for 62C and 63G, but you'd still have 62A-62B-63A-63B-63C-63D-63E-63F
Reconstruction to eliminate redundancy could cut the eastbound eight to six, eliminating the need for a 63F, but that means money.

On the other hand, beyond the six exit 63s you have 64, 65, and 66, alone and unsuffixed. Perhaps a little fudging to cut down on the progression in the alphabet is in order here?

[Scott5114]

I really don't see why the suffixes are considered a problem though: OKC gets up to 1G, Chicago has a 51I, and Kansas City has a 2Y, and nobody really seems to have much of an issue with it...

[Kacie Jane]

Also a valid point. :-)

[vdeane]

48A&B are actually only one exit, but the eastbound ramp splits into two branches that go in two different directions. It's signed as two exits eastbound so as to be able to get people into the proper lane for each ahead of actually leaving the freeway. Westbound it's only signed as one exit (48).

Then they should have only one number.  Just use down arrows to tell people what lane to get in.

[Bickendan]

I am not a real fan of alphabet soup when exit number suffixes get past C, especially when they are independent exits.  That seems confusing enough.

How palatable is this thought:  Where exits are clustered so closely, such as in NYC, keep them sequential, except for cloverleaf-type arrangements, and "catch up" on the outskirts where the exits are spaced further apart.  I don't think that distance is as much an issue in town as it is on the long-haul.

Thoughts?

A crazier thought: Kilometer based exit numbers. Given that they're only .625 of a mile, that would actually cut down on the use of 'higher' suffixes.

[yakra]

That, sir, is Communism!

[deathtopumpkins]

And that would involve re-mileposting all of the country and attempting to teach us stubborn Americans metric.

[mapman1071]

I am not a real fan of alphabet soup when exit number suffixes get past C, especially when they are independent exits.  That seems confusing enough.

How palatable is this thought:  Where exits are clustered so closely, such as in NYC, keep them sequential, except for cloverleaf-type arrangements, and "catch up" on the outskirts where the exits are spaced further apart.  I don't think that distance is as much an issue in town as it is on the long-haul.

Thoughts?

A crazier thought: Kilometer based exit numbers. Given that they're only .625 of a mile, that would actually cut down on the use of 'higher' suffixes.

That, sir, is Communism!

Thats not Communism its I-19.
I-19 Is 102km NB and 101km Sb
ADOT List The Mileage as 62mi

[SignBridge]

In light of this whole discussion, it's easy to understand why California never had exit numbers at all until recently. They saved themselves an awful lot of headaches over the years! (Chuckle!) Especially in the big metro areas like Los Angeles.