Road trip - Maryland to New Hampshire (and back)

[cpzilliacus]

[Posting the same account on in the Northeast Roads group on Facebook] 

Attended the Portsmouth, N.H. meet last weekend. 

Since I drove there and back (from Maryland) mostly by way of I-95, I will share some random thoughts and observations from along the way with this group.  (1)  A lot of progress has been made on the 6-to-9 New Jersey Turnpike reconstruction and widening work, but there's still a lot left to be done.  Not having shoulders on the right is not especially fun.  (2) Having to wait and wait and wait to cross the GWB into New York at 11 at night was not much fun either (the local lanes approaching the bridge from the Turnpike were blocked, and there was a two-lane work zone on the bridge). The Cross Bronx Expressway was not as bad as its reputation, though the messy work zone approaching I-87 was not so much fun, but once past that, it was free-flow all the way to Connecticut.  (3) Special scorn for Connecticut DOT for allowing a double lane closure at Norwalk on a Friday night after a N.Y. Yankees game in the Bronx (the Pinstripers were playing the Red Sox).  (4) The Connecticut State Police still have all-unmarked cars with light bars on top - had forgotten about those. (5) Connecticut does not like to post mileage signs for control cities ahead, at least on I-95.  (6) The grades on I-95 in eastern Connecticut and in Rhode Island were remarkably steep (I had not driven I-95 between I-91 in New Haven and the I-95/I-495 "split" north of Boston before).  (7) Came up on a wreck on I-95 at Massachusetts mile marker 15 that had just happened, and reported same to the Mass. State Police via 911. At first glance, the Massachusetts trooper cars look a little like their counterparts from Virginia.  (7) The never-completed interchange where northbound I-95 traffic must exit onto northbound Mass. 128 has an impressively sharp ramp. (8) Wonder how much business the  "service plazas" do on I-95/Mass. 128? (9) New Hampshire charges a $2 toll to pass through their state on I-95.  Well worth it, IMO, for this was the best-maintained, smoothest section of I-95 that I have driven on for many years (and other New Hampshire highways were also in superb condition).  The New Jersey Turnpike (when it is not under reconstruction) is pretty good, but the New Hampshire Turnpike, short though it is, was better.

Filled-up my fuel tank at an Irving station in Manchester, N.H. - I don't think I have seen prices that low in the East, except in South Carolina. 

When I headed back south, I diverted from I-95 in a few places. (10) I took I-93 through the Big Dig, which was impressive for how curving it is, though the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge might have been  the best in terms of "neat factor."  Why in Sam Hill is the overhead clearance only 13'9"? (11) Back in Connecticut, I stopped at one of the reconstructed service plazas on the Turnpike (at Milford).  Very impressive.  Perhaps the best layout I have seen in the U.S.  The gift shop sold E-ZPass transponders - maybe they are trying to tell motorists that tolls will return to the Turnpike sometime soon?  (12) Avoided the Cross-Bronx and took I-287 across the Tappan Zee instead to the Garden State Parkway.  Nice to see the work under way for the foundations for the first span across the Hudson River.  (13) The GSP has not changed that much, though the VMS units deployed on the Parkway and the Turnpike are impressive in terms of color and resolution. (14) Back on the N.J. Turnpike, the congestion was much more severe northbound between 8A and 6 than it was southbound. 

[SidS1045]

New Hampshire charges a $2 toll to pass through their state on I-95.  Well worth it, IMO, for this was the best-maintained, smoothest section of I-95 that I have driven on for many years (and other New Hampshire highways were also in superb condition).  The New Jersey Turnpike (when it is not under reconstruction) is pretty good, but the New Hampshire Turnpike, short though it is, was better.

IIRC New Hampshire's highway design spec calls for a much deeper foundation than the federal Interstate standard, resulting in a roadway which is more impervious to abuse from heavy vehicles and therefore lasts longer.  Closer to the way Germany builds its Autobahnen.

[cpzilliacus]

New Hampshire charges a $2 toll to pass through their state on I-95.  Well worth it, IMO, for this was the best-maintained, smoothest section of I-95 that I have driven on for many years (and other New Hampshire highways were also in superb condition).  The New Jersey Turnpike (when it is not under reconstruction) is pretty good, but the New Hampshire Turnpike, short though it is, was better.

IIRC New Hampshire's highway design spec calls for a much deeper foundation than the federal Interstate standard, resulting in a roadway which is more impervious to abuse from heavy vehicles and therefore lasts longer.  Closer to the way Germany builds its Autobahnen.

Sweden and Finland use very deep subgrades on their motorway and inter-city arterial highway networks, and it shows - the pavement is in remarkably good condition in spite of the cold winters (and heavier than the U.S. permitted gross combination weights for trucks).

[froggie]

Shouldn't this have gone in the "Road Trips" subforum?

(10) I took I-93 through the Big Dig, which was impressive for how curving it is, though the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge might have been  the best in terms of "neat factor."  Why in Sam Hill is the overhead clearance only 13'9"?

My guess is because of the tunnel.

[cpzilliacus]

Shouldn't this have gone in the "Road Trips" subforum?

I debated putting it here or there, but decided to post it here because it dealt with things associated with the Northeast.

(10) I took I-93 through the Big Dig, which was impressive for how curving it is, though the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge might have been  the best in terms of "neat factor." 
Why in Sam Hill is the overhead clearance only 13'9"?

My guess is because of the tunnel.

I think your guess is correct.  Allow me to elaborate - since this project sucked down a huge amount of federal dollars, why did the Federal Highway Administration allow a deviation from the normal overhead clearance of (at least) 16' 0"?

[deathtopumpkins]

Is the standard actually 16'0? In Mass it seems to be 13'6. The MassDOT Truck Regulations website (http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/DoingBusinessWithUs/PermitsRoadAccessPrograms/CommercialTransport.aspx) lists that as being the clearance for the Ted Williams Tunnel, the City Square Tunnel, the O'Neill Tunnel (big dig), and even the turnpike mainline itself, plus "other locations not listed", with the older Sumner/Callahan tunnels being only 12'6. In fact the site even specifies that vehicles taller than 13'6 need, in addition to a pilot car, a State Police escort to travel on state highways.

[cpzilliacus]

Is the standard actually 16'0? In Mass it seems to be 13'6. The MassDOT Truck Regulations website (http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/DoingBusinessWithUs/PermitsRoadAccessPrograms/CommercialTransport.aspx) lists that as being the clearance for the Ted Williams Tunnel, the City Square Tunnel, the O'Neill Tunnel (big dig), and even the turnpike mainline itself, plus "other locations not listed", with the older Sumner/Callahan tunnels being only 12'6. In fact the site even specifies that vehicles taller than 13'6 need, in addition to a pilot car, a State Police escort to travel on state highways.

Maryland seems to post anything less than 16' with appropriate signs (I-95 through the Fort McHenry Tunnel is 16') - but height alone (16' or less) does not require a pilot car.