New Jersey Turnpike

[storm2k]

I just ran across these on GSV and I was surprised...are they still there? Original signs and all?

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.684611,-74.097324,3a,75y,54.09h,86.24t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s2CY0_N9SMsVlWJTAbfgCTw!2e0

Also, are the signs on this gantry still there?  I remember last summer they were reconstructing the ramps at Exit 10.

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The signs at 10 are still there... for now. They're on the endangered species list, as well as the "New York and North" and "Trenton and South" signs going the other way. They will be gone soon.

Have you seen any contracts or spot improvement contracts with the above signs mentioned?

They are currently reconfiguring several of the ramps that split out after the toll plaza and there are already concrete footings in place for a new sign bridge to replace the one that's in the picture. All of the other old non-reflective button copy signs along the circle ramp were replaced a few years ago, but the contractors just replaced them with matching sign legends (which is why you still have a ramp for 440 East instead of North). As for the signs coming onto the Turnpike, there is already a new sign for the SB Turnpike which is covered up (and I assume looks like one of the signs in this standard drawing

Just a heads up that I drove through here on Saturday the 7th and the New York and North and Trenton and South sign bridge is now gone. Those signs have been replaced with signs using the SL14 template that show both the Turnpike and 95 shields. NB destination is New York, SB is Trenton. As for the sign in the picture, the concrete footings for a new sign bridge are in place, I think they are waiting until they are done with paving for the newly aligned ramps to CR-514 WB before installing the new bridge. When this happens, those button copy signs will be gone as well.

[J Route Z]

Yeah they are reconfiguring exit 10 ramps currently.

[Alps]

Given that a 15E sign was just replaced, it's possible that these are being addressed as spot fixes now, since there's no major contract planned in that area (that I know of).

I thought they were going to be replacing all the signs north of 9 or 10 with MUTCD signage except for where a project had new signs already in the works (like new sign for 13A). Did that get put on hold?

Just semantics, I think. What you said would pretty much match what I said - a signing contract is not major.

[KEVIN_224]

WABC-TV (ABC) channel 7 and other places reported on a serious accident tonight around Cranbury heading south. I know that's in or by Exit 8A. Was it in the car or truck/bus lanes? Ice may have been a factor...again. I was on this stretch of the road on Friday without incident, but heading north, on Friday afternoon.

[Alps]

WABC-TV (ABC) channel 7 and other places reported on a serious accident tonight around Cranbury heading south. I know that's in or by Exit 8A. Was it in the car or truck/bus lanes? Ice may have been a factor...again. I was on this stretch of the road on Friday without incident, but heading north, on Friday afternoon.

Trucks were involved, so it was likely on the outer lanes. It was by the service area south of 8A, near the top of a seemingly shallow hill but one that trucks struggle to get up. With the old merge, SB traffic didn't start really moving until Cranbury-Half Acre Rd. at the top of the hill, which is just south of the crash site. Ice was likely a factor given the weather. Having been there post-widening, there is a straight roadway with generous sightlines, so my guess is that nothing about the roadway itself caused the crash, just the weather and a freak occurrence.

[jeffandnicole]

I read accidents occurred on both the inner and outer roadways in that same area, with the inner roadway re-opening first because they didn't have to deal with jackknifed tractor trailers.

[cpzilliacus]

I read accidents occurred on both the inner and outer roadways in that same area, with the inner roadway re-opening first because they didn't have to deal with jackknifed tractor trailers.

NJ.com: Icy, fatal Turnpike crash 'should never have happened,' road's former engineer says

CRANBURY – The 40-vehicle, fatal pileup on an icy stretch of the NJ Turnpike could have been avoided if contractors salted the road more frequently during Monday's wintry mix of sleet, snow and freezing rain, according to a former Turnpike official.

"Last night's accident was clearly weather-related and never should have happened," said Daniel P. McNamara, the Turnpike's former director of maintenance.

McNamara, who has more than 30 years of experience with snow and ice removal, said the area where the accident occurred could not have been treated properly Monday. "The current administration waited too long to purchase the equipment, i.e. salt trucks, for the new outer roadways south of Interchange 9," McNamara stated in an email to NJ Advance Media.

[Mergingtraffic]

new arrow and old arrow.

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[Zeffy]

Hopefully the Turnpike never gets rid of that arrow. If they have to MUTCD... then at least let them keep that arrow.

[jeffandnicole]

And cameras can do funny things.  You won't notice the different colors of green as you drive under the new arrow.

[Mergingtraffic]

Original sign gantry STILL there. 
Kind of surprised the signs are NOT button copy. I wonder if they were at some point.

[PHLBOS]

Original sign gantry STILL there. 
Kind of surprised the signs are NOT button copy. I wonder if they were at some point.

Weren't those signs backlit?  The original Exit 6 BGS' were.  Backlit BGS' don't need to have button-copy lettering.

[roadman65]

They were (are) backlit and because of the nature of it, it cannot be button copy.

I was always amazed at how Holland Tunnel is on two lines, where its counterpart uses two different places on the same two lines.  Also unlike Exit 14A that had Turnpike NORTH & SOUTH on the overhead there, the trailblazing for the mainline turnpike is on ground shields here.

[Pete from Boston]

new arrow and old arrow.

New arrow = much less sexy.

[Zeffy]

New arrow = much less sexy.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think doofy is referring to the greenout'd classic NJTP arrow as being the "new" arrow (since the other one was only used because of roadway conditions or something to that effect). If that is the case, the new arrow is much more sexy compared to the old one.

[jeffandnicole]

Correct: the top picture is the current arrow.

[NJRoadfan]

https://goo.gl/maps/5rsB9

One thing I noticed about the Newark Bay Extension is that the NJTA has no problem posting I-78 reassurance markers, unlike on the mainline where you'd never know it was I-95. The old markers in the median south of Exit 8A did survive the reconstruction though.

[J Route Z]

https://goo.gl/maps/5rsB9

One thing I noticed about the Newark Bay Extension is that the NJTA has no problem posting I-78 reassurance markers, unlike on the mainline where you'd never know it was I-95. The old markers in the median south of Exit 8A did survive the reconstruction though.

It's in the median though at exit 10: http://goo.gl/maps/5U57C

[Mergingtraffic]

This is for ALPS:



It'll be gone soon as a signing contract in progress is calling for it's removal.


Also I got this....whoops as I-95 shield peeking through.

[J Route Z]

Also I got this....whoops as I-95 shield peeking through.

Ha I saw that yesterday too. It could've been from the wind we had last week.

[swbrotha100]

https://goo.gl/maps/5rsB9

One thing I noticed about the Newark Bay Extension is that the NJTA has no problem posting I-78 reassurance markers, unlike on the mainline where you'd never know it was I-95. The old markers in the median south of Exit 8A did survive the reconstruction though.

I don't know why they can't put more I-95 shields along the recently widened stretch of the Turnpike. At least, do it going northbound.

[roadman65]

Back in the 80's the NJT always had either I-95 or TO I-95 shields before and after each interchange in the median.  The shields were two sided or basically two shields on the same assembly back to back so the post interchange shield would be on the assembly as the opposing traffic's pre interchange shield.

[NJRoadfan]

NJTA has created a websites for the Exit 14A reconstruction: http://www.njta14a.com

[Mergingtraffic]

NJTA has created a websites for the Exit 14A reconstruction: http://www.njta14a.com

Interesting.  You know what could use widening?, the western spur as it's only 2-lanes in spots.  Plus that whole area, including SB heading towards I-280, tends to bunch up during rush hour. 

I heard on the radio that the X14A project is being done now b/c of funds thanks to recent toll increases. 

[NJRoadfan]

Widening the western spur from Exit 16W on north is a long term plan.