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[hbelkins]

Troubled Thruway stretch ‘in far worse condition than we had anticipated’

"The Thruway stretch had become so dilapidated in recent years that the recommended speed limit is down to 45 mph.

The troubled thoroughfare was highlighted in August by the USA TODAY Network New York, and soon after negotiations between the state and the tribe picked up urgency.

Driscoll said the recent inspection of the road is the first time they have been able to fully inspect the roadway, finding "that the concrete base of the roadway is crumbling and badly cracking in many locations, making it ineffective for our crews to simply pave over it.""

Interesting. Lots of states pave over original concrete by "breaking and seating" or "rubbleizing" the pavement and then laying asphalt on the broken-up concrete.

Never seen that before.  They always mill down to the bituminous concrete and layer the new surface on top of that.

I've seen two different pieces of equipment do it. One was called "Thumper" and it actually had a picture of a rabbit on it. It's a big piece of metal the width of the road and looked to be about a foot thick. Hydraulics lift it up and slam it down onto the pavement. It makes a lot of noise and will definitely vibrate a passing car. The other one had a much smaller footprint, kind of like an oversized sanding pad. It seemed to work mostly by vibration and not by brute force the way "Thumper" did.

Both methods were used on different sections of I-64 between Lexington and Midway when the original 1971 concrete was repaved back in the mid-1990s. The section broken up by the "Thumper" seemed to do better than the one broken up by the other machine.

[seicer]

Ironically, the portion west of Midway to Frankfort is still on its original concrete, although it's been rehabbed twice. I'm not sure why it's been kept for so long, but it would be a good study of pavement life cycles and costs.

[hbelkins]

Ironically, the portion west of Midway to Frankfort is still on its original concrete, although it's been rehabbed twice. I'm not sure why it's been kept for so long, but it would be a good study of pavement life cycles and costs.

That's very possible. Also, its proximity to Frankfort and Lexington (UK Transportation Center) may play a part in that.

There's still some original concrete on I-75 south of London, or there was the last time I was on that road (2017). There's also some on the Pennyrile Parkway between Hopkinsville and the WK Parkway.

[Michael]

I just saw this article on Syracuse.com:
Construction on cashless toll system for NYS Thruway has started

Here's a picture of a completed gantry from the article:

[ixnay]

Are the tolltakers on the NYST unionized?  IIRC their counterparts on the PATP are.

I'm surprised that in this EZPass/SunPass/IPass era, tolltakers's unions haven't raised a *major* stink because of the endangerment of their jobs.

ixnay

[PHLBOS]

I'm surprised that in this EZPass/SunPass/IPass era, tolltakers's unions haven't raised a *major* stink because of the endangerment of their jobs.

Not to get into a union and/or political spat here; but it should be noted that the initial plans for many tolled facilities were to have the tolls eliminated when the original bonds that built such were paid off.  Sadly, such never happened at most of these facilities (including the NYS Thruway) for a variety of reasons.  I don't intend to into such in this thread.

That said, many of these toll takers' jobs have been borrowed time for quite a while... even decades.

[cl94]

Are the tolltakers on the NYST unionized?  IIRC their counterparts on the PATP are.

I'm surprised that in this EZPass/SunPass/IPass era, tolltakers's unions haven't raised a *major* stink because of the endangerment of their jobs.

The full-timers were transferred to other positions a year or two ago. Remaining toll takers in NY are temps hired for the transition period.

[hbelkins]

Are the tolltakers on the NYST unionized?  IIRC their counterparts on the PATP are.

Kentucky's weren't unionized, but they were moved into other state jobs when the tolls went away. One former toll plaza employee on the Cumberland Parkway is now my colleague in the Somerset office. One of the Daniel Boone Parkway employees got her CDL and is now an equipment operator in our Perry County garage. And one, since retired, worked in accounting in our district office.

[KEVIN_224]

Are those toll gantries wide enough for 3 lanes, should they ever widen?

[kalvado]

Are those toll gantries wide enough for 3 lanes, should they ever widen?

Judging from image in this article - https://www.syracuse.com/state/2019/11/construction-on-cashless-toll-system-for-nys-thruway-has-started.html - yes.
Then at least in Albany area gantries go onto already 3-laned portion, seems to be the case in other urban areas as well.

[vdeane]

Are those toll gantries wide enough for 3 lanes, should they ever widen?

I don't know if any of the ticket system gantries are up yet.  The one in the article is actually at the North Grand Island Bridge.

[02 Park Ave]

Has the metering of traffic from the Garden State Parkway Connector to the southbound thruway begun?

[vdeane]

I noticed that the Thruway is replacing the pavement under what will be the new gantries with concrete.  Not sure why they're doing that, but I imagine that's why they're only replacing the existing toll barriers in some locations - it would certainly increase the cost.

[Roadsguy]

I noticed that the Thruway is replacing the pavement under what will be the new gantries with concrete.  Not sure why they're doing that, but I imagine that's why they're only replacing the existing toll barriers in some locations - it would certainly increase the cost.

Does NYSTA typically do full-depth reconstructions with a concrete surface like the widening around Albany? Could be so that when those sections eventually get reconstructed, they don't have to mess with the area around the gantries.

[Alps]

Has the metering of traffic from the Garden State Parkway Connector to the southbound thruway begun?

Can vouch I saw traffic being metered after 8 PM on Wednesday. Could not vouch which ramp.

[webny99]

I noticed that the Thruway is replacing the pavement under what will be the new gantries with concrete.  Not sure why they're doing that, but I imagine that's why they're only replacing the existing toll barriers in some locations - it would certainly increase the cost.

Yes, that's what they did on Grand Island, so I was unsurprised to see the same thing on the mainline east of Williamsville.
Maybe it's somehow related to improved readability and/or durability.

[kalvado]

I noticed that the Thruway is replacing the pavement under what will be the new gantries with concrete.  Not sure why they're doing that, but I imagine that's why they're only replacing the existing toll barriers in some locations - it would certainly increase the cost.

Yes, that's what they did on Grand Island, so I was unsurprised to see the same thing on the mainline east of Williamsville.
Maybe it's somehow related to improved readability and/or durability.

And another one:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3098652,-74.1242151,137m/data=!3m1!1e3
Actually it can easily be due to different RF properties of concrete vs asphalt.
For whatever reason, this one seems to be different: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2973755,-73.2447227,3a,60y,60.6h,87.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXE3QJo3AW9nTurnKwAYQdg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
But with some loops in the pavement.
I wonder if there is more than one type of reading equipment..

[cl94]

I wouldn't be surprised if the concrete is so they won't need to redo the equipment the next time the road gets resurfaced. NYSTA resurfaces relatively frequently.

[vdeane]

The era of non-reflective lettering would appear to be over.  Within the past couple months, the Thruway replaced the EB 1 mile advance sign for exit 25A.  Driving back home from Thanksgiving, I noticed that the lettering was reflective.  This was a one-off sign replacement and not part of any other job, so I'm inclined to think that this is the first sign with reflective letters out of the Thruway's sign shop in a long time.

[SignBridge]

Does NYSTA have their own sign shop for the BGS's or do they contract it out? If they're doing it themselves, it might explain why Thruway signs often seem a little different than NYSDOT's signs. 

[PHLBOS]

Has the metering of traffic from the Garden State Parkway Connector to the southbound thruway begun?

No, at least as of this past Wednesday Nov. 27 between 1-1:30 PM.  That ramp was/is still in the process of being worked on/revamped.

[cl94]

Does NYSTA have their own sign shop for the BGS's or do they contract it out? If they're doing it themselves, it might explain why Thruway signs often seem a little different than NYSDOT's signs.

NYSTA has their own sign shop. Their standards are slightly different.

[vdeane]

Does NYSTA have their own sign shop for the BGS's or do they contract it out? If they're doing it themselves, it might explain why Thruway signs often seem a little different than NYSDOT's signs. 

They do most signs themselves, but some do get replaced by contractors as part of other projects (such as this sign that was done as part of a paving contract).

[SignBridge]

Thanks cl94 and vdeane. You can tell that one sign for Exit-24 is not a NYSTA built sign because it looks "normal"!

[RestrictOnTheHanger]

Speaking of thruway signs, why are there a bunch of signs that appear washed out at night? They are almost unreadable.

I have seen them south of exit 17 and on the i95 extension north of the Bruckner/I678/I278 interchange. Some have clearview, some are FHWA font, but that doesnt make a difference.

Some examples

I95 at the Hutch
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wZWDuVi9JN68WVmb6

Junction with I287. Interestingly, the new name for the Tappan Zee has been patched over with a FHWA font label that is as reflective as a normal sign, the rest is washed out

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Mn86XpY62bNbAC349