NY State Thruway Traffic

[jasonwx]

There's no possibility of adding rail to the new TZB, and untreated wood foundations were not a thing when the old bridge was built.
I'm gonna tap out. This thread is looking like an example of false information spreading faster than the truth.

mm

according to my daughter , who is a civil engineer . the old tz bridge was built with wood pilling...as far as the new bridge being able to accept a rail ...no clue

 

[x10003q]

Adding more lanes does not necessarily cut down on traffic and there is a lot of evidence to support it may actually do the opposite.

This is called induced demand and it is a valid theory, but it does not always take into consideration other factors like population increases without matching increases in road capacity and lack of other route choices. Adding lanes to a highway also can pull vehicles off smaller and less safe county/local roads. In the case of the NYS Thruway between 16 and 17, there are really no other choices besides "1 lane in each direction" local roads. If you travel south from Albany to Exit 16 on a Sunday night, you will be in pockets of slow moving traffic the whole time and quite often be sitting in 20mph-40mph traffic from Exit 17 to Exit 16. The traffic almost immediately speeds up to 65mph south of Exit 16 where the NYS is 3 lanes. Adding the 3 lanes from 17 south to 16 would probably reduce the traffic.

The NY-State Thruway could take a lesson from the NJ Turnpike perhaps, though in the context of Orange and Rockland Counties I'm not sure something similar would work. RT6 and the Palisades Interstate Parkway also see pretty extreme congestion north of 287. Maybe old 17 out of Tuxedo could be better utilized but who knows, Ramapo Pass is a geographic bottleneck that not much can be done with regardless.

There have been arguments made that the NYS Thruway should have an exit between Exit 15 and Exit 16 at Rt 17A. That would take traffic off old rt 17 and might be a pressure relief for this section of the Thruway. It would make access easier for skiers to Tuxedo Ridge (now closed) and Mt Peter in Warwick . The other side is Harriman State Park and a ton of cars going east thru the Park would not be a good thing.

 

[Low Angle Life]

The traffic almost immediately speeds up to 65mph south of Exit 16 where the NYS is 3 lanes. Adding the 3 lanes from 17 south to 16 would probably reduce the traffic.

I completely disagree with your observation on this, once you hit the bridge for the Arden Furnace moving south bound traffic picks up almost immediately and continues all the way through the junction with 287.

There have been arguments made that the NYS Thruway should have an exit between Exit 15 and Exit 16 at Rt 17A. That would take traffic off old rt 17 and might be a pressure relief for this section of the Thruway. It would make access easier for skiers to Tuxedo Ridge (now closed) and Mt Peter in Warwick . The other side is Harriman State Park and a ton of cars going east thru the Park would not be a good thing.

There was a plan to make this happen when there was a proposed casino development slated to be built at Tuxedo Ridge. Harriman is already pretty messed up from a traffic perspective once you hit the RT. 6 traffic circle.

 

[x10003q]

You gotta wonder why the Northway needs 3 lanes from Albany to Lake George but the Thruway has only 2 north of Harriman. Maybe they lose the ability to collect tolls if they take federal money to add a lane?

mm

The Northway has Interstate Federal financing. The NYS Thruway Authority does not get any money from the Feds. That is why the Thruway Authority Finances are a mess because the Thruway and NYS paid for the Tappan Zee - without Federal Funding. The Feds have no say about how the Thruway operates.

The 3 Northway lanes were a gift to Albany and the NYS workers from the Feds to get up to Lake George in the summer with less traffic.

 

[x10003q]

A few months ago, I saw this article about Frontier ending all service out of Stewart Airport (Jetblue did the same during COVID) leaving only Allegiant Airlines serving Orlando, Punta Gorda, Saint Petersburg, and Myrtle Beach domestically.

It would seem to make sense to have an airport for all the people north of the Jersey state line who don't want to drive to LGA, JFK, or EWR but I guess that the market hath spoken. Do you really think that Stewart hasn't worked out due to traffic on the Thruway?

Covid killed any momentum that was happening at Stewart. Nanuet to Stewart is 45 miles and Nanuet to Newark Liberty is 40 miles. I do think end of workday heading home traffic has gotten much worse from the Tappan Zee to Exit 16 and this has been a negative. The Port Authority has not really pushed Stewart as a viable airport for the region.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

make Stewart International NYC’s fourth hub

Here are the six current destinations from Stewart, including daily service to Reykjavik and weekly seasonal service to the Faroe Islands -- there's got to be a story behind that one!

Per the Times Herald-Record:
Since the Port Authority acquired Stewart in 2007, it has invested more than $220 million in facility improvements. It recently completed a $37 million terminal expansion, which included construction of a permanent U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection station to support new air service and accommodate additional international travelers.

 

[tirolski]

Here are the six current destinations from Stewart, including daily service to Reykjavik and weekly seasonal service to the Faroe Islands -- there's got to be a story behind that one!

Looks a little bony but it was May.

 

[Harvey]

the old tz bridge was built with wood pilling

It total was. You could see it plain as day.

 

[tirolski]

Rode shotgun on the NYS Thruway this morning to Victor for golfin.
Folks were flying.
Saw the traffic slow down on the way after Montezuma and there was an 18 wheeler going thru the gratss in the median west bound.
There was a car parked on the shoulder also westbound. Haven’t a clue what had happened.
.Lucky the big rig didn’t tip over.