State Highway Systems

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: mugs

2) Whoever designed Pennsylvania's major highways needs to be disinterred and killed again

Have you ever driven on NJ's highways in the vicinity of New York? It's a labyrinth.

The 55 mph speed limits are sometimes appropriate, sometimes not, but always ignored. Out in western PA on I-70 I believe there is a section of Interstate with a 45 mph limit for no good reason. :Q

I can't say I've ever been up there, but thanks for the warning in case I have to venture there.

And I can't say I'd pay attention to the 45mph limit signs, unless conditions warranted it. Likewise, I kinda just do my own thing even with higher limits, and so far (knock on wood), I've been fortunate, but should anything happen, I know I won't come on here bitching about how evil a cop was for pulling me over. Although, Wednesday I was cruising the NJ Turnpike doing 90mph, there was a cop and he did nothing. So that makes up for the accident another NJ Trooper nearly caused with me.

 

[markgm]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: markgm
I'll give you that. I moved to Philly in '98, and at that time 76 wasn't bad except during rush hour. Then a year or two later is bad during the day, and by the time I moved in 2003, it was packed at 3 in the morning. They need to build a double decker express lane from the Vine Street Expressway to Valley Forge to solve that nightmare.

I really wish traffic was a top issue during the elections. To go all P&N on everyone, I find it sad that this is the issue that impacts the most people and yet nothing is ever done to improve the situation. How much time is wasted (that could either be spent working or with families) along with gas just sitting in traffic.

I really wish we created another branch of the military that handled road construction. They'd go from area to area rapidly expanding roads. It's insane that an expansion takes months to complete, compounding the problem. Get 10,000 people working on a road, get it laid down in a week, and move on to the next area. Instead we'll focus on issues that affect almost no one.

The Schuylkill is a nightmare at all times of the day. Especially right after the Conshohocken curve (if you're travelling eastbound). I just get the feeling that it was designed by a monkey... with Down Syndrome.

In any case, the double-decker expansion would never work -- PennDOT would find some way to fsck it up. And I'll just have to disagree with you on the road building branch, because I feel other states can effectively build roads (their job), Pennsylvania just dropped the ball on this one -- big time.

Things aren't much better on 95 in DE, 95 in NJ, NY, CT... I don't think any state on the East Coast has a decent amount of roadway for the number of drivers on the roads.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: mugs

2) Whoever designed Pennsylvania's major highways needs to be disinterred and killed again

Have you ever driven on NJ's highways in the vicinity of New York? It's a labyrinth.

The 55 mph speed limits are sometimes appropriate, sometimes not, but always ignored. Out in western PA on I-70 I believe there is a section of Interstate with a 45 mph limit for no good reason. :Q

I can't say I've ever been up there, but thanks for the warning in case I have to venture there.

And I can't say I'd pay attention to the 45mph limit signs, unless conditions warranted it. Likewise, I kinda just do my own thing even with higher limits, and so far (knock on wood), I've been fortunate, but should anything happen, I know I won't come on here bitching about how evil a cop was for pulling me over. Although, Wednesday I was cruising the NJ Turnpike doing 90mph, there was a cop and he did nothing. So that makes up for the accident another NJ Trooper nearly caused with me.

Yeah, in my experience, most cops won't pull you over without a good reason. Out of state plates can be considered a good reason though. I pass cops all the time while speeding (that is, I pass them when they are stationary, I do not overtake them). Only times I've been pulled over in NJ were for 62 in a 35 (got off with a warning; it's not as bad as it sounds, it was a highway where the speed drops when you go across a bridge, but nobody actually slows down), another time for ~85 in a 65 in the rain while following too closely and changing lanes without signaling (got a careless driving ticket for that one - NOT reckless driving, just careless, 2 points), and most recently for having my old plates on my car 4 months after I received my new ones (whoops).

In other states I've had less luck - got tickets for 72 in a 65 in Ohio and for a rolling stop in Indiana.

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: mugs
Yeah, in my experience, most cops won't pull you over without a good reason. Out of state plates can be considered a good reason though. I pass cops all the time while speeding (that is, I pass them when they are stationary, I do not overtake them). Only times I've been pulled over in NJ were for 62 in a 35 (got off with a warning; it's not as bad as it sounds, it was a highway where the speed drops when you go across a bridge, but nobody actually slows down), another time for ~85 in a 65 in the rain while following too closely and changing lanes without signaling (got a careless driving ticket for that one - NOT reckless driving, just careless, 2 points), and most recently for having my old plates on my car 4 months after I received my new ones (whoops).

In other states I've had less luck - got tickets for 72 in a 65 in Ohio and for a rolling stop in Indiana.

Yeah, it's extremely easy to spot an out-of-stater in NJ, especially since you guys have the tacky front plates. But I've been extremely lucky when it comes to getting pulled over. I can think of four times when I should have been absolutely busted, but each time the cop let it slide (they were probably sleeping).

And you don't have to make excuses for speeding, since I'd be a hypocrite for chastising you. I'll be the first to complain that on these modern highways (maybe not PA's ), 55mph is way too low, and 65mph is a good start, but 70mph should be almost the norm. But that would mean a severe cut into revenue, and that is something our great governor :roll: could not handle.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: mwtgg
The Schuylkill is a nightmare at all times of the day. Especially right after the Conshohocken curve (if you're travelling eastbound). I just get the feeling that it was designed by a monkey... with Down Syndrome.

In any case, the double-decker expansion would never work -- PennDOT would find some way to fsck it up. And I'll just have to disagree with you on the road building branch, because I feel other states can effectively build roads (their job), Pennsylvania just dropped the ball on this one -- big time.

Surekill is possibly the worst highway in the country. Built in the side of hills along the river, it can't easily or cost-effectively be widened along that whole Conshy stretch. Blows.

Pa. has a bicameral legislature. In its Senate, each county, like each state in the US Senate, gets one Senator, regardless of population.


Our Southeastern corner of the state, with Philly and the populous Delaware Valley, gets royally screwed each and every year on road repair appropriations by 'Upstate' in the Pa. Senate. And you need both houses to dance.

And so it goes ...