Description
Much of the rush hour traffic on the Northway is from commuters who are trying to get between Saratoga County and Albany or I-90. The various ramps for Exits 2-7, and the subsequent merging that needs to take place, only slows everyone down.
I imagine it would easy congestion if the Northway had a fourth lane in each direction.
It would be especially helpful if this was an "express" lane (or HOV lane) separated from the rest of the Northway along this stretch to avoid lane-changing and merging. Long-distance commuters shouldn't have to get tangled up with the Latham and Colonie traffic.
4 Comments
Geeps (Guest)
Don't think that is possible as the main congestion is at the twin bridges. Maybe lenghtening the exit and entrance ramps at exits 7, 8A & 8 would help. Problems seemed to have been compounded when they did work at exit 8A a while back. There is also an undue tendency of drivers to slow at the twin bridges for no apparent reason other than people cutting others off when they try to get back in the right lane to get off (can't adjust road conditions for bad behavior). The rush hour traffic situation does need a lot of attention though.
Al Karoly
I believe that Geeps is headed in the right direction and shares my beliefs. Before building exit 8A traffic would backup on the Exit 8 ramp but the Northway would flow freely until it reached Exit 8. After it opened, traffic often backed up as far as far as Exit 9. I don't commute down the Northway anymore so I can't comment on current conditions.
Without adding lanes and with them a new bridge over the Mohawk, there are 2 solutions that appear feasible:
1. Ramp Metering: There are a number of metropolitan areas that use this technique. By metering the entrance of vehicles onto an expressway you can keep the flow from reaching a "jam density". This would require less construction but would not make for happy commuters entering at exits 8, 8A & 9 who would be metered onto I-87.
2. Toll the Northway for those crossing the Mohawk: The use of E-ZPass & automatic license plate recognition could be used to create a variable toll which would peak at times of peak congestion (AM & PM) and be nominal during other times. This would encourage carpooling and alternate work hour schedules. This of course would be extremely politically sensitive of course but people should acknowledge that they are already paying a toll; it's the excess time it takes them to get to their destination and the extra gas they are burning while sitting in traffic.
Henry Ladd (Guest)
It would help the situation somewhat, but I think you would need two lanes, thyat would start far enough north so that people would be aware that they would be in a restricted lane for some distance with no alternative exit.
Closed Craig
Closing the issue just because it's unrealistic without a new/expanded bridge over the Mohawk.