[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Kid - I too have experienced LA traffic and I can tell you in comparison to the 405 and a number of other freeways, I-95 is a piece of cake IMHO. Some of the worst freeways in the country are around LA. I have seem traffic around LA backed up for miles and for hours. Rush hour generally does not end from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM. At least you can still drive I-95 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM without too much of a problem. Jay

Yes the 405 is pretty bad. I have seen some traffic on that that I've never seen before. It is very easy to avoid though, and I do without a problem - granted my schedule allows this. I take the 101 west of LA daily around 4:50pm and the worst traffic I hit begins in the Sherman Oaks area and ends in Encino (where the 101 intersects with 405 between exits 16 and 20). Once you hit Encino, you're good to go.

Anyway, as someone who now commutes in the LA area, and used to commute in southern Fairfield County, I can say that traffic is more difficult in the Stamford/Norwalk area. The main problem for this is the lack of highways in CT. At least in CA, there are plenty of alternate routes. With that said, you do need to put more effort toward planning your trip out here.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

The main problem for this is the lack of highways in CT. At least in CA, there are plenty of alternate routes. With that said, you do need to put more effort toward planning your trip out here.

This is a good point but you are comparing one small portion of a very large metropolitan area (Stamford as part of the New York City metro area) to an overall view of another large metropolitan area. Like I said there are many 10 mile stretches of highway in the LA region that have similar or worse traffic problems.

By the way, I would like to thank you for still posting while you are out of town. I hope you come back to CT soon. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

Not really. Between the eminent domain laws and the ability to build multi-level parking garages, the costs aren't the biggest issue. The biggest impediments tend to be that people don't want things like high-rise structures, and any transportation related improvements require municipal funds(which require tax dollars and dumb politicians to implement the initiative).

Quite a few years ago, my town had a golden opportunity to expand the station for very little money, but nobody had the foresight to jump on it. Now, that "golden" property(Stratford Center Plaza, across from Home Depot/Shaw's/WM) has rebounded from its previously high vacancy rate, and if the state did attempt to eminent domain a portion of this plaza, the cost would be exorbitant. Still, not as expensive as widening 15 or 95 though. Forget about that one.

You make a couple of very good points. One of the main reasons that Fairfield actively pursued a third station in town was that ConnDOT was looking at building a multi-level parking garage adjacent to Fairfield station. Town officials feared how big of a structure would be built and really went out of their way to work with the developer of the Fairfield Metro Center to get an ADA compliant station with lots of parking built off Black Rock Turnpike.

There has been talk for years of expanding parking at Stratford station and you are right about them missing a good opportunity. I am still not sure where or how they will build a garage there but that is what they are talking about and that gets very expensive. Jay

[JViello]

Originally Posted by goldenband

I think you're confusing it with "highway", which is an old word (dating back to 859 CE at least!) that the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "A public road open to all passengers, a high road". The "free" in "freeway" -- a word whose earliest attestation is 1890 -- refers mainly to the absence of physical obstructions and impediments. The 1890 attestation: "Situation, description, and distance of bridges, their width and freeway underneath at low, medium, and high states of water."

No, I'm not confusing anything. I know the definition of highway too.

There are lots of definitions for freeway tossed around to where the origin of freeway came from. The best collection I can garner says it started in the 30's (When the Merritt was built) and was termed as such due to the state of the world at the time.

Originally Posted by goldenband

Could we quit with the random potshots, both in this and in your earlier post? I could easily come up with a similarly cartoonish characterization of you, but that's not the basis of a civil discussion.

Well perhaps this is where we disagree. To ME, I see the pot shots being taken all along about "stupid gas guzzling, rich SUV drivers" while the Prius/Insight save the world drivers are elevated to a state of righteousness. So I gave it back, and frankly I'm starting to wonder if this is even a real post and not a troll.

So, I would expect you to call out the OP too for their pot shots...if you want to be consistent that is. (BTW I do not own an SUV...but we all know the "left's" mantra about them.)

If you can't see that; it starts in the very first post and ramps up, I don't know what to tell you.

Originally Posted by goldenband

I do like your idea of border tolls, though there's some potential for abuse (but probably nothing worse than what goes on anyway).

The Mass turnpike at the NY border has a booth that would be an example.

You pull up and hand your ticket. IF you got on from points Springfield West, you hand your ticket and they wave you on for free. If you did not, you pay the toll. (I'm not sure about the logistics behind it, but that's what happens)

We use said route all the time on the way to Lebanon Valley for a day of racing.

It's pretty efficient, and I'm not sure why we could not do so. Cars with a CT plate, get waved through. Others pay the $2 or whatever.

[Lowerdeck]

Originally Posted by JViello

The Mass turnpike at the NY border has a booth that would be an example.

You pull up and hand your ticket. IF you got on from points Springfield West, you hand your ticket and they wave you on for free. If you did not, you pay the toll. (I'm not sure about the logistics behind it, but that's what happens)

We use said route all the time on the way to Lebanon Valley for a day of racing.

It's pretty efficient, and I'm not sure why we could not do so. Cars with a CT plate, get waved through. Others pay the $2 or whatever.

The tolls on the Mass Pike are basically left in place to pay off the Big Dig and fund road maintenance in eastern Mass. But since people in western Mass. rarely head to Boston, the commonwealth decided to be fair and stopped tolls between the NY line and Exit 6. (Surprising, considering Mass. likes to squeeze every penny possible out of everyone.)

If you crossed in from New York, it's free until Ludlow (Exit 7). Keep driving further east and the price gets higher. In opposite, drive from the east and the price keeps going up into you hit I-291 in Springfield. Then the price remains the same all the way to NY state. The price from Sturbridge, Auburn, Framingham, 128/Weston, etc... to Springfield is the same as the price to Stockbridge 50 miles west.

[goldenband]

Originally Posted by JViello

No, I'm not confusing anything. I know the definition of highway too.

There are lots of definitions for freeway tossed around to where the origin of freeway came from. The best collection I can garner says it started in the 30's (When the Merritt was built) and was termed as such due to the state of the world at the time.

Well, all I can say is that the Oxford English Dictionary has long been considered the pre-eminent source for any and all questions of etymology, earliest usage, etc. I don't know what collection you're using, but etymology is a notoriously treacherous field, because there are tons of people who pass on old wives' tales and incorrect surmises as fact. People have the bad habit of looking for the etymology that suits their preconceptions, rather than the one that falls closest to the truth. (Not saying you're doing this, just saying it's a real minefield for that reason.)

The definition of "freeway" that maps best onto the modern usage is attested from 1926, and ironically, the definition emphasizes restriction and limitations: "A thoroughfare to which the owners of abutting premises are denied the right of direct access, in order to protect the free movement of traffic. Now chiefly: an express highway, esp. one with controlled access; a toll-free highway." A citation from San Antonio in 1926: "Cars parked along the curb and rendering the freeway still narrower." And from a zoning manual in 1936: "The increase of freeways..will help to solve the problem of too extensive business districts along main arteries." These all emphasize the free movement of traffic and the limited access, not the absence of tolls or "checkpoints".

Originally Posted by JViello

To ME, I see the pot shots being taken all along about "stupid gas guzzling, rich SUV drivers" while the Prius/Insight save the world drivers are elevated to a state of righteousness.

Words that, it must be emphasized, appeared nowhere in the original post. There's nothing about "stupid", nothing about "gas guzzling", nothing about "save the world" or "righteousness", and not even anything about "rich"! You may be right that there were implications of that, but people don't need to sanitize their posts for any trace of such things.

Originally Posted by JViello

So, I would expect you to call out the OP too for their pot shots...if you want to be consistent that is. (BTW I do not own an SUV...but we all know the "left's" mantra about them.)

If you can't see that; it starts in the very first post and ramps up, I don't know what to tell you.

The first post was fine, I think, but the second one was a bit inflammatory, sure. And yes, it ramps up -- and sir, you ramped it up, by adding suppositions, overt insults, and words (in quotes!) that weren't there in the original post.

Look, we all have our biases, and I think you can admit that you aren't shy about yours. I could dog your every post, calling you out on every political aside or little dig. But I don't, because a civil discourse -- much like dinner with one's extended family -- depends on the combination of you reining yourself in a bit, and me being tolerant of the small stuff. Otherwise, this board will degenerate into a perpetual flame war. So if you don't want to be hounded, then let some things slide, even if they annoy you, just as other people do the same for you. Or if you must object, do so as succinctly and as neutrally as possible, so that things don't escalate and everyone can stay civil. Deal?

By the way, I know registered Republicans who loathe SUVs, so it's not a stance confined to those on the left! (I'll admit, I'm disgusted by luxury SUVs, and wish there were fewer of them on the road, but OTOH there are plenty of people who have good reason to drive a larger vehicle.)

Originally Posted by JViello

The Mass turnpike at the NY border has a booth that would be an example...It's pretty efficient, and I'm not sure why we could not do so. Cars with a CT plate, get waved through. Others pay the $2 or whatever.

Like I said, it sounds like a very good idea to me. People might play games with residency to get around it, and it might be a hassle for people who live on one side and work on the other (as in Springfield/Hartford), but that'd just be an incentive for them to move to CT anyway, and the tax base could use the support. Honestly, I'm a tiny bit surprised that you would endorse it, as I know internal "checkpoints" are a hot-button issue for you!

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

This is a good point but you are comparing one small portion of a very large metropolitan area (Stamford as part of the New York City metro area) to an overall view of another large metropolitan area. Like I said there are many 10 mile stretches of highway in the LA region that have similar or worse traffic problems.

By the way, I would like to thank you for still posting while you are out of town. I hope you come back to CT soon. Jay

I'm not saying the 101 is the whole LA metro. I'm comparing the commute I used to do in FFC through Stamford/Norwalk about 5 years ago to the commute I now do on the 101. Both are small parts of the metro. I do know that LA has *much* worse traffic, but as I said, it is easier to avoid in LA and I don't really travel to the heart of the city, so I'm sure I miss quite a bit of it.

[CrissCT]

Last evening we were coming through Hartford and there was an accident on 84 near downtown so we got off, but there was also a concert so major traffic. We saw at least 10 different drivers run red lights (on purpose) downtown at 2 different intersections. What is up with that??? Do people think red lights are just suggestions?

[hartford_renter]

Originally Posted by CrissCT

Last evening we were coming through Hartford and there was an accident on 84 near downtown so we got off, but there was also a concert so major traffic. We saw at least 10 different drivers run red lights (on purpose) downtown at 2 different intersections. What is up with that??? Do people think red lights are just suggestions?

In downtown Hartford a lot of the lights run on a timer. So when it is late at night you have to stop for a red light on a quiet street just because the lights change at its set intervals. It would be more efficient if they used a sensor then it would only go off if a car was there. Driving around hartford can be annoying because of the constant stop and go.

That does not mean people should be going through red lights.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

Not really. Between the eminent domain laws and the ability to build multi-level parking garages, the costs aren't the biggest issue. The biggest impediments tend to be that people don't want things like high-rise structures, and any transportation related improvements require municipal funds(which require tax dollars and dumb politicians to implement the initiative).

As near as I can tell, NIMBYs in Connecticut are unwilling to tolerate any improvements in transportation infrastructure.