POLL: What Should Be Done About Increasing Congestion on I-81?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by DeLorean

Route 81 needs to be a 5X5 from Hazleton to Carbondale, and a 3X3 from Harrisburg to Hazleton. Both cross valleys need to be a 3X3. and I476 needs to be toll free, and a 4X4 from I-95 to the end. All the roads need to be no more than a 4% grade, with banked turns having a design speed of 120 MPH. All on and off ramps need to be yield signs (no stop) with a design speed of at least 60 MPH for trucks and have proper banking. THAT would fix things, no one would die on the roads unless they were really idiots, and traffic would fly.

You DO realize the area you're living in, don't you? I was rear-ended on an offramp from I-81 Northbound in Pittston last summer by a guy in an SUV who didn't realize you had to stop at a flashing red light! We live in an area where elderly people drive for miles with their turn signals blinking, where middle-aged folks don't believe in turn signals, and where my generation tailgates and texts while driving! There will ALWAYS be daily accidents on I-81 as long as stupidity reigns. I'm personally waiting to see what caused that Ford Mustang to cross into the oncoming lanes on the Carey Avenue Bridge yesterday, killing that man in the Chevy TrailBlazer and seriously injuring his wife.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

You do know that 55 is the speed limit, right? As in that any speed over 55 is illegal. People seem to be under the impression that 55 is the absolute minimum someone can drive, when in reality, it is the maximum. I'm tired of having to choose between driving 45 in the right-hand lane because of trucks struggling up the hills, or 80 in the passing lane, because every jackass in an SUV feels the need to be driving like they're qualifying for the Indy 500 while they yap on their cell phone and tailgate people and weave in and out of traffic (the funny thing is when I get off of my exit, and find the weaving-and-speeding idiots right alongside me at a traffic light...proving that speeding doesn't get you anywhere, only the possibility of an early grave). I like to lock in the cruise control at 60, it saves gas and gets me to where I'm going as quick as I need to be, and if I have to pass a truck or someone going 45 in the right-hand lane, I'm not speeding up, using more gas and wearing out my car, because some moron needs to drive 75-85 mph.

One problem we have on I-81 are those who wish to play "vigilante" by traveling the SAME EXACT SPEED in the left lane as the right lane is traveling at in order to play cop and slow down traffic to what they consider to be a safe speed. I usually drive at 65 in the right-hand lane and let those who wish to travel more quickly blow by me in the left lane. These fools who dawdle and poke around doing 55-60 in the left lane are doing nothing but causing road rage, tailgating, and congestion, and there's no reason for it. If they want to play traffic cop, then let them go to the police academy. After all, it is also illegal to just ride in the left lane if you're not passing people. This new law was enacted for the very purpose of reducing congestion on heavily-traveled four-lane highways in our state, such as Route 22 through the Lehigh Valley, the Schuylkill Expressway, I-83 between Harrisburg and York, and I-81 between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Yes, I know that 55 is the maximum speed I should be traveling at, but sometimes you just have to "go with the flow." After being violently rear-ended last year I refuse to go 53 on I-81 and risk being plowed into again by some woman who was text messaging or applying mascara while driving her SUV. I actually DID experiment one time driving just under the speed limit on the North Cross-Valley Expressway heading towards the Back Mountain at rush-hour. The speed limit drops DRASTICALLY to just 35 as you near the rock cut at the entrance to the Back Mountain, so I perched myself in the right-hand lane and did 35. Tractor-trailers, SUVs, and passenger sedans alike blew right around me---one even came close to rear-ending me. The speed limits in NEPA are ARCHAIC to say the least. 55 is very unreasonable for a roadway where even the police drive at 65. Why the speed limit on I-81 is not 65 is beyond me. Likewise, why 35 is the speed limit along Route 309 (a.k.a. Back Mountain Freeway) is unbeknownst to me.

[DeLorean]

All excellent points, to which there is a solution! Make the drivers test MUCH harder, like CDL hard, and re-test people every 5 years, or every 2 years after they are 65. anyone caught driving without a license should be fined big-time, or repeat offenders jailed for at least 3 months.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

The speed limits in NEPA are ARCHAIC to say the least. 55 is very unreasonable for a roadway where even the police drive at 65. Why the speed limit on I-81 is not 65 is beyond me. Likewise, why 35 is the speed limit along Route 309 (a.k.a. Back Mountain Freeway) is unbeknownst to me.

Paul, I think the speed limit is 55 from outside Clarks Summit to past the South Cross Valley Expressway because it is a high congestion area with two larger cities (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) and many small cities between and around them. I've driven across the country 4 times and up and down the Northeast and East Coast too many times to remember, and have been around and through many-a metro area, and it's typical to see the speed limit drop once you get near a metro area or if you're driving between two somewhat big cities.

Heck, I've driven through New Mexico and Texas on I-10 and have come across towns or cities with maybe 5,000 people or less in them and nothing but desert for 25 or more miles on either side and the speed limit drops down, talk about speed traps. I think Arizona and especially metro Phoenix has some of the best engineered freeways in the country. The speed limit in Arizona is 75 then it drops down to 65 as you enter a Metro area and it might even drop down to 55, like on I-10 in the Tucson city limits.

I'm sure Miamiman could back me up on the freeways in Phoenix, where most have a speed limit of 65, plus these freeways have an exit every mile, because of the layout (grid system) in metro Phoenix. But there are also speed cameras set up on certain parts of the freeways (like the 101 in Scottsdale) that will take your picture and mail you a speeding ticket if you are going more than 10 miles above the limit, so you have to watch out.