What's up with NE Pennsylvania Interstates ?? (Scranton, York: home, construction, school)

[sithlord72]

OMG, just came home from Hershey Park last weekend and taking I-81 north towards Scranton between mile markers 95-105, they completely closed the northbound lanes and turned the southbound lanes into a 1 lane highway in each direction.

In addition, they did the same thing to I-84 between the NY State Line and the Milford exit (Exit 46) , which is about 9 miles.

What gives, last year they had the same garbage going on on I-84 when I went to Knoebel's. Is it me or is there no progress being made on these projects??

I thought NY was bad....

[Sarge621]

Honestly I'd have to say Pa. is the worst state I ever been to when dealing with road work crews. They do not know how to do road work and handle the traffic. It's almost like they just could care less about holding you up for 2 hours to go 2 miles. The police are no better I could find a 10 year old kid that could figure out a way to get traffic through an accident scene. Today on Route 611 in Mount Pocono there was a traffic accident. 2 Police cruisers parked crazy blocking up the whole roadway blocking up the whole area if they pulled the cars to the side out of the way there was plenty of room for clean up and keep both sides of the roadway going. Senseless and inconsiderate of other motorists. I mean accident happen and its unfortunate, there will always be rubberneckers slowing things down but it seems like those in authority could care less about the other motorist that still have to go to work and school and everywhere else. SMH

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Sarge621

Honestly I'd have to say Pa. is the worst state I ever been to when dealing with road work crews. They do not know how to do road work and handle the traffic. It's almost like they just could care less about holding you up for 2 hours to go 2 miles. The police are no better I could find a 10 year old kid that could figure out a way to get traffic through an accident scene. Today on Route 611 in Mount Pocono there was a traffic accident. 2 Police cruisers parked crazy blocking up the whole roadway blocking up the whole area if they pulled the cars to the side out of the way there was plenty of room for clean up and keep both sides of the roadway going. Senseless and inconsiderate of other motorists. I mean accident happen and its unfortunate, there will always be rubberneckers slowing things down but it seems like those in authority could care less about the other motorist that still have to go to work and school and everywhere else. SMH

If you go to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) website and do the research; you will see that only one out of ten work zone accidents involves a pedestrian. What that means is that most fatalities, in work zones, are motorist and not highway workers. PennDOT puts all emphasis on protecting their workers while they turn their back on the drivers that are paying their salaries!

There are smarter ways to plan work zones and smarter ways to work. Ohio and Missouri are good examples. Even New Jersey can teach us a few tricks.

Unfortunately PA tries to fix our problems by throwing money into the black hole - they do not require efficiency (it is not even part of their vocabulary).

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by sithlord72

OMG, just came home from Hershey Park last weekend and taking I-81 north towards Scranton between mile markers 95-105, they completely closed the northbound lanes and turned the southbound lanes into a 1 lane highway in each direction.

In addition, they did the same thing to I-84 between the NY State Line and the Milford exit (Exit 46) , which is about 9 miles.

What gives, last year they had the same garbage going on on I-84 when I went to Knoebel's. Is it me or is there no progress being made on these projects??

I thought NY was bad....

They're doing a total reconstruction of those segments of I-81 and I-84, ripping the highway out of the ground and redoing everything from the ground up. That takes more time than a simple resurfacing.

As for traffic coordination, it sounds like District 4 and District 5 don't know what they're doing. District 6 keeps traffic moving on I-95 despite the large reconstruction project there, and District 11 kept I-79 moving when it was being reconstructed as well.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

They're doing a total reconstruction of those segments of I-81 and I-84, ripping the highway out of the ground and redoing everything from the ground up. That takes more time than a simple resurfacing.

As for traffic coordination, it sounds like District 4 and District 5 don't know what they're doing. District 6 keeps traffic moving on I-95 despite the large reconstruction project there, and District 11 kept I-79 moving when it was being reconstructed as well.

There are other states that will run the lighter traffic on the shoulders. Even PennDOT does this in western PA. One of biggest problems are that our shoulders are not in any condition for traffic. In many places the shoulders are simply too narrow or in desperate need of repair.

I-84 has been terrible for road work. I remember PennDOT forcing traffic into one lane for five miles and only having one active work zone at one bridge. There is no need to hamper/restrict traffic for miles when the active zone is just a hundred feet long. This is simply poor planning.

I want us to work just as smart or smarter than the other states. We should never assume that we have all of the answers. Poor workmanship, speed, planning leave a bad taste in the mouth of the average motorist - like the OP that started this thread.

PS Yes; many of our Interstates are long overdue to be rebuilt from the ground up. They have exceeded their planned lifespan.

[sithlord72]

No I get that these projects need to be done. But I took I-84 last year and then 2 weeks ago and it is the same nonsense. It's like they did absolutely nothing for the past year. I read that in Pike County there was a certain rock that they used for the base of the road that when in contact with the concrete was causing the road to buckle...so ok it needs to be done, but IMO they just seem slower then New York...And NY is horrible.

[bloominscranton]

Simply stated, since I have lived in this Commonwealth I am on a never ending search for what is really being done for the common good in the everyday lives of the citizens. I do have a hard time finding it for the average hard working Joe/Jane.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by fisheye

There are other states that will run the lighter traffic on the shoulders. Even PennDOT does this in western PA. One of biggest problems are that our shoulders are not in any condition for traffic. In many places the shoulders are simply too narrow or in desperate need of repair.

I-84 has been terrible for road work. I remember PennDOT forcing traffic into one lane for five miles and only having one active work zone at one bridge. There is no need to hamper/restrict traffic for miles when the active zone is just a hundred feet long. This is simply poor planning..................

Yes. One thing that impressed me when I moved to MD from PA going on 35 years ago was that even many of the secondary roads had shoulders which were wide enough to use as a travel lane if necessary.

For the second, that's one thing I've never been able to figure out about PA. One lane traffic for miles and miles with the actual work zone being 100 or so feet long. Interstate 80 has always been notorious for this.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Yes. One thing that impressed me when I moved to MD from PA going on 35 years ago was that even many of the secondary roads had shoulders which were wide enough to use as a travel lane if necessary.

For the second, that's one thing I've never been able to figure out about PA. One lane traffic for miles and miles with the actual work zone being 100 or so feet long. Interstate 80 has always been notorious for this.

On Route 33, by Saylorsburg, there are some places too narrow to pull a vehicle off the road. Even I-80 in Stroudsburg has the same problem. Unfortunately PennDOT does not understand what the dangers are of having shoulders in disrepair or too narrow. Try coming around a corner with a big rig to find traffic stopped in your lane and no place to move over. That already happened to me on Route 33 - fortunately I did stop; but it is extremely dangerous. One driver could not fully pull off the road and they shut the slow lane down.

On Route 611, where Route 314 W meets; there is one manhole cover that sits 6 to 8 inches below the grade on the shoulder. The cover is located only about 4 feet from the traveled slow land and it is in the middle of dark, new, asphalt. It is impossible to see at night and many motorist have already hit it looking at the groves/scratches in the pavement. The speed limit on Route 611 is 45 mph and most motorist are slowing down to make a hairpin right turn onto Route 314. But even at 15 or 20 mph; that improperly installed manhole cover (pit) can destroy most small cars.

I used to actually enjoy driving trough some work zones in other states. I watched them work; which is more than I can say about much of our work.

We have one other annoying practice that I have only observed in just a few states (including PA). I call it 'election year blacktop'. In the last few weeks, before the November elections, we will sometimes put down just a very thin layer of blacktop over old cracked pavement (both asphalt and concrete). I presume the incumbents have a lot to do with this since they want the voters to have a smooth ride to the polls. It is 'free' advertisement for them and it only cost us the cost of putting it down and ripping it up in the Spring (when it all cracks up).

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by fisheye

Unfortunately PennDOT does not understand what the dangers are of having shoulders in disrepair or too narrow.

Except their plans to reconstruct I-80 in Stroudsburg include full-width inner and outer shoulders on both sides. (I prefer Alternative 2D, personally.) The goal is to eventually widen all of I-80 between I-380 and the New Jersey state line to six lanes. This would be the first segment undertaken, and the most difficult and expensive as well.