POLL: What Should Be Done About Increasing Congestion on I-81? (Philadelphia: home, employment)

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

Down near Philly, the turnpike built commuter entrances and exit ramps. You need e-z pass to use them, but it helps congestion. The same thing should be looked into up here.

They call them "slip ramp" exits. They are planning on building another one where the turnpike (I-76) interescts with PA 29, west of Valley Forge.

[miamiman]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

While that may sound like a good idea in theory, there's simply no room to widen Route 11 through much of its course in our region. Homes in Minooka, Moosic, Duryea, and Avoca are all perched right on top of the roadway, a result of poor long-range urban planning in the pre-automobile days. Route 11 then becomes the Pittston Bypass, which is rarely congested, except perhaps for a half-hour each afternoon when the Pittston Area High School lets out and funnels much of its traffic onto this stretch of Route 11. Route 11 from West Pittston southward to Plymouth is often filled with rather heavy traffic, but once again there would be no room to widen it anywhere.

I'd personally like to see Highway 315 near Pittston widened, especially once thousands upon thousands of more daily vehicles utilizing in the coming years once the Pittston Crossings Mall, CenterPoint, etc. are at full build-out by 2009 or 2010. Two-lane Oak Street, the only artery between Highway 315 and Pittston, is also rather heinous at times and will only be getting worse. Once again though, homes in the Browntown section of Pittston Township line the roadway. I'm an advocate of the proposed four-lane entry road for the new Pittston Crossings Mall being extended further back onto the property, across the railroad tracks (with a gate and signal), and then hooking onto the bypass near the Pittston Commons and Pittston Plaza. This will help to seriously reduce congestion along Oak Street for sure, and the developers of the new mall and CenterPoint alike would benefit from easier access to the Pittston market.

Widening these secondary arterials through our towns just isn't an option. Widening I-81 really isn't an option either if the plan to widen it to six lanes will STILL have it 50,000 vehicles UNDER capacity in the coming years. People currently won't take I-476 due to the tolls; why not eliminate them in our region so that this can serve as a necessary bypass for the congestion? During most hours of the day, I-81 is manageable. However, during the evening rush-hour it can be just as bad as the major cities in terms of stop-and-go traffic in various stretches, and if we might see an additional 30,000 vehicles per day added to that in the coming years, it will only get much, much worse. I-81 is currently headed to becoming just as congested as Route 22 in the Lehigh Valley or even the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia if something isn't done.

Could the properties along 11 be taken by eminent domain, or are there far too many properties for that to be viable. I think if 11 can't be widened, and if 81 can't be widened, another route needs to be constructed. How about an above-grade freeway parallel to the Susquehanna?

I think light-rail in your valley would not be a viable solution due to its decentralized nature of development. Frequent stops on a light-rail line would not solve the problem because it would slow service.

I think the solution that is going to be taken is the widening of 81. While six lanes might not solve congestion issues in the valley, it will certainly be better than the four you have.

Similar issues have been taking place down in Tucson. The I-10 freeway is only four lanes throughout the entire city. There is currently a project to widen the freeway to six lanes throughout the city. In the process, every on and off ramp of the freeway through the city of Tucson has been shut down, and will remain so until 2009. Traffic engineers know that the freeway needs to be widened to at least 10 lanes, but lack of funding prohibits this from occuring. We will see how this 6 lane freeway serves a metro area of 1 million when it is completed.

[WasPA]

Originally Posted by miamiman

I think light-rail in your valley would not be a viable solution due to its decentralized nature of development. Frequent stops on a light-rail line would not solve the problem because it would slow service.

Actually, there was a viable inter-city electrified trolley system from Nanticoke through Scranton up into the 1950s, ultimately replaced by 'trackless' trolleys and the auto......and the present day municipal bus systems.......

Pity isn't it, given that Scranton had the first electrified trolley system in the nation......installed at the same time as NYC's....

[SteelCityRising]

MiamiMan, there are hundreds of properties along Route 11 stretching from Minooka southward into Luzerne County that would need to be acquired, making that not fiscally feasible. You'd also face MAJOR backlash and opposition from residents of these small towns who wouldn't want additional traffic funneled down their quaint Main Streets (I know this would be particularly impossible in Avoca).

I feel as if widening I-81 to six lanes, making I-476 through the valley toll-free, improving inter-county mass transit, and not focusing most of our future growth right around exit ramps (i.e. Montage Mountain, Wilkes-Barre Township, etc.) would all go a long ways to curbing congestion. I also experienced today a lot of lolly-gaggers in Buicks just riding the passing lane at 60 miles per hour, which leads to aggressive driving and more congestion with both lanes of traffic traveling at the same exact speed. As I said for much of the day I-81 is manageable, but from 3-6 PM or so it can get rather hairy in spots, as it also can be from 7-9 AM. As daily traffic counts exceed 100,000 in the coming years, the Interstate will become congested during much of the day---not only during rush-hour. With 80,000 vehicles the way it is on a highway with a capacity of 40,000, we've been seeing a lot of problems, including a six-car pile-up the other day in Scranton that was blamed on the congestion. Just imagine how much worse things will be if we increase the traffic by yet another 1/3.

[miamiman]

It's impossible to make a route that's part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike partially non-tolled. There are much worse congestion issues in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas. I am pretty confident that waiving tolls is not a valid solution to reducing congestion.

Imagine how much money PennDOT would lose from waiving tolls.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by miamiman

Imagine how much money PennDOT would lose from waiving tolls.

I think that the PA Turnpike Commission is a seperate entity from PennDot.

[FightinPhils]

Eliminate the tolls on the turnpike between Pittston and Clarks Summit. That stretch is hardly used because of the tolls, and runs almost right alongside I-81. Why waste more taxpayer money and create 15 years of unbearable construction and congestion when we have a little used 4-lane highway already in existence along that stretch? It would be wiser to do away with the tolls on that stretch which would divert a lot of through traffic, including 18 wheelers, to the turnpike. I would use the turnpike everyday if not for the tolls.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by miamiman

Imagine how much money PennDOT would lose from waiving tolls.

Imagine the billions that would be saved on not having to widen I-81.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

I also experienced today a lot of lolly-gaggers in Buicks just riding the passing lane at 60 miles per hour, which leads to aggressive driving and more congestion with both lanes of traffic traveling at the same exact speed. .

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.

[WasPA]

^^^ Amen to that! Today's drivers have become a collectively rotten bunch. Not too long ago, drivers made every effort to stay within 5 mph of (above) the posted speed limit or risk getting a speeding ticket.....that's long gone. Even PA's once very considerate drivers have descended into an abyssmal state of roadway ignorance/ appallingly poor attitude & manners. I despise even my own speeding in order to maintain apace, only to have some mook douchebag on my tail anyway....
These days going for a drive has become automotive combat. More drivers licenses ahould be denied than granted....