"It's an infuriating situation. American travelers have a right to expect that by following an interstate's signage they'll be led, without help of a roadmap, from one end to the other of the highway."
This is so true of that section of 95. Egads, one wrong move and you are the opposite of where you want to be.
This happens in Boston as well. Heaven forbid if you miss an exit. You think to yourself, OK, I will turn around at the next exit. You exit, and find yourself on some Rte ? with a median, and you think, OK, I will exit and turn around. You do. You are unable to turn around. It is quite something. You are really just supposed to know innately where to go.
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
Taalcon, who lives in New Jersey for at least the next few weeks, gets lost about once a week. I'll try to keep OSC's comments in mind.
[ March 24, 2005, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
There is this part where you go onto the Garden State parkway(which you do to avoid 95), and you are up about a mile high, over the water, in this tangle of roads. If you screw up, into the city you go. It is quite something.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
We gots the same sort of thing down here in West Virginia. Just take the short cut through Ted’s field and ya wind up next to the outhouse over by Bill’s Gas Station. But on the way back yous need to take the dirt road by Buck’s or the bull will get ya and those holes in yer truck can be rough to get out.
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
And don't even get me started on the "1 and 9".
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
A lovely trait of roads in Massachusetts is the multiple names thereon. If you headed towards Amherst, it is the Amherst Rd. Same road headed towards Granby is the Granby Rd. Seems simple, until that road also has a number (rte 9) and is ALSO called something else, like King's Highway. But don't worry, because you rarely find a road sign anyway.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
We have that here Elizabeth, except the different names are all Indian names or semi-obscure local culture references, like the Scajaquada (I'm still not sure what that is) or the Robert Moses Highway. Just give me numbers!
[ March 24, 2005, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: TheTick ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
One of the roads near us, which is about three miles long, has three names if you look on Mapquest. I end up using Jay's country approach: Take a left at the tree with a lightning scar, etc. Unfortunately, one of my landmarks can't be seen in the dark, as those who came here now know.
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
They do that in Dallas - the same road will have five different names over the course of 10 miles.
My other favorite is that any road that goes in sort of a circle is Belt Line Road. No, the different Belt Line Roads do not hook up to one another.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
LJ: you forgot that the toll roads are not marked as such on maps or until you reach 2 miles of the actual road. So if you don't want to pay a toll, you have to go around.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I grew up in a town that had all kinds of confusing street names, and many of them intersect. There's an intersection of Rosemont and Montrose; one of Pinecone and Pinecrest; one of Pinecrest and Hillcrest; one of Hillcrest and Hill...
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I was one of the first people to hear OSC's disdain for the NJ roadways at the Philly book signing, after he showed up about 30-40 minutes late. Interestingly, even though it was directly after the whole debacle he seemed much more jovial about it at the signing. Maybe it was all just a facade for our benefit.
What was really funny was when someone in the audience decided to inform OSC of the correct route to take, though it obviously couldn't do him any good at that point. And then proceeded to not let up till OSC, politely, cut him off and changed the topic.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I still remember the signing in Glendale where he complained about the LA freeway system (although I confess that I too was a tad startled to discover that the correct exit really was the Brand/Central exit).
And there wasn't even a Sears anywhere nearby!
Wow, that was a looooong time ago.
I'd defend the state of my birth, except there's no question that the road system there is insane.
Posted by NinjaBirdman (Member # 7114) on :
South Jersey rules!
North Jersey stinks!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Pfft. That's NorCal, adam. Only reason it's not a separate state is Sacramento is too grabby.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
The thing is, in Phoenix, where roads are straight and well named, no one knows how to turn. More accidents there than in Boston, I'd wager.
Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
The proper highway to take from Pennsylvania to NYC is I-78. You get to drive through a pretty and rural part of NJ.
(lives in Hunterdon County)
Posted by Soara (Member # 6729) on :
not to mention turning into a vegetable on the NJ Turnpike. Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote: lovely trait of roads in Massachusetts is the multiple names thereon. If you headed towards Amherst, it is the Amherst Rd. Same road headed towards Granby is the Granby Rd. Seems simple, until that road also has a number (rte 9) and is ALSO called something else, like King's Highway. But don't worry, because you rarely find a road sign anyway.
Yes, one of the things I hate about driving in Massachusetts it that they only have street signs on the side streets - everyone should know what the main streets are called, right? Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Yes, Ela, you should memorize all streets in Massachusetts.
We won't even get into rotaries, and how out of staters are supposed to intrinsically know the rules of those...
Another thing that is fun on Mass Ave in Cambridge is the red-light-on-the-side-of-the-street trick. Here are four lanes of traffic with an island in between. We would not want a stop light in the middle of the road where everyone can see it, though. No, you should know there is a stop light there, dagnabbit!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Are rotaries the same thing as roundabouts?
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote:South Jersey rules!
North Jersey stinks!
You obviously have only limited knowledge of North Jersey. Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Rotaries, roundabouts, traffic circle, Round Roads of Doom.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
And what about "Jug handles"? They have a lot of those in New Jersey...
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Now those I am not familiar with.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
It's a semi-circle of road - you exit onto one to the right, drive around the jug hande, and wait at a traffic light in order to cross the highway. (You can't make a left turn to get where you are going, you must use the jughandle.)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Huh.
Traffic weirdnesses in NJ seem strangely similar to those in Israel.
I think that means something, but I have no idea what.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Well, traffic circles are common in England, I have heard. I think in Massachusetts it is the old cow path theory of road building. Hmm, looks like there's a little path worn here, let's pave the sucker and see what happens.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I'm just curious how an opinion can be made of an entire state by experience of one highway. That's like saying California sucks becaue you hate the LA Freeway.
Seems a little kneejerk, if you ask me.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*shakes fist*
NorCal, adam!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Am I tarring southern NY with the same brush as northern NY?
*shakes fist* Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I'm fairly certain that the weirdness of that particular highway predates CalTrans.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"I'm just curious how an opinion can be made of an entire state by experience of one highway. That's like saying California sucks becaue you hate the LA Freeway."
Are you referring to OSC? Because he was being silly about the whole thing.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
He may have approached it in a silly, tongue-in-cheek way, but there was not one positive thing written or implied about the state. And this is not the first time he's made this same rant.
It just seems that he's content to paint an entire state in broad strokes without getting off the highway, which is pretty much what everyone else does when talking about NJ, too.
It's just an old tune I've heard far too many times that wasn't that good in the first place.
[ March 25, 2005, 05:39 PM: Message edited by: FlyingCow ]
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Elizabeth, trash talking my home state again?
I'll actually say that people from the inner suburbs drive worse than Boston/Cambridge folk.
For a while, traffic circles screwed everyone up, because they changed the rules for who had the right of way... No it's the more reasonable people in the rotary have right-of-way; before it was the opposite.
Rotaries: Massachusetts' gift to traffic management. I'd be psyched if they brought back the old-school solid red-and-yellow signal for pedestrians that you only see on older traffic lights these days.
-Bok
Posted by Magson (Member # 2300) on :
In Chicago, you have I-90 coming in from the northwest. And it's a toll road at 1st, so it's the "Northwest Tollway." But then you get to the airport and it becomes a freeway, and now it's the "Kennedy Expressway, and it will take you into the Loop (aka "downtown Chicago.") I-94 comes toward Chicago from the north, and for about 20 miles or so before Chicago is called the "Edens Expressway." This is not to be confused with the "Edens Spur" which actually brings traffic off I-294 (the "Tri-State Tollway") over to the Edens. And when the Edens meets the Kennedy they merge and become "The Kennedy" at least until you get into the Loop, where it stay the Kennedy for a bit, but then truns into the Dan Ryan Expressway. And signs? They don't show the route number, no. They show the names. So if you don't know that I-90/94 south of the Loop is the Ryan, but north of the Loop is the Kennedy. . you are just outta luck.
And who can forget memorable names like "The North-South Tollway?" (I-355) Or "The East-West Tollway?" (I-88) "The Elgin-O'Hare Expressway?" (No number, it's just named that) Did I mention that I-290 is also called the "Eisenhower Expressway," or more lovingly "The Ike?" And don't forget. . the signs on the feeders usually only have the names but no route numbers, and yes, "Ike expy" does appear on signage too. "Bishop-Ford," "The Skyway," and . . . ya know, what we call I-55 just plain eludes me anymore. I'm sure it will come to me later, but I doubt I'll be back to edit. I'm sure you are all just crushed about that. Oaky, I remembered. The Stevenson! So there.
And then there's the lovely part where I-90/94 is running North-South, and the signs actually *do* have the route number on them, because it's right as the names changes from the Kennedy to the Ryan (or vice-versa if you are going the other way). But they say "East" or "West" so you have to know in that section that "West" means "North" and "East" means "South."
I won't get into the landmarks like Hubbard's Cave, the Hillside Strangler, the Iron Bridge, the Mile Long Bridge and so on. I'm sure you're all confused enough as it is.
[ March 25, 2005, 05:58 PM: Message edited by: Magson ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Hey Bok, it's my home state, too! I never said anything about Boston drivers. In fact, I think they are very good drivers, though aggressive. My point is that people from out of state have no clue about certain traffic anomalies, such as the rotary, and are doomed to drive around and around them forever.
Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
quote:If you're far enough north in PA to get I-78, the missing section of I-95 isn't a factor for you.
So go further north in PA. It's pretty up there.
-----------------------
But in all seriousness, the saddest part of OSC's experience in New Jersey is the following:
quote:driving through New Jersey is such an infuriating, ugly, disgusting (if you eat at their tollroad way stations) experience
New Jersey is one of the most ethnically diverse states in the nation, and thus is blessed with an abundance of interesting and tasty restaurants. Italian, Thai, Japanese, Colombian, Indian ... you name it, we got it, and (IMHO) more reasonably priced than in NYC. And if you like retro food in gleaming chrome-covered diners run by Greek families -- gyros, reubens, club sandwiches, hamburgers with grilled mushrooms and onions on top -- we have that, too.
In the face of such culinary riches, it is truly a tragedy that ANY visitor to the state should have to dine at TOLLROAD WAY STATIONS.
Posted by jexx (Member # 3450) on :
I am a West-stater, and had always heard the jokes about NJ on late night tv (I'm talkin' to *you* David Letterman!). My first foray into NJ proper (not counting Newark in all it's industrial oddness) was delightful! I totally got why it's called the "Garden State".
That said, the road system is atrocious. But frankly, NW New York is just as bad. It makes me miss Southern California's congested (but well-signed!) freeway system. Why don't they have SIGNS on roads in the NE??? And I miss the signs in the west where they tell you how far away cities are ("Las Vegas-60 miles, Sacramento-110 miles" etc). Ever so helpful!
*le sigh*
*misses the Southwest*
Posted by Diko (Member # 6060) on :
hehe, I've done more than drive through NJ on a few occasions, my grandmother lived in central jersey, and I have two friends in south jersey (in a town so small not only doesn't it show up on the map, but it there are no signs for it on the exits...you can't find it if you don't know someone who lives there to give you directions. *snickers*).
I just drove back from NC this past weekend...alone. My first time driving alone for an extended period of time, and it was interesting. I have to say that everything between Fredericksburg, VA and...Connecticut just kinda sucks. As far as driving goes. Tolls everywhere, seriously confusing road signage (Had to get off I-95N onto I-295 on the other side of the Deleware Memorial Bridge and then immediately find the exit for 40E [which...according to the signs I saw when I was driving on it was -also- called the Atlantic City Expressway], and it was a nightmare...especially in the dark. I was so unsure of what I was supposed to be doing the whole time, and there was traffic everywhere.) The Beltways around DC and Baltimore, which I'm led to understand are supposed to relieve the pressure of too much traffic have actually held me up more than any other place I've ever driven through. It took me 3 1/2 hours to get from somewhere north of Fredericksburg, VA -to- the DC Beltway...for a total distance of about 10 miles. and it wasn't even rush hour. or a weekday for that matter.
Now, I -know- that once you get away from the highways and into the towns that NJ is prettier, but he -does- have a point that you can't tell why it's called the Garden State from the Highways. Everything is exactly the same, and it all looks rather...dull.
I love NJ, as long as I'm not on the highway.
NYC, going over the GWB was another little bit of hell though. Almost died twice just trying to get from an EzPass lane into a Cash lane for the toll (a move of one lane to the right, I might ad). I'm very very glad that not only do -my- breaks work, but that the guy driving the big white Target truck was a good driver. (Hey, if you're out there, I'm the chick in the little beat up Toyota you almost squished, then stuck your head out of your cab and flipped me off and shouted at me. All that gesturing I was doing, I was trying to apologize! Trust me, death was something I was trying really hard to avoid, but I was scared and alone. Please forgive me!)
Anyway, I will say that on the way south to NC, when I missed the exit for the GWB and ended up in the Bronx, the people there were -very- nice and helpful getting me back to the bridge.
ps...my friend in south jersey...I showed her OSC's article, and she just laughed the whole time, and said she agreed completely. She also refuses to renew her driver's license until she leaves the state (probably never).
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Oaky, I remembered. The Stevenson! So there.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)