Previous topicsStatus of NY Truck RoutesNY 25 Truck missingNY96 Truck in CandorNY 354 Truck Route in Bennington
Items not included in the OP-Truck NY 14 (Elmira): Clemens Center Parkway, Grand Central Avenue, McCanns Boulevard
-Truck NY 17C (Waverly): Broad Street Extension, William Donnelly Indus Parkway (not sure if this one counts; Bing streetside only shows "Truck Route" signs, not "Truck NY 17C" or "Truck Route NY 17C", but I've heard Region 9 refer to it as Truck NY 17C before)
The problemUltimately, it comes down to the question of if the truck routes should be in the system. NYSDOT Main Office doesn't consider them official and has no inventory of them. They're signed by a mix of municipalities and the Regions and I'm not aware of an inventory at the regional level either. Signage isn't consistent either; while some are the traditional bannered "Truck NY (or US) XX", others are "Truck Route NY XX" (often the route number only appears on the first sign directing trucks on the route and the other turns and reassurance shields are simply "Truck Route") or simply "Truck Route".
The gist of it is thus: NYSDOT does not officially recognize the existence of truck routes. Where signage for them exists, it is always put up by a municipal or county government. So it is highly questionable that truck routes in NY actually count as state routes. There is generally no official source other than signage to go by for them.
...And when we have signage, it often leaves a lot to be desired.
Routes in more detail• NY14Trk (Elmira)Right out of the gate, we have an example of the "simply 'Truck Route'" signage vdeane mentions. It's a truck route, yes, but there's not much indication it's a particularly NY14 flavored one. I did manage to find a single NY14 shield in Bing, for the turn from McCanns to Grand Central. Which is only useful if you've already turned onto McCanns. GMSVing around the north end, I don't see any indication of a truck route intersecting at all. At the south end, the signed truck route
also follows NY14 itself.
• NY17CTrk (Waverly)I did find
one shield, but similar here, I see no indication of a truck route intersecting at the east end, only some
reassurance for trucks that have already turned onto it. Turns are signed only "Truck Route".
• NY25TrkI'm not convinced there's 2 different sections. Starting at the E end, there's
obvious signage at least. But when we get to Moores Ln,
signage there doesn't direct us to turn. It's placed just after the junction, and looks like regular reassurance signage. Continuing ahead, there are
similar assemblies at/near many major junctions. Eventually, we do hit
this (there's even
one in the opposite direction), but that's a bit different from a Truck 25 directional, innit? I see no NY25Trk signage on or at the end of Wickham, or at its junction with NY25 proper. Keep going and you'll see
another NY25Trk assembly. And then finally,
END CR48 with no indication of what's become of the truck route. I see no signage for a turn to or from, or on, Aldrich Ln, and nothing at the alleged mainline NY25 connection in Laurel. A fanciful assumed connection added by an overzealous OSM editor?
Meanwhile back at Moores Ln, I'd almost be ready to discount
this shield as a botched attempt at a TO ("The
junction is this way!"), except for
two shields on the road itself.
Nothing indicating a truck route when approaching from the other direction. Back at the north end at CR48, there's nothing indicating which direction to turn to follow the truck route, or even that we're intersecting one.
• NY27Trk (Brooklyn)I can't find any WB signage for either the truck route or even the turns for NY27 proper. EB, I see TO EAST NY27 at
McDonald and then
Caton, and nothing at Church.
• NY32Trk (Glens Falls) has
clear signage with NY32 shields, directing trucks away from mainline NY32.
• NY96Trk (Candor) looks straightforward enough. I've made up some files on my local machine but not pushed to GitHub.
• NY125Byp (Scarsdale) is discussed
here.
• NY340Trk (Sparkill) is signed with a NY340 shield at
William, but I don't see anything at and Main.
• NY354Trk (Bennington)Bypassing a posted bridge? How very Pennsylvanian! This one would make a mockery of One Point Per Interchange, and beg for the
NY77/NY354 graph connection to be removed, as if the NY354Trk connection were included, that would more accurately depict things. And then, would this only be a a temporary route, removed when the bridge is replaced? Ow, my stomach.
• NY429Trk (North Tonawanda)Looks straightforward enough. I've made up some files on my local machine but not pushed to GitHub.
A proposal?...to attempt to get some objective minimum criteria for when to include a route.
- Must connect to the parent route at both ends, or end at the route where the parent route itself terminates (as e.g. NY9PTrk (Saratoga Springs) or NY429Trk (North Tonawanda)).
- There must be signage directing trucks off the mainline route at each end, with a route number shield.
- All turns at junctions must be signed (except where the road like just kinda curves a bit & the main thru movement is obvious). I don't care much about whether a number shield is required, or just a Truck Route sign is sufficient
From the sound of
cl94's description, this would still allow NY354Trk (Bennington). That gives me a little indigestion...
How would this affect existing routes?• NY5TrkSch would just barely not make the cut.
Signage is missing at this one crucial junction. Well signed otherwise.
• NY9PTrkSar would stay. This one is among the best signed.
• NY14TrkGen would stay. Almost as well signed.
• NY19TrkBro would stay.
• NY29TrkSar is out. There's no signage approaching it at its E end. Annoying that we'd get one Saratoga Springs truck route but not the other.
• NY30TrkSch is signed SB only. Nothing at the S End at all. Perhaps the concern is runaway trucks, and climbing the grade is less a concern?
• NY298TrkSyr is well signed in the east, but gets sketchier near the west end. No signage
here, not even for US11. Continuing, we find
a suspiciously route shield-sized gap that's been there
at least 9 years unless the sign's now been magically replaced. There's no signage to make this same turn in the opposite direction. If this route were to stay in the HB, it'd need a relocation off US11. What first clued me in was
this sign. (Maddeningly, if I only had that to go on, and NY298 proper had just been a right turn, I'd turn the wrong way.)
What if, for the sake of allowing NY30, we tweak the criteria to allow routes signed only in one direction? One-way
routes exist... That'd also give us back NY17CTrkWav (EB), NY5TrkSch (WB), and NY298TrkSyr (WB, though annoyingly, we reach NY298 proper with no signage telling us we've done so and that it's time to turn onto it). NY29TrkSar is a bit more iffy, depending on how much we'd want to count some TO NY29 (rather than Truck NY29 or even "Truck Route") signage.
All this being said, I think the idea of
dropping the truck routes altogether bothers me less and less.
Opinions?
