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My parents were being insane this morning (they had reasons this time, but it didn't make it any more pleasant to be around, I couldn't do anything about the problem and stress is not what I need right now) so I headed out. I was going to go to Roosevelt Field Mall, but I ended up just driving. I got to the other side of the Tappan Zee, drove around for a bit, decided not to go to the Palisades Center (largest mall on the East Coast I think... maybe King of Prussia is bigger), and drove back. Luckily I took the Tappan Zee again--1hr delay inbound on the George Washington Bridge!! I knew to avoid the Cross-Bronx from the trip out (I got off and took the Bronx River Parkway and the Sprain Brook instead) so I was all right till I hit the Triborough Bridge. The GCP was terrible--slow all the way.
The state of the Triborough Bridge is not inspiring. The roadway is so worn in spots that you can see the steel decking, and you can see rust on the girders. It's a fantastic piece of engineering (it connects 3 boroughs and is actually a linked system of spans) but the MTA really needs to do some work on it. (Ah--they're in the middle of a $550m rehabilitation program, scheduled to be completed in 2009.) The Tappan Zee looks less horrible, but looks are misleading. They built it during the Korean War, and they were short on money, so they only built it to last 50 years. The Korean War ended in 1953, so do the math. They're arguing about how to replace it. The Williamsburg (which I took Tuesday) is safe these days, but is still somewhat scary to drive.
I do like New York's bridges--there's a wealth of lovely suspension ones. My favourite is still the Brooklyn Bridge--there are famous photos taken from the walkway in the middle, where you see the Gothic arches and the pattern of the cables. I've decided to become a road geek as well as a train geek (Neil says "I'm already the house road geek"). I already have http://www.nycroads.com bookmarked ;)
While we're at it, a hideous set of junctions!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=11021&ll=40.715273,-73.827589&spn=0.009531,0.024891&t=k&om=1
(the 12-lane monstrosity to the west isn't even an expressway, it's Queens Boulevard.)
(oh dear, Neil and I are now being totally, incredibly sad... we're arguing about road junctions!)
The state of the Triborough Bridge is not inspiring. The roadway is so worn in spots that you can see the steel decking, and you can see rust on the girders. It's a fantastic piece of engineering (it connects 3 boroughs and is actually a linked system of spans) but the MTA really needs to do some work on it. (Ah--they're in the middle of a $550m rehabilitation program, scheduled to be completed in 2009.) The Tappan Zee looks less horrible, but looks are misleading. They built it during the Korean War, and they were short on money, so they only built it to last 50 years. The Korean War ended in 1953, so do the math. They're arguing about how to replace it. The Williamsburg (which I took Tuesday) is safe these days, but is still somewhat scary to drive.
I do like New York's bridges--there's a wealth of lovely suspension ones. My favourite is still the Brooklyn Bridge--there are famous photos taken from the walkway in the middle, where you see the Gothic arches and the pattern of the cables. I've decided to become a road geek as well as a train geek (Neil says "I'm already the house road geek"). I already have http://www.nycroads.com bookmarked ;)
While we're at it, a hideous set of junctions!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=11021&ll=40.715273,-73.827589&spn=0.009531,0.024891&t=k&om=1
(the 12-lane monstrosity to the west isn't even an expressway, it's Queens Boulevard.)
(oh dear, Neil and I are now being totally, incredibly sad... we're arguing about road junctions!)
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