Tappan Zee Bridge pet peeve
Apr. 16th, 2011 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_whomOkay, so the Tappan Zee Bridge carries two numbered highways: Interstate 87 (signed north/south) and Interstate 287 (signed west/east).
The bridge itself goes basically due east/west.
So why is it that whenever there's construction or traffic or some other posted notice about the bridge, it's always posted in terms of the I-87 directions? "Heavy congestion on Tappan Zee southbound", or whatever. I mean, I understand when they have to do this with roads whose directional signage doesn't match their physical orientation at all—I-76 west/east in West Philly goes north/south, but of course all posted notices are obliged to be in terms of the signed west/east directions—but it's not as if the bridge doesn't have official east/west signage (the I-287 directions). The notices don't say "I-87 south"; they say "Tappan Zee Bridge south": who says that the I-287 directions can't be used for referring to the bridge qua bridge, given that they actually correspond to the direction you're driving?
It's all the more irritating in particular because when I'm crossing the bridge in the direction that's signed as "southbound" (i.e., east), it's because I'm going north (from Philly to New England), and vice versa.
The bridge itself goes basically due east/west.
So why is it that whenever there's construction or traffic or some other posted notice about the bridge, it's always posted in terms of the I-87 directions? "Heavy congestion on Tappan Zee southbound", or whatever. I mean, I understand when they have to do this with roads whose directional signage doesn't match their physical orientation at all—I-76 west/east in West Philly goes north/south, but of course all posted notices are obliged to be in terms of the signed west/east directions—but it's not as if the bridge doesn't have official east/west signage (the I-287 directions). The notices don't say "I-87 south"; they say "Tappan Zee Bridge south": who says that the I-287 directions can't be used for referring to the bridge qua bridge, given that they actually correspond to the direction you're driving?
It's all the more irritating in particular because when I'm crossing the bridge in the direction that's signed as "southbound" (i.e., east), it's because I'm going north (from Philly to New England), and vice versa.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-17 01:21 pm (UTC)That said, what bugs me about the Tappan Zee bridge isn't so much that I-87 is designated in a direction that doesn't reflect its actual route—it's that it's equally officially designated in a direction that does reflect its actual route, but for some reason the non-matching designation is the one that's used for more official purposes.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-23 02:53 am (UTC)