Tappan Zee Bridge pet peeve

[dr_whom]

Okay, 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.

Comments

[madcaptenor.livejournal.com]

In Oakland, Berkeley, and points north there's a stretch of road that is simultaneously I-580 signed west/east and I-80 signed east/west.

Word order is significant in the previous sentence. You are on I-580 west and I-80 east at the same time, and physically headed north.

The easiest way to navigate this is to totally forget the nominal directions. Most of the highway entrances in this stretch are signed with, say, "San Francisco" and "Sacramento". Of course this only works if you know some actual geography.

[rford.livejournal.com]

In Chicago, the nominally north/south I-55 is effectively east/west, and the nominally east/west I-90/94 is effectively north/south. Note that these are the most important highways in Chicago.

[midnight-sidhe.livejournal.com]

This strikes me as an example of vocabulary failing to do that which it was invented to do.

[dr_whom]

I gather that my mother spent years with her mental map of Beverly, Mass. incorrectly rotated 90 degrees because Route 128, signed north/south, crosses the city east/west, combined with the fact that Beverly faces south (not east) onto the Atlantic Ocean.

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.

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

In the twin cities we have 35W and 35E, both of which run north/south. This is almost supernaturally confusing to visitors.

[lord-codfish.livejournal.com]

This happened to my mental map of Santa Monica when I was young. The coastline in Santa Monica runs NW/SE, but given that we always considered the Pacific Ocean to be west, I frequently have to reorient myself by 45 degrees to figure out directions when I'm at home.