Lawmaker eyes mile-based exit system
A New York legislator asked the state Department of Transportation and Thruway Authority to study the implementation of a mile-based exit system that would replace the existing sequential numbering scheme on nearly all state highways.
State Sen. Joe Griffo said in January that he wrote letters to the agencies urging them to examine the potential change. Griffo, a Rome Republican who serves on the Senate Transportation Committee, is a proponent of the mile-based exit system.
Nearly all U.S. states use a mile-based system, meaning the exit numbers are aligned with the highway’s mileage markers. But New York is one of the few that uses a sequential numbering system. For example, the exits on the New York State Thruway are in numerical order, from exit 1 on Interstate 87 in Westchester County to exit 61 on Interstate 90 in Chautauqua County. There are some exits that share a number but a letter is added to avoid confusion, such as exit 48 (Batavia) and 48A (Pembroke/Medina) on I-90 in western New York.
Two neighboring states — Connecticut and Massachusetts —are either in the process of switching or have already shifted to a mile-based exit numbering system. In other states, such as Pennsylvania, the mile-based approach has been in place for years.
“While I recognize that motorists will have to adapt to the changes in the short term and that there will be a transition period, I believe that applying this new exit system will prove beneficial in the long term and will make New York’s major thoroughfares easier to navigate, safer and more compliant with federal standards,” Griffo said.
According to Griffo, the Thruway Authority responded to his letter and noted there would be challenges with changing to a mile-based system, namely how exits would be numbered on I-87 and I-90,
both of which are part of the Thruway.
The concept was briefly discussed at a transportation budget hearing last week. State Sen. Peter Oberacker asked Frank Hoare, interim executive director of the Thruway Authority, about whether the agency is exploring a switch to a mile-based exit numbering system. Hoare did not rule it out.
“We’re looking at that. Senator Griffo has raised that,” he said. “There is a number of issues and complications to doing that, but we certainly, again, always will take the time and be respectful to the legislature to look at any issue that is raised.”
Griffo acknowledges there would be “challenges and technical issues that must be resolved.” There would also be costs associated with the project because highway exit signs would need to be updated.
But Griffo does not see those as major obstacles. He said in a statement that the idea “has merit” and wants the Thruway Authority to “consider the further implementation of a mileagebased exit system in New York.”