2016/07/10 - Major Deegan Expressway - New York City

Drivelapse video of Interstate 87 through New York City taken in July, 2016.

[@eluko79]

Interesting route with some pretty awesome views. Seeing the hell gate bridge with midtown in the background is something else.

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

This i87 construction reminds me of the Gardiner lane closures that just started.

[@FreewayBrent]

Definitely some interesting stuff here. Loved the arched and historic overpasses (i.e. the Helix Interchange), but yeah, most of the freeway infrastructure in NYC is just flat out ugly to look at (drab looking green paint on the rusty steel overpasses), and not particularly pleasant to drive either. Makes me really appreciate the aesthetics of a California freeway, LOL. Awesome tunes; thanks for the ride!

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

NYC definitely doesn't have the prettiest freeway infrastructure.

[@user-mt5cm5xp2o]

I guess you’re not from the Northeast. To us it looks beautiful, it has this gritty feeling it gives you. It feels and looks so industrial with all the exposed metal and chipping paint on overpassed and bridges. I’m not a fan of the West’s all concrete roads etc. I am from Jersey so that’s about as beautiful and awe inspiring infrastructure you can get in the US. What makes all this even better is all these roads are double the age of the average highway in the US.

[@MrSniperFromMars]

Great use of the Beastie Boys :D That Helix interchange was really cool, but the rest of the highway system in NYC seems pretty outdated, although it's been 5 years since I visited.

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

(MrSniper)+ From Mars! I’d been planning to use the Beasties for a long time for this video. Thanks for watching

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

The second song was used in Super Mario Bros movie.

[@mtp160788]

The pass on right shoulder at 4:33 was insane lol

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

No kidding eh?

[@mtp160788]

@@AsphaltPlanet1 lol, do you mind me asking you why your always on the road? Work related?

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

@@mtp160788 sometimes for work but most of the time it’s just how I have chosen to spend my free time.

[@mtp160788]

@@AsphaltPlanet1 nice thats awesome, did youbfilm the american runs before the virus

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

Do you have plans to come back to NYC once the Canada US border opens?

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

i had planned to go to NYC over Memorial Day this year. I'll have to see what the world looks like next year.

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

@@AsphaltPlanet1 Probably when Canada and US get the vaccine, probably they could open up the border.

[@GamingWithLondon]

Sadly that NYC freeways is so damn old that if it was an ultimate project like Houston in the future, rush hour would've gone way worse than Chicago rush hour like literally

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

Pretty well all of New York City's freeways are pretty old.

[@BrandonClaridge]

The highways in NYC proper aren't very good at all, but once you get out of NYC and into the suburbs they seem to get a bit better. Just compare the beginning of this video with the end (the end of the video shows I-87 in Westchester County, with the NYC/Westchester line located at 6:15). An even more stark contrast can be found between the Long Island Expressway in NYC as compared to the LIE out in Nassau and Suffolk counties (the LIE in Nassau and part of Suffolk has HOV lanes and seems to be built to a pretty high standard). You would think that the biggest city in the USA would have much better infrastructure than it actually does. Yes, the public transit can't be beat, but even that has some very outdated components that could use updating. Of course, NYC would need the funding to make infrastructure improvements and be able to successfully rebuild in a crowded city.

[@kyleo1991]

It may not be on the LIE but the NYC DOT said they were making a HOV lane on the Van wyck expressway

[@TheLocalLt]

Brandon Claridge the highways of NYC are amazing they are all from the 40s and have character, they’re not some 1990s-era steel and concrete monolith with 15 lanes like I-10 in Texas. Every state has those, not every state has brick overpasses and historically significant routings.

[@kyleo1991]

@@TheLocalLt true my favorite nyc highway is the grand central parkway

[@TheLocalLt]

Kyle Oyeniran I used to like the west side highway before it was replaced by west st. There was not a cooler 2 miles of road than driving under the massive Brooklyn bridge on the FDR’s elevated roadway, through the tunnel, and emerging in the gargantuan shadow of the twin towers as you ascended to the WSH’s elevated roadway.

[@kyleo1991]

@@TheLocalLt twin towers will never be forgotten 😥. My favorite used to be the belt parkway until they replaced most of the bridges

[@danielmarreviews3947]

Kinda reminds me of Montreal’s system.

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

Yeah, I agree with that. I definitely see the resemblance

[@mattschehr163]

The first toll plaza is now a toll gantry

[@AsphaltPlanet1]

Matt Schehr which means it’s free for Canadians such as myself

[@gasaholic47]

And now it is an electronic toll collection now, all over the EZ Pass system, inside and outside of NYC, to upstate NY.

[@EuropeanRoads]

1:45 wow that looks poorly designed.

[@donavannj]

There's several shitty curves like that from the earliest days of the interstate system and its predecessors across America. I think there's one on 35W in Minneapolis that slows you down to either 30 or 35 MPH.

[@kevinblack16]

That was like some montreal type stuff!

[@TheLocalLt]

European Roads bro these roads were built in the 40s they cannot be rebuilt there’s no space to rebuild them, there’s lots of places in NYC (and the northeast US in general) where interstates have narrow lanes and sharp turns.

[@TheLocalLt]

Andrew Luimes right but if it was on the west coast instead of the east coast, there wouldn’t be a choice of “old cars-only freeway vs new Interstate freeway”, it would just be one freeway that everyone would have to use, that’s why LA’s traffic is so bad. So keeping these outdated highways in service for cars only - no trucks are allowed on this road - helps keep the modern Interstates clearer for trucks, though the traffic is still bad

[@thanhtantruongvinh99]

There's many curves like that in the historic part of CA-163 in San Diego from back in the day they can't fix it now since that section of the freeway and the surrounding area (Balboa Park) are part of the national historical landmarks.