Oh, the BQE/Gowanus. Probably the worst farking road there is, and I'm including the Cross Bronx. I haven't been on the Jacke Robinson and I hear that's a nightmare, but at least no trucks are allowed.

This is what happens when you have highways that predate modern design and they never get upgraded.

August11: Are we talking about the Hutch? I've almost died on that parkway three or four times. Pot holes you could use as a fox hole.

I guessed BQE right away, and I haven't even been on that highway in years. It's been decrepit for as long as I can remember.

And FWIW, I almost died on the LIE once.

Is NYC on the "tear down the highways" bandwagon?

A $20 billion tunnel under the city, run by a professional highway department (not Port Authority), would probably be worth the cost.

FreakinB: I haven't been on the Jacke Robinson

I drove on the Interboro (Jackie Robinson's original name) before the "upgrades" of the 1980s-90s. That was a road meant to be driven at 30MPH, not 50. At least the city is still rebuilding the Belt between the draw bridge and Starret City (or whatever it is called now).

flyin1: Chances are, the road was probably servicable and safe to begin with

Try getting onto the highway headed south at Atlantic Ave. The portion in Brooklyn Heights is over 50 years old and is elevated (more or less) adjacent to the river. Though I haven't lived in the neighborhood for a long time, I do recall portions of the promenade above the highway sinking due to deterioration. I imagine it is worse now. The other elevated portion (the Gowanus), is even older (I think it was a rail line at one time) and has been in constant reconstruction to just patch up the road for over a decade (haven't driven it in about a year so I'm not sure if there are still lanes closed).

Both are technically still serviceable but they sure could use an upgrade. Better to do it now when labor costs are low.

Headso

New York State has a great rural two lane highway system, much better than Massachusetts. New York City can be towed into the Atlantic and sunk as far as I'm concerned.

TheGreatGazoo: That's OK, Anniston, Alabama just finished a ~15 mile 4 lane highway from 'downtown' to the Army based that closed in 1999.

Sounds like one biatchin' drag strip!

seadoo2006: Like HELL is the BQE worse than the Cross-Bronx ... the CBE literally has 12" high waves on the asphalt ... not to mention if you're ever on it when traffic isn't bad, you're likely to hit one of these at speed, fly through the air and do a barrelroll into an apartment building.

/Ug, I do NOT miss the roads in NYC ...

While true, at least the actual road on the Cross Bronx doesn't look like a patchwork quilt. Nor does it leave you wondering how trucks fit on it. Nor does it force all the traffic that's staying on the highway to the two farthest right lanes at any point. I'd also submit that there's no worse interstate highway entrance/exit in the country than Atlantic Avenue on the BQE.

seadoo2006: Like HELL is the BQE worse than the Cross-Bronx .

I had my scariest experience ever on the road on the Cross-Bronx. We were headed upstate to a cousin's wedding and we had just gotten on the elevated portion after crossing from Queens on the Whitestone. It had been raining heavy but all of the sudden the skies just opened up. One driver, near the bottom slammed on his brakes. Now this was 1986 so nobody had anti-lock brakes yet.

All of the sudden there were cars skidding and hyper planing all over the place. We saw one guy in front of us do a 180, bounce off the guard rail. skid across all 3 lanes right in front of us with a look of fear on the other driver's face (my dad was smart enough to just pump the brakes to avoid running into cars skidding out and to keep us from skidding) and, after we had passed, watch him slam into the wall (we were off the elevated portion at that point) as we saw even more cars skidding out behind us. For the next few minutes, until the color returned to his knuckles, all we heard was my dad repeating over and over "If it wasn't Harold's kid ... If it wasn't Harold's kid ... " as we continued on.

IHadMeAVision: The Jackie's a lot better after the upgrades,

I meant the original. My dad's parents are buried in one of those cemeteries along the road in Brooklyn so we used it now and then (at least until the upgrade eliminated the entrance/exit closest to Woodhaven Boulevard around the time I started driving). It is a lot better now, which doesn't say much.

Remember kids, the rich have jets, they don't need highways and bridges.