Delaware has declared war on the East Coast.

The BBQ Pit
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Delaware has declared war on the East Coast.

They’ve altered I-95 to two lanes SB and NB, creating massive massive bottlenecks in both directions. And, of course it’s been going on for weeks.

This is all their web page has to say about it. . .

That’s it. Your speed limit will be reduced from 55 to 45. No problem, right? Oh, not right. Your speed limit will actually be reduced to the speed of the car in front of you which will be approximately 6 miles per hour from DC to Wilmington. . .and that’s if there’s no accidents.

If this isn’t done by Thanksgiving (and it’s supposed to be done on 11/21), there’s going to be a lot of leftover turkey up and down the East Coast.

So, anyone else been caught in this hellish traffic that has been going on for the last couple months?

The damn thing is. . .even if there is no construction, it’s like every other time you drive up or down that stretch of road, there’s some kind of accident that has you backed up forever. Screw that interstate system. I’m getting on Route 1, or Route 40. I’ll get back on I-95 when it opens up a little. . .I think that occurs somewhere up in New Hampshire.

(if you wanted a proper rant, you should have caught me in the car yesterday)

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Thanks for the headsup: I might drive up to Upstate NY for T-giving (I usually cut over from the coast at DC at the latest but now I definitely will.)

I guess Delaware is trying to compete for the Pennsylvania “we don’t care: you’re not from around here anyway” bad highway award :slight_smile:

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[QUOTE=Ludovic]
I guess Delaware is trying to compete for the Pennsylvania “we don’t care: you’re not from around here anyway” bad highway award :slight_smile:
[/QUOTE]
Thing is, in the case of Delaware, it’s not a joke.

On a cost-per-mile basis, driving through Delaware on the interstate costs about 4-5 times as much as either Maryland or New Jersey. The tolls make up a not inconsiderable part of Delaware revenue, and the political cost of high tolls for Delaware politicians is zero, because most of the people paying those tolls are from out of state.

Delaware is just a leech, sucking money in from other states. They need to change their license plate catchphrase:

Delaware: The Worst State.

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That’s the thing about Delaware, no one is actually from there. I’ve heard unsubstantiated rumors of actual citizens of DE but much like Bigfoot there isn’t much hard evidence. Everybody else is just passing through. You can’t get to Philly or New York from Baltimore or D.C. without going through Delaware (aka The Toll Booth/Speed Trap Capital of the East Coast). Their whole economy is based on tolls and speed traps, hell, they make so much revenue off that alone they don’t even charge a sales tax. All this is just another way to catch more speeders. They don’t even care if you stop to buy anything, since the state won’t get any sales tax anyhow, just stay in your car and save yourself the court costs and just mail your payment in. And keep the Delaware State Machine running.

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[QUOTE=mhendo]
They need to change their license plate catchphrase:

Delaware: The Worst State.
[/QUOTE]

“Them’s fightin’ words!”
-Texas

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[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
That’s the thing about Delaware, no one is actually from there. I’ve heard unsubstantiated rumors of actual citizens of DE but much like Bigfoot there isn’t much hard evidence. Everybody else is just passing through. You can’t get to Philly or New York from Baltimore or D.C. without going through Delaware (aka The Toll Booth/Speed Trap Capital of the East Coast). Their whole economy is based on tolls and speed traps, hell, they make so much revenue off that alone they don’t even charge a sales tax. All this is just another way to catch more speeders. They don’t even care if you stop to buy anything, since the state won’t get any sales tax anyhow, just stay in your car and save yourself the court costs and just mail your payment in. And keep the Delaware State Machine running.
[/QUOTE]

I was just scanning through this thread without reading it completely, but i have a surprise for you.

I’m from Delaware. Seriously. Newark, Delaware. I grew up there. I used to go to the State Theater on Main Street before they tore it down, I remember when the police station was ON main street, and when Stone Balloon used to be open with live bands. Now, I have various reasons for hating the place, I hardly ever go back there. But if you’re on I-95 going from Maryland to Pennsyvania or NJ, you’re only in Delaware for what, 20 minutes? You’re right its a rip off, but there is a work around. You can get off of I-95, cut through Newark or Glasgow and pick it up again beyond the toll booth. Its gonna take a bit longer and you’ll have to get the road layout, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of not giving 'em the toll money. (I went to college and worked out of state so I used to do that myself. It felt stupid to pay a toll when I lived 15 miles from the stinking state line.)

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[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
That’s the thing about Delaware, no one is actually from there. I’ve heard unsubstantiated rumors of actual citizens of DE but much like Bigfoot there isn’t much hard evidence. Everybody else is just passing through. You can’t get to Philly or New York from Baltimore or D.C. without going through Delaware (aka The Toll Booth/Speed Trap Capital of the East Coast). Their whole economy is based on tolls and speed traps, hell, they make so much revenue off that alone they don’t even charge a sales tax. All this is just another way to catch more speeders. They don’t even care if you stop to buy anything, since the state won’t get any sales tax anyhow, just stay in your car and save yourself the court costs and just mail your payment in. And keep the Delaware State Machine running.
[/QUOTE]

Oh, BTW I don’t know if they make that much money from catching speeders. I’ve gotten more speeding tickets in Maryland to be honest. I haven’t lived in Delaware since the early 90’s, so maybe the troopers are getting harder on folks, but really, you’d have to be doing 90 to get caught on that teeny bit of 95. You can get from MD to PA in 30 to 40 minutes in moderate traffic.

I don’t think they could make that much off of speeders to be honest. Besides, Delaware can’t be the Worst State. Because thats New Jersey.

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shizaru I still don’t have any solid proof that you were in fact a Delawarian. :slight_smile: Many people used to live in Delaware, but how many will admit to still living in DE? Yes, it is true that you can take back roads and avoid 95, but once you are on the highway and you’re are moving along it usually isn’t worth the hassle to get off and deal with traffic lights because, like you said, it’s only a 15-20 minute trip anyway. They planned it that way too, either pay the tolls or get off the highway and have a greater chance of getting pulled over by Toll Enforcement Agents ie. the State Troopers.

I agree that New Jersey is pretty bad too, anywhere you have to turn right to make a left has serious problems. Maybe it’s from all the Co2 they are breathing while someone else pumps their gas. And New Jersey’s roads aren’t that much better than Pennsylvania’s either. I will say at least Delaware has decent roads.

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[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
Maybe it’s from all the Co2 they are breathing while someone else pumps their gas.
[/QUOTE]

Yet we never make fun of that farmer-mentality about the ‘Evil Gas Station Boogie-Man’ that would steal your gas unless you are standing there and pumping it yourself.

In NJ, people appreciate good service in restaurants too. Civilization has its perks. :smiley:

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[QUOTE=Count Blucher]
Yet we never make fun of that farmer-mentality about the ‘Evil Gas Station Boogie-Man’ that would steal your gas unless you are standing there and pumping it yourself.

In NJ, people appreciate good service in restaurants too. Civilization has its perks. :smiley:
[/QUOTE]

I think everyone appreciates good service, but they don’t make the restaurant cut your food for you, do they? “I’m sorry, Sir, but in New Jersey we are so concerned with good service that we have outlawed allowing anyone to wield a steak knife and cut their own meat.”

Why do they have to pump your gas into a car or truck, but not into your lawnmower or snowblower? What is the difference between filling up your car after work and filling up the lawnmower when you get home? Are the modern gas pumps crazy-scary dangerous, but not the 25 year old rusted metal gas can? Are the gas pumps in New Jersey (and Oregon too I think) any different from any of the other gas pumps in the remaining 48 states that would prevent normal people from pumping their own gas?

As soon as you can make a left turn and are allowed to pump your own gas, you can get back to me on that civilization thing. Sorry about the NJ hijack.

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[QUOTE=Count Blucher]
In NJ, people appreciate good service in restaurants too.
[/QUOTE]
They just don’t get it while still in NJ.

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[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
shizaru I still don’t have any solid proof that you were in fact a Delawarian. :slight_smile: Many people used to live in Delaware, but how many will admit to still living in DE? Yes, it is true that you can take back roads and avoid 95, but once you are on the highway and you’re are moving along it usually isn’t worth the hassle to get off and deal with traffic lights because, like you said, it’s only a 15-20 minute trip anyway. They planned it that way too, either pay the tolls or get off the highway and have a greater chance of getting pulled over by Toll Enforcement Agents ie. the State Troopers.

I agree that New Jersey is pretty bad too, anywhere you have to turn right to make a left has serious problems. Maybe it’s from all the Co2 they are breathing while someone else pumps their gas. And New Jersey’s roads aren’t that much better than Pennsylvania’s either. I will say at least Delaware has decent roads.
[/QUOTE]

How can I prove I’m a Delawarian other than what I just told you? I mean, I can tell you things about the Newark/ Wilmington area, but I don’t have a DE ID card or anything. :slight_smile:

Well, here are maybe a few things to convince you, but they’ll only make sense if you know the area:

*The George Wilson Community Center on New London Avenue was originally the school for Black Folks way before my time, and when I grew up there we called it and the park around it “The School Hill”. Incidentally, it was named after my Great Uncle. We called him “Uncle Inky” though.

Its rumored that George Washington slept in the Deer Park Tavern. I hung out there a lot in the 80’s.

I used to go to day camp in Rittenhouse Park. I’ve actually been to the Iron Hill museum if it still exists.

There used to be a junior High right off Main Street, Central Middle School. The UoD bought it, but I went to school there. Back in the 70’s I was in class when the McDonalds by the library had a gas explosion. (we heard it in the school)

The Elks club on Cleveland Avenue used to be (might still be, I dunno) the central hub for entertainment in the black community back then. Most black people live on Cleveland Ave, New London Ave, and Corbit Street. I lived on Corbit Street. Sold the house years ago, when I knew I wasn’t coming back. (and plus my sister was sick and needed the money)*

The scary thing is I’m afraid someone might peice together this info and figure out my true identity! I have many enemies, my friend, and they would love to have to my head on a pole!

Well, not really…but my paranoia makes life interesting.
The roads are different from when I lived there and this will add about 15-20 minutes on the trip, but heres what I did on my trips through DE to Baltimore and Philly. If you’re going north from Baltimore to Philly/NJ, get off at the Elkton, MD exist. Head towards Newark, and take the road (can’t remember the name, but its past the state line into DE) on the right towards Glasgow. You should come out on 896 near the University of Delaware Stadium. Go towards Glasgow, get on I-95 again and you’ve bypassed the toll booth.

I actually do believe that they’ve planned this, as you say. Travellers on 95 get log jammed on that stretch.

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[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
I think everyone appreciates good service, but they don’t make the restaurant cut your food for you, do they?
[/QUOTE]

I don’t claim to know how things are done in your state, but in NJ, we don’t drink gasoline. The day you drink gasoline, I’ll buy a ticket to watch. Promise. Hell, I’ll even pay a buck extra of you do the entire ‘Daffy Duck’ routine, match and all. :stuck_out_tongue:

[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
What is the difference between filling up your car after work and filling up the lawnmower when you get home?
[/QUOTE]

Maybe because they are Selling it to you, in our state, in accordance with our laws, and you don’t sell it to your lawnmower? (Play-school cash-register not withstanding) Maybe because we like the law written that way? If you don’t like your gas pumped, are you not free to drive elsewhere? That’s a win-win: you get to pump your own gas and we don’t have to be exposed to your driving for more than half a tank-full at a time. :smiley:

As for left turns, Jughandles really aren’t too hard to figure out. First; it’s a way of turning, not drinking moonshine. They have really big signs now, with large font block-letters stating “All Turns Right Hand Lane” (not a hard two-syllable word in the bunch). You aren’t honestly saying that you can’t handle that simple concept, are you? Because I’m not sure we should trust you with a steak knife in a civilized restaurant if you can’t… :dubious: :smiley:

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[QUOTE=mhendo]
Thing is, in the case of Delaware, it’s not a joke.

On a cost-per-mile basis, driving through Delaware on the interstate costs about 4-5 times as much as either Maryland or New Jersey. The tolls make up a not inconsiderable part of Delaware revenue, and the political cost of high tolls for Delaware politicians is zero, because most of the people paying those tolls are from out of state.

Delaware is just a leech, sucking money in from other states. They need to change their license plate catchphrase:

Delaware: The Worst State.
[/QUOTE]

Well, frankly, there are several states in the NE that wouldn’t make anything but a decent-sized county anywhere outside the NE, and Delaware is one of them. (Rhode Island is another). Both states, and perhaps several others (Vermont, are you listening?) should be reduced in status to countyhood.

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How did this turn into Jersey bashing? We have perfectly cromulent roads. The jughandles are pretty easy to figure out and most of our circles are gone.
We like our gas being pumped. You don’t, that is wonderful. More power to you, but stop bitching about what we consider a very good thing on a cold winter day.

Why do so many people from outside Jersey, care that we have service stations instead of the reduced service everyone else puts up with?

Jersey cannot be the worst state, we have too much going for it.
We have the shore and the mountains, extreme convenience to NYC & Philly.
We have farms and cities. Pinelands and Highlands. Great Adventure and one of the oldest US amusement parks in Keansburg. We have Atlantic City and Cape May. Wildwood and Sandyhook. A great and old music tradition and convenience to Broadway.

The list of worst states should include dozens ahead of Jersey, but I will refrain for mentioning them to avoid insult to others.

We are also very big on live and let live in this state, socially liberal without being notorious for our ‘liberalness’. Let face facts living in New Jersey, heck, just visiting New Jersey, embiggens the individual.

Jim

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[QUOTE=mhendo]

. The tolls make up a not inconsiderable part of Delaware revenue, …
[/QUOTE]

I’d like a cite on this. According to figures I could find, it’s less than 3%.

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[QUOTE=Trunk]
Delaware has declared war on the East Coast.

They’ve altered I-95 to two lanes SB and NB, creating massive massive bottlenecks in both directions. And, of course it’s been going on for weeks.

::snip::

Your speed limit will be reduced from 55 to 45. No problem, right? Oh, not right. Your speed limit will actually be reduced to the speed of the car in front of you which will be approximately 6 miles per hour from DC to Wilmington. . .and that’s if there’s no accidents.

If this isn’t done by Thanksgiving (and it’s supposed to be done on 11/21), there’s going to be a lot of leftover turkey up and down the East Coast.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the heads up; we plan to leave for Massachusetts on Sunday. Guess we’ll be taking a detour.

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[QUOTE=Madd Maxx]
That’s the thing about Delaware, no one is actually from there.
[/QUOTE]

Come on, now, there’s a few people here. More than Wyoming!

As to the OP, that explains the giant back up on SB 95 all day Saturday and Sunday. The best part about that backup is that almost no one who lives in Delaware will get caught in it. That work is being done near the MD line and we all know how to get around the tollbooth at the state line. So if we’re going south, we get on in MD and if we are going north, we get on north of the construction. Incidentally, that’s why that toll will never go away. I’ve lived in DE my entire life and been driving here for 14 years and never paid that toll.

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[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
Well, frankly, there are several states in the NE that wouldn’t make anything but a decent-sized county anywhere outside the NE, and Delaware is one of them. (Rhode Island is another). Both states, and perhaps several others (Vermont, are you listening?) should be reduced in status to countyhood.
[/QUOTE]

EC, pull out your atlas. Delaware is a Mid-Atlantic state. But you’re right; sneeze, and you could miss Delaware while driving through.

What Exit?, do we really need a reason to turn any thread at all to Jersey bashing? I thought that was an implied sub-context of every SDMB thread?

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Jonathan Chait of the New Republic and the Los Angeles Times also hates Delaware.: