You have 1 milly to spend on a ski haus in the Northeast. Where are you buying?

[Hastur]

Your aunt just died and left you a million dollars. The only caveat is that in order to keep it, you have to spend it on a second home in ski county. Where do you buy and why?

Starter home in Stowe?

Slopeside at J?

Saddleback?

Sugarloaf?

The Bush?

 

[Hawk]

I know. You look at the projects over the last 40 years in Maine and NH.

 

[cdskier]

I know. You look at the projects over the last 40 years in Maine and NH.

NJ as well...so much road expansion everywhere except NY it seems.

 

[4aprice]

I-87 (NYST) has its moments. I've seen it slow to halt at times (mostly a Friday night on MLK or Pres Day weekend) but overall its usually not that bad. Try going to NH from the NY Metro area through Connecticut. Basically 54 miles of Hell. Your better off going up I-87 then taking the Mass Pike over to 91. But its certainly not I-70 out in Colorado.

Going North and South is no issue. I can make Lake George in 3 hours from my house here in NNJ (Same time it takes to get to Cape May in the other direction). Going east and west in NNE and NY is the issue. 7 out of Troy and 149/4 up by Lake George are the roads that will drive one crazy.

 

[drjeff]

Every time I'm stuck in traffic on the Thruway I say "How have they still not made this wider than 2 lanes?"

In this day in age, how many 10's of BILLIONS, if not more, do you think it would cost to widen the thruway to 3 lanes up to Albany? Let alone the likley numerous environmental law suits that would be thrown at any proposal....

 

[cdskier]

I-87 (NYST) has its moments. I've seen it slow to halt at times (mostly a Friday night on MLK or Pres Day weekend) but overall its usually not that bad. Try going to NH from the NY Metro area through Connecticut. Basically 54 miles of Hell. Your better off going up I-87 then taking the Mass Pike over to 91. But its certainly not I-70 out in Colorado.

Going North and South is no issue. I can make Lake George in 3 hours from my house here in NNJ (Same time it takes to get to Cape May in the other direction). Going east and west in NNE and NY is the issue. 7 out of Troy and 149/4 up by Lake George are the roads that will drive one crazy.

I used to say it wasn't bad, but last year I hit traffic likely around 75% of the time coming home on Sunday nights. I rarely hit traffic on the way up, but I think I also tend to leave earlier than most on Fridays and avoid any issues.

 

[cdskier]

In this day in age, how many 10's of BILLIONS, if not more, do you think it would cost to widen the thruway to 3 lanes up to Albany? Let alone the likley numerous environmental law suits that would be thrown at any proposal....

That's not an excuse. Every other state (including NJ) has managed to wide their major highways appropriately.

 

[jimmywilson69]

agreed they need to get it done. Its a toll road, raise the tolls...

 

[deadheadskier]

In this day in age, how many 10's of BILLIONS, if not more, do you think it would cost to widen the thruway to 3 lanes up to Albany? Let alone the likley numerous environmental law suits that would be thrown at any proposal....

I think you might be over estimating that cost.

Maine widened 95 to 3 lanes from York to South Portland between 2000-2004. 32 miles, $135M.

The two lane stretch on the thruway is about 100 miles and I'd say similar topography as Southern Maine. So call it $500M in 2004 dollars. In 2025 it would certainly cost billions, but probably not tens of billions.

Just seems crazy that NY doesn't make that investment to try and lure more people north out of the largest and wealthiest city in the country.

 

[jaytrem]

I believe most if not all of the Thruway bridges have already been rebuilt to carry additional lanes.

Taconic it so much mellower though, I'll often go that way unless the Thruway is looking absolutely perfect.

I'm not driving up there as much as I once was. For many years I was skiing up there almost every weekend, then kayaking up there almost every weekend in the warmer months. Now I tend to do 3 or 4 ski trip elsewhere and I haven't kayaked whitewater since the kids were born. Not sure what I'm doing these days is any less exhausting than the weekly drive. Probably best not to think about it!

 

[x10003q]

From my early childhood to now at 'almost' retirement, I have spent hours with my family going north/south to/from ski areas from NJ/NYC on the NYS thruway for weekends. Currently, if you can manage to avoid the peak times, it is usually mostly empty from Exit 15 (NJ) to Albany. However, there is a real need to expand it to 3 lanes from Exit 16 (Harriman/Rt 17) to Exit 17 (I-84). This distance is only 15 miles and would help with the big population increases in the area. As mentioned by jaytrem, the NYS Thruway bridges that were rebuilt when Mario Cuomo was NY Gov can handle 3 lanes of traffic. I think that includes the NJ to Albany stretch.

The easy drive to Gore includes about 60 miles of 3 lane I-87 above Albany to Lake George. Even during Albany rush hour on a Friday, the traffic clears on I-87 once you cross the Twin Bridges (Kosciusko Bridge) over the Mohawk River in Half Moon. At the moment, there is no slope side at Gore. There have been approvals for lodging/townhomes/condos on land adjacent to the Ski Bowl lifts since 2008. You could spend way below 1mill at Gore and still have a great place close to the access road or the ski bowl.

Currently, our flexible schedules allows us to head north out of NJ on Friday mornings and the only reason the speed of moving traffic on the Thruway drops below 75mph is due to truck traffic on the hills mixed in with a car going 65mph.

 

[cdskier]

From my early childhood to now at 'almost' retirement I have spent hours with my family going north/south to/from ski areas from NJ/NYC on the NYS thruway for weekends. Currently, if you can manage to avoid the peak times, it is usually mostly empty from Exit 15 (NJ) to Albany. However, there is a real need to expand it to 3 lanes from Exit 16 (Harriman/Rt 17) to Exit 17 (I-84). This distance is only 15 miles and would help with the big population increases in the area. As mentioned by jaytrem, the NYS Thruway bridges that were rebuilt when Mario Cuomo was NY Gov can handle 3 lanes of traffic. I think that includes the NJ to Albany stretch.

The easy drive to Gore includes about 60 miles of 3 lane I-87 above Albany to Lake George. Even during Albany rush hour on a Friday, the traffic clears on I-87 once you cross the Twin Bridges (Kosciusko Bridge) over the Mohawk River in Half Moon. At the moment, there is no slope side at Gore. There have been approvals for lodging/townhomes/condos on land adjacent to the Ski Bowl lifts since 2008. You could spend way below 1mill at Gore and still have a great place close to the access road or the ski bowl.

Currently, our flexible schedules allows us to head north out of NJ on Friday mornings and the only reason the speed of moving traffic on the Thruway drops below 75mph is due to truck traffic on the hills mixed in with a car going 65mph.

I noticed this winter that I started hitting traffic earlier than Exit 17 (driving south on Sundays). Not sure what changed, but there were numerous times I'd hit traffic as early as the Kingston/Belleayre exit heading south.

 

[jimmywilson69]

I think you might be over estimating that cost.

Maine widened 95 to 3 lanes from York to South Portland between 2000-2004. 32 miles, $135M.

they built 32 miles of 2 additional lanes for $135 Million? That seems REALLY low for that time period. I work in the highway industry. I worked on a project that built 7 miles of new 4 lane of new highway, lots of retaining walls that was bid for $110 million in 2003. There's no way that price is accurate. Maybe just the asphalt cost that much. but there were undoubtedly bridges and grading, etc...

widening I-87 to 3 lanes from NJ to Albany would be billions of dollars today. And yes lots of environmental hurdles, and likely law suits.

 

[Abominable]

This is a good summer thread.

With $1mm you could rack up some amazing ski trips. I’m talking heli skiing, business class flights, ski in/out hotels,.. I think I would spend it on chasing powder. If you invested properly, you could just travel nicely on the interest alone.

Yeah I think conservatively 40K / year without touching the principal buys a nice seasonal rental just about anywhere on the east coast, or more than a few fantastic trips out west or Europe. But of course having your own place is the dream.

 

[deadheadskier]

they built 32 miles of 2 additional lanes for $135 Million? That seems REALLY low for that time period. I work in the highway industry. I worked on a project that built 7 miles of new 4 lane of new highway, lots of retaining walls that was bid for $110 million in 2003. There's no way that price is accurate. Maybe just the asphalt cost that much. but there were undoubtedly bridges and grading, etc...

widening I-87 to 3 lanes from NJ to Albany would be billions of dollars today. And yes lots of environmental hurdles, and likely law suits.

I was trying to think of a local and recent highway expansion that reasonably compares to I87 and 95 in Maine came to mind. I remember sitting in that traffic on a visit to Maine in spring of 2003 when I was considering moving there. Every source I've seen on Google said either $135 or $140M for that project. I agree, that seems low. But that's the only price tags I've seen.

 

[AdironRider]

At the risk of it being discovered, I'd buy a spread in Rochester VT. Quaint little Vermont town with everything you need and nothing you don't including a great restaurant, bike shop, cafe, bookstore, grocery, etc. Middlebury Snowbowl (no lift lines and punches way above its weight class terrain wise) just up the road and Killington or Sugarbush about a 1/2 hour in either direction.

Although I have it pretty good here by Dartmouth also.

 

[jimk]

Hey, for $850k I can get a 90 year old, little green "camp" accessible only by boat on/very close to Lake Placid. This might be fun here.
Could be a pain in the neck to get to/from during ski season

 

[LoafSkier19]

I was trying to think of a local and recent highway expansion that reasonably compares to I87 and 95 in Maine came to mind. I remember sitting in that traffic on a visit to Maine in spring of 2003 when I was considering moving there. Every source I've seen on Google said either $135 or $140M for that project. I agree, that seems low. But that's the only price tags I've seen.

And then Maine just widened the next 6 miles of the Turnpike past Westbrook a couple years ago. That project cost roughly $52.5 million it looks like.

Curious if we will ever see 295 in Maine widen out to Freeport. It’s really overdue especially in the summer traffic. I know it has been looked into before just don’t think its anytime soon.

 

[bigbob]

And then Maine just widened the next 6 miles of the Turnpike past Westbrook a couple years ago. That project cost roughly $52.5 million it looks like.

Curious if we will ever see 295 in Maine widen out to Freeport. It’s really overdue especially in the summer traffic. I know it has been looked into before just don’t think its anytime soon.

Turnpike is starting to back up Sunday afternoon this summer in spots where it was widdened south of Portland. I even hit a slowdown north of Portland above the newly widened section this past weekend.

 

[Hawk]

I was trying to think of a local and recent highway expansion that reasonably compares to I87 and 95 in Maine came to mind. I remember sitting in that traffic on a visit to Maine in spring of 2003 when I was considering moving there. Every source I've seen on Google said either $135 or $140M for that project. I agree, that seems low. But that's the only price tags I've seen.

In 2005 they did that large expansion of rt 3 from 128 up to NH and added a third lane. $385 mil. My friends that live in Merto west said it was the best thing but now I think traffic has caught up.

 

[kbroderick]

In 2005 they did that large expansion of rt 3 from 128 up to NH and added a third lane. $385 mil. My friends that live in Merto west said it was the best thing but now I think traffic has caught up.

From what I've read, that's typically the problem: any time you expand roadways, you get more traffic (just like having a bigger suitcase often leads to bringing more stuff). I think that's put something of a damper on overall enthusiasm for such projects, because nobody wants to spend millions of dollars just to have more traffic.