East Coast Speculation Thread

[supersobes]

Either York or Lancaster should be included in Pennsylvania. That valley along the Susquehanna River is famous for its dairy farms. Lots of products like milk and ice cream are made there, so that will be a really good part of Pennsylvania's economy to include in ATS. Right outside of York in Hanover, there are also two important snack food companies that are well known on the east coast: Snyder's of Hanover and Utz Snacks. Those are companies like Frito Lay, but they're regional rather than national. The area around York is also very industrial. There's lots of warehouses and supply chain connections that are important for trucks along the I-83 corridor there.

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Hagerstown, Maryland is where the engines and transmissions for Volvo and Mack trucks are built, so that manufacturing plant could be included if it fits. I'm thinking Hagerstown shouldn't have any problem fitting; it's right a the major junction between I-70 and I-81.

[Tails]

North Carolina home to Freightliner assembly plant.

[Larry71490]

Also have Hershey, PA where Hershey chocolate is made. Pulled a lot of loads out there. The street lights are shaped like Hershey kisses.

Freightliner plant is in Cleveland which is outside Charlotte.

[supersobes]

Aw, I just checked Google Maps and it seems that they repaved US-322/US-422 through Hershey, PA a few years ago. The last time I was there, PennDOT used a special kind of asphalt mix that gave the road a red hue in the sunlight. I was going to write that it would be cool if it that was depicted in ATS, but it doesn't exist anymore. Going back in time a few years to this on Google Maps Street View, it shows up a bit in the image, but the colour difference was more pronounced in person.

[Tails]

York , PA has the Harley Davidson motorcycle assembly plant and beside that factory.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Harle ... 76.7136937

[flight50]

Hagerstown definitely has to get in due to its location. Its far away from both Baltimore and DC. The junction that its at does not all SCS to ignore it. Fredrick, Maryland is not necessary if it conflicts. Best bet for Fredrick is a small scenic town considering that is where I-70 and I-270 split. Hershey, PA should not be marked. It should get absorbed by Harrisburg. That entire area in a 20-30 mile radius of Harrisburg gets absorbed by Harrisburg. Unlike Portland, Or and Vancouver, Wa, that entire area can be developed as one and not have to worry about being in a different dlc like the Columbia between Washington and Oregon. We should get I-81 and I-76 for sure. From there, develop the area based on surface roads. The two interstates that do run across the river are very curvy. That is excellent. SCS can take advantage of that and spread them apart by using the curvature of those Interstates. That allows Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Hershey, Middletown and Colonial Park to all get absorbed under Harrisburg.

Considering that York and Lancaster are 25 miles apart, SCS can work with that. Push Lancaster East and spread them out more. There is plenty of room til you hit Philly. Get another 5-10 miles distance from York and I'd create both York and Lancaster. If US-30 can't fit from Harrisburg to Philly, just use I-76 to get from Harrisburg to Philly but make US-30 link from York to Lancaster to I-76. I agree that in Pennsylvania, roads do get tricky. On the East coast, we should get more Interstates than US or state roads because they dominant. On the West coast, we get more US and state highways because there are fewer Interstates.

[supersobes]

I-76 is definitely a must have road for Pennsylvania. It's the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It also flows into the Ohio Turnpike, which connects to the Indiana Toll Road, and finally funnels into the Illinois Tollway network. It's possible to drive from Philadelphia to Chicago and as far west as Davenport or Rockford using only toll roads. The extensive toll road network in this region is something that should be reflected in ATS. The Ohio Turnpike allows turnpike doubles and triples, and the Indiana Toll Road allows triples. Pennsylvania and Illinois do not allow LCVs though.

[flight50]

Agreed. Tolls in the MidWest and Northeast are totally different than down here in Texas. Tolls here more optional down here. Tolls up that way are more necessity it seems like. I don't agree with tolls in Texas but the Northeast and Midwest, tolls that connect multiple states together are the tolls to implement into ATS hands down. I-10, I-40 I-80 and I-90 are our C2C Interstates. With those in place, the game will surely be wide open. Roads like I-20, I-70 and I-94 cover a little more than half the country. These too play huge rolls in the US. When combined with all the North and South Interstates the travel options linking cities together will start to paint the best picture ATS will offer those who support it.

I-10 should be the first C2C Interstate made in the game followed by I-40. I-20 will be the first that isn't exactly C2C but still a very long road. Once we have these arteries in place, I think a lot of people will be content.

[supersobes]

A lot of trucks traveling across Ohio and Indiana that don't want to pay the tolls will use US-30 to cross those two states. It's a four lane divided highway the whole length until you get to Canton, and it has a 65 or 70 MPH speed limit on most stretches. The only downsides of US-30 are that you'll be stopping at a red light every few minutes rather than driving straight through and if you're hauling LCVs, you're not allowed off the tollway. Tolls have been increasing almost every year for the past several years, more so for trucks than cars, so many try to find ways around the toll roads.

[flight50]

Interesting info. LCV's have it rough then. I would imagine I-80 or I-70 would be favored but they do take you thru major cities and slow downs depending on time of day. US-30 the same way so the Turnpike would get a bypass for all this but it'll cost ya. Well hopefully we'll still see I-76 in the East in ATS though. Seems like most major Interstates in the Appalachian region will be featured as tree walls in ATS. That will allow SCS more space to make roads denser without sacrificing space too much. At that point, the cities and towns will be the limiting factor in the East.