Most Worthless Control Cities

[mrsman]

As for the even-numbered east-west two-digit Interstates: I-80 and I-90 eastbound use Indiana instead of South Bend or Toledo, or even cities like Hammond and Gary. Likewise, it uses Iowa westbound as opposed to Davenport or Moline, or even Joliet. I-94 uses Wisconsin or Indiana, as opposed to Milwaukee, although some signs north of the Chicago Loop say Milwaukee, and the Indiana signs say Indiana as opposed to Detroit.

A lot of complaints about the use of states as controls in the Chicago area, especially when there are other ways to get to other parts of the state.

Iowa should be Davenport or Des Moines.  Appropriate secondary controls like Joliet can be used as well.

Wisconsin should be Milwaukee.  When used in referring to the combined 90/94, I prefer combining Rockford and Milwaukee as those are the controls used north of the Edens Split.  Madison is no longer a control used regularly for 90, until you get north of  Rockford.

Indiana is a harder control to replace.  Within Illinois, I think Indiana can be replaced with South Bend / Detroit (both controls).  South Bend is a great control for referencing Indiana, and IMO should be the eastbound control for 80 and 90 between Chicago and Toledo.

[Similar to I-70 where Dayton was placed as a control between Indianapolis and Columbus, I think South Bend can be placed as a control between Chicago and Toledo.  But Chicago is so important, that I like seeing it as a western control beginning in Toledo.  South Bend can be used as a secondary as appropriate.]

[roadman65]

Santa Ana as a solo point south of LA. IMO it should be San Diego with Santa Ana as supplemental. Yes we've been through it before, but it's the way I feel.   

[Chrysler375Freeway]

Baltimore-area: I-95 still uses New York as opposed to much closer Wilmington or Philadelphia, or both, even though the I-95 gap was filled in, and the fact that Philadelphia is the next major U.S. city up I-95. I-695 also uses New York as a control as opposed to Wilmington and/or Philadelphia, even though both are closer.

[epzik8]

Baltimore-area: I-95 still uses New York as opposed to much closer Wilmington or Philadelphia, or both, even though the I-95 gap was filled in, and the fact that Philadelphia is the next major U.S. city up I-95. I-695 also uses New York as a control as opposed to Wilmington and/or Philadelphia, even though both are closer.

This is my home stretch of Interstate (in fact I currently live a stone's throw from one exit along it), and my understanding of this is that most northbound through traffic is assumed by Maryland officials to be taking the New Jersey Turnpike to the New York City area, thus bypassing both Wilmington and Philadelphia.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

As for the even-numbered east-west two-digit Interstates: I-80 and I-90 eastbound use Indiana instead of South Bend or Toledo, or even cities like Hammond and Gary. Likewise, it uses Iowa westbound as opposed to Davenport or Moline, or even Joliet. I-94 uses Wisconsin or Indiana, as opposed to Milwaukee, although some signs north of the Chicago Loop say Milwaukee, and the Indiana signs say Indiana as opposed to Detroit.

A lot of complaints about the use of states as controls in the Chicago area, especially when there are other ways to get to other parts of the state.

Iowa should be Davenport or Des Moines.  Appropriate secondary controls like Joliet can be used as well.

Wisconsin should be Milwaukee.  When used in referring to the combined 90/94, I prefer combining Rockford and Milwaukee as those are the controls used north of the Edens Split.  Madison is no longer a control used regularly for 90, until you get north of  Rockford.

Indiana is a harder control to replace.  Within Illinois, I think Indiana can be replaced with South Bend / Detroit (both controls).  South Bend is a great control for referencing Indiana, and IMO should be the eastbound control for 80 and 90 between Chicago and Toledo.

[Similar to I-70 where Dayton was placed as a control between Indianapolis and Columbus, I think South Bend can be placed as a control between Chicago and Toledo.  But Chicago is so important, that I like seeing it as a western control beginning in Toledo.  South Bend can be used as a secondary as appropriate.]

Another example: I-55's control city is St. Louis, completely ignoring other Illinois cities like Bloomington and Springfield, not even listing either as a secondary control city paired with St. Louis on signs.

[MATraveler128]

As for the even-numbered east-west two-digit Interstates: I-80 and I-90 eastbound use Indiana instead of South Bend or Toledo, or even cities like Hammond and Gary. Likewise, it uses Iowa westbound as opposed to Davenport or Moline, or even Joliet. I-94 uses Wisconsin or Indiana, as opposed to Milwaukee, although some signs north of the Chicago Loop say Milwaukee, and the Indiana signs say Indiana as opposed to Detroit.

A lot of complaints about the use of states as controls in the Chicago area, especially when there are other ways to get to other parts of the state.

Iowa should be Davenport or Des Moines.  Appropriate secondary controls like Joliet can be used as well.

Wisconsin should be Milwaukee.  When used in referring to the combined 90/94, I prefer combining Rockford and Milwaukee as those are the controls used north of the Edens Split.  Madison is no longer a control used regularly for 90, until you get north of  Rockford.

Indiana is a harder control to replace.  Within Illinois, I think Indiana can be replaced with South Bend / Detroit (both controls).  South Bend is a great control for referencing Indiana, and IMO should be the eastbound control for 80 and 90 between Chicago and Toledo.

[Similar to I-70 where Dayton was placed as a control between Indianapolis and Columbus, I think South Bend can be placed as a control between Chicago and Toledo.  But Chicago is so important, that I like seeing it as a western control beginning in Toledo.  South Bend can be used as a secondary as appropriate.]

Another example: I-55's control city is St. Louis, completely ignoring other Illinois cities like Bloomington and Springfield, not even listing either as a secondary control city paired with St. Louis on signs.

Also I-57 uses Memphis as a control point all the way from Chicago as opposed to something like Champaign, but then again there aren't many cities of decent size along the way.

[jeffandnicole]

Baltimore-area: I-95 still uses New York as opposed to much closer Wilmington or Philadelphia, or both, even though the I-95 gap was filled in, and the fact that Philadelphia is the next major U.S. city up I-95. I-695 also uses New York as a control as opposed to Wilmington and/or Philadelphia, even though both are closer.

One state's actions isn't going to cause another state to undertake a job that'll probably cost over $1 million to change over their signage prematurely.

This is my home stretch of Interstate (in fact I currently live a stone's throw from one exit along it), and my understanding of this is that most northbound through traffic is assumed by Maryland officials to be taking the New Jersey Turnpike to the New York City area, thus bypassing both Wilmington and Philadelphia.

In my visual estimation, there is very little Northbound traffic in Maryland that is still travelling North thru NJ or PA to get to New York.

Most traffic around the city in Baltimore has Maryland tags, and are commuters remaining in Maryland.  As you go further north, as the Maryland tagged vehicles have exited the highway, there becomes a greater mix of various states of license plates.  But by the time this traffic is in New Jersey, reaching the 2 lane (per direction) NJ Turnpike (or in some cases, I-295), there isn't much traffic that, based on tags, would have originated within or south of Maryland with the intention of heading to NY and beyond.

Conversely, there is no signage on the NJ Turnpike & I-295 in New Jersey that reference Baltimore.  There *is* signage on I-95 in PA that references Baltimore (near the PA/DE state line).  But that signage was there long before 95 was connected directly in PA, which doesn't make sense as SB traffic wouldn't leave the NJ Turnpike via a route not signed for 95 or Baltimore into PA to continue South.

If MD believes that traffic is heading north to NY, NJ *doesn't* believe traffic is heading south towards Baltimore, so there's a bit of a disconnect.

[RoadMaster09]

How I-80 in PA should look

Eastbound

OH - I-99: State College
I-99 - US 220: Williamsport
US 220 - I-81: Scranton/NYC
From I-81 East: NYC

Westbound

To I-380: Scranton
I-380 - I-180: Williamsport
I-180 - I-99: State College
I-99 - OH: Youngstown (also Cleveland at I-79 and I-376 junctions)

I agree with all of those. State College, Williamsport and Scranton, while not right on I-80, are close enough to grab traffic, all are regional centers and much bigger than any community right on I-80.

[Brandon]

Another example: I-55's control city is St. Louis, completely ignoring other Illinois cities like Bloomington and Springfield, not even listing either as a secondary control city paired with St. Louis on signs.

Also I-57 uses Memphis as a control point all the way from Chicago as opposed to something like Champaign, but then again there aren't many cities of decent size along the way.

Illinois (IDOT specifically) uses two layers of control cities, a primary and a secondary control.  At the main junctions (interstate to interstate), the primary control is used.  At other interchanges, the secondaries are typically used.

I-55
Primary: St Louis, Chicago
Secondary: East St Louis, Springfield, Bloomington (sometimes Bloomington-Normal), Joliet

I-57:
Primary: Memphis, Chicago
Secondary: Cairo, Mt Vernon, Effingham, Champaign-Urbana, Kankakee

[roadman65]

I always thought that the last four exits on I-78 in PA are odd using different controls for all four consecutive I-78 EB ramps.

PA 309 uses Bethlehem.
PA 412 uses Easton.
PA 33 uses New Jersey/ New York
Morgan Hill Road uses  New York

[hobsini2]

Another example: I-55's control city is St. Louis, completely ignoring other Illinois cities like Bloomington and Springfield, not even listing either as a secondary control city paired with St. Louis on signs.

Also I-57 uses Memphis as a control point all the way from Chicago as opposed to something like Champaign, but then again there aren't many cities of decent size along the way.

Illinois (IDOT specifically) uses two layers of control cities, a primary and a secondary control.  At the main junctions (interstate to interstate), the primary control is used.  At other interchanges, the secondaries are typically used.

I-55
Primary: St Louis, Chicago
Secondary: East St Louis, Springfield, Bloomington (sometimes Bloomington-Normal), Joliet

I-57:
Primary: Memphis, Chicago
Secondary: Cairo, Mt Vernon, Effingham, Champaign-Urbana, Kankakee

I-39, 64, 70, 72, 74, 80 also do this as the following (Primary controls in caps):
I-39: MADISON (or WISCONSIN), ROCKFORD, La Salle-Peru (SB only), BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL
I-64: ST LOUIS, East St Louis WB only (or just St Louis on the new ones), Mt Vernon, Evansville, LOUISVILLE
I-70: ST LOUIS, East St Louis WB only (or just St Louis on the new ones), Evansville, Terre Haute, INDIANAPOLIS
I-72: HANNIBAL, QUNICY (WB only), Jacksonville (WB only), SPRINGFIELD, Decatur, CHAMPAIGN
I-74: DAVENPORT, MOLINE-ROCK ISLAND WB only, Galesburg, PEORIA, Bloomington (-Normal), Champaign, Danville, INDIANAPOLIS
I-80: DES MOINES (or IOWA), Moline-Rock Island, Joliet, CHICAGO EB only to I-55, Gary (although the newer signs are just Indiana), INDIANA

[roadman65]

I was just thinking  PennDOT only uses out of state controls near state lines and mostly for places near the border. New York gets used at Easton on I-78 cause it appears that PennDOT and NJDOT each have a quarrel using out of state controls for each other.

New Jersey uses Pennsylvania on I-78 at Exit 3 in Still Valley, NJ and Easton sporadically as Clinton is on most guides heading west out of Newark. Also the Delaware Water Gap over Stroudsburg on I-80 in the Garden State and seldomly even uses Philadelphia on many roads in South Jersey.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

I-65 in Indiana does not reference Lafayette, not even as a secondary or paired with Chicago or Indianapolis, even though a sliver of Lafayette's city limits cross I-65.

[hobsini2]

I-65 in Indiana does not reference Lafayette, not even as a secondary or paired with Chicago or Indianapolis, even though a sliver of Lafayette's city limits cross I-65.

You are correct with it not being on the BGSs. However, if you look at the mileage signs, Lafayette is used as a secondary which is the correct thing to do.

[roadman65]

Someone on FB just mentioned that Grants is not a good choice on WB I-40 in Albuquerque. The user said Gallup or Flagstaff would be used.

[JayhawkCO]

Someone on FB just mentioned that Grants is not a good choice on WB I-40 in Albuquerque. The user said Gallup or Flagstaff would be used.

I agree. Should be Gallup, IMHO.

[kphoger]

Someone on FB just mentioned that Grants is not a good choice on WB I-40 in Albuquerque. The user said Gallup or Flagstaff would be used.

I agree. Should be Gallup, IMHO.

I'd vote for that.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

I would argue for I-675 in Ohio that it would make no sense to use only Columbus rather than Toledo or both Columbus and Toledo, but I-675 does not connect back to I-75 at its north end, so I'll just leave that one alone. Another example I will cut to: at the west end of the Cumberland Parkway, Bowling Green is listed as a control city, with Nashville being nowhere to be seen. In the Elizabethtown area, control cities for southbound are both Bowling Green and Nashville. I don't see why it couldn't list both for southbound if they do this two-layer control city approach in other parts of Kentucky.

[hbelkins]

I would argue for I-675 in Ohio that it would make no sense to use only Columbus rather than Toledo or both Columbus and Toledo, but I-675 does not connect back to I-75 at its north end, so I'll just leave that one alone. Another example I will cut to: at the west end of the Cumberland Parkway, Bowling Green is listed as a control city, with Nashville being nowhere to be seen. In the Elizabethtown area, control cities for southbound are both Bowling Green and Nashville. I don't see why it couldn't list both for southbound if they do this two-layer control city approach in other parts of Kentucky.

At the time it was built, the Cumberland Parkway was intended as a four-lane replacement for KY 80, so it's logical to assume that the majority of traffic would be using the route to get to Bowling Green; whereas with the Bluegrass Parkway, it's a more direct route from Lexington to Nashville vs. I-64 (and I-264 or I-265) to I-65.

[Brandon]

Someone on FB just mentioned that Grants is not a good choice on WB I-40 in Albuquerque. The user said Gallup or Flagstaff would be used.

I agree. Should be Gallup, IMHO.

Agreed, Gallup is probably a better choice.  It's near the state line, bigger than Grants, and connects with US-491.

[roadman65]

I-10 in LA using Slidell is fine as I-59 and I-12 meet there, but Bay St. Louis at the I-12/59 exchange is not a good choice. Gulfport or Mobile would be better and even Pascagoula in AL west of Mobile leftover from a previous gap that has been long filled in on I-10 should be Biloxi or New Orleans.