New US 20 signs at both Boston and Newport OR termini

[usends]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/12/07/road-trip-road-that-begins-boston-goes-all-way-oregon-and-new-sign-will-point-way/IKhh3oeYiF3GyhJRGRI2GJ/story.html
http://www.universalhub.com/2016/its-long-way-tipperary-and-newport-or#comments

Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials on Thursday plan to install a Route 20 highway marker in the heart of the busy square that points traffic to the city of Newport, Oregon.
Little-known fact: Route 20 is the longest continuous road in the country, beginning in Kenmore Square and ending in Newport.

[Inyomono395]

I like these kind of signs and I'm glad they're putting these signs up. Living at the western terminus of US 6 I like that we have a sign for Provincetown, MA 3205 Miles

[Max Rockatansky]

I like these kind of signs and I'm glad they're putting these signs up. Living at the western terminus of US 6 I like that we have a sign for Provincetown, MA 3205 Miles

I have a couple photos of that sign in Bishop.  The other notable one I can think of in California is with I-40 in Barstow.  I'll be grabbing a photo of the US 41 north terminus showing the distance to Miami next year....we need more of these signs for the classic routes.

[Jmiles32]

I love these types of signs too and wish there were more on both Interstates and US Highways. Cross country roads that I know also have them are...

Interstate 40 on both ends - The one in Wilmington might not be there though anymore because it constantly gets stolen and NCDOT was getting tired of replacing it.
Intestate 70(overhead sign just west of I-695) - Not sure if one exists at its western terminus in Cove fort UT.
US-6 - Both ends (Bishop and Provincetown)
US-50- Both ends(Sacramento and Ocean City)
US-20- Both ends soon to be(Newport and Boston)
US-1 and Interstate 10 I feel like but can't remember correct me if I'm wrong.

Any others? I'm sure I'm missing a bunch. In Virginia they could put these up and the eastern termini of I-64 and US-60 and also at the northern terminus of US-17, not exactly cross country but still pretty respectable.

[OracleUsr]

According to Google Maps there isn't a Baltimore distance sign on I-70 near Fort Cove.

US 41 near its northern terminus has a "Miami, FL 1990" sign.

[roadman]

From the MassDOT blog:

http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/massdot-highway/massdot-oregon-signs-mark-route-20-longest-continuous-road-in-u-s/

[nexus73]

Come out to the west end of US 20 and a person can see the new Eddyville alignment a bit east of Newport.  Going through the Coast Range turned out to be a real tuffie!

Rick

[bob7374]

From the MassDOT blog:

http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/massdot-highway/massdot-oregon-signs-mark-route-20-longest-continuous-road-in-u-s/

Interesting that, based on the photo in the blog entry, the sign's location is before the actual start of US 20.

Also, AASHTO would disagree that US 20 is a continuous route in that their log lists an eastern section from Boston ending at the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park and a western section starting at the western entrance to Newport.

[usends]

I thought that mileage figure was suspect, and sure enough, I calculate it's overstated by about 70 miles.
(and it's not because of the implied mileage through Yellowstone); details on this page.

[sparker]

I'm surprised that I-5, being the sole Interstate to serve two border crossings, doesn't have a sign at each end that indicates the 1300+ miles to the other terminus.  Likewise with US 81, 83, and 95 (I'd include 85 but for the discontinuity through NM).

[andy3175]

I'm surprised that I-5, being the sole Interstate to serve two border crossings, doesn't have a sign at each end that indicates the 1300+ miles to the other terminus.  Likewise with US 81, 83, and 95 (I'd include 85 but for the discontinuity through NM).

US 191 almost serves two border crossings depending on how you look at the southern terminus. Last time I visited Douglas, AZ, US 191 was signed to end at AZ 80. However, a Business US 191 emerged a mile or two east of there to proceed toward the Port of Entry and Mexico. My understanding was that US 191 would be extended to a brand new alignment to a new port of entry just west of Douglas at some point in the future, but that is unconstructed as far as I know. Whenever it gets done, it too will be added to the short list of routes to begin and end at border ports of entry.

Back on topic, I agree about US 20's mileage calculations for the two endpoint signs being suspect. Even though AASHTO does not recognize US 20 through Yellowstone National Park, I've seen maps that place US 20's implied route through Yellowstone on the southern half of the Grand Loop Road (as opposed to using Norris-Canyon Road, which appears shorter). Google Maps shows US 20 (and US 14-16) reaching the Grand Loop, even though signage for the US highways is sparse and mostly relegated to trailblazer status. Then Google Maps shows US 20 taking the southern half of the Grand Loop, passing by the northwestern edge of Yellowstone Lake and then onward to Old Faithful before turning west again toward West Yellowstone, Montana.

There have been some relocations of US 20 since the publication of the 1989 US Highway Route Log list. For example, significant portions of US 20 now use four-lane highway rather than the older route through rural towns. Perhaps these also help explain the difference in mileage between then and now. So maybe at some point down the road the signs will be updated to correct mileage.

I also wonder if at some point the signage gap through Yellowstone will be eliminated, not necessarily by adding more highway route markers but instead by placing US 20 and other US routes within the national park on GPS, Google Maps, etc. to a point where someone at the National Park Service decides to recognize the routes in some fashion. When NPS owns and operates a highway, who makes application to AASHTO if there is no sponsoring DOT? I guess NPS does? Or maybe no one does. I guess we'll see if anyone makes a move to change how US Highways are signed or at least designated in national parks (or they'll just leave well enough alone).

[Max Rockatansky]

The whole mess with Yellowstone really needs to be cleaned up.  I can understand terminating routes just dead ending at a National Park but when you have so many through routes like US 20, 191, 89, and 287 there ought be some clarification on where they actually are implied to go.  The weird thing is that some parks like Everglades with US 41, Guadalupe Mountains with US 180/62, and Rocky Mountain with 34 all have implied routes if not outright signage.  I know that I've actually posted a picture of US 180/62 reassurance markers in Guadalupe from January of this year. 

The main difference with Yellowstone with the parks I just described is that Yellowstone was created as National Park before the 20th century while most others have not....maybe that has something to do with it?  In Yosemite CA 120 doesn't technically exist despite being an implied through route.  That really doesn't seem to be the case with more recent additions to the Park System provided they were in the 20th century....at least for the most part. 

There are also some history with US 2 in Glacier, US 10/I-94 in Theodore Roosevelt, US 101 in Redwood, US 129/US 441 in Smoky Mountains, and I-40/US 66 in Petrified Forest.  Things get even more nuts with state highways like UT 9 in Zion, CA 180 for Kings Canyon, OR 62 for Crater Lake, and CA 190 in Death Valley but then you have some like Lassen Volcanic which CA 89 doesn't technically exist as a through route or even a WA 706 at Mount Rainier.  The signage standards for highways in the National Park system is seriously flawed and really doesn't make much sense.  I would really like to see the NPS take it upon themselves to decide as a whole whether US Routes or State Highway exist in their boundaries as through routes or none of them do...might as well be consistent one way or another. 

Maybe that's a good idea for a Fictional Thread...I know one already exists for implied routes through Yellowstone.

[andy3175]

Maybe that's a good idea for a Fictional Thread...I know one already exists for implied routes through Yellowstone.

I am not sure how fictional it is when Google Maps already has decided how it thinks US 14, 16, 20, 89, 191, 212, and 287 all enter, pass through, and/or terminate in Yellowstone National Park. While these routings may not have the blessing of AASHTO and are on roads not maintained by any state DOT (but rather with the National Park Service), the private sector definition of these routes may be based in some official GIS data or might be assumptions made by Google. Hard to say. See: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Norris+Canyon+Rd,+Yellowstone+National+Park,+WY+82190/@44.7379197,-110.6804474,94579m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x534e2742c5267b45:0x71f7b56efa5d8b04!8m2!3d44.7035374!4d-110.5964436

[NE2]

The Goog loves to fill gaps in routes, even when there's no reason to believe they're anything but two separate routes with the same number. The local examples I've noted seem to have been fixed, but I'm sure there are more hiding somewhere. The gap in US 87 south of Banner, WY appears to qualify.

[paulthemapguy]

It... marks almost a year since somebody filed a formal complaint over the lack of any signage noting the end of the transcontinental federal route.

That sentence almost looks like a formal challenge to people like those on this forum