Changing Control Cities

[OCGuy81]

Driving back north from San Diego the other day, I noticed that large signs along the 5 have changing control cities.  Through San Diego County, the control city for the north 5 is signed as Los Angeles.  Upon entering Orange County, there are signs for both Los Angeles on some, and Santa Ana on other signs as the control city.  By the time you reach the Orange Crush, it's pretty much all Los Angeles, but it's interesting that there are changes along the route.  You think it'd be signed as one control city from SD to LA.

[jwolfer]

I-95 South of Jacksonville used to have Jacksonville and Miami.  Now the new signs  have Daytona Beach as the control city ( i guess because of the Junction with I-4.)  And South of Daytona the SB control is West Palm Beach on new signs.

[1995hoo]

I seem to recall that signs on I-70 eastbound in Maryland alternate between Baltimore and Washington as the control city (I-270 splits off at Frederick to go south to the DC Beltway while I-70 continues east to the Baltimore area). I haven't been on there since January and I wasn't particularly paying attention to the signs at the time.

[InterstateNG]

EB SR 71 in Texas between Austin and the airport alternates control cities between Bastrop and the airport.

[Ian]

Not sure if this counts as there is a state line involved, but I-95 northbound's control city in Maryland is New York, but once you enter Delaware, it changes to Wilmington and on some signs, Philadelphia.

[Central Avenue]

ODOT used to sign I-70 westbound's control city west of Columbus as Indianapolis. A decade ago they switched it to Dayton instead (and patched/replaced many signs accordingly), but there are still a handful of "Indianapolis" signs in use.

[OCGuy81]

Not sure if this counts as there is a state line involved, but I-95 northbound's control city in Maryland is New York, but once you enter Delaware, it changes to Wilmington and on some signs, Philadelphia.

Sure it counts! Sounds similar to the 5 changing from Santa Ana back to Los Angeles as you get further into Orange County that I originally posted.

Another interesting control city this thread has reminded me of was Houston.  The control city "Downtown".  I suppose that makes sense given the very wide area Houston covers.

[TheStranger]

While Interstate 80 from about North Highlands west to the Bay Bridge has "San Francisco" as its primary westbound control city, there are times in the East Bay when Oakland takes precedence - particularly at onramps in Contra Costa County.

[codyg1985]

I-65 north in Alabama used to consistently use Nashville as a control city, but since I-565 has been completed, newer signs say Huntsville, but there are some signs that remain that still use Nashville, especially in Morgan County. A similar thing occurs along I-65 south in Tennessee. The control city is Huntsville, but all mileage signs list Birmingham in lieu of Huntsville.

Future I-22 west in Alabama uses several control cities. It uses Jasper (and sometimes Memphis) between Birmingham and Jasper, then it switches to Tupelo around Jasper, then east of Carbon Hill the control city is Hamilton, then north of Winfield it revers to Tupelo. Annoys the heck out of me. They should use either Memphis or Tupelo.

[bassoon1986]

I-20 in east Texas flip flops too. In Dallas, it used to be signed Shreveport and Tyler, but 20 doesn't go directly thru Tyler so I think that's why it was removed. Shreveport really is the next big city that has more than about 3 exits on the interstate. However on many of the destination signs from exits merging on, the signs show Longview rather than Shreveport.

[jwolfer]

Not sure if this counts as there is a state line involved, but I-95 northbound's control city in Maryland is New York, but once you enter Delaware, it changes to Wilmington and on some signs, Philadelphia.

Sure it counts! Sounds similar to the 5 changing from Santa Ana back to Los Angeles as you get further into Orange County that I originally posted.

Jacksonville used downtown as a control city inside the Beltway(295/9A) --- no one calls it the Beltway yet-- It seems the newer installations ON I-95  use Daytona Beach/Savannah  once you are inside of 295

Another interesting control city this thread has reminded me of was Houston.  The control city "Downtown".  I suppose that makes sense given the very wide area Houston covers.

[huskeroadgeek]

I-65 north in Alabama used to consistently use Nashville as a control city, but since I-565 has been completed, newer signs say Huntsville, but there are some signs that remain that still use Nashville, especially in Morgan County. A similar thing occurs along I-65 south in Tennessee. The control city is Huntsville, but all mileage signs list Birmingham in lieu of Huntsville.

I never understood that one. Huntsville is far enough off of I-65 that it seems strange to use it for a control city. I remember when all of the signs for I-65 South in Nashville said Birmingham, but sometime around the late 90s they changed them to Huntsville.

One place I know of where the control cities change in a short distance for no apparent reason is on I-44 in Springfield, MO. Eastbound, the pull through signage at the Glenstone Ave. exit(Exit 80) says "I-44 East Rolla". Yet just 2 miles further down the road at US 65, the pull through signage says "I-44 East St. Louis". A similar change occurs westbound. At US 65, the pull through signage for I-44 West says "I-44 West Tulsa". Yet at the Glenstone Ave. exit the pull-through signs say "I-44 West Joplin". They changed the westbound sign for I-44 on US 65 too when they added the flyover ramp to westbound I-44 a few years ago. The sign for I-44 East on US 65 still says St. Louis, but they changed the westbound sign from Tulsa to Joplin.

[Brandon]

I-80 in Illinois does some flip-flopping from Iowa (newer) to Des Moines (older) and from Indiana (newer) to Toledo (older).

[Scott5114]

One place I know of where the control cities change in a short distance for no apparent reason is on I-44 in Springfield, MO. Eastbound, the pull through signage at the Glenstone Ave. exit(Exit 80) says "I-44 East Rolla". Yet just 2 miles further down the road at US 65, the pull through signage says "I-44 East St. Louis". A similar change occurs westbound. At US 65, the pull through signage for I-44 West says "I-44 West Tulsa". Yet at the Glenstone Ave. exit the pull-through signs say "I-44 West Joplin". They changed the westbound sign for I-44 on US 65 too when they added the flyover ramp to westbound I-44 a few years ago. The sign for I-44 East on US 65 still says St. Louis, but they changed the westbound sign from Tulsa to Joplin.

The reason for this might be because US 65 is where Branson traffic feeds into the Interstate system, so they think longer distance control cities would be more useful for out of towners?

[huskeroadgeek]

One place I know of where the control cities change in a short distance for no apparent reason is on I-44 in Springfield, MO. Eastbound, the pull through signage at the Glenstone Ave. exit(Exit 80) says "I-44 East Rolla". Yet just 2 miles further down the road at US 65, the pull through signage says "I-44 East St. Louis". A similar change occurs westbound. At US 65, the pull through signage for I-44 West says "I-44 West Tulsa". Yet at the Glenstone Ave. exit the pull-through signs say "I-44 West Joplin". They changed the westbound sign for I-44 on US 65 too when they added the flyover ramp to westbound I-44 a few years ago. The sign for I-44 East on US 65 still says St. Louis, but they changed the westbound sign from Tulsa to Joplin.

The reason for this might be because US 65 is where Branson traffic feeds into the Interstate system, so they think longer distance control cities would be more useful for out of towners?

You're right-I hadn't thought about that aspect of it. But then again, I wonder why they changed the westbound sign from Tulsa to Joplin when they built the flyover ramp.

[roadman65]

I-95 between Rocky Mount, NC and Fayetteville, NC has many control cities along there.
NB you have Dunn, Benson, Smithfield, Wilson, Rocky Mount, and Richmond (Virginia) are used in different places.
SB uses Wilson, Smithfield, Benson, Dunn, and finally Fayetteville south of Dunn where it stays exclusive until the I-95 Business into Fayetteville.

I-40 near Asheville, NC uses Hickory on I-26 and further east uses Statesville on I-240 (east end) and Black Mountain from the Tunnel Road connector on the far east end of Asheville.

Newark and New York are both used at different places for I-78 Eastbound throughout New Jersey. At Exit 3 in Still Valley, NJ the ramp to EB I-78 from US 22 and NJ 173 uses New York, but the pull through on I-78 EB at Exit 3 uses Newark.  Interestingly, the two different signs were erected by the same contractor during the same project.  Then again, New Jersey was never to sign control cities at interstate on ramps originally, so this is something at least.

I-10 between Tallahassee, FL and Lake City, FL uses either Lake City or Jacksonville as an EB control point for I-10.

On US 441 at both ends of Lake City, FL it uses Live Oak as control city for WB I-10 and Alachua for SB I-75 where both are the sequential next cities along the respected routes where pull through and official FHWA uses Tallahassee for I-10 and Tampa for I-75.

[empirestate]

On US 13 south through the Delmarva, control cities seem to alternate between Norfolk, Hampton, and every other city in the Hampton Roads region (Portsmouth, Newport News, think I even saw Chesapeake on there...), in addition to usually listing the CBBT.

[jgb191]

Victoria, Texas:  On US 77 southbound, the original control city correctly indicated Brownsville as the control city at the junction with US 59 back in the 1980's.  Sometime during the 1990's, the control city was changed to Corpus Christi, even though US 77 passes just 14 miles west of the city.  The original mileage sign on SB US 77 still standing today in Victoria still indicates Brownsville being 229 miles away.

[tdindy88]

Elsewhere in Indiana, I can think of US 41 where control cities change throughout, alhtough I'm not sure of the reasons. South of I-70, Evansville is the prodominate control city, although mileage signs don't mention it until after Vincennes. Likewise, in Evansville, Vincennes is the control city and Terre Haute doesn't get mentioned on a BGS until Vincennes. Although in Princeton the exit at SR 64 has Terre Haute and Evansville while another one as Vincennes and Evansville. North of Terre Haute on SR 63, which serves as the default highway for 41 through traffic, Chicago and Evansville are the main control cities and even from as far north as Kentland back on US 41, Evansville makes an apperance on distance signs, while Chicago makes its first apperance north of I-64. And, once you get north of Kentland, the only control city you'll see going south is Terre Haute and going north is Hammond, not Chicago. Except for the 4-lane section of SR 63 which keeps Chicago and Evansville as the main control cities there seems to be little consistancy on other parts of the route.

Now that I think of it, US 30 is another example. The mileage signs usually just mention the next major town from Fort Wayne out toward Warsaw, after that Valparaiso gets its first mention.Going east, Fort Wayne at least gets mention from as far west as Lake County. But unlike Ohio, Chicago never gets mentioned, even though a lot of the traffic going west on 30 are heading there. On the BGSs, you'll get Fort Wayne, Columbia City, Warsaw, Plymouth, and Valpo all on various signs. US 31 at least seems to keep South Bend and Indianapolis on their signs for now, although with new bypasses being built along that route that may change, I have seen some sign diagrams that indicate that Kokomo will be the control city down in Hamilton County.

[jdb1234]

I-65 north in Alabama used to consistently use Nashville as a control city, but since I-565 has been completed, newer signs say Huntsville, but there are some signs that remain that still use Nashville

Like this example:

[roadman65]

In New Jersey on NJ 17, Newark is used as primary control city for that route going southbound all the way from the NY State Line (Except on I-287 where Mahwah is used for NJ 17 where the two routes split).  The thing is that NJ 17 does not go there, you have to use two other roads, or simply use the local streets after NJ 17 ends.  NJ 17 becomes Kearney Avenue and then 4th Street to then become Jackson Street in Newark after many lights.  Northbound is different however!

Rutherford is used on NJ 3 for NJ 17 NB.  Then Paramus is used on US 46, Rochelle Park and Paramus are both used on I-80 WB and then either Suffern or Mahwah are used north of I-80.  At one time, only Suffern was used as a primary NB control city until the 80's included that as well.  North of Ramsey, the NY Thruway (denoted  "Thruway") is used at all ramps there and still is now cause Mahwah is reached at that point.

On I-295 in South Jersey going NB, Trenton or Camden is used on ramp and pull through signs, yet Ewing is used as the primary control city on mileage signs with no mention of Camden or Trenton at all.  Some even use Yardley, PA as a control point north of Burlington.  I-295 does not go there, but continuing I-95 SB does, and at one time I-295 was slated to go into PA, but now I-195 will go there once the PA Turnpike and I-95 interchange is completed.  Going SB the Delaware Memorial Bridge is used on ramp and pull through signs, but Pennsville is used on mileage signs there.

NJ 23 in North Jersey uses  for NB Butler, Hamburg, and Sussex alternatively while SB uses Butler and Newark mostly from the NY border to   Butler with some using Paterson and New York where NJ 23 strattles the West Milford- Kinnelon boundary. South of Butler it changes to Riverdale- Wayne for I-287 and Little Falls and Newark at other places.  Originally Little Falls was not used and Singac was used instead, but was changed in the mid 80's.  South of US 46 Verona is used where Newark is now dropped, even though CR 506 and CR 506 SPUR are the way into Newark from NJ 23 from its end.  However, Verona is used as control city on mileage signs from I-84 and only Butler makes it on those signs from the guide signs elsewhere.

I-78 Westbound in Central Jersey uses Clinton, Phillipsburg, and Easton at various places across the state.

[bigboi00069]

In Miami-Dade county Florida, the I-95 north control keeps chaging between West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.

[Revive 755]

One place I know of where the control cities change in a short distance for no apparent reason is on I-44 in Springfield, MO. Eastbound, the pull through signage at the Glenstone Ave. exit(Exit 80) says "I-44 East Rolla". Yet just 2 miles further down the road at US 65, the pull through signage says "I-44 East St. Louis". A similar change occurs westbound. At US 65, the pull through signage for I-44 West says "I-44 West Tulsa". Yet at the Glenstone Ave. exit the pull-through signs say "I-44 West Joplin". They changed the westbound sign for I-44 on US 65 too when they added the flyover ramp to westbound I-44 a few years ago. The sign for I-44 East on US 65 still says St. Louis, but they changed the westbound sign from Tulsa to Joplin.

The reason for this might be because US 65 is where Branson traffic feeds into the Interstate system, so they think longer distance control cities would be more useful for out of towners?

Almost sounds like a MoDOT error involving mixing primary and secondary control cities - with primary for I-44 at Springfield being St. Louis and Tulsa, secondary being Joplin and either Rolla or Lebanon (I think the latter pops up now on signs for entrances).

[Michael in Philly]

Drove 76 and 80 from Philadelphia to the far side of Cleveland yesterday (en route to Chicago and southern Wisconsin).  As I passed the bump near Youngstown, I looked back at eastbound signage.  Unless I missed it, New York doesn't appear for 80 east.  I thought it did.

Also, slightly off topic perhaps:  the control cities for I-71 on the Turnpike westbound are Cleveland and Strongsville.  Given Ohio's control-city habits (which I approve highly of), I would have expected Cleveland and Columbus.  Looked back again at the eastbound side and it is Cleveland and Columbus eastbound.  Why doesn't Columbus rate a mention westbound - are they assuming everyone would have used 76 or something?

[2Co5_14]

The biggest changes seem to happen when you go from a state that uses larger control cities to a state with smaller control cities that change more often (or vice-versa.)

On I-5 in California north of Redding, the control city is Portland.  Once you cross the Oregon state line, it changes to Ashland, and doesn't revert back to Portland until you get to Salem (250 miles and 7 control cities later!)

On I-95 in Maine south of Kittery, the control "points" are New Hampshire & Massachusetts.  Just over the ME/NH state line, the control cities change to Hampton & Boston.

Another curious but slightly different situation is where a control city appears in only one direction of a highway that passes through it.  It seems like this is done to differentiate the major destinations within a metropolitan area versus more distant destinations with statewide (or inter-state) significance.

For example, on US-101 heading south from San Francisco, the control city is San Jose, but San Jose never appears as a control city in the northbound direction. SF remains the northbound control city all the way from Ventura north.  Similarly, Ventura is the control city on US-101 northbound from Los Angeles, but Ventura never appears in the southbound direction.  LA is the control city all the way south from San Jose.