For Steve Alps

[ctsignguy]

Hey Steve.....on your US 44 Page, you had wondered about some old modified BGS signs....



Think i have the answer for you....found one of these signs in a local maintenance yard....

Before:


After the I-84 was unbolted off:


But upon inspection there seemed to be a hint of something else underneath......so upon careful removal....


Unfortunately, it was straight stickied on the sign, otherwise i might have tried to remove it.

But you can confirm your thought that somewhere the spirit of I-86 was there

[Pete from Boston]

Wow, not only superb memory and superb luck, but an 86 in the flesh!  Incredible! 

[TheKnightoftheInterstate]

Forgive me, but exactly is the big deal about I-86?

[froggie]

Forgive me, but exactly is the big deal about I-86?

http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/i86.html

In short, what is now I-84 east of East Hartford was numbered I-86 from (official FHWA dates) June 1971 to December 1984.

[Pete from Boston]

This I-86 designation hasn't existed since  1984.  There is not much evidence of it left, including just photos. 

[ctsignguy]

i am sitting on a pair of I-86 shields....both 24x24 wood  (I know of two others in other collections...sized in the 21x18 'cute shield'....)





.....other than a few surviving signs, a few photos and some old maps from that time-frame, sadly I-86 in Connecticut and Massachusetts is quickly receding deep into the realm of 'beyond immediate recall'...

[NE2]

.....other than a few surviving signs, a few photos and some old maps from that time-frame, sadly I-86 in Connecticut and Massachusetts is quickly receding deep into the realm of 'beyond immediate recall'...

Don't forget the collateral: NH 286.

[Mergingtraffic]

Unfortunately, it was straight stickied on the sign, otherwise i might have tried to remove it.

But you can confirm your thought that somewhere the spirit of I-86 was there

WOW, can you send me a copy of that pic? I'd love to have it in my collection!
Just to look at.

Wasn't there also an old I-86 shield being reused on the back of another I-84 shield at one of the rest areas?

What did the guys there at the sign shop think when they found it? Were they excited or couldn't care less?

[ctsignguy]

Unfortunately, it was straight stickied on the sign, otherwise i might have tried to remove it.

But you can confirm your thought that somewhere the spirit of I-86 was there

WOW, can you send me a copy of that pic? I'd love to have it in my collection!
Just to look at

Wasn't there also an old I-86 shield being reused on the back of another I-84 shield at one of the rest areas?

What did the guys there at the sign shop think when they found it? Were they excited or couldn't care less?

You can copy the image I am sure....if you can't, message me and I'll email you the piccy....

Yes there was (I think Ian got that picture a few years ago), but my travels never took me that way to see if it was still there....

As for the head of the depot, let's say he was very surprised and admitted he had all but forgotten I-86 even existed in Connecticut (afterall, it was abolished 30 years ago!...it may have been abolished prior to his starting work with the department.)

In a way I wish I had either a vehicle big enough to haul it, or the ability to cut the 86 out.......but I guess it will go down as a terrific find.....

[Pete from Boston]

Unfortunately, it was straight stickied on the sign, otherwise i might have tried to remove it.

But you can confirm your thought that somewhere the spirit of I-86 was there

WOW, can you send me a copy of that pic? I'd love to have it in my collection!
Just to look at

Wasn't there also an old I-86 shield being reused on the back of another I-84 shield at one of the rest areas?

What did the guys there at the sign shop think when they found it? Were they excited or couldn't care less?

You can copy the image I am sure....if you can't, message me and I'll email you the piccy....

Yes there was (I think Ian got that picture a few years ago), but my travels never took me that way to see if it was still there....

As for the head of the depot, let's say he was very surprised and admitted he had all but forgotten I-86 even existed in Connecticut (afterall, it was abolished 30 years ago!...it may have been abolished prior to his starting work with the department.)

In a way I wish I had either a vehicle big enough to haul it, or the ability to cut the 86 out.......but I guess it will go down as a terrific find.....

Let's say someone had such a vehicle, someone who might have a visibly demonstrated interest in that particular road...

[amroad17]

That is an incredible find and an incredible bit of luck.  Excellent job, sir!

[1995hoo]

I find it amusing they used a state-named I-84 but a neutered I-86. Given the evolution of signage I would normally have expected the reverse.

Outstanding find either way.

[Billy F 1988]

That's interesting that CT 74 covered US 44. So there could be a plausible explaination that US 44 duplexed with I-86 before the duplex was reassigned as CT 74 and I-84. It's funny how they bolted two 84's over the top of the 86 and just one CT 74 shield over US 44.

[Alps]

But upon inspection there seemed to be a hint of something else underneath......so upon careful removal....


Unfortunately, it was straight stickied on the sign, otherwise i might have tried to remove it.

But you can confirm your thought that somewhere the spirit of I-86 was there

I WANT THIS SIGN I WILL PAY MONEY

[Alps]

In unrelated news, how do you want me to credit you for the photo? (And may I use it on my site for explanation?)

[ctsignguy]

In unrelated news, how do you want me to credit you for the photo? (And may I use it on my site for explanation?)

Yes, and absolutely please use them on your site!

[akotchi]

I find it amusing they used a state-named I-84 but a neutered I-86. Given the evolution of signage I would normally have expected the reverse.

Outstanding find either way.

I did not find a requirement one way or the other, but I think I-shields on guide signs normally do not carry the state name (let's leave New Jersey out of this), so the I-86 would be neutered.  The overlay is an independent shield, so it would be more likely (then) to have the state name.

That's the logic that makes sense to me, anyway.  If anyone has more definitive evidence of the standard of the time, feel free to chime in.

[Alps]

In unrelated news, how do you want me to credit you for the photo? (And may I use it on my site for explanation?)

Yes, and absolutely please use them on your site!

How do you want me to credit you? (Name, pseudonym, first only, first/last,...)

[Alps]

I find it amusing they used a state-named I-84 but a neutered I-86. Given the evolution of signage I would normally have expected the reverse.

Outstanding find either way.

I did not find a requirement one way or the other, but I think I-shields on guide signs normally do not carry the state name (let's leave New Jersey out of this), so the I-86 would be neutered.  The overlay is an independent shield, so it would be more likely (then) to have the state name.

That's the logic that makes sense to me, anyway.  If anyone has more definitive evidence of the standard of the time, feel free to chime in.

Each state goes its own way on that. I've seen state-name shields on guide signs here in Washington, but not standalone. Connecticut you can certainly find both, just depends on the age of the sign.

[D-Dey65]

Any chance we can revive this thread? Because I tried to send this to you way back in 2010 in an e-mail and I got a mailer daemon.

Regarding your page on Montauk Highway:
http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/cr_80/


The Michael Summa photo at this link;
http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/cr_80/98e.jpg

is at the west end of Frowein Road, not the east.

Note the right-turn ramp onto Moriches-Middle Island Road, the fact that this section is one-way, the embankment off to the left for the eastbound Montauk Highway, and the fact that westbound Montauk Highway off in the distance goes to the upper-right-hand corner of the picture. This couldn't possibly be the east end.

Sadly, this at-grade interchange was eliminated in the early-21st Century.