Control "cities" that aren't cities

[Coelacanth]

So Steelers-Browns is definitely the oldest rivalry in the AFC, since they've been butting heads since the '40s.  The old AFL teams didn't start until the '60s.

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[deathtopumpkins]

Coelacanth: Typically purple text means that a moderator has spoken, and discussion should end. 

Reviving the topic with another example, "Naval Base" is the control city on I-64 West then I-564 West in Norfolk, Va., in addition to being the control point for I-564's split from I-64. Plus I've also seen signs listing the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels (or just Tunnel, or even Tunnel to Norfolk/Portsmouth) as control points.

[Kacie Jane]

So now, if you're looking for I-95 South/George Washington Bridge/New Jersey, the sign may say I-95 South/Newark or Trenton. Technically correct, but not very logical in some cases, depending which direction you're coming from. And I think most drivers knew to look for the George Washington Bridge.

(Bolding added by me...)

You might need to step back and consider the viewpoint of someone not familiar with NYC. If I was from, say, Atlanta and headed home from a vacation in, say, Maine, I doubt "George Washington Bridge" would be a very useful control point. You're more likely to find "I-95 south" or the next major city after New York helpful. If you're from out of town, you won't be familiar with which bridges go where. "New Jersey" is marginally more useful but a state is a pretty big place. A road with a control city of "New Jersey" could just as easily be bound for Trenton as it is for Atlantic City.

Two points... First, I don't think it's "technically correct" to sign I-95 south as bound for Trenton, given the gap.  IMHO, if we're looking for specifically a New Jersey control city, there's Newark of course, but that may be too close to NYC, but New Brunswick works and is IMHO more significant than Trenton.

Also, while it's true that a state is "a pretty big place", I think the geography of the area makes it such that it works fine as a control city.  That is, no matter where in (or beyond) New Jersey you're going, if you're in the Bronx, I-95 is the way to go.  Whether you're going to Trenton or Atlantic City, you're going to end up on the Turnpike at least as far as Exit 11, and as I mentioned above the Turnpike isn't really bound for either.

[Interstate Trav]

In California

I-8 westbound in San Diego "Beaches"

I-405 Southbound In some spots "LAX Airport"

[hobsini2]

I know near the end of I-55 in Chicago, Lake Shore Drive is used as the control city.

[MDOTFanFB]

In Detroit, MI: I-96 is "Bridge to Canada" once you're too far east for "Detroit" to work, the same "control city" appears on I-96 interchange signs on I-94 and I-75. and in the suburb of Taylor, on U.S. 24 (Telegraph Road) at Ecorse Road NB, it's "THRU TRAFFIC".

[DTComposer]

More California:

CA-217: Airport/UCSB
US-101 north out of downtown L.A.: Hollywood (although as signs are being replaced they're now using Ventura)
CA-241: South County (as in Orange)

Somewhere upthread someone mentioned California rarely uses "Downtown" even when they're already within said city, CA-163 in San Diego being an exception. I-280 does use "Downtown San Jose" between I-880 and US-101, and I believe CA-87 does as well. That's the only other one I can think of.

[TheStranger]

Somewhere upthread someone mentioned California rarely uses "Downtown" even when they're already within said city, CA-163 in San Diego being an exception. I-280 does use "Downtown San Jose" between I-880 and US-101, and I believe CA-87 does as well. That's the only other one I can think of.

One other exception that stands out to me is I-280 in SF, signed for downtown from US 101 north.

An awkward example though of the traditional practice is on US 50 east in West Sacramento (in another county, and on the other side of the Sacramento River) - the exit for (former) Route 275 east is "Downtown Sacramento", while US 50/Business 80 east is signed for "Sacramento/South Lake Tahoe."

[v35322]

Southbound Interstate 25 approaching Colorado Springs has several distance signs listing the distance to specific exits in the Springs. There's a few northbound near Denver too.

Also, on the north end there's a "North Entrance-U.S. Air Force Academy" control.

[Dr Frankenstein]

The sign on I-87 NB says "New England" for I-84 EB.

[ftballfan]

Mackinac Bridge is used on US 127 as well as I-75, despite US 127 ending south of Grayling, nearly 90 miles south of the bridge.

[roadman65]

Downtown Orlando on I-4 in Florida uses the name "Bob Carr" for the exit to US 17 & 92, and FL 50.  Bob Carr is actually the performing arts center in Orlando once part of Centoplex that was the previous control city until the new Amway Center opened last Fall.  There were originally three venues in Centroplex, then two when the Orlando Expo Center closed, and now one with the old Amway Arena sitting idle.

How about Bear Mountain for the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New York and US 6 from NY 17 in Harriman!

NYC uses waterway crossings on its highways.

Shore Points in New Jersey for US 9 in many places as well as the Southbound Exit on I-95 to the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge, NJ.

[SignBridge]

Interesting that you mentioned "Shore Points" re: the G.S. Parkway exit on the N.J. Turnpike. I've always wondered what city they could use to be technically correct.  Maybe "Atlantic City", a popular destination. Or "Cape May", the southern terminus of the Parkway.

[roadman65]

Shore points is only used here!  The Garden State Parkway does not like to use control cities at all for their signs!  Even mileage signs for cities and even the Gas Food Lodging signs.  Try finding a motel along the 173 plus miles when you arrive in South Jersey off the last ferry from Lewes Delaware at night!

[SignBridge]

That's true. Most entrances to the G.S. Parkway are just signed North or South with no destination. Not MUTCD compliant.

[roadman65]

Wow, I did not know that!  I figured something was odd with the NJ Highway Authority and the way they sign the road.  I though it was me!

[roadfro]

Here's one I don't think has been mentioned: On I-15 in Las Vegas, approaching the Las Vegas Beltway, I-215 east is signed appropriately for Henderson, but Clark Co. 215 west is signed "215 West".

NDOT and CCPW could not find any suitable control city to use in this direction. "Las Vegas" seemed redundant at that point, "North Las Vegas, Reno or Salt Lake City would be inappropriate due to other routes being more direct. The area can be most identified with "Summerlin", but NDOT wouldn't use it since it's a corporate name (master planned community) and not an actual place name. However, "Spring Valley", the unincorporated township that encompasses much of this area, is not very well known to most people to be useful for navigation.

There really was nothing else that could be put there that would make sense. Interesting to note that no other signs for I-215 or CC 215 in the Vegas area have control cities on them.

[Brandon]

Here's one I don't think has been mentioned: On I-15 in Las Vegas, approaching the Las Vegas Beltway, I-215 east is signed appropriately for Henderson, but Clark Co. 215 west is signed "215 West".

NDOT and CCPW could not find any suitable control city to use in this direction. "Las Vegas" seemed redundant at that point, "North Las Vegas, Reno or Salt Lake City would be inappropriate due to other routes being more direct. The area can be most identified with "Summerlin", but NDOT wouldn't use it since it's a corporate name (master planned community) and not an actual place name. However, "Spring Valley", the unincorporated township that encompasses much of this area, is not very well known to most people to be useful for navigation.

There really was nothing else that could be put there that would make sense. Interesting to note that no other signs for I-215 or CC 215 in the Vegas area have control cities on them.

They could take a hint from IDOT and ISTHA and use "West Suburbs". 

[Interstate Trav]

What about "West Las Vegas"  or "West Las Vegas Valley"

[D-Dey65]

There's Eastern LI for various exits onto I-495 (particularly in Nassau and NYC) and I believe there's a control area of "South Shore" for the exit off of I-495 for the southbound Sagtikos Pkwy.

Those date back to when NYSDOT was still hoping to bring the Long Island Expressway past Riverhead.

[roadfro]

Here's one I don't think has been mentioned: On I-15 in Las Vegas, approaching the Las Vegas Beltway, I-215 east is signed appropriately for Henderson, but Clark Co. 215 west is signed "215 West".

NDOT and CCPW could not find any suitable control city to use in this direction. "Las Vegas" seemed redundant at that point, "North Las Vegas, Reno or Salt Lake City would be inappropriate due to other routes being more direct. The area can be most identified with "Summerlin", but NDOT wouldn't use it since it's a corporate name (master planned community) and not an actual place name. However, "Spring Valley", the unincorporated township that encompasses much of this area, is not very well known to most people to be useful for navigation.

There really was nothing else that could be put there that would make sense. Interesting to note that no other signs for I-215 or CC 215 in the Vegas area have control cities on them.

They could take a hint from IDOT and ISTHA and use "West Suburbs". 

What about "West Las Vegas"  or "West Las Vegas Valley"

Most people don't consider any part of Vegas as "suburbs", no matter how far out from the downtown core you are. The three cities and the unincorporated townships flow so seamlessly together nowadays...the only real suburb is Boulder City.

"West Las Vegas" is a term associated with a historically African American neighborhood just northwest of downtown (which, when first established, was on the more western outskirts)

[cjk374]

I can't believe I forgot this one:  on I-20 here in Louisiana, the control point for exit 78 is "Industry".  There is a glass plant, machine shop, particle board plant, and 2 closed down Weyerhaeuser plants (LVL/I-joist mill and a lam-beam plant). 

Nov. 30, 1996, a tornado hit us here in Simsboro.  It went over the school, ripped the bricks off of the glass plant (not breaking a single mason jar  ) and went over I-20, turning over an 18-wheeler and an RV, and destroying the BGS at the exit ramp.  The local fish wrap (The Ruston Daily Disappointment  ) refered to this area as the "community of Industry".  I don't know why, but it was fingernails on a chalkboard to me.  I wanted to find the writer of the story and just   

[roadman65]

Here is one place that is definetely not one, as I brought it up months ago, but now have the picture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/5975568620/in/photostream

A former mayor of Orlando is Bob Carr now with a Performing Arts Center in his memory that is pending upgrading to a new facility.

[1995hoo]

I-395 in DC has some pull-through signs that list Capitol Hill, Verizon Center, and Nationals Park as control cities. One of them right as you come off the 14th Street Bridge has Capitol Hill on the upper line and then "Nationals Park-Verizon Center" on the bottom line in very ugly thin type that was pretty clearly squeezed in as best they could; the next sign omits Verizon Center because an adjacent exit sign uses it as the control destination. The logic behind putting Nationals Park and Verizon Center on a BGS is obvious, especially since signing DC as the control city makes no sense when you're already there and when I-395 doesn't directly connect to any road that takes you directly to anywhere more prominent, but the sign assembly that puts both sports venues on the same line is really hideous.

Here's the first one; I think this whole assembly is ugly in just about every way.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.878038,-77.037495&spn=0.006373,0.016512&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.87816,-77.037383&panoid=KUCPri4WRtg_WCTMtNJc7A&cbp=12,43.36,,0,-0.7


There is a sign on I-295 in DC that lists destinations of "Washington Navy-Yard" and "Downtown"; yes, for some reason there is an erroneous hyphen in "Navy Yard" on the sign. See below; the shield is particularly ugly in terms of how it was installed.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.866127,-76.99149&spn=0.006416,0.016512&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.866292,-76.99134&panoid=ekyRsVAQbhTmpYBJXv51ig&cbp=12,9.48,,0,9.12


I have to give DC some credit, though, because they've made a real effort to improve their signs in the past several years. They haven't always succeeded in posting good signs, but at least the new signs they've posted do reflect some level of thought.

[SignBridge]

A previous poster pointed out that it doesn't make sense to show the destination as the city you're already in. Well..............that doesn't stop Caltrans from listing Los Angeles as the destination when you're already in that city. Check out the interchange of the 405 and the 101 freeways. If they would change it to "Downtown L.A." it would make sense.............