US/state highway splits off interstate - not signed on BGS in other direction

[KCRoadFan]

Let me tell you a little about a road I've driven a bunch before. I'm very familiar with the stretch of I-70 east of St. Louis, through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; we've gone that way a lot on trips out East.

Anyway, for most of its route through those three states, I-70 closely parallels US 40; however, there are a couple brief stretches where US 40 runs along the interstate itself. One of those is in Illinois between Exit 30 at Highland, where US 40 merges onto I-70 going eastbound, and Exit 36 at Pocahontas, where it splits off again. What I noticed is that at both exits, the signs only mention US 40 when approaching them from the brief multiplexed section - namely, westbound at Exit 30 and eastbound at Exit 36. At Exit 30, the westbound sign says "US 40/IL 143 - Highland, Pierron" whereas eastbound, it just reads "IL 143 - Pierron". (To make things even weirder, IL 143 doesn't even actually intersect I-70!) At Exit 36, the converse is true - the eastbound signage indicates "US 40 EAST - Pocahontas", while westbound is simply "Pocahontas".

I suppose this makes some sense - from the perspective of the long-distance traveler, signing a road that splits off the interstate at a given exit may cause some confusion if the driver is approaching the exit where said route merges onto the freeway going forward. However, I can still see it being useful to include the road on the sign regardless of direction of approach, even if just to serve as a navigational aid - especially for local residents who may be new to the area, as well as for travelers visiting people who may live off such an exit.

From your travel experience, how do different states treat interstate exits where a US highway or state highway - running concurrently with an interstate and having the same directional polarity - splits off the interstate? Which states sign the splitting-off highway on the interstate BGS in both directions, and which of them leave it off the sign approaching in the "wrong" direction? I'd be interested to find out more.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Minnesota doesn't do that, though we turned back most cases where that would be possible anyway.

Not what you described, but MN 56 southbound is omitted from US 52 northbound at the MN 50/MN 56 exit in Hampton, MN. That's the only example I can think of where a redundant route is excised here.

[ztonyg]

Arizona leaves it off in the wrong direction at the I-10 / I-17 stack interchange.

No US 60 signage exists for the I-10 East to US 60 East connection or the I-10 West to US 60 West connection. Although I guess US 60 doesn't split off of I-10 here, it just isn't signed.

[TheStranger]

The barely-signed concurrency of 5/99 and 50/99 in downtown Sacramento has some variations of this, even if we were to just assume that the entire US 50 stretch was only "To Route 99" at best:

- westbound on 50, I-5 north has been signed as "I-5 TO 99" for quite a long time, while eastbound, the signs that pointed to 99/5 northbound were replaced with just 5 northbound in the early 2000s.
- In comparison, for a long time, 50 west going into the Oak Park Interchange (with Business 80 and 99) was actually signed on two mainline gantry installations as "99 NORTH TO I-5/I-80" with no mention of 50!!  This was changed however ca. 2016 when Business 80 was cut back to just the Oak Park-North Highlands section of road (former US 99E).

[Avalanchez71]

US 31 is concurrent with I-65 near the TN/AL state line down to Athens, AL.  No signage exists anywhere indicating that US 31 is concurrent.

[kphoger]

If I'm understanding the OP correctly, this is very similar to some states' practice of only signing business loops from the approaching direction but not from the departing direction.

[zzcarp]

Colorado is notoriously unreliable in posting overlaps and splits from interstates. I'm going to highlight the three exits in Limon and the signage that all meet the criteria for this post.

Exit 359 is the westerly entrance to Limon and is where eastbound US 40 and southbound US 287 leave I-70 along with I-70 BL. The eastbound signage is just a mess. Both primary BGSs show I-70 BL and "TO" US 24 and CO 71 while omitting US 40-287. You have to turn right off the exit ramp and go to the next intersection to see the US 40-287 signage. The westbound BGS is only signed "Limon". There is one auxiliary BGS for US 24 to Colorado Springs as well.

Exit 362 has I-70 crossing US 24-40-287 and I-70 BL. The eastbound BGS is labeled as "TO" CO 71. The westbound BGS is only labeled "Limon".

Exit 363 is where westbound US 24 leaves I-70 to join US 40-287 and is the east beginning of the I-70 BL. Westbound shows I-70 BL, US 24, and "TO" CO 71 on both its primary BGSs (though there is one auxiliary BGS that shows US 40-287 about a half mile east of the interchange). Eastbound only has US 40-287 and omits US 24, I-70 BL, and "TO" CO 71.

[Mapmikey]

In North Carolina - I-95 and US 301 Exits 14 and 22 used to have this dynamic.  Even Exit 25, which US 301 doesn't join/leave I-95 had no US 301 shield on the BGS for decades (just said "Local Traffic"). 

All BGSs involved have 301 shields (with Exit 10 now being where US 301 joins)

At least one direction at Exit 33 exit with US 301 (I believe NB) used to have only a text TO NC 71 Parkton with no mention of US 301 at all.  SB may have just said St Pauls but memory is fuzzy.  301 shields are in both directions these days as well.

In South Carolina - for a long time, I-26 WB at I-126 didn't mention US 76 (still true) and EB at I-126 didn't mention I-126 (only US 76 leaving I-26).  Today I-26 EB either has a text ROUTE I-126 or just Downtown Columbia.  At the other end (exit 101), US 76 is not signed from I-26 EB, only US 176 is mentioned.  US 76 is still signed on WB I-26 though.

[jmacswimmer]

The only one I can think of in Maryland (where there aren't too many I-/US overlaps) is where US 40 west leaves I-70 in Frederick, but with the caveat that I think it's more to do with reducing sign clutter due to the numerous other routes at this interchange (US 15, US 340, I-270).

When approaching the interchange (really 3 separate interchanges with a 4th for local access) on I-70 EB, US 15 NB/US 340 EB, & I-270 NB, there is zero reference to US 40.  On I-270 especially, this sign could theoretically have "I-70 / EAST US 40" on the right panel and "WEST US 40 TO NORTH US 15" on the left.

Additionally, US 40 EB used to be almost completely unsigned thru the interchange where it joins I-70 (only the gore sign has always included US 40), but US 40 shields were finally added onto the existing signs sometime in 2016 IIRC.  (Here's one example - if you click back to older streetview images, you'll see the difference.)

[Tom958]

Georgia: There's the concurrency of US 278 and I-20 that's signed totally by the book at its eastern end and stupidly at its western end. Northbound I-985 and the beginning of its concurrency with US 23 kind of splits the difference. Same with both ends of the I-75-US 41 concurrency.

So, yes, Georgia signs such concurrencies in both directions.

[Dirt Roads]

In West Virginia, there's the north end of the US-19 concurrency with I-79 at Flatwoods.  Exit 67 southbound is only marked for WV-4 and WV-15.  But the rationale for not marking US-19 in advance of the multiplex originally didn't end here.  When Corridor L first opened in 1977, the next interchange with US-19 further north at Roanoke (Exit 91) became confusing for Pennsylvania motorists looking for the new and famous shortcut over the New River Gorge Bridge.  Part of the confusion was that Roanoke, Virginia isn't very far away from I-77 in the grander scheme of things.  Needless to say, the long, winding sidetrack from Roanoke to Flatwoods did not sit well with those that took the bait.  It didn't help that US-19 was actively being relocated due to the construction of Burnsville Dam on the Little Kanawha River.

By the end of the 1970s, the DOH had removed the original US-19 shields from the southbound BGSs for Exit 91 (and it still might be that way).

[US 89]

At the south end of the I-15/US 89 concurrency in Lehi UT, US 89 is signed to some extent southbound, but I believe all northbound signage leaves it off and only mentions SR 194.

[jp the roadgeek]

A couple examples I can think of in CT:

I-95 Exit 70 in Old Lyme.  US 1 leaves northbound after briefly joining I-95 to cross the Connecticut River on the Baldwin Bridge.  Northbound signage has 1 and CT 156; southbound only mentions 156.

I-84 Exit 8.  Eastbound signage includes US 6, while westbound signage is for Newtown Rd. and doesn't mention it.

I-84 Exit 50, which is the west end of the brief multiplex of US 44 with I-84.  Westbound signage mentions 44 west, but eastbound is simply signed Main St.  Before the rebuild of the I-84/CT 2 mixmaster, there was a westbound Exit 53 simply for Connecticut Boulevard that made no reference to US 44 despite the EB signage mentioning it (which it still does).

[sparker]

In CA on I-5 re the coincidence with CA 33 north of Coalinga, the interchange at the southern end is quite well signed from both directions of I-5, probably because that interchange is shared with northward CA 145 as well.  However, at the northern interchange that marks the north end of the multiplex, CA 33 is only mentioned on the various BGS's northbound.  At one point there was a standalone shield assembly at the southbound ramp indicating "North CA 33" with an arrow for the ramp; I don't recall seeing it the last time I was SB there in 2016. 

[hbelkins]

In West Virginia, there's the north end of the US-19 concurrency with I-79 at Flatwoods.  Exit 67 southbound is only marked for WV-4 and WV-15.  But the rationale for not marking US-19 in advance of the multiplex originally didn't end here.  When Corridor L first opened in 1977, the next interchange with US-19 further north at Roanoke (Exit 91) became confusing for Pennsylvania motorists looking for the new and famous shortcut over the New River Gorge Bridge.  Part of the confusion was that Roanoke, Virginia isn't very far away from I-77 in the grander scheme of things.  Needless to say, the long, winding sidetrack from Roanoke to Flatwoods did not sit well with those that took the bait.  It didn't help that US-19 was actively being relocated due to the construction of Burnsville Dam on the Little Kanawha River.

By the end of the 1970s, the DOH had removed the original US-19 shields from the southbound BGSs for Exit 91 (and it still might be that way).

Yes, and new replacement signs were installed for the Roanoke exit to add Stonewall Jackson Resort, and they only have US 19 signed northbound.

The Flatwoods exit southbound has only WV 15 signed; northbound has both US 19 and WV 15. The funny thing is, the exit is actually for US 19, as WV 15 ends south of there (between Flatwoods and Sutton) at WV 4. And WV 4 isn't signed at all on the interstate, only at the ends of the exit ramps.

WV 15 used to have its western end in Webster Springs. It was extended west to Flatwoods/Sutton sometime after I-79 was completed.

[andy3175]

In CA on I-5 re the coincidence with CA 33 north of Coalinga, the interchange at the southern end is quite well signed from both directions of I-5, probably because that interchange is shared with northward CA 145 as well.  However, at the northern interchange that marks the north end of the multiplex, CA 33 is only mentioned on the various BGS's northbound.  At one point there was a standalone shield assembly at the southbound ramp indicating "North CA 33" with an arrow for the ramp; I don't recall seeing it the last time I was SB there in 2016.

Signage for SR 33 for its interchanges with Interstate 5 probably deserve a separate thread. Those two routes connect multiple times, at Exits 337, 349, 403A-B, 407, and 452. Interstate 5 and SR 33 share pavement between Exits 337 and 349.

At Exit 337 heading south, SR 33 south is the leading signed route, with one advance sign noting SR 145 north. Heading north, SR 145 north is the leading signed route.

Interstate 5 south at Exit 349 is signed for Derrick Avenue excepting one sign that mentions SR 33 north. Here is a GSV of that one sign southbound that includes the SR 33 shield:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/sEE6Y2a8zQgCbhn47

I think SR 33 is deemphasized here since SR 33 separates from I-5 about 12 miles ahead at Exit 337, and while Derrick Avenue is old SR 33, it is a local road of a lower quality than the freeway.

To the north, at Exits 403A-B with SR 33-152 it is a bit different. Most signs in I-5 northbound show SR 152 west to San Jose/Gilroy/Hollister and SR 152-33 south to Los Banos. On I-5 south, the older overhead signs and newer roadside signs exclude SR 33 at this interchange, focusing instead on SR 152.

At Exit 407, SR 33 is signed in both directions and is a major service stop at Santa Nella.

At Exit 452, SR 33 reaches its northern end with I-5. SR 33 is signed in both directions here. SR 33 used to continue north into Tracy but was retracted to end at this interchange instead.

Sparker, I couldn't find roadside shield you noted on mainline south I-5 at Exit 349. I did find an older,  button copy version of the sign shown in the GSV link above. See https://www.aaroads.com/california/i-005sl_ca.html and  https://www.aaroads.com/california/images005/i-005_sb_exit_349_03.jpg for the 2006 version.

But I did find a trailblazer shield on the offramp from southbound I-5 pointing the way to north SR 33:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/1KRicPtMkw1Ckmd49

SM-G975U

[Dirt Roads]

In West Virginia, there's the north end of the US-19 concurrency with I-79 at Flatwoods.  Exit 67 southbound is only marked for WV-4 and WV-15.  But the rationale for not marking US-19 in advance of the multiplex originally didn't end here.  When Corridor L first opened in 1977, the next interchange with US-19 further north at Roanoke (Exit 91) became confusing for Pennsylvania motorists looking for the new and famous shortcut over the New River Gorge Bridge.  Part of the confusion was that Roanoke, Virginia isn't very far away from I-77 in the grander scheme of things.  Needless to say, the long, winding sidetrack from Roanoke to Flatwoods did not sit well with those that took the bait.  It didn't help that US-19 was actively being relocated due to the construction of Burnsville Dam on the Little Kanawha River.

By the end of the 1970s, the DOH had removed the original US-19 shields from the southbound BGSs for Exit 91 (and it still might be that way).

Yes, and new replacement signs were installed for the Roanoke exit to add Stonewall Jackson Resort, and they only have US 19 signed northbound.

The Flatwoods exit southbound has only WV 15 signed; northbound has both US 19 and WV 15. The funny thing is, the exit is actually for US 19, as WV 15 ends south of there (between Flatwoods and Sutton) at WV 4. And WV 4 isn't signed at all on the interstate, only at the ends of the exit ramps.

WV 15 used to have its western end in Webster Springs. It was extended west to Flatwoods/Sutton sometime after I-79 was completed.

You are right.  I was surprised when the DOH slapped up WV-15 shields in place of the WV-4 shields on the BGS for Exit 67 in both directions (I'm pretty sure that was 1991, as I was still living in Western Pennsylvania at the time).  I had driven "The Road to Diana" many times, as it was the best route from Charleston to Webster County after I-79 was completed.  I also had an aunt and uncle from San Diego that had a large farm along that road (on the far reaches of Salt Lick Creek) and I spent many summers working up there. 

Back in those days, there were a dozen or so small lakes along Salt Lick Creek and one of those was just a few hundred feet off of their farm.  Never got the nerve to ask permission to fish there, even though we were probably related.  I'm pretty sure that these were built by the Corps of Engineers to address frequent flooding in Burnsville, but the locals thought it was just an excuse to have another place to stock bass.  Almost all of the flooding was from further up the Little Kanawha River, backing up the Salt Lick Creek.

[SkyPesos]

I-75 exit 3 at Hopple St: US 27 S/52 E/127 S marked on the SB 75 exit only.