Ever try to "crack the code" for Interstate control cities?

[Bitmapped]

Is the interstate I-77?

If No:
- List the next major and/or notable city on its route, like what control cities are supposed to be.

If Yes:
- List an arbitrary Ohio River small city for the southbound direction south of the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area, instead of something more notable (and not that much farther away) like Parkersburg, WV.

Marietta is probably more relevant for most Ohioans. They tend to have some sense of where it is. A lot have probably not heard of Parkersburg or would be unable to place it.

If we're including major junctions too, Cambridge is fair game as a control city on I-77 as well.

Cambridge used to be a control city for I-77. There are still a couple remaining examples of it signed around Canton.

[Avalanchez71]

I always thought the Saint Louis control city sign on I-24 was interesting as it doesn't go to St. Louis.  I-65 now has a Huntsville, AL control city from Nashville in lieu of the heretofore posted Birmingham.  I-65 barley touches Huntsville now due to behemoth annexations.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Huntsville,+AL/@34.6798275,-86.8415862,11.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x88626b67cda2898d:0x9a2c7e89c804566b!8m2!3d34.7303688!4d-86.5861037

[Alex]

Mississippi, on the other hand will list rather small and unremarkable control cities.  I-55's from South to North are New Orleans (south of McComb), McComb (a town of 15,000), Brookhaven (same size as McComb) Jackson (state capital), Granada (worse than McComb), and Memphis (which is appropriate).
I-59?: New Orleans, naturally; then Hattiesburg, Laurel, Meridian, and Tuscaloosa. 
For I-20: Monroe, Vicksburg, Jackson, Meridian
I-10: New Orleans, Bay St Louis (why?) Pascagoula (also why) and Mobile
The thing about Mississippi, though is that there are not really any truly large or substantial cities.  Jackson is the largest and it has barely 150,000 people. So they use any city with over 10,000 people it would seem.

Bay St. Louis is a control from I-10 in Slidell because there was a time when I-10 wasn't completed all the way in Mississippi. Drivers had to get off at BSL. Same with Pascagoula in Mobile.

I'm not sure what the deal is with McComb and Grenada.

You can add Naples, FL with a 2020 population of 19,115, down from 2010 no less, as a temporary end based control point continued to be used along with the aforementioned ones for I-10.
Grenada may be related to the fact that the last section of I-55 completed in Mississippi, though it was completed north first. It opened in 1973:



Along the same lines, Chester could be a comparison given that the last section of I-95 opened in PA was just north (east) of there.

Rocky Mount, NC is another temporary end point that continues to be carried over as a control point for Interstate 95.

Ocala, FL for I-275 in Tampa was carried over from when it was part of I-75. Think of the south end of I-275, which was never part of I-75 and has no control point beyond Bradenton for US 19:

[WestDakota]

A few years ago during or right before the height of the oil boom, Dickinson, ND city officials decided to petition to have Dickinson added as a control city on Interstate 94.  Right now the control cities in western North Dakota are Billings, MT and Bismarck, ND, with Fargo, ND as the control city east of Bismarck.  I didn't save the story, so I don't remember exactly who they petitioned, and haven't heard any results from that petition.  There have not been any changes so far to the control cities.

[jaehak]

Along the same lines, Chester could be a comparison given that the last section of I-95 opened in PA was just north (east) of there.

I'd always assumed signing Chester was just payback at Maryland for not signing Philly.