Highways that change direction midway through

[hbelkins]

Going through some of my photos because my brother overnighted in Miami, Okla. last night on his way out to the Grand Canyon, and I noticed a candidate for this thread. OK 10 changes direction from E-W to N-S somewhere in this region.

I drove US 59 south from Kansas to US 412 in 2009, and US 59 has two intersections with OK 10. At the first one, OK 10 is signed E-W, while at the second one, it's signed N-S.

Any photos of the point at which it switches? Jeremy, David B., Eric, others in the area?

[NWI_Irish96]

I think Indiana is the only state that signs US 33 north-south.

Except the I-465 loop, the only Indiana highway I can find that changes signed directions is IN 162

[hbelkins]

Examples of the above:





EDIT: I found the spot.

http://goo.gl/maps/9uRft

[hotdogPi]

US 202, depending on state.


I believe US 4, too.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned US-321, signed all the way N-S but making a U-turn at Elizabethton TN. However, looking at a map I would have it signed as E-W in TN, then changing to N-S at NC border.

[jemacedo9]

NY 364 is signed E-W between Penn-Yan and Middlesex, and signed N-S between Middlesex and Canandaigua.
NY 3 is signed E-W and then N-S, but not sure where the switch is.

[roadman65]

US 62 in PA and NY are signed N-S where the rest of the route is signed E-W.

Now FL 434 which is N-S east of Orlando along Alafaya Trail and E-W the rest of the way in Seminole County and its return to Orange in NW Orlando is N-S again a second time!  The new John Young Parkway Extension is designated FL 434 and is signed N-S but mirror image of its cardinal direction on the other side of Orlando.

US 98, I  cannot remember if it was brought up here before, but it changes from E-W at Perry, FL at its junction with US 19 & US 27 to N-S.  Then it switches back at the Martin- Okeechobee County Line to E-W on its final run into West Palm Beach.  What is interesting is that along the Eastern Shore of Lake Okeechobee it runs N-S with US 441 and is signed E-W, but between Okeechobee (the city) and Sebring (US 27) it runs actual E-W, but is signed N-S.  That is cause of FDOT district politics.  FDOT D-4 maintains the E-W signage in Martin and Palm Beach Counties while FDOT D-1 maintains the signage in Okeechobee County where it runs E-W between Okeechobee and Sebring.

I talked once to engineers in D-4 and they told me that they follow the MUTCD for their signing.  I do not know if there is any truth to that as three other districts in Florida sign it N-S, you have US 4 in NY as well as US 62 there, US 250 in WV, and plenty other places that even number US routes are signed N-S or odd numbers E-W, so I do not know what that is about.

[JoePCool14]

Dont know of any examples, but, all I can say is that its a bad iea to go N/S to E/W

[hbelkins]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned US-321, signed all the way N-S but making a U-turn at Elizabethton TN. However, looking at a map I would have it signed as E-W in TN, then changing to N-S at NC border.

Look at reply #2:

The most unusual example has to be US 321, though, which goes from N-S to S-N. If you approach Elizabethton, Tenn. on US 19E, no matter which way you go on US 321, you will be going south.

[vtk]

US 62 in PA and NY are signed N-S where the rest of the route is signed E-W.

Inconsistently in Ohio.

Also, hasn't this one been discussed already?

[hbelkins]

OH 104 was mentioned.

[Rover_0]

No one mentioned US-491 as it enters Utah? It's N-S in Colorado and New Mexico, but once it hits the Utah line, it becomes E-W. I wonder why UDOT does this with 18 miles of US-491 but not with 65 miles of US-89 between Kanab and the Arizona line at Lake Powell en route to Page.

Also, you have UT-59. While not changing direction per se, it's labeled E-W even though mileposts increase as you go (north)west towards Hurricane.

[dlainhart]

Dont know of any examples, but, all I can say is that its a bad iea to go N/S to E/W

Why?

Examples from NYS: NY 17, NY 7. (I'm sure there are more, but I'm not concerned with them at the moment.)
In the case of NY 7, the majority of NY 7 is E/W, but it's N/S from Port Dickinson south to the Pennsylvania border. At the point it changes (which isn't a point so much as it is a sleight of hand, as you can see here: look at the reassurance markers in each direction at NY 7 and Old State Rd), NY 7 is already oriented north/south. NY 7 doesn't genuinely turn towards an E/W heading until Chenango Bridge, which is about three miles to the north. Three to five miles to the south, NY 7 crosses the Susquehanna River, then makes a left turn onto Conklin Avenue, where NY 7 begins heading more or less east, and if it wasn't switched to N/S, it'd be posted as West NY 7. NY 7 follows the river south to Pennsylvania, eventually ending up in a NW/SE direction, then splits off at Corbettsville for its last mile or so, which is N/S, into PA where it turns into PA 29.

There is nothing wrong with this route assignment and any modification would be patently silly.

[mukade]

I think Indiana is the only state that signs US 33 north-south.

Except the I-465 loop, the only Indiana highway I can find that changes signed directions is IN 162

I-469 and I-164 also change directions, but Indiana state roads do not generally change directions.

[tdindy88]

I think IN 912 would qualify (if the entire highway were intact.) While most of the highway is signed north/south, I do know there is signage on the Toll Road near the Illinois border of IN 912 East. I don't recall what the mainline signs said.

IN 933 should count as a highway that changes direction midway through because it does. It just isn't signed that way. I don't care what the sign says, going from Downtown South Bend to Downtown Mishawaka does not constitute going "south."

I was also going to suggest IN 930, but I know that's signed east/west throughout and for the most part it is an east/west highway, but there is that north/south part in the middle.

[US71]

LA 5. Runs N-S from Logansport to Keatchie, then shifts to E-W

AR 45 runs predominantly E-W from Fayetteville to Hindsville, then N-S to Clifty. In the 1970's, it was posted as E-W along the Fayetteville section, then was changed to N-S.

[Buck87]

OH 67 changes from N/S to E/W at the Seneca/Wyandot County line. That's also the border between ODOT district 2 and ODOT district 1, which I assume is the only reason the change is at that particular place, which is over 15 miles from where 67's overall direction really starts to change. If it were up to me I'd put the change over at the OH 37 intersection in Marseilles, or maybe in Upper Sandusky.

[hbelkins]

KY 160 used to change from E/W to N/S, but now it's pretty consistently signed N/S.

[roadman]

MA 111 used to have this problem.  Although the overall route runs south to north from Acton to the New Hampshire line, the portion of the route from Acton to Harvard, which runs east to west, was signed east and west instead of north and south.

[vtk]

If it were up to me I'd put the change over at the OH 37 intersection

Fitting, given OH 37 also changes direction...

[cbeach40]

Ontario has a few on our King's Highways:
Hwy 11 - N-S Barrie to Cochrane; E-W Cochrane to Rainy River
Hwy 12 - N-S whitby to Orillia; E-W Orillia to Midland
Hwy 17 - E-W Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie; N-S Sault Ste. Marie to White River; E-W White River to MB border
Hwy 28 - N-S from Hwy 7 near Peterborough to Bancroft; E-W Bancroft to Denbigh
Hwy 71 - E-W Fort Frances to Emo, N-S Emo to Hwy 17 near Kenora
Hwy 124 - E-W Parry Sound to Sundridge; N-S Sundridge to South River

[roadman65]

I like NJ 36 that once went E-W to N-S then back to E-W.  However the second time it was mirrored as NJ 36 does make a semi circle.

What is interesting to me is that for a short time in the 80's NJDOT did try to make it a complete North and South road to avoid confusion.  Then it went back to E-W, N-S, and W-E again before it changing back again to at least N-S on the part west of the Shrewsbury River to Keyport.

[hotdogPi]

MA 111 used to have this problem.  Although the overall route runs south to north from Acton to the New Hampshire line, the portion of the route from Acton to Harvard, which runs east to west, was signed east and west instead of north and south.

Assuming MA 111 and NH 111 are the same route, it still does. It changes at the New Hampshire border. NH 111 is signed east-west.

MA/NH 97 is similar, although NH 97 is very short.

[hbelkins]

Looks like there are several threads that this photo can go in...

[dgolub]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned I-287.  It's north/south in New Jersey and east/west in New York.  Also, US 202 changes between north/south and east/west a couple of times at state lines.