Sanctimoniously's Awesome Phone-Camera Photography Thread.

[Sanctimoniously]

Looks like a lot of things changed while I was away. I'll have various random pictures here, mostly in the NC/VA area, probably of things that have already been covered, but let me have my moment. The first barrage is from this weekend, where I went to Virginia Beach from Jacksonville to buy a new car, and drove the new US 17 bypass section at New Bern. I drove it northbound on a very rainy and grey Friday evening, then returned southbound today when the weather was a little better. All of these pictures are from my phone, so forgive the lack of quality.



Opened on September 2, 2011, the 5.65 mile highway begins south of Rhems, just south of the Craven/Jones county line. US 17 Business has taken over the old alignment at this traffic signal. Two lanes are allocated for the left turn onto the new highway.



The speed limit at first is 50 mph.



The highway takes a sharp curve to the right. There was very little traffic on the new highway on this very wet Friday evening.



Shortly after the curve, the speed limit increases to 70 mph and the highway enters Craven county at the overpass over Tuscarora-Rhems Road.





These photos again show how little traffic there was on the highway (and how rainy it was). For something that was evidently pushed for for decades, it almost seems underutilized, but this area's traffic counts are not particularly high, anyway.



Coming within two miles of the US 70 interchange. The half-completed cloverleaf interchange is the only one on this segment of highway.



Use Exit 147A to continue along US 17 north.



Exit 147A for US 70 east/US 17 north departs. All traffic is funneled onto Exit 147B for US 70 west and the highway ends at this point.



Gore-point sign for Exit 147A again with a trailblazer for US 17 north.



Now on US 70 west/US 17 south on a different, much nicer day, within 1/4 mile of the new Exit 410A partially-complete cloverleaf interchange with the new US 17 segment.



Photo showing the grading and ramp stubs for future connections. Only the connections from US 70 to US 17 south are completed.



Exit 410A to US 17 south departs, ending the newly-extended concurrency.



Another ramp stub with grading.



A look back at Exit 147B for US 70 west. All traffic must exit here.



Still no traffic on a Sunday afternoon, despite the better weather.



The speed limit reduces to 50 mph in advance of the terminus.



Trailblazers for the new US 17 Business and US 17 south.



Jacksonville is approximately thirty-five miles to the south at this point. The highway ends at the traffic light ahead.

Hope you guys like the pictures. 

[Takumi]

Good pictures, especially considering the weather. Do you know the future plans for the bypass?

[Sanctimoniously]

From what I can find, just extending it from that point to return to US 17 near Vanceboro, probably near the southern end of the concurrency with NC 43. But that looks like it's in the pipe-dream stage for now, so this will have to do as a quick connection with US 70, since hardly anyone uses it.

[Sanctimoniously]

I also managed to get both ends of NC 615 in Knotts Island:



The first NC 615 shield headed north. The actual end of the roadway is at the ferry landing a few hundred yards away from this intersection. NC 615 is fairly winding throughout its path, and is well-signed to keep motorists on the highway.



NC 615 becomes Virginia Secondary 615 at the Virginia border. There's no END sign here and hardly any signage for SR 615, other than an error VA 615 shield (which I unfortunately didn't catch, it's hard to take pictures with a cell phone on a curvy road).



Looking back at the North Carolina welcome sign.

[Takumi]

The Virginia side isn't officially numbered anymore. When Virginia Beach took over all of Princess Anne County in the 1960s it took over maintenance of its own roads. However, the city is infamous for its bad signing practices; the VA 615 shield is just one of many oddities there.

[Sanctimoniously]

I'm back home in West Monroe, LA for two weeks. I was Street Viewing the area around Exit 186 on I-20 in Madison Parish and saw something that I had to see:



But a crappy Google Street View image from June of 2008 wasn't cutting it, and I still had to settle the confusion of whether the old segment of US 80 east leading to the closed bridge was signed as LA 3218 or Madison Parish 193, since the BGSes for Exit 186 going westbound couldn't decide. So I went over there today to check it out.



First off, Clearview has come to Louisiana on I-20. I counted at least seven such signs, plus two town-line signs for Thomastown and Delta along US 80/LA 3218/Madison Parish 193/whatever it actually is. (Keep reading!)







No confusion headed eastbound, though. All the guide signs for Exit 186 reference LA 3218.



TO LA 3218 and US 80 west trailblazers near the end of the off-ramp.



Interstate 20 east and US 80 east are concurrent across the new Vicksburg Bridge across the river.



US 80 west resumes its old roadway while LA 3218 takes it over to the east.



This thin-fonted US 80 shield was actually facing the intersection, probably due to storm winds. It was marked 2001 on the back.



Road closed ahead with the first eastbound LA 3218 reassurance shield in the background.



The highway is obviously very rural in character. On a Sunday afternoon, I counted only five cars on this road, three headed east into Delta and two headed west.



Looking over at the Louisiana beginning of the Vicksburg bridge. The Clearview town-limit sign for Delta was around here, but I missed getting a picture of it. (You can barely see it in the background of the next picture.)



Getting close. . .





Well, look at what's still here. No traffic has been around to heed that warning since 1998. I wonder what used to be to the left of the word "VEHICLES", and what year this gantry was installed (I'm guessing at least 1950s).



The road is closed, but the roadway is still intact and the barriers are of a temporary nature because the bridge still carries railroad traffic and thus still has to be inspected. The red warning lights flash continuously. You can see the old speed-limit sign in the background.



A look at the back of the gantry.



A look at LA 3218's eastern terminus.



The first westbound reassurance shield for LA 3218. It didn't have a directional banner on it.



Here's a look at the 3/4 mile guide sign for Exit 186, referencing Madison Parish 193. I believe the one-mile sign references it as well. Considering how much LA 3218 was signed here (there was also a black LA 3218 shield to the west of the US 80 junction that I didn't capture), I wonder if this was an error or if it really was resigned and LADOTD didn't bother to remove the old signage. I know that Louisiana very sparsely signs its parish routes and hardly ever posts junction shields, trailblazers, or directional banners unless it's at a freeway interchange. For what it's worth, the (Clearview) exit-only sign for Exit 186 references LA 3218.



And finally, a look from the east at the US 80 junction. That Madison Parish sheriff followed me rather closely, so I couldn't get a picture of the back of the twisted US 80 shield, the black LA 3218 shield, or the Clearview Thomastown town-limit sign.

All these pictures, by the way, were taken with an actual camera. I hope you like them.

[Alps]

Love the photos! If I knew that sign were there, I'd have spent the 15 minutes exploring 3218 to check the end out. Good thing I didn't catch you needing to confirm 3218, because I could have told you and then you may never have gone to look at the sign

[hbelkins]

I took I-20 across the bridge at Vickburg back a couple of years ago, and if I had known that old sign and the bridge approach was there, I'd have gone to explore it as well. Neat pics!

[Sanctimoniously]

Got bored today, drove out to see the eastern terminus of US 76 in Wrightsville Beach.



This sign clearly wants to tell you that US 76 ends in 1.7 miles. I've never seen a permanent sign this specific before.



In its last 1.7 miles, the highway becomes a narrow residential street lined with parking. It ends with a small cul-de-sac at a public beach access. The sign is much more worn here than the pictures I've seen for it before. I tried to get a picture of the first marker going westbound, but it was hidden behind some roadside shrubbery and everyone who was at the beach access on this very grey Saturday afternoon decided to leave at the same time I was trying to take pictures. Oh, well, better luck next time.

[Takumi]

I've wanted to check out Wrightsville Beach for awhile, because of the quirk of 2 US routes dead ending there.

[Sanctimoniously]

There was actually a house/condo (I don't know what exactly, it was three stories) for sale on that very last half-block of US 76 at the beach access parking lot it ends at. Wouldn't that be the envy of roadgeeks everywhere if you could say you lived at the eastern terminus of a US route?

[signalman]

Awesome pics, indeed.  I like the "1.7 miles" addition.  It sure is different

[Sanctimoniously]

While I'm still dedicated to providing you with the best of phone-camera photography, I've also decided to start a various-interest blog of my own, on which I'll continue to post road pictures and trips.

Watch this space!

EDIT: New original content!