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[tolbs17]

If it said Petersburg, VA then it would make more sense to me.

Is there a Petersburg, NC to be confused with?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petersburg,_Onslow_County,_North_Carolina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petersburg,_Madison_County,_North_Carolina

[sprjus4]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

[Strider]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

[tolbs17]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

but in Virginia the signs include NC

[sprjus4]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

but in Virginia the signs include NC

And?

[tolbs17]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

but in Virginia the signs include NC

And?

They make more sense!

[Strider]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

but in Virginia the signs include NC

And?

They make more sense!

Each state have its own way of signage. Some states does not include other states with the control city, while others do. Like for example, going down I-95 South approaching I-85, you would see Rocky Mount, NC.. and the other one just Durham without "NC". Also, when you go east on I-40 approaching I-240 in Tennessee, you'd see "Jackson Miss". It just depends on each state. It isn't about what makes more sense or not. It is their way of signing the control cities. Most of the time, control cities that include well-known city names does not include a state abbreviation next to it.

[msquared980]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

but in Virginia the signs include NC

And?

They make more sense!

That's because Rocky Mount, VA is much more substantial of a town than Petersburg, NC is.

[tolbs17]

Well, we do have Chesapeake VA

[sprjus4]

Well, we do have Chesapeake VA

Yeah, and I don’t understand that one - it’s unnecessary. If anything, it should be Norfolk, the more notable city of the region, but I believe the rationale is because US-17 does not actually enter it (one has to use I-464 or I-64 to connect into it), it cannot be signed. Same reason Portsmouth and Newport News are used on mileage signs north of Elizabeth City, not Virginia Beach or Norfolk.

[nerdom]

C'mon. Petersburg, NC? You had to look that up. They're not even real towns. They're barely even crossroads. But, excellent effort for making a case.

[Mapmikey]

Well, we do have Chesapeake VA

Yeah, and I don’t understand that one - it’s unnecessary. If anything, it should be Norfolk, the more notable city of the region, but I believe the rationale is because US-17 does not actually enter it (one has to use I-464 or I-64 to connect into it), it cannot be signed. Same reason Portsmouth and Newport News are used on mileage signs north of Elizabeth City, not Virginia Beach or Norfolk.

Norfolk signs used to be more common before the modernization of US 17.

Here is one still up - https://goo.gl/maps/BrxAfngWRNktVSYH6

GMSV is from 2008 so don't know if this one in South Mills with Norfolk is still there - https://goo.gl/maps/zyntzHK6dLThASss8
The sign on NC 343 north has Portsmouth.

There used to be a mileage sign with Portsmouth leaving Hertford but this got replaced with an Eliz City only sign.

[sprjus4]

^ More interestingly, in Chesapeake itself, US-17 at the US-17 Business / George Washington Hwy junction uses not only Norfolk, but Richmond as control cities. It's also followed by a To I-64 shield. Likely in an effort to direct through traffic to use US-17 Dominion Blvd vs. George Washington Hwy through Deep Creek. This was placed before the widening and freeway upgrade of Dominion Blvd where both routes were merely 2 lane roads, though I'd argue Dominion Blvd still would've been the better route given congestion through Deep Creek. It's still a 50-50 if connecting to I-64 near Bowers Hill whether to take the straight shot through Deep Creek, or take the V shaped route via the Oak Grove Interchange to stay on expressway / freeway. During peak hours, both routes are bad (Oak Grove Interchange / High Rise Bridge congestion vs. Deep Creek congestion) and during off peak neither routes are bad (slower, arterial but more direct through Deep Creek vs. freeway / expressway (and a toll) but longer distance). To I-64 towards Norfolk / Virginia Beach though, US-17 Dominion Blvd is by far the most direct and fastest route.

[architect77]

No one is going to confuse “Petersburg” with those, I can assure you.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see the need to add "VA" to Petersburg.

but in Virginia the signs include NC

Only Rocky Mount has NC after it to my knowledge and it's for good reason. Rocky Mount isn't exactly a well-known or sizeable city along the East Coast.

Durham can stand on its own, and Miami and Atlanta certainly can.

[architect77]

Ok so this discussion for me is only worthy talking about interstate signs not secondary roads.

And NC has been so full of itself in recent decades that it never mentioned other state's cities until right at the state border.

In Gastonia, NC last week off I-85 the overhead sign for I-85 South said Kings Mountain.

Even though you're pretty close to the SC border and Kings Mt. isn't much of a control city, that is what they chose to put on the overhead for getting back onto the interstate.

That is why mentioning Petersburg at all in the Durham area is somewhat surprising for NC.

To me, it hints that  all of the Northerners in Raleigh now have infiltrated the DOT and they aren't as full of that NC narcissism.

[tjcreasy]

To add on the Rocky Mount, NC discussion Rocky Mount, Va is a known City in Virginia.  VA state route 40 which goes through Rocky Mount, Va intersects I-95 between Petersburg and the state line. On US 220 in Rocky Mount, Va VDOT has signage to avoid confusion between Va 40 and I-40. VDOT really thought this through. Now back to I-885.

[Henry]

FWIW, signs in Charlotte completely ignore Atlanta, even though that is the next major city on I-85 south, and is a hell of a lot bigger than either Spartanburg or Greenville. Same deal with GDOT mentioning Greenville instead of Charlotte on I-85 north after it has split off I-75.

Although I do suspect that it's probably because of that fierce rivalry going on between the two cities...hey, if VDOT can put Atlanta and Miami on signs, then why won't NCDOT do the same? Well, come to think of it, Miami gets a pass because you have a much longer way to go before you make it there anyway, but leaving off Atlanta is certainly no excuse.

[ahj2000]

FWIW, signs in Charlotte completely ignore Atlanta, even though that is the next major city on I-85 south, and is a hell of a lot bigger than either Spartanburg or Greenville. Same deal with GDOT mentioning Greenville instead of Charlotte on I-85 north after it has split off I-75.

Although I do suspect that it's probably because of that fierce rivalry going on between the two cities...hey, if VDOT can put Atlanta and Miami on signs, then why won't NCDOT do the same? Well, come to think of it, Miami gets a pass because you have a much longer way to go before you make it there anyway, but leaving off Atlanta is certainly no excuse.

Well Spartanburg (signs in Charlotte are gonna say Spartanburg and GreensBORO) is the next metro area. So while not Atlanta size, the Upstate is the next big urban center to be signed.
I think the Atlanta/Miami signs you’re thinking of in Petersburg VA are meant to divide the people coming down from the NE corridor into the Miami crowd and the Atlanta crowd and help with navigation for the two biggest destinations past Virginia.

[wdcrft63]

Will someone explain what any of this has to do with I-885 in Durham, North Carolina?

[tolbs17]

I have a feeling when the East End Connector is complete, That's only going to spew more traffic onto I-540 (which is already a heavily congested highway), it's gonna cause a bottleneck, pushing it to be widened.

Glenwood Avenue aswell.

And to add to that, the loop at I-540 which goes to I-87 North, that would be even worse!

[The Ghostbuster]

Build it and they will come. Don't build it and they will still come. I still say build it, assuming it is a useful connection to the regional freeway system.

[tolbs17]

Build it and they will come. Don't build it and they will still come. I still say build it, assuming it is a useful connection to the regional freeway system.

Good thing is less traffic will be on I-440.

[architect77]

FWIW, signs in Charlotte completely ignore Atlanta, even though that is the next major city on I-85 south, and is a hell of a lot bigger than either Spartanburg or Greenville. Same deal with GDOT mentioning Greenville instead of Charlotte on I-85 north after it has split off I-75.

Although I do suspect that it's probably because of that fierce rivalry going on between the two cities...hey, if VDOT can put Atlanta and Miami on signs, then why won't NCDOT do the same? Well, come to think of it, Miami gets a pass because you have a much longer way to go before you make it there anyway, but leaving off Atlanta is certainly no excuse.

The determination of which control city to name on signage has nothing to do with the biggest or most influential at a further distance.

The only reason Miami, Durham and Atlanta are mentioned in VA Southbound is because:

!) I-95 is arguably the most important highway in the country and at Petersburg it forks with the start of another very important corridor through the Southeast passing through 20-30 million people and it's one of the main industrial corridors

It wouldn't make sense to mention the end of I-85 because that's not a major destination. Atlanta is the biggest region along 85 and somewhat near it's end.

Miami and Atlanta are good indicators of how this fork of two East Coast interstates will send you in different directions.

Greenville Spartanburg are perfectly appropriate control cities whether you're coming from the South or the North.

The gist was that NC is so full of itself that it will avoid using out of state control cities all the way  until the borders as if no world exists outside of the state that's worth naming, lol.

My hometown of Louisburg is mentioned on I-95 and I-85, on I-95 it's merely because it's the the end/start of NC561, (NC581 too). On I-85 it's mentioned because it and Franklinton are close on NC56 and technically they are part of the Triangle.

[LM117]

According to the project timeline, the EEC will open in December. Whether that'll actually happen or not remains to be seen...

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/east-end-connector/Pages/default.aspx

[wdcrft63]

According to the project timeline, the EEC will open in December. Whether that'll actually happen or not remains to be seen...

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/east-end-connector/Pages/default.aspx

As the timeline also shows, construction began in February 2015. If the road doesn't open until spring, that would be seven years to build a mile and a quarter of freeway. Even given the complexity of the project that is hard to justify.