Signs With Interesting Facts

[hbelkins]

Glad to see that I-90 MassPike sign posted. My photo from a few years ago got eaten in a tragic CF card incident.

[Jim]

Maybe not "an interesting fact" but I-10 over the Suwannee River in Florida has a sign with music:



This one's I-10 East.

[hbelkins]

Best I can tell, that's the actual music for the opening line of that song.

[papaT10932]

I really like signs with mostly-useless but interesting information.  Two of my favorites that I know have been posted before in other threads are along I-90/Mass Pike in the Berkshires:

(eastbound)

(westbound)

The only thing that has always bothered me about these is the fact that there are also points in South Dakota with elevations 1725, 1726, 1727, and 1728.  But I'm glad these are out there.  It might get a few people who never leave New England to think about just what a long road I-90 really is.

Are there signs in Oacoma, SD noting that the next on 1-90 highest point is in Massachusetts?

[Jim]

Are there signs in Oacoma, SD noting that the next on 1-90 highest point is in Massachusetts?

Not that I've noticed in my trips through there.  I did make sure to get a picture in Oacoma, though.



Side question: does anyone know the correct pronunciation of "Oacoma"?

[Jim]

Useless information is great, but not always accurate.  From Tybee Island, Georgia:



I suppose "My other end is almost in Dallas" isn't as exciting.

[ftballfan]

Maybe not "an interesting fact" but I-10 over the Suwannee River in Florida has a sign with music:



This one's I-10 East.

I-75 has those signs as well.

[Dr Frankenstein]

This location claims to be the centre of the Eastern time zone.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Papineauville,+Qu%C3%A9bec&hl=fr&ie=UTF8&ll=45.620101,-74.999864&spn=0.008569,0.020857&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=32.456441,85.429688&vpsrc=6&hnear=Papineauville,+Papineau,+Qu%C3%A9bec&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=45.62022,-74.999747&panoid=N8ckyT06kVqy2NhU9iKLVw&cbp=12,247.46,,2,2.8

[US71]

[hbelkins]

On VT 16 just north of its terminus at VT 15.

[sp_redelectric]

I remember a sign while driving on I-5 in Oregon - I looked on Google for a picture of it and saw all these others...

ODOT has a 45th Parallel sign mounted north of Lincoln City on U.S. 101 (not too far from the D River sign), on I-5 and on Oregon 99E in Salem...not sure about further east.  There is NOT a sign posted on Oregon 99W or on Oregon 221, or on Oregon 22.

My favorite "interesting fact" sign is on U.S. 97 between SR 14 and Goldendale in Washington state which points out four mountain peaks with its elevations on a pull-out off to the west side of the highway.  Can't seem to find a picture of it though... 

[Beeper1]

There is the "Jerimoth Hill  Highest Point in RI  Elevation 812 ft."  sign on RI-101 near Foster.

Pennsylvania marks the summits of most of it's mountains on many of its major roads. (e.g. Laurel Hill summit on US-30)

[Jim]

There are plenty of roads that mark highest elevation points, but not as many that mark the lowest point:



This is the lowest point on the Alaska Highway, near Fort Nelson, BC.

Of course, there's also the highest point, at Summit Lake:

[usends]

Side question: does anyone know the correct pronunciation of "Oacoma"?

Apparently, it's oh-uh-KOH'-muh
(from http://www.ap.org/southdakota/prono.html

[r-dub]

Well, it's not a time zone or highest elevation sign, but how 'bout one of the wordiest signs that I've ever seen?

(sorry, had to keep it really big for legibility)

This is off a county road intersection with Colorado SH 14 in Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I'd put this in "The Worst of Road Signs"

Here's a perfect 3-word wording for this: "NO WINTER MAINTENANCE"

[hm insulators]

Pennsylvania has rather elaborate signs denoting whether you are entering or leaving the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and New York has plain text signs. Why this is so significant in states that don't even border that body of water is a mystery for the ages. Who cares, and why is that watershed relevant when, for example, New York doesn't sign the ECD crossings on I-86?

It lets you know where to pull off to pee, depending on which body of water you wish to disrespect.

[hm insulators]

I'd put this in "The Worst of Road Signs"

Here's a perfect 3-word wording for this: "NO WINTER MAINTENANCE"

In other words, "When it snows, you're out of luck, my friend!"

[1995hoo]

When I went to Boston last year I thought the Chesapeake Bay Watershed was oddly specific.  Sure, I care about whether my pee will flow to the Atlantic more or less directly, versus through the Gulf of Mexico or the St Lawrence Seaway, but I don't really care so much if it comes out at the Potomac or the Hudson or what have you along the eastern seaboard.  (By the way, where is the triple point of the St Lawrence / Mississippi / Atlantic watersheds?)

Yesterday when I drove into the City of Alexandria I was reminded that some places in Northern Virginia have "Chesapeake Bay Watershed" listed on particular signs informing you of the creek you're crossing. Here's an example on South Van Dorn Street. I've driven through there thousands of times, but this Street View image is the first time I've actually seen that there's really water down there. The wall on the right is high enough from the perspective of someone seated in any of our cars that you can't see over it.

Google Street View link

[bulldog1979]

The northern end of US 41 at the cul-de-sac past Fort Wilkins near Copper Harbor has the following sign, in wood. (The county road commission stores it in the winter months for safe keeping.)

[JREwing78]

Keweenaw County has a ton of those signs all over the place, all of which are deployed only during temperate months. Few are as elaborate (the top of Brockway Mountain Drive has a similarly large sign), but all are similar in style.

[codyg1985]

The northern end of US 41 at the cul-de-sac past Fort Wilkins near Copper Harbor has the following sign, in wood. (The county road commission stores it in the winter months for safe keeping.)

Interesting that Alabama is shown on that sign even though US 41 doesn't actually enter Alabama. It comes close, though.

I wonder if one of those old Indian trails used to go through Alabama?

[bugo]

There are signs in Oklahoma marking the borders between Indian nations.  This may be unique to Oklahoma.

[bugo]

I used to cross the 45th parallel twice a day commuting to and from work when I lived in the Twin Cities. There are no signs marking it there, nor elsewhere in Minnesota that I saw.

I didn't see any of these signs on my trip to ND in January.  I'm guessing the 45th would be on I-29 somewhere in northern SD or southern ND.

Continental Divide is pretty well marked in New Mexico, not so in Colorado. There are two Continental Divide signs on I-80 going across Wyoming, because the divide splits and there is a closed basin that the highway crosses. A surprising place to encounter a Continental Divide sign is North Dakota along I-94 - where you cross from the Hudson Bay (rivers that flow through Lake Winnipeg) to the Gulf of Mexico drainage basins.

Where in North Dakota on I-94 is this sign?  I drove I-94 from Moorhead, MN to Bismarck, ND and don't remember seeing it.

[bugo]

Is that US 81?