Distant Interstate Trailblazers

[corco]

Just north of my hometown of McCall, Idaho in New Meadows at the junction of State Highway 55 and US-95 is this TO I-84 trailblazer. That's cool- there's thousands of TO I-whatever trailblazers in the country.



What makes this one odd is that we're 90.3 miles from the nearest I-84 junction, that being the Oregon 201 and I-84 junction near Huntington, and 97 miles from the I-84/US-95 junction that is probably being referred to here. Are there any more distant interstate trailblazers in the country? If so, where?

On a side note- the premise of this sign is deprecated. Idaho 55 (for which you'd turn left) has indisputably been a faster route to Boise from here for a good fifteen years now (especially if you're in a passenger car), and you'd only want to go that way if you were headed to I-84 west towards Oregon. For 84 East towards Twin Falls, you'd definitely want to turn left, but that's just a side rant.

[agentsteel53]

dang, that is very very far indeed!  Too bad it has no state name, like those on ID-55 somewhat closer to the freeway.

There is at least one I-90 trailblazer in Pierre, SD (alas, no state name) - but that is only about 32 miles away from the freeway, reached by following US-83.

on a related note, there used to be an Ohio Turnpike 62 miles trailblazer in Conneaut OH, near the intersection of US-20 and OH-7.  Even more interesting is that, until recently, this intersection featured a state-named Ohio I-90 shield, which is just about as rare as a 62-mile trailblazer.

there are some Penna Turnpike trailblazers in Pittsburgh, which is about 20 miles away ... including a fully embossed one dating to 1940 when the turnpike was opened.

more than 97 miles?  I cannot think of any.  There are guide signs (green retroreflective, wood, etc) that spell out the name of a junction or named highway that can be found longer than 97 miles away, but no shield of course.  See some intersections on the Cassiar Highway (British Columbia 37) that name the Alaska Highway from as far away as over 600 kilometers.  I'll have to check my photos to see the most distant ones, but I definitely remember one that said 666 km.

[mightyace]

^^

You beat me to mentioning the Ohio Turnpike trailblazer in Conneaut, OH.  I had mentioned it in another thread last year.  In that thread I talked about how I used to see PA and OH Turnpike trailblazer well away from the road, but other than the Conneaut one, I can't remember where there were any more than 5 miles away and I was not taking pictures way back then.

[xonhulu]

There is a reference to I-82 on WA 14 about 96 miles west, where US 197 ends in Dallesport, WA:



I think there are also references to 82 further west, but I don't think they have a shield pictured.

[agentsteel53]

There is a reference to I-82 on WA 14 about 96 miles west, where US 197 ends in Dallesport, WA:

heh, I have a photo of that very sign when I ran across it in December, and it never registered just how far I-82 is.  I must've been cold and half asleep - at the time, going on 46 hours awake, with a trip to Crater Lake (33 below 0) and up US-97 (a more moderate -16), knowing that if I stopped driving, the battery would freeze and the car wouldn't start again ...

[TheStranger]

Not a long gap, but here's Route 166 signed to I-5 from Route 33, via Cameron Kaiser's site:
http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/399/u5/assets/1095.JPG

Another long TO I-5, from Route 33 in the Cuyama Valley: http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/399/u4/assets/0860.JPG

[vdeane]

The most distant I've seen in NY is a TO: I-81 shield near Morristown.  This gets even more interesting because the sign is wrong: it says I-81 is 24 miles away, but I-81 is actually 28 miles away!

[Brandon]

One of the more distant ones I've seen in Illinois is a TO I-39 sign on Illinois 29 at Illinois 17 just west of Lacon, about 20 miles west of I-39.  Oddly, US-51 is not co-signed with I-39 on the trailblazer.

[3467]

There is a to 74 sign at the south junction of 67 and 34 @Monmouth about 24 miles(shorter if they made 34 174 (see Interstate Standards post for that issue)
34 has to 80 north of Kewanee but no more than 10 miles.
34 North of 80 used to have a to Illinois Tollway sign at every road that went north to what is now 88. Distnace varied from a couple of miles to 30 But I think thye are all down

[Ian]

Not an interstate, but A-15 (Quebec) trailblazers can be seen along I-87 for as far south as Lake George, NY, which is at a distance of a little over 120 miles.

[cu2010]

The most distant I've seen in NY is a TO: I-81 shield near Morristown.  This gets even more interesting because the sign is wrong: it says I-81 is 24 miles away, but I-81 is actually 28 miles away!

There's another one at the end of the access road for the Ogdensburg-Prescott Bridge for I-81 with a sign saying that it's 41 miles. Whether or not that's the actual distance is beyond me (though it's unlikely).

Regarding the "24 MILES" sign...I think NYSDOT accidentally put the mileage to Alex Bay (since it's 24 miles from the 37/12 split to A-Bay), forgetting that I-81 is several miles west of the village.

[corco]

Not an interstate, but A-15 (Quebec) trailblazers can be seen along I-87 for as far south as Lake George, NY, which is at a distance of a little over 120 miles.

Holy...wow. That's awesome. Entirely pointless in my opinion, but seriously awesome. 

[KEK Inc.]

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=watsonville&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Watsonville,+Santa+Cruz,+California&gl=us&ei=f303TJ2WMIKosQPgoPFR&ved=0CCIQ8gEwAA&ll=36.927442,-121.745274&spn=0.008405,0.021136&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=36.92753,-121.745251&panoid=-ksPY_jhq3Mpr7RIwfwRKw&cbp=12,45.41,,0,1.25

I remember seeing this sign in Watsonville about 60 miles west of I-5.  I'm pretty sure there's several To I-5 signs along the Pacific Coast on US-101, as well, but I don't remember any off the top of my head.

[agentsteel53]

too bad on the goofy-looking 87 shield and bland 9N!

[Revive 755]

There was a distance sign on US 81 in Yankton, SD just before the Missouri River crossing that had an I-80 shield and a distance of 154.  It's barely legible on GSV:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.867881,-97.393906&spn=0,0.013733&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=42.867794,-97.393907&panoid=jU8ezGJFWiAJUm6W9SzG9Q&cbp=12,220.86,,0,16.18

The new bridge also has the sign, this time more legible in GSV:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.868219,-97.397125&spn=0,0.013733&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=42.868132,-97.397135&panoid=XlrUqBQNU3FTM1ALCb_hjg&cbp=12,228.16,,0,10.2

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

^^

You beat me to mentioning the Ohio Turnpike trailblazer in Conneaut, OH.  I had mentioned it in another thread last year.  In that thread I talked about how I used to see PA and OH Turnpike trailblazer well away from the road, but other than the Conneaut one, I can't remember where there were any more than 5 miles away and I was not taking pictures way back then.

I've heard about this too.


While I don't recall them having any distance shown with them, I did see TO I-71 & I-77 shield assemblies along US 30 between Mansfield and Canton when I drove up to the Canton meet earlier this year.

[Ian]

Not an interstate, but A-15 (Quebec) trailblazers can be seen along I-87 for as far south as Lake George, NY, which is at a distance of a little over 120 miles.

Holy...wow. That's awesome. Entirely pointless in my opinion, but seriously awesome.  

Indeed it is cool. The A-15 shield is pointless in a way, but I guess it is good for motorists who know what road
they are taking into Quebec, even though they should really start appearing much more close to the actual border.

too bad on the goofy-looking 87 shield and bland 9N!

The I-87 shield is odd (there are many more like it though) but the 9N shield doesn't look too bad. Better than a New England square.

[cu2010]

too bad on the goofy-looking 87 shield and bland 9N!

The I-87 shield is odd (there are many more like it though) but the 9N shield doesn't look too bad. Better than a New England square.

The 9N shield needs an arrow.

The 87 done in Series C isn't too bad...there's a lot of them like that. There's also a lot of signs for I-81 also done in Series C...those look goofy.

[agentsteel53]

correct 9N.  Note that the white portion is slightly narrower.

[Ian]

too bad on the goofy-looking 87 shield and bland 9N!

The I-87 shield is odd (there are many more like it though) but the 9N shield doesn't look too bad. Better than a New England square.

The 9N shield needs an arrow.

I remember when there still was an arrow, which fell off a few years ago. NYSDOT needs to put up a new one.

correct 9N.  Note that the white portion is slightly narrower.

Thanks for using my pic . I note the slightly narrow shield and the old NYSDOT font!

[agentsteel53]

it's our only 9N photo on the gallery, and it's a good one!

[Ian]

There is this one, but it's a cutout

[agentsteel53]

right, I meant the black square style.  somewhere between tired and beer the distinction got lost.

[Ian]

It's okay. I know I want to get a better photo of one of those (I counted 4 of them between Sabbath Day Point and Hague) old font 9N shields the next time I go up there in a few weeks.

[Alex]

There is one or two I-40 shields posted on US 220 southbound in Virginia. The furthest one was posted some 70 miles north of Greensboro, NC.