Signage along highways with reminders of what once was

[bugo]

Taken on July 25, 2000.

[roadman65]

I saw in Indiana a few interchanges where the US 27 shields are still up on span wires approaching the NAFTA interstate in some places.  When I get to putting it up on my flickr page, I will post the link to it.  Right now I am finishing up my home state of Florida and have some other states I have traveled that I have to do first.

[Ian]

A 3-digit wide I-95 shield covers an I-495 shield on the Maine Turnpike (I-95) near Portland. For those not familiar with Maine highways, before 2004, the Maine Turnpike between Falmouth and Gardiner was numbered I-495. I-95 used to take this exit, follow the Falmouth Spur, and up what is now an extended I-295 north of Falmouth.

[Mergingtraffic]

A little late to the party....but this sign could count you can see it said Harbor City underneath.

[Bruce]

The last US 99 shield in Seattle. Don't know what WSDOT will do with it once the viaduct is eventually demolished. I hope it gets preserved at one of our local history museums.


US 99 shield at 1st & Columbia by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[SignGeek101]

Hwy 2 was downgraded to county road 2 in 1998.

[PHLBOS]

When 65 mph speed limits were once again allowed on rural Interstates circa 1987; many governors in northeastern states still kept the 55 maximum everywhere.

PA (under Gov. Bob Casey, Sr.) went as far as posting signs along highways at every border that read: PENNSYLVANIA'S MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT STILL 55 MPH.  Within the first year of Tom Ridge becoming Governor in 1995; these signs were taken down when PA adopted a 65 mph speed limit along initially rural Interstates.

Post remnants of said-sign along I-95 northbound just north of PA 452/Exit 2.

[ekt8750]

When 65 mph speed limits were once again allowed on rural Interstates circa 1987; many governors in northeastern states still kept the 55 maximum everywhere.

PA (under Gov. Bob Casey, Sr.) went as far as posting signs along highways at every border that read: PENNSYLVANIA'S MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT STILL 55 MPH.  Within the first year of Tom Ridge becoming Governor in 1995; these signs were taken down when PA adopted a 65 mph speed limit along initially rural Interstates.

Post remnants of said-sign along I-95 northbound just north of PA 452/Exit 2.

And we're still waiting on 65 MPH zones outside the rural areas.

[Bickendan]

plenty of greenout in California.  one sign even has the ears.

Is that a 3dus hiding under there? 395?
Or is the 2dus on CalTrans BGSes a little wider than the 2dca, making that 60?

[wphiii]

This isn't a highway, but I've always enjoyed this delightfully anachronistic sign still in place at the intersection of Dallas Ave and Penn Ave here in Pittsburgh. U.S. 22/30 haven't been routed along Penn Ave for decades.

[roadman65]

When 65 mph speed limits were once again allowed on rural Interstates circa 1987; many governors in northeastern states still kept the 55 maximum everywhere.

PA (under Gov. Bob Casey, Sr.) went as far as posting signs along highways at every border that read: PENNSYLVANIA'S MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT STILL 55 MPH.  Within the first year of Tom Ridge becoming Governor in 1995; these signs were taken down when PA adopted a 65 mph speed limit along initially rural Interstates.

Post remnants of said-sign along I-95 northbound just north of PA 452/Exit 2.

And we're still waiting on 65 MPH zones outside the rural areas.

US 1 in Chester County on the Oxford Bypass?  I take this is one of them along with I-78 from Hamburg to Allentown that is STILL 55 mph.

[NE2]

This isn't a highway

Huh?

[bugo]

[Pete from Boston]

PA (under Gov. Bob Casey, Sr.) went as far as posting signs along highways at every border that read: PENNSYLVANIA'S MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT STILL 55 MPH. 

Funny, almost this exact statement (well, with "New York" substituted, and the insertion of "is" and "contrary to popular belief") was yelled at me during a traffic stop in late 1995, during the Northeast's 65 lag period.  Fortunately it was Christmas, so he just followed me out of the state and didn't write me a ticket.

[thefraze_1020]

Exit signs on WB I-90 in Seattle pay homage to when WA-900 extended to I-90 at Rainier Ave (not since 1992):

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.590547,-122.304234,3a,75y,322h,90.54t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOAuqLYF916q1JMXveRvJA!2e0?hl=en

WA-99 in Tukwila, where it used to exit itself and continue south through Tukwila, until the city had their section of WA-99 decommissioned in the early 2000's. It is now simply referred to as "Tukwila International Blvd".

SB WA-99: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.501622,-122.298194,3a,75y,199.51h,89.08t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1szCiR899CG1LHZcAx5NsB5A!2e0?hl=en
NB WA-599 where it transitions into WA-99: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.498641,-122.295482,3a,75y,332.15h,86.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1smIMK7suVZVxziChMrUa5uA!2e0?hl=en

[roadman65]

In Tampa along I-275 S Bound at US 92 exit there is a TO US 41 SOUTH on the guide sign which was there and copied over for years as remnants of when I-75 terminated in Downtown Tampa and US 41 was the through route south of there.

I am only guessing at this, of course, but originally I-75 was to end at I-4 where I-4 now ends at I-275 via I-275 from the north which is proven here by you users and on many road history websites.  So it makes sense that having US 41 SOUTH, although only one block to the east cosigned with US 92 East, the reason why it is worth mentioning.

[Bruce]

Exit signs on WB I-90 in Seattle pay homage to when WA-900 extended to I-90 at Rainier Ave (not since 1992):

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.590547,-122.304234,3a,75y,322h,90.54t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOAuqLYF916q1JMXveRvJA!2e0?hl=en

Here's a picture I took from the west end of the Mount Baker lid:


I-90 Exit 3 signage by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[noelbotevera]

plenty of greenout in California.  one sign even has the ears.

Is that a 3dus hiding under there? 395?
Or is the 2dus on CalTrans BGSes a little wider than the 2dca, making that 60?

That is 60. CA 60 was routed on the part where US 60 drifted away from I-10.

[meestersam]

Exit signs on WB I-90 in Seattle pay homage to when WA-900 extended to I-90 at Rainier Ave (not since 1992):

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.590547,-122.304234,3a,75y,322h,90.54t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOAuqLYF916q1JMXveRvJA!2e0?hl=en

THANK YOU.  I've been wondering for years and figured it had to do with 167 or something.

[jakeroot]

Exit signs on WB I-90 in Seattle pay homage to when WA-900 extended to I-90 at Rainier Ave (not since 1992):

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.590547,-122.304234,3a,75y,322h,90.54t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOAuqLYF916q1JMXveRvJA!2e0?hl=en

THANK YOU.  I've been wondering for years and figured it had to do with 167 or something.

The route's were decommissioned at roughly the same time. I don't think there's any reason that it couldn't be SR-167. Historic maps seem to suggest a concurrency near this point.

I'm surprised that WSDOT even put the 900 or 167 on the signs. The 90 was finished to 5 around the same time as these routes were decommissioned.

EDIT: I think the "SOUTH" green-out hides a 167 shield, and the "NORTH" green-out hides a 900 shield. Maybe.

[noelbotevera]

SR 167 did go along Rainier Ave, but then SR 900 was routed over Rainier. I looked at an old map showing SR 167 along Rainier and SR 900 along Rainier too, but this would have been a pointless duplex. One old sign shows SR 167 along Rainier north of I-405 in Renton, but past that I do not know where SR 167 would have ended. So those are SR 900 shields covered, since SR 900 connected to I-90 at both ends, but the west end was truncated to I-5 (note the mileposts - the mileposts start at mile 5 and not mile 0 reflecting the former setup).

[Kacie Jane]

SR 900 continued from its current end up MLK Way. 167 continued from downtown Renton up Rainier Avenue. Then in south Seattle where MLK Way & Rainier Avenue intersect, it was inexplicably 900 that continued to I-90 where it ended. I don't think 900 and 167 were multiplexed on that section of Rainier, but I could be wrong.

Both were truncated at the same time in 1992.

[busman_49]

Not along a highway, but note the US 33 sign on the far left of the photo.  This is on Main St. in Columbus, Ohio, which hasn't been US 33 in 30 years!
US 33 sign, Main St. Columbus 2013 06 23 by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr

75 south at the Glendale-Milford Rd. exit.  OH 126 used to run along Glendale Milford Rd until sometime in the 1990s
P1160502 by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr
P1160510 by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr
P1160504 by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr

[Dr Frankenstein]

Until recently (late 2014), A-13 in Laval, QC still had one pull-through sign with "Aéroport de Mirabel" as its control city. The highway was open up to A-640 in 1975 and never completed past that.
The sign was also blue, a colour formerly used for toll highways. Tolls were lifted in 1985.

[Kacie Jane]

Exit signs on WB I-90 in Seattle pay homage to when WA-900 extended to I-90 at Rainier Ave (not since 1992):

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.590547,-122.304234,3a,75y,322h,90.54t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOAuqLYF916q1JMXveRvJA!2e0?hl=en

THANK YOU.  I've been wondering for years and figured it had to do with 167 or something.

The route's were decommissioned at roughly the same time. I don't think there's any reason that it couldn't be SR-167. Historic maps seem to suggest a concurrency near this point.

I'm surprised that WSDOT even put the 900 or 167 on the signs. The 90 was finished to 5 around the same time as these routes were decommissioned.

EDIT: I think the "SOUTH" green-out hides a 167 shield, and the "NORTH" green-out hides a 900 shield. Maybe.

I-90 was finished to I-5 in 1991-1992 (I've still yet to find an exact date I'm confident in), but the basic geometry of the interchange was in place as far back as at least 1957 when it was US 10.  (Here's 1968 from historicaerials.com; I have a Shell map from 1957 that I picked up at Pike Place a year or two ago.)  It was really only that last mile hugging Beacon Hill that was left incomplete for so long.

What's really weird though is that 900 North from that point would technically be an error. (Or come to think of it so is South, shouldn't it have been East?)*  1970 Traffic Reports (warning: big PDF) confirm that milepost 0 for SR 900 was at the "SR 90 UXING W BND", and milepost 1.07 was at "JCT SR 167", and it's exactly 1.07 miles from I-90 to MLK Way along Rainier Avenue.  That said, I find it odd that the bit of Rainier from I-90 to Dearborn wasn't on the state highway system, even if US 10/Temp I-90 followed Corwin Place.

*(And no, that's not an indication that those are actually 167 shields under there.  Rainier was definitely at least 900 and most likely only 900.  They probably just decided to sign that section North-South to avoid confusion.  Trying to tell someone to take Rainier Avenue eastbound wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.)