Distance signs that don't add up

[golden eagle]

This morning, while driving back home from the Gulf Coast, I saw a distance sign on US 49 that said "Magee 9, Jackson 52".  Two miles up the highway, another sign said "Magee  7, Jackson 48".  How could Jackson be four miles closer after traveling only two miles? 

[iBallasticwolf2]

This morning, while driving back home from the Gulf Coast, I saw a distance sign on US 49 that said "Magee 7, Jackson 52".  Two miles up the highway, another sign said "Magee 7, Jackson 48".  How could Jackson be four miles closer after traveling only two miles? 

Or Magee still being 7 miles away even after 2 miles since the last sign saying 7 miles.

[golden eagle]

I'm glad you caught that. The first sign said "Magee 9". I corrected it.

[US71]

There is a spatial warp between Summers, AR and Westville, OK.  It is 2 miles further to Tahlequah from Westville, than it is from Summers if you stay on US 62

[noelbotevera]

I-81 in PA has this trouble. On I-81 NB near MM 53, there is a sign saying

Harrisburg 17
Hazelton 99

At MM 58, you then see this

Harrisburg 10
I-78 Jct. 31

[hotdogPi]

Then there are a few times where getting closer increases the number, although I don't know where any are.

[amroad17]

There was another thread that discussed this.  HB Elkins was lamenting the fluctuations in distances to Bluefield, WV along US 460 between Lynchburg and Roanoke.

Many states are inconsistent in distance signing.  Kentucky is very inconsistent in this, especially in distances to Louisville along both I-71 and I-65.  Along I-65 near the southern portion of the state, Louisville is measured to mm 132.  As one reaches Cave City, the distance is measured to mm 135 (the correct one).

Virginia, along I-64 west, has Charleston five miles closer than it actually is until one reaches the other side of Covington, where it is correct.

There are different ways some states measure the distance.  Many states measure to the city center or downtown area (Kentucky and Ohio, for example).  Other states measure to the city line (New York and Virginia--when it comes to the distances of Norfolk and Virginia Beach along I-64 between Richmond and Newport News).  In New York, New York City's distances along the Thruway are measured to the Bronx/Westchester County line instead of someplace like Times Square in Manhattan.

[Rothman]

Back when I was kid, at the State House tour in Boston they'd tell you that the distances to Boston on the Pike were to the State House's gold dome. 

[The Nature Boy]

Back when I was kid, at the State House tour in Boston they'd tell you that the distances to Boston on the Pike were to the State House's gold dome.

When I did that tour five years ago, they told us the exact same thing.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

Reminds me of a distance sign I saw on U.S. 231  northbound going from Hebron to Crown Point. It mentioned it's distance to downtown CP (11 miles), but then it mentions its distance from Gary, which is 19 miles.

The only way I think this is plausible is if you avoid I-65 completely and use Indiana 53 to make the drive to Gary. Otherwise, I'm puzzled.

I found the distance sign in question via Google Maps. It mentioned Gary, and not Chicago. It really HAS been a long time. Apologies.

[cjk374]

I-20 eastbound past exit 33: Monroe is listed as being 79 miles away (the old sign said 82). Then past the next exit (38) Monroe is listed as 77 miles. 

[SP Cook]

There are three main reasons for this:

- A route is planned, partly constructed and signed.  Then the plans change and make the distances different on a newer section, and the don't go back and correct the older section.

- A city annexes formerly rural land.  This actually moves the city closer (assuming the use the city limits as the point) and new signs use one, and old signs use another.

- There is no fixed policy as to what defines the city.  The city limit, city hall, the CBD, the "real" city leaving out urban county and metrogov type deals, the exit for that city from the road, whatever.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Then there are a few times where getting closer increases the number, although I don't know where any are.

I remember two of them in this part of the world, both of which have been corrected since. Southbound on Spanish A-23, past exit 255 there is a sign stating that Teruel (if it exists at all, since it is the object of jokes that claim it doesn't exist) is 139 km (86 miles) away, and 10 km (6 miles) later there is another sign that originally stated that now it was 145 km (90 miles) due to a section that was not yet open and traffic had to make a nice detour. It took several years after the opening of the final section to change it to the correct 129 km (80 miles) that now stands.

At the beginning of A-22 (God knows when the works for connect it to A-23 will start) there's a sign saying Lleida (also known as Lérida) is 97 km (60 miles) away, and 5 km (3 miles) later another sign says it was now 100 km (62 miles). I don't recall which one was changed, I'll definitely check on Thursday.

[roadman]

Back when I was kid, at the State House tour in Boston they'd tell you that the distances to Boston on the Pike were to the State House's gold dome.

When I did that tour five years ago, they told us the exact same thing.

Well, they're dead wrong.  Back in the early days of the Massachusetts state numbered route system, when all routes originated in Boston, the "zero milepost" in Downtown Boston was at the Custom House Tower (tallest building in Boston at the time), and not the Massachusetts State House.

[jwolfer]

There are signs on i95 that show Jacksonville 17 miles away but at that point you are already 9 miles inside city limits

[jeffandnicole]

There are signs on i95 that show Jacksonville 17 miles away but at that point you are already 9 miles inside city limits

The first time I saw the sign on 301 saying I was entering Jacksonville, I'm looking around like this is a city unlike no other.  Clearly they have a LOT of land to expand on!

[jwolfer]

There are signs on i95 that show Jacksonville 17 miles away but at that point you are already 9 miles inside city limits

The first time I saw the sign on 301 saying I was entering Jacksonville, I'm looking around like this is a city unlike no other.  Clearly they have a LOT of land to expand on!

301 goes thru the most rural western part of Duval County.. Lots of tree farm and the city landfill are out there

[hbelkins]

There was an egregious example of this on I-64 westbound in northeastern Kentucky, but it ended up being fixed.

[bzakharin]

There used to be two adjacent signs in Cherry Hill on Kings Highway (NJ 41) at, I believe, Church Road that advertised two different Wendy's locations in opposite directions along Church. When approaching from one side, both signs said "1 mile", but from the other side, one was "1 mile" while the other was "2 miles". I don't know how long ago they were removed, but GSV from 2009 doesn't seem to show them.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

There are signs on i95 that show Jacksonville 17 miles away but at that point you are already 9 miles inside city limits

Bitch, please.

Yes, that is a Chinese Street View. And yes, that is the Beijing city limit, but there is still 103 miles to Beijing (Tian'anmen, I suppose). That road has been since bypassed.

[SP Cook]

There was an egregious example of this on I-64 westbound in northeastern Kentucky, but it ended up being fixed.

But KY still has signs of so many miles to Lexington.  Inside Fayette County.  Which Fayette County and Lexington have been merged for 4 decades.  Similar situation with Louisville. 

You also see signs in NC on US 52 of so many miles to Winston-Salem, long after you pass the W-S city limit signs, as W-S annexed many miles of what is really rural Forsythe County.

[golden eagle]

There was an egregious example of this on I-64 westbound in northeastern Kentucky, but it ended up being fixed.

But KY still has signs of so many miles to Lexington.  Inside Fayette County.  Which Fayette County and Lexington have been merged for 4 decades.  Similar situation with Louisville.

I'm not sure about the mileage signs, but the big green signs in Nashville uses Nashville as a control city well after crossing into the city. All of Davidson County except for a few independent cities consolidated with Nashville. Maybe the mileage and control signs are used until a point where people "feel" like they're in that city.

[DandyDan]

Driving south on I-29 towards Council Bluffs, there's a situation similar to the original poster's.  I can't remember specifics, but I believe Omaha ends up 3 miles farther away from Council Bluffs after the I-680 split than before the split (after the Honey Creek exit).  I assume they mean downtown Omaha when it says Omaha, so the fact Omaha is just over the Mormon Bridge on 680 seems to have nothing to do with it.