Chihuahua and Sonora, part I

[agentsteel53]

https://www.aaroads.com/blog/2012/08/01/sonora-part-i/

some photos here from my Mexico trip at the end of last month.

[Takumi]

Excellent pics and quite humorous notes.

So, who won the election, Javier Corral or Josefina?

[agentsteel53]

Excellent pics and quite humorous notes.

So, who won the election, Javier Corral or Josefina?

Enrique Peña Nieto won the election for President of Mexico.  Not sure what Javier Corral was running for, or how he did.

[J N Winkler]

I think Josefina (attorney general at the time?) was the PAN candidate for President.

I like the pictures (and captions).  (I never figured out "Conceda cambio de luces.")  It looks like the majority of the signs further into Chihuahua (past the Arial-like ugliness at the border) use the FHWA alphabet series instead of the SCT typefaces.

[Takumi]

After a quick Google search, I found that Javier Corral is a former senator, so he was probably running for that position again, but I couldn't find how he did, even on his website. Also, tomorrow is his birthday.

[agentsteel53]

I think Josefina (attorney general at the time?) was the PAN candidate for President.

yes - Josefina Vazquez Mota, running on a campaign of "Josefina Diferente".

I like the pictures (and captions).  (I never figured out "Conceda cambio de luces.")

glad you like 'em!  As for "conceda..." - it is "dim high beams" with a subtext of "if someone oncoming flashes at you", thus the word "concede".  I had some idea that was the case, and I just googled it right now to make sure.  I had forgotten about that one!

It looks like the majority of the signs further into Chihuahua (past the Arial-like ugliness at the border) use the FHWA alphabet series instead of the SCT typefaces.

the Arial Hell lasted from Palomas to a brief section of highway 2; it was fine by Ascension.

[nexus73]

What a fine photo collection you have posted Agent Steel!  Thank you for taking the time to post them up along with the descriptions.  I'll be looking forward to Part II and anything else that follows!

Rick

[Alps]

I believe 1113 was not numbered as 113 because 113 was already in place and mileposted while 1113 was still a county route. That's just my conjecture, but given the number of other possible numbers (other x13s, for example), the fourth digit still makes no sense. (I espouse this opinion on my NM 9 page)

[The High Plains Traveler]

I believe 1113 was not numbered as 113 because 113 was already in place and mileposted while 1113 was still a county route. That's just my conjecture, but given the number of other possible numbers (other x13s, for example), the fourth digit still makes no sense. (I espouse this opinion on my NM 9 page)

I think 1113 was a faux extension of 113, since the state took over part of an existing county road after establishment of 113, and as Jake pointed out, New Mexico does not allow concurrent state routes. That is, except for the very short 338/9 concurrency in Animas, which I've seen in person. I think that sole concurrency exists only because 338 existed prior to the 1988 renumbering (it used to go almost to the bottom of the bootheel), and New Mexico intended to quickly eliminate 338 south of Animas. They did so that year except for about 1/2 mile of the existing route and chose not to give the little stub what the state would have considered a temporary post-1988 1xx route number. 

As far as four-digit NM routes that don't correspond to wavelengths in Angstroms of solar radiation, there used to be the orphan route 2001 extending into the NM Museum of Space History in Alamogordo (think "a space odyssey"), and the official designation of 5001 as the bypass of Farmington that is actually marked as U.S. 64. That latter route, I believe, is derivative of its original San Juan County designation.

Just sayin'. I've put a fair amount of effort into researching New Mexico route histories and designations. Other opinions and additional information are welcome.

[agentsteel53]

there used to be the orphan route 2001 extending into the NM Museum of Space History in Alamogordo (think "a space odyssey")

I've never seen this one signed in the field.  are 1113 and 6563 the only signed four-digit routes?

[The High Plains Traveler]

there used to be the orphan route 2001 extending into the NM Museum of Space History in Alamogordo (think "a space odyssey")

I've never seen this one signed in the field.  are 1113 and 6563 the only signed four-digit routes?

Last time I was in Alamogordo, about four years ago, you could still see a lone, sun-baked NM-2001 shield on the road to the museum. Even by then it was off the route log. NM-5001 at Farmington (still shown on the state route log) is signed as U.S. 64. The "official" route of 64 through Farmington is marked as Business U.S. 64. I don't think NMDOT has bothered to notify AASHTO.

[agentsteel53]

dang, I was just in Alamogordo, too.  it would've been fun to spot 2001 and 6563 within the same afternoon!

the official 64 is marked "BUSINESS LOOP 64" (all on one shield - compare with NEW MEXICO US 64) on at least one green sign, if I recall correctly.  this was the case in July, 2010, anyway.

while we're on the topic of New Mexico signage ... any cutouts left? 

[bugo]

Nice pictures.  You're nuts for going over 100 in Mexico.  I've heard bad things about Mexican jails.  Can you speak Spanish?  I imagine it would be bad to be stopped by a cop if you didn't speak Spanish.

[J N Winkler]

I imagine it would be bad to be stopped by a cop if you didn't speak Spanish.

I was pulled over by a cop in Mexico almost ten years ago and I have lived to tell the tale.  In Chihuahua I was working my way west from downtown to the (then) start of the períferico when I unthinkingly turned onto Avenida Flores Magón at a red signal, after first coming to a full stop, a maneuver which is legal almost everywhere in the US and Canada but not in Mexico.  The blue lights were flashing in my mirror almost immediately.  When I handed over my Kansas driver's license, however, the tránsito just looked at it and waved me on--no ticket, no mordida, no lecture on the traffic laws.

The street where I was stopped is named after Ricardo Flores Magón, a Mexican anarchist from the revolutionary era who died under suspicious circumstances in federal prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  With a Kansas driver's license and a Kansas license plate on my car, I was uncomfortably aware of the historical ironies.

[agentsteel53]

Nice pictures.  You're nuts for going over 100 in Mexico.  I've heard bad things about Mexican jails.  Can you speak Spanish?  I imagine it would be bad to be stopped by a cop if you didn't speak Spanish.

I speak passable Spanish.  rurally, the speed enforcement is nonexistent - speed of traffic is as much as 90mph on high-quality roads.  I tended to accelerate to 100 only for passing purposes, keeping cruise control around 82-84 when conditions warranted it.

at one point I blew past a federal police vehicle coming the other way.  I think I was doing about 81, which is 130km/h.  the speed limit was either 90 or 110.  nothing happened.

JNW, I am surprised you got pulled over for the right turn on red.  while illegal, it is extremely commonly performed.  but yes, there is more of a police presence in the cities and villages - there, I slowed down to at or below the speed limit.

[The High Plains Traveler]

while we're on the topic of New Mexico signage ... any cutouts left? 

I lived there in the mid-70s and there weren't any cutouts then. Well, I did see one of those round embossed STATE ROAD/N M signs on a remote mountain road once but of course, not knowing there would be this internet thing some day, didn't think to take a photo.

[agentsteel53]

I lived there in the mid-70s and there weren't any cutouts then. Well, I did see one of those round embossed STATE ROAD/N M signs on a remote mountain road once but of course, not knowing there would be this internet thing some day, didn't think to take a photo.

I know a guy who "borrowed" a handful in 1967... US-60, 66, and 666.  he liked his 6es.

nowadays, the oldest shields I know of are a pair of US-60s - a 1968 and a 1973.  the 1973 is the turquoise color; the only surviving example I know of in the state.

[The High Plains Traveler]

I lived there in the mid-70s and there weren't any cutouts then. Well, I did see one of those round embossed STATE ROAD/N M signs on a remote mountain road once but of course, not knowing there would be this internet thing some day, didn't think to take a photo.

I know a guy who "borrowed" a handful in 1967... US-60, 66, and 666.  he liked his 6es.

nowadays, the oldest shields I know of are a pair of US-60s - a 1968 and a 1973.  the 1973 is the turquoise color; the only surviving example I know of in the state.

To keep this on-thread, I must honestly say this is great reporting, as usual. I am envious of these travels, since a trip from here to Hermosillo and the Sea of Cortez is a bit of a dream for me, tempered by the fact I'm a bit uneasy traveling into Mexico. Having skills in Spanish only at a level of Home Depot aisle sign subtitles rather than passible is a handicap.

But, to comment on the date on the New Mexico sign you show, I would say that by 1973 I had traveled fairly extensively in New Mexico, and don't recall seeing any U.S. route marker other than the standard white shield on a black square. Never anything in turquoise - that would have made an impression. Could that be special New Mexico turquoise primer?

[agentsteel53]

But, to comment on the date on the New Mexico sign you show, I would say that by 1973 I had traveled fairly extensively in New Mexico, and don't recall seeing any U.S. route marker other than the standard white shield on a black square. Never anything in turquoise - that would have made an impression. Could that be special New Mexico turquoise primer?

I've seen three turquoise shields.  the others were 18" black square US-66 shields, both stamped 1962 in the wood.  those two had black backs.  this one has a green back. 

this is the only 24 incher I've seen.  the other two have turquoise retroreflective sheeting since they were "harvested" within a few years of their installation.

it must have been a short run of an experiment. 

[kphoger]

(1) I suspect the "100% Sinaloa" graffiti refers to the Sinaloa drug cartel, not the state with the same name.

(2) I have also been pulled over for speeding, in March 2011.  Two vehicles on a mission trip.  He mentioned that no ticket would go to my insurance since they don't have that capability with a foreign licnese.  I ended up just bribing our way out of the ticket anyway.  You would only go to jail in the case of an accident; even then, one would hope you'd brought the phone number for your car insurance company and American consulate.

(3) Yes, "Conceda cambio de luces" means "Dim your lights".  I've never seen it with a subtext regarding flashing lights, so I've always understood the "concede" part to just refer to any oncoming traffic.