Weird DOT Office Locations

[Max Rockatansky]

I noticed walking around the Manchester Mall in Fresno on Shields Avenue this morning that Caltrans District 6 has a large office that occupies about 1/6th of the structure.  An almost unoccupied mall from the heyday of the 1970s/1980s (complete with a brown interior) seemed like a strange place to house DOT offices.  What other examples odd DOT office locations are there?

[vdeane]

I've always wondered why NYSDOT Region 6 is located where it is.  Most regional offices are located in the most major metro area in the region (or at least a somewhat significant area); Region 1 is in an Albany suburb (same building as Main Office), Region 2 is in downtown Utica, Region 3 is in downtown Syracuse, Region 4 is in a Rochester suburb, Region 5 is near downtown Buffalo, Region 7 is in Watertown, Region 8 is in a Poughkeepsie suburb, Region 9 is in downtown Binghamton, Region 10 is in Hauppauge (NYC suburb), and Region 11 is in Long Island City (NYC neighborhood).  Following this pattern, one would think Region 6 would be around Corning or Elmira, the major cities in the region (Corning being the more central of the two).  Nope - instead it's in Hornell, population 8,563 in the middle of nowhere (fun fact: they probably have the most rural Wegmans in existence).  It's the only NYSDOT regional office not located in a MPO area.

[GaryV]

I noticed walking around the Manchester Mall in Fresno on Shields Avenue this morning that Caltrans District 6 has a large office that occupies about 1/6th of the structure.  An almost unoccupied mall from the heyday of the 1970s/1980s (complete with a brown interior) seemed like a strange place to house DOT offices.  What other examples odd DOT office locations are there?

Cheap rent?  And at a location with relatively good access.

[Beltway]

Montoursville, PA, PennDOT District 3-0
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Montoursville,+PA/@41.2472282,-76.9178632,168m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89cfa32bfe4df379:0x624766929c9be298!8m2!3d41.2542459!4d-76.9205199

Right in the center of a small town.

[Max Rockatansky]

I noticed walking around the Manchester Mall in Fresno on Shields Avenue this morning that Caltrans District 6 has a large office that occupies about 1/6th of the structure.  An almost unoccupied mall from the heyday of the 1970s/1980s (complete with a brown interior) seemed like a strange place to house DOT offices.  What other examples odd DOT office locations are there?

Cheap rent?  And at a location with relatively good access.

Fantastic access with CA 41 being right there off of Shields Avenue.  Considering how many spots the City of Fresno occupies I would imagine that the rent is pretty cheap. 

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma DOT's divisions make very little sense.


The Oklahoma City area is split across two divisions, with most of the city and its northern and western Suburbs in Division 4, while its southern suburbs are in Division 3, and Tuttle, which could be considered an OKC exurb, is in Division 7! The Division 4 HQ is in Perry and the Division 3 HQ is in Ada, neither of which are anywhere close to the center of population of those two districts.

[vdeane]

Montoursville, PA, PennDOT District 3-0
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Montoursville,+PA/@41.2472282,-76.9178632,168m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89cfa32bfe4df379:0x624766929c9be298!8m2!3d41.2542459!4d-76.9205199

Right in the center of a small town.

That small town looks like a suburb of Williamsport, so that wouldn't be too unusual... unless PA doesn't have any other district offices in suburbs or there's something else I'm missing?

[wanderer2575]

I wouldn't call it weird -- it's actually brilliant since the right-of-way was already owned -- but it's certainly unusual:  MDOT (Michigan) built a new service center at the southwest corner of US-24 (Telegraph Road) and I-94 in Taylor, where the carriageway of eastbound I-94 used to be.

https://goo.gl/maps/vZj6HFZxfBsPiHycA

[Beltway]

Montoursville, PA, PennDOT District 3-0
Right in the center of a small town.

That small town looks like a suburb of Williamsport, so that wouldn't be too unusual... unless PA doesn't have any other district offices in suburbs or there's something else I'm missing?

I wouldn't really call it a suburb of Williamsport, but it does serve that whole region around Williamsport.

Counties: Bradford | Columbia | Lycoming | Montour | Northumberland | Snyder | Sullivan | Tioga | Union
https://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-3/Pages/default.aspx

[GenExpwy]

I've always wondered why NYSDOT Region 6 is located where it is.  Most regional offices are located in the most major metro area in the region (or at least a somewhat significant area); Region 1 is in an Albany suburb (same building as Main Office), Region 2 is in downtown Utica, Region 3 is in downtown Syracuse, Region 4 is in a Rochester suburb, Region 5 is near downtown Buffalo, Region 7 is in Watertown, Region 8 is in a Poughkeepsie suburb, Region 9 is in downtown Binghamton, Region 10 is in Hauppauge (NYC suburb), and Region 11 is in Long Island City (NYC neighborhood).  Following this pattern, one would think Region 6 would be around Corning or Elmira, the major cities in the region (Corning being the more central of the two).  Nope - instead it's in Hornell, population 8,563 in the middle of nowhere (fun fact: they probably have the most rural Wegmans in existence).  It's the only NYSDOT regional office not located in a MPO area.

Could be politics. I vaguely remember from the Rockefeller era (NYSDOT established 1967) that we had a Republcan Assemblyman, Charlie Henderson, who was from Hornell and had significant influence.

[hbelkins]

Some of Kentucky's district offices are located in what might be considered odd towns. Most are centrally located, but some aren't. Paducah, Louisville, and Northern Kentucky are not centered within their districts. The DO for District 2 is Madisonville instead of the larger towns of Hopkinsville, Henderson, or Owensboro. District 9 is in Flemingsburg instead of Morehead, Maysville, or Ashland. I always presumed District 10 was located in Jackson (which is fairly centrally located) because of political pressure by the influential Turner family which dominated Democrat politics for years.

As far as the office locations themselves within their towns, Manchester (District 11) is right in the middle of town on a small lot with no room for expansion. Their building was identical to ours. We were both approved for new buildings several years ago. Ours was built on the same lot, because we had plenty of room in front of the old building. Property will have to be bought for a new District 11 building, and there's some talk of trying to move the district office to London or Corbin.

The old Louisville office was at the fairgrounds, but they built a new office on the northeast side of town.

[vdeane]

I've always wondered why NYSDOT Region 6 is located where it is.  Most regional offices are located in the most major metro area in the region (or at least a somewhat significant area); Region 1 is in an Albany suburb (same building as Main Office), Region 2 is in downtown Utica, Region 3 is in downtown Syracuse, Region 4 is in a Rochester suburb, Region 5 is near downtown Buffalo, Region 7 is in Watertown, Region 8 is in a Poughkeepsie suburb, Region 9 is in downtown Binghamton, Region 10 is in Hauppauge (NYC suburb), and Region 11 is in Long Island City (NYC neighborhood).  Following this pattern, one would think Region 6 would be around Corning or Elmira, the major cities in the region (Corning being the more central of the two).  Nope - instead it's in Hornell, population 8,563 in the middle of nowhere (fun fact: they probably have the most rural Wegmans in existence).  It's the only NYSDOT regional office not located in a MPO area.

Could be politics. I vaguely remember from the Rockefeller era (NYSDOT established 1967) that we had a Republcan Assemblyman, Charlie Henderson, who was from Hornell and had significant influence.

My understanding is that the NYSDOT Regions were inherited from NYSDPW Districts, though I don't know the full history.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

LaDOTD District 58 is HQ'd in Chase, which is a small unincorporated community in Franklin Parish of little consequence otherwise. The DOTD district office is actually the most significant thing located there. Winnsboro is a few miles to the north and is far more important regionally, but for some reason the HQ was located elsewhere. District 58 was not an original DOTD/DOH district, but was split off from Districts 05 and 08 in the 1950s (5 & 8 = 58).

All other DOTD regional offices are located in the major population centers in the state, so it is definitely an outlier.

[cl94]

I've always wondered why NYSDOT Region 6 is located where it is.  Most regional offices are located in the most major metro area in the region (or at least a somewhat significant area); Region 1 is in an Albany suburb (same building as Main Office), Region 2 is in downtown Utica, Region 3 is in downtown Syracuse, Region 4 is in a Rochester suburb, Region 5 is near downtown Buffalo, Region 7 is in Watertown, Region 8 is in a Poughkeepsie suburb, Region 9 is in downtown Binghamton, Region 10 is in Hauppauge (NYC suburb), and Region 11 is in Long Island City (NYC neighborhood).  Following this pattern, one would think Region 6 would be around Corning or Elmira, the major cities in the region (Corning being the more central of the two).  Nope - instead it's in Hornell, population 8,563 in the middle of nowhere (fun fact: they probably have the most rural Wegmans in existence).  It's the only NYSDOT regional office not located in a MPO area.

Could be politics. I vaguely remember from the Rockefeller era (NYSDOT established 1967) that we had a Republcan Assemblyman, Charlie Henderson, who was from Hornell and had significant influence.

My understanding is that the NYSDOT Regions were inherited from NYSDPW Districts, though I don't know the full history.

It's also noteworthy that the Hornell office is the only one not in or immediately adjacent to a county seat. But it's almost certainly in Hornell to be with the region's other state offices. Why there instead of other places, who knows. While "politics" is likely a reason, it's a central location for the western Southern Tier's, likely part of why it was chosen for the state offices.

Before anybody mentions Region 10, Hauppauge is effectively the seat of Suffolk County at this point and has everything but the courthouse.

[froggie]

Until somewhat recently, VTrans headquarters was located in an insurance company's building.  Many of the central office functions are still there.

[ErmineNotyours]

Some WSDOT offices were located in modular buildings next to a swamp.  They probably owned the land there under I-90, but when they left, the lots are still vacant.

[debragga]

LaDOTD District 58 is HQ'd in Chase, which is a small unincorporated community in Franklin Parish of little consequence otherwise. The DOTD district office is actually the most significant thing located there. Winnsboro is a few miles to the north and is far more important regionally, but for some reason the HQ was located elsewhere. District 58 was not an original DOTD/DOH district, but was split off from Districts 05 and 08 in the 1950s (5 & 8 = 58).

All other DOTD regional offices are located in the major population centers in the state, so it is definitely an outlier.

You beat me to it. Chase isn't even in the middle of the district, Harrisonburg would be a much more centralized location.

[hbelkins]

A map showing Kentucky's highway districts can be found here (link.)

Aren't the Maryland SHA offices actually located in Baltimore instead of the capital city of Annapolis? When I went to TransComm in Annapolis several years ago, I remember most of the SHA folks coming from Baltimore.

[Beltway]

A map showing Kentucky's highway districts can be found here (link.)
Aren't the Maryland SHA offices actually located in Baltimore instead of the capital city of Annapolis? When I went to TransComm in Annapolis several years ago, I remember most of the SHA folks coming from Baltimore.

If you are referring to the central office, yes, and they call it "Headquarters."

Headquarters
"707 Building", 707 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. 21202
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_State_Highway_Administration

The 7 field districts are also listed.