Last Exit in New York, Leaving state signs and other unusual warning signs

[PurdueBill]

Sign leaving Montreal on the 40:

Take a note of this, MassDOT.  This is how the "U-turn to Boston" signage should look for the westbound Allston-Brighton exit. 

[lepidopteran]

There is or was a sign on I-478 that read "Last Exit to Brooklyn".  A novel was written with that title, so named for the rough neighborhood around that exit, and was even made into a movie with the sign's likeness on the poster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Exit_to_Brooklyn_(film)

I think on the Staten Island approach to the Verrazano Bridge, on a sign reading "Last Exit Before Toll" , the word Toll  was green-outed (yellow-outed?) to "Bridge" .  This was from when the Brooklyn-bound toll was eliminated.

NJTP Exit 6 used to have a yellow strip on the bottom reading NO EXIT IN NEW JERSEY.  This was before the opening of Exit 6A.

Louisville, KY, has beltway arcs north and south of the Ohio River that do not connect.  There are signs on the Indiana side reading "No Bridge To Kentucky" .

[1995hoo]

....

I think on the Staten Island approach to the Verrazano Bridge, on a sign reading "Last Exit Before Toll" , the word Toll  was green-outed (yellow-outed?) to "Bridge" .  This was from when the Brooklyn-bound toll was eliminated.

NJTP Exit 6 used to have a yellow strip on the bottom reading NO EXIT IN NEW JERSEY.  This was before the opening of Exit 6A.

....

Correct about the Verrazano. I mentioned that earlier in this thread as well.

The idea of "NO EXIT IN [STATE]" is a decent idea. I've occasionally thought Virginia and Maryland should use that on the signs for the "THRU" carriageways over the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge. The way it's set up now, there are signs prior to the "LOCAL"/"THRU" split in each state that list "LOCAL EXITS" and "THRU EXITS." I presume the idea is the motorist is to find his exit and use the corresponding set of lanes. Whether that's clear enough for out-of-area drivers is something I don't really know. I still see people making last-second kamikaze moves to the other carriageway at the split locations, but it's impossible to know whether those are people confused by the signs or just aggressive drivers!

[xcellntbuy]

A few miles north of me is the only exit I can recall which mentions being the last exit in a county.



In this case, the county border it coincides with a toll bridge over SF Bay. A separate sign indicates "TOLL CROSSING ENTRANCE - FREE DIRECTION”.

San Quentin is the last exit for VERY bad people!

[PHLBOS]

Note: even though there's no toll in this direction (there hasn't been since the early 90s), the DRPA still thought that such signage was needed given the location and circumstances.

Or they just replaced the "last exit before toll" wording instead of the entire signs when the toll was removed?

That's very likey what happened with the previous BGS'.  The ones shown in GSV are from the early-2000s; long after one-way tolls took effect in the Delaware Valley.

Also, the PA Turnpike welcomes you to PA at places far away from the state border.

If memory serves, the location of those signs along the Turnpike likely coincides with the location of the Welcome Centers.  Note: along I-276 Westbound near the US 1/Bensalem interchange was taken out of commission several years ago.

Actually, along I-95 Southbound in Bucks County, the WELCOME TO PENNSYLVANIA sign is located just beyond the exit ramp to the Welcome Center (which is south of Exits 51B-A, the 1st interchange in PA one encounters after crossing the Delaware).

[roadman65]

Colorado has a "Welcome Back- Come Again" sign on I-70 East leaving it for Kansas, but I feel that after you drive I-70 from Limon to Kansas you deserve some sort of acknowledgement for the most boring drive you encountered.  It is only after you travel into Kansas you see grain silos and some wheat fields that look alive when EB on I-70.

[ixnay]

I always thought those "Last Exit Before"/"Last Exit In" signs had a "There is no turning back, sinners!"/"All who pass this exit, repent!"/"Abandon all hope, ye who pass this exit!" aura to them, particularly if you had to pay a toll...   

ixnay

[thenetwork]

There is or was a sign on I-478 that read "Last Exit to Brooklyn".  A novel was written with that title, so named for the rough neighborhood around that exit, and was even made into a movie with the sign's likeness on the poster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Exit_to_Brooklyn_(film)

There was a hit for Gene Pitney in the mid-60s called "Last Chance To Turn Around (Last Exit To Brooklyn)"

[rschen7754]

I-5 southbound in San Ysidro, CA has a Last U-Turn just before the Mexican border.

[MASTERNC]

I note you do not always see this sort of thing prior to another state's toll, either–I don't ever remember Exit 109 on I-95 in Maryland prior to the Delaware line having a "Last Exit in Maryland" or "Last Exit Before Toll" banner, although I acknowledge there may well be new signs there since Delaware rebuilt the toll plaza (I haven't gone that way in several years either).

You are correct, there was no warning in Maryland about the Delaware tolls until Delaware completed the E-ZPass Express lanes and Maryland replaced its signs.  Now you not only have the "Last Exit Before Toll" warning but you also have notices about the E-ZPass lanes starting prior to Exit 109.

[Jim]

This one's on I-25 north just before crossing into Colorado.  Or at least it was 12 years ago when I took this picture:



And a more recent one, this one taken in 2008 on NM 17 as it enters Colorado:



From I-70 East, leaving West Virginia and entering Pennsylvania, this one from back in 2003:



Also from 2003 on I-95 North leaving Maryland for Delaware:



Leaving Kansas for Colorado on US 50 West in 2004:



Leaving Colorado for Utah on I-70 West in 2004:

[storm2k]

There's a Last Exit in NJ yellow banner on the sign for the Weehawken exit off 495 just before the helix. I believe they meant it more as "last exit before toll" thing, but that's been there for at least 20 years now.

[hbelkins]

There's a similar sign leaving WV on I-64 eastbound entering Virginia.

[Henry]

These are lots of interesting finds! Usually the only signs of this kind I encounter are the ones that say LAST EXIT BEFORE TOLL.

[pctech]

We need one that reads, "Leaving Louisiana, prepare for better highways" 

[hbelkins]

Virginia needs signs as you leave the state, "OK to put your radar detectors back up and turn them on."

[cpzilliacus]

Virginia needs signs as you leave the state, "OK to put your radar detectors back up and turn them on."

Except when crossing the Potomac River into the District of Columbia.

Maybe still, use of a radar detector in D.C. can get you handcuffed and taken to a police station.

[SP Cook]

Somewhat off-topic, but back when I had to go to DC all the time I would ride get around town on the Metro.  They generally would announce "Last Exit in (Maryland, Virginia, the district) " .  I don't know why anyone would care. 

[oscar]

I-5 southbound in San Ysidro, CA has a Last U-Turn just before the Mexican border.

As has been in the news lately (or at least beaten to death on Fox News), a Marine was recently imprisoned in Mexico for bringing some firearms across the border.  His story is that road construction at the border made the Last U-Turn sign less conspicuous, and by the time he saw it, it was too late to cross several lanes of heavy traffic to reach the last U-turn.

I'm a little puzzled by the story.  First, given the well-known severe legal problems for military personnel bringing firearms into Mexico, what was he doing anywhere near the border with guns, without knowing for sure exactly where he was and how to turn back?  (I get super-careful when approaching any international border, including slowing down to make sure I can make the last turnaround, if for whatever reason I want to get as close to the border as possible without crossing.)   Second, aren't there further north on both I-5 and I-805 signs for the last exit before the border, and how did he manage to miss those?  Third, if it had been me, with guns, I would've just stopped after missing the last U-turn, traffic disruption be damned, and let the Border Patrol and/or the CHP figure out how to get me turned around short of the border.

[lordsutch]

As has been in the news lately (or at least beaten to death on Fox News), a Marine was recently imprisoned in Mexico for bringing some firearms across the border.  His story is that road construction at the border made the Last U-Turn sign less conspicuous, and by the time he saw it, it was too late to cross several lanes of heavy traffic to reach the last U-turn.

I'm a little puzzled by the story.  First, given the well-known severe legal problems for military personnel bringing firearms into Mexico, what was he doing anywhere near the border with guns, without knowing for sure exactly where he was and how to turn back?  (I get super-careful when approaching any international border, including slowing down to make sure I can make the last turnaround, if for whatever reason I want to get as close to the border as possible without crossing.)   Second, aren't there further north on both I-5 and I-805 signs for the last exit before the border, and how did he manage to miss those?  Third, if it had been me, with guns, I would've just stopped after missing the last U-turn, traffic disruption be damned, and let the Border Patrol and/or the CHP figure out how to get me turned around short of the border.

The story being circulated by his relatives is that he suffers from PTSD and apparently also has had episodes of getting lost without realizing it in the recent past. Although I'm sympathetic to his situation in some regards it's not obvious at all that better signage (such as TxDOT's huge warning signs about Mexico's firearms laws, or the newly installed VMS at San Ysidro) would have made any difference in this case given his condition. Honestly from his family's account it sounds like he shouldn't be driving in the first place.

[cpzilliacus]

Somewhat off-topic, but back when I had to go to DC all the time I would ride get around town on the Metro.  They generally would announce "Last Exit in (Maryland, Virginia, the district) " .  I don't know why anyone would care.

Perhaps because the fare would jump (sometimes somewhat abruptly) by crossing that line. 

Traditionally, Metrorail fares got the most subsidy in the District of Columbia, less in Maryland and even less in Virginia. 

[mrsman]

Somewhat off-topic, but back when I had to go to DC all the time I would ride get around town on the Metro.  They generally would announce "Last Exit in (Maryland, Virginia, the district) " .  I don't know why anyone would care.

Perhaps because the fare would jump (sometimes somewhat abruptly) by crossing that line. 

Traditionally, Metrorail fares got the most subsidy in the District of Columbia, less in Maryland and even less in Virginia.

It does seem extraneous.  My only thoughts are that it does serve as a bit of a wake up call for those who may not be paying close attention to the stop announcements.  If they know that they want to ride the train all the way into the next jurisdiction, they don't have to pay attention until the hear that message.

[codyg1985]

There are signs on I-64 east in Downtown St. Louis warning you that an exit is the Last Missouri Exit before you default onto the Poplar Street Bridge and cross into East St. Louis, IL.

[hbelkins]

There are signs on I-64 east in Downtown St. Louis warning you that an exit is the Last Missouri Exit before you default onto the Poplar Street Bridge and cross into East St. Louis, IL.

I wonder if that's not an alternative way of saying "If you want to get on I-55 south, you have to exit here or else cross the river and turn around?" I don't recall any "To I-55" signage there, though.

[D-Dey65]

Somewhat off-topic, but back when I had to go to DC all the time I would ride get around town on the Metro.  They generally would announce "Last Exit in (Maryland, Virginia, the district) " .  I don't know why anyone would care.

Perhaps because the fare would jump (sometimes somewhat abruptly) by crossing that line. 

Traditionally, Metrorail fares got the most subsidy in the District of Columbia, less in Maryland and even less in Virginia. 

Wow, that makes me glad I've never used Washington Metro. On the New York City Subways, it's one fare throughout the city. No new rates when you want go from Manhattan to the Bronx or Brooklyn, or Queens and vice-versa. Fare zones are for commuter railroads.

But getting back to the original topic, you've got signs like these when you leave Brooklyn:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/avishai/331254411/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jag9889/12055231814/