Harrisburg Expressway: How was it signed pre 581?

[KEVIN_224]

Except that these signs are newer than that. I happen to pass by one of them in June 2014, before it was put up over the road:

[Roadsguy]

today's sign:

That graininess is so 2007 GSV. 

ixnay

It's so bad that the I-81 shield looks like it could just as easily be a Business I-83 shield.

[nexus73]

The thread on the I-83/PA 581 interchange got me thinking—PA 581 wasn’t designated until 1992, so how was the Harrisburg Expressway signed for the first 30+ years of its existence?

I understand that the section from the US 15 cloverleaf west to Carlisle Pike has been designated US 11 since it opened to traffic, but what about the segment between US 11/15 and I-83? Was it unnumbered? PennDOT maps from the late ’50s through the early ’90s simply list it as “Harrisburg Expressway”.

And how were pull-throughs signed? Just “TO I-83” at the western end and “TO US 11” at the eastern end, or with control points “Harrisburg” and “Mechanicsburg”—or was it signed by name, as the Central Scranton Expressway is?

Unfortunately, the designation of PA 581 in 1992 occurred right around the time I started traveling around the state, and I can only remember this signed as 581. But it wasn’t that long ago—surely someone must remember (and perhaps have pictures).

Did Gousha make the map from 1980?  To me it looks so easy to read!

We need a new Roamin' Empire for us who love to travel...LOL!  Better roads indeed!

Rick

[kathyc01772]

I was looking through a scan of a Reading Eagle issue from 1966 and stumbled upon the photo below. All of you who remembered  "TO 11 - 15 - Camp Hill"  were exactly correct.

Today's sign