AARoads Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

The AARoads Wiki is live! Come check it out!

Author Topic: Youngstown, OH Meet Wrap-Up  (Read 5509 times)

DanTheMan414

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 223
  • Last Login: January 19, 2019, 03:12:40 PM
    • CanHighways.com
Youngstown, OH Meet Wrap-Up
« on: May 13, 2009, 12:51:54 AM »

Light showers in the morning gave way to windy but partly cloudy conditions,
making for a great afternoon for the Youngstown Roads Meet. Eleven roads
enthusiasts from all around the region came together for the event, including,
besides myself (still somewhat sprained right foot and all): Larry Harvilla
(MI), Chris Lokken (WI), H.B. Elkins (KY), Brian Powell (WV), newcomers Scott
and Jeff Davis (NJ), Jeff Kitsko (PA), Ed and Shari Szuba (PA), and Marc Fannin
(OH).

We had to make a slight adjustment of venue for our meet-and-greet, so at noon
we met in the parking lot of the Tokyo House Restaurant, then headed over to the
MVR (Mahoning Valley Restaurant), an excellent Italian-American Eatery on the
edge of the Youngstown State University campus. I have to admit, they had some
of the best gnocchi I've ever had! During our meet-and-greet at the MVR, H.B.
passed out some goodies from Kentucky.

After lunch, we embarked on our two-state tour. We headed onto US 422 West,
which jumps off of the expressway that bounds the north side of Youngstown's
downtown area, and then OH 193 South takes over. An interesting oddity: the END
OH 193 shield present at I-680 features a freeway-sized OH 193 shield, but the
two-lane standard-sized "END" plate above it.

From I-680, we headed onto the OH 711 freeway, in the northbound direction. The
four-lane freeway opened in its entirety...without much fanfare, to be
honest...in 2005, and has made the connection from I-680 and the downtown
Youngstown area to I-80 East and OH 11 North much easier. After OH 711's
endpoint, we continued past I-80 onto OH 11 North, looped back southbound at the
first exit, Trumbull Co. Rd. 28, which features another oddity...black-on-yellow
county route markers...in both directions! We hopped onto I-80 West, and went
through the widening work that still continues (as it has for a few years now)
between the I-680/OH 11 and I-76/Ohio Turnpike interchanges, including the
rebuilding of the dual bridges over the Meander Reservoir. (Portions east of
the reservoir are now 6-lanes wide, but work continues from the reservoir to the
Turnpike.) We continued past the Turnpike onto I-76 West, then got off at the
first interchange, Bailey Rd., and headed south to Mahoning Ave. (Co. Rd. 18).
We took that back to OH 11, and along the way, came across some very unusual
detour signage, which identified it as "TEMPORARY ALT DETOUR Mahoning Ave."! We
hopped onto OH 11 North, and then got onto I-80 East, which we took into the
Keystone State, and to the first stop of the tour, the Pennsylvania Welcome
Center.

At the Welcome Center, we were on the lookout for new 2009 PA state maps, but as
Jeff noted, what they were giving away were still 2007 Series B state maps.
Outside, amidst a partly cloudy but very windy atmosphere, Marc brought out a
big collection of historic periodicals and maps that he has, including some
magazines (National Geographics) that date back to the birth of the Interstate Highway System.

After looking through his collection, we resumed our tour, heading east on I-80
to PA 60, then joined the four-lane freeway in the southbound direction, heading
toward New Castle. The PA 60 freeway features a mix of exits both with and
without numbers. Where there are exit numbers, there is some ambiguity as to
what the basis of the numbering is. (The exit numbers were 24, 25, etc.).
Around New Castle, on the US 422/PA 60 bypass, there is a very interesting mix
of signage present. Southbound, there is still a lot of original button-copy
signage that features "US 422" in text form rather than in shield form, while
northbound, you have both new Clearview and newer FHWA signage in place by the
US 224 interchange. We got off at US 224, at what was, until early 2008, its
Eastern Terminus. Then, US 224 was extended into downtown New Castle, where it
now ends at the northern junction of BUS US 422 and PA 18. (By the way, for
those of you who are signal fans, New Castle has quite a variance of traffic
signal styles that are worth a look sometime, if you have not been there
before.)

We headed east to the aforementioned intersection of US 224, BUS US 422 and PA
18, then headed south to PA 168, and took that south to get back to US 422. We
traveled along US 422 West, passing by the interchange with PA Tpk. 60, which,
according to one of the attendees (Brian?), may be as far north as I-376 is
extended for the time being, when it is done, because of the one-lane ramp from
PA Tpk. 60 North to US 422 West, which would need to be widened to two lanes
before I-376 could be extended ultimately up to I-80.

We got off at US 224 again, and this time, headed west, making our second and
final stop at a shopping center at the southwest corner of US 224 and US 422/PA
60. Ed and Shari departed at this point, and the rest of the group headed west
along US 224, which passes through a neat through-truss bridge over the Mahoning
River, concurrent with PA 551. Re-entering into the Buckeye State, we took US
224 West through Poland, and over to I-680, which we took north back to South
Ave., and back to the MVR.

While most of the group went their own ways at this time, Chris, Larry and I
caravaned down to Boardman for a post-tour gathering at the Eat 'N Park in
Boardman, where we were joined by Cleveland-area roads enthusiast Steve Hanudel,
as well as Chris's fiancee', Amber. I believe this was the first time for all
of us in an Eat 'N Park, and the food & atmosphere were great. (I strongly
recommend the soup/salad bar there.) We shot the breeze for a while there
before departed ways, wrapping up an awesome day exploring the Youngstown
vicinity's roads.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the experience that was the Youngstown Roads
Meet this past Saturday. I hope you all had a great time!

Next up is a two-day roads event planned for the Indianapolis area coming up
this July. More details to come...very soon.

-Dan
Logged

ctsignguy

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 1113
  • Life is too short...eat your dessert first

  • Age: 65
  • Location: Columbus, Ohio
  • Last Login: June 26, 2016, 09:26:28 PM
Re: Youngstown, OH Meet Wrap-Up
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2009, 08:15:01 PM »

Sorry i wasn't able to make it....as it turned out, i had a chance to visit a local ALPCA convention quite nearby to pcik up some additional signs, so that pretty much shot my Saturday....and when i got back, I had to start to get ready for my New England Sign-shopping trip (laundry, prepare my travel munchies, etc)

Seemed like a lot of fun
Logged
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u102/ctsignguy/<br /><br />Maintaining an interest in Fine Highway Signs since 1958....

hbelkins

  • *
  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 19278
  • It is well, it is well, with my soul.

  • Age: 62
  • Location: Kentucky
  • Last Login: Today at 04:15:45 PM
    • Millennium Highway
Re: Youngstown, OH Meet Wrap-Up
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2009, 10:14:10 AM »

Light showers in the
Next up is a two-day roads event planned for the Indianapolis area coming up
this July. More details to come...very soon.

-Dan


Dan, how's the planning going on that Indy meet? We're about six weeks out from it.
Logged


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

 


Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.