Control Cities

[jp the roadgeek]

Proposed New Control Points for Indianapolis:
I-70W: Terre Haute, St. Louis, Rocky Mountains
I-70E: Richmond, Dayton, Baltimore, Atlantic Ocean
I-74E: Rushville, Cincinnati
I-74W: Crawfordsville, Quad Cities
I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes
I-65S: Columbus IN, Louisville, Nashville, Gulf of Mexico
I-69N: Anderson, Fort Wayne, Canada
I-69S: Bloomington, Evansville, Mississippi Delta

Here's mine

I-70 E: Dayton, Columbus, Wheeling, Baltimore/DC (until Frederick), Baltimore
I-70 W: Terre Haute, St Louis, KC, Topeka, Denver, Grand Junction, Green River (to UT border), TO I-15 LV/SLC
I-65 N: Lafayette, Gary/Chicago
I-65 S: Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile
I-74 E: Cincinnati
I-74 W: Peoria, Quad Cities
I-69 N: Ft Wayne, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron, Sarnia/London
I-69 S (if/when completed): Evansville, Memphis, El Dorado, Shreveport, Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsvile/Laredo

[hotdogPi]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

[FixThe74Sign]

Proposed New Control Points for Indianapolis:
I-70W: Terre Haute, St. Louis, Rocky Mountains
I-70E: Richmond, Dayton, Baltimore, Atlantic Ocean
I-74E: Rushville, Cincinnati
I-74W: Crawfordsville, Quad Cities
I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes
I-65S: Columbus IN, Louisville, Nashville, Gulf of Mexico
I-69N: Anderson, Fort Wayne, Canada
I-69S: Bloomington, Evansville, Mississippi Delta

Here's mine

I-70 E: Dayton, Columbus, Wheeling, Baltimore/DC (until Frederick), Baltimore
I-70 W: Terre Haute, St Louis, KC, Topeka, Denver, Grand Junction, Green River (to UT border), TO I-15 LV/SLC
I-65 N: Lafayette, Gary/Chicago
I-65 S: Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile
I-74 E: Cincinnati
I-74 W: Peoria, Quad Cities
I-69 N: Ft Wayne, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron, Sarnia/London
I-69 S (if/when completed): Evansville, Memphis, El Dorado, Shreveport, Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsvile/Laredo

Considering Indiana is the "Crossroads of America", I think this would be neat as novelty signs somewhere. But it makes no sense practically speaking.

[Flint1979]

I-70 E: Dayton, Columbus, Wheeling, Harrisburg (along concurrency with I-76), Baltimore
I-70 W: Terre Haute, St Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, Topeka, Limon, Denver, Grand Junction, Las Vegas
I-65 N: Lafayette, Chicago
I-65 S: Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile
I-74 E: Cincinnati
I-74 W: Peoria, Davenport
I-69 N: Ft Wayne, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron
I-69 S: Evansville, Memphis, El Dorado, Shreveport, Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville

[westerninterloper]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

[Flint1979]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

Do you have any idea how big of an area the Great Lakes cover? Using just Great Lakes as a control city doesn't help anyone out at all. You could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York.

[JayhawkCO]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

Do you have any idea how big of an area the Great Lakes cover? Using just Great Lakes as a control city doesn't help anyone out at all. You could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York.

And what is "The Region" and why had no one else brought that up?

[Flint1979]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

Do you have any idea how big of an area the Great Lakes cover? Using just Great Lakes as a control city doesn't help anyone out at all. You could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York.

And what is "The Region" and why had no one else brought that up?

Honestly I didn't bring it up because I didn't notice it until you mentioned it.

[Occidental Tourist]

Control cities for interstates from downtown Los Angeles:
I-10 west: Mid-City, Santa Monica, Oxnard, Channel Islands
I-10 east: San Gabriel Valley Cities and Communities, San Bernardino, Sonoran Desert, Jacksonville
I-5 south: Southeastern Suburbs, Muy al Sur, Latin America
I-5 north: San Fernando Valley, Sacramento, Western Cascade Basin, Arctic Circle

[Flint1979]

Control cities from downtown Detroit:
I-75 N: Flint, Saginaw, Mackinac Bridge, Sault Ste. Marie
I-75 S: Toledo, Dayton, Cincinnati, Lexington, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon, Valdosta, Lake City, Gainesville, Tampa, Fort Myers, Miami
I-94 W: Ann Arbor, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire, St. Paul and Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Fargo, Bismarck, Billings
I-94 E: Port Huron
I-96 W: Lansing, Grand Rapids, Muskegon

[ilpt4u]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

Do you have any idea how big of an area the Great Lakes cover? Using just Great Lakes as a control city doesn't help anyone out at all. You could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York.

And what is "The Region" and why had no one else brought that up?

"The Region"  is what Hoosiers call NW Indiana - a way to reference themselves being a distinct part of Chicagoland without mentioning Chicago

Now...lets try Control Cities States/Regions from Chicago
I-55S: Missouri. Oklahoma. Los Angeles (I still view IL I-55 as part of the US 66 route, and Controls here reflect this)
I-57S: Arkansas. The South. Memphis. New Orleans
I-80E: Indiana. NYC. Washington DC (due to OH Turnpike routing)
I-90E: Indiana. New York State. Boston
I-94E: Indiana. Detroit. Toronto. Montreal
I-88W: Iowa
I-80W: Iowa. Great Plains. San Francisco.
I-90W: Wisconsin. Northern Plains. Seattle
I-94W: Wisconsin. Twin Cities. Northern Plains
I-65S: Indianapolis. Nashville. Gulf of Mexico. If I-65 actually entered IL instead of terminating in NW Indiana, Indianapolis would then simply be replaced with Indiana

[JayhawkCO]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

Do you have any idea how big of an area the Great Lakes cover? Using just Great Lakes as a control city doesn't help anyone out at all. You could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York.

And what is "The Region" and why had no one else brought that up?

"The Region"  is what Hoosiers call NW Indiana - a way to reference themselves being a distinct part of Chicagoland without mentioning Chicago

I hate that so much.

[ilpt4u]

And what is "The Region" and why had no one else brought that up?

"The Region"  is what Hoosiers call NW Indiana - a way to reference themselves being a distinct part of Chicagoland without mentioning Chicago

I hate that so much.

First time I ever heard it was probably 20some years ago, and I had to have it explained multiple times, merely due to how petty and pathetic the explanation is

[NWI_Irish96]

I-65N: Lafayette, The Region, Chicago, Great Lakes

How far north do you think I-65 goes?

To the Great Lakes. It ends a mile south of Lake Michigan.

Do you have any idea how big of an area the Great Lakes cover? Using just Great Lakes as a control city doesn't help anyone out at all. You could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York.

And what is "The Region" and why had no one else brought that up?

"The Region"  is what Hoosiers call NW Indiana - a way to reference themselves being a distinct part of Chicagoland without mentioning Chicago

I haven't heard "The Region" used by anybody that isn't both over the age of 55 and has lived here for 40+ years. NWI is much more commonly used, but neither belongs on a control city sign.

There's not a perfect answer. Gary is historically the primary city in NWI but it's long since ceased to be a destination of any sort. If you insist on using something other than Chicago for a control city for 65 north, Merrillville makes the most sense as the location of the largest retail and corporate center.

[SkyPesos]

Chicago is fine for I-65 NB north of Indy imo, since that's where the highway is heading towards, and enters the metro area. No need to change it to a NW Indiana city just because I-65 ends there and doesn't enter Chicago's city limits.

Also, slang terms (especially ones that are outdated by 50+ years) defining a region shouldn't go on highway signs at all.

[westerninterloper]

I added the geographic references because I think it would be a very interesting reminder as you circle 465 to see what enormous natural features these roads lead to, that you can get to Canada, or the Gulf of Mexico from different sides of town. On my daily commute south of Toledo on I-75, OhioDOT has mileage signs for Lexington, Atlanta and Tampa.

[Flint1979]

Chicago is fine for I-65 NB north of Indy imo, since that's where the highway is heading towards, and enters the metro area. No need to change it to a NW Indiana city just because I-65 ends there and doesn't enter Chicago's city limits.

Also, slang terms (especially ones that are outdated by 50+ years) defining a region shouldn't go on highway signs at all.

Yes one of the rules with control cities is that the city doesn't have to be reached before the control city is changed so Chicago doesn't need to be reached here as long as there is another route to take you there.

I'm familiar with Indiana and have never heard of The Region before now.

[Flint1979]

I added the geographic references because I think it would be a very interesting reminder as you circle 465 to see what enormous natural features these roads lead to, that you can get to Canada, or the Gulf of Mexico from different sides of town. On my daily commute south of Toledo on I-75, OhioDOT has mileage signs for Lexington, Atlanta and Tampa.

I-65 heading toward Lake Michigan isn't really that important, Chicago is the third largest city in the country. Besides most people are going to know where and what the Great Lakes are. And yes ODOT put those signs up just to be interesting but I-75 actually goes to those cities so there is nothing wrong with that. But like I said earlier the Great Lakes could mean Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York (about an 800-900 mile span there).

[chrismarion100]

I hate how WisDOT has control cities on Wis 29 EB (IDK how bad it is WB) but it keeps on switching from Wausau at I-94 to Green Bay at US 53 and back to Wausau once you near to Wausau. Also, why is Wausau even a control city since Green Bay is over double its size (38,477 to 104,068) and Wausau is the state 19th largest city while Green Bay is the state 3rd largest city.

[jaehak]

I hate how WisDOT has control cities on Wis 29 EB (IDK how bad it is WB) but it keeps on switching from Wausau at I-94 to Green Bay at US 53 and back to Wausau once you near to Wausau. Also, why is Wausau even a control city since Green Bay is over double its size (38,477 to 104,068) and Wausau is the state 19th largest city while Green Bay is the state 3rd largest city.

Good point. Also, literally everyone in America has heard of Green Bay and most motorists in the upper Midwest probably have some degree of mental map on where it is. Wausau is definitely less helpful for long distance traffic.

[SEWIGuy]

I hate how WisDOT has control cities on Wis 29 EB (IDK how bad it is WB) but it keeps on switching from Wausau at I-94 to Green Bay at US 53 and back to Wausau once you near to Wausau. Also, why is Wausau even a control city since Green Bay is over double its size (38,477 to 104,068) and Wausau is the state 19th largest city while Green Bay is the state 3rd largest city.

You are looking at this too narrowly.  It's not just about the city populations, but the metropolitan areas for both.  The Wausau / Stevens Point/ Wisconsin Rapids CSA is the fifth largest in the state and (I believe) Wausau is its largest city.  To me, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to "skip over" the "Central Wisconsin" area to Green Bay as a control city.  (And I live in Green Bay!)

[chrismarion100]

Why is Abbotsford even listed on this big freeway interchange in Wausau Wisconsin like Abbotsford have a population of 2300 in 2010
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTo6fPL7r495hDYJ6

[thspfc]

Why is Abbotsford even listed on this big freeway interchange in Wausau Wisconsin like Abbotsford have a population of 2300 in 2010
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTo6fPL7r495hDYJ6

Great question.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Why is Abbotsford even listed on this big freeway interchange in Wausau Wisconsin like Abbotsford have a population of 2300 in 2010
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTo6fPL7r495hDYJ6

Great question.

Is the Abbyland factory stuff big enough to be a regional player? That's all I can think of.

[hobsini2]

Why is Abbotsford even listed on this big freeway interchange in Wausau Wisconsin like Abbotsford have a population of 2300 in 2010
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTo6fPL7r495hDYJ6

Great question.

Is the Abbyland factory stuff big enough to be a regional player? That's all I can think of.

Probably because back 30 years ago before Wis 29 was a freeway/expressway, Abbottsford was the first real city of consequence on 29.  Remember, 51 was a freeway/expressway long before 29.