Turnpike Trailblazers

[akotchi]

There is a NJ Turnpike trailblazer on an overhead sign, eastbound on the PA Turnpike at Interchange 326.  The sign reads "East NJ Turnpike" - in other words, it says that you are going east on the NJ Turnpike.   This is in PA so this is really odd.  Sign has been there for years and years.

Interestingly, that structure and panels survived the widening between Valley Forge and Norristown.  I did not know that NJTA's jurisdiction extended into Pennsylvania . . .

[ctsignguy]

Sometimes state highway departments have 'understandings' about certain roads that dip into other jurisdictions...

for instance, NY 120 actually dips into Connecticut briefly....while it is firmly in Connecticut, NYSDOT is in charge of all maintenance for that road...signing, painting, plowing, potholes, etc....same with I-684, which runs a few miles inside Connecticut but has no interchange in the state (closest exit is NY120 just inside the NY state line....)

i dont think it is all that unusual on the East Coast...

[hbelkins]

When I was a kid, I remember little green Kentucky Turnpike trailblazers.  They were green and had a cardinal on them.  I suspect they have been gone for years, especially since that turnpike has been defunct since the 70's, but I wonder if there are any old ones remaining in some obscure locations.

I haven't seen any. I also have seen no photos of them that I can recall; the best I can do is a graphic illustration that's on an older KY road map. I think Jim Lin may have it on his site.

[hbelkins]

I've always liked Turnpike trailblazers, probably because I grew up in the northeast where they are plenty of them. Many roads still have them, but the trend in using them appears to be on a state-by-state basis. Texas is using them still and coming up with new ones, such as the Fort Bend Parkway and updating old ones, such as the new Dallas North Tollway design. Other areas have phased them out, such as the New England Thruway trailblazer, the Connecticut Turnpike trailblazer, and the Delaware Turnpike trailblazer (relegated to just turnpike vehicles and three overheads on Interstate 295 south). Some states opt for a toll shield based upon the highway number, which Texas is now doing statewide (SH-183A, SH-130, SH-255, SH-121, etc.), and Florida has been using on its toll roads since 1991.

Some of my favorites include the New Jersey Turnpike, the defunct Dallas Fort Worth Turnpike, and the Garden State Parkway. I also like the Texas toll highway shield designs for its state highways.

I listed just a handful of the toll roads with trailblazers. So what other roads used them, which may use them, what are some of your favorites?

All of Kentucky's toll roads (all called parkways, with the exception of the old Kentucky Turnpike) used them. The KY Turnpike, mentioned in another post, had a unique trailblazer. So, too, did the Mountain Parkway. It looked similar to what is now used for the West Virginia Byway signs.

Beginning with the Blue Grass Parkway, once called the Kentucky Bluegrass Parkway, signs used the initials of the route. BG for Bluegrass and WK for Western Kentucky. The Pennyrile, Purchase, Audubon and Cumberland parkways used the name of the route with a larger initial letter. The Green River Parkway (renamed the William Natcher Parkway before any of the other roads had politicians' names appended to them) had the name rather than initials "GR." And the Daniel Boone Parkway had a logo with a famous representation of ol' Dan'l's visage.

Sadly they're gone now. Signs on the WK Parkway were changed to include the politician's name, whereas on most other parkways a supplemental banner was used with the honoree's name. Then the state changed the name of the Daniel Boone to the Hal Rogers to honor a long-serving congressman from the area who had federal money appropriated to pay off the tolls. The signs changed to using his name.

Then, under the Ernie Fletcher administration (in one of the few things I disagreed with them about), they changed the signs to incorporate the Kentucky Unbridled Spirit logo. Now they all look the same, blue and white signs with text. Nothing unique about the marker for each road. There are still a few of the old trailblazers that can be found in the western part of the state, but for the most part the old signs are gone.

As one might expect, you can find pictures of all the signs except the old KY Turnpike logo sign on http://www.millenniumhwy.net.

[Alex]

I snagged an image of this Kentucky Turnpike trailblazer from Ebay two years ago:



Does anyone have a decent image of the West Virginia Turnpike trailblazer?

[Scott5114]

That Kentucky Turnpike 'blazer reminds me of the one that the Kansas Turnpike uses...

[PAHighways]

Sometimes state highway departments have 'understandings' about certain roads that dip into other jurisdictions...

i dont think it is all that unusual on the East Coast...

It does happen such as NY 17 dipping into Bradford County which is maintained and patrolled by New York.

The NJ Turnpike sign at Valley Forge should be prefaced with "TO" since the PTC has not relinquished control of the Delaware River Extension.

[hbelkins]

Does anyone have a decent image of the West Virginia Turnpike trailblazer?

I know I've seen one online somewhere. It's not in my WV collection from Michael Summa, maybe it's on one of the Gribblenation pages where he's contributed some old photos.

[LPCJr]

The NJ Turnpike sign at Valley Forge should be prefaced with "TO" since the PTC has not relinquished control of the Delaware River Extension.

What makes this especially odd is that this is ~30 miles from the state line.  If it was on the approach to the Del River Bridge, it still wouldn't be correct, but I could at least sort of get the logic.

[talfonso]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but each time I do Disney, go on a cruise, go to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, etc. I'd usually see the Florida's Turnpike trailblazer on a regular basis, but I care less about it.

My recent trip back home to NJ in 2011 was nostalgia overload! Oh, the times when I see the trailblazer shields of good ol' Garden State Parkway and, my personal favorite of the two, the New Jersey Turnpike, during my childhood. I was ever so fascinated by them since!

I took a gazillion BGS's, freestanding shields, etc, most including both. Here's one I took going to the airport to the plane back to Tampa.



Le nostalgia indeed.

[Alex]

The NJ toll road trailblazers are the best. I even had a GSP marker made for me in 2008. Followed that with a Delaware Turnpike sign in 2010. Don't have much interesting here in FL these days, I agree.

[bugo]

I greatly dislike the NJTP trailblazers.  I also dislike the big ugly green gantries that were formerly used on the turnpike and the weird white dotted lines.

[ctsignguy]

I snagged an image of this Kentucky Turnpike trailblazer from Ebay two years ago:



Does anyone have a decent image of the West Virginia Turnpike trailblazer?

Call answered...

[bzakharin]

On South Street in downtown Morristown, NJ, there is a Garden State Parkway trailblazer (closest entrance 17 miles away) before there is an I-287 shield (a few blocks ahead). I assume they want you to take 287 North to 24 East to 78 East, though you *could* take 124 (which South Street is) all the way to the Parkway, which is 15.6 miles, but 35 minutes. Did the trailblazer precede the construction of the 24 freeway?

http://goo.gl/maps/qpRM6

Update: Looking at Street View, the Parkway trailblazers do continue along 124 beyond the I-287 interchange. At the first entrance from 124 to 24, oddly, there isn't one pointing onto 24, nor is there one along 124 (though there is an NJ Turnpike one pointing at 24). I can't currently find any more after that until right before the entrance to 78 which makes sense as that actually is the road to the Parkway, and of course, right at the entrance to the Parkway itself..

[Ned Weasel]

The NJ Turnpike sign at Valley Forge should be prefaced with "TO" since the PTC has not relinquished control of the Delaware River Extension.

What makes this especially odd is that this is ~30 miles from the state line.  If it was on the approach to the Del River Bridge, it still wouldn't be correct, but I could at least sort of get the logic.

What's worse is that you can clearly see the Interstate 276 shield behind the NJTP shield!  AARoads photo:  http://www.interstate-guide.com/images276/i-276_pa_wt_22.jpg

(Edited to make my comment a response to the most recent message about that.)

[shadyjay]

My question regarding Turnpike Trailblazers is.... what was the design intent behind some of them? 

MassPike's logo is the pilgrim hat, relative due to the pilgrims landing at Plymouth, MA. 
Conn Turnpike, NY Thruway, and GSP all feature the respective state outlines
Merritt Parkway features the CT state flower, the mountain laurel
WCP and Merritt Parkway general shapes are very similar to a US shield.

But what about the NH Turnpike system and Maine Turnpike shields?  Was a random shape/design chosen by the turnpike authority and utilized as a shield?  Or is there any historical significance behind some of them?  Same with the NJ Turnpike logo.  Any significance behind the shape?  The emphasis on the "T" and "P"?

[1995hoo]

I went back through this thread and I don't see the Dulles Greenway mentioned. Technically it's not a turnpike, but I think it counts for this thread because some of the BGSs associated with it use the trailblazer instead of the VA-267 shield (example: Street View near Leesburg). The trailblazer looks like this:



The odd sign, though, is one on the westbound Dulles Toll Road near Dulles Airport at the interchange for Route 28. One of the signs has a yellow "Last Exit Before Toll" banner, but in between the words "Before" and "Toll" it has a small black version of the Greenway trailblazer! I don't think I've ever seen that anywhere else. Street View doesn't have a picture of that sign.

[Alps]

My question regarding Turnpike Trailblazers is.... what was the design intent behind some of them? 

MassPike's logo is the pilgrim hat, relative due to the pilgrims landing at Plymouth, MA. 
Conn Turnpike, NY Thruway, and GSP all feature the respective state outlines
Merritt Parkway features the CT state flower, the mountain laurel
WCP and Merritt Parkway general shapes are very similar to a US shield.

But what about the NH Turnpike system and Maine Turnpike shields?  Was a random shape/design chosen by the turnpike authority and utilized as a shield?  Or is there any historical significance behind some of them?  Same with the NJ Turnpike logo.  Any significance behind the shape?  The emphasis on the "T" and "P"?

NJ Turnpike, I learned recently, is actually an angled view of a cube, projected onto a 2D surface and cut.

[cpzilliacus]

The odd sign, though, is one on the westbound Dulles Toll Road near Dulles Airport at the interchange for Route 28. One of the signs has a yellow "Last Exit Before Toll" banner, but in between the words "Before" and "Toll" it has a small black version of the Greenway trailblazer! I don't think I've ever seen that anywhere else. Street View doesn't have a picture of that sign.

That is relatively new.  That BGS panel used to have just say TOLL Va. 267 West. 

The 267 shield was replaced by the Greenway logo.  Same thing headed east on Va. 7 ( and north on U.S. 15 - Leesburg Bypass) approaching the western entrance to the Greenway.

[cpzilliacus]

NJ Turnpike, I learned recently, is actually an angled view of a cube, projected onto a 2D surface and cut.

Far and away the best and most-iconic toll road shield I have ever seen, though I still dislike "secret" route numbers (gimme some N.J. 700 between 1 and 6 or get an X95 from FHWA).

[hbelkins]

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I always loved the simplicity of this, which really does illustrate where the road goes. I'd love to know where the inspiration for that sign came from, but I'm not sure who to ask.

[NE2]

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I always loved the simplicity of this, which really does illustrate where the road goes.

A mountain shaped like a tree?

[roadman65]

I love the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike shields.  The Atlantic City Expressway with the red flag is not so attractive, along with its "PHILA" or "ATLANTIC CITY" instead of EAST and WEST on its trailblazers.

The NYS Thruway has a very nice shield I must say with an awesome blue shade.

[PHLBOS]

There is a NJ Turnpike trailblazer on an overhead sign, eastbound on the PA Turnpike at Interchange 326.  The sign reads "East NJ Turnpike" - in other words, it says that you are going east on the NJ Turnpike.   This is in PA so this is really odd.  Sign has been there for years and years.

PTC recently corrected that 18-year oversight by placing an I-276 shield over the NJTP shield (about time, the BGS originally had an I-276 shield on it BTW) and added a supplemental ground-mounted sign reading TO NJTP USE EAST 276.

[hbelkins]

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I always loved the simplicity of this, which really does illustrate where the road goes.

A mountain shaped like a tree?

Well, our mountains do have trees on them.