When did your state first use exit numbers?

[MDOTFanFB]

If you remember when your state started posting exit numbers, post it here.

In Michigan, I think the first exit numbers were posted sometime around 1960, but initially only on I-94, then exit numbers were slowly being posted on other freeways throughout the state and is maybe still going on today, since most freeways now have them and only a handful (such as M-8 and I-375) still have none.

How about your state?

[Kacie Jane]

New Jersey (former home state): IIRC, the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway have used exit numbers from the beginning -- so the 1950s.

As for Washington, I have no idea.  Perhaps worth noting though, it's only been recently that they've been putting exit numbers on the non-interstates, and I-705 has none.

[national highway 1]

New Jersey (former home state): IIRC, the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway have used exit numbers from the beginning -- so the 1950s.

As for Washington, I have no idea.  Perhaps worth noting though, it's only been recently that they've been putting exit numbers on the non-interstates, and I-705 has none.

California-Spring 2002
Hong Kong-2004
Queensland-2000

[NE2]

California-Spring 2002

Nope - 1971. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=3442.0

New York: 1938 (NYC-Long Island parkways)

[agentsteel53]

In Michigan, I think the first exit numbers were posted sometime around 1960, but initially only on I-94, then exit numbers were slowly being posted on other freeways throughout the state and is maybe still going on today, since most freeways now have them and only a handful (such as M-8 and I-375) still have none.

I have a report from 1965 which mentions that Michigan had mile-based exits on I-75 in that year.  this was apparently a novelty to the California people who compiled the report after visiting some other states to see what freeway signage practices were around the country.

could this be the oldest instance of mile-based, as opposed to sequential, exit numbering?

[NE2]

I have a report from 1965 which mentions that Michigan had mile-based exits on I-75 in that year.  this was apparently a novelty to the California people who compiled the report after visiting some other states to see what freeway signage practices were around the country.

could this be the oldest instance of mile-based, as opposed to sequential, exit numbering?

The Garden State Parkway had them by 1960.

[cpzilliacus]

Maryland - certainly they were in use on the JFK Highway (I-95) when it opened in 1963.

Capital Beltway had them in Maryland (and Virginia) when it was completed in 1964.

Most of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) is older than both of the above (except for the segments approaching and crossing the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which did not open until the 1970's), but I am not certain if the exits were numbered from the start, though I believe that they were.

The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway (I-895 today) may have had numbered exits from the start in 1957, though I am not certain about that (I was not around at that point in time).  I do know that the exit numbers on present-day I-895 are different from those on I-895 in the 1960's and 1970's (there were separate sets of exit numbers for northbound (north of the tunnel) and southbound (south of the tunnel)).

[kurumi]

Connecticut: 1947, on the Merritt Parkway (and a year before a route number was applied to it): http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/exits.html#history

[1995hoo]

For the most part, prior to my childhood in the 1970s, although I seem to recall that not all signs on the part of I-95 that is now I-395 had exit numbers during the 1970s. I may be mistaken on that, but I don't recall there being exit numbers for at least some of the interchanges.

The District of Columbia didn't use exit numbers until about five or six years ago except on I-295. They now have sequential numbers on I-395 (milepost would be impractical due to the minimal distance and the close spacing).

[Takumi]

The Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike opened in the late 1950s. I think (but may be wrong) that the sequential numbers on it were there from the beginning.

[huskeroadgeek]

This is an interesting question-I've always just assumed that Nebraska had them from the beginning, but I guess that probably isn't true. I don't think they had them when the first section of I-80 was opened between Lincoln and Omaha in 1961-the booklet commemorating the event that was released at the time(available as a PDF from the NDOR website) doesn't make any mention of exit numbers. It's hard to go back and look at old maps for confirmation either because many maps didn't have exit numbers even well after they were marked in the field. I certainly don't remember a time when Nebraska didn't have exit numbers so I'm guessing they have been around since the early 70s at least.

[The High Plains Traveler]

New Mexico first posted exit numbers along I-25 around 1973. It was the first mile-based exit number I had ever seen and didn't understand the derivation of the number at that time as in, why what I knew to be the 8th or 9th exit was numbered 32. Colorado had exit numbers in the 1970s, but they were sequential.

[amroad17]

I know Virginia had sequential exit numbers on I-81 in the early 1960's, as well as the RPT, the Capital Beltway, and exits 4-10 on the part of I-64 on the Peninsula (Hampton and Newport News).  It wasn't until 1981 that the rest of the interstates in Virginia received their sequential exit numbers, which were changed to milepost exits in 1990-91.

[iowahighways]

Iowa first used them on four interchanges along I-235* in 1969 as an experiment. In 1971 I-80's exits were numbered sequentially**, but newer segments of I-29, I-35, and I-380 received mileage-based exits when they opened during the early 1970s. Iowa switched to mileage-based exit numbering statewide in 1977.

*Incidentally, Exits 1-4 were the only numbered exits along I-235 for many years, until it was reconstructed between 2002-2007. Now all exits are numbered.

**In case you're wondering why the I-29 and I-35 multiplexes use I-80's exit numbers, this is why: I-80 received exit numbers first.

[sp_redelectric]

Not sure when exit numbers were first used on Interstates; however Oregon started applying exit numbers to non-interstate routes (primarily Oregon 217 in Beaverton and Tigard, and Oregon 126 in Springfield) within the last 10-20 years.

One quirk, Oregon also has the strange habit of installing exit numbers on some non-freeway interchanges - notably on Oregon 18 at Oregon 18B (Sheridan), Oregon 22 (Willamina) and Fort Hill Road, but not at the Sheridan city center exit and there are also at-grade interchanges in the mix (nor are there exit numbers at either McMinnville interchange).  The interchange of Oregon 22 and 99W has an exit number, but it's the only one on 22 west of Salem - none of the West Salem exits have one.  Most of the interchanges east of Salem on 22 have them.  And I believe on U.S. 97 there are some interchanges in Bend and Klamath Falls that have exit numbers.

It's odd to be driving down the road and have a single exit have a number...the number really makes no sense because nothing else nearby is numbered.  But it is milepost based.

And I-405 brings up the absurdity of using mileage based exit numbers on short routes:  There are 10 off-ramps available northbound, and the freeway itself is 4.25 miles long.  Thus you have Exit 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, and 3.  What should be Exit 3B and 4 (although they are directly across from each other, 3B being a left exit and 4 being a right exit) are unnumbered.  Exit 1D has two separate ramps that are not separately numbered.  IMO:  If a freeway is less than 10 miles long, just use sequential numbering (which would also apply to Oregon 217 and I-105/Oregon 126).

[cpzilliacus]

And I-405 brings up the absurdity of using mileage based exit numbers on short routes:  There are 10 off-ramps available northbound, and the freeway itself is 4.25 miles long.  Thus you have Exit 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, and 3.  What should be Exit 3B and 4 (although they are directly across from each other, 3B being a left exit and 4 being a right exit) are unnumbered.  Exit 1D has two separate ramps that are not separately numbered.  IMO:  If a freeway is less than 10 miles long, just use sequential numbering (which would also apply to Oregon 217 and I-105/Oregon 126).

I-270Y (commonly called the  I-270 Spur and inconsistently signed as such) in Montgomery County, Maryland has exactly one interchange at Democracy Boulevard, which is signed as Exit 1.

[NE2]

And I-405 brings up the absurdity of using mileage based exit numbers on short routes:  There are 10 off-ramps available northbound, and the freeway itself is 4.25 miles long.  Thus you have Exit 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, and 3.  What should be Exit 3B and 4 (although they are directly across from each other, 3B being a left exit and 4 being a right exit) are unnumbered.  Exit 1D has two separate ramps that are not separately numbered.  IMO:  If a freeway is less than 10 miles long, just use sequential numbering (which would also apply to Oregon 217 and I-105/Oregon 126).

On a loop like I-405 that's roughly equal in length to the parent section being bypassed, you can also use the mileage from the beginning of I-5.

[Brandon]

Illinois seems to have installed exit numbers (distance-based) in the mid to late 1970s.  Before then, I can't find evidence of exit numbering in the state.

[roadman65]

New Jersey had them, of course on the three main toll roads since conception, but the interstates did not have them all until 1992 or something around when I-287 was widened in Somerset and Morris Counties from 4 to 6 lanes.

I remember when I-78 did not have any of them, except east of NJ 24.  They were added to the system in the early 80s and  this was the first NJ interstate to use the current exit tabs placed on top toward the right of the sign.  At first  all NJ freeways  that did have them(and some places still use them today) had them centered on top.  I believe that there are still  some exits on I-280  located in The Oranges and Newark that still have no posted exit numbers, like the GS Parkway exit in East Orange did not have them (or still does not) for a long time.

In Florida we have only had the number system on I-95 and I-4 from the early 80s.  I remember when all the billboards would advertise businesses would have to use the route number as an exit (i.e one located on FL 436 would say use Exit 436 etc).  The Turnpike was using increments of 4 or 5 between sequentially based numbers with 1 starting at Golden Glades and the Homestead Extension, I think, had no numbers.  It was the FL Turnpike that went to mile based numbers, then the OOCEA did for Orlando area toll roads, and now the whole interstate system is mile post based.   Only the Lee Roy Salmon Expressway uses sequential numbering to this day.

[NE2]

Only the Lee Roy Salmon Expressway uses sequential numbering to this day.

I spent too much time on this crap.

[PHLBOS]

In Massachusetts, most likely when the highway segments of Route 128 were built in the late 40s through 1951.  Though the exit numbers were different from what's there today along the Peabody-to-Gloucester segment (the one stretch that's still just 128).  Example: the MA 114 interchange's original exit numbers were 16 (orignally north/now west) & 17 (originally south/now east) vs. the current 25A (east) & 25B (west).

[roadman]

In Massachusetts, most likely when the highway segments of Route 128 were built in the late 40s through 1951.  Though the exit numbers were different from what's there today along the Peabody-to-Gloucester segment (the one stretch that's still just 128).  Example: the MA 114 interchange's original exit numbers were 16 (orignally north/now west) & 17 (originally south/now east) vs. the current 25A (east) & 25B (west).

According to the MassDPW press release I have somewhere in my archives, Massachusetts first introduced exit numbers in 1959.  However, in the pre I-95 and I-93 overlap days, the numbering along Route 128 was quite different than it is today.  First, the numbers ran in ascending order from north to south (which still exists to this day between Gloucester and Peabody).  Second, it was a rule (as specifically highlighted in said press release) that when any other controlled-access highway intersected with Route 128, the exit to Route 128 from that highway was always designated as Exit 25 (this is why the freeway portion of US 3 in Burlington begins/ends with Exit 25).

Of course, all that was changed on I-93 during the Somerville to Methuen reconstruction projects in the early 1970s - which also saw Massachusetts' only implementation of the FHWA"s short-lived "EXIT X  MILE Y" exit tab experiment (but between Somerville and Woburn only), and on I-95 during the 'end-to end' exit numbering in 1985 (which was also done on I-93 between Canton and Methuen at the same time).

[kphoger]

I spent too much time on this crap.
[img

Your labor does not go unappreciated.

[PHLBOS]

In Massachusetts, most likely when the highway segments of Route 128 were built in the late 40s through 1951.  Though the exit numbers were different from what's there today along the Peabody-to-Gloucester segment (the one stretch that's still just 128).  Example: the MA 114 interchange's original exit numbers were 16 (orignally north/now west) & 17 (originally south/now east) vs. the current 25A (east) & 25B (west).

According to the MassDPW press release I have somewhere in my archives, Massachusetts first introduced exit numbers in 1959.  However, in the pre I-95 and I-93 overlap days, the numbering along Route 128 was quite different than it is today.  First, the numbers ran in ascending order from north to south (which still exists to this day between Gloucester and Peabody).  Second, it was a rule (as specifically highlighted in said press release) that when any other controlled-access highway intersected with Route 128, the exit to Route 128 from that highway was always designated as Exit 25 (this is why the freeway portion of US 3 in Burlington begins/ends with Exit 25).

Of course, all that was changed on I-93 during the Somerville to Methuen reconstruction projects in the early 1970s - which also saw Massachusetts' only implementation of the FHWA"s short-lived "EXIT X  MILE Y" exit tab experiment (but between Somerville and Woburn only), and on I-95 during the 'end-to end' exit numbering in 1985 (which was also done on I-93 between Canton and Methuen at the same time).

The sources from my earlier-posts regarding 128 getting exit number right after it opened, aside from Wiki; were a 1950 1956 USGS quad map (Salem Quadrangle) I saw at the first engineering firm I worked in over in Danvers and one photo from the below-website showing a photo (circa 1949 according to the source) of an original wooden, button-copy BGS at the MA 4/MA 25 (now MA 225) interchange with the Exit number panel posted below (& centered) the BGS.

http://www.bambinomusical.com/128/new128.html

As stated earlier, the original exit numbering along 128 actually started at or near Exit 1 in Gloucester and increased southward.  Many of the cloverleaf interchanges, then had separate (no suffixed) exit numbers and did not skip over to allow for future interchanges (examples: I-93 & I-95).  I'm not 100% sure exactly when the DPW changed the exit numbers to start off at Exit 9 in Gloucester but I'm guessing that it was sometime in the late-50s/early 60s.  I have a 1966 Boston & Vicinity road map that shows the pre-1987 numbering (9-69, Gloucester-to-Braintree).

If memory serves, Canton-to-Braintree was renumbered circa 1986 (following the reconstruction of the Southeast Expressway) and the Canton-to-Peabody segment was renumbered circa 1987 (in anticipation of the I-95/MA 128 Peabody interchange being completed a year later).

Not sure when the Exit 25 at 128 first took place, but I'm guessing it was during the late 50s/early 60s when the I-93, US 3, MA 24, MA 3/Southeast Expressway and I-95-Canton interchanges were built.  It's interesting that I-90/Mass Pike and MA 2 did not adopt this exit number nomanclature despite their interchanges w/128 existing at the time.

[NE2]

a 1950 USGS quad map (Salem Quadrangle) I saw at the first engineering firm I worked in over in Danvers

http://ims.er.usgs.gov/gda_services/download?item_id=5632307&quad=Salem&state=MA&grid=7.5X7.5&series=Map%20GeoPDF