Routes That Change Cardinal Direction

[Alex4897]

I know of a few examples of US Routes doing this:

-US 9 is a N/S route everywhere except in DE, where it switched to E/W
-US 202 is N/S for its southern half, then switches to E/W for its northern half

Are there any other big examples of this happening?

EDIT:  For the sake of this thread, omit beltways

[mhh]

I-69 is posted as north/south except east of Lansing, Michigan, where it's posted as east/west.

The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in Ontario makes a nearly 180-degree turn in Hamilton, so control cities are used instead of directions.

[Bruce]

US 101 is signed east/west at the northern end of the Olympic Peninsula.

[xcellntbuy]

US 4 is north/south in New York and then abruptly turns east/west as it passes into Vermont and on into New Hampshire.

FL 826/Palmetto Expressway in Miami-Dade County, Florida is north/south and then makes a 90-degree bend and becomes east/west.

[rschen7754]

Just about every circular beltway.

[RG407]

FL 436 in the Orlando area is signed north/south and then turns and is signed east/west.
Also in the Orlando area FL 434 is signed north/south, turns and is signed east/west, and then turns again and is signed north/south again.

[VCB02FromRoblox]

I know of a few examples of US Routes doing this:

-US 9 is a N/S route everywhere except in DE, where it switched to E/W
-US 202 is N/S for its southern half, then switches to E/W for its northern half

Are there any other big examples of this happening?

I-495 in MD/VA.
I-695 in Baltimore.

Both are beltways.

[PColumbus73]

In Ohio, US 35 becomes is East-West instead of North-South in West Virginia and Indiana.

[hotdogPi]

MA 111 is north-south. As soon as you cross into New Hampshire, NH 111 is east-west.

Same with MA/NH 97 (although the New Hampshire segment is very short).

I believe NY 7 also changes directions.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

US 321 . It's signed North-South all the way, but does a 'U-turn' at Elizabethton TN. It should have been signed East-West in TN.

[hbelkins]

Haven't we had a thread or 12 on this before?

[TEG24601]

US 101 is signed east/west at the northern end of the Olympic Peninsula.

Not only that, but the N/S directions are flipped on the East Side of the Peninsula, from those on the West Side, so the Northern Terminus is signed South.


Most Beltway loops do the same thing, when they all need to be signed Inside/Outside or Clockwise/Counterclockwise.

[roadman65]

I like how in VA that I-64 goes from E-W to no directional headers at all east of the I-264 Norfolk junction.

[SectorZ]

I know, as of the late 90's, that Connecticut had numerous US 1 east/west headers, but they appeared to be there just by accident. Usually they would come in spurts for a few miles, be north/south for a while, then back. I have not driven south of New Haven on 1 in forever, so maybe it's been corrected by now.

[Brandon]

I know, as of the late 90's, that Connecticut had numerous US 1 east/west headers, but they appeared to be there just by accident. Usually they would come in spurts for a few miles, be north/south for a while, then back. I have not driven south of New Haven on 1 in forever, so maybe it's been corrected by now.

In a similar vein, I-94 had several north/south ones along the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois until recently.  Most, if not all the signs have been replaced.

[cpzilliacus]

Md. 32 is E-W between its "eastern" terminus at I-97 near Gambrills and Md. 108 (very nearly all of which is freeway-class road) but N-S between Md. 108 at Clarksville and its "northern" terminus at Md. 97 near Westminster (some of the N-S section is almost Super-2, the rest is arterial).

[WashuOtaku]

US 321 - Changes directions at Elizabethton, TN; north/south switches.

[hm insulators]

I-405 in southern California runs north and south from the San Fernando Valley to just south of LAX, where it bends more east and west until it meets California 22, then north/south once more to the "El Toro Y" in southern Orange County.

[US71]

AR 45 used to. From Fayetteville to Hindsville,  it used to be posted East-West, then North-South from Hindsville to AR 12. That was changed sometime in the 1980's to ALL North-South.

[Henry]

I-69 is posted as north/south except east of Lansing, Michigan, where it's posted as east/west.

Perhaps this would be a good time to ask, will it do the same thing southwest of Houston, TX?

[2Co5_14]

GA-20 is E-W from the AL state line thouugh Loganville, then switches to N-S in Rockdale and Newton Counties, and switches again to E-W in the opposite direction in Henry County! It generally forms a crescent shape in its routing, and follows a portion of the route that was originally planned for the never-to-be-built Atlanta Outer Perimeter freeway.

[hbelkins]

There's a New York state route that makes a big loop and changes directions. I can't think of its number offhand. 28? 30? 32?

How is it signed?

[hotdogPi]

There's a New York state route that makes a big loop and changes directions. I can't think of its number offhand. 28? 30? 32?

How is it signed?

It's 28. not 366
I'm not sure how it's signed.

However, there are some routes that form a big loop but are still signed the same way throughout the whole route. Two examples are MA 27 and I-495.

[GaryV]

US-24 is signed N/S in MI, E/W elsewhere.

[Jim]

Yes, NY 28 is a pretty crazy route:

http://cmap.m-plex.com/hb/hwymap.php?sys=allav&rg=usa.va&gr=p&pg=2&r=ny.ny028&showint=30

The part near Kingston is signed E-W.  Most is N-S, including the segment concurrent with NY 30 between Indian Lake and Blue Mountain Lake.  NY 28 has a wrong-way concurrency with NY 30 there, and is signed consistent with its primary direction in the western part of it's "C" shape. For much of that stretch, NY 28 North (South) is signed concurrently with NY 30 South (North) but is actually going a bit south (north) but mostly east (west).   Further "up" the "C", in Wevertown, on the part that is more N-S than E-W, but opposite its primary N-S, it is also signed E-W (see GMSV at the NY 8 Jct. in Wevertown, for example).  Incidentally, NY 8 is another example that fits this thread, as it is signed E-W at that junction in Wevertown, but is mostly signed N-S.