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
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.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thekingshighway.ca%2FIMAGES%2FQEWniagara_sm.jpg&hash=3c59225a10dda945c2c4252633d2f9aee5c7f4c5)
US 101 is signed east/west at the northern end of the Olympic Peninsula.
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.
Just about every circular beltway.
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.
Quote from: Alex4897 on July 06, 2014, 11:30:52 PM
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.
In Ohio, US 35 becomes is East-West instead of North-South in West Virginia and Indiana.
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.
US 321 :sombrero:. 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.
Haven't we had a thread or 12 on this before?
Quote from: Bruce on July 07, 2014, 12:19:50 AM
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.
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.
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.
Quote from: Cjzani on July 07, 2014, 03:37:04 PM
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.
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).
US 321 - Changes directions at Elizabethton, TN; north/south switches.
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.
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.
Quote from: mhh on July 06, 2014, 11:42:14 PM
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?
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.
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?
Quote from: hbelkins on July 08, 2014, 07:10:21 PM
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 366I'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.
US-24 is signed N/S in MI, E/W elsewhere.
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 (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.
MD 23 is east/west between MD 165 and US 1 and north/south between MD 165 and the PA line.
In California, Route 70 changes from north-south to east-west around the vicinity of Route 191.
Route 18 and 138 of course have their convoluted paths through the Big Bear area. Beyond that, can't think of too many true examples of direction shifting...US 101 along the Ventura Freeway somewhat counts, but not to the degree of the other routes listed here.
Quote from: WashuOtaku on July 08, 2014, 02:20:12 PM
US 321 - Changes directions at Elizabethton, TN; north/south switches.
Already said:
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 07, 2014, 08:37:52 AM
US 321 :sombrero:. 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.
I-240 in Memphis does this. When approaching from I-55, you can either go east towards Nashville, or north to Little Rock.
US 52 can be a very confusing route, being N-S in some states and E-W in others.
NY 3 is signed east/west except for the portion between Palermo, NY (at the junction of NY 3 and NY 264) and the Oswego/Jefferson county line, which is signed north/south.
How is I-75 signed in Florida when it enters Alligator Alley?
Quote from: 1 on July 08, 2014, 07:11:37 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on July 08, 2014, 07:10:21 PM
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.
Starting from the south, it's E/W until around it's southern concurrency with NY 30, N/S between there and somewhere in the Adirondacks, then E/W again until it ends at US 9. If you drive the entire thing as I described, you'll be on NY 28 signed in every direction except south. As it heads north for quite a distance from its "northern" terminus, it would be really awkward to sign it all in one direction.
NY 7 does change, I think north of Binghamton. US 4 changes in/near Whitehall. Pretty sure NY 3 also flip-flops at some point.
Quote from: Zzonkmiles on July 11, 2014, 10:31:16 AM
How is I-75 signed in Florida when it enters Alligator Alley?
Used to be East/West, but it's North/South like the rest of the route now.
Quote from: Henry on July 09, 2014, 02:49:10 PM
US 52 can be a very confusing route, being N-S in some states and E-W in others.
it's a diagonal route. One can expect such. MN And IA have north-south. IL and ND east-west. Not sure of the rest
WIS 23 is N-S up to the Dells (US 12/WIS 13 Jct) where the directions change.
At one time, KY 160 changed. It was signed east-west in Harlan County (entering Kentucky from Virginia as VA 160) and dropping down into the valley at Cumberland, then back up Pine Mountain. It was signed north-south in Knott County and on the KY 15 concurrency in Knott and Letcher counties. (It should be noted that Harlan County is in District 11 and Knott and Letcher are in District 12, so that would have helped explain the differences in directional signage). Since the route is more of a north-south route than an east-west one, it is now signed N-S in its entirety.
I think Virginia signs 160 as a north-south route but I'd need to go check old photos to make sure.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 09, 2014, 07:30:05 AM
Quote from: WashuOtaku on July 08, 2014, 02:20:12 PM
US 321 - Changes directions at Elizabethton, TN; north/south switches.
Already said:
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 07, 2014, 08:37:52 AM
US 321 :sombrero:. 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.
Sorry, I missed that earlier share. So here's two more, both US 178 and US 276 are east-west in South Carolina and north-south in North Carolina.
I-287 is north/south in New Jersey and east/west in New York. NY 17 is east/west from the Pennsylvania border to Harriman and north/south from Harriman to the New Jersey border. The east/west portion will probably get decommissioned, though, once I-86 is completed.
Also, the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) is circular, so it changes direction four times.
Quote from: hbelkins on July 11, 2014, 11:49:27 PM
I think Virginia signs 160 as a north-south route but I'd need to go check old photos to make sure.
VA 160 is signed E-W
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vahighways.com%2Fva-ends%2Fva100%2Fva160_et.jpg&hash=9d54dfd6a5f55249c0a1accf4c613d01ad5e59b5)
US 33 is N-S in Indiana and E-W in Ohio, WV, and Virginia.
US 24 is N- S in Michigan, and E-W in IN and OH.
NY 364 is signed N/S from Canandaigua to Middlesex and E/W from Middlesex to Penn Yan.
The one odd one near me is I-680 in Omaha. It's N-S up to mile marker 8.2 and E-W from there to Iowa. The odd thing is the direction changes between exits. I'd make it all E-W, since it goes into Iowa, where I-680 is unambiguously E-W.
I think most of these have been covered, but the following US routes in Ohio don't fit the even/odd rule: 33, 35, 42, 62*, 68, and apparently 250.
*(62 is mostly signed east/west, but north/south in a few spots here and there, and without any direction in a lot of places.)
I've read that OH 37 changes from north-south to east-west somewhere between Findlay and Delaware; it zigzags so much south of Granville that I wouldn't be surprised to find some north/south signs there too.
OH 104 is mostly north/south, but about half the signage has it as east/west on its last few miles between I-71 and US 33.
US 87 is signed west—east in New Mexico, which makes sense given (a) it does primarily run that direction and (b) most of it is concurrent with US 64.
NJ 36 is signed east-west from Eatontown to Long Branch, and north-south from there. It takes a horseshoe-shaped route through Monmouth County.
Quote from: hm insulators on July 08, 2014, 02:29:39 PM
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.
I'd think this is different from some of the other examples listed. While it's true that the roadway is largely east-west between Torrance and CA-22, the highway designation is always North-South. So you'd still see I-405 North (or South) on shields and highway signs, even in the east-west portion.
For the Ventura Fwy portion of US 101, it's a little different still. On Caltrans signs and shields, the highway is referred to as US 101 North/South. Yet, there are some signs (made by City of Los Angeles and others) that indicate (incorrectly) US 101 East/West. There are still other signs that say Ventura Fwy (East/West) without referring to the highway shield.
CA-2 is chiefly East-West along Angeles Crest Highway as well as the (now decommissioned) section between Santa Monica and Alvarado Street (along Santa Monica Blvd and the US 101 freeway), but it is signed north/south along the Glendale Freeway.
VA 30 is east-west from US 1 to West Point, then north-south from West Point to its south/east end.
A few that come to mind, and apologies if these have been previously mentioned, though I didn't see them as I read through these.
Wisconsin seems to like to change the cardinal directions of their highways. I've counted three of them.
- WI 100 (to be fair, this could be argued as a beltway of sorts). Ryan Rd. is E-W, then it turns N-S around Hales Corners, and reverts to E-W after multiplexing with US 45.
- WI 22 (not sure where it changes)
- WI 23 is signed as East-West when it intersects I-39, but in WI Dells, it's signed as N-S. Not sure where the change is.
US 41, at least last time I was in Miami circa 99, was signed as East-West. I imagine that changes south of Ft. Myers when it follows the Tamiami Trail?
The last on my list is US 62. Never driven all of it, but looking at the routing, I imagine it must change directions at least once? Can anybody verify?
^^ WI 22 goes E-W after Gillett, but is signed N-S the whole way.
Damn I forgot about WIS 100.
As I mentioned before in this thread the cardinal direction switch of WIS 23 is at WIS-13/US 12/WIS 16 JCT.
Quote from: OCGuy81 on July 23, 2014, 07:14:37 PM
The last on my list is US 62. Never driven all of it, but looking at the routing, I imagine it must change directions at least once? Can anybody verify?
US 62 is (I think) E—W from Texas to Kentucky, mostly E—W (many places directionless and occasionally N—S) in Ohio, and N—S in Pennsylvania and NY. I personally think it should be N—S in Ohio.
CT 154 is E-W for the portion that goes around the Old Saybrook loop and is co-signed with US 1 over the railroad bridge. It then becomes N-S as it travels up the portion formerly known as CT 9A.
I'd say I-278, in this pic the road is actually heading west in this area.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2914/14443360700_3d42248752.jpg)[/url]
(of course the fact that trucks have to use the service road and I-278 goes to a single lane nearby while the Grand Central Pkwy is a 3-lane exit is for another post)
Quote from: doofy103 on July 24, 2014, 02:20:17 PM
I'd say I-278, in this pic the road is actually heading west in this area.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2914/14443360700_3d42248752.jpg)[/url]
(of course the fact that trucks have to use the service road and I-278 goes to a single lane nearby while the Grand Central Pkwy is a 3-lane exit is for another post)
Full-circle beltways (like in Washington DC and Baltimore) that utilize a cardinal direction (NSEW) must change its direction at least twice within the course of doing a full loop. Many change four times. So if I'm driving on the outer loop of I-495 around Washington DC, I'll be going WEST from College Park to Bethesda, SOUTH from Bethesda to Springfield, EAST from Springfield TO National Harbor, NORTH from National Harbor to College Park.
Half-beltways, though, tend to maintain one direction throughout, even though it may some times make sense to have the direction change.
For I-278, arguably a half-beltway, the road as a whole is certainly east/west, but the BQE (between Triboro Bridge and Verrazano Bridge) is much more north/south in orientation. I would support changing the road signs on this stretch to be north/south to alleviate some of the associated confusion with this section being east/west.
But I would not support changing the directions on national routes (2dis, US highways) like I-95 along the Cross-Bronx Expy. Since this is part of I-95, a national north/south route, it should be signed north/south despite having a significant east/west portion through the Bronx. Ditto I-95 in Connecticut, I-94 between Chicago and Milwaukee, US 101 between Ventura and the San Fernando Valley, etc. etc. The way to alleviate the inherent confusion is to make wide spread use of control cities.
I find I-94 particularly confusing. I was in Chicago and I was heading toward the northern suburbs and I came across a sign leading one way to I-94 east and another way to I-94 west. No control cities were provided on the sign. On the fly, I knew that I was heading north but couldn't remember if that was east or west. I wasn't interested in making a long distance trip to North Dakota (which is obviously west), I wanted to go to Skokie, only slightly north of where I was. If the sign was supplemented by control cities (Chicago Loop vs Milwaukee) there would have been no confusion for me.
the most confusing one to me is the 80/580 multiplex. I once actually had to stop at the top of the ramp to figure out whether I was intending to go east/west, or if west/east was instead the more correct direction.
(I was intending to go south.)
Then I-80 W/I-580 E is the correct option. If CA gave up and duplicated route 180, then this wouldn't happen...
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on August 08, 2014, 04:32:16 PM
Then I-80 W/I-580 E is the correct option. If CA gave up and duplicated route 180, then this wouldn't happen...
oh, I figured it out quickly enough, but the signage certainly could have been more intuitive.
what was ever wrong with highway 17??
Found this example along US 231 in Tennessee.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FhRbBrhH.jpg&hash=040eac76b8b123605b49e88823868ab660c83510)