I was in St. Louis this past weekend, and I noticed that at some point over the past few years, MoDOT had replaced the sign for the main airport exit on I-70 (Exit 236), which previously read "Lambert - St. Louis Airport", to simply say "STL Airport" instead.
Throughout the country, where else have you seen such "cosmetic" changes, for lack of a better term, to freeway signs - in which the text on the sign is altered for whatever reason, even though no substantive changes have occurred to the local infrastructure associated with the exit (such as a realignment of the ramps, a street changing names, or the designation, realignment, or decommissioning of a highway) to warrant such a modification to the signage?
The exit for MA 213 on I-495 started saying "to I-93 north" a few years ago. It makes no sense northbound, where anyone wanting to take I-93 north would have done so earlier at the actual I-93 exit.
The Mountain Parkway, Exit 57. Originally said "Lee City/West Liberty" eastbound and "Lee City/Jackson" westbound. Now it says "West Liberty/Jackson" in both directions.
A relatively new couple mentioned in another thread: I-691 East Exit 2B (Old 7) changed from "Downtown Meriden" to just Meriden, while Exit 2A (Former 8) changed from US 5 Broad St//TO CT 15 North to US 5 Downtown Meriden. The westbound signage has yet to be changed as part of the signing project, but current 2A is US 5 Broad St (since there is an exit for CT 15 North in that direction), and 2B was changed in kind and still says Downtown Meriden. Westbound will probably remain as-is because the eastbound ramp is directly across from Camp St, which leads toward downtown; while westbound requires a couple of turns and passing under the highway.
Ugh. Too many to mention.
Just one example I can think of, the US 40 exit along DE 1 originally had Elkton, MD and State Road as the control cities, but was later changed to Bear and Glasgow
The ramp from US 101 north to Bayshore Boulevard in San Francisco was renamed "Paul Avenue" about a decade ago, while the ramp from US 101 to another section of Bayshore in Brisbane went from being "Cow Palace" to "Cow Palace/Bayshore Boulevard".
VDOT changing most signs in the Hampton Roads area around 10-15 years ago that previously said "Nags Head" and "Manteo" (the previous control city for VA-168 South) and replaced them with "Outer Banks" .
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 12, 2023, 12:48:30 AM
VDOT changing most signs in the Hampton Roads area around 10-15 years ago that previously said "Nags Head" and "Manteo" (the previous control city for VA-168 South) and replaced them with "Outer Banks" .
Someone told me that the opening scene in 'Maximum Overdrive', where the drawbridge is freaking out, was filmed, or based, on on of the bridges in that area.
I look at that area sometimes via Google Earth, since I used to live near Smithfield in the late 80's. Just blows me away at how much what I remember as a sorta oystery, crabby, peanutty area has blown up.
Used to be able to give directions like 'turn right at the first light south of the JRB'. Now there's 2 or 3 of them.
Quote from: 1 on June 11, 2023, 07:54:09 PM
The exit for MA 213 on I-495 started saying "to I-93 north" a few years ago. It makes no sense northbound, where anyone wanting to take I-93 north would have done so earlier at the actual I-93 exit.
There's a similar thing on CT 8 in Naugatuck. There are 2 exits in a row for Cross St and CT 63. The signage northbound is normal enough: Cross St and CT 63/South Main St. But southbound, you get CT 63/South Main St, then Cross St/TO CT 63 South. Wouldn't it have made more sense to put the TO CT 63 South on northbound signage? The TO CT 63 South was just added in the last sign replacement project.
MD 295 in south Baltimore had an exit sign for decades "Westport" that was finally replaced a couple of years ago with "Manokin St|Westport". The old signs were long overdue for replacement.
The exit on the Mass Pike for I-495 used to give Cape Cod and NH/Maine as their destinations, but it was changed sometime in 2018-19 to say Portsmouth and Taunton. (the secondary signage wasn't changed) See https://goo.gl/maps/DWjoAemrDjhTUxKm8 (https://goo.gl/maps/DWjoAemrDjhTUxKm8)
Another one I know is on NH-16 as it approaches I-95. The northbound control cities used to be Portsmouth and Portland, but now it says Portsmouth and Maine Points. (Maybe it was confusing have two "Port- cities" on the same sign?) https://goo.gl/maps/ow1BGmr993wW2Mkd8 (https://goo.gl/maps/ow1BGmr993wW2Mkd8)
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on June 12, 2023, 08:19:25 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 12, 2023, 12:48:30 AM
VDOT changing most signs in the Hampton Roads area around 10-15 years ago that previously said "Nags Head" and "Manteo" (the previous control city for VA-168 South) and replaced them with "Outer Banks" .
Someone told me that the opening scene in 'Maximum Overdrive', where the drawbridge is freaking out, was filmed, or based, on on of the bridges in that area.
I look at that area sometimes via Google Earth, since I used to live near Smithfield in the late 80's. Just blows me away at how much what I remember as a sorta oystery, crabby, peanutty area has blown up.
Used to be able to give directions like 'turn right at the first light south of the JRB'. Now there's 2 or 3 of them.
The drawbridge scene was filmed on the Isabel Holmes Bridge in Wilmington which is where US 74 crosses the Cape Fear River a bit northwest of downtown Wilmington.
https://goo.gl/maps/iugxWKks32haiC9M8
Plus, I read that the Dixie Boy Truck Stop used in the film was "purpose built" , which means it was built for use in the film only, and not a soon-to-be closed truck stop–which I had mentioned in the I-40 in North Carolina thread.
For years, prior to the Jane Byrne Interchange reconstruction, there were two signs on I-90/I-94 that read "I-290 WEST/Eisenhower Expy/West Suburbs" and "Congress Pkwy/Chicago Loop", and both were attached to the Roosevelt Road overpass. Now on the same overpass, there's a single large sign that has "I-290/Eisenhower Expwy/Aurora/Ida B Wells Dr" for the exit, and "I-90/I-94 WEST/Kennedy Expwy/Wisconsin" for the through movement.
BEFORE: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8669117,-87.644503,3a,75y,1.37h,101.7t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGaq4ovtIU5HciOBoFw4E9w!2e0!5s20121001T000000!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu
AFTER: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8669056,-87.6444671,3a,75y,1.37h,101.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSeno5Metzv3SSj7Bfbff6g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu
Quote from: Henry on June 12, 2023, 09:48:23 PM
For years, prior to the Jane Byrne Interchange reconstruction, there were two signs on I-90/I-94 that read "I-290 WEST/Eisenhower Expy/West Suburbs" and "Congress Pkwy/Chicago Loop", and both were attached to the Roosevelt Road overpass. Now on the same overpass, there's a single large sign that has "I-290/Eisenhower Expwy/Aurora/Ida B Wells Dr" for the exit, and "I-90/I-94 WEST/Kennedy Expwy/Wisconsin" for the through movement.
BEFORE: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8669117,-87.644503,3a,75y,1.37h,101.7t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGaq4ovtIU5HciOBoFw4E9w!2e0!5s20121001T000000!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu
AFTER: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8669056,-87.6444671,3a,75y,1.37h,101.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSeno5Metzv3SSj7Bfbff6g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu
Should have went ahead and changed the Ike's #designation, also. Picking a Control along I-88 is certainly interesting, so just run 88 to the Circle!
And I still call it Congress Parkway. Nothing against Ida Wells
Quote from: 1 on June 11, 2023, 07:54:09 PM
The exit for MA 213 on I-495 started saying "to I-93 north" a few years ago. It makes no sense northbound, where anyone wanting to take I-93 north would have done so earlier at the actual I-93 exit.
And the exit for MA 213 on I-93 says "to I-495" even though it also makes no sense going north.
I initially held off on destination city changes because they're extremely common, but I know of two recently, both on I-495:
MA 114 eastbound (exit 100A): previously said Middleton, now says North Andover. I oppose the change, as MA 114 is pretty much the only way to get to Middleton northbound and the most obvious way (and best unless 114 is backed up) to get to it southbound, while North Andover is served by three consecutive exits (100, 101, 102).
I-93 north from I-495 (exit 97B): Previously said Concord NH, now says Salem NH likely because the name of the sign determines sign width (the other name used being Boston for southbound traffic) and they want to use less metal. I would prefer Manchester NH, but that would use even more metal than Concord or Salem.
Before the sign replacement on I-95 between Newton and Lexington, Exit 45A for MA 2 eastbound used to be signed for Cambridge with no mention of Boston. Signage now says Boston with Cambridge being used for auxiliary signage. Fitchburg has always been used for westbound though.
Not exactly what the OP wanted, but the one exit that comes to mind is Exit 20 on I-64 in West Virginia. Originally, the eastbound exit was signed for US-60 / Ona. When the Huntington Mall was being constructed in the early 1980s, the signage changed to US-60 / Barboursville (matching the westbound exit). Most folks in West Virginia had a hard time understanding the change, since we were wired not to backtrack. But by that time, using US-60 from Exit 15 (East Huntington) to get to Barboursville really didn't make sense anymore as there were more stoplights along that stretch of US-60. That exit has undergone a bunch of changes since then, including the labels "Mall Road" and now "East Mall Road" (all of which are disqualifiers for this thread).
Which brings me to a different point about the same exit. Now that there is a new Exit 18 that actually provides direct access to Barboursville, it seems weird that Exit 20 is still posted for Barboursville. Nobody cares about Ona anymore, but it is the closest placename and has a very interesting history (home of the West Virginia International Raceway NASCAR dirt track and Firefox campground resort, which used to host frequent hot air balloon rides).
Here's another West Virginia example, but with the route number, not a destination.
The Big Chimney exit on I-79 was always WV 114. It still is the northern terminus of WV 114. Yet during a sign replacement project several years ago, the route number was changed from WV 114 to US 119. I emailed the WVDOT spokesperson to ask why the route number was changed, but never got an answer back.
I don't understand why the route number was changed.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 14, 2023, 02:34:20 PM
Here's another West Virginia example, but with the route number, not a destination.
The Big Chimney exit on I-79 was always WV 114. It still is the northern terminus of WV 114. Yet during a sign replacement project several years ago, the route number was changed from WV 114 to US 119. I emailed the WVDOT spokesperson to ask why the route number was changed, but never got an answer back.
I don't understand why the route number was changed.
Moreso, Exit 5 (Big Chimney) was marked for WV-114 for a short time before that route was officially extended to meet the Interstate.
My guess is that too many commercial vehicles were being routed onto WV-114 as an unintended "bypass" of downtown Charleston for those who have their GPS flipped to "Shortest Route". (Which, by the way, the number of vehicles getting mis-routed hardly ever changes because of new signage). It is about 9 miles to the State Capitol via I-79 and I-77/I-64, but only about 7.5 miles via WV-114. But I would only go that way if you want to stop to picnic at Coonskin Park.
I-4 Exit 38 near Lakeland had no control cities for several decades. Just recently Polk City was added both directions. However WB to exit there for Polk City is backtracking as Polk City is 6 miles back on the connecting state route.
Exit 100 on I-20/I-59 just southwest of Birmingham, AL used to read "Abernant/Bucksville". Now it just reads "Lake View".
Southbound on I-95 in Delaware, the exit for DE 273 recently changed from "Newark/Dover" to "Christiana/Newark".
A few Nevada ones I'm aware of:
- I-580/US 395 Exit 67 (now 35) went from "Glendale Ave" to "E Second St / Glendale Ave" around 2010, despite no underlying changes. Second St becomes Glendale Ave upon going from Reno to Sparks, but the city border is actually about a quarter mile east of the interchange so the road is actually Second St at the interchange. The change introduced more accuracy.
- I-80 Exit 16 changed from "Victorian Ave / E 4th St" to "Prater Way / E 4th St" when I-80 was rebuilt through Reno-Sparks about 10 years ago, with no underlying change at the time. Similar to the above, Fourth St turns into Prater Way going from Reno to Sparks, at the Galletti Way intersection just west of the interchange, so the street name at the interchange itself was actually "Prater Way" and not signed from the freeway or very well on the road itself. (A few hundred feet east of the interchange was the intersection of Prater Way & Victorian Ave, with the main eastbound traffic being funneled to continue onto Victorian instead of along Prater [a potential holdover from the days when Fourth and Victorian carried US 40]. A few years after the freeway signs changed, a rehab project along Prater changed the intersection of Prater & Victorian to realign Victorian to tee off from Prater and signage along the street is more clear.)
- I-15 Exit 122 went from "East Mesquite" to "Pioneer Blvd / Sandhill Blvd" without any changes to the street circa 2009-2010. (A similar change happened around the same time at the Exit 120 "West Mesquite" interchange, which is now "Falcon Ridge Pkwy / Mesquite Blvd", but that change was prompted by the interchange being reconstructed to a dogbone to provide connection to the then newly-constructed Falcon Ridge Pkwy.)
Close to me: I-25, Exit 262.
Currently signed 392 E/W Windsor / Fort Collins.
Before they 392-ized it west of I-25, it was just CR 30 (I think), but still went all the way to 287 (College). Back then, it was just signed 392 East -Windsor. But people still exited there if they were going to the south end of Fort Collins.
In 2003-2004 when all the signs were replaced on Georgia 10 Loop (the Athens bypass/beltway), most signs remained the same, but a few of them changed.
On the west side of the beltway, the old signage had Monroe on the signs in both directions at exit 1 (US 29/78, GA 316). But the current signage lists Monroe at exit 18 (US 78 Business, GA 10) on the Outer Loop while on the Inner Loop it remains listed at exit 1.
On the east side of the beltway, for whatever reason, the current signage for US 78/GA 10 is urban-style, listing the street names instead of control cities. I think the older signs were better:
Old signage: "Downtown Athens" and "Athens Airport" as destinations on the main signs, with "Lexington" and "Washington" on a supplemental sign.
New signage: "Oconee St/Lexington Rd" on the main signs, with supplemental signs for Downtown Athens, the airport, Lexington, and Washington.
Of course, if the signage were up to me, the main signage would be "Athens"/"Lexington", with the airport and Washington on a supplemental sign.
Near Williamsburg, Virginia, the signs for Exit 242A/B on I-64 changed sometime around 2009.
Exit 242A went from: "VA-199 West, Williamsburg/Jamestown" to "VA-199 West, Humelsine Parkway"
Exit 242B went from: "VA-199 East, Colonial Parkway/Yorktown" to "VA-199 East, Marquis Center Parkway"
Always peeved me because the destinations were much more useful and the vast majority of locals refer to it as just "199" and not by the proper names.
The Garden State Parkway changed a lot of them recently
Exit 63A ( former 63) was NJ 72 East Manahawkin, Long Beach Island and currently is NJ 72 East, Long Beach Island.
Exit 63B ( former 63A) went from NJ 72 West, Camden, Chatsworth to NJ 72 West, Pemberton.
Exit 98 SB went from NJ 34, I-195, and NJ 138, Belmar, Manasquan, Point Pleasant to NJ 34, I-195, and NJ 138, Belmar, Trenton.
Exit 132 ( former 131) went from NJ 27, Iselin, Rahway, Metuchen to NJ 27, Iselin, Metuchen.
Exit 140 NB went from US 22, NJ 82 East, Holland Tunnel to US 22, NJ 82 Hillside.
Exit 148 went from Bloomfield Ave, Bloomfield, Montclair, to CR 506 SPUR, CR 509, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge.
Exit 155 went from Hazel Street to Passaic.
On I-95 in Delaware, an exit in the Christiana area had "Metroform" as a control city. This was replaced with Churchman's Crossing some 20 years ago. I think it was on m.t.r. that I read that Metroform was a proposed planned community that never materialized.
Around 1995, on US-50 EB in Bowie, MD (also unsigned I-595), the Exit 13B signage for Route 3 changed from Baltimore to Crofton. This made sense, since the newly upgraded US-50 and the then-newish I-97 became a better way to get to B-more than MD-3 with its increasing local traffic and multiple signals. In that same interchange, the sign for Exit 13C switched from (approximately) "Univ of MD Sci and Tech Center" to simply "Melford".
In Ohio, the signage on I-75 SB at the I-70 interchange listed Springfield and Richmond (IN) as the control cities. When that stretch of highway was rebuilt in the late 80s or so, they were replaced with Columbus and Indianapolis. Note that I-75 NB had the longer-range towns listed some 13 years sooner.
State College is now used as a control city (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3056001,-76.8307559,3a,75y,335.52h,89.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shDOu1RwMsYjjFQJWCM18Wg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu) for U.S. 322 westbound in Harrisburg.
A bunch of recent changes on I-80 just west of Reno, to remove location names in favor of road names (for all except Exit 3, a smaller placard containing the original name is mounted below the new sign).
- Exits 1 & 2 - Changed from "Verdi" to "Gold Ranch Road"
- Exit 3 - Changed from "Verdi" to "S. Verdi Rd"
- Exit 5 - Changed from "East Verdi" to "[SR 425 shield] Old US 40"
- Exit 7 - Changed from "Mogul" to "Mogul Rd" (even though I think the underlying road here, at least at the westbound ramps, is W 4th St)
So this combined with my last post in this thread makes me think NDOT is gradually removing rural/small urban place names on freeway exits in favor of road names...
I-210 in Lake View Terrace has added "Foothill Blvd" in addition to "Osborne St," despite Osborne never actually connecting to the freeway.
The exit from I-80 westbound to the Salt Lake airport has gone over the years from "Airport" to "Salt Lake Intl Airport" to "SLC Intl Airport". And in the midst of all that, the exit number also changed from 115A to 115B.
I-10 in Arizona between Mile Markers 289 and 291 was reconstructed to Interstate Standards around 2013. Substandard trumpet interchange at Exit 289 was relocated two miles east alongside new freeway and new eastbound railroad track to a new modern diamond. Old signage which referred to "Exit 289 - Marsh sta rd" was replaced with "Exit 291 - Marsh Station Road"
I remember being able to see the markings of "Hancock Airport" underneath "Syracuse Airport" on the button copy signs along Interstate 81 in the mid-late 1970s. The current signs say Syracuse Airport.
Just thought of a few local examples:
- In the pre-exit-number era, what is now I-280 Exit 49A was "Westlake District" but has since been renamed "Junipero Serra Blvd/John Daly Blvd"
- The ramp from US 101 north to Bayshore Boulevard (Exit 426A) at the Brisbane/SSF border was just called "Cow Palace" for years but is now "Bayshore Boulevard/Cow Palace"
- The ramp that was labeled as the Bayshore Boulevard exit along US 101 near Visitacion Valley in SF is now "Paul Avenue" to match the southbound Paul Avenue standalone ramp.
Quote from: TheStranger on July 28, 2023, 01:23:49 PM
Just thought of a few local examples:
- In the pre-exit-number era, what is now I-280 Exit 49A was "Westlake District" but has since been renamed "Junipero Serra Blvd/John Daly Blvd"
- The ramp from US 101 north to Bayshore Boulevard (Exit 426A) at the Brisbane/SSF border was just called "Cow Palace" for years but is now "Bayshore Boulevard/Cow Palace"
- The ramp that was labeled as the Bayshore Boulevard exit along US 101 near Visitacion Valley in SF is now "Paul Avenue" to match the southbound Paul Avenue standalone ramp.
SB 101 (exit 442) was originally signed as simply "Sausalito," but now it matches the NB signage as "Alexander Avenue."