What are some of the odd ideas we had about roads when we were young?
When I was in grade school, I knew that Interstates had to be freeways, and that state routes could sometimes be freeways. However, after studying (mostly the west side of) Columbus, I had concluded that it was a state route designation that enabled a non-Interstate road to be a freeway – a US route could not be a freeway unless it was overlapped by a state route. I'm pretty sure some part of US 33 was the first counterexample I discovered.
I thought roads and cars were a good thing until high school. Now I'm an envirowacko.
I thought Interstates had to actually cross state borders and they were the only type of roadway that could be freeways.
I thought NYSDOT would do such things as extend NY 531, finish NY 204, and complete the NY 590/NY 104 interchange.
I used to think that there was an inherent difference between state and US routes in terms of maintenance. I thought that in order to be a US route they had to be a higher standard of maintenance, and I thought that they were federally-maintained.
Wow....let's see
1. I thought HuffINE Mill Road in Greensboro ran into HuffMAN Mill Road in Burlington (understand, these are two different counties)
2. I thought a diamond (this is NC) designated a road, the US shield a highway and the Interstate an Interstate
Like huskeroadgeek, I used to think that US routes were held to more stringent standards for construction and maintenance. I also thought they were still funded 50% federal, 50% state (I am not sure when that funding ratio lapsed).
As a kid on family road trips, I used to think that cars ahead of were going faster than us, and those behind were slower. If we were cruising at 65, the traffic I could see 1/2 to 1 mile off in the distance must have been going 70-80mph.
Took a little growing older to understand that our car and the ones I could see in the distance might both be going 65, but they simply got on the highway ahead of us.
I used to think old signs were stupid and should be replaced
There was a brief period when I thought state patrol cars were only allowed to patrol state highways, not local roads.
JN Winkler: I thought there were more stringent specs for US routes. When the roundabout near Skaggs Hospital in Branson was constructed, I recall they had to remove the designation of Business US 65 because, according to US highway standards, the hill was too steep of a grade to construct a roundabout. The city therefore took over the road as a local street and built the roundabout anyway. ((I think it's funny that something was called 'too steep' for Branson drivers))
I thought that US and Interstate highways were federal routes.
Unlike a certain "viatologist," I became disabused of my erroneous belief.
Interesting to look back on..
-- I also thought interstates had to cross state lines
-- I thought U.S. highways HAD to be north/south only for odd numbers and so on.. so I freaked out at the US-101 east/west signs in CA
-- I thought that when when there was a concurrency, it meant that the newer highway (e.g. interstate) was built EXACTLY in the same spot as the older one it was signed with
-- I thought all the state route numbers in CT were highways that went through the whole country with that number
-- I thought shoulders were just for really slow trucks
-- I thought 100% of road signage was made in prisons
-- I thought exit ramp speed signs were enforceable limits
Quote from: andrewkbrown on November 22, 2011, 01:28:07 PM
As a kid on family road trips, I used to think that cars ahead of were going faster than us, and those behind were slower. If we were cruising at 65, the traffic I could see 1/2 to 1 mile off in the distance must have been going 70-80mph.
Took a little growing older to understand that our car and the ones I could see in the distance might both be going 65, but they simply got on the highway ahead of us.
When I was a little kid when we got stuck in traffic I thought there was a "first car" that was going too slowly and holding up the traffic. Who knows, at various times during my youth that might have been true as to Maryland's rolling roadblocks that they ran for NMSL compliance.
I also thought the state welcome sign marked the actual state line and that when you passed that sign, that was the point at which you were crossing into another state. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me that the two states' welcome signs are almost never directly across the highway from each other.
Here are a few of mine (most of these are from when I was really, really young)...
-All road signs were hand painted.
-Connecticut was the largest state (it would always take what feels like an eternity to pass through the state on my way up north)
-Every long freeway was I-95.
-Asphalt roads were made of rubber.
Another one: I thought that if a 3di had an even number it had to be east-west and if it had an odd number it had to be north-south. This is because it holds true for all the x90s in NY except I-790, and I had never been I-790 or any 3dis for a 2di other than I-90.
I used to think that all interstates had six lanes.
I used to think that all exits everywhere in the country were numbered sequentially, and when I looked at maps of states that used milepost numbering I always figured that they were only showing the major exits and omitting a lot of minor ones due to lack of space.
Similarly, I used to think that it was normal everywhere for exits to be spaced a mile or so apart. Unless that highway happened to be the New Jersey Turnpike, which I thought was poorly designed because it didn't have enough exits.
I used to think that all major roads had solid double yellow lines down the middle - I was in middle school by the time I knew what a passing zone was.
I used to think shoulders were a waste of space and wondered why more highways weren't built without them.
Quote from: 1995hoo on November 22, 2011, 04:07:08 PMI also thought the state welcome sign marked the actual state line and that when you passed that sign, that was the point at which you were crossing into another state. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me that the two states' welcome signs are almost never directly across the highway from each other.
I used to think this too but later learned that it is not uncommon for boundary signs (and other roadway features at state lines in general) to be placed extraterritorially. I am not aware, however, of any welcome signs (as opposed to boundary signs) which are placed outside the state to which they refer.
A related delusion is that monumentation is always placed precisely at the boundary. Sometimes this is the case, but I have found instances where the monument is offset a specified amount from the boundary.
I used to think state routes should always go through at least two counties.
I used to think that single-state 2DIs were called "Intrastates" because they're Intrastate Interstates (e.g. I-16, I-27, so on and so forth)
I used to think Rochester's Inner Loop was just this one ramp here:
http://g.co/maps/gcvhn
When my parents pointed at the Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge (NY Thruway Berkshire Spur over the Hudson) and said we would be going over it, I thought they meant *over* it; i.e., driving atop the superstructure!
Speaking of the Berkshire Spur, I though the Berkshire Spur was the driveway leading to the Berkshire Spur Motel. (It's a steep driveway that branches off NY 22 similar to an exit ramp, and is right by a sign that said "Berkshire Spur".
I thought the guard gate structures at Erie Canal locks along the Mohawk River were bridges to nowhere. They sure look like it!
I used to think that "freeway" just meant that the road wasn't tolled- freeways couldn't be tollways and tollways couldn't be freeways.
In a similar vein, "expressways" were freeways through a city.
Ohio was the only state with unique state highway markers. (the first 8 years of my life were spent pretty much without leaving IL/IN/OH/WV/KY- very occasional forays to VA/NC/TN/MD, so you can see where that came about)
You can tell I spent my young years in suburban Chicago.
When I first moved to Boise, I thought all the freeways (I-84 and I-184) were I-84 and were "The Connector" (local parlance for I-184). When I first heard about McCall, where we would later end up settling, I assumed it must be an island because there was only one road in and one road out, and my midwestern brain totally could not grasp mountains as terrain obstacles.
I remember I used to think Orange County/John Wayne Airport was such a huge, major airport when I'd go with my parents to pick up company.
Compared to the airports I've flown to in my travels now....wow....it's small time.
There were only two classes of roadway: undivided surface roads (almost always 2 lanes), and freeways (the only things I considered "highways").
The first trip down the Berlin Turnpike (what most of us would call an expressway) was an eye-opener: a highway with shops along it.
My early interchange designs, scribbled on paper, must have featured a lot of 50-foot weaves and 20-degree inclines. No sense of horizontal scale.
I used to wonder why Arkansas needed 2 posts for their signs when Louisiana only used one. I figured we did it better and cheaper!
I remember crossing into Texas and thinking the FM highways were the major highways because on their sign, it carried the Texas shield on it. The State highways were just a box
Quote from: bassoon1986 on November 23, 2011, 11:50:45 AM
I used to wonder why Arkansas needed 2 posts for their signs when Louisiana only used one. I figured we did it better and cheaper!
I remember crossing into Texas and thinking the FM highways were the major highways because on their sign, it carried the Texas shield on it. The State highways were just a box
I thought the same thing when I made my first foray into Texas. I still find it strange that they put the state outline on a lower class of road than the state highways.
Another example: "EXIT ONLY" on a lane-drop sign means "Impossible to re-enter the freeway in this direction at this interchange" and not "This lane is dropped at the next exit."
I used to think any road that ended in the name "Parkway" never allowed trucks and buses.
I also used to think many of the roads that should've been built were going to be built.
QuoteI used to wonder why Arkansas needed 2 posts for their signs when Louisiana only used one.
Do you know why Arkansas used to use the diagnoal post as a brace on all their signs? Please don't say "Its to keep the wind from blowin' 'em down"; No other state uses them, jsut curious if anybody knows why Arkansas thought it was nessessary?
Greater stability for the signs other duty as a shooting target? :sombrero:
Quote from: Brian556 on November 23, 2011, 07:38:26 PM
QuoteI used to wonder why Arkansas needed 2 posts for their signs when Louisiana only used one.
Do you know why Arkansas used to use the diagnoal post as a brace on all their signs? Please don't say "Its to keep the wind from blowin' 'em down"; No other state uses them, jsut curious if anybody knows why Arkansas thought it was nessessary?
Minnesota braces their signs up in what I assume is a similar fashion.
When I was young, I thought cars with one state's license plate in front and another state's in the rear had owners who lived in one state half the year and the other the other. I also thought that any jog in a street was due to having to correct the grid due to the curvature of the earth.
QuoteI also thought that any jog in a street was due to having to correct the grid due to the curvature of the earth.
That's awesome.
QuoteQuoteDo you know why Arkansas used to use the diagnoal post as a brace on all their signs? Please don't say "Its to keep the wind from blowin' 'em down"; No other state uses them, jsut curious if anybody knows why Arkansas thought it was nessessary?
Minnesota braces their signs up in what I assume is a similar fashion.
I noted this year that Nevada does the same on I-80. Though I've driven I-15 I haven't made note of this, but on I-80 their signs are mounted on round signpost with two additional pieces angled to a single central point behind the sign. Even on guide signs; no I-beam posts. Minnesota uses channel post supplemental supports angled straight back on many signs, but not interstate guide signs. I saw one sign on U.S. 169 in the Twin Cities western suburbs after a strong storm with about six of the channel posts bent forward and the rear supports pulled out of the wet ground.
I had thought that the I-80 Local lanes between Exits 43 and 47 were actual mainline I-287 due to the way they were signed from the mainline. I was jealous because I never got to travel on I-287 in NJ as a kid (in NY, all the time though).
Route 3 was the route that went into the Lincoln Tunnel. 495 did not register as a number.
I was used to Garden State Parkway tolls always taking 10 minutes and sometimes longer to get through. Looking back, I don't think it actually took more than 5 minutes on most days, but I have this recollection of getting out of the car because the toll lane was stopped. I'm sure it wasn't actually that way.
AAA maps showed minor freeways as narrower than regular freeways, and with black numbers instead of red. I operated under the assumption these freeways were narrower themselves.
I had a lot of old maps around. So I didn't know NJ 24 and I-287 were completed until many years after the fact. I was also surprised to discover in the 2000s that Florida had built more than a couple of roads since my 1986 map, and the Bee Line no longer existed.
Anything more than about 10 minutes away was far. It was either a full-day shopping trip (3 hours+, certainly) or a vacation.
When i was a kid, i always thought "Shore Points" was the longest town in Connecticut...it was mentioned at almost every exit on the Connecticut Turnpike from Cos Cob (Exit 2) to East Lyme (Exit 75)
Quote from: Quillz on November 22, 2011, 03:23:18 AM
I thought Interstates had to actually cross state borders and they were the only type of roadway that could be freeways.
I think most of us have done this.
When I was *really* young I thought freeways were race tracks.
For some reason, I thought interstate numbering was completely random, and for reason I never noticed that all the Interstates in the area either had '05' or '10' and were related to I-5 and I-10.
When I was young I used to think ALL state route routes in other states used California's spade shape. I tried imagining a CA state route shield that said "Pennsylvania" when where "California" would be on the shield.
Quote from: Riverside Frwy on November 24, 2011, 12:18:01 PM
When I was young I used to think ALL state route routes in other states used California's spade shape. I tried imagining a CA state route shield that said "Pennsylvania" when where "California" would be on the shield.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsub1/361232102/
Quote from: The High Plains Traveler on November 24, 2011, 12:51:21 AM
QuoteQuoteDo you know why Arkansas used to use the diagnoal post as a brace on all their signs? Please don't say "Its to keep the wind from blowin' 'em down"; No other state uses them, jsut curious if anybody knows why Arkansas thought it was nessessary?
Minnesota braces their signs up in what I assume is a similar fashion.
I noted this year that Nevada does the same on I-80. Though I've driven I-15 I haven't made note of this, but on I-80 their signs are mounted on round signpost with two additional pieces angled to a single central point behind the sign. Even on guide signs; no I-beam posts.
The diagonal bracing is fairly standard NDOT practice for larger post-mounted signs in Nevada. This is most often seen in rural areas for all major freeway guide & service signs, as well as some larger guide signs on non-freeway routes. In urban areas, the diagonal post method is used only for service and supplemental guide signs. I believe the origins of the diagonal bracing were to provide extra support for high winds, especially in rural Nevada where wind gusts can be quite high due to the basin & range nature of the state.
I've seen a couple instances where NDOT has used I-beam posts without diagonal members for ground-mounted signs (although can't recall specific signs/locations at the moment). The ones I remember seeing were in urban locations though, in which the sign was already behind a jersey wall. I wonder if the crash breakaway factor is something NDOT is considering in not installing I-beam post signs more often...
Did anyone else think that their state had a unique sign color until they left their state, i thought at one time (maybe 10 years old) that all road signs in NJ were green, and unique until we went down to DC in the real late 90s, probably 1998 or sometime in 1997. Then again we did take the NJTP which has unique signs.
I remember thinking that "No U Turn" was a funny phrase. I always sort of thought it meant something like "hey you, don't turn" but with weirder syntax.
When my mom was learning to drive she came across a "signal ahead" sign and asked her sister "which way do I signal?". Luckily she didn't see any "do not pass" signs.
That reminds me of a story about my aunt learning how to drive. She put the car into "ride" and was surprised when it moved backwards.
I thought every interstate had to have a US Highway to go with it, since both the major interstates in Oregon had them: US 99 was still around then with I-5, and US 30 went with then-I-80N. Even I-405 had US 26 with it -- I didn't really know 26's exact routing through Portland back then, but it was on all the signs on 405. I thought this despite living just off US 30 west of Portland 50-some miles west of the end of I-80N!
One I remember was coming back from the TX coast to go see my sister get married, I was "helping" my mother with getting back home and I noticed on the map that I-45 stopped at US 79 (where we were going to exit) and that there were a few miles of dashed lines north of that. I must have been smart enough about maps by then (3rd grade) that there was no more pavement if the road wasn't drawn on there after a certain point. I remember bugging my mother to exit at US 79, I guess cause I thought we were going to fall off the pavement or unfinished bridge or something. Little did I know that the map we were using wasn't up to date (I don't know how much older our map was) and that we wouldn't suffer any calamity if we hadn't exited onto US 79.
Really, really youthful misconception (spurred by a comic book drawn just as the Interstate program was getting under way): grading and drainage is unnecessary to build a road. All you have to do is get a paving machine which drops tar out of a downspout mounted just in front of a roller, and drive that cross-country.
I used to think that when signs got old, the highway department would stick a new sign over the old one(at that time, I did not realize that it was actually the "trim" of the button-copy era). :-o :rolleyes:
I had a cousin who worked as a maintenance engineer for the old Kentucky Bureau (later Department) of Highways. He used to talk about "resurfacing" a road. I thought he was actually saying "reservice" which I took to mean installing all new signs, guardrails, safety posts (which we used to have a lot of around here), etc.
Quote from: msubulldog on November 27, 2011, 05:55:12 PM
I used to think that when signs got old, the highway department would stick a new sign over the old one(at that time, I did not realize that it was actually the "trim" of the button-copy era). :-o :rolleyes:
There have been some signs that actually have been refurbished like that in Kentucky and West Virginia.
Quote from: J N Winkler on November 27, 2011, 01:51:04 PM
Really, really youthful misconception (spurred by a comic book drawn just as the Interstate program was getting under way): grading and drainage is unnecessary to build a road. All you have to do is get a paving machine which drops tar out of a downspout mounted just in front of a roller, and drive that cross-country.
Some roads around here actually appear to have been built in that manner.
I also used to think that Texas was the only state to use button-copy. :sombrero:
I used to think that only Interstates were allowed to have exit numbers, because the only non-Interstate freeways I saw on a regular basis (the US 19/41 Griffin bypass and GA 141 north of I-285) didn't use them.
When I was growing up in Georgia in the 1990s, the exit numbers here were still sequential. The only other state I visited regularly was Florida, and they were still sequential then there as well. Logically, I assumed this was the case everywhere until the first time we entered South Carolina.
I also thought that BGSes everywhere used Series D lettering (not that I knew what it was called) and was surprised when we left the state and the text on the signs looked like someone had turned on the bold option or something.
Some of my own "discoveries" as a new driver from Kansas, before traffic signing manuals and construction plans became widely available on the Internet, and MTR became available for roadgeek discussion:
* All Interstates have to have exit numbers and mileposts. (Crosses Colorado River on I-10 going west) Where are the mileposts? Why are the exits not numbered?
* All exit numbers are mileage-based. You can use the exit number and the mileposts to tell the distance to your exit. (Crosses into Pennsylvania on I-70) Claysville isn't just one mile east of West Alexander, is it? I could have sworn I drove about a dozen miles between the two exits. And why don't the mileposts agree with the exit numbers?
I've mentioned this before, but I used to think that the original BGS's for Exits 41 N-S on the Long Island Expressway looked like a creepy owl with glasses that stared at anyone along the road, ready to randomly pick any vehicle as it's prey.
I also used to hope against all hope that when the still unfinished Sprain Brook Parkway went past Jackson Avenue, that it might go to the north pole.
:happy:
I recall mistaking mileage to an exit on a BGS as mileage to the control city the sign mentioned. Example: traveling south on US 51 in Wausau en route to Green Bay, I see a sign that says:
WI 29 west
Green Bay
1 Mile
And I immediately thought, "Oh wow, we're only 1 mile from Green Bay!"
Here's another good one you all will like. After observing several button-copy signs, I determined that they were made by shooting the sign with a machine gun. I pictured some guy standing in front of the sign and spelling letters with a machine gun. Then they played connect-the-dots with white paint.
For some time, I assumed that every town that gets bypassed automatically gets a business route.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on November 29, 2011, 05:21:08 PMI recall mistaking mileage to an exit on a BGS as mileage to the control city the sign mentioned. Example: traveling south on US 51 in Wausau en route to Green Bay, I see a sign that says:
WI 29 west
Green Bay
1 Mile
And I immediately thought, "Oh wow, we're only 1 mile from Green Bay!"
To be honest, this is more ambiguity in how distance signs are composed than a misconception--it is the reason some states use the word "EXIT" after the destination to make it clear that the distance given is to the exit and not to the destination itself.
QuoteHere's another good one you all will like. After observing several button-copy signs, I determined that they were made by shooting the sign with a machine gun. I pictured some guy standing in front of the sign and spelling letters with a machine gun. Then they played connect-the-dots with white paint.
I grew up in Kansas, which has always used retroreflective sheeting. In order to see button copy I had to go to Missouri, Oklahoma, or Nebraska. I could not understand why these states would choose a retroreflectorization technology which made the signs look like cheap, low-resolution dot-matrix printing at night instead of "laser printing" like in Kansas. (I was a Kansas chauvinist in general until I reached my mid-twenties and realized that there are some things Kansas does very poorly, like access to public records.)
I thought that California was far different from other states in how it marked and signed its roads. California had white lines for its center dividers; other states had a continuous broken white line that had yellow solid lines on one side or the other (or none at all) depending on whether passing was allowed or not. Other states had black on white guide and regulatory signs. California had white on black guide or regulatory signs. California's route markers were cutouts while other states had rectangular signs.
Oh wait. Those weren't misconceptions. (Still aren't in many ways.) One reason why it's still fun to drive to California. Gotta love those yellow school crossing lines.
When I was little, there were several cities in Ohio where there used to be signs that said: "THROUGH TRUCKS MUST FOLLOW STATE ROUTES".
At the time I thought that meant that trucks couldn't travel on US Routes in Ohio -- only the State and Interstate routes.
I once thought that all interstates numbered exits by mile within the state.
I once thought US highways could only end at an international border or coastline.
When I first saw the signs on Harding Place in Belle Meade, TN that "Belle Meade Blvd. does not stop" I thought that meant Belle Meade Blvd. went all the way around the world.
When my father said that the I-5 Express Lanes in Seattle would "take us out of town" I thought that meant if we took them we'd wind up on a road in some suburb, away from I-5. Later on that trip, when a direct onramp to those lanes had a sign that said "Flammable Trucks Prohibited" I thought that meant pedestrians, bicycles, etc. were OK since there wasn't a sign prohibiting them.
Quote from: elsmere241 on November 30, 2011, 09:34:32 AM
.... Later on that trip, when a direct onramp to those lanes had a sign that said "Flammable Trucks Prohibited" I thought that meant pedestrians, bicycles, etc. were OK since there wasn't a sign prohibiting them.
I'm beginning to think that a lot of people think this sort of thing in general–"I can do whatever I want unless there's a sign saying I can't"–because I frequently see things like people making left or right turns from the second lane, or even the third lane, if there's no straight-only marking. Here's a satellite view of an example in the District of Columbia (http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.893605,-77.043466&spn=0.001597,0.004128&t=k&z=19&vpsrc=6)–notice in the middle of the picture where there's a right-only lane and then next to it is a right-or-straight lane. In that situation, it seems apparent to me that you cannot legally turn right out of the far left lane because you'd be crossing the path of vehicles that are allowed to go straight (due to the middle lane being right-or-straight). There's no left turn because the turn is onto a one-way street. More and more frequently I see people turn right out of that far left lane, which bears no marking at all as to which way it goes. No doubt part of that is typical DC self-importance–"Why should I wait on line with everyone else?" No doubt part of it is also the attitude of "it doesn't say I can't turn right."
I cite that as just one example and I sometimes find myself wondering if it's a symptom of the American system of putting up a sign for every little thing. We were watching an episode of
Parking Wars on A&E one night and a guy got a ticket for parking too close to an intersection. He started arguing because there was no sign saying he couldn't park there. But in just about every state (and DC) there's a default law saying you can't park within a certain distance of an intersection, regardless of whether there's a sign. (We had the same thing happen in my neighborhood where one guy kept parking his car partway around the corner. The county finally put up a "No Parking Here to Corner" sign. I hate having to have ugly signs in a suburban residential area, but I guess there was no choice.)
I suppose this is getting off the "Youthful Misconceptions" topic, so I'll leave it there.
Quote from: thenetwork on November 30, 2011, 03:22:08 AM
When I was little, there were several cities in Ohio where there used to be signs that said: "THROUGH TRUCKS MUST FOLLOW STATE ROUTES".
There still are quite a few. Nelsonville comes to mind...
Quote from: Riverside Frwy on November 24, 2011, 12:18:01 PM
Quote from: Quillz on November 22, 2011, 03:23:18 AM
I thought Interstates had to actually cross state borders and they were the only type of roadway that could be freeways.
I think most of us have done this.
I didn't because I commonly traveled (and still do) I-690 and the NY 5 and 695 freeways.
Some of my misconceptions:
- When I first went through Pennsylvania (about 13 or so), I remember thinking it was weird that the exits were numbered by the highway mileage. I still think it's weird.
- I thought that exits should be numbered east to west because of the NY Thruway, but then I found out that it's the Thruway that's backwards.
Not misconceptions, but I wasn't sure of these until I was older:
- I thought that I could identify a major road by the presence of a center line. That is actually usually true.
- Half Acre Road west of Auburn (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.921046,-76.623888&spn=0.013152,0.027874&t=m&z=16&vpsrc=6) is a state road. I thought so because of the higher standard it was built to. I later found out about reference routes, and found that it's NY 931E.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on November 29, 2011, 05:21:08 PM
For some time, I assumed that every town that gets bypassed automatically gets a business route.
And I used to think that when a US business route entered a city, the main portion of the route automatically became a "bypass".
I used to think that button copy elements were merely glued on. Maybe the case in other states, but here in Oklahoma, they actually used flathead screws.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 02, 2011, 12:52:45 AMI used to think that button copy elements were merely glued on. Maybe the case in other states, but here in Oklahoma, they actually used flathead screws.
Rivets have been the norm for framed button copy in all of the states where I have gotten out of the car for a closer look at the sign panel. California did use epoxy to secure the reflective buttons to the legend on older porcelain enamel signs where the sign message had originally been baked on at the factory.
Quote from: J N Winkler on December 02, 2011, 11:24:58 AM
California did use epoxy to secure the reflective buttons to the legend on older porcelain enamel signs where the sign message had originally been baked on at the factory.
that is a fairly unique situation in the US, as Nevada, the other significant purchaser of large porcelain guide signs from CAMEO, never retrofitted them with reflective buttons.
I don't consider that style of sign to be "button copy", even though from a distance it is indistinguishable. It is a matter of CA purchasing the large green signs from 1959-1973, and then between 1974 and the present day deciding to retrofit them with buttons, as opposed to lighting them up from underneath.
the closeness of the April, 1973 date for the termination of the CAMEO contract, and the energy crisis of 1973-1974 are merely a coincidence. there are examples of non-porcelain signs, dating back to as early as 1961, which had individual non-reflective letters bolted on that were later retrofitted with buttons as well.
(there probably were black signs from 1947-1959 or so which also were retrofitted with buttons, but as far as I know, none survive to the present day.)
I used to think rural freeways in every state had a speed limit of 75.
I used to think all two lane roads didn't have a speed limit higher than 65.
I used to believe that I-40 was only 4 lanes for its entire length.
I used to think the buttons in button copy signs were actually lights that faded on as you approached the sign then turned off as you passed under it.
I used to think overtaking was always legal on roads or streets that lacked a painted centerline.
I used to think you could go as fast as you wanted on roads that didn't have speed limits posted.
I used to think concrete was always used for urban freeways, with no exceptions. Along this line, I also used to think that any time there was no grassy median and only a concrete barrier or double-guardrail, you were in an urban area. I suppose that would've seemed more plausible 15-23 years ago than it does now.
I used to think all freeways were Interstates and called them as such, even when they were not Interstates.
I used to think Virginia had 323 exits on I-81, a product of growing up in the Land of Sequential Exit Numbers AKA the extreme northeast.
Quote from: US-43|72 on December 05, 2011, 03:27:09 PM
I used to think overtaking was always legal on roads or streets that lacked a painted centerline.
it isn't always legal? when I think of a road with no painted centerline, I imagine a small residential street, and while overtaking at moderate speeds is fairly asshole-like, I know of situations in which traffic regularly passes a slow-moving vehicle like a garbage truck.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 05, 2011, 03:30:53 PMit isn't always legal? when I think of a road with no painted centerline, I imagine a small residential street, and while overtaking at moderate speeds is fairly asshole-like, I know of situations in which traffic regularly passes a slow-moving vehicle like a garbage truck.
I don't think the cops would be happy if you passed around a curve or while going uphill on an unpainted backroad in NH. I lived off one of those for 12 of the 15 years I lived there.
Quote from: US-43|72 on December 05, 2011, 03:55:39 PM
I don't think the cops would be happy if you passed around a curve or while going uphill on an unpainted backroad in NH. I lived off one of those for 12 of the 15 years I lived there.
well, that's just common sense - never outdrive your sight lines!
I thought "END CONSTRUCTION" meant a big hole in the road was forthcoming (i.e., end of the road), even on an interstate.
I used to think that state routes could not be freeways – only Interstates and autoroutes could be.
I also used to think that exit numbers were always sequential, even though the ones here have been distance-based for well over 30 years.
Quote from: OracleUsr on December 05, 2011, 05:49:56 PM
I thought "END CONSTRUCTION" meant a big hole in the road was forthcoming (i.e., end of the road), even on an interstate.
I initially thought that "ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION" meant that the construction was
underneath the road.
I thought that a Business route abbreviated "BUS" on a map meant it was a bus route.
One other thing I totally forgot to mention.
I was very confused as a child by No Passing Zone signs - as in, I wondered why you werent allowed to pass cars going the other way. I was always afraid to mention it to my mom, since she always did it.
It sounds absolutely stupid now but at age 5 it really bothered me. In fact I still don't like the wording of those signs.
Quote from: Takumi on December 05, 2011, 10:55:52 PM
Quote from: OracleUsr on December 05, 2011, 05:49:56 PM
I thought "END CONSTRUCTION" meant a big hole in the road was forthcoming (i.e., end of the road), even on an interstate.
I initially thought that "ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION" meant that the construction was underneath the road.
But clearly the sign is saying the road is under the construction! It's in the sky!
Used to think all freeways in the US were 8-lanes wide... was rudely shocked when on the first road trip I could recall (5 years old) we left the Golden State Freeway onto the Westside Freeway.
Every town worth its salt had a US highway; Medford, OR wasn't holding its own because of that (and it's four-lane I-5!). Even Grants Pass at least had US 199!
The Oregon Route markers were hideous compared to California's! (To be fair, the non-cutout moderns are hideous compared to the 1940's design and to the modern cutouts...) ...then I saw Washington's, and Oregon's grew on me very fast. (Washington's still can be unsettling, lol)
Quote from: relaxok on December 06, 2011, 03:30:23 AM
One other thing I totally forgot to mention.
I was very confused as a child by No Passing Zone signs - as in, I wondered why you werent allowed to pass cars going the other way. I was always afraid to mention it to my mom, since she always did it.
It sounds absolutely stupid now but at age 5 it really bothered me. In fact I still don't like the wording of those signs.
I thought "Do Not Pass" meant you weren't supposed to pass the sign in question.
Of course, as a kid the idea that you could ever pass another car on a two lane road was completely unheard of to me since I grew up in a densely enough populated area and left said area infrequently enough that I rarely ever saw any roads where passing in the oncoming lane was legal. I suppose that would be another misconception: you need at least two lanes going in the same direction for one car to pass another.
Even though it wasn't on the open road, I ALWAYS got an evil grin or snicker whenever I saw a sign saying: SLOW CHILDREN... still, until this day...were the children REALLY slow or... a warning nonetheless...
That police officers actually know what the laws say.
That street and highway departments actually know which signs to erect in different situations.
That Rand McNally actually cares that the entire state of Chihuahua, Mexico, is shown in the wrong time zone or that, after my contacting them about it three times, they might actually make a correction.
That cars would actually yield to pedestrians in crosswalks (even unmarked crosswalks.....and yes, there is such a thing).
I used to think that states had the option to choose from two sign manuals - one that included "ribbed" signs with square corners and the other included "flat" signs with round corners.
And I was mighty perplexed the first time I crossed into Ohio and came across Exit 241. I couldn't believe that Ohio had 241 exits on I-90.
I used to think I was so special to live right near a US Highway.
Quote from: upstatenyroads on December 07, 2011, 09:15:55 PM
And I was mighty perplexed the first time I crossed into Ohio and came across Exit 241. I couldn't believe that Ohio had 241 exits on I-90.
I definitely remember feeling something similar in 1986, but I do not recall which state had mile-based exits that early. Tennessee or Virginia, on I-81?
This goes beyond actual roads, but has to do with road trips. Growing up, neither of my parents tended to listen to the radio in the car. When we left Columbus, they would appease us until the signal dropped and usually no more. For us, that was WNCI and its 175,000 watt monster full of 80's joy, so we made it 90 miles or so before static set in. Imagine my shock when we pulled into Savannah one day and...get this...the radio station there played the same music as back home! I really couldn't understand how it was possible for our pop music to follow us around the country, and/or why Savannah didn't have its own music?!?
More embarrassing than that is being 20 or so on 85 S, hitting the SC/GA border at exit 59...check the map...exit I need is 26 in Atlanta...that's only 30 miles, plenty of gas, no problem!
Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 07, 2011, 09:50:50 PM
Quote from: upstatenyroads on December 07, 2011, 09:15:55 PM
And I was mighty perplexed the first time I crossed into Ohio and came across Exit 241. I couldn't believe that Ohio had 241 exits on I-90.
I definitely remember feeling something similar in 1986, but I do not recall which state had mile-based exits that early. Tennessee or Virginia, on I-81?
Tennessee IIRC
Quote from: allniter89 on December 08, 2011, 12:42:20 AM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 07, 2011, 09:50:50 PM
Quote from: upstatenyroads on December 07, 2011, 09:15:55 PM
And I was mighty perplexed the first time I crossed into Ohio and came across Exit 241. I couldn't believe that Ohio had 241 exits on I-90.
I definitely remember feeling something similar in 1986, but I do not recall which state had mile-based exits that early. Tennessee or Virginia, on I-81?
Tennessee IIRC
Virginia was a late adopter to mileage-based exits, IIRC. You can still see patches on a lot of the exit signs where the old sequential numbers were replaced.
Kentucky didn't have exit numbers, except on I-75 in the Lexington area, until mileage-based exit numbers were implemented in the early to mid 1970s.
i remember thinking that JCT was someone playing a joke and putting up the wrong route sign.
When I was about 4 or 5 I remember watching the Orange Bowl parade on TV and my mom saying it was in Miami. I kept asking my mom" if thats your ami where is my ami" it was frustrating and confusing
Quote from: hbelkins on December 08, 2011, 10:42:35 AM
Virginia was a late adopter to mileage-based exits, IIRC. You can still see patches on a lot of the exit signs where the old sequential numbers were replaced.
Yes, it was around 1990. I remember seeing "old exit" signs on parts of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike as a child.
Quote from: allniter89 on December 08, 2011, 12:42:20 AM
Tennessee IIRC
then it might have been I-40 that gave me the odd feeling, as when we got into Tenn on I-81, the exits must've been starting at 74, and since I knew it was "a long way" to Nashville, it wouldn't have struck me as unusual to have to go 74 more exits 'til then. (I remember vaguely thinking we'd be taking 81 the rest of the way ... then again I also remember thinking that the most direct route from Boston to Nashville went through North Carolina, so that just shows the shoddiness of my geography skills.)
Quote from: Takumi on December 08, 2011, 11:04:58 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on December 08, 2011, 10:42:35 AM
Virginia was a late adopter to mileage-based exits, IIRC. You can still see patches on a lot of the exit signs where the old sequential numbers were replaced.
Yes, it was around 1990. I remember seeing "old exit" signs on parts of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike as a child.
Yup. I grew up in Virginia and the first time I remember seeing distance-based exit numbers was on a family vacation to Ontario and Quebec in 1984 when we noticed the non-sequential kilometre-based exit numbers on 401. At first we wondered why the numbers were non-sequential and then my mother noticed one of the kilometre-posts. At first we thought it was weird, but after a short time we found we liked the idea a lot. Now when I drive in a state with sequential numbers on anything other than urban routes it drives me nuts (except for the New Jersey Turnpike, simply because I know the road so well that the exit numbers do not really factor into my having a sense for how far I have to go, and I imagine that's true for a lot of people using that road).
I believe Maryland may have switched over sometime prior to then, so I have no idea why none of us made the connection there. I surmise it was probably because we usually went around the western portion of the Beltway between the American Legion Bridge and I-95 and there are only two "missing" numbers on that stretch, whereas the portion through PG County had some larger gaps (especially prior to the construction of the Ritchie-Marlboro Road interchange).
I definitely seem to remember Virginia posting the rural 65-mph speed limit (at the time, with a 55-mph limit for trucks and buses) prior to the mileage-based exit numbers. The Beltway was an exception to the changeover, of course. Quite frankly I thought the Beltway could have been left the way it was without causing any problems, but apparently some people found it "confusing" that some exit numbers appeared in both Virginia and Maryland.
Quote from: 6a on December 07, 2011, 11:48:47 PM
More embarrassing than that is being 20 or so on 85 S, hitting the SC/GA border at exit 59...check the map...exit I need is 26 in Atlanta...that's only 30 miles, plenty of gas, no problem!
I can recall a family trip to Florida in 1980 when we traveled the Florida Turnpike. I was wondering who was the Einstein there that numbered the exits since, at that time, they were neither mileage-based nor
consecutively sequential. :pan:
I used to think that all the highways shown in dotted lines were going to get built eventually; you can imagine my shock when some of these routes disappeared in later versions of the family road atlas!
I also thought that tolls were not allowed on freeways (but on expressways, they could be).
And I once believed that a 2di had to cross at least one state line; back then, all 2di's through Chicago went to other states, and I-88 did not exist until after I had graduated high school.
Quote from: ATLRedSoxFan on December 06, 2011, 09:20:52 PM
Even though it wasn't on the open road, I ALWAYS got an evil grin or snicker whenever I saw a sign saying: SLOW CHILDREN... still, until this day...were the children REALLY slow or... a warning nonetheless...
Ha! Me too. Whenever I saw "SLOW CHILDREN PLAYING" I always figured the kids were running along the road in slow-motion, or it was a polite way of saying that the local kids weren't too bright, so they might randomly run out in the road because they didn't know any better :)
When I was a little boy I had east and west backwards because US 6 East turned northwest to leave Meadville, PA with US 19 North.
I also thought JCT was actually a word pronounced "jikt"
I used to think that a 3-di US highway had to connect between the routes within the number:
ie: US-301 had to connect US-30 and US-1...US-422 had to connect US-42 and US-22.
Quote from: prenatt1166 on December 13, 2011, 11:48:18 AM
....
I also thought JCT was actually a word pronounced "jikt"
My grandfather got my brother and me started on reading the BGSs on the Belt Parkway the way they were spelled (e.g., pronounce "Coney Is Ave" exactly as it looks when it's spelled like that). We did it for years when we were on car trips and I'm sure our parents wanted to smack us silly many times.
Quote from: Henry on December 13, 2011, 11:20:09 AM
I used to think that all the highways shown in dotted lines were going to get built eventually; you can imagine my shock when some of these routes disappeared in later versions of the family road atlas!
Oh, you are not the only one. Not only that, there were times when I was a kid when I used to burst into tears when I was on a highway ended abruptly. Among these incident were a family road trip to Florida down I-95 which ended abruptly at US 17 in South Carolina, and a trip back from Montauk with a neighbor, back when the eastern Sunrise Highway still ended temporarily at NY 24 in Hampton Bays. There was a huge gap between Suffolk CR 55 and NY 24 back then.
I also started crying on a school bus once, when I suddenly remembered those road trips to Westchester County with one or both of my parents before I entered school. The route included Sprain Brook Parkway, which the last I remembered still terminated at Jackson Avenue. I not only feared I'd never see the road again, but that the road and the area surrounding it would completley disappear!
Years later, I went on another family trip to upstate New York, and kept asking my father if we were still in New York. I just found it so hard to believe.
As for other misconceptions, I used to think that local surface streets never had more lanes than limited-access highways(aside from Super-2's). I found out otherwise when I moved to Florida, and I was in my 30's back then.
I also used to think the only two-lane roads that has speed limits of 55 mph or more were Super-2's. The move to Florida made me realize this wasn't true as well.
Years ago I wondered why all the Interstate 95 signs were missing from the New Jersey Turnpike :confused: :wow: :pan: :eyebrow: :banghead:
Virginia went distance-based in 1991
Quote from: D-Dey65 on December 15, 2011, 11:22:29 AM
Quote from: Henry on December 13, 2011, 11:20:09 AM
I used to think that all the highways shown in dotted lines were going to get built eventually; you can imagine my shock when some of these routes disappeared in later versions of the family road atlas!
Oh, you are not the only one. Not only that, there were times when I was a kid when I used to burst into tears when I was on a highway ended abruptly. Among these incident were a family road trip to Florida down I-95 which ended abruptly at US 17 in South Carolina, and a trip back from Montauk with a neighbor, back when the eastern Sunrise Highway still ended temporarily at NY 24 in Hampton Bays.
I also started crying on a school bus once, when I suddenly remembered those road trips to Westchester County with one or both of my parents before I entered school. The route included Sprain Brook Parkway, which the last I remembered still terminated at Jackson Avenue. I not only feared I'd never see the road again, but that the road and the area surrounding it would completley disappear!
Years later, I went on another family trip to upstate New York, and kept asking my father if we were still in New York. I just fount it so hard to believe.
As for other misconceptions, I used to think that local surface streets never had more lanes than limited-access highways(aside from Super-2's). I found out otherwise when I moved to Florida, and I was in my 30's back then.
I also used to think the only two-lane roads that has speed limits of 55 mph or more were Super-2's. The move to Florida made me realize this wasn't true as well.
That makes me feel a lot better! I'm still waiting on that I-494 Crosstown Expressway to get built :D
Gee, where do I start...
Remember, I grew up in PA and sequential exits...
- I thought only toll roads could have tunnels. - The only tunnels I went through were those on the PA Turnpike (Mainline and NE Ext.) Imagine my surprise when we visited Colorado in 1976! Or was it the Wheeling tunnels on I-70 a little earlier?
- I thought that ticket-based toll systems were the norm. - As a youth we took the PA Turnpike a lot and, going to my grandparents in WI, we sometimes took the Ohio Turnpike and (Northern) Indiana E-W Toll Road. The only barrier systems I'd been on were in Delaware and the Illinois systems around Chicago.
- I thought it was strange for states like Wisconsin to not have toll roads. All the states around PA have toll roads!
- Very early, I thought all freeways had to have a number. - I was surprised the first time we got on the Northeast Extension and it had no number! It was numbered PA 9 sometime in the 70s and is now I-476.
- I also thought that 2di's had to cross state lines.
- I thought it was normal to have two cross country highways less that 2 miles from my house. - I-80 (NY metro to SF) and US 11 (Quebec border to near New Orleans)
- I thought if a road had Turnpike in the name, it had to be a toll road.
- I think I understood sequential vs. mileage early on but was baffled that Ohio and Indiana had mixed systems. (Sequential on turnpikes, mileage elsewhere.) - their turnpikes now have mileage based exits as well.
Quote from: mightyace on December 17, 2011, 03:22:57 PM
Very early, I thought all freeways had to have a number.
Some OpenStreetMap validators seem to think this.
Quote from: mightyace on December 17, 2011, 03:22:57 PM
I thought if a road had Turnpike in the name, it had to be a toll road.
Well, that wasn't a misconception. A turnpike by definition is a toll road; just maybe no longer at that moment. :-)
Quote from: empirestate on December 17, 2011, 09:03:04 PM
Quote from: mightyace on December 17, 2011, 03:22:57 PM
I thought if a road had Turnpike in the name, it had to be a toll road.
Well, that wasn't a misconception. A turnpike by definition is a toll road; just maybe no longer at that moment. :-)
Though there are some misnamed cases (Providence Turnpike north of Foxboro was never a toll road, for example).
Quote from: mightyace on December 17, 2011, 03:22:57 PM
I thought only toll roads could have tunnels. - The only tunnels I went through were those on the PA Turnpike (Mainline and NE Ext.) Imagine my surprise when we visited Colorado in 1976! Or was it the Wheeling tunnels on I-70 a little earlier?
Similar here. I thought any bridge/tunnel of any importance had to be toll; NY doesn't have it any other way!
Quote from: deanej on December 18, 2011, 12:19:35 PM
Similar here. I thought any bridge/tunnel of any importance had to be toll; NY doesn't have it any other way!
Sure they do. Ever hear of the Brooklyn Bridge? Or the Queensboro?
Quote from: msubulldog on December 15, 2011, 12:38:35 PM
Years ago I wondered why all the Interstate 95 signs were missing from the New Jersey Turnpike :confused: :wow: :pan: :eyebrow: :banghead:
My uncle was telling me a story recently about how the first time he drove to Delaware he went all the way down the NJ Turnpike and over the Del Mem Br, and didn't realize he wasn't still on I-95. He then noticed the exit for I-95 north and thought "wow, what kind of crazy state is Delaware? They have this huge exit just to make a U-Turn!"
It took me quite a while to realize there's something (expressways) between conventional surface roads and full freeways. I had to see a few in person, and they confused me for a while before I figured out they were their own class of highway design.
Speaking of freeways, around 1982, I got a copy of Hagstroms' Long Island Road Map, and I learned about the "Rockaway Freeway," and I thought, "Cool. We actually have a freeway in New York, and Downstate New York at that."
Around a year later I checked it out, and found out it was as much of a freeway as a dirt path cut through the woods by volunteer firemen is a boulevard.
:-P
Quote from: NE2 on December 18, 2011, 02:03:20 PM
Quote from: deanej on December 18, 2011, 12:19:35 PM
Similar here. I thought any bridge/tunnel of any importance had to be toll; NY doesn't have it any other way!
Sure they do. Ever hear of the Brooklyn Bridge? Or the Queensboro?
I've never been downstate in my life; closest I've come is the Tappan Zee after the New Haven meet. I'm surprised thy aren't toll.
Quote from: deanej on December 19, 2011, 12:42:38 PM
Quote from: NE2 on December 18, 2011, 02:03:20 PM
Quote from: deanej on December 18, 2011, 12:19:35 PM
Similar here. I thought any bridge/tunnel of any importance had to be toll; NY doesn't have it any other way!
Sure they do. Ever hear of the Brooklyn Bridge? Or the Queensboro?
I've never been downstate in my life; closest I've come is the Tappan Zee after the New Haven meet. I'm surprised thy aren't toll.
When all your relatives are from Brooklyn, as in my family, the Tappan Zee is Upstate. :-D
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2011, 05:10:45 PM
Quote from: deanej on December 19, 2011, 12:42:38 PM
Quote from: NE2 on December 18, 2011, 02:03:20 PM
Quote from: deanej on December 18, 2011, 12:19:35 PM
Similar here. I thought any bridge/tunnel of any importance had to be toll; NY doesn't have it any other way!
Sure they do. Ever hear of the Brooklyn Bridge? Or the Queensboro?
I've never been downstate in my life; closest I've come is the Tappan Zee after the New Haven meet. I'm surprised thy aren't toll.
When all your relatives are from Brooklyn, as in my family, the Tappan Zee is Upstate. :-D
Heh, yes, being from Rochester but living in the Bronx it's a discussion I have quite often. To me, I-84 is the rough dividing line, though Poughkeepsie and other parts of Dutchess County are pretty well downstate by my reckoning. There really is a difference just in the way things are set up, even in the more rural downstate areas. It has a lot to do with commuter culture and railroad influence; in fact, another way I figure it is that anything on Metro North is downstate.
Note that I don't include Long Island necessarily, since it's different yet again. The eastern parts of it are much more New England than they are either Upstate or downstate.
And yes, all of the NYCDOT bridges are toll-free, by law I believe.
Growing up in Connecticut I always thought of Putnam and Orange counties as being "upstate" but Westchester and Rockland as not... though this had to do mostly with the fact that we owned a Hagstrom map for Westchester county, but not Putnam - which gave it a "beyond here there be dragons" sort of feel in my mind.
Objectively speaking, I suppose the limit of Metro-North service is as good a definition as any. For state jobs Dutchess and Orange counties are eligible for a "downstate bonus" in pay, so I suppose there's also some legal weight there.
Though, it always seems to be a rule that the further south you live, the further south you place the line of demarcation for "upstate". A lot of people in the five boroughs consider Westchester county "upstate". I have a friend who lives in Manhattan who has been known to derisively refer to The Bronx as "upstate". :-P Though I think he just does that to annoy me because he knows I'm originally from The Bronx.
As for NYCDOT bridges, yes, legal action from Albany would be required to put tolls on them. The idea has been proposed a few times in recent years as a funding mechanism for the MTA, and in the transit advocate community it's pretty much universally favored in some form or other, but politically the idea has proven quite controversial and hasn't gotten much traction.
I thought concrete pavement was only used for urban areas and higher-class roadways (Interstates and US Routes)....that was until I drove on FL 228 way west of Jacksonville.
Used to think that tenth mile markers were the norm; both NYSDOT region 4 and the Thruway Authority post them everywhere. I must not have been paying attention on other roads.
Quote from: deanej on December 23, 2011, 01:23:12 PM
Used to think that tenth mile markers were the norm; both NYSDOT region 4 and the Thruway Authority post them everywhere. I must not have been paying attention on other roads.
Quote from: deanej on December 23, 2011, 01:23:12 PM
Used to think that tenth mile markers were the norm; both NYSDOT region 4 and the Thruway Authority post them everywhere. I must not have been paying attention on other roads.
Region 4 succumbed to the craze in 96 or 97, as I recall. I remember every few weeks finding new TMM's (and they did overpass names around the same time).
I used to always wonder why within a major city why there would be a directional sign for the city that you are in someplace within the city limits!
Example: Jacksonville on the NB ramps to I-95 south of Downtown that are in Jacksonville proper have "Jacksonville" as control cities on the guides.
Now I know, that a name of a city is actually referring to its Downtown or Central Business District. However, nowadays grownups do not know this and some signage is considered confusing and had to be changed. In Orlando, at FL 528;s western terminus, "Downtown Orlando" is now used as control city for I-4 Eastbound because the previous "Orlando" that was signed in accordance with signing practices was confusing tourists there!
Quote from: empirestate on December 23, 2011, 04:16:02 PM
Quote from: deanej on December 23, 2011, 01:23:12 PM
Used to think that tenth mile markers were the norm; both NYSDOT region 4 and the Thruway Authority post them everywhere. I must not have been paying attention on other roads.
Quote from: deanej on December 23, 2011, 01:23:12 PM
Used to think that tenth mile markers were the norm; both NYSDOT region 4 and the Thruway Authority post them everywhere. I must not have been paying attention on other roads.
Region 4 succumbed to the craze in 96 or 97, as I recall. I remember every few weeks finding new TMM's (and they did overpass names around the same time).
Yes, I do remember traveling on the western end of the parkway once and wondering where the TMMs were. I thought it was because we were on an incredibly rural section of parkway.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2011, 05:10:45 PM
When all your relatives are from Brooklyn, as in my family, the Tappan Zee is Upstate. :-D
The same goes for us Long Islanders; Everything north of The Bronx is Upstate.
This comment will show my old age, and I had a lot of misconceptions as a kid but the one I remember the most. I grew up in Simi Valley, Ca and the big highway was the 118 freeway. Back when I was quite young the freeway only went from First St. in Simi to DeSoto Ave. in the San Fernando Valley. Where it stopped at DeSoto was a hillside, and I thought they had stopped there was a hillside. I thought they quit construction of the freeway because the hill was in the way. I never caught on with road cuts on other parts of the 118, I thought they were already there in the first place and they built through them!! :confused:
The first time I went to Florida (back when they still used sequential exit numbering), I was floored. Up until then I had only been to states where mileage-based numbering was in use.
There was also a time I thought only Interstates were supposed to have concrete surfaces (this was when I-12's concrete surface in the majority of St. Tammany Parish was on its last legs, shortly before being resurfaced in the 80's.)
Quote from: D-Dey65 on December 26, 2011, 12:11:46 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2011, 05:10:45 PM
When all your relatives are from Brooklyn, as in my family, the Tappan Zee is Upstate. :-D
The same goes for us Long Islanders; Everything north of The Bronx is Upstate.
I've typically heard approximately three different boundaries between downstate and upstate.
1. Downstate = NYC + Long Island
2. Downstate = #1 + Westchester and maybe Rockland
3. Downstate = #2 + Orange, Putnam, Dutchess and maybe Sullivan and Ulster.
---------------------------------
To answer the question... although this is neither my misconception, nor was it youthful, but it did happen during my youth...
I was in elementary school in New Jersey, and I overheard two of the teachers talking about highways. (How it came up, I'll never know.) One of them was under the misconception that the north/south = odd, east/west = even rule applied universally. I pointed out that NJ 18 runs north/south, and the teacher pointed out that it used to be east/west. (This is actually true, but it fails to acknowledge the numerous other counterexamples that show New Jersey doesn't follow this rule.)
I suppose I was then briefly under the misconception that any highway that was signed "wrong" must have originally been signed the opposite direction, but once I was cured of that, I was also cured of the misconception that teachers/parents are always right. :-D
Quote from: florida on December 23, 2011, 01:35:52 AM
I thought concrete pavement was only used for urban areas and higher-class roadways (Interstates and US Routes)....that was until I drove on FL 228 way west of Jacksonville.
That is one of my favorite roads to drive. The concrete pavement is in the process of being rehabed. I am glad it wasnt paved over with asphalt. This along with the reflector thread reminds me of when I was about 5 or 6 ridign back from Gainesville to Jacksonville seeing the highway reflectors in my uncles vans headlight and thinking that there were tiny lightbulbs in each reflector that turned on when a car was coming
For some reason I originally thought that NC 3 (now NC 136) instead of turning north at the Currituck Sound, turned south and followed the sound to Point Harbor where it met back up with US 158. I even inexpilicably have a memory of an NC 3 shield just before the bridge. I later found out that this was never the case.
I used to believe:
That all two-digit US Routes were coast-to-coast, or spanned the entire north-south corridor of the US.
That all US Routes would eventually disappear.
That other states (besides Florida and Georgia) had an outline of their state in their state road shields.
Growing up in New Jersey, I thought the black backgrounds on BGS shields was the standard, and wondered why other states always "forgot" them.
Signs that say "TRUCKS FOLLOW US-NC routes" I thought meant if a US route isn't paired with an NC shield, trucks can't go on it.
OK, I'm going to date myself here. I grew up in Dearborn MI in the 1950s-60s. Michigan Avenue, now US-12, was US-112 then. My aunt and uncle and cousins lived in Ypsilanti, about 20 miles west, also on Michigan Avenue, Just east of Ypsi, (westbound) there is a fork in the road. To the right is the old road, to the left is the bypass around Ypsi.
US-112 followed the bypass. Michigan Avenue carried the Business Route US-112 designation, but on the BGS, "Business" was abbreviated to "BUS" above the shield.
I took that sign very literally, quite sure that busses must follow the old road, and were not allowed on the bypass. My older brother tried to set me straight, but I wouldn't be swayed.
--
Brian Reynolds
Hastings Michigan
I used to believe that all of the NJ Turnpike was I-95 until we went to Pennsylvania and I saw I-95 intersect US 1 south of Trenton.
I used to think that freeways had to have interchanges with every state route they crossed. Furthermore, I thought they couldn't have interchanges with county roads in rural areas.
Quote from: vtk on January 30, 2012, 10:03:21 PMI used to think that freeways had to have interchanges with every state route they crossed.
I did, too. I also thought that they could
only have interchanges with state/US/Interstate routes, which was silly because even as a kid I lived near the I-270/Morse Road interchange in Columbus.
Quote from: Central Avenue on January 30, 2012, 10:57:56 PM
Quote from: vtk on January 30, 2012, 10:03:21 PMI used to think that freeways had to have interchanges with every state route they crossed.
I did, too. I also thought that they could only have interchanges with state/US/Interstate routes, which was silly because even as a kid I lived near the I-270/Morse Road interchange in Columbus.
I-270 also lacks interchanges with state routes 104, 317 (by Eastland), 257, and 745. I was certainly aware of the last two, but I strongly believed/hoped an interchange would be built for them someday. I think it was the construction of the New Albany Bypass without an interchange at OH 605 that finally convinced me there was no such rule. As for no rural interchanges with non-state-routes, it took a bit of travel to make me aware of counterexamples.
Funny, I remember noticing as a kid that OH 317 didn't have an interchange with I-270 near Eastland, but convincing myself it technically didn't count against the supposed "rule" because those two routes already have an interchange in Gahanna.
(Of course, in reality, anyone wishing to go from OH 317 near Eastland to I-270 could easily take I-70 eastbound, but my 10-year-old self didn't think about that.)
On a related note to youthful misconceptions, I actually have a few memories of how I became aware of and curious about things having to do with roads. I have a vague recollection of the first time I realized that a freeway was different because it doesn't have traffic lights. I can hear, as a young kid in the back seat, shadowy echoes of my parents discussing 490, 590, and other assorted 90s, not knowing what they were, but then years later discovering them on a map and noting in real life the difference in sign shapes between I-490 and NY 590. I even remember mentioning it do my dad, who said he hadn't really noticed or wondered why (he may have been placating me though).
I had a teacher in high school who was struck by my observation that you could tell you were inside city limits because the street name signs changed from green to blue.
(For really early perceptions, as a toddler I can recall watching the telephone lines going past the car window, only dipping into view periodically as the lower part of the catenary cycled mesmerizingly by...and forming connections of sense to place by the sound of a certain bridge deck as we drove over it.)
I thought the overhead guide signs on the Chicago Sky way carried sewer water because they looked like pipes.
I found another interesting memory of the old red colored Florida US 1 shields. I always new that the US 1 in FL was the same one as the one in NJ, but when I saw the red shield, I doubted that for a short while.
Likewise, I used to think all the US 1 shields were red, because it was "important". Didn't realize the rest of the state used colored shields until the early 90's (and that the rest of US did not use them), when they were in their sunset.
I used to think that all left turn signals had to be signed that way, until visiting Virginia once. Then I saw intersections that had them with no signs. I believed that they would confuse all drivers from my homestate of New Jersey since we had few left turn signals and had them all signed. I even actually thought, at the time, that all states other than New Jersey did not use common sense as we are one of the few states that use two signal heads for left turns. Virginia and the others I always noticed them having the one head, as the MUTCD only requires each state to unless double turn lanes that I know now. I often wondered what would happen if the red bulb burned out that there would be no back up light.
I used to try and design "missing interchanges" along the interstates in Maryland. I would always put them in what I thought were logical places (typically near large subdivisions, lol) and would grossly misjudge how much space they would need to take for them.
When the '84 World's Fair was going on in New Orleans, I thought the Crescent City Connection was one of the rides after looking at a map of the fair in The (Pascagoula) Mississippi Press.
Here's one. When I was young and saw signs for a resident engineer's office, I thought that the engineer actually lived there -- it was their residence -- and i wondered why the state highway department paid for an engineer's home.
I still don't understand why they are called "resident engineers." At least Kentucky doesn't use that term anymore.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 08, 2012, 10:05:22 PM
Here's one. When I was young and saw signs for a resident engineer's office, I thought that the engineer actually lived there -- it was their residence -- and i wondered why the state highway department paid for an engineer's home.
I still don't understand why they are called "resident engineers." At least Kentucky doesn't use that term anymore.
Project engineer is typically just a guy assigned to work on the engineering for the project - i.e. behind the drafting table/computer. Site engineer, same thing, but works on several projects specializing in site design. For lack of a better term, what else would you call an RE?
In Kentucky, the term "resident engineer" was used for the supervisor of the construction inspectors, who are not required to be PE's. In my district we had four resident engineers' offices, with each headed by a PE. They supervised the inspections; project development was done either in the district office (rarely) or by consultants.
KYTC reorganized a few years ago and now construction (inspection) and maintenance functions are together. There are four sections in each district and the section supervisor (a PE) is in charge of the construction inspectors and also the maintenance garages in each area. In Kentucky state government terminology, they are section supervisors. Informally they are called section engineers. There are two Project Delivery and Preservation (construction and maintenance) branches in each district, and the branch managers are PEs.
What would I call a resident engineer? In Kentucky I would have used the term "chief inspector" or something similar. Even though I am a journalist by education, the meaning of the term "residency" escapes me.
It is probably derived from some old jargon among the professions; for example, you also have resident physicians. I would not be surprised if the term originates back in old academia amongst all the other stuffy learned men.
(And for its part, NYSDOT also calls its sub-regional offices "residencies".)
Quote from: empirestate on March 09, 2012, 10:27:42 AM
(And for its part, NYSDOT also calls its sub-regional offices "residencies".)
So does VDOT.
being from wisconsin, i despise paying illinois to use their roads, and i refer to their toll roads as
'Nazi toll booths/roads'
Quote from: Jordanah1 on March 09, 2012, 01:27:17 PM
being from wisconsin, i despise paying illinois to use their roads, and i refer to their toll roads as
'Nazi toll booths/roads'
Classy.
Resident historically has not been tied as strongly to private home dwellings as it is now. The term resident engineer is also used in Britain, with the same meaning as the traditional US usage. Resident was also the standard translation for the cognate Russian term (Rezident) for the KGB official attached to the Russian embassy in a particular country and having responsibility for all KGB agents operating in that country. I am sure the British also used resident (or a closely related word) for the local representatives they posted to princely states in India under paramountcy.
In any case, cryptic expressions are regrettably not uncommon on highway signs. "Fuel, mileage, proration." "Green River ordinance enforced." "Zoned for development." "Saddle mounts must stop" (this on Interstates where animals are not allowed). Need I go on?
Edit: More on resident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_%28title%29
Quote from: Jordanah1 on March 09, 2012, 01:27:17 PM
being from wisconsin, i despise paying illinois to use their roads, and i refer to their toll roads as
'Nazi toll booths/roads'
rah rah states rights! did you kill a Mexican today?
As a young child, I assumed all countries' license plates were the same dimensions as in the U.S. Every so often, I would make foreign license plates for my Big Wheel; I specifically remember making Zaïre.
Quote from: Jordanah1 on March 09, 2012, 01:27:17 PM
being from wisconsin, i despise paying illinois to use their roads, and i refer to their toll roads as
'Nazi toll booths/roads'
Hey now, at least they're paved! Can't say the same for IDiOT's freeways.
Quote from: Brandon on March 10, 2012, 03:45:31 PM
Quote from: Jordanah1 on March 09, 2012, 01:27:17 PM
being from wisconsin, i despise paying illinois to use their roads, and i refer to their toll roads as
'Nazi toll booths/roads'
Hey now, at least they're paved! Can't say the same for IDiOT's freeways.
Huh? Illinois has non-freeway toll roads? Maybe I'm reading this wrong......
Quote from: kphoger on March 10, 2012, 04:00:10 PM
Quote from: Brandon on March 10, 2012, 03:45:31 PM
Quote from: Jordanah1 on March 09, 2012, 01:27:17 PM
being from wisconsin, i despise paying illinois to use their roads, and i refer to their toll roads as
'Nazi toll booths/roads'
Hey now, at least they're paved! Can't say the same for IDiOT's freeways.
Huh? Illinois has non-freeway toll roads? Maybe I'm reading this wrong......
No, the fictional "IDiOT" has freeways. Perhaps "IDiOT" is the transportation department in New America?
(1) Assuming that building the Washington Metrorail would replace an extensive system of proposed but mostly cancelled freeways in the District of Columbia and nearby Maryland - it didn't.
(2) Just because there were dashed lines on the maps of the 1960's and 1970's, that an Outer Beltway would get built between 5 and 15 miles beyond the Capital Beltway. So far, all we have are Sam Eig Highway, I-370 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_370), Md. 200 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Route_200) (ICC) and Va. 7100 (Fairfax County Parkway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax_County_Parkway), soon to be posted as Va. 286).
I used to think when I was a kid that roads were quick, easy, and cheap to build. I'd always envisioned my favorite route being given massive extensions in all sorts of directions until I learned the reality of how building a road is none of those three things, and that killed all my fantasies permanently. :(
I used to think "XING" was its own word (pronounced like "sing"). It was just until recently that I learned that it was an abbreviation for "crossing."
Quote from: CentralCAroadgeek on June 19, 2012, 11:17:08 PM
I used to think "XING" was its own word (pronounced like "sing"). It was just until recently that I learned that it was an abbreviation for "crossing."
And "PED XING" was something you make with rice noodles, tofu, chili, lime and peanuts.
XING PED, however isn't Asian cuisine, though normally appears near to where you are warned of it with Ped Xing signs:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhwa.dot.gov%2Fpublications%2Fresearch%2Fsafety%2Fpedbike%2F05085%2Fimages%2Fles10fig4.jpg&hash=f0ee671204c78abc387ec954ca00af84c146d74a)
Perhaps it's an Asian-hispanic man (Ped being short for Pedro) who likes eating Ped Xing?
Quote from: english si on June 20, 2012, 12:54:23 PM
XING PED, however isn't Asian cuisine, though normally appears near to where you are warned of it with Ped Xing signs:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhwa.dot.gov%2Fpublications%2Fresearch%2Fsafety%2Fpedbike%2F05085%2Fimages%2Fles10fig4.jpg&hash=f0ee671204c78abc387ec954ca00af84c146d74a)
Perhaps it's an Asian-hispanic man (Ped being short for Pedro) who likes eating Ped Xing?
Looks like someone got the spacing just a little off there. When placed in that order (the order you reach them while driving rather than how you would read them on a page), there should be more of a gap between 'PED' and 'XING'
I remember when I was pre-school age...I guess I thought every sign had a front and back display to them, or at least some of them. I must have had a real big hangup about signs then, because I'd turn around after every sign passed to look to see if there was anything on the back!
This affected another big hangup of the time--ice cream. I'm sure more than once my mother had to change my shirt after getting home because I was paying so much attention to signs that the ice cream had melted without me eating much or any of it...
Quote from: DaBigE on June 20, 2012, 01:50:27 PM
Quote from: english si on June 20, 2012, 12:54:23 PM
XING PED, however isn't Asian cuisine, though normally appears near to where you are warned of it with Ped Xing signs:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhwa.dot.gov%2Fpublications%2Fresearch%2Fsafety%2Fpedbike%2F05085%2Fimages%2Fles10fig4.jpg&hash=f0ee671204c78abc387ec954ca00af84c146d74a)
Perhaps it's an Asian-hispanic man (Ped being short for Pedro) who likes eating Ped Xing?
Looks like someone got the spacing just a little off there. When placed in that order (the order you reach them while driving rather than how you would read them on a page), there should be more of a gap between 'PED' and 'XING'
They do this in Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory, where if read like on a page it says 'LANE ONE FORM', but it's used rather than a diagonal arrow to indicate when driving along 'FORM ONE LANE'
I also found 'PED XING' in a McDonalds carpark in Cooma, south of Canberra, i guess McDonalds imported that from the States.
Quote from: CentralCAroadgeek on June 19, 2012, 11:17:08 PM
I used to think "XING" was its own word (pronounced like "sing"). It was just until recently that I learned that it was an abbreviation for "crossing."
When I was about 5 I saw a small sign in a Kroger parking lot that said only "PED XING". I asked my mother "What's 'ped k-sing' mean?"
Her answer: "It means they're too cheap to get a real sign."
Tangentially road related, but as a toddler I thought for some reason the Exxon logo was supposed to be telephone poles at an angle. I knew it was two X's crossed, but thought there was supposed to be a double-meaning.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodlogo.com%2Fimages%2Flogos%2Fexxon_logo_2473.gif&hash=848a1fc9964784c001c502dbd71e98e54fc41103)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americasbesttrain.com%2Fshop%2Fimages%2F2009KLineV1%2FAccessories%2F6-22360_5085.gif&hash=b46bedadfd1d5721a8f86ef9c981ad8e789fa1e2)
Kind of? Maybe? No? Okay.
Some of the things I thought when i was younger:
- My parents led me to believe that I-95 and US 1 were the same highway in Philadelphia.
- I thought every state had a turnpike (such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and New Jersey Turnpike).
- Every freeway I saw I assumed was part of the interstate system.
- Every state had yellow traffic signals.
- Every state issued drivers licenses at age 16. (I hated living in NJ at the time.)
From a friend of mine, though I'm not sure if the term "youthful misconceptions" applies because she's 20 and still believes them:
-I-87 begins at US 20 in Albany and follows the Adirondack Northway for its entire length
-The New Jersey Turnpike is "New Jersey's Thruway"
-US 11 follows NY 11B from Potsdam to Malone and NY 11B follows the real US 11
Quote from: english si on June 20, 2012, 12:54:23 PM
XING PED, however isn't Asian cuisine, though normally appears near to where you are warned of it with Ped Xing signs:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhwa.dot.gov%2Fpublications%2Fresearch%2Fsafety%2Fpedbike%2F05085%2Fimages%2Fles10fig4.jpg&hash=f0ee671204c78abc387ec954ca00af84c146d74a)
Perhaps it's an Asian-hispanic man (Ped being short for Pedro) who likes eating Ped Xing?
I thought he was the Republican presidential nominee (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/390199/june-21-2011/generic-republican-presidential-nominee) (ironically, today is the one year anniversary of that clip).
Quote from: deanej on June 21, 2012, 11:53:46 AM
-The New Jersey Turnpike is "New Jersey's Thruway"
I wouldn't argue with that assertion.
Quote from: the49erfan15 on June 21, 2012, 01:58:57 AM
Tangentially road related, but as a toddler I thought for some reason the Exxon logo was supposed to be telephone poles at an angle. I knew it was two X's crossed, but thought there was supposed to be a double-meaning.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodlogo.com%2Fimages%2Flogos%2Fexxon_logo_2473.gif&hash=848a1fc9964784c001c502dbd71e98e54fc41103)
Kind of? Maybe? No? Okay.
I thought the Exxon logo's Xes were two sets of crossed legs of a picnic table that you'd find at rest areas.
Looking at a paper map of California, I sort of knew that the x5s and x0s were major, but I couldn't discern there was a grid because I-40 was so close to I-10, so far away from I-80 and there was no I-50 or I-60
Quote from: mightyace on December 17, 2011, 03:22:57 PM
- I thought if a road had Turnpike in the name, it had to be a toll road.
I suppose roads with names like "Jericho Turnpike" may have prevented me from this false notion. On the other hand, it used to baffle me that parkways weren't supposed to allow trucks to drive on them, and yet Long Island Motor Parkway and William Floyd Parkway had no such restrictions.
I remember being 5 or 6 years old and being surprised the first time I saw a SOUTH I-196 sign. Up until then I had thought that Interstates only ran east-west because I had only been exposed to I-94 and the portion of I-196 that ran east-west.
When I was about 5 years old, I asked my mother what the next level of road was. I was referring to an overpass, but since I didn't know the word, I didn't say that. The answer she gave what that the next level is a highway. And then, being 5, I asked what the level above that was, and she said tollway. Continuing on, I asked what the level after that was, and she said freeway.
So, to this day, in my mind I still call an overpass over another overpass a tollway, and the rarely seen overpass over that a freeway. Also, at some point in my teens, I decided that the fifth level would be a causeway, but I think I've only seen that once in my life.
* All U.S. highways everywhere are done to Appalachian Development corridor standards: Four lanes, 55-mph speed limits.
* "To" plaques can only appear over Interstate shields, never U.S. or state highway markers. (I also didn't realize it was the word "To;" I thought it was the initials "T. O." when I was five.)
* All U.S. states have the same route marker design.
* 3-digit Interstate highways are much busier and much more dangerous than "normal" 2-digit Interstates.
* "No Trucks" signs mean that absolutely NO trucks may drive on that road. Not even light pickups.
* The central bar on the U.S.-style "Do Not Enter" sign was covering over a third line of text. Like a redacted statement.
* Canada is international; therefore Canada must use international (i.e., Vienna Convention) road signs: Triangles for diamonds, circles for squares, etc.
Quote from: 6a on December 07, 2011, 11:48:47 PM
This goes beyond actual roads, but has to do with road trips. Growing up, neither of my parents tended to listen to the radio in the car. When we left Columbus, they would appease us until the signal dropped and usually no more. For us, that was WNCI and its 175,000 watt monster full of 80's joy, so we made it 90 miles or so before static set in. Imagine my shock when we pulled into Savannah one day and...get this...the radio station there played the same music as back home! I really couldn't understand how it was possible for our pop music to follow us around the country, and/or why Savannah didn't have its own music?!?
When I was about 5, I thought every song was exclusive to just one station. I remember that some of the presets on our AM car radio were 7 and 14 (probably WLW and WSAI), and I was surprised that a really big song at the time was played by both stations.
When I was 9, I thought you needed a special permit from the station to add it as a preset on a car radio. That's because my parents refused to add WCLU as a preset. For some reason, they had the airport information station as a preset, but not WCLU's rock and/or roll.
When I was young (like 6), I used to think road atlases used a state route shield based on whatever state the atlas was sold in. That's because road atlases acquired in Kentucky used a circle for every state.
I also thought an analemma was a place, because we had a globe that had a huge figure-eight type thing called the analemma out in the Pacific Ocean. I wanted to visit the analemma. This photo on Wikipedia shows a Cram's globe like the one we had that had an analemma...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analemma#/media/File:Globenmuseum_Vienna_20091010_479.JPG
Quote from: Riverside Frwy on November 24, 2011, 12:18:01 PM
Quote from: Quillz on November 22, 2011, 03:23:18 AM
I thought Interstates had to actually cross state borders and they were the only type of roadway that could be freeways.
I think most of us have done this.
When I was *really* young I thought freeways were race tracks.
For some reason, I thought interstate numbering was completely random, and for reason I never noticed that all the Interstates in the area either had '05' or '10' and were related to I-5 and I-10.
When I was young I used to think ALL state route routes in other states used California's spade shape. I tried imagining a CA state route shield that said "Pennsylvania" when where "California" would be on the shield.
When I was young when I went on a family trip to Hawaii I saw the Hawaii State route shield and thought umm Caltrans is in Hawaii too but with a white space route shield instead of Green spade.
However I later learned that Hawaii's spade was really a rain drop.
Misconceptions in my case:
* US highways were always built with a 50% federal, 50% state funding split. (Even now, I am not sure that formula applied to US highways qua US highways, or for how long it was used.)
* Every country in the world uses shields to indicate numbered routes.
Being young, I always thought that street signs denoting a cross street on mast arms, when driven under meant that we were on a new street.
I grew up in Salt Lake City, so for me, east was always towards the mountains. Imagine my shock when we went to Denver and I was told the mountains were on the west.
Quote from: english si on June 20, 2012, 12:54:23 PM
Perhaps it's an Asian-hispanic man (Ped being short for Pedro) who likes eating Ped Xing?
In "Max Headroom", it was the name of the Chinese owner of Zik Zak. :-D Network 23's primary sponsor.
On my first trip to Florida in the '70s, I was elated to see I-285 in Atlanta signed as "Bypass to Florida" on I-75 going south. My 10-year-old mind thought we were almost there! Alas, my mom set me straight and soon enough, reality set in-we were nowhere near Florida and didn't get there until the next afternoon.
Don't know if the sign still reads the same way (I tend to doubt it), but to this day, I think that's a real cruel/misleading sign to younger passengers. Especially if you've been cooped up in a station wagon for seemingly forever.
That "A" as an exit suffix always meant East or South, "B" always meant West or North.
When I was about 5, I saw extruded overhead signs for the first time and thought they were made out of recycled guardrail.
Another misconception:
* The order of destinations on an advance guide sign/exit direction sign matters. (It does, but only in states that specify an order based on ramp first encountered or side of the freeway on which the destination lies.)
Another misconception I had until I was not so young (~middle school), is that I thought the sun corresponded with the time zone lines. I had this idea that if I was close enough to the time zone line that the sky would be dark, but I could still see the sun in the east for a few miles from the time zone line. I was also shocked to discover that when I moved from Michigan to California in August of 1997, that the sun didn't set at around 9 p.m. in California like it did in Michigan.
I used to think as a kid that rumble strips would actually sound like music when you went across them lol
Quote from: planxtymcgillicuddy on November 12, 2019, 04:53:58 PM
I used to think as a kid that rumble strips would actually sound like music when you went across them lol
Well, there is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l2vSsavVZs
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on November 12, 2019, 05:39:55 PM
Quote from: planxtymcgillicuddy on November 12, 2019, 04:53:58 PM
I used to think as a kid that rumble strips would actually sound like music when you went across them lol
Well, there is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l2vSsavVZs
Isn't there something like that on I-10 somewhere in Florida? Maybe near the Suwanee River bridge?
I used to think that, if a highway carried a certain number designation, then it would be signed with that number. So, for example, when in high school back in the 1990s I planned the driving route for a family vacation, my mom thought we were on the wrong road at one point. My directions said we'd be on Texas County Highway 24 (Oklahoma), but all the signs said Oklahoma State Highway 136. I had chosen that number instead of 136 because transitioning from SH-25 to CH-24 seemed easier to remember to me.
As a kid I thought that "no outlet" meant the street ended in a cul-de-sac, as opposed to a dead end being more of a "hard" stop.
General:
- My parents told me it was illegal to turn on the reading light while driving
- I misunderstood my mom, and thought if you turn your blinker on, the car will make the lane change for you (Teslas can actually do this now)
- If there was a frequently congested area, I wondered why they didn't just raise the speed limit so everyone would get through faster
- "Left Turn Signal" was a reminder to use your blinker when turning left
Specifically:
- I used to think the Taconic ended at the Sprain since the transition is pretty smooth and proceeding straight puts you on the Sprain
- I thought Sunrise Highway on LI was a surface road for its entire run to Montauk, until the GPS told me to take it one day and found out it was a freeway (that should be 65 mph!)
- Thought the entire NJT was I-95
- Didn't know 3-di interstates could be repeated. I was confused as to how the Throgs Neck and Del Mem Bridges were both I-295
- Growing up in the Bronx, my mom thought the 95/278 signs for New England meant it was a trans-Atlantic highway. Those signs now say New Haven, CT
Quote from: crispy93 on November 13, 2019, 01:33:02 PM
General:
- My parents told me it was illegal to turn on the reading light while driving
Well, it
is annoying as heck driving at night when interior lights are on, so that's one way to scare the kids into keeping them off!
I use to think that:
* Left on red was not an actual concept.
* It is unlawful to use the full potential of the merge area
* At a three-way intersection with no control sings it is automatically a three-way stop (as opposed to a yield for the ending road)
* You couldn't pass on a one-way street wide enough for passing but with no lane markings.
* Peds have absolute ROW at all times
* Three-point turns were illegal except on side streets
* You must absolutely not block any intersection (CT only requires you to keep an intersection clear if it is signed and striped)
* It is unlawful for school busses to turn right on red (no statute prohibiting this, it's just company policy)
* You can turn into any lane from a one-lane road (CT is one of the few states that requires "closest lane" turns; you must complete your turn in the lane closest to the center line. I seem to be the only driver around that follow this.)
I flipped the word order for the signs for pedestrian scrambles "Walk all ways with WALK", and thought it said "always walk with WALK", and was trying to tell peds never to jaywalk.
I used to take the Drug Free School Zone signs as literal meaning that no child used drugs at the school it was implying. That was until the erected one in my neighborhood where I grew up. Then I knew it was just a wish and even so for those previous signs I saw elsewhere.
Now grown up I know its the name of a campaign and where local authorities crack down on dealers selling to children has moved into that particular school area.
Youthful misconception: I thought it was always illegal to walk across the street mid-block.
Quote from: kphoger on November 15, 2019, 02:44:38 PMYouthful misconception: I thought it was always illegal to walk across the street mid-block.
So did I. I can see why the grownups didn't rush to disabuse us of that erroneous idea, however.
When I was a kid, I thought that US Highways were built to higher standards than regular State highways. Where I used to live in NE Ohio, many of the US Routes had curbs -- even in the rural areas -- while state routes didnt, for example.
Quote from: roadman65 on November 15, 2019, 08:54:17 AM
I used to take the Drug Free School Zone signs as literal meaning that no child used drugs at the school it was implying. That was until the erected one in my neighborhood where I grew up. Then I knew it was just a wish and even so for those previous signs I saw elsewhere.
What, were you proud of being the reason they didn't get a Drug Free School Zone sign? :spin:
These are things I've noticed as I drive in other states. I've not been a roadgeek since I was in diapers, so these are quite specific:
* FREEWAY ENTRANCE signs are not a national thing (most states don't seem to sign their on-ramps as explicitly)
* urban speed limits: in WA, ~99% of urban freeway lane-miles have the same speed limit; elsewhere, urban limits seem to have a wider range (CA comes to mind).
When I was a wee lad in CT:
Friend who lived in a town on US 6: My dad says Route 6 goes to California
Me: no way, only Interstates can do that
Friend: Interstate means "in the state"
... that's a lot of wrong
A misconception of mine that was debunked just today-I thought the arrows/shields on BGSs were either painted on or was vinyl graphics. That is not the case, the for the arrow in the picture would have went with the other part of the sign
(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/rockymounttelegram.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/75/a75c3319-c47a-558f-bc1c-91d9c559a119/5dca02370f886.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800)
Quote from: planxtymcgillicuddy on November 16, 2019, 03:35:14 PMA misconception of mine that was debunked just today-I thought the arrows/shields on BGSs were either painted on or was vinyl graphics. That is not the case, the for the arrow in the picture would have went with the other part of the sign
That is actually not a misconception--the sign in the photo has what appears to be a demountable arrow, but there are many signs where shields, arrows, and other copy are direct-applied or produced by a screen process. I have also heard of a sign fabrication procedure where the
background (not the foreground elements such as legend, arrows, etc.) is applied on top of a reflective substrate, but I do not think I have ever seen any examples in the field. (Supposedly this process is favored for signs subject to vandalism since it leaves no foreground elements that can be peeled off to change the message.)
Here's a non-youthful misconception: A guy at my office who is older than I am was adamant one day recently that federal law prohibits any speed limit higher than 55 mph.
Seriously, he didn't believe me when I said that law was repealed in 1995 and that it had been amended in the late 1980s to allow 65 on some roads. I showed him an 85-mph sign on TX-130 and he seemed to think it was fake.
I can't fathom how limited one's travel must be to believe the old 55-mph version of the NMSL is still in effect.
Quote from: J N Winkler on November 16, 2019, 04:13:27 PM
Quote from: planxtymcgillicuddy on November 16, 2019, 03:35:14 PMA misconception of mine that was debunked just today-I thought the arrows/shields on BGSs were either painted on or was vinyl graphics. That is not the case, the for the arrow in the picture would have went with the other part of the sign
That is actually not a misconception--the sign in the photo has what appears to be a demountable arrow, but there are many signs where shields, arrows, and other copy are direct-applied or produced by a screen process. I have also heard of a sign fabrication procedure where the background (not the foreground elements such as legend, arrows, etc.) is applied on top of a reflective substrate, but I do not think I have ever seen any examples in the field. (Supposedly this process is favored for signs subject to vandalism since it leaves no foreground elements that can be peeled off to change the message.)
This is a standard within Arkansas. We use demountable legend on OH sign structures and direct applied legend on destination signage.
Quote from: 1995hoo on November 16, 2019, 05:54:38 PM
Here's a non-youthful misconception: A guy at my office who is older than I am was adamant one day recently that federal law prohibits any speed limit higher than 55 mph.
Seriously, he didn't believe me when I said that law was repealed in 1995 and that it had been amended in the late 1980s to allow 65 on some roads. I showed him an 85-mph sign on TX-130 and he seemed to think it was fake.
I can't fathom how limited one's travel must be to believe the old 55-mph version of the NMSL is still in effect.
You're both in Virginia, right? He must know that's not true in your state. Or maybe he never left Northern Virginia (like that's much of an excuse for him not knowing it was repealed).
Quote from: D-Dey65 on November 16, 2019, 10:53:27 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on November 16, 2019, 05:54:38 PM
Here's a non-youthful misconception: A guy at my office who is older than I am was adamant one day recently that federal law prohibits any speed limit higher than 55 mph.
Seriously, he didn't believe me when I said that law was repealed in 1995 and that it had been amended in the late 1980s to allow 65 on some roads. I showed him an 85-mph sign on TX-130 and he seemed to think it was fake.
I can't fathom how limited one's travel must be to believe the old 55-mph version of the NMSL is still in effect.
You're both in Virginia, right? He must know that's not true in your state. Or maybe he never left Northern Virginia (like that's much of an excuse for him not knowing it was repealed).
He lives in DC (I work downtown). It's possible to travel in Northern Virginia, including Arlington County, and see 65-mph speed limits (the I-395 reversible roadway and the I-495 HO/T lanes).
Quote from: 1995hoo on November 17, 2019, 08:14:31 AMHe lives in DC (I work downtown). It's possible to travel in Northern Virginia, including Arlington County, and see 65-mph speed limits (the I-395 reversible roadway and the I-495 HO/T lanes).
I still find it surprising that a person who presumably works in a law firm thinks the national 55 limit is still in effect. I wonder how he would react if a third party asked him nondirectionally for a citation to the relevant provision in law or regulation.
Quote from: J N Winkler on November 16, 2019, 04:13:27 PM
Quote from: planxtymcgillicuddy on November 16, 2019, 03:35:14 PMA misconception of mine that was debunked just today-I thought the arrows/shields on BGSs were either painted on or was vinyl graphics. That is not the case, the for the arrow in the picture would have went with the other part of the sign
That is actually not a misconception--the sign in the photo has what appears to be a demountable arrow, but there are many signs where shields, arrows, and other copy are direct-applied or produced by a screen process. I have also heard of a sign fabrication procedure where the background (not the foreground elements such as legend, arrows, etc.) is applied on top of a reflective substrate, but I do not think I have ever seen any examples in the field. (Supposedly this process is favored for signs subject to vandalism since it leaves no foreground elements that can be peeled off to change the message.)
Kentucky uses demountable elements (border, route markers, lettering, arrows) on its contractor-installed guide signs.
Years ago, for state-installed small guide signs, Kentucky used a process where a green film was applied to a white reflective background. Then the sign elements -- border, arrows, lettering -- were cut out of a reflective substance and applied to the sign. It would be simple for someone to peel off a letter or two. In fact, I know of one sign not far from here that has the "I" missing in in "BEATTYVILLE."
Now, the state cuts out the letters in the green sheeting that is overlaid on the white reflective background.
I thought that "EXIT ONLY" meant that the exit was the only way to get to the place mentioned on the sign. I presume I somehow misunderstood it as "ONLY EXIT".
I used to think the modern highway sign font didn't exist before the 1960s. That was before I realized how old yellow stop signs that used it were.
Quote from: bm7 on November 17, 2019, 08:51:01 PM
I thought that "EXIT ONLY" meant that the exit was the only way to get to the place mentioned on the sign. I presume I somehow misunderstood it as "ONLY EXIT".
I think this is one of the most misunderstood messages on our roads anywhere. If it needs to be explained to so many motorists, and there's so much confusion at the exits, the Feds should revised the message and/or the lane markings long ago. This message also is one not generally taught to new drivers, adding to the confusion.
People who have never visited the US but are nevertheless familiar with American signs have told me that they have interpreted "Exit Only" as meaning that re-entry at the same exit is not possible. (Some states do sign this latter condition, typically using a separate black-on-yellow sign.)
Quote from: jeffandnicole on November 17, 2019, 09:03:24 PM
I think ["EXIT ONLY"] is one of the most misunderstood messages on our roads anywhere. If it needs to be explained to so many motorists, and there's so much confusion at the exits, the Feds should revised the message and/or the lane markings long ago. This message also is one not generally taught to new drivers, adding to the confusion.
I couldn't agree more; I've had similar thoughts for years. Several users and I have debated about the merits of using, for example, "EXIT ONLY" messages on arrow-per-lane signs, despite the arrows clearly displaying the exit as being a mandatory movement (the curved arrow should be warning enough).
If the 2009 MUTCD is any indication, Americans have a tendency to confuse white-on-green arrows as being "only messages", at least when directly adjacent to an "EXIT ONLY" plaque. If this is the case, why even bother with the EXIT ONLY message to begin with? I'm aware that the message has been around for decades, and was the result of studies ("NAME & NAME" that I can't recall at this moment), but I guess I'm uncertain if the current signage style is still necessary, and/or needs rethinking, and/or if that original study is still relevant.
Quote from: J N Winkler on November 17, 2019, 09:43:58 PM
People who have never visited the US but are nevertheless familiar with American signs have told me that they have interpreted "Exit Only" as meaning that re-entry at the same exit is not possible. (Some states do sign this latter condition, typically using a separate black-on-yellow sign.)
I've seen articles written by Americans asserting the interpretation you note. It says to me that "Exit Only" isn't as clear as the FHWA would like to believe. I always liked Delaware's older signs that said either "Must Exit" or "This Lane Must Exit" (the latter stacked on two lines).
Quote from: J N Winkler on November 17, 2019, 09:43:58 PM
People who have never visited the US but are nevertheless familiar with American signs have told me that they have interpreted "Exit Only" as meaning that re-entry at the same exit is not possible. (Some states do sign this latter condition, typically using a separate black-on-yellow sign.)
Georgia is among those states (https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8547502,-84.2466372,3a,75y,171.29h,98.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sETq6rIVv8vfEdP4R-92Enw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en), though the message is white-on-green here. It would probably be better as black-on-yellow.
Quote from: thenetwork on November 15, 2019, 08:52:53 PM
When I was a kid, I thought that US Highways were built to higher standards than regular State highways.
Note, however, the following:
Quote from: AASHTO Transportation Policy Book, January 2000
Establishment and Development of United States Numbered Highways
(Retained from October 13, 1991, Revised October 6, 1996)
ESTABLISHED POLICIES
14. No route should be considered for inclusion in the U.S. numbered system that does not substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards.
That "Vehicle towed at owner's expense" meant only as much as the owner could pay.
When I was seven years old or so, I had a grotesque idea of what "body shop" meant. I imagined it was some sort of doctor's office where you could go to swap out body parts or something.
I thought all curves in a road were 90 degrees, so I had a hard time understanding the layout of areas with roads going diagonal directions like SW/NE.
Quote from: WestDakota on November 23, 2019, 01:59:37 AM
I thought all curves in a road were 90 degrees, so I had a hard time understanding the layout of areas with roads going diagonal directions like SW/NE.
I understand how you might think that if you live in the Dakotas.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on November 17, 2019, 09:03:24 PM
Quote from: bm7 on November 17, 2019, 08:51:01 PM
I thought that "EXIT ONLY" meant that the exit was the only way to get to the place mentioned on the sign. I presume I somehow misunderstood it as "ONLY EXIT".
I think this is one of the most misunderstood messages on our roads anywhere. If it needs to be explained to so many motorists, and there's so much confusion at the exits, the Feds should revised the message and/or the lane markings long ago. This message also is one not generally taught to new drivers, adding to the confusion.
Really?? I've don't think I know anyone who doesn't understand what it means, and this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say it's confusing
I used to believe...
...that all states used a circle for their state route sign. I grew up in New Jersey. Google Maps, which used ovals for all state routes, helped reinforce this belief. The first state I visited was New York (only the city), and I somehow never noticed the signs for NY-9A. The next states were Delaware and Maryland. Delaware reinforced my belief because it also used the circle, and as for Maryland, I thought the boxes they were using as state shields represented "local" routes, based on the AAA map legend (county routes also used boxes, but I knew it HAD to be different because county routes OBVIOUSLY used pentagons everywhere, see below for more). But when I took a trip to Pennsylvania, the keystone for Route 332 shocked me. 'What the heck,' I thought, 'did a keystone mean? Some new kind of freeway? Some weird toll road?'
...that every state numbered their county routes like New Jersey.
...that every county in New Jersey numbered their county routes like New Jersey. My first trip to the Jersey Shore was eventful.
...that the whole NJTP was I-95. It took me a while to learn that the whole segment below I-276 wasn't I-95.
...that New Jersey Route 27 and New York Route 27 were two separate highways. After all, both ended in New York City, didn't they? I always thought that if you started in Princeton and kept going north along Route 27, you'd eventually reach a dead end at the tippy top of Long Island in Montauk.
...that, although freeways were found in every state, they were only officially called "freeways" in California. Thanks a lot, daddy.
...that the Bronx River Parkway, the Sprain Brook Parkway, and the Taconic State Parkway were one long highway. This belief was reinforced by Google Maps' usage of orange (indicating a freeway) on the contiguous route up north, and yellow (indicating a non-freeway) for the other parts that came past the Sprain Brook Parkway.
I followed the Garden State Parkway on Bing Maps down to its southern terminus. My 5-year-old brain thought that Cape May was Florida. Yep, I was THAT stupid.
One day, I was just browsing through southern Indiana, when I came across a short segment of what was marked as I-69, which had just been realigned and therefore had no street view. It screwed with my mind, like, 'how the heck can a 2-digit interstate be THAT short?' I legit thought for almost a year after that that I-69 was less than a mile long.
And finally, this is not really a misconception per se, but I never knew that you could pass on dotted yellow lines until my parents did so on a road trip. I always thought that you were never allowed to pass the yellow line no matter what, and that the lines were dotted just for decoration. Dumb, isn't it? Well, it made sense to me as a child, because of head-on collisions and so on.
Bonus: My dad once told me that I-78 went all the way to California. Luckily, I wasn't that dumb by then, but my brother believed it.
^^ I also used to believe that the entire Turnpike was I-95. I couldn't wrap my head around the famous 95 gap when I was younger.
When I went on a road trip up to St. Louis as a kid I used to believe that MO supplemental route letters were only used once in the entire state. So when I found a Route D in St Louis County (Page Ave) I said "What if we took Route D home?" as there is a Route D in Springfield as well (Sunshine St).
I had trouble with the I-95 gap in NJ when I was dealing with it as a driver, which was largely before the emergence of the online road enthusiast culture. I think at one point I got lost trying to follow signs to make the jump from I-95 in Pennsylvania to I-95 on the New Jersey Turnpike. (I can't verify this since the signs posted in the mid-1990's are now largely gone and neither NJDOT nor the NJTA have their respective as-built plans libraries on open online public access.) Eventually I developed a vague sense that I-95 in the general area of Trenton was somehow not to be relied on, and moved to a strategy of using its loop/spur routes to make the connection to the Turnpike.
I also had no idea that numbered routes could exist in multiple disjoint segments without having so much as a shadow existence in between.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on November 24, 2019, 02:27:19 PM
When I went on a road trip up to St. Louis as a kid I used to believe that MO supplemental route letters were only used once in the entire state. So when I found a Route D in St Louis County (Page Ave) I said "What if we took Route D home?" as there is a Route D in Springfield as well (Sunshine St).
So basically what I believed for State Routes 27 in NJ and NY? Hey, at least I knew from the start that U. S. Highways could be freeways (we took the Pulaski Skyway a lot).
Here's another one propagated by Google Maps: I thought that U. S. 1 Business in NJ-PA and Trenton was State Route 1, and that the same road somehow leaded to Delaware and became a toll road.
I'm *extremely* unfamiliar with southern NJ and the Philly area. Can anyone explain to me how the gap in the 95 developed? Seems like it could have been routed to interchanges with ramps. I know the plans for original 95 freeway route were scrapped, but why was the original routing plan itself not scrapped and 95 rerouted to another stretch of pavement? I'm sure this is an easy answer; I assume it's something to do with tolls?
Quote from: jakeroot on November 24, 2019, 03:26:09 PMI'm *extremely* unfamiliar with southern NJ and the Philly area. Can anyone explain to me how the gap in the 95 developed? Seems like it could have been routed to interchanges with ramps. I know the plans for original 95 freeway route were scrapped, but why was the original routing plan itself not scrapped and 95 rerouted to another stretch of pavement? I'm sure this is an easy answer; I assume it's something to do with tolls?
This has been discussed at some length in the thread dealing with the I-95/Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange, but in brief, the freeway plan that was scrapped in 1982 (the Somerset Freeway) would have run in or close to the US 1 corridor between Trenton and what is now I-287, a bit to the north of the Turnpike. The language removing it from the Interstate network provided for I-95 to be routed along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (via a direct connection that did not exist until last year) and across the Delaware River and then along the New Jersey Turnpike. Although it took almost 40 years to develop the interchange project, it was never abandoned, and to do so would likely have involved giving up Interstate Construction funds. (It has been described as the "golden spike" in the Interstate system because it was the last segment for which IC funds could be used.)
Stranger drivers in my situation--going from DC to NY and wishing to stay on freeways while avoiding both the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the bottom segment of the NJ Turnpike--would have benefited from interim signing guiding us along what is now I-295 and I-195 (past the then missing direct connection) to the NJ Turnpike access point. I do not recall that this was provided, and in all honesty, this is a bit of a gumboil routing around the north of Trenton.
I thought that the entirety of US-12 fell on the Madison Beltline. I was perplexed when I was on US-12 outside of Madison.
Quote from: J N Winkler on November 24, 2019, 03:46:38 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on November 24, 2019, 03:26:09 PMI'm *extremely* unfamiliar with southern NJ and the Philly area. Can anyone explain to me how the gap in the 95 developed? Seems like it could have been routed to interchanges with ramps. I know the plans for original 95 freeway route were scrapped, but why was the original routing plan itself not scrapped and 95 rerouted to another stretch of pavement? I'm sure this is an easy answer; I assume it's something to do with tolls?
This has been discussed at some length in the thread dealing with the I-95/Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange, but in brief, the freeway plan that was scrapped in 1982 (the Somerset Freeway) would have run in or close to the US 1 corridor between Trenton and what is now I-287, a bit to the north of the Turnpike. The language removing it from the Interstate network provided for I-95 to be routed along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (via a direct connection that did not exist until last year) and across the Delaware River and then along the New Jersey Turnpike. Although it took almost 40 years to develop the interchange project, it was never abandoned, and to do so would likely have involved giving up Interstate Construction funds. (It has been described as the "golden spike" in the Interstate system because it was the last segment for which IC funds could be used.)
Stranger drivers in my situation--going from DC to NY and wishing to stay on freeways while avoiding both the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the bottom segment of the NJ Turnpike--would have benefited from interim signing guiding us along what is now I-295 and I-195 (past the then missing direct connection) to the NJ Turnpike access point. I do not recall that this was provided, and in all honesty, this is a bit of a gumboil routing around the north of Trenton.
Thank you for the summary. Do you know if there's a map that has the original routing, versus what became the signed route?
If I had another question, I guess it would be about the timeline. What held up that connection for so long? I-90 through King County, WA, took about 25 years to come to complete fruition, and I thought that was a long timeline (despite the hundreds of acres of ROW needed for construction). Here, it doesn't seem like there was anything holding it up. There must have been something significant, but if the project was maintained for 40 years for funding purposes, it would seem to me that "getting it done" would have been a higher priority since the 80s.
So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...
When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........
Until I answered the open-ended, "Your car is on fire..." scenario with "call AAA."
So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"
When I was growing up in Michigan, I lived within a half-mile of the Ohio state line. My best friend at the time believed that Ohio was this place you had to get in the car and ride for hours and hours and hours and hours to get to. It wasn't till he was fourteen or so before he realized that the fence at the back of the property where he lived was on the state line. :confused:
Quote from: crispy93 on November 13, 2019, 01:33:02 PM
- I misunderstood my mom, and thought if you turn your blinker on, the car will make the lane change for you (Teslas can actually do this now)
That's actually kind of scary if you turn it on by accident.
Quote from: crispy93 on November 13, 2019, 01:33:02 PM
- I thought Sunrise Highway on LI was a surface road for its entire run to Montauk, until the GPS told me to take it one day and found out it was a freeway (that should be 65 mph!)
For a long time, it was. In fact when I was growing up the only limited-access part was from NY 109 to west of Saxon Avenue. NY 111 and Suffolk CR 17 had concrete arch underpasses, while NY 27 was actually a four-lane undivided concrete road, but still a surface road.
Quote from: D-Dey65 on December 16, 2019, 09:50:58 AM
Quote from: crispy93 on November 13, 2019, 01:33:02 PM
- I misunderstood my mom, and thought if you turn your blinker on, the car will make the lane change for you (Teslas can actually do this now)
That's actually kind of scary if you turn it on by accident.
Better keep the Teslas away from the stereotypical Florida retirees. They'll never stop doing donuts. :spin:
Quote from: DaBigE on December 16, 2019, 10:14:21 AM
Quote from: D-Dey65 on December 16, 2019, 09:50:58 AM
Quote from: crispy93 on November 13, 2019, 01:33:02 PM
- I misunderstood my mom, and thought if you turn your blinker on, the car will make the lane change for you (Teslas can actually do this now)
That's actually kind of scary if you turn it on by accident.
Better keep the Teslas away from the stereotypical Florida retirees. They'll never stop doing donuts. :spin:
You mean that hasn't happened already?
:D
Quote from: D-Dey65 on December 16, 2019, 10:34:36 AM
Quote from: DaBigE on December 16, 2019, 10:14:21 AM
Quote from: D-Dey65 on December 16, 2019, 09:50:58 AM
Quote from: crispy93 on November 13, 2019, 01:33:02 PM
- I misunderstood my mom, and thought if you turn your blinker on, the car will make the lane change for you (Teslas can actually do this now)
That's actually kind of scary if you turn it on by accident.
Better keep the Teslas away from the stereotypical Florida retirees. They'll never stop doing donuts. :spin:
You mean that hasn't happened already?
:D
No. But Floridians driving Teslas seem to have mastered the talent of running into vehicles crossing their path.
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on November 24, 2019, 12:37:03 PM
I used to believe...
...that the whole NJTP was I-95. It took me a while to learn that the whole segment below I-276 wasn't I-95.
And in fact until more recent times the whole segment below I-287/NJ 440 wasn't I-95.
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on November 24, 2019, 12:37:03 PM
...that New Jersey Route 27 and New York Route 27 were two separate highways. After all, both ended in New York City, didn't they? I always thought that if you started in Princeton and kept going north along Route 27, you'd eventually reach a dead end at the tippy top of Long Island in Montauk.
That would actually be kind of cool. Of course you'd have to extend NY 27 into an overlap with the Gowanus Expressway, and onto West Avenue after the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, and juggle the NJ 27 extension around Newark, Harrison and Jersey City.
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on November 24, 2019, 12:37:03 PM
...that the Bronx River Parkway, the Sprain Brook Parkway, and the Taconic State Parkway were one long highway. This belief was reinforced by Google Maps' usage of orange (indicating a freeway) on the contiguous route up north, and yellow (indicating a non-freeway) for the other parts that came past the Sprain Brook Parkway.
I wish the FHWA would recognize that they're not the same long highway. They seem to prefer that NYSDOT restart their exit numbers on the Bronx River Parkway after the interchange with the Sprain Brook Parkway.
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on November 24, 2019, 12:37:03 PM
Bonus: My dad once told me that I-78 went all the way to California. Luckily, I wasn't that dumb by then, but my brother believed it.
I feel sorry for him. Does he know better now?
When I was a kid around the time of the Gulf War, I thought that Saddam Hussein was "Saddam Who's Saying," I wondered what he was saying until I got older.
When I was little, I took a trip to Ocean City, and our hotel was near Salisbury. Now, Salisbury has two business routes, US 13 and 50 BUS. The concept of bannered routes was very alien to me at the time; I was always under the impression that only busses could take the "bus" routes.
Another related one: I thought that TOLL and OLD were bannered routes. Still wish that US 220 OLD existed between Bedford and Bellefonte.
Not roads, but I used to think the guy who sang on New Year's Eve was Guylom Bardo. And the football coach was Vincelom Bardo.
Also not road related, but it does have to do with navigation.
As an early on lighthouse fan, I thought the pattern on the outside of the tower indicated how you got to the top (so basically, a lighthouse that had no pattern--such as Ocracoke--had an elevator...not sure how I thought towers like the Bodie Island Light with horizontal stripes worked)
Once on a trip to Albuquerque as a kid, we were driving on Paseo del Norte and passed a sign for "Bus. Dist." I couldn't figure out what bus distance was or why it would be on a road sign. (That sign has since been replaced with a new one that just leaves the business district out altogether.)
At a thrift store I saw an older transistor radio with a connection for an external antenna, abbreviated as "EXT. ANT." I flipped the word order and thought it was a marked exit for an ant that and walked into the radio.
As I kid I had an image of some guy in a high crime area turning on the switches for all the street lights around NYC every night and then coming back and turning them off in the morning.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/7849/40461545893_8b3a9f190f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/24DrZWe)
Quote from: Mergingtraffic on January 09, 2020, 03:55:41 PM
As I kid I had an image of some guy in a high crime area turning on the switches for all the street lights around NYC every night and then coming back and turning them off in the morning.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/7849/40461545893_8b3a9f190f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/24DrZWe)
Why have I never noticed that wooden light whenever I'm at Prospect, Sunrise, and the Cross Island?
Quote from: kphoger on November 21, 2019, 11:58:51 AM
When I was seven years old or so, I had a grotesque idea of what "body shop" meant. I imagined it was some sort of doctor's office where you could go to swap out body parts or something.
If only...
When I was really small we'd take family trips from State College to NY and CT to visit grandparents, and there was a toll at every state line I was awake for - the Delaware River Bridge on I-80 from PA-NJ, a Thruway toll around the NJ-NY line at the I-287/87 interchange, and I was zonked out by the time we hit Connecticut. So naturally, I assumed that there were tolls at every state line.
I also assumed that Route 26 - which ran through State College - didn't actually go anywhere else. I was shocked when I saw a 26 sign in Huntingdon and it had to be explained to me how state highways worked.
I assumed that the little plaques on PA exits on I-80 that read "Old Exit XX" referred to something from the 1800s, and I imagined a dirt road with those exit numbers.
I thought that my parents would go to jail for driving a couple miles over the speed limit. I have one memory of I-99 posted at 55, my dad at 58, and me really worried. I also thought the only point of I-99 was to take people from the big road (I-80 east of Exit 161 - west of there did not exist to me) on the little road (I-99) to State College.
I never understood how we could be going east on one road and south on another road at the same time.
I thought the Pennsylvania Turnpike was some exotic highway that we only drove on verryyyyyy rare occasion.
That US 40 only existed in St. Louis and nowhere else. That I-55 turned into I-70 in downtown St. Louis. Finally, my grandparents listened to KMOX a lot and at the top of the hour, the 1983 CBS news sounder played. I didn't realize that every CBS station used that sounder, so I thought all stations were KMOX.
Quote from: J3ebrules on December 04, 2019, 09:42:24 PM
So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...
When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........
Until I answered the open-ended, "Your car is on fire..." scenario with "call AAA."
So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"
What was the name of this game, may I ask?
I thought interstate 84 started at Exit 3 in Danbury, CT on that short stub of what I now know is US 7.
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on June 13, 2022, 04:47:02 PM
Quote from: J3ebrules on December 04, 2019, 09:42:24 PM
So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...
When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........
Until I answered the open-ended, "Your car is on fire..." scenario with "call AAA."
So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"
What was the name of this game, may I ask?
Oh, no clue... this was about 20 years ago if not more. 😂😂
For a short while when I was little, I thought that California was the only state that had state routes as freeways. I thought that other states either had them as 3dis, U.S. Routes, or unnumbered freeways.
Not sure if I posted or not, but when I was very little, I didn't understand state routes. I just assumed everything with a number was a freeway, except for the times there were numbers in a green sign (the California miner spades). So I started calling them "street routes" and assumed they could only be allowed on surface streets. I didn't understand that states had their own networks until years later.
In Texas the US Highways were mostly wider and better maintained than the State Highways. All in all that is still the case.
The one thing I had in my mind was why so many towns had a road called "FRONTAGE ROAD" . In my childhood age, it was a street name, not a descriptor for the lanes of the service road. It didn't hurt any that even though we were in NE Texas that mom used the vernacular from greater Houston to describe them as "the FEEDER".
I also had an idea that the SH routes off of I-30 were numbered because of their distance from a given point.
SH-19 had the label "Emory 19"
SH-37 was "Clarksville 37".
At the exit to SH-50 the sign said "Paris 50" (SH-50 has since been truncated in Commerce and it never went all the way to Paris. SH-24 that has replaced SH-50 from Commerce to I-30 does indeed go to Paris.
While it wasn't at I-30, SH 49 in Mount Pleasant said "Jefferson 49"
This was probably before I was ten or so.
Quote from: Mergingtraffic on January 09, 2020, 03:55:41 PM
As I kid I had an image of some guy in a high crime area turning on the switches for all the street lights around NYC every night and then coming back and turning them off in the morning.
With the electric lights, that never seemingly was how it worked. Back in the days of GAS LIGHTS, the lamplighter came in the evening and lit them. In the mornings he came and extinguished them .
Quote from: J3ebrules on December 04, 2019, 09:42:24 PM
So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...
When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........
Until I answered the open-ended, "Your car is on fire..." scenario with "call AAA."
So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"
My kids (now straddling 40) were teenagers. Their pickup truck caught fire and they called me and asked how to call 911. Admittedly, they had had mobile phones less than a year, but.....
The real question might actually be how to get your phone out of 9-1-1 mode.
Quote from: bwana39 on November 08, 2022, 11:23:13 AM
Quote from: J3ebrules on December 04, 2019, 09:42:24 PM
So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...
When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........
Until I answered the open-ended, "Your car is on fire..." scenario with "call AAA."
So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"
My kids (now straddling 40) were teenagers. Their pickup truck caught fire and they called me and asked how to call 911. Admittedly, they had had mobile phones less than a year, but.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TINdNEMhga4