Why does VT Route 119 even exist? (Pictures Included)

[KEVIN_224]

I'm presently staying overnight in Brattleboro, VT. While in their downtown area earlier this afternoon, I noticed signs for VT Route 119...all 4/5 mile of it! Is it solely for continuity between the NH state line (west shore of the Connecticut River) and US Route 5? I'm not sure how well the following pictures will show it:




Along US Route 5, at the junction of said route. VT Route 142 also starts by here and heads generally south towards the town of Vernon, VT. The sticker on the I-91 shield was supposed to be George Bush giving the middle finger.  



At first glance, it looks like you'd have to take a right to get onto VT Route 119. That side street only goes to limited parking for the Amtrak station and for a business or two. It also made me wonder why they couldn't replace the crumbling RAILROAD STATION sign?  



This is actually the first of two bridges over the Connecticut River here. The first span lands on a small island in the middle of the river. The wooden state line marker was completely crumbled and coming off from the first vertical beam on the right side.



The first reassurance NH Route 119 East sign is on the island in the Connecticut River, in Hinsdale, NH.



This New Hampshire welcome sign appears as you get off the island and approach the bridge for the Connecticut River's east channel.



This was after I had walked back over to the Vermont side of the river. I have never seen a sign assembly resting on the side of a building in this fashion before. Or at second floor-level before either. Neat!  

[Takumi]

Looks like it is just a continuation of NH 119. Virginia has lots of these.

[KEVIN_224]

Are any of the Virginia routes connecting to other states like this one is? (With the SAME shield number?)

[NE2]

Yes.

[Duke87]

Lots of states have really short extensions of adjacent state routes. See CT 78. Or NJ 413.

[qguy]

In the first pic, the bottom mounting bolt on the VT 119 sign makes it look like VT 11.9, which is somehow appropriate given the dimminutive nature of the route.

[Takumi]

Are any of the Virginia routes connecting to other states like this one is? (With the SAME shield number?)

Here's a list of them and how they've changed numbers over the years. In 1940 Virginia did a renumbering so most of the border crossing routes would match.

[Alps]

Are you saying they should just not sign it? See VT 26, by far the shortest route - and it's even signed with a Vermont circle for all of its 50 feet! As long as a number is designated in a state, why use the next state's shield?

[xonhulu]

There are a couple of examples of short state route extensions in this neck of the woods:

- OR 52 as a short continuation of ID 52 -- Oregon renumbered it from OR 90 so the numbers would match;
- ID 128 is a short extension of WA 128 -- truth be told, WA 128 isn't very long either, so this could actually work both ways;
- even BC gets into the act, with BC 395 as a brief extension of US 395. Of course, BC also extends US 97, US 95, and US 93 (as does Alberta), but these are pretty long.  In fact, I'm pretty sure BC 97 is longer than all of US 97, so maybe US 97 is the one that should be considered the extension of BC 97!

[KEVIN_224]

I couldn't get a picture of them on the way into Vermont, but I can tell you that Vermont has gone 1/5 mile marker-crazy now as well. Unlike NH, MA and RI with the interstate/US Route/state route shields on the mile, the Vermont ones have it like this:

_________
|  MILE    |
|            |
|  5         |
|---------| <--- Solid white line
| .2         |
|________|

The weird thing is that they still have the tiny little gray markers with black numbers. You'd have the bigger white-on-green marker (like above) with "MILE 5.2", then a tiny marker for 5.25, 5.3, 5.35 and then the bigger white-on-green "MILE 5.4", etc.

On a separate note, I left I-91 at Exit 1 in Brattleboro for US Route 5 North. It looks like there's some sort of construction just north of here, as there was a VMS sign near Exit 1. Also, while in downtown Brattleboro on US 5 (Canal Street and part of Main Street), there were tiny orange signs which read (example) "TO I-91 Exit 3 ^" while north on US Route 5 and "TO I-91 Exit 1 >" a bit closer to where I was staying.

[kphoger]

Are you saying they should just not sign it? See VT 26, by far the shortest route - and it's even signed with a Vermont circle for all of its 50 feet! As long as a number is designated in a state, why use the next state's shield?

I think it would be perfectly acceptable to sign it as "TO <foreign state's route shield>", and simply leave the less-than-a-mile state highway otherwise unsigned–a paper highway, a secret highway..  We all love secret highways, don't we?

[shadyjay]

I couldn't get a picture of them on the way into Vermont, but I can tell you that Vermont has gone 1/5 mile marker-crazy now as well. Unlike NH, MA and RI with the interstate/US Route/state route shields on the mile, the Vermont ones have it like this:

_________
|  MILE    |
|            |
|  5         |
|---------| <--- Solid white line
| .2         |
|________|

The weird thing is that they still have the tiny little gray markers with black numbers. You'd have the bigger white-on-green marker (like above) with "MILE 5.2", then a tiny marker for 5.25, 5.3, 5.35 and then the bigger white-on-green "MILE 5.4", etc.

On a separate note, I left I-91 at Exit 1 in Brattleboro for US Route 5 North. It looks like there's some sort of construction just north of here, as there was a VMS sign near Exit 1. Also, while in downtown Brattleboro on US 5 (Canal Street and part of Main Street), there were tiny orange signs which read (example) "TO I-91 Exit 3 ^" while north on US Route 5 and "TO I-91 Exit 1 >" a bit closer to where I was staying.

At least those 1/5 mile markers are mounted at the same height as a normal mile marker.  Those ones in NH are ridiculously mounted high.  And do we really need to be reminded every mile what road we're on? 

I haven't been down south in a while but last time I was in the Brattleboro area, there was construction going on to replace a couple of bridges between Exits 1 & 2.  VT will close down the entire roadway in one direction to replace a bridge and route traffic to the other direction's bridge with a single lane separated by a jersey barrier.  A few years ago, a bridge by the welcome center on I-91 was rebuilt in the same manner.  I've seen similar jobs in NH where the two directions of travel are only separated by a double yellow line and some plastic posts. 

There's far less traffic up this way which makes sense to close down one direction and rebuild the entire bridge vs what happens in CT, MA, and elsewhere.  A pair of bridges can be replaced in two years - how long did it take for MassHighway to replace those bridges in Holyoke and Northampton on I-91?  5-10 years?  Its a lot safer for the construction crews too, not having to deal with motorists flying by 10 feet away.

[KEVIN_224]

There was some construction set up in West Springfield, MA at Exit 13 for US Route 5/Riverdale Street, just west (north?) of the Connecticut River. The other construction by the Holyoke/Easthampton town line (also the Hampden/Hampshire County line) is finished. There's an overhead VMS sign which was installed there northbound.

[Stephane Dumas]

This was after I had walked back over to the Vermont side of the river. I have never seen a sign assembly resting on the side of a building in this fashion before. Or at second floor-level before either. Neat! 

In the close but no cigar, category, there also these signs assembly fixed on the 2nd floor at Coaticook, PQ.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?ll=45.132497,-71.801062&spn=0.011732,0.01929&gl=ca&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=45.132512,-71.805337&panoid=XfQQDv3L_vlbpCgB7cpajQ&cbp=12,188.95,,0,-21.16

There also other shorter VT roads like VT-147 who link to PQ-147, VT-141 to PQ-141 (there was a surviving old-school sign at http://maps.google.ca/maps?ll=45.006382,-71.54696&spn=0.023637,0.038581&gl=ca&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=45.006218,-71.555009&panoid=nt3cwFbRcws8y1FY7FXYGw&cbp=12,341.09,,1,-0.88  I don't know if it was replaced)

[HighwayMaster]

I love that sign assembly. Very creative. I wonder what it took to put them up!

Vermont has 4 other routes like 119, VT-123, VT-10A, VT-25A, and VT-26. I believe VT-25A and VT-26 are shorter than VT-119.

[Kacie Jane]

Are you saying they should just not sign it? See VT 26, by far the shortest route - and it's even signed with a Vermont circle for all of its 50 feet! As long as a number is designated in a state, why use the next state's shield?

I think it would be perfectly acceptable to sign it as "TO <foreign state's route shield>", and simply leave the less-than-a-mile state highway otherwise unsigned–a paper highway, a secret highway..  We all love secret highways, don't we?

It would certainly be perfectly acceptable.  I think the issue is that while it's not terribly (or really even remotely) difficult to get a neighboring state's shield, it's still far easier to make one of their own.

[vdeane]

Besides, why should there be a gap in the highway system just because of a border?

[nexus73]

In Hammond LA, there is a city street a few blocks long that is signed as a 4-digit state route that I saw back in the 1990's.  I always wondered about that one!

Rick