Random Distance Signs

[nwi_navigator_1181]

Hello folks.

There is a sign on the southern end of the Tri-State Tollway (I-80/294) toward Indiana (located just east of Halsted St.) which reads, "Indiana Toll Road, 20 miles." I like the long range warning, which I'm sure was geared toward drivers on I-80. However, it just seems so...random. Can anyone else provide any examples?

An older one: before the turn of the century, there were small distance signs interspersed on the Indiana Toll Road at random intervals. Eastbound drivers had small signs that would say, "Ohio, xx0 miles," while westbound drivers had signs that said, "Chicago, xx0 miles."

As always, I thank you in advance for your responses.

[amroad17]

Ohio, up to a few years ago, had random distance signs in miles and kilometers on I-71 near Jeffersonville, OH giving the mileage to Columbus (45 miles/ 72 kilometers) and Cincinnati (62 miles/ 100 kilometers).  There also was one south of Findlay, OH on I-75 giving the mileage to Dayton (100 miles/ 161 kilometers) and two on the Ohio Turnpike near Toledo giving the mileage to Chicago westbound and New York (via turnpikes) eastbound in miles and kilometers.  All signs have been taken down within the last 5 or 6 years.

[Scott5114]

There are a few random signs on the Kansas Turnpike reading:
"Topeka
CAPITAL CITY
XX MILES"

I think the first one of these is around MM 2 or so after crossing over from Oklahoma, and then I want to say there's another once you clear Wichita.

[national highway 1]

The novelty 'Denver 1700, Cove Fort 2200' at the beginning of I-70 in Baltimore comes to mind, Cove Fort, UT being the western terminus of I-70 at I-15. The distances are rounded off to the nearest 100mi:

Either end of US 50 has the opposing terminus mentioned as being 3073 mi away.


Then there are these signs on both termini of I-40
in Barstow CA:

Wilmington NC

[agentsteel53]

The novelty 'Denver 1700, Cove Fort 2200' at the beginning of I-70 in Baltimore comes to mind, Cove Fort, UT being the western terminus of I-70 at I-15. The distances are rounded off to the nearest 100mi:

I see that sign is now in Clearview.  When I first noted it in 2006, I had thought "okay, no one wanted to do 10 minutes of work to figure out the exact distance".  since then, this sort of research has become easier and easier.  so now, no one wanted to do 20 seconds of work?

that said, Google Maps shows the distances along I-70, starting at the Park and Ride just inside I-695, as the following:

Columbus 392
St. Louis 809
Denver 1651
JCT I-15 2154 (one mile longer than Cove Fort)

so, I wonder how much of that mileage was calculated using older US routes, back in the day.  anyone know the history of that sign?

also, is that the only sign with "novelty" intermediate distances?  all the other one I know just have the terminus, not very distant intermediates. 

(Denver 459 in Albuquerque on I-25 doesn't count - that's just NMDOT being NMDOT.)

[pianocello]

Found on WB I-80 near West Liberty, IA:

Interstate 380
Waterloo
Cedar Rapids
Exit 23 miles

[Kacie Jane]

Close to home, there's a sign on I-5 northbound listing the mileage to Mt. Vernon (16) and Bellingham (44) -- and only those two cities.  What makes this "random" is that Bellingham is never used as a control city on I-5, and every other mileage sign north of Seattle has Vancouver BC as the bottom line.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Ohio, up to a few years ago, had random distance signs in miles and kilometers on I-71 near Jeffersonville, OH giving the mileage to Columbus (45 miles/ 72 kilometers) and Cincinnati (62 miles/ 100 kilometers).  There also was one south of Findlay, OH on I-75 giving the mileage to Dayton (100 miles/ 161 kilometers) and two on the Ohio Turnpike near Toledo giving the mileage to Chicago westbound and New York (via turnpikes) eastbound in miles and kilometers.  All signs have been taken down within the last 5 or 6 years.

But for random distance signs, the following on I-71 still stands...

[Scott5114]

The novelty 'Denver 1700, Cove Fort 2200' at the beginning of I-70 in Baltimore comes to mind, Cove Fort, UT being the western terminus of I-70 at I-15. The distances are rounded off to the nearest 100mi:

I see that sign is now in Clearview.  When I first noted it in 2006, I had thought "okay, no one wanted to do 10 minutes of work to figure out the exact distance".  since then, this sort of research has become easier and easier.  so now, no one wanted to do 20 seconds of work?

that said, Google Maps shows the distances along I-70, starting at the Park and Ride just inside I-695, as the following:

Columbus 392
St. Louis 809
Denver 1651
JCT I-15 2154 (one mile longer than Cove Fort)

so, I wonder how much of that mileage was calculated using older US routes, back in the day.  anyone know the history of that sign?

also, is that the only sign with "novelty" intermediate distances?  all the other one I know just have the terminus, not very distant intermediates. 

(Denver 459 in Albuquerque on I-25 doesn't count - that's just NMDOT being NMDOT.)

As I recall, that sign was the first erected in Maryland using Clearview. It seems reasonable to believe that it was intended to be a test article for Maryland DOT that just happened to double as a novelty to the public. The distances being accurate probably wasn't very high on the priority scale.

[national highway 1]

(Denver 459 in Albuquerque on I-25 doesn't count - that's just NMDOT being NMDOT.)

Actually Jake, it actually says 'Denver-439' 

[thenetwork]

The ones that stick out in my mind are the signs on EB I-80 between the Ohio Turnpike and the PA state line in Youngstown, where nearly all the distance signs (and control city signs) list New York City, just a short 500 mile drive away.

[kphoger]

There's one approaching Wichita from the south on the Turnpike, I believe listing the distance to Topeka on a supplemental sign in a random location.  Can't remember the specifics.

I also seem to recall one on for Saint Louis on either I-24 or I-57 northbound south of the split which says "via I-64" or something like that.  Man, I suck at remembering details.

[amroad17]

Ohio, up to a few years ago, had random distance signs in miles and kilometers on I-71 near Jeffersonville, OH giving the mileage to Columbus (45 miles/ 72 kilometers) and Cincinnati (62 miles/ 100 kilometers).  There also was one south of Findlay, OH on I-75 giving the mileage to Dayton (100 miles/ 161 kilometers) and two on the Ohio Turnpike near Toledo giving the mileage to Chicago westbound and New York (via turnpikes) eastbound in miles and kilometers.  All signs have been taken down within the last 5 or 6 years.

But for random distance signs, the following on I-71 still stands...

The sign is now in Clearview text with the distance to I-275 now shown at 72 miles.  There is one northbound on I-71 near mm 80.  It reads: I-270   22; Cleveland  170.  Thank you Ohio for giving us a topic to expound on! 

[roadman65]

New Jersey used to have a few.  One on I-78 Westbound just west of I-287 in Bedminster that read "PHILLIPSBURG 29 MILES xx Kilometers.  I tried to find it on street view, but it was not there anymore.

The other was Southbound on I-287 just south of CR 525 in Bernards that read:
Bedminster 3
Metuchen    20
This assembly was probably taken down during the widening project of I-287 from 4 to 6 lanes back in the early 90's as it was there when I lived up there prior to 1990.

There were no other signs of its kind around, as NJ does not like to use mileage signs on interstates nor control cities on freeway entrance ramp signs either.

[amroad17]

New Jersey used to have a few.  One on I-78 Westbound just west of I-287 in Bedminster that read "PHILLIPSBURG 29 MILES xx Kilometers.  I tried to find it on street view, but it was not there anymore.

The other was Southbound on I-287 just south of CR 525 in Bernards that read:
Bedminster 3
Metuchen    20
This assembly was probably taken down during the widening project of I-287 from 4 to 6 lanes back in the early 90's as it was there when I lived up there prior to 1990.

There were no other signs of its kind around, as NJ does not like to use mileage signs on interstates nor control cities on freeway entrance ramp signs either.

Wasn't there a sign around exit 4 or 5 on the NJ Tpk that gave the distance to New York at 100 miles?  I believe I saw it around 7 or 8 years ago when I was an expedited truck driver.

[NE2]

There are several of these on I-4, giving the distance to I-75 and I-275: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=28.411446,-81.474996&spn=0.033821,0.066047&gl=us&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=28.411637,-81.4749&panoid=fIttr8yOA3_iHKZLIuZ-gw&cbp=12,229.05,,2,-1.49
They were installed some time in the last 10 years.

[roadman65]

There are several of these on I-4, giving the distance to I-75 and I-275: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=28.411446,-81.474996&spn=0.033821,0.066047&gl=us&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=28.411637,-81.4749&panoid=fIttr8yOA3_iHKZLIuZ-gw&cbp=12,229.05,,2,-1.49
They were installed some time in the last 10 years.

Yeah they are in a few places on I-4 as well as I-75 from I-10 to the FL Turpike with mileages to the Turnpike To Orlando and I-275 To St. Petersburg.

Also, www.alpsroads.net on his I-78 page shows a photo of the sign I mentioned.  He wonders why that city is used for a control point, and the answer is that I-78 once ended in Greenwich Township at present day Exit 3.  Motorists had to follow US 22 into PA which goes through Phillipsburg to get there until Spring 1990.

[national highway 1]

This sign on I-210 and its counterpart on I-405 include Sacramento as a control city on these distance signs, even though it can only be reached via I-5 or CA 99:
I-210:

I-405:

[Kacie Jane]

This sign on I-210 and its counterpart on I-405 include Sacramento as a control city on these distance signs, even though it can only be reached via I-5 or CA 99:

Uhhh... the other two cites on those signs are also on I-5 (Santa Clarita) or CA 99 (Bakersfield).

Nothing random about that, just signing cities beyond the terminus of a 3di.  Relatively common.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

There's one approaching Wichita from the south on the Turnpike, I believe listing the distance to Topeka on a supplemental sign in a random location.  Can't remember the specifics.

I also seem to recall one on for Saint Louis on either I-24 or I-57 northbound south of the split which says "via I-64" or something like that.  Man, I suck at remembering details.

You're right on both affairs. Near the end of I-24 westbound, a supplemental overhead sign is placed next to the I-57 advisory 1 mile before the split. In this case, drivers are advised to use I-57 north, seen here.

On I-57 northbound, after the merge from I-24, the advice changes, advising drivers to use I-64 (51 miles from that point) to reach St. Louis, seen here.

Credit for both photos go to the Interstate Guide, found at www.interstate-guide.com.

[kkt]

The novelty 'Denver 1700, Cove Fort 2200' at the beginning of I-70 in Baltimore comes to mind, Cove Fort, UT being the western terminus of I-70 at I-15. The distances are rounded off to the nearest 100mi:

Either end of US 50 has the opposing terminus mentioned as being 3073 mi away.


Then there are these signs on both termini of I-40
in Barstow CA:

Wilmington NC

Those are neat.  I wish we had such a sign in Seattle distance to Boston along I-90.  But right at the beginning of I-90 there's a lot of merging in a somewhat tight space.  Maybe around the middle of the Lake Washington bridge.

[kphoger]

There's one approaching Wichita from the south on the Turnpike, I believe listing the distance to Topeka on a supplemental sign in a random location.  Can't remember the specifics.

I also seem to recall one on for Saint Louis on either I-24 or I-57 northbound south of the split which says "via I-64" or something like that.  Man, I suck at remembering details.

You're right on both affairs. Near the end of I-24 westbound, a supplemental overhead sign is placed next to the I-57 advisory 1 mile before the split. In this case, drivers are advised to use I-57 north, seen here.

On I-57 northbound, after the merge from I-24, the advice changes, advising drivers to use I-64 (51 miles from that point) to reach St. Louis, seen here.

Credit for both photos go to the Interstate Guide, found at www.interstate-guide.com.

The second photo is the one I had in mind–north of the split, not south of it.  Thank you so much for hunting that down.

[Alps]

New Jersey used to have a few.  One on I-78 Westbound just west of I-287 in Bedminster that read "PHILLIPSBURG 29 MILES xx Kilometers.  I tried to find it on street view, but it was not there anymore.

The other was Southbound on I-287 just south of CR 525 in Bernards that read:
Bedminster 3
Metuchen    20
This assembly was probably taken down during the widening project of I-287 from 4 to 6 lanes back in the early 90's as it was there when I lived up there prior to 1990.

There were no other signs of its kind around, as NJ does not like to use mileage signs on interstates nor control cities on freeway entrance ramp signs either.

Wasn't there a sign around exit 4 or 5 on the NJ Tpk that gave the distance to New York at 100 miles?  I believe I saw it around 7 or 8 years ago when I was an expedited truck driver.

I'm not down that way for your 100 mile sign, but I do know they have the following SB:

(it's tucked away behind bridge piers, so has survived)

[hbelkins]

[roadman65]

Speaking of random signs.  I-287 NB in Oakland, NJ may have one just north of NJ 208 that is actually a well advanced exit guide that is for the next exit (NJ 17 South- Mahwah) that could be considered one as it is more than 2 miles away to it.

Also the Garden State Parkway (a road that does not at all use control cities except SB at Exit 129, has (or had) a sign that stated the Atlantic City Expressway was 89 Miles just before the Raritan Toll Plaza and was on both the left and right side of the Parkway with twin signs so that no one may miss it!  I do not know if the Driscoll Bridge widening project moved them out or not, but for the GSP it is very random.