Oddly Designated Control Cities

[roadman65]

I always liked how the NYC area used to use ( and still does in some places) bridges and tunnels as the control city.  Many folks view bridges like the GWB or Verazzano Bridge as points as it is evident where they lead to.

Some users on this forum are kind of upset that NYCDOT is now using Newark, NJ as control point on I-95 SB in The Bronx instead of the former Geo Washington Br. as the old pull through signing used to have.   

In a way, being from New Jersey originally, I always felt insulted that no place in NYC did they ever recognize any city in New Jersey on signs for roads leading into the Garden State.  In fact, the state as a whole, was treated like a city and still is at Exit 15 on the NY Thruway near Suffern and at two other Thruway exits in Rockland County.

Even in PA and DE you will find New Jersey or PA cities (like Easton) right before the Delaware River as control points on highways leading into NJ and on I-78 after Easton is used as last PA control city it jumps over NJ and right to using New York City.  Only along I-95 is the City of Trenton used from Philadelphia all the way to the Delaware River is a NJ community used (as far as I have seen) outside of the Garden State.

Nonetheless, as a grownup now, Bridges or Tunnels, if they are popular, should be used if applicable.  I realize, of course, that NJ is very small as its longest interstate is less than 100 miles long and has wall to wall cities, and no large stand alone in the middle of a rural area (like Providence for smaller Rhode Island) or at least semi-rural.  It is in the shadow of NY and Philadelphia and even has no VHF stations on TV because of it. 

[roadman65]

And some honorable mentions-
Smithfield, Wilson, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Mount Airy, Gastonia, Burlington (although it's not so small anymore).

"Rocky Mount NC" is used by VDOT on southbound I-95 prior to the I-95/I-295 interchange in Henrico County, north  of Richmond (here on GSV).

And Richmond is used for US 301 near Rocky Mount with the NC towns it passes en route.  \
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rocky+Mt,+NC&hl=en&ll=36.038255,-77.762969&spn=0.008901,0.021136&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=9.892242,21.643066&oq=rocky+m&t=h&hnear=Rocky+Mt,+Edgecombe,+North+Carolina&z=16&layer=c&cbll=36.038515,-77.762822&panoid=7xmN7ty-9C-jU0nRZ7HP4w&cbp=12,45,,0,-22.5

I do want to ask, what was greened out of the cities that lies beneath Richmond on US 301?

[NE2]

Probably Battleboro, which was absorbed into Rocky Mount in 1996.

[motorway]

No, they don't drop the article. The example that you give is botched.

It may be that the authorities posted the sign incorrectly, but there are a few different examples in the area (also signage for "Abingtons," "Swaffhams," "Mordens," and a few others I've seen), so the error appears to be systematic, at least in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk (the area with which I'm most familiar).  Given the prevalence of the practice in that neck of the woods I figured the two usages were signed interchangeably.

[roadman65]

I do not know if anyone brought up the fact that Ashland, KY is used on I-64 east of Lexington.  Ashland is not even located near the interstate at all, and certainly not even served by a x64 spur or loop either.  Yet it gets mentioned and it is not even one of the state's largest cities.  Huntington, WV is better suited to be control city or even Charleston, WV for that matter.

[zorb58]

Definitely up there with I-80 in Youngstown, Ohio having New York City as a control city, two states away.

I am new to the Youngstown area and I find this so annoying that I just HAD to find this thread and post about it if it were not already in here.  Just use Sharon, PA as the control city... Not that hard!  Also, 680 South lists Pittsburgh...  I guess it's legitimate because there isn't really anything en route until the Turnpike, but still annoying.

[djsinco]

When I moved to Colorado (mid-1980's)  I-270W and I-25N used Cheyenne as the control city, even as far south as Commerce City/Denver. A few years later that was changed to Ft. Collins...

[ftballfan]

SB I-285 north of Atlanta has Tampa as a control city, while SB I-75 has Macon as a control city. Tampa is a good five hours south of Macon (both are on I-75)

[agentsteel53]

SB I-285 north of Atlanta has Tampa as a control city, while SB I-75 has Macon as a control city. Tampa is a good five hours south of Macon (both are on I-75)

I suppose there is the assumption that I-285 is long-haul through traffic, and therefore less likely to stop in Macon than in Tampa.

[shadyjay]

It's better than I-95 in Kittery, ME, where the control cities near Exit 2 southbound simply say "New Hampshire | Massachusetts."

as the control city for I-495 in Massachusetts is "N.H.-Maine", I am now led to wonder if there is any place in New Hampshire where one direction is signed "Maine" and the other "Massachusetts".

When I heard the MUTCD does not allow states to be used as control points, I did not think this relatively new installation (coming off the Portsmouth circle towards I-95, Exit 5, NH) would feature the points it does...



... especially since the destinations on the I-95 South sign used to read simply HAMPTON/BOSTON.

(not my photo)

[hbelkins]

Why does it say "To All Maine Points" and not just "Maine?
"

[djsinco]

The sign maker gets paid by the letter?

[kphoger]

Because "All Maine Points" is not a state name? 

[sdmichael]

San Fernando for I-210 Westbound

I'm not sure if "Oregon Coast" along US 101 would qualify, or "Other Desert Cities" on I-10 East.

San Fernando is a holdover from SR-118 days, which did go through San Fernando.

[djsinco]

As well as the infamous and vague NJ signs, "Shore Points."

[thenetwork]

I find it odd that nearly ALL signs for I-90 East in Ohio use Erie PA or Erie Pa. as the control city, while I-90 West in New York state will simply use Erie as the control city.

[amroad17]

New York did not put the state along with the out-of-state cities (Erie, Scranton, Danbury).  Only recently have they started to do this.

[deathtopumpkins]

Why does it say "To All Maine Points" and not just "Maine?
"

NHDOT probably wants to try and get everyone headed to Maine onto 95, even though Bypass US 1 also goes straight to Kittery, ME, and you could take NH 16 from the turnpike farther north to cross into Maine. So by wording the sign "To All Maine Points" rather than just "Maine", they imply that this road doesn't just go to Maine, it's THE road that goes to Maine.

[djsinco]

Not meant to be an insult to those from the Midwest, but perhaps NYSDOT assumes that locals understand which state goes with these control cities.

[hobsini2]

Not meant to be an insult to those from the Midwest, but perhaps NYSDOT assumes that locals understand which state goes with these control cities.

As a Midwesterner, I take offense to that! lol j/k Anyway, most places I have been around the Midwest, do not use the state name with the city name unless it is an out of state smaller city or a common name.  For example, in Illinois on I-80, it is signed as either Gary, Indiana or just Indiana. You never see it as just Gary.  But Indianapolis is always without the state name since it is a big city.

As to the common names, take Jackson for example. If you are in Memphis, you have both Jackson, MS and Jackson, TN close enough to Memphis that a state name is needed so that the dumb people don't head to the wrong Jackson.

[agentsteel53]

speaking of midwest - I know Kansas has some pretty obscure control cities sometimes, at least for its two-laners.  I remember getting to a junction with an east-west US highway that happened to be running north-south at that location due to it following section lines.  since the route was not signed with cardinal directions, and I was not familiar with either town listed, I had to pull out the map to figure out which way to turn!

(I forget the route number and the towns offhand, but let's just say they certainly weren't Kansas City and Denver!)

[jas]

How about  the use of "THE" when 2 or more cities share something in common.

The Amboys- Perth and South Amboys in New Jersey
The Palm Beaches- Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Royal Palm Beach
The Oranges- Orange, East Orange, West Orange, South Orange in NJ again.

Odd, but effective, I must say.

Then like others have been saying about NY over Philadelphia in MD for I-95 NB.

I think you can add "the Caldwells", in NJ to that list.

[motorway]

How about  the use of "THE" when 2 or more cities share something in common.

The Amboys- Perth and South Amboys in New Jersey
The Palm Beaches- Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Royal Palm Beach
The Oranges- Orange, East Orange, West Orange, South Orange in NJ again.

Odd, but effective, I must say.

Then like others have been saying about NY over Philadelphia in MD for I-95 NB.

I think you can add "the Caldwells", in NJ to that list.

Also The Ridgefields, and yet not The Brunswicks...

[The High Plains Traveler]

speaking of midwest - I know Kansas has some pretty obscure control cities sometimes, at least for its two-laners.  I remember getting to a junction with an east-west US highway that happened to be running north-south at that location due to it following section lines.  since the route was not signed with cardinal directions, and I was not familiar with either town listed, I had to pull out the map to figure out which way to turn!

(I forget the route number and the towns offhand, but let's just say they certainly weren't Kansas City and Denver!)

Kansas seems to use the next county seat on directional signage on surface highways, regardless of what lies beyond it. Coming west from Dodge City, you would expect to see Garden City (pop. 26,000), which is only 50 miles, but instead they use Cimarron (pop. 2,200).

[J N Winkler]

Kansas seems to use the next county seat on directional signage on surface highways, regardless of what lies beyond it. Coming west from Dodge City, you would expect to see Garden City (pop. 26,000), which is only 50 miles, but instead they use Cimarron (pop. 2,200).

Yup, county seats figure in the control point assignment hierarchy.  Per KDOT's Highway Sign Manual (2007), KDOT off-Interstate standards call for a choice of control point which meets one of the following criteria, listed in descending order of priority:

*  County seat within 100 miles

*  Incorporated city with population greater than 1000 and within 100 miles

*  Major highway route

*  Incorporated city with sub-1000 population

*  Unincorporated community

Since Kansas is essentially a checkerboard of counties with a typical width and height around 30 miles, this policy is part of the reason nearby county seats "hide" only slightly more distant but much more populous cities.  On US 54, for example, distance signing for Wichita does not appear until Greensburg (about 100 miles out).  And since the state highway system is designed to provide north-south and east-west connections at almost all county seats, it is fairly rare for anything other than a county seat to be offered as a destination on signs which ask drivers to make a choice of direction, though routes are fairly frequently signed on distance signs (in text form only, with US routes almost always receiving an unnecessary hyphen).