Beltways and directions

[SkyPesos]

I don't see why beltways shouldn't have control cities. Surely we want thru traffic to use the beltway instead of the urban/downtown route, right?

I think control routes are a better idea. For example, I-275 in Cincinnati is not a good bypass for either I-71 or I-75, so most drivers use the downtown route anyways. On the I-71 interchange with I-275, the controls are To I-75 for I-275 WB and To OH 32  for I-275 EB, with the routes in shields. I think this works better than control cities, and better than nothing at all. Are there any other beltways besides I-275 that does this?

[jeffandnicole]

Inner/Outer is too confusing to the average sheeple I mean motorist out there.

If I tell you to take the inner beltway, which way are you going?

Answer:  It depends where you're starting from.  It could be North, South, East or West.

[kphoger]

Inner/Outer is too confusing to the average sheeple I mean motorist out there.

If I tell you to take the inner beltway, which way are you going?

Answer:  It depends where you're starting from.  It could be North, South, East or West.

Not just that.  It isn't really intuitive that "inner" means "clockwise" and "outer" means "counter-clockwise".  Heck, in typing this post, I had to draw a circle in the air to make sure I was getting it right.  But people darned will know what north, south, east, and west mean much more intuitively.

[HighwayStar]

Inner/Outer is too confusing to the average sheeple I mean motorist out there.

If I tell you to take the inner beltway, which way are you going?

Answer:  It depends where you're starting from.  It could be North, South, East or West.

Not just that.  It isn't really intuitive that "inner" means "clockwise" and "outer" means "counter-clockwise".  Heck, in typing this post, I had to draw a circle in the air to make sure I was getting it right.  But people darned will know what north, south, east, and west mean much more intuitively.

On top of the extreme confusion that results when more than one beltway exists.

[ran4sh]

I don't see why beltways shouldn't have control cities. Surely we want thru traffic to use the beltway instead of the urban/downtown route, right?

On the northern half of the Baltimore Beltway, one of the inner loop's control cities is New York City and one of the outer loop's control cities is Washington, so it can work.

That's the practice that I am in favor of. It's also done in Atlanta and most Midwestern beltways.

[tq-07fan]

I don't see why beltways shouldn't have control cities. Surely we want thru traffic to use the beltway instead of the urban/downtown route, right?

I think control routes are a better idea. For example, I-275 in Cincinnati is not a good bypass for either I-71 or I-75, so most drivers use the downtown route anyways. On the I-71 interchange with I-275, the controls are To I-75 for I-275 WB and To OH 32  for I-275 EB, with the routes in shields. I think this works better than control cities, and better than nothing at all. Are there any other beltways besides I-275 that does this?

It's interesting that on I-75 in both directions in Ohio the BGS for I-275 show both To I-74 / Indianapolis and To I-71 / Columbus, plus the directions. I think this is the most fail safe way to sign a loop road.

[ran4sh]

I don't see why beltways shouldn't have control cities. Surely we want thru traffic to use the beltway instead of the urban/downtown route, right?

I think control routes are a better idea. For example, I-275 in Cincinnati is not a good bypass for either I-71 or I-75, so most drivers use the downtown route anyways. On the I-71 interchange with I-275, the controls are To I-75 for I-275 WB and To OH 32  for I-275 EB, with the routes in shields. I think this works better than control cities, and better than nothing at all. Are there any other beltways besides I-275 that does this?

It's interesting that on I-75 in both directions in Ohio the BGS for I-275 show both To I-74 / Indianapolis and To I-71 / Columbus, plus the directions. I think this is the most fail safe way to sign a loop road.

It would make more sense to just post Columbus and Indianapolis without the routes, because people would still understand that, at the point they see the sign, the sign is directing them onto the best routes to reach those places.

[thspfc]

The only city where I could see "Inner" and "Outer" working is Houston, because of its very neat network of beltways. But you would need to add other titles, since there are four beltways.

Actually we only have three. The fourth will probably be proposed as soon as they finish the grand parkway though.
None of them use inner or outer. I think that may confuse people here since we designate areas of the city as "inner loop"  "outside loop."   And we have three of them so people would be confused as to exactly what that meant.
I actually find the directions to be beneficial but then again I have a weird affinity and strangely keen sense of direction. And I see everything in directions rather than left or right.
The thing I wish they would do on the signs is use some sort of control point or city.
Like for IH 610 (starting at IH 10 west and going clockwise
Austin/Houston Heights–> Beaumont–-> Port of Houston–->TX Medical Center/Stadium–-> Bellaire–-> Galleria/Uptown

For beltway 8 (same direction)
Spring Branch/Jersey Village–-> Race Track/Tomball–-> Bush Intercontinental Airport––>Lake Houston–>Pasadena/ La Porte–->Pearland–> Missouri City/Stafford–-> Westchase–-> Memorial City

For SH 99 Tolk
Katy–-> Cypress–->Tomball–>Spring–-> Porter/Kingwood–-> Crosby–-> Baytown–-La Porte–->Alvin–-> Sugar Land

I was counting the downtown enclosure of I-10, I-45, and I-69 as a beltway.

[achilles765]

The only city where I could see "Inner" and "Outer" working is Houston, because of its very neat network of beltways. But you would need to add other titles, since there are four beltways.

Actually we only have three. The fourth will probably be proposed as soon as they finish the grand parkway though.
None of them use inner or outer. I think that may confuse people here since we designate areas of the city as "inner loop"  "outside loop."   And we have three of them so people would be confused as to exactly what that meant.
I actually find the directions to be beneficial but then again I have a weird affinity and strangely keen sense of direction. And I see everything in directions rather than left or right.
The thing I wish they would do on the signs is use some sort of control point or city.
Like for IH 610 (starting at IH 10 west and going clockwise
Austin/Houston Heights–> Beaumont–-> Port of Houston–->TX Medical Center/Stadium–-> Bellaire–-> Galleria/Uptown

For beltway 8 (same direction)
Spring Branch/Jersey Village–-> Race Track/Tomball–-> Bush Intercontinental Airport––>Lake Houston–>Pasadena/ La Porte–->Pearland–> Missouri City/Stafford–-> Westchase–-> Memorial City

For SH 99 Tolk
Katy–-> Cypress–->Tomball–>Spring–-> Porter/Kingwood–-> Crosby–-> Baytown–-La Porte–->Alvin–-> Sugar Land

I was counting the downtown enclosure of I-10, I-45, and I-69 as a beltway.

Ahh. I don't think it really counts as one though. Certainly none of us here see it they way. It's just the downtown loop. Honestly most Houstonians don't even think or talk about it as a single thing. We think if it as just three different freeways that just so happen to encircle downtown, not as any kind of loop or beltway. Interstate 10 barely skirts the north side of downtown anyway and doesn't even really have any downtown exits aside from San jacinto street/Main Street when heading westbound and Smith street heading eastbound. 

[TheGrassGuy]

And then there are places like Germany and China which don't sign directions at all.

[SkyPesos]

And then there are places like Germany and China which don't sign directions at all.

China's (specifically Fujian/Fuzhou's) beltway onramp signs are so bad they they don't even use the highway name on certain signs, let alone direction. Like this example for an on-ramp to the 2nd ring road in Fuzhou. That's for the flyover that was added to the existing SPUI (almost all signalized interchanges from a  freeway to an arterial in Chinese urban areas are SPUI variants, with busier ones getting upgraded with flyovers lately), but once you get to the entrance ramps that form part of the SPUI, there's this signage. Gives you the road name (North 2nd Ring Rd in this case) and other roads or landmarks as controls, but still no direction, except the one you're facing towards (which is south, in this case).

For freeway to freeway interchanges, here's an example to Fuzhou's 3rd ring road. Like the first example, neither the road name or direction are mentioned; only other roads and/or landmarks that I may or may not know the direction of relative to the sign.

[roadman65]

NJ does it well with using places along the way rather than I-78, I-80, and I-87.  Morristown, Mahwah, and Perth Amboy work fine. Of course Route 287 is more of a regional corridor as office parks and business headquarters are along it from Parsippany to Edison.  Thus a commuter route in itself serving more of a suburban connector than a beltway, its more appropriate. However other beltways have turned into it as well.

Look at Houston now on Beltway number 3.