What state posts the worst control cities? The best?

[Roadgeekteen]

Oregon doesn't really like to use any control cities outside her borders until it's absolutely necessary.

I-5 SB, they won't even mention Yreka, Redding, or Sacramento until you're in the last city in Oregon, Ashland.

I-84, at the junction with I-82.  There's no mention of using I-82 for any cities in Washington.  Just Hermiston and Umatilla.  At the same junction, the control cities for I-84 are Pendleton and Ontario.  No mention of Boise.

I think Sacramento or even Redding would be a good control city once you get to the Medford area.

And on I-82, maybe mention the Tri-Cities in Washington? Or Yakima?

Looks like they now mention Kennewick at the I-84/I-82 interchange . . .

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7940138,-119.3845995,3a,75y,275.69h,102.67t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sh8ifObRFIpGzYOmL95pCZQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Oh wow, that's an update.  Last time I drove that, I remember it being Hermiston and Umatilla, even though Kennewick is much larger than both.

I would get rid of Hermiston and replace it with Seattle. I believe that the Hermiston/ Umatilla is going eastbound on I-84.

There is an aux sign before the interchange that says "Yakima, Spokane NEXT RIGHT". No mention of Seattle though.

Why is Spokane listed and not Seattle? If this is westbound, Seattle makes way more sense.

[Flint1979]

Since this is regarding the Pacific Northwest. Why is it that if I was on I-82 westbound coming up to I-90 that there are only signs for eastbound I-90 with the control cities of Vantage and Spokane, why is it that there are no signs at all for westbound I-90? Pretty sure the control city is supposed to be Ellensburg there.

[roadman65]

Why doesn't all the interchanges in Minneapolis and St. Paul have control cities?  What's even more odd is I-35E at I-94 where WB I-94 gets Minneapolis but I-94 EB or both directions of I-35E get nothing?

[hobsini2]

Since this is regarding the Pacific Northwest. Why is it that if I was on I-82 westbound coming up to I-90 that there are only signs for eastbound I-90 with the control cities of Vantage and Spokane, why is it that there are no signs at all for westbound I-90? Pretty sure the control city is supposed to be Ellensburg there.

It says Seattle.
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.9583231,-120.5067291,3a,75y,26.27h,95.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-mKmvu5j_EUSGeerYlmpWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

[Flint1979]

Since this is regarding the Pacific Northwest. Why is it that if I was on I-82 westbound coming up to I-90 that there are only signs for eastbound I-90 with the control cities of Vantage and Spokane, why is it that there are no signs at all for westbound I-90? Pretty sure the control city is supposed to be Ellensburg there.

It says Seattle.
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.9583231,-120.5067291,3a,75y,26.27h,95.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-mKmvu5j_EUSGeerYlmpWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

I didn't see that sign. I like how they got either lane lol.

[MattHanson939]

Bolding mine. Why? Belen is currently signed (and bad), but adding another town barely over 10K people that's only 10 miles away from ABQ? Seems unnecessary. If you include that for the general Albuquerque area, why wouldn't you sign Frederick (a town no one has heard of outside of Colorado) near Denver?

I included Los Lunas since it's bigger than Belen, even though Belen was signed at the Big-I before the interchange was rebuilt in 2002.  And I have know idea why it was the control city from Albuquerque in the first place.

[JayhawkCO]

I'd probably just sign Las Cruces myself, but have less of an issue with Socorro than either Las Lunas or Belen.

[MattHanson939]

Santa Fe would qualify as a primary under the state capitol rule.

However, because Albuquerque is much bigger, has a major interstate junction, and is only about 50 minutes to an hour drive from Santa Fe, I would dual-sign Santa Fe / Albuquerque at most interchanges from the Colorado state line.  And I-25 north from Albuquerque ought to be dual-signed as Santa Fe / Denver.  I mentioned Denver because it would make things more consistent if NMDOT decided to sign interstate control cities the way Arizona does it — that is if I-40 west is signed as Flagstaff, I-40 east is Amarillo, and I-25 south is El Paso (or dual-signed Las Cruces / El Paso).

[MattHanson939]

Santa Fe would qualify as a primary under the state capitol rule.

Also, I've seen that on I-55 in Illinois, Chicago is the primary control city going from East St. Louis (and from where it spits from I-70); but Springfield and Bloomington are signed at smaller interchanges.  And on I-55 south from Chicago, St. Louis is the primary control city.  If a state capital isn't the largest city in a given state and a much larger city is on the same route, then they can qualify as secondary controls in those situations.

[MattHanson939]

I'd probably just sign Las Cruces myself, but have less of an issue with Socorro than either Las Lunas or Belen.

Socorro I would only have as a local control point (i.e. it's only mentioned on distance signs).  Las Cruces can be a secondary control, with El Paso as the primary control on I-25 south from Albuquerque.

[JayhawkCO]

I'd probably just sign Las Cruces myself, but have less of an issue with Socorro than either Las Lunas or Belen.

Socorro I would only have as a local control point (i.e. it's only mentioned on distance signs).  Las Cruces can be a secondary control, with El Paso as the primary control on I-25 south from Albuquerque.

At least Socorro is a junction point. Not that that's my main impulse when choosing a control city (hence why in another thread I argue against Albert Lea).

[MattHanson939]

At least Socorro is a junction point. Not that that's my main impulse when choosing a control city (hence why in another thread I argue against Albert Lea).

In Socorro, you do have a junction with US 60 going west out of it to Magdalena and then into Arizona.  But most interstate traffic going south from Albuquerque is headed to Las Cruces or El Paso. 

Albert Lea is where the I-35 / I-90 junction is at, but the primary control city on 35N from Des Moines is Minneapolis since it's much bigger and more well-known (especially to out-of-state drivers).

[JayhawkCO]

At least Socorro is a junction point. Not that that's my main impulse when choosing a control city (hence why in another thread I argue against Albert Lea).

In Socorro, you do have a junction with US 60 going west out of it to Magdalena and then into Arizona.  But most interstate traffic going south from Albuquerque is headed to Las Cruces or El Paso. 

Albert Lea is where the I-35 / I-90 junction is at, but the primary control city on 35N from Des Moines is Minneapolis since it's much bigger and more well-known (especially to out-of-state drivers).

And right nearby you have US380 heading east to Ruidoso and Roswell. (I know it's in San Antonio, not Socorro, but same general region.)

[rlb2024]

At the 10-12-59 interchange in Slidell, LA the control city for eastbound I-10 is Bay St. Louis.  My understanding is that it's a throwback to before I-10 was complete across south Mississippi, but that needs to be updated to either Gulfport or Biloxi.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.3076924,-89.7466938,3a,75y,110.81h,83.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJVcIZJVzclOkvwMFR1xahw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[roadman65]

I'm surprised this thread is still active as it's passion is in the Limon April Fools thread lately.

[MattHanson939]

At least Socorro is a junction point. Not that that's my main impulse when choosing a control city (hence why in another thread I argue against Albert Lea).

In Socorro, you do have a junction with US 60 going west out of it to Magdalena and then into Arizona.  But most interstate traffic going south from Albuquerque is headed to Las Cruces or El Paso. 

Albert Lea is where the I-35 / I-90 junction is at, but the primary control city on 35N from Des Moines is Minneapolis since it's much bigger and more well-known (especially to out-of-state drivers).

And right nearby you have US380 heading east to Ruidoso and Roswell. (I know it's in San Antonio, not Socorro, but same general region.)

You also take US 380 if you're headed to Alamogordo from Albuquerque, but then you turn south onto US 54 in Carrizozo.

That being said, I think from I-25, the dual control cities on US 380 ought be Carrizozo / Roswell instead of San Antonio / Carrizozo.  And within Carrizozo, the EB control on 380 should be Roswell, 54 south should be Alamogordo, and 54 north should be Santa Rosa.  Vaughn is the junction point of three US highways (54, 60, 285); but it is way way too small to be a primary control point.  This is why I think Santa Rosa is the most logical choice for US 54 north because it's much bigger than Vaughn; and there's also the junction with I-40, with which 54 runs concurrently until Tucumcari where it splits from the interstate.  On these non-freeway US routes, I'd use the smaller towns where there are junctions with other US routes as secondary control points.

Also, I'd modify the distance sign on SB I-25 south of Socorro to read Jct. US 380, Las Cruces, El Paso.

Additionally, I would have control cities changed on certain stretches of US 285.  From Roswell, I'd change the northbound control city from Vaughn to Santa Fe.  From where 285 splits from I-25 going south, I'd dual sign Clines Corners / Roswell; then from the junction with I-40, I would change the southbound control city on US 285 to Roswell.  Besides, when 84 and 285 run concurrently with one another from Santa Fe to about a few miles north of Española, the route doesn't sign Pojoaque as a primary control city in either direction (despite there being an important junction w/ NM 502 going west to Los Alamos).

[Gnutella]

For what it's worth, PennDOT is now using State College as a control city in Harrisburg.

Speaking of State College as a control city, here's how I'd redo the control cities on I-80...


Eastbound

Ohio state line to I-99: State College

I-99 concurrency: Williamsport/New York City

I-99 to I-81: Hazleton/New York City

I-81 to New Jersey state line: New York City


Westbound

New Jersey state line to I-380: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

I-380 to PA 115: Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton

PA 115 to I-81: Hazleton

I-81 through I-99 concurrency: State College

I-99 to Ohio state line: Youngstown


Signs that read, | TO I-81 North | Wilkes-Barre | Scranton | FOLLOW I-80 East | should be posted on I-99 northbound half a mile before the I-80 concurrency, I-80 eastbound/I-99 northbound half a mile before the end of the concurrency, and I-180 southbound and PA 147 northbound half a mile before their junction with I-80.

Signs that read, | TO I-180 North | Williamsport | FOLLOW I-80 West | should be posted on I-80 westbound and I-81 southbound half a mile before their junction with each other.

As for Sharon, Clarion, DuBois, Bellefonte and East Stroudsburg, use them as consistent destinations on three-row mileage signs as compensation for not being used as control cities anymore. Also give New York City stand-alone mileage signs on I-80 in western Pennsylvania one mile east of the I-376, I-79, U.S. 322 and U.S. 219 junctions as reassurance until it becomes a control city at the beginning of the I-99 concurrency.

BOOM! Problem solved.

[roadman65]

Also Newburgh needs to replace Milford on I-84 East in PA. The two Port Jervis ramp signs on both US 6 interchanges in Pike County for I-84 East can also be Newburgh. The one in Matomoras shouldn’t be Port Jervis as US 6/209 are heading there already. The ramp to I-84 EB is not a good guide with Port Jervis there as control city. In fact the US 6/209 interchange should allso be signed for Port Jervis in addition to Matamoras on the interstate as the city is located less than 1.5 miles away after passing through Matomoras.

[HighwayStar]

I'm surprised this thread is still active as it's passion is in the Limon April Fools thread lately.

The passion of control cities knows no limits 

[MattHanson939]

Santa Fe would qualify as a primary under the state capitol rule.

I've seen another instance of a state capital being used as a secondary control rather than a primary; and that is Olympia, Washington.  On I-5, Seattle is the primary control city going north from Portland.  And within Seattle, Portland is the primary control city on I-5 south, with Olympia being a secondary.  It's often the case when signing two control cities is that the secondary is on top and the primary is on the bottom (SB 5 in Seattle is dual-signed Olympia / Portland).

[roadman65]

Springfield, IL is that way on interstate to interstate signing for I-55 using either Chicago or St. Louis as control cities where the IL capital is between them being secondary only on local and state highway ramps.

IL uses primary only on interstates to interstates but secondary cities on other road freeway entrances.

[MattHanson939]

Springfield, IL is that way on interstate to interstate signing for I-55 using either Chicago or St. Louis as control cities where the IL capital is between them being secondary only on local and state highway ramps.

IL uses primary only on interstates to interstates but secondary cities on other road freeway entrances.

That's another way to sign secondary control points, not just the dual signing of secondary / primary on the interstate mainline. 

[MattHanson939]

I think a lot of it has to do with the old US highway junctions. I-40 (old 66) east of Barstow intersects its next US highway in Needles. I-10 (old 60/70/99) intersected US 91/395 in San Bernardino, and I-8 (old 80) used to intersect US 99 in El Centro.

The same can be said about the control cities on New Mexico's interstates; much of it has to do with old US highway junctions. 

I-40 (old 66) east of Albuquerque intersects US 54 and US 84 in Santa Rosa.  54 runs concurrently with I-40 from Santa Rosa to Tucumcari, where it splits from the interstate to go towards Kansas via the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.  Grants used to be the control city on I-40 west from Albuquerque until the I-25/I-40 interchange (nicknamed the "Big-I") was rebuilt in 2000-2002, and that was only because old 66 actually went through that town (no junction with any US route there).  Also, at the time the original Big-I was built, there wasn't yet an interstate bypass around Grants, which is why it was the westbound control city on I-40 back in the day.  In Gallup on the other hand, I-40 intersects US 491, which used to be US 666 before its renumbering in 2003.

I-25 (old 85) south of Albuquerque intersects US 60 just outside of Belen.  The two briefly run concurrently until Socorro where 60 continues west to Arizona.  For that reason, Belen was the southbound control city from Albuquerque on I-25 before the Big-I reconstruction; Socorro became the next control city, and then it was Las Cruces.  I-25 then intersects US 70 in Las Cruces; when it was old 85, it also used to intersect US 80/180 there.  And 80/85/180 ran concurrently to El Paso.  North of Albuquerque, I-25 intersects US 84/285 at Santa Fe, 285 splits from the interstate about 15 miles outside the city, and 84 leaves I-25 near Las Vegas.  In the small town of Springer, I-25 intersects US 412, which is why back in the day, it was a control city.  And in Raton, 25 intersects US 87.

I-10 (old 80) intersects US 70 in Las Cruces, and the two run concurrently until 70 splits at Lordsburg.  Between Las Cruces and Lordsburg, there is a junction with 180 in Deming.

Colorado is also the same story.  I-25 intersects US 160 in both Trinidad and Walsenburg (the latter isn't a control city today), then US 50 in Pueblo and US 24 in Colorado Springs.  I-70 has junctions with US 6 and US 50 in Grand Junction, and east of Denver, it intersects US 24 and US 287 in Limon; the last US highway junction before crossing into Kansas it with US 385 in Burlington (I have no idea if that's the control city from Limon).

[Gnutella]

I think a lot of it has to do with the old US highway junctions. I-40 (old 66) east of Barstow intersects its next US highway in Needles. I-10 (old 60/70/99) intersected US 91/395 in San Bernardino, and I-8 (old 80) used to intersect US 99 in El Centro.

The same can be said about the control cities on New Mexico's interstates; much of it has to do with old US highway junctions.

Likewise with everybody's favorite whipping boy, I-80 in Pennsylvania: Mercer (U.S. 19), Clarion (U.S. 322), DuBois (U.S. 219), Bellefonte (U.S. 220), Bloomsburg (U.S. 11) and Stroudsburg (U.S. 209) are all junctions between I-80 and U.S. highways.