Control cities that aren’t reciprocated

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't understand Iowa's approach to I-35.

From Des Moines, it's signed for Minneapolis.  From Ames, it's also signed for Minneapolis.  Yet from US-20 (Williams), it's signed for Mason City. 

I would say it should be Mason City all along. Minneapolis is about 250 miles from Des Moines.

Nobody has heard of Mason City and 250 isn't that long. That's less than half of the distance between San Antonio and El Paso.

People in Iowa and the rest of that area have. 250 miles is long enough, and I don't even agree with having Chicago as the control city on WB I-94 starting in Detroit, it should be Kalamazoo (Ann Arbor is too close to Detroit to be an effective control city) although Jackson would work too, all three of those cities are at US highway interchanges too. Kalamazoo is best though because it's the halfway point between Detroit and Chicago, after Kalamazoo it should be Chicago.

Control cities aren't for local drivers, they are for out of towners/people unfamiliar with the area/long distance drivers.

Yeah well Mason City is a pretty well-known city it's regional hub. It's also at the northern end of I-35's route through the state and also at the interchange of US-18 which is a freeway in that area going to Waterloo so it's fine as a control city. I've been through that part of Iowa many times.

Yes, it's an important city for the area, but still nothing compared to, for example, the unsigned cities between Chicago and Detroit on I-94 such as Kalamazoo or Ann Arbor.

[Flint1979]

Just for the record, Minnesota is the one that changes to Albert Lea for the first two exits in the state, north of Des Moines it's all Minneapolis and Des Moines all along there.

[Roadgeekteen]

Just for the record, Minnesota is the one that changes to Albert Lea for the first two exits in the state, north of Des Moines it's all Minneapolis and Des Moines all along there.

Yeah Iowa is generally better than Minnesota with control cities. It' funny because in the Des Moines area, they mostly sign Minneapolis on I-35 north, but randomly at US 20 they switch to Mason City briefly.

[Brandon]

Let's go international with it.

I-29 north is signed Winnipeg out of Grand Forks: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zh5vggyi4D9Fk8eE7
MB-75 south is signed for the small border hamlet of Emerson: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WfJe9BbHxBdnQHoDA

[tman]

Just for the record, Minnesota is the one that changes to Albert Lea for the first two exits in the state, north of Des Moines it's all Minneapolis and Des Moines all along there.

Yeah Iowa is generally better than Minnesota with control cities. It' funny because in the Des Moines area, they mostly sign Minneapolis on I-35 north, but randomly at US 20 they switch to Mason City briefly.

I'm not sure why they chose Mason City there, on US 20 (they're not generally fans of using secondary controls). I agree that they're better at controls than Minnesota is, given Minnesota's use of Albert Lea/Moorhead (instead of Des Moines/Fargo), plus the infrequently posted controls in the Twin Cities. They seem very hesitant to post any out of state controls at all (honestly, their use of Sioux Falls kind of surprises me, even though there's very little immediately east of it).

Minnesota also uses Moorhead (vs. Fargo), whereas North Dakota posts Minneapolis in Fargo. See this example on MN 15 approaching I-94:
Google StreetView

And this one on a mileage sign west of MN 4:
Mileage sign Google Streetview

They also use Alexandria (population 15k) instead of Fargo at some interchanges:
Google Streeview

Google Streetview

MN 4 Google Streetview

And here's a bonus of Fairmont (population 10k) instead of Sioux Falls for I-90, in Blue Earth on US 169:Google Streetview

[kphoger]

I don't understand Iowa's approach to I-35.

From Des Moines, it's signed for Minneapolis.  From Ames, it's also signed for Minneapolis.  Yet from US-20 (Williams), it's signed for Mason City. 

Just for the record, Minnesota is the one that changes to Albert Lea for the first two exits in the state, north of Des Moines it's all Minneapolis and Des Moines all along there.

Nope.  Not at US-20.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/vCCSiGkd7YXN3ZYw8

Control cities aren't for local drivers, they are for out of towners/people unfamiliar with the area/long distance drivers.

I disagree with that.  Control cities are for both local and long-distance drivers.

[Roadgeekteen]

I disagree with that.  Control cities are for both local and long-distance drivers.

That's where dual control cities come into play. I think there are some cases where there should be two control cities to serve both purposes.