Highway Oddities

[national highway 1]

Question: Why did US 99 head east from LA along US 60/70 to Indio then down to Calexico via today's CA 111 & CA 86? What was the objective of that routing? Maybe 101 could have ended roughly where it ends today (before the East LA interchange was built) and 99 could have gone down to San Diego.

[agentsteel53]

Question: Why did US 99 head east from LA along US 60/70 to Indio then down to Calexico via today's CA 111 & CA 86? What was the objective of that routing? Maybe 101 could have ended roughly where it ends today (before the East LA interchange was built) and 99 could have gone down to San Diego.

the original intent of the US highway system was much more in favor of long multiplexes, with a lot of corridors being served even if they were not 100% geographically east-west or north-south.  99 was the central valley route, and the way CA is shaped implies that its center jogs east, so naturally the road had to follow it.

[national highway 1]

US 42, OH- It's mainly a north-south route, paralleling I-71.
US 33, Elkhart IN-Richmond VA- An east-west route, numbered as a north-south.
Maybe these routes should be swapped...

[ctsignguy]

US 42 was an original US route from 1926.  US 33 came about 15 years later.  I think the intent of the creators of the US Highway system was that the 1, 5, and 0 routes would be the framework...everything else can be added in to flesh out the system.  If you went by a  straight grid system, a LOT of routes are kind of out of place.  Original US 6 ended somewhere near Erie PA, US 62 was a regional road as was US 68, and US 35 wasnt on the grid yet

As to the routes themselves, US 33 was originally labeled as 'N-WEST and S-EAST, and US 42 was 'N-EAST, S-WEST until AASHTO told Ohio to knock off the diagonal tabs....

There were quite a few other US highways whose placement or routing makes no real grid sense....for instance, US 44 (a 1930s creation), US 29, US 17...there are quite a few others...

Over the years routes get extended, (That little regional US 62 wound up one of the longest highways in the country, and the only E-W US route to start at Mexico and end in Canada....US 6 took over two other regional US routes on its way to Los Angeles...and for some reason, US 68 took a sharp turn north into Ohio

[national highway 1]

Why did US 68 curve north? Was US 33 intended to be E-W?

[ctsignguy]

I do not know why US 68 took that sharp jog to the north.....all i really know was that was  an 'after the fact' addition to the route....

and US 33 is signed as N-S in West Virginia and Indiana....only Ohio signs it E-W

[elsmere241]

I do not know why US 68 took that sharp jog to the north.....all i really know was that was  an 'after the fact' addition to the route....

and US 33 is signed as N-S in West Virginia and Indiana....only Ohio signs it E-W

So does Virginia.

[dave19]

US 33 is signed as E-W in West Virginia.

[KillerTux]

Doing some research for my site and I found an old MD version of those map style signs.

[agentsteel53]

now that is a guide sign!

[national highway 1]

Two things that I don't understand:
1- Why isn't CA 39 signed over CR N8
2- Why Caltrans won't take over the Richmond Pkwy and sign it as CA 93

[TheStranger]

Two things that I don't understand:
1- Why isn't CA 39 signed over CR N8
2- Why Caltrans won't take over the Richmond Pkwy and sign it as CA 93

Due to the need of every single route definition in California to be created legislatively, most routes basically can only be signed where maintained by CalTrans (and legislatively defined).  (County Route N8 was never part of Route 39, though it connects the gap between Azusa and Fullerton - IIRC, an entirely different surface road was part of Route 39, though the presence of that gap in maps for decades makes me wonder how long that middle segment was ever signed.)

Considering how little money the state of California has right now, I'm not surprised Richmond Parkway remains locally maintained - after all, it was built up to expressway standards by the city of Richmond and is well-signed for what it is at present.

[national highway 1]

Why does US 84 curve NW to enter CO?

[agentsteel53]

Due to the need of every single route definition in California to be created legislatively, most routes basically can only be signed where maintained by CalTrans (and legislatively defined).

there are definitely some locally maintained California state routes.  I was just on 246, and heading west out of Lompoc, there is first an END 246, and then a paddle with "TOWN/CTY" on it, to show that the road changes from state route 246 (town maintained) to a county road.

why can't 39 get that sort of designation?  The whole point of route numbers is to help drivers navigate; there is absolutely no advantage to having two segments of 39.

[TheStranger]

Due to the need of every single route definition in California to be created legislatively, most routes basically can only be signed where maintained by CalTrans (and legislatively defined).

there are definitely some locally maintained California state routes.  I was just on 246, and heading west out of Lompoc, there is first an END 246, and then a paddle with "TOWN/CTY" on it, to show that the road changes from state route 246 (town maintained) to a county road.

why can't 39 get that sort of designation?  The whole point of route numbers is to help drivers navigate; there is absolutely no advantage to having two segments of 39.

I think the situation you specified has ONLY appeared in recent changes, as evidenced by the increasing complexity of legislative definitions for Route 1 in Southern California.

Which then makes me agree with you 1000% about Route 39, and the many other examples of this (Route 160 in Sacramento comes to mind as a local example).

[agentsteel53]

I think the situation you specified has ONLY appeared in recent changes, as evidenced by the increasing complexity of legislative definitions for Route 1 in Southern California.

our tax dollars at work 

quick and dirty method of ensuring maximum user-friendliness at minimum cost:

1) define the route
2) assign a number to it
3) make sure someone is maintaining the road to an agreed standard of quality
4) sign the route
5) spend remaining tax dollars on vacation to Palm Springs (hey, this is government, can't expect them to be too efficient)

[golden eagle]

Question: Why was US 11 planned in 1926 as a diagonal route?

I don't know the answer to that but US 11 is an oddball for an x1 or x0.  The only really major city it goes near is New Orleans at its southern end and it doesn't actually reach it anymore.

I beg to differ. US 11 actually does go into New Orleans. Keep in mind that New Orleans and Orleans Parish are the same. It's just that that part of Orleans Parish is more rural than the rest.

Another oddity to add: Georgia 124 is signed as north-south from Snellville to Lithonia. I'm not sure how it's signed the rest of the way, but north-south highways are given odd numbers, while east-west routes get even numbers.

[agentsteel53]

Another oddity to add: Georgia 124 is signed as north-south from Snellville to Lithonia. I'm not sure how it's signed the rest of the way, but north-south highways are given odd numbers, while east-west routes get even numbers.

GA-27 is an east-west route, and it intersects US-27 - a double oddity.

[Michael]

^^^ Kind of like I-90/NY 90 in Montezuma.

[jdb1234]

Or like I-10 and SR 10 (unsigned) in Florida.

[Duke87]

NJDOT.... this is not how you sign multiplexes.





And this is not how you sign a truck route:

[shoptb1]

NJDOT.... this is not how you sign multiplexes.

I believe that NJ has used the '1-9' for the multiplexed US Routes for a long time.  I hadn't seen the '1&9' before though.  Along those lines, MoDOT, this isn't how you sign multiplexed routes (courtesy AARoads Gallery):

[agentsteel53]

that's an old Missouri standard.  Here's a late 20s sign.

[Bickendan]

Well, damn. That means that when I was in KC, I clinched portions of US 40 through 169 in one fell swoop. Time to update my .list...

[mefailenglish]

Maryland does something similar with the MD 2/MD 4 multiplex:





But some of these are being replaced with separate MD 2 and MD 4 shields.