Highway Oddities

[D-Dey65]

Church Street and Railroad Street in Patchogue, New York, has a "Wrong Way" sign with the colors reversed.

I now have it!

[Revive 755]

Along those lines, MoDOT, this isn't how you sign multiplexed routes (courtesy AARoads Gallery):

Depending upon the source, I-44 and I-55 don't multiplex, and I-44 definitely never multiplexes with I-70.

There's more signs out there like that, such as one for I-65-70 in Indianapolis and I think there's one for I-57-70 in Effingham.

[Eth]

Not sure if this one's still there, but Atlanta's done this too (courtesy AARoads Shield Gallery):



While I-75 and I-85 are multiplexed through the city, I-20 is totally separate.

[jdb1234]

Depending upon the source, I-44 and I-55 don't multiplex, and I-44 definitely never multiplexes with I-70.

There's more signs out there like that, such as one for I-65-70 in Indianapolis and I think there's one for I-57-70 in Effingham.

I remember when I was in St Louis back in 2004 seeing a sign that had all four interstates on one shield.

[Revive 755]

Found one of the dashed signs in East Peoria, IL, today that has a three digit route (IL 116) after the dash:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.664803,-89.581715&spn=0,0.020599&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.664854,-89.581628&panoid=fYIij-qjTNBEIsd-dhwJ7g&cbp=12,271.89,,0,5.09

There's a few more of those along the IL 8/IL 116 multiplex between IL 29 and US 150.

[MDRoads]

Was there a change of street name there?  They might be using a one-name, one-number system.

This doesn't happen too often, where a road changes numbers without intersecting anything.

[US71]

I just found this one yesterday in Pleasanton, KS

[sandiaman]

The  wierdest  highway  route is the one  running east-west, north south. and   then some diagonally.  It  is a US  highway  that  runs all the way from Niagara  Falls,NY  to El Paso TX.  Anyone know the  answer?   US  62.  I suppose  it  was meant to be a connector between the Canadian  and Meixican borders, but its route  meanders  all over  the map.

[Ian]

I just found this one yesterday in Pleasanton, KS

Is that a way of showing the highway isn't US 69 anymore?

[The Premier]

Either that, or someone put it on the sign.

[US71]

I just found this one yesterday in Pleasanton, KS

Is that a way of showing the highway isn't US 69 anymore?

Yes. It's a county maintained sign. 69 got moved to a new alignment a few months ago.

[Scott5114]

Heh. Reassurance markers for old alignments. Something I bet a lot of the alignment hunters in here wish was more common.

[US71]

Heh. Reassurance markers for old alignments. Something I bet a lot of the alignment hunters in here wish was more common.

That would take the challenge out of it.

[Quillz]

I haven't read every page, but prior to 1980, what is today Interstate 84 (West) was Interstate 80N, so Interstate 82, at the time, made numerical sense. But today, it's a violation. I've often thought that perhaps the segment of freeway from Portland to... wherever I-82/I-84 junction should be I-82, and then move I-84 up northwest towards the I-90 junction in Washington.

The same thing happened with Interstate 76 (West)... It was originally Interstate 80S before it was renamed. So that's why today there are two I-76 and I-84, which will never be connected. There are also two Interstate 88, but I'm not sure the story behind that.

Another thing I find odd is how most states assign route numbers. California, for example... I just can't figure it out. Highway 1 starts along the coast, but Highway 3 isn't the next major highway to the east. It's a little tiny highway way up in extreme Northern California, in a very unpopulated area. Highway 2 and 4 aren't in the far south of the state, for example. So, do numbers just get assigned randomly? And it's like this in other states... The numbers don't seem to follow any kind of pattern or grid or anything.

Interstate 99 is odd, too. Why couldn't it have just been given an x80 number? I'm surprised Bud Schuster didn't just call it Interstate 1.

[KEK Inc.]

I haven't read every page, but prior to 1980, what is today Interstate 84 (West) was Interstate 80N, so Interstate 82, at the time, made numerical sense. But today, it's a violation. I've often thought that perhaps the segment of freeway from Portland to... wherever I-82/I-84 junction should be I-82, and then move I-84 up northwest towards the I-90 junction in Washington.

The same thing happened with Interstate 76 (West)... It was originally Interstate 80S before it was renamed. So that's why today there are two I-76 and I-84, which will never be connected. There are also two Interstate 88, but I'm not sure the story behind that.

Another thing I find odd is how most states assign route numbers. California, for example... I just can't figure it out. Highway 1 starts along the coast, but Highway 3 isn't the next major highway to the east. It's a little tiny highway way up in extreme Northern California, in a very unpopulated area. Highway 2 and 4 aren't in the far south of the state, for example. So, do numbers just get assigned randomly? And it's like this in other states... The numbers don't seem to follow any kind of pattern or grid or anything.

Interstate 99 is odd, too. Why couldn't it have just been given an x80 number? I'm surprised Bud Schuster didn't just call it Interstate 1.

I-82 should be I-7, period...  It's a North-South highway, not an East-West... 

California State Routes are more random, and have been renumbered in 1964.  CA-35 in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties used to be CA-5 before the Interstate system was implemented.  State routes have their own patterns, and many states don't really have much of a pattern.  I believe California's state route system is in numeric order of numbering assignment, where the Cabrillo Hwy was the first to get a number (CA-1). 

Washington's State Route system (also renumbered after the Interstate system was put into place) actually does have a numeric system where numbers increase as you go North and had an even-odd system as well; however, it's not really fluid.  After the Interstate system was put in place they have state routes that are numbered after the parent Interstate.  On I-5, there is WA-500 all the way up to WA-527.  On I-9, there's WA-900 to WA-976 (there aren't 76 highways after I-90, though).  Likewise, on major arteries, there are auxiliary state routes in Washington.  WA-3 is the main route through the Puget Sound Islands, but there are a plethora of WA-30X routes. 

[Quillz]

Yeah, I was just in Washington a few weeks ago and noticed the "spur" routes of sorts. We took WA-504 to Mt. St. Helens.

I figured California (and most other states) probably just assigned route numbers in the order in which they were built and funded, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

[agentsteel53]

Another thing I find odd is how most states assign route numbers. California, for example... I just can't figure it out. Highway 1 starts along the coast, but Highway 3 isn't the next major highway to the east. It's a little tiny highway way up in extreme Northern California, in a very unpopulated area. Highway 2 and 4 aren't in the far south of the state, for example. So, do numbers just get assigned randomly? And it's like this in other states... The numbers don't seem to follow any kind of pattern or grid or anything.

the California system originally made sense and followed a grid, but then it has gotten changed so many times that it no longer resembles any pattern, unless you really carefully know where to look.

the original 1934 pattern actually had two grids: northern and southern California, two approximately square zones.  Route 1, which spanned the entire state, was an exception, but then 2 and 3 were in southern Cal - with 2 going E-W and 3 going N-S.  Similarly, 4 was an E-W in northern CA and 5 was a N-S in northern CA.

the numbers that conflicted with US routes were skipped.  Since the US route system was already in place, no state route numbers needed to be changed.

2 is still around essentially where it always has been.  3 became Alternate 101 in 1936 and then the extended Bear 1 took over it in 1964.  4 is still 4, from Hercules to Ebbetts Pass and beyond.  And 5 is now 35 because they needed the number for the interstates.  When the interstates came, conflicting numbers were reassigned: original bear 15 (Atlantic Blvd, I think, in Los Angeles) became the 7 freeway, while the older 7 (Sepulveda Blvd and then the San Diego Freeway) became the 405 freeway.

so for a while, certain logical grids existed, of which only pieces can be discerned today.  5, 9, 17, 21 in the Bay Area for example - with 13 getting inserted logically a couple years later.  17 is now partly 880 and partly 580, and 21 is 680.  

in the south: bear 6 (yes, there was such a thing before US-6 came to town), bear 10 (yep, another one who gave up the number), bear 14, bear 18 ran parallel, and bear 22 and bear 26 were nearby - 22 being still around, with bear 30 to the north (got replaced by 210), bear 34 in Oxnard, bear 38 a bit to the east, bear 42 on Manchester Blvd.  That's about the most consistent application of the grid I can think of.

as for what survives today?  well, bear 19, bear 23 and bear 27 are still around for instance.  

the reason the system degenerated into such a mess was because when new numbers were needed, after 1964 they just reused whatever was available.  Thus, 3 was around, and it was randomly located upstate in the Yreka area.  

7 - oh boy where do I start?  7 was originally the longest route in the system: it came down from Modoc County on what is now US-395 (a 1935 addition to CA), followed that to the 6/395 junction at Brady, followed 6 (now 14) to Castaic Junction where it briefly met up with US-99.  Then from San Fernando Blvd it turned down Sepulveda Blvd and followed that all the way down to the LAX area where it ran into bear 3.  

in 1935 it was truncated to Brady Junction with the arrival of US-395 (which took the other branch) but immediately in 1937 it was re-truncated because of 6's arrival, and 7 was only Sepulveda Blvd down to what is now LAX to the 3 junction.  

this way it stayed until the 1950s when the San Diego Freeway got the number, which at some point (1959?) got signed solely as I-405, relinquishing the number 7 to what was originally the 15 freeway - the Long Beach Freeway.  15 needed to become used on Interstate 15 so bear 15 was retired and the freeway from Long Beach to Pasadena became bear 7, white spade 7, green spade 7, etc.  Until 1981 when California decided that every route needed to be an interstate.  So long bear 7, because now it is interstate 701.

so when they needed some halfway worthless connector road to Mexico to be a state highway, and the number 7 was available ... yep, 7 went from the longest route in the system to the shortest.

all of the post-1964 routes, which includes everything numbered 200 and higher, were added in the order that the route was added to the system.  That is why you have 237 and 238 near each other (added via same project), and 236 and 239 somewhere completely far off.  

Interstate 99 is odd, too. Why couldn't it have just been given an x80 number? I'm surprised Bud Schuster didn't just call it Interstate 1.

he should've called it interstate Vote Bud.

[agentsteel53]

California State Routes are more random, and have been renumbered in 1964.  CA-35 in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties used to be CA-5 before the Interstate system was implemented.  State routes have their own patterns, and many states don't really have much of a pattern.  I believe California's state route system is in numeric order of numbering assignment, where the Cabrillo Hwy was the first to get a number (CA-1). 

the first bear was indeed a Bear 1, however 49 was the first route assigned.  The first ever prototype drawing of a bear shield from 1933 or so was a 49.  the next one was, surprisingly enough, a 262!

[corco]

On I-9, there's WA-900 to WA-976 (there aren't 76 highways after I-90, though).

976? There's 900, 902, 904, 906, and 908 (for now) that are numbered after I-90. SRs 970 and 971 are branches off of US-97 (those being the more recent branches. Older US-97 branches were the 15x series, of which only 153 and 155 remain). 970 was created from old 97 when they put US-97 on SR 151 from Ellensburg north and 971 is one of the 1992 revamp of the system.

On I-5, there is WA-500 all the way up to WA-527

All the way to 599, even! And those follow a loose-north south structure. For instance 500 is the southernmost. The only exceptions are 508 south of 507, 509 south of 512, 599 being its own animal between 518 and 519 (it connects I-5 to SR 99), 513 being north of 520, 528 being north of 529, 531 being south of 530, 542 being south of 539, and 543 being north of all but 548.

That holds true with most other branch routes in the state too- at least in the original 64 scheme. It's gotten a bit cluttered over the years, but for the most part it still works. Looking at US-12, for instance, 121 is west of 122 which is west of 123 which is west of 124 which is west of 125 which is west of 127 which is west of 128 which is west of 129. SR 131 is the weird exception there, but it's a 1992 route between 122 and 123.

SR 3- as you mentioned. 300 is southernmost, then comes 302, then 304, then 310, then 303, then 305, then 308, then 307. 307 and 310 are newer routes, however.

I-90 initially fit that scheme- you had 900, then 901, then 902, then 904. 906 and 908 came later and 901 is gone now.

[agentsteel53]

101's children are also numbered interestingly - 102, 103, 104, etc.  does this mean that even by 1964 the state of Washington was well aware that US-10 was a short-lived idea?  there is a WA-10.

Washington has always loved branches.  the 1938 system had suffixed letters to represent branches off a primary, unsuffixed route.  Did they ever have branches of US routes?  I know the 2 set is a state route.

(was there a state 2 and a US 2 between 1948 and 1964?)

[corco]

101's children are also numbered interestingly - 102, 103, 104, etc.  does this mean that even by 1964 the state of Washington was well aware that US-10 was a short-lived idea?  there is a WA-10.

Washington has always loved branches.  the 1938 system had suffixed letters to represent branches off a primary, unsuffixed route.  Did they ever have branches of US routes?  I know the 2 set is a state route.

(was there a state 2 and a US 2 between 1948 and 1964?)

Make me pull out my 63 map of Washington...fine (getting a 63 and 64 map of Washington was one of my best investments ever- highly recommended). The branches were always signed after the State highway- pre-1964 Washington acted like most southern states and all US routes had a corresponding state route, so the suffix always went off the state route.

Old Highway 2 did the following. US-10 from Seattle to Cle Elum. US-97 from  Cle Elum to Wenatchee. US-2 from Wenatchee to Spokane. US-10 again from Spokane to Idaho. It was presumably cosigned with those routes. Actually, it looks like there were 3 non-branch routings of 2 in the Puget Sound area. One from Auburn to US-10 following ~ SR 18, one along US-10, and one from downtown Seattle south along old SR 167 (Rainier Avenue), then following the current SR 900 corridor to Issaquah where it caught 10 again. This is all as of 1963- that's the oldest official map I own.

Even in 1964 the numbers were off 101. 900, 901, and 902 all existed in 1964 in pretty much their final states, except 902 didn't connect to 90/10 on both sides, it was just a spur to Med Lake from the east side, so yeah, I'd guess Washington just was prepared for I-90.

Interestingly, and I never noticed this before, 410's child routes from Wallula junction east to Idaho were all 12xs. That could be a product of that route being along the same latitude as SR 12 (now SR 14), or it could have been a preemptive assumption that they were getting US-12, which didn't happen for another 8 years or so. I suspect it's the former because other routes along the 12 corridor (old SR 14, old SR 8 ) have children numbered properly and there would have been no point in numbering what is now 14 as 12 and what is now 12 as 14 if they suspected they were getting it.

[Quillz]

Another thing I find odd is how most states assign route numbers. California, for example... I just can't figure it out. Highway 1 starts along the coast, but Highway 3 isn't the next major highway to the east. It's a little tiny highway way up in extreme Northern California, in a very unpopulated area. Highway 2 and 4 aren't in the far south of the state, for example. So, do numbers just get assigned randomly? And it's like this in other states... The numbers don't seem to follow any kind of pattern or grid or anything.

the California system originally made sense and followed a grid, but then it has gotten changed so many times that it no longer resembles any pattern, unless you really carefully know where to look.

the original 1934 pattern actually had two grids: northern and southern California, two approximately square zones.  Route 1, which spanned the entire state, was an exception, but then 2 and 3 were in southern Cal - with 2 going E-W and 3 going N-S.  Similarly, 4 was an E-W in northern CA and 5 was a N-S in northern CA.

the numbers that conflicted with US routes were skipped.  Since the US route system was already in place, no state route numbers needed to be changed.

2 is still around essentially where it always has been.  3 became Alternate 101 in 1936 and then the extended Bear 1 took over it in 1964.  4 is still 4, from Hercules to Ebbetts Pass and beyond.  And 5 is now 35 because they needed the number for the interstates.  When the interstates came, conflicting numbers were reassigned: original bear 15 (Atlantic Blvd, I think, in Los Angeles) became the 7 freeway, while the older 7 (Sepulveda Blvd and then the San Diego Freeway) became the 405 freeway.

so for a while, certain logical grids existed, of which only pieces can be discerned today.  5, 9, 17, 21 in the Bay Area for example - with 13 getting inserted logically a couple years later.  17 is now partly 880 and partly 580, and 21 is 680.  

in the south: bear 6 (yes, there was such a thing before US-6 came to town), bear 10 (yep, another one who gave up the number), bear 14, bear 18 ran parallel, and bear 22 and bear 26 were nearby - 22 being still around, with bear 30 to the north (got replaced by 210), bear 34 in Oxnard, bear 38 a bit to the east, bear 42 on Manchester Blvd.  That's about the most consistent application of the grid I can think of.

as for what survives today?  well, bear 19, bear 23 and bear 27 are still around for instance.  

the reason the system degenerated into such a mess was because when new numbers were needed, after 1964 they just reused whatever was available.  Thus, 3 was around, and it was randomly located upstate in the Yreka area.  

7 - oh boy where do I start?  7 was originally the longest route in the system: it came down from Modoc County on what is now US-395 (a 1935 addition to CA), followed that to the 6/395 junction at Brady, followed 6 (now 14) to Castaic Junction where it briefly met up with US-99.  Then from San Fernando Blvd it turned down Sepulveda Blvd and followed that all the way down to the LAX area where it ran into bear 3.  

in 1935 it was truncated to Brady Junction with the arrival of US-395 (which took the other branch) but immediately in 1937 it was re-truncated because of 6's arrival, and 7 was only Sepulveda Blvd down to what is now LAX to the 3 junction.  

this way it stayed until the 1950s when the San Diego Freeway got the number, which at some point (1959?) got signed solely as I-405, relinquishing the number 7 to what was originally the 15 freeway - the Long Beach Freeway.  15 needed to become used on Interstate 15 so bear 15 was retired and the freeway from Long Beach to Pasadena became bear 7, white spade 7, green spade 7, etc.  Until 1981 when California decided that every route needed to be an interstate.  So long bear 7, because now it is interstate 701.

so when they needed some halfway worthless connector road to Mexico to be a state highway, and the number 7 was available ... yep, 7 went from the longest route in the system to the shortest.

all of the post-1964 routes, which includes everything numbered 200 and higher, were added in the order that the route was added to the system.  That is why you have 237 and 238 near each other (added via same project), and 236 and 239 somewhere completely far off.  

Interstate 99 is odd, too. Why couldn't it have just been given an x80 number? I'm surprised Bud Schuster didn't just call it Interstate 1.

he should've called it interstate Vote Bud.

Wow, thanks for all this info. I did know about NorCal and SoCal being assigned routes in pairs of two in a somewhat orderly basis. But I never knew why it got as messed up as it did. Very interesting.

I assume, then, that this is probably a similar case for some of the other states?

[TheStranger]

2 is still around essentially where it always has been.  3 became Alternate 101 in 1936 and then the extended Bear 1 took over it in 1964.  4 is still 4, from Hercules to Ebbetts Pass and beyond.  And 5 is now 35 because they needed the number for the interstates.  When the interstates came, conflicting numbers were reassigned: original bear 15 (Atlantic Blvd, I think, in Los Angeles) became the 7 freeway, while the older 7 (Sepulveda Blvd and then the San Diego Freeway) became the 405 freeway.

Don't forget the segment of 7 in Hawthorne that immediately became the third three digit child route in the state (after 440 and 740), 107 - which existed as early as 1942!  (This was when 7 was rerouted to follow Sepulveda south of Santa Monica, instead of today's 107)

so for a while, certain logical grids existed, of which only pieces can be discerned today.  5, 9, 17, 21 in the Bay Area for example - with 13 getting inserted logically a couple years later.  17 is now partly 880 and partly 580, and 21 is 680.  

IIRC - and I recall mentioning it recently - 17 was originally to be 13, but I don't know if that was ever signed, and 13 wouldn't be reused until 1964 for Warren Freeway/Ashby Avenue.

in the south: bear 6 (yes, there was such a thing before US-6 came to town), bear 10 (yep, another one who gave up the number), bear 14, bear 18 ran parallel, and bear 22 and bear 26 were nearby - 22 being still around, with bear 30 to the north (got replaced by 210), bear 34 in Oxnard, bear 38 a bit to the east, bear 42 on Manchester Blvd.  That's about the most consistent application of the grid I can think of.

Bear 42 didn't exist until the 1950s to supplant what was route 10 west of today's I-5 (the segment eastward that was bear 10/Bypass US 101 became mainline US 101 and I-5, now solely I-5, between Whittier Boulevard and Norwalk).  Bear 26's corridor was subsumed by I-10 in the 1950s

all of the post-1964 routes, which includes everything numbered 200 and higher, were added in the order that the route was added to the system.  That is why you have 237 and 238 near each other (added via same project), and 236 and 239 somewhere completely far off.  

Coincidentally, 236, 237, 238 all are former segments of Route 9 (except for the part of 238 decomissioned in the late 1960s that followed old Route 17 from Fremont to the Bayshore Freeway in San Jose).  

[agentsteel53]

Don't forget the segment of 7 in Hawthorne that immediately became the third three digit child route in the state (after 440 and 740), 107 - which existed as early as 1942!  (This was when 7 was rerouted to follow Sepulveda south of Santa Monica, instead of today's 107)

I had no idea that 7 originally went down Hawthorne Blvd - or that 107 was an explicit connection. 

IIRC - and I recall mentioning it recently - 17 was originally to be 13, but I don't know if that was ever signed, and 13 wouldn't be reused until 1964 for Warren Freeway/Ashby Avenue.

that explains the absence of bear 13 shields, which I would have figured would be a collector's item.  then again, there is an absence of bear 69, which was around in the 40s, no?

Coincidentally, 236, 237, 238 all are former segments of Route 9 (except for the part of 238 decomissioned in the late 1960s that followed old Route 17 from Fremont to the Bayshore Freeway in San Jose).  

I don't have any idea where 236 is.  Great, so where is 239?  At some point you're going to get one just way the hell out in some other part of the state.  241 is down in Orange County.  Where is 240?

[Quillz]

Route 236 is actually very close to Route 9. It's a scenic, eastern bypass of Route 9, beginning and ending at the route.

There isn't a 240 to my knowledge, since it would more than likely be preserved for a future I-40 3di.