You are too old if you remember.......

[bugo]

...When all Grocery Stores and Supermarkets would be closed by 9PM every day, and you were lucky if it was open on Sundays (ah, the old "blue laws").

North Dakota still has the illegal and unconstitutional (1st amendment) blue laws.  Even Walmart has to close on Sunday.  Gas stations are allowed to stay open, however.

[roadman65]

Bergen County, NJ still has them for retail shopping!  I believe its the only county in New Jersey that still has it as many other counties lifted it back in the 1980s.

My dad says that Two Guys (the precursor to Wal Mart as they had the idea that Wal Mart has, but could not make a go of it) started it as they would open on Sundays and rope off certain departments.  That opened up people's eyes and began the crusade, however I will not understand Bergen County, NJ and its reasoning being that it has Paramus, which has more retail stores per square acre than any other community!

I remember when businesses used to close on Christmas Eve in resort communities and operated with a skeleton staff on Christmas Day! Now if you go in many places more businesses than before open on Christmas Day!  It is a shame as it was the one holiday everyone agreed on at one time even if you were not Christian.

[thenetwork]

...When all Grocery Stores and Supermarkets would be closed by 9PM every day, and you were lucky if it was open on Sundays (ah, the old "blue laws").

North Dakota still has the illegal and unconstitutional (1st amendment) blue laws.  Even Walmart has to close on Sunday.  Gas stations are allowed to stay open, however.

I think the most common Blue Law still in existence is retail liquor sales on Sundays, although that is getting chipped away at a good clip -- Colorado began to let liquor stores open on Sundays a few years ago and many impose their own limited hours on Sundays, while other indies remain closed on Sunday.  The only liquor restrictions remaining in Colorado is that non-liquor stores who sell beer can only sell 3.2 beer (a.k.a. "near beer"), however a retail chain (Like Walmart) may have only ONE store in the entire state that can sell full-strength liquor.

[hubcity]

Bergen County, NJ still has them for retail shopping!  I believe its the only county in New Jersey that still has it as many other counties lifted it back in the 1980s.

Actually, I think the thinking has come more around to the idea that the town is congested enough six days a week, and they'd like to just have the town back on Sundays. Considering that retail shows no sign of evacuating the area, they like the idea of having their cake and eating it too.

[bugo]

I have not had a land line since 2003.  I wonder what portion of the population is landline-free, and how that's changed in the last ~15 years.

I haven't since about 2003 as well.  I don't ever see myself getting a landline again.

[bugo]

(Examples of places I do not take a mobile phone include movie theatres or churches.)

if I go to a similar event, then I'm just going to ignore my phone.  but I still have it.

I turn the ringer off if I'm in a place where it could be disturbing.  I haven't been to a church service in 21 years so that's not an issue.

I don't particularly care for this idea some people have that they're entitled to reach you 24/7 wherever you may be.

If somebody is trying to reach me, I prefer they shoot me a text asking to call them.

[roadman65]

In New Jersey at the interchange of US 9 and Throckmorton Street/ Ticetown Road when US 9 was two lanes there using the current half diamond SB ramps as the original alignment.  The drop below grade under Ticetown Road that is now was dug out and I remember seeing the bridge going up to the east of the then concrete two lane US 9 that had a signal with Throckmorton Street.  In addition the strip mall that lies within the NB folded diamond was there before the road widening which is why the ramps go behind it or it would appear to be built within the interchange.  The US 9 widening stole part of that shopping center''s front parking lot.

The CR 516 interchange was already in use at the time, as either that was built first before the whole widening business began or before Ticetown Road overpass was built.  Old maps show it as being four lanes and divided just through that interchange (shown as Browntown on old maps) but drops down to two lanes on both sided of Browntown.

Another thing I remember was when US 9 and NJ 18 was a y interchange as the freeway south of US 9 was not yet built when US 9 was two lanes from NJ 18 to NJ 34.  The bridge carrying the NB US 9 ramp to NJ 18 NB over US 9 SB was the original NJ 18 bridge and if you look closely you will see the design is of 1950-60 era and much different than the  current NJ 18 mainline bridges.

As far as NJ 18 goes, I remember it being signed E-W from US 9 to NJ 28 in Middlesex as it was indeed signed along River Road in Piscataway, part of Lincoln Boulevard in Middlesex and another side street to meet NJ 28.  It also was co-signed with NJ 27 across the Raritan River and during the first few months of the freeway to the south of US 9, it was signed E-W to the GSP in Tinton Falls until it was turned N-S sometime in the late 70s/ Early 80s to match the original freeway segment from NJ 138 (originally NJ 38) to Park Avenue that was always N-S.

Speaking of NJ 138 I remember it being signed as the eastern segment of NJ 38 before plans to connect the two pieces were scrapped. Along with that I can remember when Exit 98 on the Garden State Parkway had NO Tolls!  It was two separate interchanges with the former NJ 38 and NJ 34 with the SB exit to NJ 34 SB being a left interchange. 

If you go now you can see evidence of the left turn exit from underneath the Parkway.  Look at the SB Parkway over NJ 34 and you will see the bridge is much newer than the NB counterpart and the long c/d roadway next to it.  In fact the c/d bridge and the NB Parkway structures are identical as so is the NB Parkway bridge over the c/d lanes turning toward NJ 34.  The original SB Parkway used the current c/d roadway and the ramp leading to NJ 34 SB exited where the curve is on the c/d road to cross under the GSP and used the current c/d turned ramp movement and crossed under the NB lanes as it does today!

[D-Dey65]

Speaking of gas stations...remember when their corner signs used to rotate?

Oh, yeah.

I also remember reading a map where SOHIO had an affiliate named BORON.


I'm obviously too old as well, because I remember big RED signs reading "All Traffic Exit XX Mile(s)."

Not to mention a single huge pole in the center of the fork in the road of NY 111 and Suffolk CR 17 holding up two BGS for both roads, with button copy lettering and the shield moved from one sign to the other. You could still see the outline of where the shield used to be on thee one for what is now CR 17.

[PHLBOS]

In Philadelphia I 95 ended south of the International airport and you drove PA 291, a surface street to the airport. I dont remember where I 95 began again north of there, north of center city?

By 1983 right around Enterprise Avenue.  Going south on I-95 you'd approach the half-completed (as in ending mid-air) Girard Point Bridge and then be diverted off to a temporary road that took you to what was then PA 291.

Prior to the 1985 opening of the missing link of I-95 at the airport; from Center City, I-95 south traffic was forced onto Enterpirse Ave. as previously mentioned. 

From there, one would follow Enterprise Ave. to Island Ave. (until recently, there was a jughandle intersection of sorts).  Traffic would turn right (north) onto Island Ave. and follow to PA 291.  From there, one would follow PA 291 West beyond Scott (now International) Plaza and there would be a ramp that would connect to I-95 south about a mile before PA 420 (Exit 9A-B). 

Note: the northbound Exit 10 ramp was where I-95 north stopped before the 1985 airport link was completed.

I-95 through Center City (minus most of its interchange ramps) was opened in Sept. 1979.  Prior to that time, it stopped at either the Girard Ave. (Exit 23) or the Callowhill St. interchange (Exit 22).  Through-traffic navigated along Delaware Ave. (now Columbus Blvd.) to pick up the southern piece of I-95 south of the Walt Whitman.

Back to Boston again - You are too old if you remember.......

The Sumner Tunnel being a two-way tunnel paved w/cobblestones (my mother told me that one)

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

apart from all the signs made to older standards, including the occasional cutout US route marker, the thing I remember the most that isn't around anymore is Boston's Central Ahtery: I-93.

Fixed it for you.  It was a CF, but I miss it.  Going under Boston just ain't the same.

I remember when NH 101 was a 2-lane from Raymond all the way to the seacoast.  And it was 27 from Epping on, and 101 continued up what is now 33.  And the existence of 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, etc.  Actually, 101D still exists, but none of the other suffixed 101s do, they have all been renumbered or just decommissioned.  Only 101A and 101D remain in the state.

[deathtopumpkins]

NH 101E still exists,  not 101D.

[roadman65]

Pennsylvania

I remember when Eastbound I-78 & US 22 near Kunhsville had an exit ramp that led to a local street there.  It was removed (as well as a WB ramp) when the current I-78 was completed east of the split in the two routes.  Now, of course, you must exit at PA 100 and head north to Old US 22.  The original WB ramp, I think, was signed for "Chapman" but I cannot be sure. 

I remember when US 322 through the Capital region followed I-83 the other way from the Eisenhower Interchange instead of north like it presently does, and then used Front Street northward before the US 22/ US 322 freeway was built.  US 22 on Herr Street was Bypass US 22 and US 22 had another alignment through Harrisburg to meet US 322 along Front Street and its bypass continued west of Cameron Street along another street to meet its parent.

[PHLBOS]

Speaking of US 322, I'm surprised that nobody chimed in on the Chester/Bridgeport Ferry that existed before the Commodore Barry Bridge opened in 1974.

Another Boston one: The ferry that existed prior to the Mystic/Tobin Bridge.

[NE2]

Another Boston one: The ferry that existed prior to the Mystic/Tobin Bridge.

Aren't you dead if you remember that?
http://www.olgp.net/chs/bridge/bridges.htm

[agentsteel53]

whoa.  the Mystic is the Tobin.  here I always thought they were separate entities, the Tobin replacing the Mystic.

[PHLBOS]

Another Boston one: The ferry that existed prior to the Mystic/Tobin Bridge.

Aren't you dead if you remember that?
http://www.olgp.net/chs/bridge/bridges.htm

...Asks the man whose profile lists his age as -100. 

This ferry was likely the one that my mother was referring to, the one linking East Boston to Boston which ran until 1952:

http://www.eastboston.com/Archives/History/ferrybos.html

[KEK Inc.]

US-101 south of San Jose as blood alley, 4 lane undivided with many stoplights and left turns for fruitstands

The original blood alley is still there, but obviously less travelled.  (Monterey Rd.)  In 1982, they finally filled the gap on 101 between Bernal and Cochrane and then widened the stretch in 2002.

The original Dumbarton Bridge - 2 narrow lanes, drawbridge, truss which limited tall or wide vehicles. 

Ever seen 'Harold and Maude'?  There's a famous scene on that stretch of road.  It's also an old movie in color and shows how lane stripings were done pre-1978.

In Seattle, no connection from I-90 to I-5.  And now that we've got it, it's consistently so backed up you're better off on surface streets.

When did they complete that?  It's a mess today.

[agentsteel53]

however a retail chain (Like Walmart) may have only ONE store in the entire state that can sell full-strength liquor.

I have also heard that there are at most five recognized "retail chains" at any time in Colorado... though that may be Washington.

[lepidopteran]

-- When Amoco stations had "American" in the torch-oval logo.  The font was different and 3D lines were visible on the torch.  Some even older signs, pre-torch-loco, had both names.

-- When Mobil was called "Socony-Vacuum", or had what was almost an inverted-pentagon shaped sign with the pegasus in the middle, or had signs that read Mobilgas or Mobiloil, all one word.  A little younger and you remember when Mobil had unique cylindrical gas pumps.

-- The two tall BORON signs that greeted you as you crossed the Brent Spence Bridge (I-71/I-75) from Ohio into Kentucky.  These signs had a certain "Toto, you're not in Kansas Ohio anymore" way about them.

Boron, which was the premium grade of Sohio fuel and supposedly contained said chemical element, was the name used for Sohio stations located outside the state of Ohio.  This was because Sohio only had the right to use the Standard Oil trademark in Ohio, unlike the other "baby Standards" that each had the rights to multiple states.  Boron stations were likely only located in neighboring states, and even then mostly a short distance from Ohio since that's where the fuel terminals were.  I did hear of a station further away in WV, and also in Breezewood, PA -- where not only did the sign rotate, but I have a distant memory that it spun almost "comically" fast!  (that may have been in Pittsburgh, in Squirrel Hill at the corner of Murray and Forward Ave., now a Giant Eagle GetGo)  The stations were practically carbon copies of typical Sohio stations except for the name.

Of course, the Boron stations, like Sohio, all became BP in 1991.  However, I understand that the marine stations -- those that sell gas to boats -- are in fact still called Sohio, complete with the vintage sign!  This may be use-it-or-lose-it rules to keep the trademark rights.

[cpzilliacus]

Boron, which was the premium grade of Sohio fuel and supposedly contained said chemical element, was the name used for Sohio stations located outside the state of Ohio.  This was because Sohio only had the right to use the Standard Oil trademark in Ohio, unlike the other "baby Standards" that each had the rights to multiple states.  Boron stations were likely only located in neighboring states, and even then mostly a short distance from Ohio since that's where the fuel terminals were.  I did hear of a station further away in WV, and also in Breezewood, PA -- where not only did the sign rotate, but I have a distant memory that it spun almost "comically" fast!  (that may have been in Pittsburgh, in Squirrel Hill at the corner of Murray and Forward Ave., now a Giant Eagle GetGo)  The stations were practically carbon copies of typical Sohio stations except for the name.

There was at least one Boron station in Garrett County, Maryland. 

Off of I-68 (U.S. 48 back then), either at Grantsville (Exit 22, U.S. 219 north) or maybe at Keyser's Ridge (Exit 14, U.S. 40 west). Or maybe both.  Both "suspects" are BP now.

[kkt]

US-101 south of San Jose as blood alley, 4 lane undivided with many stoplights and left turns for fruitstands

The original blood alley is still there, but obviously less travelled.  (Monterey Rd.)  In 1982, they finally filled the gap on 101 between Bernal and Cochrane and then widened the stretch in 2002.

Yeah, the road is still there, but it's not a blood alley anymore since it's only carrying local traffic.

The original Dumbarton Bridge - 2 narrow lanes, drawbridge, truss which limited tall or wide vehicles. 

Ever seen 'Harold and Maude'?  There's a famous scene on that stretch of road.  It's also an old movie in color and shows how lane stripings were done pre-1978.

Yeah, there's a lot of great San Francisco area scenes in that movie.

In Seattle, no connection from I-90 to I-5.  And now that we've got it, it's consistently so backed up you're better off on surface streets.

When did they complete that?  It's a mess today.

Wikipedia says 2003.  That sounds about right to me, without spending any longer verifying it...

[roadman]

whoa.  the Mystic is the Tobin.  here I always thought they were separate entities, the Tobin replacing the Mystic.

When built in the 1950s, the bridge was named the Mystic River Bridge and was owned and run by the Mystic River Bridge Authority.  Sometime in the early 1960s, the bridge authority was taken over by Massport.  I recall that Massport renamed  the bridge the Maurice J. Tobin Bridge in the mid-1970s.  However, for several years after that, it was commonly referred to as the Mystic-Tobin Bridge.  In the mid-1980s, Massport made a concerted effort with public officals, traffic reporters, and others to eliminate the Mystic-Tobin designation in favor of just Tobin Bridge.

[PHLBOS]

I've noticed that all along the north shore the destinations listed with 1A (and indeed many other routes) vary wildly from sign to sign, so I don't think of that as being erroneous in any way.

In the case of MA 1A signage (north of Boston), most if not all of the current signage list destinations that MA 1A indeed either goes through or slightly touches (Revere Beach listings at Bell Circle, there is a turn-off for Revere Beach from 1A at the Wonderland Circle onto North Shore Road).  Towns that the road does not go through at all have been pretty much deleted/removed.

In Salem, at the old MA 107 intersection (Bridge & Winter Streets), there used to be an old 60s-era paddle LGS (mounted on a concrete post) facing northbound 107 traffic that read:

/|\      1A
  |    BEVERLY
  | GLOUCESTER
  |

Granted, one can reach Gloucester via 1A north to either 127 or 128; but 1A itself never went anywhere near it.
That LGS was taken down in the late 70s.

[jp the roadgeek]

Few more from CT:

- When CT 4 extended on Farmington Ave into downtown Hartford.
- When US 6 travelled through downtown Danbury and on Newtown Rd.(until they renovated it about 10 years ago, there was a sign painted on the side of the building that said "Exit to US 6").
- CT 72 followed CT 372's route
-Signs on the (now) CT 9 expressway that just said "To 175 Newington"  Also a BGS on a now signed CT 372 in Cromwell that said "To I-91 Hartford, New Haven)
- BGS at top of westbound entrance to I-691 at Exit 4 that said "To 10 Cheshire"
- CT 291 signs over the Bissell Bridge.
-When US 202 followed US 6 to Farmington and was paired with CT 10 from Farmington to Westfield, and current US 202 from New Milford to Canton was CT 25.
- I-84 signs on I-384 and on the Willimantic bypass.
- Having to exit on Morgan St to get from I-84 East to I-91 North, a ramp from westbound Founders Bridge to I-91 south, and an I-91 north ramp from southbound Charter Oak Bridge.
- And finally: TOLLS.

[PHLBOS]

This one may fall in the not too old to remember category, but it is worth mentioning.

In NJ, pre-Exit 60; one heading south along I-295 making a sharp-left bend onto I-195 East... there were no exit ramps/decision points, the road just bended.

Had NJDOT knew that the Feds were going to redesignate I-95/295 around Trenton as an extension of I-195 once the I-95/PA Turnpike interchange is completed (vs. just redesignating the I-95 portion as I-295 or redesignating I-95/295 north & west of Exit 60 as I-x95 (495 or 695 perhaps); maybe the I-195/295/NJ 29 Exit 60 interchange would've been designed differently (a fly-over ramp to I-195 East from I-295 South rather than the current cloverleaf ramp).