Math isn't their strong suit

[hbelkins]

Something doesn't add up here:



2014 Hampton Roads-Delmarva Trip Day 4 - 098 by hbelkins, on Flickr



2014 Hampton Roads-Delmarva Trip Day 4 - 099 by hbelkins, on Flickr



2014 Hampton Roads-Delmarva Trip Day 4 - 100 by hbelkins, on Flickr



2014 Hampton Roads-Delmarva Trip Day 4 - 105 by hbelkins, on Flickr

[Mapmikey]

A different distance gap for Roanoke-Bluefield exists here:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=bedford,+va&hl=en&ll=37.300621,-79.372603&spn=0.251527,0.528374&sll=32.684789,-80.85474&sspn=0.033411,0.066047&t=h&hnear=Bedford,+Bedford+County,+Virginia&z=12&layer=c&cbll=37.300621,-79.372603&panoid=yfmubaTc8Qa0-3ZUoAqZ7Q&cbp=12,298.23,,0,0

Mapmikey

[74/171FAN]

As many times as I have driven by those signs, I think I would have noticed that by now.

[hbelkins]

A different distance gap for Roanoke-Bluefield exists here:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=bedford,+va&hl=en&ll=37.300621,-79.372603&spn=0.251527,0.528374&sll=32.684789,-80.85474&sspn=0.033411,0.066047&t=h&hnear=Bedford,+Bedford+County,+Virginia&z=12&layer=c&cbll=37.300621,-79.372603&panoid=yfmubaTc8Qa0-3ZUoAqZ7Q&cbp=12,298.23,,0,0

I missed that one because I was over on 221 instead.

As many times as I have driven by those signs, I think I would have noticed that by now.

I didn't notice when I drove it. I happened to see the pictures when I was going through my collection to find the sign on 221 that mentioned Galax to post in the other thread.

[vdeane]

On NY 12/NY 37 heading south from Morristown, there's a distance sign saying 24 miles to Alexandria Bay and 24 miles to I-81.  One problem: there's four miles between I-81 and Alexandria Bay.

[amroad17]

Good Lord!  The mileage difference is extremely pronounced (110, 101, 106, 103 between Roanoke and Bluefield).  Virginia does seem have this issue.  As does Kentucky.  For example, the mileages to Nashville on I-65 south of Louisville have Nashville 44 miles past the border from south of I-265 to just south of the Western Kentucky Pkwy interchange.  Then Nashville is listed 37 miles past the border from Munfordville to Park City (the correct one).  Finally, Nashville is listed 34 miles past the border from the Cumberland Pkwy interchange to the state line.

Of course, every state and commonwealth most likely have examples like mine and those shown above.

BTW, I still call the parkways in Kentucky by their last known non-political names.

[hotdogPi]

At least the distance to the city is not increasing.

[Zeffy]

Good to know my basic addition and subtraction skills are better than some of the sign engineers in Virginia...

[kurumi]

At least the distance to the city is not increasing.

That was happening on CT 30 or thereabouts when I was on a day-long bike ride in my teens. No cell phone, no maps (just a vague one in my head which was basically one of these with labeled edges). If you passed the 30/140 intersection, your next waypoint was 30/74 and you really didn't have an idea of how far that really was.

Having the city of Vernon recede into the distance (mileage signs showing it farther away) was a little discouraging

[tdindy88]

Traveling on I-69 between Anderson and Indianapolis, the distance between the control points of I-465 and Indianapolis change between 10, 9 and 11 miles with each mileage sign. Not a big deal, but something I noticed from commuting that way many times.

[vtk]

On I-71 SB at mile 164 in Ohio, the distance listed to Cincinnati is given as 169.  So Cincinnati is 5 miles across the Ohio river in Kentucky?

Actually I think the issue here is ODOT was measuring the mileage not directly through Columbus but around the west side on I-270.  Which is not likely a time saver, even in rush hour.

[amroad17]

I noticed that also.  The mileage sign south of the US 30 interchange at mile 176 shows Cincinnati at 181 miles.  The mileage could have been measured using I-670 west to OH 315 south.  Wasn't that the way I-71 was routed until it was finished on the east side of Columbus?

[jbnv]

On I-10 east of Lake Charles, the distances to Lafayette were erroneous for some time.

[vtk]

I noticed that also.  The mileage sign south of the US 30 interchange at mile 176 shows Cincinnati at 181 miles.  The mileage could have been measured using I-670 west to OH 315 south.  Wasn't that the way I-71 was routed until it was finished on the east side of Columbus?

That was an old route of I-71, but that would have been less than a mile longer than the current route.

[bugo]

There is a sign in Heavener, OK (a speed trap) that says it's 40 miles to Mena, AR, and there's another sign about a mile down the road that says it's 45 miles (It's actually about 45 miles from the first sign.)

[sdmichael]

Distances are usually to a city center. Perhaps at least some of the discrepancies for mileage here are through realignments? The "0" for Los Angeles used to be 7th/Broadway until the Four Level Interchange was built. That is the "0" for Los Angeles.

[woodpusher]

Distances are usually to a city center. Perhaps at least some of the discrepancies for mileage here are through realignments? The "0" for Los Angeles used to be 7th/Broadway until the Four Level Interchange was built. That is the "0" for Los Angeles.

But not always....I've noticed city limits on a few signs.....Pittsburgh 15 on US 19 where I grew up was distance to the city limit.

[Mapmikey]

Virginia generally uses the city center for its mileages.

The realignment theory might be in play with the Roanoke-Bluefield thing but some of the realignments occurred a long time ago.

I could also buy into the idea that perhaps VA 220 ALT was meant to be the through path, although there are no signs for destinations other than Hollins College and Troutville on 460 WB at 220 ALT.

I do know the discrepancies were all on the generation of signs before the clearview ones.

Another theory is that some of them were for Bluefield in Virginia instead of West Virginia.

Note that coming from Tazewell there are Bluefield (with no WV) and Roanoke distances with a mileage difference of 106.

Mapmikey

[hbelkins]

As far as I know, or can remember, all references to Bluefield on westbound 460 are without a state name, implying the one in Virginia. There used to be a sign on US 460 just past the KY 1499 intersection in Pike County with Bluefield, Va. listed. I don't know if it's still there or not.

I have not driven 460 westbound between 220A and Christiansburg to know whether or not the mileage signs designate a state.

[Mapmikey]

At Dixie Caverns there is a Bluefield WV sign and in the opposite direction a Roanoke sign and they add up to a distance between them of 110.

At VA 114 the Bluefield sign on 460 Bus has no state designation

Mapmikey

[JCinSummerfield]

On I-71 SB at mile 164 in Ohio, the distance listed to Cincinnati is given as 169.  So Cincinnati is 5 miles across the Ohio river in Kentucky?

Actually I think the issue here is ODOT was measuring the mileage not directly through Columbus but around the west side on I-270.  Which is not likely a time saver, even in rush hour.

ODOT has a mileage sign on I-77 that puts Marietta, OH 2 miles south of the Ohio River into WV.

[vtk]

ODOT has a mileage sign on I-77 that puts Marietta, OH 2 miles south of the Ohio River into WV.

That one makes a bit of sense. The center of Marietta is about 2 miles from I-77 on OH 7, and the exit is practically right on the border already.  One could possibly save those 2 miles by exiting at OH 821 instead, but that's several miles away from Marietta and likely not ODOT's suggested route.

[hm insulators]

At least the distance to the city is not increasing.

When I was a child, my folks used to rent a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles in a little town called Blue Jay, not far from Lake Arrowhead, and a couple of miles off California 18. The route connecting Blue Jay to Highway 18 was first California 189 and where that took a sharp bend to the right, up Daley Canyon Road to Highway 18. At the intersection of Highway 189 and Daley Canyon Road, the sign said 19 miles to San Bernardino. At the top of Daley Canyon where it connected to Highway 18, the sign said 20 miles to San Bernardino. Even years later, the signs increasing the distance to San Bernardino were still there, and for all I know, they're there today.

[WichitaRoads]

When tracking mileage on US 400 westbound between Fredonia, KS, and Wichita, the mileage is always quite off. If you trust their mileage, it puts you not at the Wichita city-limit, but abour eight miles further down the highway, clear on the west-edge of the city.

ICTRds

[PurdueBill]

This sign just north of Fairlawn on I-77 is also about 1.5 miles "off" if diistance to the state line is considered the distance to Marietta, but as noted above Marietta proper is a couple miles off I-77 near the state line at least as far as driving.

Several signs out in the Delphos/Beaverdam etc. area were "corrected" late last year (with ugly Clearview numerals, even on one button copy sign, gah!) to reflect correct distances to Mansfield after all the expressway portions of US 30 were finally completed.  The expressway bypasses evidently added 11 miles to the distance from Beaverdam to Mansfield.
(There is a "Mansfield 6" sign a small fraction of a mile before "Mansfield CORP LIMIT" so ODOT must be measuring to the city center, not the city limits.