Regional signing practices that are unusual compared to everyplace else

[kphoger]

Oklahoma likes to put "JCT" or "JUNCTION" on the green overhead signs.

[et seq]

This is because Oklahoma.

[kphoger]

Pennsylvania's love of 2 mile advance signs, unheard of anywhere else I've been.

I think that's suggested in MUTCD for interchanges with other freeways.  Ohio seems to be doing that recently.

But how many places do it for every single interchange? (though I think Region 3 just started doing it with a sign rehab on I-81)

Ohio Turnpike.  ISTHA, as I mentioned above, does 2 miles or more for advanced warnings.

Examples:

https://goo.gl/maps/TTKYiSYyuT72
https://goo.gl/maps/VbffThm3HyL2

I recall this being common practice in Kentucky, but I've admittedly only been to one part of Kentucky.

[briantroutman]

Oklahoma likes to put "JCT" or "JUNCTION" on the green overhead signs.

This is because Oklahoma.

In the days when most of Pennsylvania's Interstate-to-Interstate interchanges were not numbered, some guide signs placed JUNCTION in what would have otherwise been an empty exit tab. Such as in this example from Jeff Kitsko's site many years ago via archive.org:

[cl94]

New York has a few "Junction" signs approaching major interchanges. Notable is I-87 SB at Exit 2, where there is such a sign for I-90 and the Thruway.

[PHLBOS]

For the first advance-notice of a major highway interchange along another highway, Massachusetts used to have a BGS message that read:

   JUNCTION
*Route Shield*
    X MILES

(usually 2 or 3 miles from the specified interchange)

There used to be one of these along I-95 (MA 128) Northbound 2 miles from then I-93 interchange in Reading (at the MA 38 interchange in Woburn).  Such was since replaced with conventional MUTCD-style signage.

[roadman]

For the first advance-notice of a major highway interchange along another highway, Massachusetts used to have a BGS message that read:

   JUNCTION
*Route Shield*
    X MILES

(usually 2 or 3 miles from the specified interchange)

There used to be one of these along I-95 (MA 128) Northbound 2 miles from then I-93 interchange in Reading (at the MA 38 interchange in Woburn).  Such was since replaced with conventional MUTCD-style signage.

Until 2012, another of these signs was in place on I-93 southbound 2 miles from the I-495 interchange in Andover - it was on the same structure as the exit direction sign for River Road and a pull-through sign for I-93 south.

[cappicard]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

[1995hoo]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

[cappicard]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

A distance sign along the Kansas Turnpike (just west of the Lawrence) shows the distance to Denver.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richiekennedy56/9272550632/

[codyg1985]

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

I would think most people that are using I-40 west of Kingman are headed to Los Angeles, even if neither I-40 or I-15 go through it.

You have a similar situation along I-24 west in Kentucky where St. Louis is briefly used as a control city, even though neither I-24 or I-57 go to St. Louis.

[PHLBOS]

For the first advance-notice of a major highway interchange along another highway, Massachusetts used to have a BGS message that read:

   JUNCTION
*Route Shield*
    X MILES

(usually 2 or 3 miles from the specified interchange)

There used to be one of these along I-95 (MA 128) Northbound 2 miles from then I-93 interchange in Reading (at the MA 38 interchange in Woburn).  Such was since replaced with conventional MUTCD-style signage.

Until 2012, another of these signs was in place on I-93 southbound 2 miles from the I-495 interchange in Andover - it was on the same structure as the exit direction sign for River Road and a pull-through sign for I-93 south.

Similar type signage also existed along I-93 South/then MA 128 North for the I-95 interchange in Canton as well as one 70s-era structure-mounted BGS along US 1 North for the 3-mile advance notice of MA 128 in Saugus (at the Lynn Fells Parkway interchange).

[roadman]

The sign on I-93 south in Milton that said "Junction 95 2 Miles" was replaced in 1990 with one that only had a I-95 shield with "2 MILES" - it was relocated from a separate truss to a bridge mount - see http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-093.html .  This sign has since been replaced with a standard sign reading "I-95 Providence RI Portsmouth NH 2 MILES" - it was installed as part of the Randolph to Dedham section of the "Add-A-Lane" widening project.

The sign on US 1 north in Saugus that said "Junction 128 3 Miles" was removed and replaced with an advance sign for Walnut Street as part of the 1998 Chelsea to Danvers sign replacement project.

To my knowledge, only the aforementioned "Junction" signs on I-95 north for I-93 and on I-93 south for I-495 were replaced with identical legends during MassHighway's 1990s sign replacement projects - remember that this was the era of "retain existing structures as much as possible", so 'in-kind' replacement of sign panels was the norm.  As noted, both of these signs have since been replaced with standard advance exit signs that omit the word "Junction".

[hbelkins]

I recall this being common practice in Kentucky, but I've admittedly only been to one part of Kentucky.

Common but not universal, especially on the parkways.

Also common practice in West Virginia.

Virginia, on the other hand, is lucky to give you a half-mile advance warning in some spots, especially along I-81.

[noelbotevera]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

It's because they think you'll use I-40 to I-15 to I-10. The only reason why San Bernardino is used on I-15 south is because that's the way south to I-10, and at the I-10/I-15 interchange, I-10 westbound uses Los Angeles.

[Occidental Tourist]

It's because they think you'll use I-40 to I-15 to I-10. The only reason why San Bernardino is used on I-15 south is because that's the way south to I-10, and at the I-10/I-15 interchange, I-10 westbound uses Los Angeles.

Actually, I-15 is signed with San Bernardino as its southbound control city because the original routing for I-15, and for its pre-'64 predecessors through the Cajon Pass, US 395, US 66, and US 91, all went to or through San Bernardino.  The original routing of I-15 ended along what is now I-215 at what is now I-10 just south of San Bernardino.  In 1969, the CTC began planning for the extension of I-15 down to San Diego along a routing on or parallel to former US 395, and as part of that shifted I-15 away from its then-routing to San Bernardino onto a freeway to be built along a westerly path through Ontario and Corona.

Basically, everything highway related in California from the 70s onward was done on an ad hoc basis with no great centralized planning like they had in the golden days of the CTC and the Division of Public Highways.  There were lots of holdover control cities from that point forward that didn't quite match up with their current routings.  For example, because US 91 continued through San Bernardino and terminated in Long Beach, for many decades after US 91 was decommissioned, one of the control cities for CA 91 westbound after Riverside was still Long Beach, even though the state highway iteration of 91 never went directly to Long Beach, instead veering north of the old routing with a terminus in Redondo Beach.  You can still find a few street signs here and there along the 91 that show Long Beach as the control city for a 91 westbound on-ramp.  There are also a couple of holdover freeway mileage signs that have Long Beach listed along the progression. 

Given how the planning changed, there's a decent chance that the main reason I-40's control city in California for westbound traffic is Los Angeles is because the highway I-40 replaced, US 66, went through Los Angeles and had Los Angeles as its westbound control city.

[cappicard]

The aforementioned black-bordered US 69 shield on the westbound guide signs along 435.


iPhone

[SidS1045]

There used to be an LGS on southbound I-95/MA-128 that read:

JCT RTE 9
2000 FEET

(yes, all in text)

It's been gone for quite a while, but I'd almost bet it dated from the time when 128's southern terminus was at MA-9 in Wellesley.

[cappicard]

There used to be an LGS on southbound I-95/MA-128 that read:

JCT RTE 9
2000 FEET

(yes, all in text)

It's been gone for quite a while, but I'd almost bet it dated from the time when 128's southern terminus was at MA-9 in Wellesley.

Northbound I-435 just before the Missouri River in Kansas had Rte 45 listed in text for years, in reference to MO-45.


iPad

[odditude]

Here's a 2 mile advance sign with a EXIT ONLY legend.

http://goo.gl/maps/jImIM
http://goo.gl/maps/jBRey

PennDOT says hi.

[1995hoo]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

It's because they think you'll use I-40 to I-15 to I-10. The only reason why San Bernardino is used on I-15 south is because that's the way south to I-10, and at the I-10/I-15 interchange, I-10 westbound uses Los Angeles.

Sure, but I guess what I was getting at is that in the USA, we don't have a standard like the Brits do for indicating a destination that will be reached only by connecting to other routes. Normally here on the East Coast we don't see many signs using control cities that aren't actually on the road in question ("the road" intended to include scenarios where the number changes, such as listing Montreal as a control city on I-87 even though it becomes Autoroute 15 at the border).

[cl94]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

It's because they think you'll use I-40 to I-15 to I-10. The only reason why San Bernardino is used on I-15 south is because that's the way south to I-10, and at the I-10/I-15 interchange, I-10 westbound uses Los Angeles.

Sure, but I guess what I was getting at is that in the USA, we don't have a standard like the Brits do for indicating a destination that will be reached only by connecting to other routes. Normally here on the East Coast we don't see many signs using control cities that aren't actually on the road in question ("the road" intended to include scenarios where the number changes, such as listing Montreal as a control city on I-87 even though it becomes Autoroute 15 at the border).

Tell that to Ohio.

And if you really want to be specific, look at I-90. Buffalo and Erie are both control cities, yet it enters neither.

[1995hoo]

MoDOT puts distant cities as control cities for 3-digit Interstates (least in the KC area).

Wichita (which is almost 200 miles away) is featured as the control city for westbound I-435 from the 2 mile advance sign along southbound 435 before the Grandview Triangle.

https://goo.gl/maps/tQgin8XsRwQ2

Last week I saw Los Angeles used as a control city on signs in Flagstaff and Phoenix. Google Maps tells me it's 465 miles from the first such sign I saw in Flagstaff to a point outside City Hall in Los Angeles. A nearby sign used Albuquerque as the eastbound control city. That's about 325 miles using I-40, as opposed to the far less direct route we used. I find the use of Los Angeles in Flagstaff to be the most interesting one because I-40 doesn't go there–it ends in Barstow and you connect to I-15, which itself doesn't go to LA either!

It's because they think you'll use I-40 to I-15 to I-10. The only reason why San Bernardino is used on I-15 south is because that's the way south to I-10, and at the I-10/I-15 interchange, I-10 westbound uses Los Angeles.

Sure, but I guess what I was getting at is that in the USA, we don't have a standard like the Brits do for indicating a destination that will be reached only by connecting to other routes. Normally here on the East Coast we don't see many signs using control cities that aren't actually on the road in question ("the road" intended to include scenarios where the number changes, such as listing Montreal as a control city on I-87 even though it becomes Autoroute 15 at the border).

Tell that to Ohio.

And if you really want to be specific, look at I-90. Buffalo and Erie are both control cities, yet it enters neither.

Ohio is not on the East Coast, and even if it were, I said "normally," which means there are exceptions. There are always exceptions to everything. The I-40 situation I was noting is rather distinct from I-90 going right past Buffalo and Erie even if it doesn't directly enter either of them. As others noted, going to Los Angeles from Flagstaff via I-40 requires you to exit onto I-15 and then I-10 for more than minimal distances. Buffalo and Erie are right off I-90.

What I was getting at is that we don't have something comparable to the parenthetical reference to the M4 seen on the sign below (it's located in Swindon). Going from the Magic Roundabout to the M4 requires connecting onto two other roads (Queens Drive to Marlborough Road to the A419).




I'm not trying to say it's BAD that Los Angeles is on that sign, just that I found it interesting because I don't usually see signs for destinations that require multiple exits. I tend to think it's a good idea sometimes for certain high-profile destinations. (Whether Los Angeles draws that much traffic from Flagstaff, I have no idea.)

[kphoger]

Isn't "TO [##]" the American equivalent to "([##])"?

[cl94]

Isn't "TO [##]" the American equivalent to "([##])"?

It is. I've seen New York post trailblazers requiring more turns than that.

[1995hoo]

Isn't "TO [##]" the American equivalent to "([##])"?

What I'm getting at is that there are roads that use a relatively obscure or small town on that road as a control city instead of a bigger and more important place accessible only by exiting onto another route when the first one ends. A good example that comes readily to my mind is westbound I-66, which uses Front Royal and Strasburg as its control cities instead of Winchester (accessible by going to the western end of I-66 and then going north), Harrisonburg (ditto except you go south somewhat further), or even Roanoke (also south, but a much longer distance).