* There appears to be a concerted effort to remove any mention of Business 80 between I-80 in west Sacramento and the CA-99 interchange. All signs that are scheduled for replacement feature US 50 shields.
THAT'S interesting because when the 2008-2009 sign replacement project occurred in this area, much of the westbound signage along that stretch (which has never mentioned US 50, even after the 1982 reroute) mostly became the inaccurate "I-80 West" (replacing at least two correctly signed Business 80 West/San Francisco pullthroughs).
Eastbound, Business 80 and US 50 had retained prominent co-designation as it had from 1982 onwards (I have quite a few examples of that on my Flickr page somewhere) with 99 first being noted via the well-known US 99 sign error along the eastbound WX Freeway.
I recall that the section of 50/Business 80 is mostly known to locals as 50 though, even considering that 50 west of 16th Street is only as old as the 80 Business route is.
From examining the plans, it seems the removal of Business 80 shields is a step designed to reduce message loading. Does this essentially turn Business 80 into a business spur rather than a business loop?
Also notable from the new sign replacement PDF: the removal of "CAPITAL CITY FREEWAY" text along the US 50 stretch (but NOT on the Route 51 stretch which seems to be getting more of it in fact).
Other notes:
- removal of "TO I-80" from the I-5 north pullthrough approaching 50/Business 80/(99)
- Sign AS-102 currently has only US 50/Business 80/Route 99 shields (accurate though); the new sign has a US 50 shield awkwardly aligned slightly diagonal from a Route 99 shield.
- Sign AS-117 is one of the first "USE EXIT XX" examples I can think of in Northern California, in this case replacing the all-text "SOUTH LAKE TAHOE/USE FRESNO EXIT" with "Route 99 Fresno - USE EXIT 518." (The removal of the South Lake Tahoe destination though is a bit confusing - why not simply sign this as US 50/Route 99 Fresno, 2.5 Miles, with a EXIT 518 tab on the top right?)
- I do like the "US 50 to I-80" pullthrough for AS-452 (US 50 westbound at I-5) and honestly think this should have been used all along further east (or a variant like US 50 WEST/Route 99 NORTH to I-5 & WEST I-80)
- Why is the Airport icon being removed from sign AS-209 (and from other similar signs pointing to I-5 north)?
- I always liked the Route 99 NORTH sign (AS-135) on US 50 west approaching 26th Street and am kinda sad to see it go, though at least US 50 being acknowledged is good here.
- From Page 34: I do get the reduction of shield usage from US 50/TO I-80/I-5 to just US 50 (signs AS-80 and AS-93), though I think having an TO I-5 shield with the US 50 West sign would still be helpful. (For that matter, while this is entirely unrealistic of me, part of me wonders if simply signing 99 south for both Fresno & Los Angeles and then having the "I-5/USE EXIT 6A" sign (Sign AS-72) only point to Redding would work too - after all, southbound drivers to LA could get to 5 south just as easily via 4 in Stockton or 120 in Manteca.)
- With the removal of Route 99 shields at the 5/80 interchange in Natomas (page 38), will there be any roadside acknowledgement from 80 to take 5 north to get to 99 north for Yuba City/Marysville? (An aside: I've always felt that the 80/50 split in West Sacramento would be a good spot to let drivers know to take 80 east to get to 5 & 99 north for Redding & Yuba City and 50 east to get to 5 and 99 south for Fresno/LA/Stockton - though those heading to Yuba City from the Bay Area likely took 113 in Davis, and those going to Redding likely already split off at 505 in Vacaville)
- The replacement at sign AS-320 (the current "To Redding/Yuba City 5/99" sign) omits any mention of I-5. For that matter, since 99 is a through route taking the ramp to 50 west, it's odd to see it removed for the replacement 50 West sign at AS-103.
- The current BS-17 sign (Pioneer Bridge eastbound) is where the US 50 control city switches to South Lake Tahoe from Sacramento. Since 5 and 50 (and Route 99) all provide access to city limits once the bridge is crossed, why is this sign being switched to a Sacramento control city for 50 (especially since 5 is the main route into downtown from here)?
- Just like in the 2009 signing project, US 50 east is not given an exit number from I-80 east.
- Will T Street finally get an exit number based off of Route 99 (presumably 298C) rather than off of Business 80 (which has no access at all to that ramp)?
- I wonder if the "US 50 San Francisco" sign placed about 2-3 years ago at 65th Street northbound was a precursor to this new emphasis of 50 west of 99.
- Even though I like freeway names, I do wonder if the Business 80/160 split (sign AS-52) should have Business 80 west signed for "Midtown Sacramento" (as a counterpart to 160 being signed for downtown).
- Speculation on my part: is this a preliminary step for eventually removing all Business 80 references entirely and replacing them with Route 51 references?