Why do no name exits exist?

[noelbotevera]

This might seem like a dumb question, because I've never been to the Rockies, but why do these no-name, random exits seem to be placed in the middle of nowhere?

I know some of them are for ranch access, or some of them were temporary crossovers between the old alignment and freeway (such as US 75 south of the DFW Metroplex), and some were former rest stops, but I'm talking about the others.

Here's an example of one of them.

Thoughts?

[NE2]

ranch access

[jwolfer]

Sometimes they are for planned future development..at least in a place like Florida.  Sometimes said development doesnt happen or gets mired in legal issues

LGMS428

[Max Rockatansky]

Sometimes they are for planned future development..at least in a place like Florida.  Sometimes said development doesnt happen or gets mired in legal issues

LGMS428

More likely out west where the OP is talking about it's likely ranch access; especially on I-40 and I-10.  Usually even the most obscure dirt roads and former towns have names on the exit which usually means there is a ranch somewhere.

[oscar]

I-70 in Colorado has an exit to "No Name". That exit serves a Census Designated Place and several other geographic features called "No Name". However, some of those places seem to have been named "No Name" after the exit was so named.

[jwolfer]

Sometimes they are for planned future development..at least in a place like Florida.  Sometimes said development doesnt happen or gets mired in legal issues

LGMS428

More likely out west where the OP is talking about it's likely ranch access; especially on I-40 and I-10.  Usually even the most obscure dirt roads and former towns have names on the exit which usually means there is a ranch somewhere.

I agree. The Gate Parkway exit off Butler Blvd(sr 202) in Jacksonville, FL was built in the 1990s as a SPUI to no where for a long time it was.

The area that is now the St. Johns Town Center, Tinseltown and various business ceters was sand dunes, remnants of titanium mining operation. Now its high end shopping and housing.

There were legal issues with landowners and developers which delayed development.  Now off SR 9B there is an empty exit to Peyton Parkway.. They should've just named Peyon Place

LGMS428

[coatimundi]

I-10 has an unnamed and unannounced exit in southeastern Pinal County: 229. It just has an "EXIT" sign at the actual ramp. It provides access to a small power plant by the side of the road. I would guess that it was never actually named or signed because it was not really intended for public use. The service road there is the old highway, named Casa Grande Highway, so they could have used that, though that may have caused too much confusion.
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.5489019,-111.3022651,3a,75y,319.3h,72.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sanu8nj7rmiuSWUXPtyDcGg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

But a lot of these are in eastern NM and western TX, and they're for ranch access.

[epzik8]

That looks like just an unnamed access road.

[sparker]

Almost as vague as "no name" exits was Caltrans' penchant for rural exits labeled "Frontage Road", which served not only the referenced frontage roads but normally a number of perpendicular rural roads in areas where overcrossings were not deemed necessary (and listing of those roads on the freeway itself would be cumbersome).  There were many of these on CA (formerly US) 99 in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys; those still existing are along older stretches of freeway (US 101 also featured plenty of these, particularly in the Salinas Valley).  As CA 99 is gradually being revamped, the "frontage road"-referenced exits are largely being supplanted by exits featuring the actual names of crossing or intersecting roads. 

[coatimundi]

That looks like just an unnamed access road.

I don't know if this is directed at my post but, if so: no, it has a name. Within Pinal County, as this exit is, it's Camino Adelante, which is the road used for the power plant's address. South of there, in Pima County, it's Casa Grande Highway. There's also Missile Base Road right there (which does lead to a former Titan II missile site). So there are names that could have been used.

Almost as vague as "no name" exits was Caltrans' penchant for rural exits labeled "Frontage Road", which served not only the referenced frontage roads but normally a number of perpendicular rural roads in areas where overcrossings were not deemed necessary

Ugh, Texas is absolutely terrible about this. It would take a long time to count the number of "Frontage Road" exits there are in that state. What's worse is that they often use the postal abbreviation ("Rd.") on the sign, insinuating that that's actually the name of the road.
I've always thought the worst was on southbound Mopac, where the ramps are maybe 50' from one another. The stupid thing is that that first ramp does provide access to a street that the other ramp does not, yet it's not used on the BGS. For another treat, check out the StreetView for the current BGS of that exit.
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2406776,-97.8169926,17.5z

Especially if there were businesses or houses along the frontage road, it would be nice to have the address range plus the freeway name (e.g. - "13501 - 13599 Katy Freeway"), similarly to how surface streets often have signs for homes that are grouped on a side street but are addressed to that primary street. But maybe that's too confusing.

[ET21]

I know the ones in South Dakota are ranch access and Indian reservation links

[formulanone]

...in some cases, access to a dam.

[lordsutch]

Especially if there were businesses or houses along the frontage road, it would be nice to have the address range plus the freeway name (e.g. - "13501 - 13599 Katy Freeway"), similarly to how surface streets often have signs for homes that are grouped on a side street but are addressed to that primary street. But maybe that's too confusing.

That's actually pretty common in Texas. My bank's address is 10750 McDermott Freeway, San Antonio, TX.

(And sometimes the road is actually named Frontage Road.)

There's also the semi-notorious I-22 exit 53, which lacks any guide signage at all except at the exit gores, intended for a realignment of Wire Road/extension of AL 102 between I-22 and Townley that has never materialized.

[coatimundi]

Especially if there were businesses or houses along the frontage road, it would be nice to have the address range plus the freeway name (e.g. - "13501 - 13599 Katy Freeway"), similarly to how surface streets often have signs for homes that are grouped on a side street but are addressed to that primary street. But maybe that's too confusing.

That's actually pretty common in Texas. My bank's address is 10750 McDermott Freeway, San Antonio, TX.

No, my point was that the BGS would actually have the address range. I've never seen that in Texas, but maybe you have a link, if that's what you meant.

I also think it's interesting when the BGS has a road name but the road is just an under/overpass. Used to be several along 288 in southern Houston. There are two near-examples in Tucson.

[jwolfer]

Especially if there were businesses or houses along the frontage road, it would be nice to have the address range plus the freeway name (e.g. - "13501 - 13599 Katy Freeway"), similarly to how surface streets often have signs for homes that are grouped on a side street but are addressed to that primary street. But maybe that's too confusing.

That's actually pretty common in Texas. My bank's address is 10750 McDermott Freeway, San Antonio, TX.

(And sometimes the road is actually named Frontage Road.)

There's also the semi-notorious I-22 exit 53, which lacks any guide signage at all except at the exit gores, intended for a realignment of Wire Road/extension of AL 102 between I-22 and Townley that has never materialized.

My sister is 9 years older than me... I remember when she moved to Houston when i was about 10.. Her address was Gulf Freeway.

Of couse being the roadgeek i am i knew it was I-45 and i even think at the time it still was US 75, at least in the atlas.  I thought that was so cool to live ON an interstate

LGMS428

[Bickendan]

Thread immediately made me think of I-84 in Utah: https://goo.gl/maps/YV14VS2YXQr

[SD Mapman]

I know the ones in South Dakota are ranch access and Indian reservation links

Mainly farm/ranch access; the main ways into the Rez from the interstate are usually state/US highways. Additionally, I think there's only two or three actual "no-name" exits, since most of the roads have names.

[hobsini2]

Simple answer is to screw with the general public since we get used to calling roads by some name. I know on the Kansas Tpk between Emporia and Wichita, there is an exit that is strictly used for the cattle ranches out there. I want to say north of Cassoday. And that exit, last time I went through there 8 years or so, was just labeled with an interchange number and no name.

[thenetwork]

When I drove I-94 through North Dakota back in the 90s, there seemed to be a lot of exits with just the Exit number, i.e.:

EXIT 224            or        EXIT 224
1/2 MILE                       (arrow)

I mentioned on another thread that Utah was starting to give actual names to Ranch Access exits along I-70.  Usually it was more of a description of a land area or creek name in that immediate area than an actual road name, but it was still better than Ranch Access.

[SD Mapman]

When I drove I-94 through North Dakota back in the 90s, there seemed to be a lot of exits with just the Exit number, i.e.:

EXIT 224            or        EXIT 224
1/2 MILE                       (arrow)

I mentioned on another thread that Utah was starting to give actual names to Ranch Access exits along I-70.  Usually it was more of a description of a land area or creek name in that immediate area than an actual road name, but it was still better than Ranch Access.

Yup, SD has these too. Yay for the Great Plains!

[ZLoth]

Since California, for decades, had no exit numbers, I don't think having a "Exit XXX" would have worked here.

[Scott5114]

Simple answer is to screw with the general public since we get used to calling roads by some name. I know on the Kansas Tpk between Emporia and Wichita, there is an exit that is strictly used for the cattle ranches out there. I want to say north of Cassoday. And that exit, last time I went through there 8 years or so, was just labeled with an interchange number and no name.

Nope, it's labeled CATTLE PENS, and has no exit number. It leads to an overpass and some cattle pens, as you might expect. It's presumably usable by turnpike travelers, though not being a cattle rancher I can't imagine what need there would be to go through the trouble. There is a track that extends south of the pens for a decent ways, but I don't think it's a public right-of-way.

[roadman65]

Simple answer is to screw with the general public since we get used to calling roads by some name. I know on the Kansas Tpk between Emporia and Wichita, there is an exit that is strictly used for the cattle ranches out there. I want to say north of Cassoday. And that exit, last time I went through there 8 years or so, was just labeled with an interchange number and no name.

Nope, it's labeled CATTLE PENS, and has no exit number. It leads to an overpass and some cattle pens, as you might expect. It's presumably usable by turnpike travelers, though not being a cattle rancher I can't imagine what need there would be to go through the trouble. There is a track that extends south of the pens for a decent ways, but I don't think it's a public right-of-way.

Its now a scenic overlook on both sides to view the Flint Hills.   Alex and I were there last week and got great photos of the stop.

[SD Mapman]

Simple answer is to screw with the general public since we get used to calling roads by some name. I know on the Kansas Tpk between Emporia and Wichita, there is an exit that is strictly used for the cattle ranches out there. I want to say north of Cassoday. And that exit, last time I went through there 8 years or so, was just labeled with an interchange number and no name.

Nope, it's labeled CATTLE PENS, and has no exit number. It leads to an overpass and some cattle pens, as you might expect. It's presumably usable by turnpike travelers, though not being a cattle rancher I can't imagine what need there would be to go through the trouble. There is a track that extends south of the pens for a decent ways, but I don't think it's a public right-of-way.

I'm pretty sure that's the only exit I've seen where the ramps turn to gravel halfway through.

[TEG24601]

Some appear to allow for a U-Turn, access to cattle grazing areas, or they exit was created for a project, which is now complete, and for one reason or another, they haven't closed or removed the exit.