Nevada

[ClassicHasClass]

I thought it was because the feds were getting on their case about outline shields on freeway signs and they decided they'd rather make the spades green than the freeway shields white.

That was my understanding.  FHWA told CalTrans that they couldn't use outlines of shields on guide signs for US and state routes anymore (IIRC they were already using shields for interstates), so they changed the state route shield to green so the outline and the "shield" would be the same.

I'll find the CHPW volume from 1964 I'm referencing tonight.  It talked about the shield color change fairly extensively.  I don't recall anything about the Federal government being mentioned at all. 

Of course, that could also have been, "well, we were going to do it anyway, so there."

[gonealookin]

Also someone asked me how visible the "inverted US 50 shield was" Here's what my dash cam recorded today.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/moabdave/55277593670/in/dateposted-public/

Heh, you went right past my house there.  I'm not in the new places that have the fence signage and flags, which are going for $1.5M-$2M, but I'm in the older subdivision to the right on that same hillside.  That's why I'll know exactly when the white-on-black US 50 shield disappears.

I think Max wants to look at CHPW March-April 1964, page 11 for the California shield discussion.  They considered blue and gold, similar to county route shields, but thought white-on-green provided better visibility.

[Max Rockatansky]

Yes, that's the correct volume.  It has a signage swap out from US 101A to CA 1 on Pacific Coast Highway on the cover.

I had the cover photo on our Facebook page a couple years ago:

https://www.facebook.com/100063655972258/posts/pfbid0217fapxZB2BiH4AeSvZvaPnibmUZJHBzzaJ1ybXdh82xBQv6VJVNMpuSkyvzNiS53l/?fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e

[Max Rockatansky]

The March/April 1964 CHPW article hitting on the green spade can be found on Page 11.  The article goes over the State Highway Renumbering also:

https://archive.org/details/californiahighwa196465calirich/page/n83/mode/2up

FWIW, I do think the green spade does stand out pretty well in Tule Fog:

99CA1 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[moabdave]

Reaction seems a bit extreme for that 207 shield.

Oh just having a bit of fun. Exploiting the stereotype that Nevadans are fighting the foreign invaders. Scott said it best, we were so worried about California taking over, we forgot about New Jersey.

[Scott5114]

Reaction seems a bit extreme for that 207 shield.

Oh just having a bit of fun. Exploiting the stereotype that Nevadans are fighting the foreign invaders. Scott said it best, we were so worried about California taking over, we forgot about New Jersey.

I'm just amused you were annoyed enough by that sign to gain several thousand feet of elevation about it so you could take that picture.

[Max Rockatansky]

I started digging into the history of Kyle Canyon Road (NV 157).  As part as I can tell the earliest iteration of the Kyle Canyon Road was constructed to reach the Keil Sawmill by the early 1880s. 

Kyle Canyon Road first appears on 1907-1908 USGS maps connecting from Las Vegas Valley to the Charleston Forest Preserve.  By 1905 the Griffith campground was plotted in Kyle Canyon and was connected to the Tonopah & Tidewater Tule Station via Kyle Canyon Road.  The Griffith campground was a success and was expanded into the original Mount Charleston Lodge in 1915. 

The 1932-1934 Nevada Department of Highways Biennial announced that 17.62 miles of Kyle Canyon Road from Nevada State Route 5 west to the National Forest boundary was being graveled.  An additional 3.66 miles within the Forest Service boundary were also being graded to Charleston Park.  The project corridor was awarded by the Bureau of Public Roads via Federal Land and Forest Service funds. 

The 1934-1936 Nevada Department of Highways Biennial announced Kyle Canyon Road was surfaced and completed to State Highway standards.  The corridor was subsequently brought into the Nevada State Highway System as Nevada State Route 39.  Three Redwood timber bridges were constructed as part of the modernization of Kyle Canyon Road. 

[Max Rockatansky]

I started working on NV 158 (Deer Creek Road) tonight.  The first map I can find displaying Deer Creek Road is the 1935 Department of Highways map.  The 1937 Department of Highways map for Clark County shows the southern half of Deer Creek Road running through Telephone Canyon.

The 1952 Department of Highways map of Clark County shows Deer Creek Road bypassing Telephone Canyon onto the alignment NV 158 now uses.  The 1968 Clark County map shows Deer Creek Road assigned as FAS 812 along with modern Telephone Canyon Road having been reopened by the Forest Service. 

I ran through the entire library of Biennial Reports and could find no mentions of what was going with Deer Creek Road.  What I know for sure is that NV 39 (Kyle Canyon Road) and NV 52 (Lee Canyon Road) were given State Highway designations during the 1932-1934 Biennium.  As I noted in my previous post Kyle Canyon Road in particular had a bunch of improvements via Bureau of Public Roads funding in the 1932-1934 Biennium.  Lee Canyon Road wouldn't get similar opinions until the mid-1950s after Deer Creek Road was realigned. 

Does anyone know where I can find more information on FAS 812 as it was in Nevada for the early 1950s?  I suspect that might have some answers regarding what was going on with the corridor being realigned.  Robbers Roost Cave and Deer Creek Camp seemed to have gained some popularity by the 1950s era from what I'm seeing on the Clark County maps.