Control city changes

[TheStranger]

Not something I see overly often, but once in a while the control destinations for a route are changed due to reroutings, or another destination becoming more prominent over time. 

Two California examples:

- At the MacArthur Maze, the close control city for I-580 east was "East Oakland" while then-Route 17 along the original Cypress Street Viaduct was "Downtown Oakland" as seen in Michael Summa's photo:
http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ca/i-80/w580.jpg

Today, with I-980 providing a link into downtown Oakland from I-580, and I-880 (supplanting Route 17) being rebuilt after the earthquake slightly more to the west, 580's close control city is now "Downtown Oakland" while 880's is "Alameda."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zacharymaillard/3357110152/

- I-5/US 99 heading out of Los Angeles on the Golden State Freeway was signed for "Bakersfield" originally...
www.aaroads.com/shields/show.php?image=CA19580051

but when 99 was truncated (as a state route) to begin in Wheeler Ridge at I-5, the control city was switched to the much further north Sacramento (which I-5 directly enters, unlike Bakersfield).

https://www.aaroads.com/california/images005/i-005_nb_exit_138_03.jpg

[jdb1234]

In Birmingham, the control city for I-65 North was Nashville, but sometime in the '90s it was changed to Huntsville.

[Revive 755]

There's the change from Columbus to Dayton on EB I-70 in Indiana.

In the St. Louis area

* SB I-270 used Tulsa for a few years at the US 40 interchange, but now uses Memphis.

* At the I-70/US 40/US 61 interchange in Wentzville, EB I-70 originally had "Lambert Airport" but now just uses St. Louis.  EB US 40/SB US 61 used Chesterfield/Forest Park, but now uses only Chesterfield.

* NB IL 255 has changed from the original Wood River to Alton at most interchanges, though signs on I-270 still use Wood River.

[huskeroadgeek]

When I-65 North in Birmingham was changed from Nashville to Huntsville in the late 90s, Tennessee then reciprocated by changing the signs for I-65 South in Nashville from Birmingham to Huntsville.
I-25 North in Denver used to be signed for Cheyenne, but is now signed for Ft. Collins.
I-70 West in Denver has been signed for Limon as long as I can remember, but the signage for I-70 West in Kansas has changed. I remember a sign about 20 years ago for I-470 West at US 75 in Topeka being signed as "Denver Colo". I think I-70 West at I-135 may have been signed that way at one time too. I remember I-70 West at I-135 being signed for Russell at one time too-it is now signed for Hays.

There's an old photo that has been posted on here before of the then I-80/I-80N(now I-80/I-84) split at Echo, UT that has San Francisco and Portland listed as distant control cities in addition to Salt Lake and Ogden, now just Salt Lake and Ogden appear on the signs.

[TheStranger]

There's the change from Columbus to Dayton on EB I-70 in Indiana.

In the St. Louis area

* SB I-270 used Tulsa for a few years at the US 40 interchange, but now uses Memphis.

270 south towards 44 was part of I-244 at one pont, probably explaining the control city choice (I'm surprised it wasn't Springfield).  Was 244 ever signed?

[RoadWarrior56]

Until sometime in the late 80's the control city for I-24 west of Nashville was St. Louis.  It was then changed to Clarksville.  One relic of St. Louis as the control city is a mileage sign immediately west of Nashville that still includes the miles to St. Louis.

[CL]

Before the 1990s or so, citizens of Salt Lake City would find these two control cities on I-15: Provo going south and Pocatello going north. More recently, Las Vegas (with its booming population I suppose) and Ogden (not as booming but I guess it's grown) have replaced the two cities, respectively. Interesting; the southern control city increased in distance dramatically while the northern control city did just the opposite.

[roadfro]

Many signs along and intersecting I-80 in Reno used to use "Salt Lake" as the control city for I-80 eastbound; most of these now say "Elko".

Signs for I-15 northbound around the US 93-95 (Spaghetti Bowl) interchange in Las Vegas used to have North Las Vegas and Salt Lake City on the legends. More recent signs only use Salt Lake City. Along those same lines, signs for US 93-95/I-515 southbound near the Spaghetti Bowl used to use Phoenix and Needles for the control legends. Needles has since been dropped on nearly all mainline signage.

[Ian]

On I-95 in New Hampshire, the Hampton toll plaza was recently equipped with high speed E-ZPass lanes. At the toll, exit 2 (NH 101) surrounds it. The signs for exit 2 used to have the control cities of Hampton and Exeter. When NHDOT changed out all the signs for the toll, they replaced the exit 2 signs and now the cities are Hampton and Manchester.

[shadyjay]

I-95 in New York City:
NB, NEW ENGLAND was (unfortunetly) replaced with NEW HAVEN
SB, NEW JERSEY was replaced with TRENTON (which I-95 doesn't even go to and should've been left NJ)

I-95 in Connecticut:
Control cities on the original turnpike signage was "NEW YORK AND WEST" and "RHODE ISLAND AND EAST".
Later, east of New Haven, the control point of PROVIDENCE was changed to NEW LONDON to Waterford, and remains PROVIDENCE east of there.

I-95 in Massachusetts:
NH-MAINE was replaced with PORTSMOUTH NH on most signage, except on the Mass Pike at the 95/128 interchange.

I-95 in New Hampshire:
I thought for sure that "TO ALL MAINE POINTS" would have been replaced with PORTLAND ME when signs were replaced c 2000, but thankfully it was not.

[Revive 755]

270 south towards 44 was part of I-244 at one pont, probably explaining the control city choice (I'm surprised it wasn't Springfield).  Was 244 ever signed?

I've seen no reason to believe I-244 was unsigned, given it's prevalence in old maps and newspaper articles, but I have yet to see any pictures of a I-244 Missouri shield (but I haven't checked through all of the old annual Missouri Highway Department reports)

[FreewayDan]

Before the 1990s or so, citizens of Salt Lake City would find these two control cities on I-15: Provo going south and Pocatello going north. More recently, Las Vegas (with its booming population I suppose) and Ogden (not as booming but I guess it's grown) have replaced the two cities, respectively. Interesting; the southern control city increased in distance dramatically while the northern control city did just the opposite.

Some out-of-state cities were once used in Utah as control cities for...
I-15 SOUTH - Los Angeles:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22306412@N07/4657831948/
I-80 WEST - San Francisco & I-80N (I-84) WEST - Portland
http://www.interstate-guide.com/images080/i-080n_ut_et_01.jpg

[hbelkins]

Until sometime in the late 80's the control city for I-24 west of Nashville was St. Louis.  It was then changed to Clarksville.  One relic of St. Louis as the control city is a mileage sign immediately west of Nashville that still includes the miles to St. Louis.

And upon entering Kentucky, I-24's control city changes to Paducah. Southeast of Paducah, Nashville is used. Clarksville is a Tennessee-only thing.

Illinois uses Nashville as I-24's control city on I-57 and uses Paducah as a supplemental destination.

[golden eagle]

In Birmingham, the control city for I-65 North was Nashville, but sometime in the '90s it was changed to Huntsville.

I remember this. You could tell where the word "Nashville" was covered with a "Huntsville" sign. I just came back from a weekend in Birmingham. I should've tried to notice if that same sign was still there of if a new BGS was put in place with Huntsville having its own button-copy sign.

[brownpelican]

Presumably before I-610 was built, I-10 West in New Orleans East was signed Baton Rouge. On the Highrise, you could easily see where Baton Rouge was covered up by New Orleans.

[thenetwork]

I-271 SB from I-90 in Cleveland used to use Columbus &/or Akron as the control city(s).  Over the years, they have been leaning more towards just Columbus.

Northbound on I-271, ODOT used to have the CC of Euclid on some BGSs north of I-480 (near the Northern Terminus of I-271). That burg has disappeared over the years as well.

[huskeroadgeek]

Some others I know of:
An old picture I saw once of the I-80/I-680(then I-280) interchange in Omaha that was taken just after it opened in the early 60s showed I-80 East there being signed as "South Omaha". That sign must have been gone by at least the late 70s, because I never remember seeing it myself. I-80 East there is now signed as "Downtown".

On I-229 in St. Joseph, Mo. at the S. jct. with I-29, at least until the late 90s, I-29 North was signed as "Savannah". This sign was obviously old and may have been a relic from when I-29 ended just N. of St. Joseph at what is now the BL I-29/Bus. US 71 Exit(Exit 53) which is also signed for Savannah. I-29 North there is now signed as "Council Bluffs", like it is elsewhere in the St. Joseph area.

I-74 at I-80 in Davenport, Ia. used to be signed as "Peoria". But in an effort to discourage through traffic from using I-74 N. of its junction with I-280, it is now signed as "Bettendorf/Davenport".

[CL]

Many signs along and intersecting I-80 in Reno used to use "Salt Lake" as the control city for I-80 eastbound; most of these now say "Elko".

Interesting. UDOT still signs I-80 westbound for Reno.

Some out-of-state cities were once used in Utah as control cities for...
I-15 SOUTH - Los Angeles:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22306412@N07/4657831948/
I-80 WEST - San Francisco & I-80N (I-84) WEST - Portland
http://www.interstate-guide.com/images080/i-080n_ut_et_01.jpg

Oh yeah, I forgot about those two photos. LA! Wow. Twelve hour drive right there.

[Bickendan]

I-5 north of Salem used to have Seattle as the control, now it's Portland.

[74/171FAN]

The only one I can think of is for the I-495/Capital Beltway's Inner Loop becoming Tysons Corner over Rockville, MD 20 years ago or so.

[bugo]

US 75 north out of Dallas used to have Sherman as its control city, now it's McKinney.

[bulldog1979]

Michigan is slowly phasing in Mackinaw City in place of Mackinac Bridge on distance signs, with Upper Peninsula switching to St. Ignace as well. The guide signage though is still using Mackinac Bridge in most locations though.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I-271 SB from I-90 in Cleveland used to use Columbus &/or Akron as the control city(s).  Over the years, they have been leaning more towards just Columbus.

Northbound on I-271, ODOT used to have the CC of Euclid on some BGSs north of I-480 (near the Northern Terminus of I-271). That burg has disappeared over the years as well.

ODOT used to use local suburbs as control cities for I-270 around Columbus as well.
They changed this practice back in the early 80s IIRC as well.

[TheStranger]

Forgot to mention the obvious one here in Sacramento...US 99/Route 99 was originally signed southbound for Los Angeles, but with the completion of the West Side Freeway/I-5, that route received the Los Angeles southbound control city, while Route 99 today is signed for Fresno.

[jwolfer]

On I-95 in Florida.  The control cities used to be Miami/Jacksonville for most of the state.  Daytona Beach has been added over the past decade or so. I guess because the I-4 Junction is there. 

Lake City is the control city on I10 west in Jacksonville just because I-75 has the junction there.  Tallahassee would make more sense, it is larger and the state capital