Worst control city on an interstate in your state

[mgk920]

Not my state, but California's "Beach Cities" on CA-91 is groan-inducing. Am I supposed to know which of the ten trillion cities in Orange County have beaches and which don't?

IIRC, the mileage sign (which I think is gone) just past CA-71 listed Beach Cities at 43 miles - meaning the Beach Cities wasn't even referring to Orange County, but to Manhattan Beach/Redondo Beach/Hermosa Beach at the historical end of CA-91 (at CA-1).

All the recent re-signing projects have doubled down on Beach Cities - not sure why Anaheim isn't an acceptable control for CA-91 westbound.

That's like 'Shore Points' on EB I-195 in New Jersey.

Mike

[DTComposer]

Not my state, but California's "Beach Cities" on CA-91 is groan-inducing. Am I supposed to know which of the ten trillion cities in Orange County have beaches and which don't?

IIRC, the mileage sign (which I think is gone) just past CA-71 listed Beach Cities at 43 miles - meaning the Beach Cities wasn't even referring to Orange County, but to Manhattan Beach/Redondo Beach/Hermosa Beach at the historical end of CA-91 (at CA-1).

All the recent re-signing projects have doubled down on Beach Cities - not sure why Anaheim isn't an acceptable control for CA-91 westbound.

That's like 'Shore Points' on EB I-195 in New Jersey.

Mike

And of course, "Other Desert Cities" on I-10.
What really bothers me about that is not just that vagueness, but that it's co-signed with Indio - so it ignores that one of those "other" cities is Palm Springs - an internationally-known destination.

It wasn't a population thing, since Palm Springs was larger than Indio when those signs were put up (and was larger until the mid-'90s). It wasn't a direct connection thing, since Palm Springs is just a few miles down CA-111 or Indian Canyon Road from I-10, and Caltrans uses non-direct destinations all the time (San Francisco on I-5, for example). Signing I-10 as Palm Springs/Indio just makes sense to me.

[hobsini2]

I-80 west used to have Moline

I have an early childhood memory of that, from the 80/55 interchange, in the mid- to late-1980s.  But for some reason I was thinking the signs said Rock Island instead.

The I-80/55 Interchange used to say Des Moines and Toledo in the 1980s. Moline/Rock Island along with Gary, Indiana was only used at smaller interchanges starting at US 30 Maple St.

Streetview in 2019:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.520737,-87.9958213,3a,15y,126.87h,91.39t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sqyTWFWp9tc9M8wV93xNPsQ!2e0!5s20190901T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.3863218745748895%26panoid%3DqyTWFWp9tc9M8wV93xNPsQ%26yaw%3D126.87071376307884!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

When IDOT reconstructed the 30 interchange in 2021, the sign changed to Iowa and Indiana.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5206797,-87.9957522,3a,75y,124.82h,96.3t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sjvocErq50ElVP5gD_7qehQ!2e0!5s20221101T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-6.298654863004444%26panoid%3DjvocErq50ElVP5gD_7qehQ%26yaw%3D124.82390835123319!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

You can still find a few Gary, Indiana relics in Joliet (Briggs St, Richards St, 52/53 Chicago St and Center St) but not for long.

[kphoger]

I-80 west used to have Moline

I have an early childhood memory of that, from the 80/55 interchange, in the mid- to late-1980s.  But for some reason I was thinking the signs said Rock Island instead.

The I-80/55 Interchange used to say Des Moines and Toledo in the 1980s. Moline/Rock Island along with Gary, Indiana was only used at smaller interchanges starting at US 30 Maple St.

It must just be a false memory, then, because I'm certain my memory is of the 80/55 interchange.  I specifically remember it because, just west of the interchange, were the first hitchhikers I ever remember seeing as a kid—a family with suitcases hitching from the shoulder.  I grew up in New Lenox through third grade, so we drove through that interchange whenever we went south or west.

I remember wondering as a young child where there was an island anywhere nearby in Illinois, but I suppose maybe I'm conflating two different memories:  one of I-80 at I-55, the other from somewhere else.

[thenetwork]

I-80 west used to have Moline

I have an early childhood memory of that, from the 80/55 interchange, in the mid- to late-1980s.  But for some reason I was thinking the signs said Rock Island instead.

The I-80/55 Interchange used to say Des Moines and Toledo in the 1980s. Moline/Rock Island along with Gary, Indiana was only used at smaller interchanges starting at US 30 Maple St.

It must just be a false memory, then, because I'm certain my memory is of the 80/55 interchange.  I specifically remember it because, just west of the interchange, were the first hitchhikers I ever remember seeing as a kid—a family with suitcases hitching from the shoulder.  I grew up in New Lenox through third grade, so we drove through that interchange whenever we went south or west.

I remember wondering as a young child where there was an island anywhere nearby in Illinois, but I suppose maybe I'm conflating two different memories:  one of I-80 at I-55, the other from somewhere else.

Back when Toledo and Moline were listed on the overheads at the 80/55 interchange, you could still make out the "shadows" of the US-66 shields that were scraped off after 66 was decommissioned.