Control cities that aren’t reciprocated

[JayhawkCO]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ttjrEUaQQvBQ3Xxf6

Thank you. Don't know why I couldn't find it. I haven't driven it in 15 years or so, so I thought maybe I was having a fever dream.

[Roadgeekteen]

Does it sound familiar that there used to be a sign right before the I-35/I-90 interchange that said "Austin Exit 13A, Blue Earth Exit 13B"? I can't imagine I'm just making it up.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ttjrEUaQQvBQ3Xxf6

Thank you. Don't know why I couldn't find it. I haven't driven it in 15 years or so, so I thought maybe I was having a fever dream.
[/quote] At least they sign Sioux Falls on the BGS in Albert Lea at the I-35 interchange. Minnesota does sometimes do a good job.

[Flint1979]

Speaking of the I-90/94 split I'm surprised that Rochester isn't the control city. I-90 doesn't run smack dab through it, but it does serve it, and Rochester is a bigger city than Albert Lea. The only reason Albert Lea is ever a control city is because it's at an interchange between two major Interstate's.

Minnesota seems to really hate the city on I-90 for some reason, and Wisconsin doesn't care for it either. They don't even sign it out of Albert Lea on I-90 east.

I might be Mandela-effecting myself, I but I could swear that there used to even be a sign saying Blue Earth for WB and Austin for EB at the I-35/I-90 interchange, but I can't see it on GSV even going back. Possible it was pre-2008.

MN-13 still has Blue Earth and Austin as the control cities. I-35 has Sioux Falls and La Crosse. Austin is also used at the MN-56 interchange for WB. This seems a lot like I-94 in Michigan that uses Chicago as the control city for WB as far away as Detroit at all the major interchanges but then uses smaller cities in Michigan at the secondary interchanges.

Does it sound familiar that there used to be a sign right before the I-35/I-90 interchange that said "Austin Exit 13A, Blue Earth Exit 13B"? I can't imagine I'm just making it up.

You mean this sign?
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6685719,-93.3231127,3a,15y,10.42h,90.19t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svoIrfspDU0MgDViYLCA4XA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.19067162163578644%26panoid%3DvoIrfspDU0MgDViYLCA4XA%26yaw%3D10.419339148618285!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAxNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[Flint1979]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

[Roadgeekteen]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

I will say, Moorhead isn't the worst control city in the world, but Fargo is the more famous of the 2 so I would sign Fargo.

[Flint1979]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

I will say, Moorhead isn't the worst control city in the world, but Fargo is the more famous of the 2 so I would sign Fargo.

No obviously not but Ritzville on I-90 in Washington is a strange one because it is only signed once. There was one by me on I-75 that had Bay City signed as the control city for NB, it has been since changed to Mackinac Bridge to at least keep the consistency going. That was at exit 154 at the north end of the Zilwaukee Bridge which is more of a local exit than a major one.

[Roadgeekteen]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

I will say, Moorhead isn't the worst control city in the world, but Fargo is the more famous of the 2 so I would sign Fargo.

No obviously not but Ritzville on I-90 in Washington is a strange one because it is only signed once. There was one by me on I-75 that had Bay City signed as the control city for NB, it has been since changed to Mackinac Bridge to at least keep the consistency going. That was at exit 154 at the north end of the Zilwaukee Bridge which is more of a local exit than a major one.

Are Fargo/Moorhead really seen as twin cities? Moorhead isn't tiny but Fargo has 3 times more people than Moorhead.

[Flint1979]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

I will say, Moorhead isn't the worst control city in the world, but Fargo is the more famous of the 2 so I would sign Fargo.

No obviously not but Ritzville on I-90 in Washington is a strange one because it is only signed once. There was one by me on I-75 that had Bay City signed as the control city for NB, it has been since changed to Mackinac Bridge to at least keep the consistency going. That was at exit 154 at the north end of the Zilwaukee Bridge which is more of a local exit than a major one.

Are Fargo/Moorhead really seen as twin cities? Moorhead isn't tiny but Fargo has 3 times more people than Moorhead.

Yeah they are because they are sister cities that form the core of one metro area, the metro area is called Fargo-Moorhead and they share services and stuff.

[JayhawkCO]

Shockingly, Mound City, MO isn't reciprocated anywhere.

[Flint1979]

This might be a better post for the one about the distance between control cities, but I just went further west on I-94 to Bismarck and Billings is 415 miles away and starts being the control city there. That is the same distance between Saginaw, MI and Lexington, KY.

[webny99]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

On post-interchange mileage signs I believe they actually rotate between Moorhead and Fargo, though I'm not sure why.

[Flint1979]

Starting in the St. Cloud area Minnesota uses Moorhead, then Alexandria, then Fergus Falls, then back to Moorhead. Why not just use Moorhead the whole way?

[Molandfreak]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

On post-interchange mileage signs I believe they actually rotate between Moorhead and Fargo, though I'm not sure why.

They rotate between Minneapolis and St. Paul as well, so the answer is likely just because they are twin cities.

[webny99]

Starting in the St. Cloud area Minnesota uses Moorhead, then Alexandria, then Fergus Falls, then back to Moorhead. Why not just use Moorhead the whole way?

I did a deep dive on this earlier and that's actually not the case, at least on the mainline.

West of St. Cloud, post-interchange mileage signs rotate between [Next Interchange / Alexandria / Fargo] and [Next Interchange / Sauk Center / Moorhead] until eventually Sauk Center is the next interchange, and then it's just [Next Interchange / Alexandria / Fargo-Moorhead rotation]. West of Alexandria, it's [Next Interchange / Fergus Falls / Fargo-Moorhead rotation].

MNDOT is actually very consistent with post-interchange mileage signs overall, even if their practices (especially the dual control cities) are a little unconventional.

[discochris]

According to GSV from August its Tomah/La Crosse, no Albert Lea at the 90 94 split.

La Crosse is alright there but Tomah is kind of dumb considering it's right there pretty much after the split. Anyway it's been that way for years, I don't remember Albert Lea ever being the control city there.

EDIT: I take that back, Albert Lea is signed going EB on 90/94 at the split but not WB. Back in the day it was just La Crosse as the control city going EB, Albert Lea was added sometime around 2010.

That's very strange. I'd think that Albert Lea is more helpful westbound than eastbound. Of course it shouldn't be signed anywhere but...

Sorry. I may have been a bit confusing.  I was traveling eastbound towards Madison. But the signage for La Crosse - Albert Lea was where you exit to WB 90. My return trip today I went a different way, so I didn't see it going WB.

[discochris]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

I will say, Moorhead isn't the worst control city in the world, but Fargo is the more famous of the 2 so I would sign Fargo.

It's stupid provincialism.  Moorhead has a population of 43,000 and is basically a suburb of Fargo. Fargo has a population of 136,000, is an important city regionally, and is the largest city in ND.

Control cities on interstates should be the next major city/metro when leaving a metro area.

For example, I-35 should be: Duluth, Minneapolis-St.Paul (a unique case), Des Moines, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas-Ft. Worth (similar unique case), Austin, San Antonio, Laredo. No Albert Lea or Mason City or Waco or any other such crap.

94 should be: Billings, Bismarck, Fargo, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Port Huron.

[tman]

Starting in the St. Cloud area Minnesota uses Moorhead, then Alexandria, then Fergus Falls, then back to Moorhead. Why not just use Moorhead the whole way?

I did a deep dive on this earlier and that's actually not the case, at least on the mainline.

West of St. Cloud, post-interchange mileage signs rotate between [Next Interchange / Alexandria / Fargo] and [Next Interchange / Sauk Center / Moorhead] until eventually Sauk Center is the next interchange, and then it's just [Next Interchange / Alexandria / Fargo-Moorhead rotation]. West of Alexandria, it's [Next Interchange / Fergus Falls / Fargo-Moorhead rotation].

MNDOT is actually very consistent with post-interchange mileage signs overall, even if their practices (especially the dual control cities) are a little unconventional.

Yes, they are certainly consistent with the format of those mileage signs. That said, I think the alternating Minneapolis/St. Paul makes more sense on I-35 than I-94, since you'll eventually come to the 35 E/W split and would encounter them at roughly the same time, depending on which branch you take, unlike coming from the east or west.

[Molandfreak]

Minnesota does some strange things. I-94 is a mess as well, with them not really wanting to use Fargo.

Well Moorhead is a core city in the area and the twin city to Fargo. Minnesota there just wanted to use a city in their own state. At that point they could just sign Billings and that'd be fine lol.

I will say, Moorhead isn't the worst control city in the world, but Fargo is the more famous of the 2 so I would sign Fargo.

It's stupid provincialism.  Moorhead has a population of 43,000 and is basically a suburb of Fargo. Fargo has a population of 136,000, is an important city regionally, and is the largest city in ND.

Control cities on interstates should be the next major city/metro when leaving a metro area.

For example, I-35 should be: Duluth, Minneapolis-St.Paul (a unique case), Des Moines, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas-Ft. Worth (similar unique case), Austin, San Antonio, Laredo. No Albert Lea or Mason City or Waco or any other such crap.

94 should be: Billings, Bismarck, Fargo, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Port Huron.

Do you also think Illinois should use Davenport (by far the largest of the Quad Cities) as a control city rather than Rock Island and Moline? Should Iowa sign Omaha instead of Council Bluffs? Favoritism isn't exclusive here.