The Attempt to Fix Virginia Signage Featuring WillWeaverRVA

[plain]

The city has informed me that the "END US 250" request, some missing movements at US 360 where it turns from Fairfield Way onto Mechanicsville Turnpike, and some missing VA 197 signage at Saunders and Laburnum have been resolved.

I saw a BEGIN US 250 sign yesterday morning on Broad St WB, but it was at 23rd St 

[WillWeaverRVA]

The city has informed me that the "END US 250" request, some missing movements at US 360 where it turns from Fairfield Way onto Mechanicsville Turnpike, and some missing VA 197 signage at Saunders and Laburnum have been resolved.

I saw a BEGIN US 250 sign yesterday morning on Broad St WB, but it was at 23rd St 

That's actually where it's supposed to be according to the VDOT ArcGIS map!

[plain]

The city has informed me that the "END US 250" request, some missing movements at US 360 where it turns from Fairfield Way onto Mechanicsville Turnpike, and some missing VA 197 signage at Saunders and Laburnum have been resolved.

I saw a BEGIN US 250 sign yesterday morning on Broad St WB, but it was at 23rd St 

That's actually where it's supposed to be according to the VDOT ArcGIS map!

I think that map is old schooling it in this regard because I could've sworn US 250's terminus was moved to US 360 years ago.

[WillWeaverRVA]

The city has informed me that the "END US 250" request, some missing movements at US 360 where it turns from Fairfield Way onto Mechanicsville Turnpike, and some missing VA 197 signage at Saunders and Laburnum have been resolved.

I saw a BEGIN US 250 sign yesterday morning on Broad St WB, but it was at 23rd St 

That's actually where it's supposed to be according to the VDOT ArcGIS map!

I think that map is old schooling it in this regard because I could've sworn US 250's terminus was moved to US 360 years ago.

Oh crap, you're right. The 2003 route log says it ends at 18th, not 23rd. I've created a sign error! 

[dfnva]

I was in the Woodbridge area, so I drove by the NOVA campus, and didn't see any postings of VA-394 on southbound Neabsco Mills Rd at either of the entrances. There is still a gigantic VA-1 shield as it approaches US-1.

On a separate note, with an effort to finally get VA-28 signed at the terminus of VA-215, I also asked VDOT about the feasibility of signing more significant secondary routes with shields in the northern Virginia area where primary routes cross them (some examples... Route 620 on VA-123, Route 644 on VA-286, Route 659 on VA-234, Route 650 on VA-236). The response I got was there seems to be no interest in doing so due to the use of GPS, locals' use of road names, and that LRS signs or inclusion of the route number on street name signs is sufficient (though one or both are missing at all of these intersections except one case). I find that odd since I wasn't asking for every secondary route to be posted with a shield like they often are in rural areas of the state. But, I tried.

[1995hoo]

As a practical matter, I can't say I necessarily disagree with VDOT's point about nobody using the secondary route numbers with one exception. The only secondary route I can think of in Northern Virginia that you routinely hear referred to by number is Route 644, which the radio traffic reporters refer to that way because it changes names when it crosses I-95 and it carries a significant volume of traffic. (Back when the Fairfax County Parkway was a secondary route they referred to it by number as well, but of course it's been renumbered.)

Can you think of any others that people refer to by numbers? To be sure, I can think of secondary routes that change names multiple times (far more than the one time that Route 644 does), but I can't think of anyone using route numbers to refer to them.

[jb_va23]

As a practical matter, I can't say I necessarily disagree with VDOT's point about nobody using the secondary route numbers with one exception. The only secondary route I can think of in Northern Virginia that you routinely hear referred to by number is Route 644, which the radio traffic reporters refer to that way because it changes names when it crosses I-95 and it carries a significant volume of traffic. (Back when the Fairfax County Parkway was a secondary route they referred to it by number as well, but of course it's been renumbered.)

Can you think of any others that people refer to by numbers? To be sure, I can think of secondary routes that change names multiple times (far more than the one time that Route 644 does), but I can't think of anyone using route numbers to refer to them.

I do hear people refer to Braddock Rd as Route 620 every so often.

[Dirt Roads]

Can you think of any others that people refer to by numbers? To be sure, I can think of secondary routes that change names multiple times (far more than the one time that Route 644 does), but I can't think of anyone using route numbers to refer to them.

Don't know if they still talk like this, but SR-606 (Elden Street and Baron Cameron Avenue) in Herndon/Reston was called "six-oh-six" back in the 1980s and 1990s.  Of course, folks pandering to the Reston elite would say "Baron Cameron" on the radio instead.

Heading west, some folks also referred to Sterling Road and Old Ox Road from Herndon around and down to South Riding as "six-oh-six around the airport", even when those street names were preferred by locals. 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Can you think of any others that people refer to by numbers? To be sure, I can think of secondary routes that change names multiple times (far more than the one time that Route 644 does), but I can't think of anyone using route numbers to refer to them.

Don't know if they still talk like this, but SR-606 (Elden Street and Baron Cameron Avenue) in Herndon/Reston was called "six-oh-six" back in the 1980s and 1990s.  Of course, folks pandering to the Reston elite would say "Baron Cameron" on the radio instead.

Heading west, some folks also referred to Sterling Road and Old Ox Road from Herndon around and down to South Riding as "six-oh-six around the airport", even when those street names were preferred by locals. 

Before it became primary, and for a few years after, a lot of folks and most traffic reporters referred to the Fairfax County Parkway as 7100.

[dfnva]

These are interesting points. I have heard people refer to the road I live off of as 619 since it changes names so many times in PWC. It helps that Route 619 is well-posted except where it diverges onto Fuller Heights Rd just outside of Quantico. I've also heard people refer to Route 659 as such. Then, there is the converse where there are primary routes that people rarely, if ever, refer to the route number.

That brings up another thought -- what is the necessity, if any, for posting any route numbers with colloquial use of street names and GPS's except in those cases that most use the route number (e.g. US highways, VA-7, VA-236, VA-234, VA-123, VA-28, and such). However, in my experience the Google maps GPS uses route numbers often for secondary routes and in some cases, in lieu of the street name.

I guess I feel that posting route numbers gives drivers an easier and quicker option for wayfinding and those secondary routes that are the most significant should be posted at all significant intersections. And, then, of course, if a road is a primary route, it should also be posted in most cases.

As a practical matter, I can't say I necessarily disagree with VDOT's point about nobody using the secondary route numbers with one exception. The only secondary route I can think of in Northern Virginia that you routinely hear referred to by number is Route 644, which the radio traffic reporters refer to that way because it changes names when it crosses I-95 and it carries a significant volume of traffic. (Back when the Fairfax County Parkway was a secondary route they referred to it by number as well, but of course it's been renumbered.)

Can you think of any others that people refer to by numbers? To be sure, I can think of secondary routes that change names multiple times (far more than the one time that Route 644 does), but I can't think of anyone using route numbers to refer to them.