Roads that have had their directions changed

[hbelkins]

This thread is for routes that have had their directional orientation changed. For instance, it used to be signed N/S but is now signed E/W, or vice versa.

I can think of at least three Kentucky state routes in my area for which this has happened.

KY 82 in Estill and Powell counties is now signed as N/S. It used to be signed E/W. There is still one stray "West KY 82" sign at the route's terminus at KY 15 and the Mountain Parkway in Clay City.

KY 191 in Wolfe and Morgan counties. Used to be signed N/S, now signed E/W.

KY 1571 in Estill County. This road runs pretty much due E/W but was signed N/S for years. Now signed E/W.

I also suspect there may have been a change to WV 4 at some time in the past. West Virginia's scheme generally signs one- and two-digit state routes N/S for even numbers and E/W for odd numbers. WV 4 is signed N/S and has been severely truncated from its original length, which was decidedly more E/W than N/S, but there is at least one "East WV 4" sign near the route's western (southern?) terminus.

[Takumi]

VA 147 was signed both seemingly randomly (it starts off going northeast from US 60, then turns southeast after crossing the James River), but the newer signage on it seems to be all east-west.

[pianocello]

IL-4 was N-S until it became US-66, and eventually (if not right away) became E-W. Today, the original alignment of 66 south of Springfield is back to IL-4 and N-S.

[NE2]

IL-4 was N-S until it became US-66

Were directional banners used back then?

[TheStranger]

Route 37 in California was originally a north-south route encompassing today's Route 37 from US 101 to Sears Point, and all of Route 121.

In the 1964 renumbering, 37 was rerouted to follow what was pre-1964 Route 48 from Sears Point to I-80 in Vallejo, with the north-south segment past Sears Point becoming Route 121.  With this, 37 became the east-west route it is today.

A more bizarre one from this state too:

Until 1964, no matter how far it was from its east-west segment, US 6 was signed as "east-west" - even on the Harbor Freeway, today's I-110!

After 1964, it seems the rather short segment remaining from US 395 to the Nevada border is signed north-south - though the entirety of the remaining road to Cape Cod is primarily east-west!

[PHLBOS]

MA 114 was originally a north-south road when it ended in Salem; but when it was extended into Marblehead in the late 50s (along MA 1A and former-MA 129), it became an east-west road.

However, in the early 70s (over a decade after the change took place) when overhead highway signage was erected in Danvers at the MA 114/US 1 & I-95 (then unopened) interchanges, the directions & trailblazer signs for 114 erroneously read NORTH-SOUTH rather than EAST-WEST.  All the overhead signage was corrected about 2 to 3 years later by removing all the N, O, R, U & H lettering and replacing them with W, E & A lettering.  The S for the South signage was simply respositioned and additional S's were provided for the WEST signage.

I say all the above because when the DPW replaced the lettering; with the exception of one pull-through sign for westbound 114, the 4 letters for the actual direction were placed in the same exact spot as the first 4 of the original 5 letters.  In short, the spot that once had an H was left blank; thereby making it fairly easy to spot the lightershade of green where the H once stood when viewing the signs up close.

Needless to say, the above signs were all replaced in the 2000s.

To add, when the DPW corrected the old green overhead signs; the smaller trailblazer signs along 114 (still bearing the NORTH & SOUTH directions) were left untouched for years.

[jwolfer]

SR 105 in Florida needs its direction changed.  It runs from I-95 in north Jacksonville to the ocean and it E-W but it is signed as N-S.  At one time it was signed into Fernandina Beach but the SR 105 is dropped at the Mayport ferry where SR A1A takes over.  From the ferry into Fernandina is actually NS but the 105 designation is dropped.  On Amelia Island there is CR 105a that is an indication that 105 once went to Fernandina

[1970_i feel alright]

The only one I can think of right-off is CA 2 , the Glendale Freeway .
Originally slated to run the length of Santa Monica Blvd , and dubbed "Beverly Hills Freeway" , its direction was East-West ; some signs still show this E/W destination .

[TheStranger]

The only one I can think of right-off is CA 2 , the Glendale Freeway .
Originally slated to run the length of Santa Monica Blvd , and dubbed "Beverly Hills Freeway" , its direction was East-West ; some signs still show this E/W destination .

Route 2 was on Santa Monica Boulevard for many years though (and is still on some part of that street), and is east-west past I-210 to Route 138. 

Is the Glendale Freeway consistently signed north-south? 

I know there are a few "101 East/West" signs along surface streets crossing the Ventura Freeway, but never on the actual freeway itself.

[vdeane]

I-180, PA: north-south at the start, became east-west when extended.

I-590 may have had a direction change as well but I'm not sure.  It was planned to cover the entire "outer loop" around Rochester, so east-west would be the logical choice, but I don't know how far signage got before I-390 to downtown was cancelled (and the FHWA rejected I-590 north of I-490).

[agentsteel53]

After 1964, it seems the rather short segment remaining from US 395 to the Nevada border is signed north-south - though the entirety of the remaining road to Cape Cod is primarily east-west!

except in Cape Cod itself, where it starts out northeast, quickly turns south, and then turns west after about 25 miles.

[Alps]

NJ 36 used to have two directional changes, since it follows a C shape. The part along the shore has always been NS. The much longer stretch along the Atlantic Highlands was re-signed from EW to NS, while the short stretch in southern Monmouth Co. remained EW. (Personally, of course, I think it should have been the other way around.) A couple of EW signs remain in the now NS stretch that still runs EW - and in fact, it's so EW that CR 516 (even number CR = EW route) crosses it such that you would turn right to go from SB to EB or WB to SB.

US 1 in CT was once all EW. West of New Haven was re-signed NS long enough ago that almost nothing EW remains. East of New Haven still has a lot of remnants, but slowly disappearing.

Then you have cases like US 62 in Ohio that can't make up its mind - in fact, that's true of a lot of Ohio routes that ran diagonally with the old NW/NE/SW/SE banners. Did Ohio ever set in stone which way each route was to run when those were discontinued? Because it sure seems like they didn't.

[national highway 1]

The later US 66 portions of expressway in Illinois were signed E/W, now they are signed as I-55 N/S,

[WillWeaverRVA]

VA 147 was signed both seemingly randomly (it starts off going northeast from US 60, then turns southeast after crossing the James River), but the newer signage on it seems to be all east-west.

Some email communications I've had with VDOT regarding VA 147 seems to imply that it has always been intended to be an east-west route despite the north-south signage that appears here and there in Richmond and Chesterfield County.

[Kacie Jane]

When a slew of Washington state routes were renumbered to SR 20 to make one long route to celebrate the opening of the North Cascades Highway, one of them was the northern half of SR 525 on Whidbey Island, a north/south route.  (I believe the portion on the Olympic Peninsula had also been an odd N/S number, but I can't remember for certain off the top of my head.)

[Mark68]

US 285 in Denver runs along a major E/W thoroughfare (Hampden Ave)  from its north terminus at I-25 to the west end of Denver metro at C-470,  where it begins curving  southwest into the foothills. Up until reconstruction of the freeway portion a couple years ago, some of the signs directing one to the onramps said east or west.

[Darkchylde]

Very minor example, but LA 1088 was signed N/S back in the 80's or so. In the 90's it got changed to E/W. It's a diagonal route that tends more E/W than N/S.

[achilles765]

Very minor example, but LA 1088 was signed N/S back in the 80's or so. In the 90's it got changed to E/W. It's a diagonal route that tends more E/W than N/S.

That number sounds familiar... where is LA 1088?
This reminds me of LA 16 though... as well as a number of highways in my home parish of Tangipahoa Parish.. LA 1061 and LA 1054 for example, make 90 degree turns that cause direction shifts

[PHLBOS]

US 1 in CT was once all EW. West of New Haven was re-signed NS long enough ago that almost nothing EW remains. East of New Haven still has a lot of remnants, but slowly disappearing.

Back when the CT Turnpike was still a toll road; there were some I-95 trailblazer signage that had 'EAST' & 'WEST' signs (vs. 'NORTH' & 'SOUTH') scattered about.  I'm sure those are long gone by now.

[PAHighways]

I-380 (PA):  originally signed east-west, changed to north-south during the exit number conversion of 2001

[vtk]

What used to be US 33 through Pomeroy, OH is now OH 833.  Both highways are signed East—West, but when the road became OH 833, its direction reversed!  (Personally, I would have made OH 833 North—South...)

[Brandon]

The later US 66 portions of expressway in Illinois were signed E/W, now they are signed as I-55 N/S,

Actually, and I have seen the photos, US-66 was signed "CHICAGO" and "ST LOUIS" as the "cardinal directions".

[roadman65]

NJ 18 was originally signed E-W from the Garden State Parkway to its end in Piscataway.  Now its N-S.
NJ 440 was signed E-W in Middlesex County, NJ that was change to N-S in the late 80s.  There is still a sign showing EB NJ 440 on the Garden State Parkway Service Road at New Brunswick Avenue in Woodbridge, and on NJ Turnpike signs at Exit 10 in Edison my last time up there a few years back.

US 52 in South Carolina was N-S, then recently changed to E-W.  Where it intersects US 521, you turn right on EB US 52 to go NB on US 521, or left to go south.  Then on US 521 you turn left going NB to go EB on US 52, etc.  It does run more N-S in South Carolina and in North Carolina it is still signed N-S (unless they changed too). 

FL A1A, was bannerless from Fernandina Beach, FL to Callahan, FL.  Now it is signed E-W along with FL 200 that it is concurrent with.

[Darkchylde]

Very minor example, but LA 1088 was signed N/S back in the 80's or so. In the 90's it got changed to E/W. It's a diagonal route that tends more E/W than N/S.

That number sounds familiar... where is LA 1088?
This reminds me of LA 16 though... as well as a number of highways in my home parish of Tangipahoa Parish.. LA 1061 and LA 1054 for example, make 90 degree turns that cause direction shifts

Goes NE from LA 59 just outside Mandeville, interchanges with I-12 @ Exit 68, then continues in a ENE direction to LA 36 east of Abita Springs.

[Alps]

NJ 440 was signed E-W in Middlesex County, NJ that was change to N-S in the late 80s.  There is still a sign showing EB NJ 440 on the Garden State Parkway Service Road at New Brunswick Avenue in Woodbridge, and on NJ Turnpike signs at Exit 10 in Edison my last time up there a few years back.

They replaced the sign on the "service road" (just before the US 9 merge)... and they made a carbon copy that still says EAST!