Signing status of some NV state highways

[treichard]

Do any of these Nevada state routes have their number posted on the standard state highway shield along the route?  Or are some of these state route numbers not posted at all?

I've looked on Google Maps Street View already, but its coverage isn't complete and most of it is several years old.

171
223
362
396
425
426
430
529
578
594
602
668
673
705
781
816
858
878
880
894

[roadfro]

Most Nevada state routes are signed at the beginning and end. NDOT is kinda notorious for not posting a lot of reassurance markers along the routes, although they are pretty good on doing reassurance near junctions.

Urban routes are especially notorious. You'll often find that there are few, if any, reassurance signs or signs to indicate there is a junction. There is another subset of urban routes that are not signed at all. Many 700 and 800 series routes are also not signed consistently.


Here's my observations on most of your list:

171 - not signed at all.

362 - signed as "US 95 Truck" around Hawthorne.

425 - A couple signs exiting the roundabout on the east end say "SR 425", but there are no SR 425 shields (there are some I-80 Bus. shields though).

426 - not signed (too short)

430 - southern segment: was signed SB w/ "End US 395 Bus." shield just north of US 395 @ exit 57 (might still be there); co-signed with US 395 SB just south of SR 431; might also be signed NB just past US 395 onramp @ Exit 57.

430 - northern segment: signed SB at north end (w/ a north banner, instead of south) - there might also be an accompanying end sign in opposite direction. It is also signed as an intersecting route on N. McCarran Blvd/SR 659 at the south end (although incorrectly indicating 430 goes south of McCarran, which it no longer does.

529 - fairly certain what is left of this route is not signed, favoring US 395 & US 50 instead.

578 - not signed (too short)

594 - not signed (too short)

602 - not signed (too short)

668 - not signed (too short)

673 - not signed (too short)

705 - too short to be signed, and isn't connected directly to the rest of the state system.

878 - not signed (too short)

880 - used to have begin/end signs at the end of state maintenance on the western end, which may have been removed during a resurfacing project.

894 - don't think this one is signed...

[agentsteel53]

705 - too short to be signed, and isn't connected directly to the rest of the state system.

Wikipedia says this connects to US-395 south of Carson City.  does it connect to what is now old US-395?

[gonealookin]

This is the east end of NV 705 (old US 50 before the 4-lane highway up to Lake Tahoe was built) at the line between Douglas County and Carson City, looking east toward US 395 which is about 0.5 mile distant.



Looking a few hundred yards down, much of this stretch was widened and improved with curb, gutter and sidewalk in connection with the construction of the Costco, visible on the left in the distance.  Perhaps it was at the time these improvements were needed that the Carson City segment of NV 705 was relinquished to the city?

[roadfro]

705 - too short to be signed, and isn't connected directly to the rest of the state system.

Wikipedia says this connects to US-395 south of Carson City.  does it connect to what is now old US-395?

Wikipedia's SR 705 article is out of date (one of several...I slowly pick them off when I can).

Old Clear Creek Road intersects US 395 just south of the US 395/US 50 split in Carson City, just north of the Carson City/Douglas County line. The road goes west and slightly south, dips into Douglas County for about .91 miles, then turns a bit more northerly back into Carson City. The Douglas County portion is still on the state highway system, but the only connection to the rest of the state system was turned back to Carson City at some point.

As far as I am aware, SR 705 is the only highway under NDOT maintenance that does not intersect or interchange any other route on the state highway system.

[national highway 1]

I have a question, when US 395 is moved onto I-580 when its complete, what will the sections of old US 395 that aren't concurrent with US 50 be? Will they be re-signed as state routes, or transferred to city/county maintenance?   

[treichard]

roadfro, thanks for your listing and explanation of state signing practice.  I found it surprising that state route shields are frequently not posted where two state routes intersect.

NV 781 is a bridge that does not connect to another state-maintained highway.
http://www.nevadadot.com/uploadedFiles/NDOT/About_NDOT/NDOT_Divisions/Planning/Roadway_Systems/2012DI.pdf (Page 97)

At the opposite extreme is NV 604, which doesn't extend beyond an intersection with a state highway. (Page 40)

[roadfro]

NV 781 is a bridge that does not connect to another state-maintained highway.
http://www.nevadadot.com/uploadedFiles/NDOT/About_NDOT/NDOT_Divisions/Planning/Roadway_Systems/2012DI.pdf (Page 97)

At the opposite extreme is NV 604, which doesn't extend beyond an intersection with a state highway. (Page 40)

SR 604 (Las Vegas Blvd) exists in two segments.
* One is the short segment along the Strip, on either side of Tropicana Ave (SR 593) for intersection maintenance. (I believe this section is still state-maintained because NDOT may control the pedestrian bridges on all four corners of the intersection.
* The other segment is 13+ miles long, from near the southern border of North Las Vegas and through unincorporated Las Vegas north toward I-15 at Apex.

I forgot about the SR 781 bridge. I think that is a remnant of being a state owned bridge on a road that used to be a pre-1976 state highway, but the road itself wasn't state maintained.

[roadfro]

I have a question, when US 395 is moved onto I-580 when its complete, what will the sections of old US 395 that aren't concurrent with US 50 be? Will they be re-signed as state routes, or transferred to city/county maintenance?   

So you are talking about Carson City. Some background:

It appears that NDOT designated SR 529 & SR 530 in Carson City around late 1994.
* SR 529 ran the entire length of Carson Street between the southern US 50/395 junction north to the proposed alignment of the Carson Bypass. This was all signed as US 395 (with overlap from US 50).
* SR 530 ran along E. William Street, from Carson Street east to the proposed alignment of the Carson Bypass. This was signed as US 50.
With these designations, the NDOT descriptions/mileage of US 395 & US 50 were moved to the future Carson Bypass, even though the actual highways remained signed along state routes.

As the Carson City Freeway has been constructed, US 395 (and later US 50) have been rerouted along opened portions of the new freeway. Parts of Carson Street where US 395 was rerouted were changed to US 395 Business, but still retained the SR 529 designation internally.

When US 50 was rerouted off William Street, there was no signed business route (although NDOT did get it approved through AASHTO) but the hidden SR 530 designation remained.


Starting around 2009, NDOT started turning maintenance of several state highways within Carson City over to the city. The deal was to have the city take on these roads (which were really city streets anyway), and NDOT would lessen the city's financial obligations to the state for trying to fast-track construction of the Carson City Freeway. Through this process, all of SR 530 and much of SR 529 have been relinquished to the city.

The only remaining sections still on state maintenance is SR 529/S. Carson Street, where it is still signed as the original alignment of US 50/395 between Fairview Drive (temporary US 50/395) and the 50/395 junction south of town. Whenever the final piece of the Carson City Freeway is completed, US 50 and US 395 will be rerouted on to it and the remainder of SR 529 will be turned over to the city.




Another piece to consider is the current section of US 395 between Reno and Washoe Valley, through the Pleasant Valley and Washoe City areas. While signed as US 395, this section is in NDOT's logs as part of SR 430. When the I-580 Freeway Extension is completed in the next few months, the current signing of US 395 will be moved to the new freeway. The current highway has received AASHTO approval to be signed as US 395 Alternate (for facilitating high wind detours), which may mean that the SR 430 designation may cease to exist in favor of US 395A in the NDOT logs.

[treichard]

Nevada's 2nd Q route log
http://www.nevadadot.com/uploadedFiles/NDOT/About_NDOT/NDOT_Divisions/Planning/Roadway_Systems/DI_2012QTR2.pdf
notes some changes to their numbered highway systems on p. 4.

Have any of these changes already been implemented (signs removed, installed, or changed)?

US 395 Alt - New route from Eastlake Blvd. to Patriot Blvd. in Reno, taking over NV 429 and part of NV 430.
NV 429 - Deleted route.
NV 430 - Part was changed to US 395 Alt.
NV 318 - New route. (Correction: new name to existing route, so not relevant.)
NV 780 - Deleted route.

[gonealookin]

When I drove through Washoe Valley yesterday (7/28/2012) NV 429 was still fully signed, and I have yet to see any signed reference to "Alternate US 395".

[andy3175]

Regarding Nevada 705, we just added some new material at this link:

https://www.aaroads.com/west/misc_nv.html

We also show parts of old Lincoln Highway that are not part of Nevada 705.

Regards,
Andy

[roadfro]

Nevada's 2nd Q route log
http://www.nevadadot.com/uploadedFiles/NDOT/About_NDOT/NDOT_Divisions/Planning/Roadway_Systems/DI_2012QTR2.pdf
notes some changes to their numbered highway systems on p. 4.

Have any of these changes already been implemented (signs removed, installed, or changed)?

US 395 Alt - New route from Eastlake Blvd. to Patriot Blvd. in Reno, taking over NV 429 and part of NV 430.
NV 429 - Deleted route.
NV 430 - Part was changed to US 395 Alt.
NV 318 - New route. (Correction: new name to existing route, so not relevant.)
NV 780 - Deleted route.

The US 395 Alt, SR 429 & SR 430 changes are not yet signed in the field. This will not happen until the I-580 freeway extension is open to traffic (projected to occur sometime next month).

[treichard]

With the new section of I-580 now open, have these state route changes taken place?

[roadfro]

I have not yet personally verified it, but I have seen news reports showing Alt US 395 shields...there is also a picture of the beginning of Alt US 395 Northbound in another thread on the Pacific Southwest board.

[oscar]

I have not yet personally verified it, but I have seen news reports showing Alt US 395 shields...there is also a picture of the beginning of Alt US 395 Northbound in another thread on the Pacific Southwest board.

Yes, while Alt US 395 is called "Old US 395" on exit signs in both directions on 580/395, there is a pair of Alt US 395 sign assemblies at the Eastlake exit (exit 44) -- a "begin" assembly where westbound Eastlake passes under the freeway, and a corresponding "end" assembly across the street -- as well as several others on northbound Old US 395 south of where it will cross over the freeway once work on the exit 50 interchange (Old US 395/Bowers Mansion) is finished.  There's also at least one Alt US 395 assembly north of exit 50 (alongside a Business US 395 assembly, just north of the NV 431 junction), as well as 395A postmiles on that stretch.  Photos to follow later, probably after Labor Day since I'll be offline while soaking in some more backcountry Idaho hot springs.

BTW, I-580 signage continues south at least to US 50 east (exit 39).  There wasn't any on the rest of the freeway south to the Fairview interchange (exit 38), though there also is no "end" or "begin" signage indicating that I-580 stops at exit 39.  NDOT isn't necessarily finished with installing new I-580 signs, so I wouldn't make much of that.

[roadfro]

BTW: I-580 is now fully signed from I-80.

[silverback1065]

Most Nevada state routes are signed at the beginning and end. NDOT is kinda notorious for not posting a lot of reassurance markers along the routes, although they are pretty good on doing reassurance near junctions.

Urban routes are especially notorious. You'll often find that there are few, if any, reassurance signs or signs to indicate there is a junction. There is another subset of urban routes that are not signed at all. Many 700 and 800 series routes are also not signed consistently.


Here's my observations on most of your list:

171 - not signed at all.

362 - signed as "US 95 Truck" around Hawthorne.

425 - A couple signs exiting the roundabout on the east end say "SR 425", but there are no SR 425 shields (there are some I-80 Bus. shields though).

426 - not signed (too short)

430 - southern segment: was signed SB w/ "End US 395 Bus." shield just north of US 395 @ exit 57 (might still be there); co-signed with US 395 SB just south of SR 431; might also be signed NB just past US 395 onramp @ Exit 57.

430 - northern segment: signed SB at north end (w/ a north banner, instead of south) - there might also be an accompanying end sign in opposite direction. It is also signed as an intersecting route on N. McCarran Blvd/SR 659 at the south end (although incorrectly indicating 430 goes south of McCarran, which it no longer does.

529 - fairly certain what is left of this route is not signed, favoring US 395 & US 50 instead.

578 - not signed (too short)

594 - not signed (too short)

602 - not signed (too short)

668 - not signed (too short)

673 - not signed (too short)

705 - too short to be signed, and isn't connected directly to the rest of the state system.

878 - not signed (too short)

880 - used to have begin/end signs at the end of state maintenance on the western end, which may have been removed during a resurfacing project.

894 - don't think this one is signed...

That's bizarre, from what your saying it sounds like it would be very frustrating trying to follow some routes in Nevada.  I'm from Indiana and our highways are signed very well, but I notice that a lot of states don't seem to sign their routes well.  Why don't states sign their routes better?  Money issues?

[roadfro]

That's bizarre, from what your saying it sounds like it would be very frustrating trying to follow some routes in Nevada.  I'm from Indiana and our highways are signed very well, but I notice that a lot of states don't seem to sign their routes well.  Why don't states sign their routes better?  Money issues?

The majority of routes in Nevada that aren't signed well are those routes wholly within urban areas, where the routes are more commonly known by whatever street name the road has. These urban state routes only have route numbers because NDOT owns the roadway, not for navigational purposes. This, I assume, is part of the reason the routes are not signed very well.

Nevada's routes in rural areas, and any routes within urban areas that "go somewhere" outside of the urban area, are typically signed fairly well.

[agentsteel53]

Jeff Royston and I have scoured the new 580, and it is kind of a cluster right now with regard to signing the freeway consistently as 580, and the old route as ... something else.

the freeway is sometimes 580, sometimes 395, and sometimes 580/395.

the old road is 395 alternate, 395 business, sometimes both in the same location for opposite directions... at least once just plain 395, and several times state route 430.

I would say that the best solution is to make the freeway 580 and the old road 395.  but that would make too much sense, apparently.

[roadfro]

When were you out there? There was a period of about two months where signing was really inconsistent, but is better now from what I've seen.


One issue that was puzzling to me is that NDOT replaced all the freeway entrance signs with I-580 shields, not leaving the US 395 shields as well (which is opposite to what they did with I-515 in Vegas, where they added the I shields and kept/rearranged the US shields as well). They even did this with many overhead BGSs, covering the 395 shield when the original sign was designed to accommodate an added 580 shield next to the existing 395 shield.

From what I've seen lately, the majority of the mainline freeway in Reno and Carson City is now dual designated as I-580/US 395. I can't speak to the new freeway extension though--I surprisingly haven't driven it yet.

The old highways that are now US 395 Alternate (old SR 429 & SR 430) have received signage for the Alt route. The business route in Reno (which technically overlaps the north end of the alternate route) has not been well signed for the last decade. On the southern section of SR 430 overlapping the old 395, there had been a couple 430s that were still there a few months ago.


Another aspect I find interesting: NDOT makes reference to US 395A via VMS displays along I-80 and I-580 whenever there is high wind warnings that would compel/require trucks to take the alternate route. However, there is no signage of US 395 Alt along the freeway at any point to let drivers know where the alternate route leaves the mainline. It is signed as simply "Virginia St South" in Reno, "Old US 395" at Washoe City, and not signed at all at the Eastlake Blvd interchange by Carson City. You'd think if NDOT went through the trouble to reclassify two old highways for the purposes of facilitating their high wind truck detour, they'd sign the route at the decision/detour points.

[agentsteel53]

When were you out there? There was a period of about two months where signing was really inconsistent, but is better now from what I've seen.

Jeff was there Dec 24-28 and I was there the 28th.

[roadfro]

Interesting. I thought it had gotten more consistent since August/September. Admittedly, I haven't been able to do much driving since then to see the evolution in signing practice.