NCDOT to add I-495 onto US 64 from I-440 to I-95

[amroad17]

Since NCDOT is adding I-495 to US 64, the BGS's on I-95 should have Raleigh as the control city and Nashville on an auxilliary sign.

[Strider]

The north/south design on I-495 makes sense to me. Rocky Mount is northeast of Raleigh. I don't see any issues with it.

Most people who want to get to I-95 South from Raleigh continues on I-40 east. For these who want to get to I-95 North from Raleigh tend to use US 64 East (not US 264), which makes the I-495 a north-south routing.

[Alps]

Seattle is north of Boston. I-90 should be signed north-south.

Seriously, Rocky Mount is about that far north of Raleigh compared to how far east it is.

[WashuOtaku]

Since NCDOT is adding I-495 to US 64, the BGS's on I-95 should have Raleigh as the control city and Nashville on an auxilliary sign.

I highly doubt they will change the signs along I-95 anytime soon, at least until I-495 is completed.

[WashuOtaku]

Seattle is north of Boston. I-90 should be signed north-south.

Seriously, Rocky Mount is about that far north of Raleigh compared to how far east it is.

You must be in the same group that want I-26 signed north-south and I-85 signed east-west. 

[Strider]

Seattle is north of Boston. I-90 should be signed north-south.

Seriously, Rocky Mount is about that far north of Raleigh compared to how far east it is.

You must be in the same group that want I-26 signed north-south and I-85 signed east-west. 

Lol yeah but can't say the same about I-69 which turns from north-south to west-east near Lansing, MI.

[WashuOtaku]

Look at these signs, north and south I-495, near Raleigh.



Also took a picture of a typical "Future I-495" along the route east of I-540 and the BIG end sign for US 264, which if you look on the asphalt, will soon may be replaced with a combo end I-495/US 264 sign.    I have more pictures on my flickr page.

[exit10]

Count me in Washu's camp here.

I-277 in Akron used to be signed north-south on the basis that I-77 is a north-south route. Then at some point (late 90s, I think?), ODOT realized that was pretty ridiculous and re-signed it west-east, matching its geographic orientation and the direction of US 224 (which is the route number the locals use regardless).

But hey, this is NC we're talking about. When I moved to Chapel Hill, I'm pretty sure I punched a kitten* when I figured out that the "Inner Beltway" and "Outer Beltway" around Raleigh were opposite sides of the same road.

*Not really. My roadgeekery is animal-safe, I promise.

[Jim]

I wonder if the locals will still be referring to this road primarily as "64" (or however they refer to it now) years or decades from now like Boston's I-95 is seemingly forever "128" and St. Louis' I-64 is "Highway 40".

As for the directional signage, I think it makes a lot more sense as E/W.  However, I can see some value in I-495 being N/S if US 64 will remain designated on the same highway as E/W, given that it's at least a little bit of a diagonal route.

[Alps]

But hey, this is NC we're talking about. When I moved to Chapel Hill, I'm pretty sure I punched a kitten* when I figured out that the "Inner Beltway" and "Outer Beltway" around Raleigh were opposite sides of the same road.

*Not really. My roadgeekery is animal-safe, I promise.

DC and Norfolk sign their beltways Inner/Outer, and I've seen it other places (I think I-485 Charlotte). Don't throw a squirrel.

[hbelkins]

2012 Carolinas Trip Day 2 - 301 by hbelkins, on Flickr

2012 Carolinas Trip Day 2 - 305 by hbelkins, on Flickr

2012 Carolinas Trip Day 2 - 333 by hbelkins, on Flickr

[WashuOtaku]

Yea, both I-277 and I-485 use inner/outer in addition to north/south on their signs, in Charlotte.  When I-485 was first established, they also signed east-west on the first section because it was going east-west; but they were all replaced (except for the overhead sign on US 521, which should be replaced soon) to the current format 2-3 years ago.

[exit10]

Oh no, it's spreading! Run!

When I lived in NC (2001-2004), Charlotte was not yet afflicted with this evil. Neither was SE Virginia when I was last there.

I recommend a quarantine.

[english si]

Wouldn't CLOCK and COUNTER be more useful than INNER and OUTER?

[froggie]

Not necessarily. INNER and OUTER work quite well in DC.

[WashuOtaku]

Wouldn't CLOCK and COUNTER be more useful than INNER and OUTER?

If Charlotte drivers saw clock or counter clock, they probably expect to be hit by clocks.   

[1995hoo]

Not necessarily. INNER and OUTER work quite well in DC.

It might bear nothing that the Capital Beltway signs aren't in quite the same fashion as the ones in North Carolina (and formerly on the Beltline near Raleigh). North Carolina uses INNER and OUTER on the BGSs either in addition to or in lieu of actual directions. The signs on the Beltline omitted NORTH, SOUTH, etc. in favor of INNER and OUTER, for example, unlike the examples shown for the Charlotte area. (Triangle residents also refer to the "Inner Beltline" and the "Outer Beltline" to refer to the two carriageways rather than to two different roads as people would do here. The "Outer Beltway" refers to a never-constructed highway.)

The DC area signs, in contrast, use a Capital Beltway logo with "INNER LOOP" or "OUTER LOOP" underneath, but insofar as I've seen the BGSs always use solely the actual direction. I don't believe I've ever seen a BGS using "INNER LOOP" or "OUTER LOOP" anywhere (whether in addition to or in lieu of). There might be a post-mounted shield somewhere with the "LOOP" designation below a shield, but off the top of my head I can't ever recall seeing one. As far as I can visualize, they all have the logo sign present, and the signs' color scheme pretty clearly ties the "LOOP" designation to the "Capital Beltway" aspect rather than to I-95 or I-495.

I'm pretty sure the DC area usage came from traffic reporters adopting those expressions to distinguish the two directions of traffic.

 


Heh....that second image was taken barely nine years ago, but it looks like a totally different place compared to today!

[WashuOtaku]

It might bear nothing that the Capital Beltway signs aren't in quite the same fashion as the ones in North Carolina (and formerly on the Beltline near Raleigh). North Carolina uses INNER and OUTER on the BGSs either in addition to or in lieu of actual directions. The signs on the Beltline omitted NORTH, SOUTH, etc. in favor of INNER and OUTER, for example, unlike the examples shown for the Charlotte area. (Triangle residents also refer to the "Inner Beltline" and the "Outer Beltline" to refer to the two carriageways rather than to two different roads as people would do here. The "Outer Beltway" refers to a never-constructed highway.)

Regarding the Triangle area, nowadays it does; but before I-540 started taking shape around Raleigh, I-440 was looped completly around Raleigh and was using Inner/Outer in similiar setup as the signage in Charlotte now.  In 2002, they realize people in Raleigh couldn't get it and removed I-440 from I-40 and switched the signage to east-west.

[1995hoo]

It might bear nothing that the Capital Beltway signs aren't in quite the same fashion as the ones in North Carolina (and formerly on the Beltline near Raleigh). North Carolina uses INNER and OUTER on the BGSs either in addition to or in lieu of actual directions. The signs on the Beltline omitted NORTH, SOUTH, etc. in favor of INNER and OUTER, for example, unlike the examples shown for the Charlotte area. (Triangle residents also refer to the "Inner Beltline" and the "Outer Beltline" to refer to the two carriageways rather than to two different roads as people would do here. The "Outer Beltway" refers to a never-constructed highway.)

Regarding the Triangle area, nowadays it does; but before I-540 started taking shape around Raleigh, I-440 was looped completly around Raleigh and was using Inner/Outer in similiar setup as the signage in Charlotte now.  In 2002, they realize people in Raleigh couldn't get it and removed I-440 from I-40 and switched the signage to east-west.

.....

I thought that was more or less what I said. Notice I used past tense when referring to the Beltline's INNER/OUTER signage.

[WashuOtaku]

I thought that was more or less what I said. Notice I used past tense when referring to the Beltline's INNER/OUTER signage.

No worries, I can't read. 

[Avalanchez71]

It is probably marked North so folks don't go "east" to hit I-95 South.  It runs NE so North makes more sense as someone heading out of Raleigh to I-95 will be heading somewhere north.

[roadman65]

Whenever you have a diagonal route it can go either way.  Example would be if I-24 was an odd numbered interstate, it would be signed North and South and be the same.

You will run into these issues with that always with diagonal routes, so we here are worried about nothing.  Whether its N-S or E-W does not change the function of the route.   Heck look at US 52 in SC, it now is signed E-W to follow FHWA guidelines, yet it still runs N-S in the Palmetto State.

[froggie]

it now is signed E-W to follow FHWA guidelines

FHWA guidelines for route direction only really apply to Interstate highways.  Directional signage for state and US routes is strictly a state matter.

[bugo]

It's north-south because it's an odd-digit interstate highway.  Also, if one looks on a map, it does go north-south similar to I-85 in the state.  Same reason I-26 is east-west, because it's even-digit. 

Wrong.  3 digit interstates aren't required to be signed in the same direction of their parents.  There are plenty of examples of 3 digit interstates that are signed in a different direction as their parents (I-180, I-530, I-444, etc).

[Arkansastravelguy]

It's north-south because it's an odd-digit interstate highway.  Also, if one looks on a map, it does go north-south similar to I-85 in the state.  Same reason I-26 is east-west, because it's even-digit. 

Wrong.  3 digit interstates aren't required to be signed in the same direction of their parents.  There are plenty of examples of 3 digit interstates that are signed in a different direction as their parents (I-180, I-530, I-444, etc).

Where is I-444 signed?


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