The Interstate control city signage thread

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

California uber alles. . .

. . .

AZ is just being Jello

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by badrunner

lol it actually does make sense for that particular exit. You exit on 111 if you're going specifically to downtown Palm Springs. For every other destination in the Coachella Valley it's probably going to be faster if you stay on the 10. So the "other desert cities" is referring to Indio and the other cities of the Coachella Valley. It's not a slight against Phoenix, Tucson or El Paso.

Yes I see what you're getting at, but it's very non-standard. Standards are usually the name of the game in signing.

I would imagine someone that works at the City of Palm Springs told Caltrans, hey, seems like we're getting a lot of traffic through downtown on 111 going to other desert cities. Can you just put "Other Desert Cities" on the interstate guide sign for I-10?

[Xing]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Perhaps it's a bittersweet moment for interstate signage nerds, but the infamous "West Suburbs" control signs at the circle interchange have now been standardized to all read "Aurora" for all traffic merging onto the westbound Ike.

Oh well.

Nooooo!

And I didn’t even notice!

Great, it’s going to take me a few months to get over this.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Xing

Great, it’s going to take me a few months to get over this.

Yeah, I have no idea how many bottles of Malort it will take to numb this pain.

[Xing]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

Yeah. . . I stay out near Corona a lot when I'm out there. . . those signs are a hoot. . .

. . .

It’s a bit like, “which ones?” Or maybe I’m suppose to read it as California’s version of simply saying, “keep going that way, and you’ll run into the beach.”

[Acajack]

Ontario is also very Ontario-centric, and sometimes baffling to me in terms of control cities, either what they choose or lack thereof.

For example, if you're driving on the main highway from Ottawa (Canada's capital, second-largest city in Ontario) to Toronto (Ontario's capital, biggest city in Ontario and Canada), the exit on the left is the one you need to take.

That's all the info you get. No control city whatsoever. No mention of Toronto.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.7439...8192?entry=ttu

Then when you get to the end of the 416, you need to take the 401 to get to Toronto. Here they add a control city. But it's not Toronto.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.7666...8192?entry=ttu

Oh yeah, and BTW that other highway that's there at the same interchange leads to Montreal, Canada's second biggest city. No mention of it either.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Reno appears in Sacramento on I-80.

OK after I read your comment, I just had to look it up.

Yes, once you get to Barstow on the 15, continuing north, the control city is Las Vegas: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8858...8192?entry=ttu

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by badrunner

lol it actually does make sense for that particular exit. You exit on 111 if you're going specifically to downtown Palm Springs. For every other destination in the Coachella Valley it's probably going to be faster if you stay on the 10. So the "other desert cities" is referring to Indio and the other cities of the Coachella Valley. It's not a slight against Phoenix, Tucson or El Paso.

I thought of that too; "other desert cities" makes sense instead of listing the string of other cities in the Coachella Valley that are destinations in themselves (Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Coachella, etc.).

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I thought of that too; "other desert cities" makes sense instead of listing the string of other cities in the Coachella Valley that are destinations in themselves (Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Coachella, etc.).

The problem is there are national/federal guidelines for control cities. And really, what percentage of interstate traveler will be going to Rancho Mirage and need the direction? None, those drivers would be more a local traveler and they will either know or find out soon on their own. A greater percentage will be going through to AZ and points east (at least that need the directional help).

I suppose these are just guidelines and not standards, but again, CA is making a mockery of things!

https://transportation.org/traffic/i...ontrol-cities/

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by PHX31

The problem is there are national/federal guidelines for control cities. And really, what percentage of interstate traveler will be going to Rancho Mirage and need the direction? None, those drivers would be more a local traveler and they will either know or find out soon on their own. A greater percentage will be going through to AZ and points east (at least that need the directional help).

I suppose these are just guidelines and not standards, but again, CA is making a mockery of things!

https://transportation.org/traffic/i...ontrol-cities/

California seems to have been given a pass to do a lot of its own things, from being the first state to require catalytic converters on cars, to not being required to have exit numbers on freeway exits---though that changed in 2002, when California decided that exit numbers would be beneficial for motorists, but no specifically funded program was implemented to install the exit numbers... exit signs wear out and need regular replacing anyway, so that's when the exit number would be included. In LA County, there are still many exit signs without the numbers, though there are now many of the smaller gore exit signs with the numbers on them.

Also, California is one of 10 states that has its own state-specific MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices). This is I assume, why you see those standard California "FREEWAY ENTRANCE" signs at all onramps---which when I was a kid I thought was everywhere in the US, because Nevada has them too (I'd see them on trips to Vegas), though they look slightly different than California's. When I first drove on the east coast, sometimes I'd miss an onramp because I didn't see those darned green freeway entrance signs.

[PHX31]

Arizona has it's own supplement to the MUTCD as well (not sure if that's one of the 10 you're talking about).

Certain things can be helpful here and there, but I think standardization is highly important.

Speaking of noticing things California does that is stupid as hell is put the population of a city on the "City Limits" sign (I noticed this as a kid). What genius thought of that? Either it's fully out of date nearly instantly, or it would require on-going needless maintenance costs to keep it relatively up to date.

Also, California uses wooden posts for all of it's freeway signs. Granted, I haven't seen any cost-benefit analyses for this, but it looks chinsy and seems like a bad idea.

[Acajack]

Through AASHTO and FHWA you guys most definitely have way more national standards and guidelines than Canada does.

Our federal transportation department, Transport Canada, doesn't even have a highway division AFAIK. Apologies if I am wrong but if it exists it's tiny.

In order to get any agreements on standards and guidelines in Canada, the 10 transportation ministers and departments from across the country generally meet amongst themselves.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by PHX31

Arizona has it's own supplement to the MUTCD as well (not sure if that's one of the 10 you're talking about).

Actually no, California has its own MUTCD developed by CalTrans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califo...ontrol_Devices

9 other states have their own MUTCDs; here's a map:

Originally Posted by PHX31

Certain things can be helpful here and there, but I think standardization is highly important.

Speaking of noticing things California does that is stupid as hell is put the population of a city on the "City Limits" sign (I noticed this as a kid). What genius thought of that? Either it's fully out of date nearly instantly, or it would require on-going needless maintenance costs to keep it relatively up to date.

It's funny you should say that, because on our most recent road trip through Arizona, my partner commented on a city limit sign, I believe it was Jerome, and he said "Oh, Jerome has 1,876 people." And then I said "That was the year the town was founded. They don't put the population of the city." And then he said "Who cares when it was founded?? I'd like an idea of how many people live here." Hehe. I noticed some years ago that Nevada's city limit signs only have the elevation, hehe and even I thought just having the elevation was kind of lame.

Originally Posted by PHX31

Also, California uses wooden posts for all of it's freeway signs. Granted, I haven't seen any cost-benefit analyses for this, but it looks chinsy and seems like a bad idea.

I've noticed in certain CalTrans districts, some of the gore exit signs have metal posts, and a few of the other road signs have metal posts too; I noticed this somewhere in central California. But this is a fairly recent thing, like within the last 7-10 years or something. I don't know how many districts CalTrans has, but I live in District 7, which covers LA and Ventura Counties. Orange County is in another CalTrans District, District 12, I think.

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Xing

They just say USA bridge to get onto the bridge from Canada into the US? I just saw the signs going into Mexico a few days ago, and they were not so vague. They read, “Juarez, Mexico,” and they included the accents, which is surprising for US signs.

Yeah, it's a state highway, but AZ-85 on the way to Rocky Point gives both the English 'Rocky Point' and the Spanish 'Puerto Penasco,' although they omit the tilde:

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.9906...8192?entry=ttu

The same highway has some potentially funny signs that with some punctuation could be complete sentences. Someone needs to add a question mark:

[Comrade]

Heading east toward the I-80/I-15 interchange from US 201 in SLC:

[FromSD]

Originally Posted by PHX31

Arizona has it's own supplement to the MUTCD as well (not sure if that's one of the 10 you're talking about).

Speaking of noticing things California does that is stupid as hell is put the population of a city on the "City Limits" sign (I noticed this as a kid). What genius thought of that? Either it's fully out of date nearly instantly, or it would require on-going needless maintenance costs to keep it relatively up to date.

I have to disagree on the population info on the city limits signs. It's fun information to have and gives you a sense of the city through which you're driving. Of course the data is only as good as the last census, but who cares? I don't know how often the population estimates are updated or at whose request. I imagine growing cities like them updated frequently to showcase growing populations.

On I-70 in South Central Utah, there are roadside mileage signs posted at each mile. There is none for Mile 69, but one for Mile 68.9. Is people stealing 69 mileposts signs a problem in other states?

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by FromSD

I have to disagree on the population info on the city limits signs. It's fun information to have and gives you a sense of the city through which you're driving. Of course the data is only as good as the last census, but who cares?

I agree with you; it's nice to have an idea of how many people live in the place you're driving to/through. I also don't care all that much about when the town was founded, unless it's a really old place or something... I'm more curious of the population, even if it is a ballpark figure.

Jerome, AZ

Google Street View

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's at least more informative than "USA" which is incredibly vague.

I suppose the Quebec A-35 and I-89 signage could say "Burlington VT".

The second "Vermont" exit could say "Boston" as there are few other relevant cities on the route, though I think the I-89 route through Burlington is actually faster to get from Montreal to Boston.

I drove from Boston into Quebec on a 2-lane road near Lake Champlain before passports were required, and there was basically no signage whatsoever until you were right up on the guard shack, and then the border agent just waved us through with a wink and a nod. We barely even slowed down.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I drove from Boston into Quebec on a 2-lane road near Lake Champlain before passports were required, and there was basically no signage whatsoever until you were right up on the guard shack, and then the border agent just waved us through with a wink and a nod. We barely even slowed down.

The good old days.

[MolsonExport]

Somewhere in Quebec