JLWM8609 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 It appears that only I, the roadgeek, would think of this question. I've noticed that on US 59 north of downtown Houston, Cleveland is given as a control city on the big green signs. Here's an example. I thought this was unusual since other road signs on other area freeways list control cities which are further away and/or larger than Cleveland such as Beaumont, Dallas, Austin, Victoria and San Antonio. It seems like either Lufkin or Texarkana would have been a control city on the signs for US 59 North in Houston given their populations and distance from Houston. Plus, US 59 South signs in Texarkana and Lufkin show Houston and not Cleveland as their control city. (See US 59 sign in Texarkana HERE and US 59 sign in Lufkin HERE to see what I mean.) So my question is, how are control cities determined? Is there some sort of set criteria? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 It appears that only I, the roadgeek, would think of this question. I've noticed that on US 59 north of downtown Houston, Cleveland is given as a control city on the big green signs. Here's an example. I thought this was unusual since other road signs on other area freeways list control cities which are further away and/or larger than Cleveland such as Beaumont, Dallas, Austin, Victoria and San Antonio. It seems like either Lufkin or Texarkana would have been a control city on the signs for US 59 North in Houston given their populations and distance from Houston. Plus, US 59 South signs in Texarkana and Lufkin show Houston and not Cleveland as their control city. (See US 59 sign in Texarkana HERE to see what I mean.) So my question is, how are control cities determined? Is there some sort of set criteria? The Feds set the control cities for interstates, US and state highways are set by TxDOT. No idea how they pick 'em tho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Voice of University Oaks Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 FWIW, a TXDoT engineer once told me that Cleveland was chosen as the control city for 59 north because that is the closest city to where 59 ends as a limited-access freeway and becomes an at-grade divided highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 (edited) FWIW, a TXDoT engineer once told me that Cleveland was chosen as the control city for 59 north because that is the closest city to where 59 ends as a limited-access freeway and becomes an at-grade divided highway.Hmm, that sounds plausible. Thanks! By that logic, I guess we'll see signs on the new US 90 Freeway for Crosby instead of Liberty or Beaumont. Edited March 17, 2010 by JLWM8609 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorAggie Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 (edited) The Feds set the control cities for interstates, US and state highways are set by TxDOT. No idea how they pick 'em tho... I asked a different state DOT this same question and the basic answer I got was that on interstates, the control cities are almost always those that have a junction with another interstate. Of course, the main local example of an exception here is Beaumont. Otherwise, from Houston, Lake Charles (where I-10 meets I-210), Lafayette (where I-10 meets I-49), Baton Rouge (for either I-10's junction with I-12 or I-110), New Orleans, Pascagoula (I-110 junction), Mobile (I-65 junction), Pensacola (I-110 junction). Interestingly, in Alabama, Huntsville fought to replace Nashville as the control city on I-65 in Birmingham. It did replace Nashville, even though 65 doesn't travel through Huntsville but instead meets I-565, where you have to drive another 15-20 minutes into Huntsville. A little road-geek-ology Edited March 18, 2010 by GovernorAggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CE_ugh Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 I asked a different state DOT this same question and the basic answer I got was that on interstates, the control cities are almost always those that have a junction with another interstate. Of course, the main local example of an exception here is Beaumont. Otherwise, from Houston, Lake Charles (where I-10 meets I-210), Lafayette (where I-10 meets I-49), Baton Rouge (for either I-10's junction with I-12 or I-110), New Orleans, Pascagoula (I-110 junction), Mobile (I-65 junction), Pensacola (I-110 junction). Interestingly, in Alabama, Huntsville fought to replace Nashville as the control city on I-65 in Birmingham. It did replace Nashville, even though 65 doesn't travel through Huntsville but instead meets I-565, where you have to drive another 15-20 minutes into Huntsville. A little road-geek-ology Driving up I-55 from Jackson, MS, the only mention of Memphis on guide signs is the first reassurance sign in Jackson and at the state line. Otherwise its little towns like Grenada and Senatobia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoogieHowlser Posted April 11, 2010 Share Posted April 11, 2010 (edited) My guess is when TXDOT converted US-59 into a freeway around 40-50 years ago, the first major city along the route was Cleveland. Humble was not big enough at the time, and so Cleveland was selected. Although Humble is bigger than Cleveland now, TXDOT just left Cleveland on the signs. That's my guess. Edited April 11, 2010 by CoogieHowlser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 (edited) Cool thread! I Learned something new. Edited April 12, 2010 by Jeebus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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