Oklahoma Highways

US Highway 66, the legendary route from Chicago to Santa Monica went through 8 states, and was a major route to the west coast from the Midwest and points east. It entered Oklahoma in the far northeast part of the state after just a few short miles in Kansas. It paralleled the current Will Rogers Turnpike (I-44) to Tulsa; the Turner Turnpike (I-44) from Tulsa to Oklahoma City; and I-40 west to the Texas Panhandle. This road has special memories for me, as my maternal Grandparents lived three blocks off of Route 66 in the OKC suburb of Bethany, where the highway was on NW 39th Expressway. For a short time during my childhood, I lived in a house whose backyard was on a hill overlooking Route 66 in Cucamonga (now Rancho Cucamonga), California, where it was Foothill Boulevard.

During the 1990s, I spent two-and-a-half years living in Tulsa, where "The Mother Road" had taken several alignments during its time as a US Highway. Today, the old highway is Oklahoma 66, but is marked with historic US 66 signs in many places. This most well known historic route is on 11th Street, but further north and closer to Tulsa International Airport is the alignment from 1926-1932, as indicated by this sign.

On the newer alignment (11th Street) near the University of Tulsa campus, I found the marker below in the pavement. It isn't all that old from what I could tell, but it is well worn.


Get your kicks on Route 66!


In the last year or so, Oklahoma has begun replacing its state highway shields with a new design. The old one was a simple white circle with black numerals. The new one features an outline map of the Sooner State with the route number below the map. While it is nicer looking than the old design, I think they could have done better than this.

This photo is an oversized reassurance shield for OK 11, a partial loop on the north side of Tulsa that is a main route to and from the Airport. Ultimately, the old design will be totally switched out with the new one statewide.

Oklahoma is the land of turnpikes, and nearly every major route in and out of Tulsa is a tolled road. One bypass route on the south and east side is the Creek Turnpike. This highway used to extend from US 75 near Jenks to S. Memorial Drive, but now connects the Turner Turnpike south of the city to the Will Rogers Turnpike on the northeast side. This photo shows the entrance to the Creek off of Memorial northbound.



Below is a close up from the above photo. I lightened it up a little to make the Creek Turnpike shield more visible.

It also happens that Oklahoma is the first place I ever saw electronic toll transponders, those devices that let you zip through special lanes equipped with readers that automatically charge you the toll. Oklahoma's version is called Pikepass, and I actually had one when I lived there. In Houston, they are called EZ-Tag, and in the Denver area, ExpressToll. Maybe someday they will be interoperational between jurisdictions, but so far this type of capability is very limited.

I do know that Dallas and Houston have an agreement to let their transponder customers use them on each other's toll facilities. I also saw in Houston last month that the EZ-Tag can also automatically be charged for parking at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. What a novel idea!

Even More From Houston

Caroline Street in the Downtown Historic District

Let's take a look at a few more photos I took a couple of weeks ago during my visit back to Houston. This is a photo that shows a couple of things about how downtown has been coming back to life. First take a look at the street sign. As I have mentioned in earlier postings, Houston's various neighborhoods have been going to their own unique style of street signage. The type you see here is used in most of downtown, but vary the wording to denote Historic District, Theater District, etc. This photo also shows two styles of street lights that have been installed in the area, both with an older and more elegant look than the former ones, which were strictly utilitarian. Here we see a lower, single light on a pole, as well as a double overhanging light. There were also quite a few of these banners you see in the picture hanging around the area. These are obviously inspired by the Lone Star state flag of Texas.


Crosswalk arches in Uptown Houston

The next picture show the shiny arches that mark the location of crosswalks along Post Oak Road in the Uptown District. You can also see a second, distant set further down the road. These arches soar above pedestrian crosswalks, and match the shiny chrome-colored street lights, traffic signal masts, and the large circular street signs I have previously posted pictures of.


Houston's City Hall at night

My last night in Houston, I went out to get a few photos of the buildings downtown lit up. Much to my disappointment and puzzlement, the city was not lit very well that evening. Therefore, I got few usable pictures. It was actually quite eerie. Still I will share a couple here. The photo above is Houston's City Hall, built in 1938-1939. Similar city halls abound around this part of the country, all of about the same vintage. I am sure that when it opened, it was a grand building, but it is now diminutive by comparison. It is surrounded by soaring skyscrapers on three sides, along with the Houston Main Library. The building faces a reflecting pool and small park to its east side (shown here), and the west face is visible in front of the skyline if you are west of Downtown. Compared to Denver's grand city and county building, it seems amazing that this modest structure is the seat of government for the nation's fourth largest metropolis, until you realize that most city functions are housed at over 500 other buildings and annexes. Still, it is an icon of city government, and the place where many municipal ceremonies are held.


Houston's nighttime skyline - Click for a larger view

Like I have already mentioned, the city was not well lit that night, and I had the further frustration of not having a tripod with me. Still, this photo, while not the best, is acceptable. I used my sister's shoulder for a tripod as we stopped to the side of Memorial Drive approaching Downtown to get this view. The lights from the cars in the foreground are westbound traffic on Allen Parkway, on the other side of Buffalo Bayou from my vantage point. I suggest clicking the photo to get a better view.

A Saturday Drive

Colorful Colorado Wildflowers - Click to see large version

Yesterday, my wife and I took a short drive down to Elizabeth, Colorado in Elbert County. It was an absolutely beautiful day, albeit a bit cool for June, but that's how it can be here in the Centennial State. Our intention was to go to the Elizabeth Stampede, a rodeo held there. Once we arrived, we decided not to go in to the rodeo, but instead to just enjoy a walk and drive. I guess I am just not one who likes to be in crowds.

In any case, one thing that was very enjoyable was the abundance of wildflowers in bloom. In many parts of the country, it is past the time when wildflower blooms are at their peak, but since we have a fairly short warm season, it is still cool enough that the flowers are out. The picture above is too small to really take in the color, so I suggest that you click on it to see a larger version.

The sad story behind this picture is that we took this particular route home because Colorado 86 was shut down by a very bad accident just a couple of miles or so east of Franktown. We had to veer off the main highway and down some country backroads to get around the wreck. Where the police had the highway closed was a few hundred feet from the accident site, and it was so bad that the fire department and a Life-Flight helicopter was on the highway. I hope that whoever was involved is doing okay.

The sign in the photo below was unusual. This was taken in a parking area for the Elizabeth Stampede. I think it must be for the cowboy who was thrown off of a raging bull or bucking bronco one too many times. I have never seen a sign with the universal handicap symbol wearing a cowboy hat before.

A WildBlue Sign

WildBlue on the Highway - Photo courtesy of Michael T. Williamson

The Internet touches our lives in many ways, and over the last decade it has become ever more integrated with our daily activities. Here is yet another way, one that I had never thought about until I saw this photograph, which also fits in very well with the road geekiness of this blog.

This is a picture taken by Michael T. Williamson, who works for the same company as I, but who lives in the great state of Washington. Michael shot this interesting picture in a remote area in the southeastern part of that beautiful state. At first glance, we see a standard Variable Message Sign (VMS) installed along the highway. Upon closer inspection, there is a small satellite reflector antenna attached to the top right of the sign.

That antenna happens to be an installation for service from WildBlue, a satellite-based Internet service sold to customers in remote areas who cannot get other terrestrial broadband options such as cable or DSL. WildBlue is based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, a Denver suburb that is not far from where I live and work. As a matter of fact, my employer resells WildBlue service under a combined brand. Therefore, this picture was of double interest to me.

It is apparent that the sign's message must get updated over the Internet. It makes me wonder how long it will be before someone hacks into the signs and has them display a message not sanctioned by the Washington Department of Transportation. The photo also gives us a sense of direction. Since it has to point toward the southern sky, this view is looking primarily in a westward direction.

I also notice the guardrail between the sign and the highway's lanes of traffic. I guess they wanted to try to prevent a wayward car or truck from taking out this VMS (which is certainly not cheap to purchase or install).

This is a great catch, Michael. Thanks for letting me share it with other road geeks out there.

Street Signs & Flying Saucers

Standard Street Sign Installation

On the way home from work today, I noticed something at the intersection of Parker Road (Colorado 83) and Lincoln Avenue. Take a look at the picture above. Notice that the Town of Parker's backlit street signs are prominently displayed at this crossroads. This one is installed the way I have always seen them; hanging from the traffic signal arm. But then I looked diagonally across the street from this one and saw a sign mounted in a totally different manner (see next photo below).


An extra arm for the street sign.

I don't know if there was a problem and the street sign had to be remounted, or if it was just an alternate way of hanging it. Still, it is odd that there are two methods at the same intersection.

Now for you UFO nuts out there, here is one to get you going. I noticed in one of the photos that there was an object in the sky. Now I figure it is just a reflection on the lens or on the windshield of my car.


Look! Up in the sky!

But lets take a closer look at the mysterious object. It seems to have a glowing white dome with a saucer surrounding it. Could this be an alien spaceship? No, but it does show how such things can get started.


The UFO over Parker

I must add however that I am still sore from the alien probe! ;)

License Plate Triviality

I tend to notice trivial things. For example, below are two examples of Texas license plates currently in use. The top one is a newer version than the one below it, and has a few changes from the older style below. First notice the shape of Texas in the middle of the plate. On the older edition, the state is colored red. On the new one a piece of the Texas flag is superimposed on the map. Then notice the space shuttle in the upper left corner. On the new version, the shuttle sports a United States flag, and has seven distinct stars above it that are missing from the previous version. These represent the lost astronauts of the shuttle Challenger.

Also over the years, the format of the license number has been revised to insure enough unique numbers were available. I can remember formats that included two alphabetic characters and four numbers, three alphas and three numbers, three numbers and three alphas, and an alpha with two numbers followed by three alphas.

That last format is on the second plate below. But on the new plates, Texas has gone back to the three number/three alpha format.


The "new" Texas plate


Previous edition Texas plate

I remember a legislative and public relations brouhaha a few years back when I still lived in Texas. It involved a proposed and approved design for a new license plate. It was to be powder blue and carry the official state motto, "The Friendship State". Well what an uproar that caused! Powder blue and friendship? Too wussified for a state known for cowboys and manliness! The plan was quickly revised, and a plate that had just the state name and flag was adopted.

There is one more thing. The person who owns the second plate is at risk of being arrested. There is a new law in Texas that no attachment (such as a frame) may obscure the state name, motto, or other design elements on the tag. This frame from a dealership covers up part of the bottom design, including the phrase "The Lone Star State". In effect, this gives police a reason to stop and harrass a motorist who has committed no other infraction, even if the plates digits are clearly visible.

Here are two links about this insanity foisted upon Texans by Governor Rick Perry and the state legislature.

• A blogger talks about it
• Another news report about it
  

Speed Traps, or "Here's the 10-20 on the Smokeys"

In an earlier post, I mentioned the notorious speed trap known as Estelline, Texas. Well, it isn't just small towns that entrap motorists. The National Motorists Association has come out with its list of the top speed traps cities in the U.S. Here are the top ten worst places to speed:

1. Detroit & Suburbs
2. Colorado Springs
3. Houston
4. Orlando
5. Nashville
6. Ann Arbor
7. Albuquerque
8. Washington
9. Denver
10. Virginia Beach

The NMA gets reports of speedtraps on its web site, www.speedtrap.org. While these are the places that top the reports, they say that many other places have arbitrarily low limits and heavy enforcement, so motorists should beware. Obviously, public safety is not the primary reason for such traps; rather revenue and harrassment seem to be the motivating factors.

Just another reason to watch your speed. And while many cops are good citizens and public servants, too many others are in the business as a legal way to bully others. Who needs that hassle?

Galveston, oh Galveston

Rocky shoreline

Not much to say in this post; just sharing a few more pictures I took last Thursday in Galveston. The rocky shoreline above is on the eastern end of Galveston Island, near the site of the former Fort San Jacinto. Since this point of land is at the entrance and exit to Galveston Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, it was an important defense position. This is why the fort used to be here.

There is a large concrete base for large artillery remaining at this far eastern part of the island. This is where the unidentified woman in the picture below chose to relax for a few moments and watch the ships heading in and out of the Ports of Galveston and Houston.


A woman enjoys the sound of the surf and the view of the ships

Here are some more ships coming and going. This is how we get much of our petroleum, as well as all of the cheap junk made in China and sold at Wal-Mart.


Busy shipping lanes at the entrance to Galveston Bay

Further to the west, I saw this lone seashell resting on the sandy beach on the part of the island where there is no seawall. Shortly after I shot this, my sister-in-law laid claim to this former mollusk home.


She sells seashells down by the seashore

In town near the Opera House, I saw the side of a building painted with layers of old advertising. The Wrigley's Spearmint Gum ad still remains visible . . . "Buy it by the box. The flavor lasts."


Old advertising on a brick wall

You can also see the Uneeda Biscuit ad that once graced the wall. A painted ad for Coca-Cola is to the right, but has been repainted more recently. The rubble below indicates that perhaps an adjacent building was demolished, exposing these old advertising signs.

Historic Galveston

Bishop's Palace in Galveston, Texas

When people think about Galveston, many things come to mind. Seawall Boulevard, Stewart Beach, the Bolivar Ferry and the 1900 Hurricane are some of them. However, what many don't know is that Galveston is also home to many examples of Victorian architecture. The Strand district has many historic buildings that have been maintained over the years.

While driving down Broadway, there are also several examples of such architecture. The mansion in the picture above is named Bishop's Palace, and is open for tours. Unfortunately, time did not permit a tour of the interior this trip, but I managed to get a few pictures of the exterior of this fine building.

Across the street from the Bishop's Palace is Sacred Heart Catholic Church. While I am certainly no fan of religion, there is no doubt that some of the world's most beautiful buildings are houses of worship. What is striking about Sacred Heart is the gleaming white color and the detail of the architecture. On the roof of the tower portions, just above the top parapet, there are stone fleur-de-lis at each of the corners. Surrounded by palm trees, this outstanding structure cannot be missed.


Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Galveston

Over on Postoffice Street, The Grand 1894 Opera House is still in business. It hosts a variety of shows throughout the year, including Banjomania every Father's Day weekend, as well as its role as a venue for private events. Built six years before the Great Hurricane of 1900 at a cost of $100,000 dollars, this historic building has survived many storms and serves today as both a cultural attraction and a link to Galveston's past.


The Grand 1894 Opera House

The image below is the main entryway to the Opera House, showing the arch and the box office located just inside the arch.


Opera House entryway

Here is a detailed close up of the 1894 medallion at the peak of the archway. These pictures barely scratch the surface of the classic architecture that is pervasive over much of the city. It would be easy to spend a lot of time exploring Galveston's past and present. Someday I hope to do more of that.


Detail at top of arch, showing the year it was built

Even More Houston Road Geekiness

One messed up sign!

Okie dokie, here are some more Houston highway shots for you photo hungry road geeks out there. As always, you can click the pic for a bigger version.

The picture above is in a construction zone between Sugar Land and Richmond, Texas. The story here is that the old freeway bridge over the Brazos River is being demolished and rebuilt, so they have diverted traffic off onto the feeder streets. This was beside the feeder and is obviously a temporary sign, but you'd think they could at least take a little pride in their work! The SOUTH banner should be above the highway shield, not below it. Looks like they have more than enough room to do it, but NOOOOO!

Ultimately, this stretch of freeway is slated to become part of the new Interstate Highway 69!


US 59 braided ramp

As TxDOT has been rebuilding freeways, they have also been eliminating a hazard. The ramps on and off of the freeway to the feeder streets (frontage roads) used to go onto the freeway and then the off ramp following immediately thereafter for the next intersection. People used to pull a maneuver called slingshotting, where they would run off of a congested rush hour freeway, race down the feeder and pop back on. Plus you would have a traffic weave on the highway or on the feeder, depending on ramp placement. These braided on/off ramp combos are being put into place, and should reduce slingshotting, as well as totally eliminate the dangerous weaves. These are more expensive, but hey, Texas does there freeways like everything else...BIG!

Speaking of big, I took my own shot of one of the Katy Freeway stars. Each intersection has the star painted a different color, and are quite striking.


You can drive your car, on a road that has a star!

And just for grins, here is another shot of the new signs on the Katy. This was taken from the westbound feeder. The BGS shows the exit to the new Grand Parkway, Texas 99, which will someday be a third major freeway loop around Houston. Notice the exit number . . . 743. That's right, 743 miles to where I-10 leaves Texas and crosses into New Mexico. This may be the only Interstate anywhere that has mile markers in the eight-hundreds! That occurs when you leave Louisiana and enter Texas on the eastern side.


Katy Freeway Feeder

Here are a couple of old I-45 markers on a cross street. Looks to me like the North signs had a bad run in with a truck at one time or another.


I-45 . . . No place but in Texas

Speaking of Interstate shields, all over town on various city streets are directional signs for the freeway HOV lanes. This one is on Westheimer Road at Wilcrest. It seems that all over Houston they have standardized new Interstate shields on the wide 3-digit format for all roads. Compare the picture below with the one directly above. This is pervasive on all new signs I saw.


Directions for a quick HOV trip into Downtown

Finally, let's wrap up this post with a nice skyline shot. This is on the North Freeway (I-45) southbound approaching Downtown. This freeway has the oldest HOV lane in town. Back in the 70s, Houston had a trial of something called contraflow lanes for car pools and busses. Holes were drilled on the inside lane dividers both directions. Then just before morning rush, a truck loaded with pylons and a man on the back would drive down the lane. The man would insert the pylons in the holes, so that the outbound left lane became an inbound, or contraflow, lane. Then after the rush, the truck would again make the trip and the man would collect the pylons. Then for the evening rush, the same procedure would turn the left-hand inbound lane was a contraflow outbound lane. Dangerous? Hell yes. For the man in the truck AND for the head on freeway traffic. But, it did prove the concept of HOV lanes, and the North Freeway got the first one in town.


Downtown in sight on the North Freeway

More From the Road

Stop signals embedded in the pavement

While in Houston last week, I came across a couple of examples of something I had never seen before. That is signal lights embedded in the pavement. The example in the photo above is under a skywalk near The Galleria, where red lights are embedded and facing the oncoming traffic. When the signal light is red, the ones in the pavement also light up. When the light changes to green, the pavement lights go out.

Even more striking were embedded lights in the Theater District downtown. Flashing amber-colored lights in the road surface marked the crosswalks, and made one very aware of pedestrians crossing, especially at night. Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of one of those. Maybe next time.

The next photo shows a sample of the types of Big Green Signs being used in new freeway construction around Houston. Not only are these notable for the attractive gantry support and their use of the new Clearview font; they also do away with the directional exit number tabs. Instead, the exit numbers are contained within part of the BGS separated by a line. Instead of a left-aligned tab for exits to the left, and right aligned for exits to the right; direction for the exit is indicated only by the orientation of the text itself.


Interstate Highway 10 (Katy Freeway) westbound approaching Katy, Texas

For comparison, here is an example of the old style taken in the Denver area. Notice the left tab for left Exit 217B and the right tab for right Exit 217A. Also notice the sloppy sign hanging job, as the 217A sign is not installed parallel with the sign to its left.


Example of old-style exit tabs

Also, I noticed on the Katy Freeway photo there are no lighting booms. I am not sure how these signs are illuminated, but I don't believe they are backlit.

The next photo was taken through a dirty windshield, but you can get the idea. This is also the older, tabbed BGS style, but this one is significant as it marks the southern terminus of Interstate 45. This is in Galveston, where Broadway becomes a freeway headed north toward Houston and Dallas. A couple of interesting items here. One, the wrong, wider shield is used for the Interstate 45 indicator; and there is not a sign indicating the beginning or ending of I-45 on either side of the highway. The causeway connecting Galveston Island to the mainland is just a few miles down the road from here.


Beginning of I-45 Northbound. Mile 1 exits a mile or so ahead!

Keep checking in. Lots more to come.

Even More Signs Along the Road

The old school state line signs welcoming you to Texas

When I was a kid and we used to travel to Oklahoma City to my grandparents' homes, the trip home always had one of these style signs along the highway re-entering Texas. I came upon this one back in the summer of 1999 at Texline, Texas, entering the Lone Star State from New Mexico on US 87. Texline is near the far northwest corner of the panhandle, near the convergence of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Had I been making my upcoming trip to Houston via the highway as originally planned, I would have passed by this spot. I am curious if this marker is still in place, although I imagine that it probably is. While this spot is only about 300 miles from where I live, you lose one hour passing this sign, as this is a point where you leave the Mountain time zone and enter the Central. Just a few miles to the west is Clayton, New Mexico, and about 50 miles west is the extinct Capulin volcano.

Since this post is another about signs along the road, lets show a few more. Here is a sign directing motorists to Houston's Westpark Tollway, curiously spelled as "West Park". This toll road is a new one that follows the corridor of the former Westpark Road, extending from the big bend in the Southwest Freeway (US 59) out to the west toward the town of Katy.

The Houston Toll Road Authority also operates the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8), and the Hardy Toll Road that parallels I-45, the North Freeway from the 610 loop northward. These pentagonal blue signs are commonly used as county road markers in many states around the nation, but they are used in Houston in this fashion, designating toll roads. The Westpark Tollway has no toll collectors, as you must have an electronic toll transponder on your vehicle to use it. The HTRA calls their transponder EZ Tag.

Since I mentioned Beltway 8, a little known fact is that Beltway 8, a state highway, is technically only the feeder streets along the tollway wherever the main lanes are tolled. The main lanes are just the Sam Houston Tollway. This is because of a rule that state highways cannot be toll roads.

Just for grins, here is a signpost hosting a junction sign in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is where one of the city streets approaches an on ramp to the I-244 / US 412 freeway. Despite its 3-digit, even initial digit number, I-244 is not a loop, but instead connects I-44 on the west side of town to I-44 on the east side of town, paralleling I-44 a few miles to the north. The so-called Inner Dispersal Loop, or IDL, is a little loop around downtown comprised of I-244 and unsigned I-444, also not a full loop. Tulsa is also laid out a bit unusually, since downtown is not at the city's center, but is near the northwest corner of the city limits.

It Must be a Sign . . . Yep, It's a Sign Alright!

The merry, merry month of May already? Wow! Where is the year going?

Today, I am in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on business, and this morning on the news is a story that fits in with the theme of freeway signs that I have going. It seems an 18-wheeler has hit a sign support, destroying the sign gantry and bringing it down on top of a van. The truck that caused the problem has also been totaled. Looks like TxDOT has some work to do after the cleanup is finished.


Screen shot from Good Day on Fox 4 in Dallas

Well, it's off to some meetings, so this is a quick post. More to come!

Late afternoon update: Sadly, the news is reporting that the driver of the big rig fell asleep at the wheel, and that one person was killed. They didn't say if it was the truck driver or someone in the van.

Of Freeway Walls and Windy Man

I-610 Southbound Feeder at Bissonnet St. in Bellaire

As with most cities, Houston's freeways always seem to be under construction. However, since I moved away from there in 1992, there seems to be an new concern about aesthetics. All the new freeways are being built with attention to how they look and fit in with the surrounding neighborhoods.

Let's start out with the photo above. I took this while sitting at the stop light on the southbound feeder of the West Loop (I-610) at the intersection with Bissonnet Street, which crosses from left to right. In this photo, you can see the brick retainer walls used at the interchange. This is not an inexpensive proposition at all.

In actuality, this photo is not technically in Houston, but rather in the city of Bellaire, a small town completely within the Houston city limits. This is a town that in recent years has undergone gentrification in a big way, as small homes built in the 1940s & 50s are torn down and replaced by huge custom homes. This same phenomenon is occurring near Denver University's campus as well. While the transition is taking place, many older homes are sold for very high prices just for the purpose of tearing them down. One of the reasons Bellaire is so desirable is its proximity to the Texas Medical Center. I don't know if the interchange is partly paid for by Bellaire taxes or not, but it is known for its extremely high tax rates, along with its tree lined boulevards.

This photo gives you a peek at another phenomenon of Texas' freeways; the Texas Turnaround. Since the feeder streets are one way, traffic engineers have implemented U-Turn lanes under or over a freeway just before the cross street intersection happens. This allows motorists to get to the opposite side feeder going back the other way without waiting through the lights at the cross street and feeders. I can tell you from first hand experience, this is a simple, but major improvement.

Another new freeway wall design of note in Houston is the reconstruction of the Katy Freeway (I-10 on the west side of town). I did not take the following photo and don't remember where I got it, so if the owner objects, I will remove it. I actually hope to get a shot of my own when I get back down there. In any case this is the new freeway design on the Katy. Different intersections have the big star in different colors. Very striking, and maybe a bit overwhelming.


Katy Freeway retainer wall

The city of Sugar Land southwest of Houston has its own new freeway design as well. The Southwest Freeway (US 59) now has California-style HOV lanes with solid stripes in the middle, rather than full-blown, separated HOV lanes. The new design includes tall pillars topped with the city symbol, a crown within a Texas star. The crown alludes to the Imperial Sugar Company, the business that started Sugar Land and gave the town its name. In the photo below, you can see a Jeep Grand Cherokee coming out of the Texas Turnaround to head back northeast on the Freeway feeder street.



Freeway walls have not been without controversy in another part of Texas. Lubbock, home to Buddy Holly, Mac Davis, and other music notables, has a state highway loop, Texas 289 (Martha Sharp Freeway), that circles the city. I was there in June of 2004 and saw some of the construction for myself. One thing I saw there caused a tremendous controversy by some fundamentalist Christian wackos. Unfortunately, I didn't shoot a photo of it myself, but here is the official picture from the TxDOT web site:


Lubbock's "Graven Image", the pagan Windy Man

The issue was that TxDOT had carved images in the walls, one of which was known as the Windy Man. He was basically a depiction of the head of old man Winter, blowing air. Well, the fundies decided this was a pagan abomination to the Lord God, creator of heaven, earth, and Waffle Houses; what with it being a graven image of a pagan deity or some such thing.

Now you have to understand that Lubbock has the well deserved reputation of being the most conservative city in America, so apparently that includes religious conservatism. So after the image was continually being defaced and vandalized, no doubt by good Christian folks, TxDOT decided to remove them. This cost the taxpayers of Texas more than the cost of installing them during freeway construction.

Of Highways, Tolls, and Another Sign Goof

Denver, Colorado skyline from I-25 southbound - Click for larger view

Denver is the largest city for many miles around. Go east on I-70, and you have to get to Kansas City, Missouri before you encounter a city of any size. Go south on I-25, and its over 400 miles to Albuquerque, New Mexico. West, not much at all. Go to the end of I-70 and the take I-15 north to Salt Lake City, Utah or south to Las Vegas, Nevada. Head north, well, no cities of any significance. Cheyenne is 100 miles north, but it is not very large. Beyond that lies the Great White North.

So the Mile High City stands alone as the major metropolis of the Rocky Mountain West. Even so, it is not an enormous city. It does have an impressive skyline, and its freeways have undergone some badly needed renovations lately, most notably the Transportation Expansion Project, or TREX along I-25 south of town. TREX not only widened the freeway, but ran light rail service along the side of the highway.

From downtown north, I-25 lacks light rail, but instead has High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. These lanes were formerly only for vehicles with 2 or more occupants. This resulted in the case where a man was caught with a blow up doll in the passenger seat, and auctioned it off on eBay for charity, as part of his punishment. Now the powers that be have figured out a different plan. Instead of prohibiting cars with only a driver, one may now buy their way into the HOV lanes. You can't pay with cash, but if you have a toll transponder(Express Toll), you can zip on into the HOV lanes and be on your way, no worries about a ticket. The Westpark Tollway in Houston uses a similar system; one must have a transponder (EZ-Tag). The difference is that even carpoolers have to pay on Westpark.


HOV Toll Signage in Downtown Denver

In my last post, I showed a sign goof on I-45 in Houston. Here is one on I-25 in Denver. I saw a similar sign on R-Dub's website, and as I zipped along today I saw this one near Invesco Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos NFL football team:


Interstate "I-25"

What the heck is Interstate I-25. It should be just the numerals 25 in the shield. Hawaii has H prefixes, and I-35 has 35E and 35W in Dallas/Ft. Worth and in Minneapolis/St. Paul. But there is no such thing as Interstate I-25. Actually, I don't think CDOT put this one up. I think it was the Department of Redundancy Department.

A few posts down, I wrote about ghost ramps on the highway. There was one on the ramp from eastbound US 36 to southbound I-25. This is the opposing ramp, I-25 NB to US 36 WB. This is notable for a couple of reasons. First, the little green sign is a bit unusual. I have not seen signs like this in many places, showing the two highways and directions the ramp you are on connects. But also, look in the background. That is the main freeway where US 36 feeds into Interstate 270. There is a mast for a bank of big green signs, but no signs are mounted on it. I imagine that eventually, CDOT will get around to putting something up there. But for now, it stands, a naked mast with no signs.

As for the sign in the foreground, something appeals to me visually about the post. It is side mounted on the barrier (see the 4 bolts holding it on?), and curves upward in symmetry to the arrow on the yellow sign. I guess art and aesthetics are where ever you find them.