"What direction does I25 North go?"

[snugglegirl05]

This happened yesterday at work.

Guy drives up & temporarily parks the car he is driving in front of the Visitor Parking booth & walks up to the booth window. Also, it is raining outside.

Me: "Hi, how may I help you?"
Guy: *points toward I25 North*: "Is that I25 North?"
Me: "Yes"
Guy: "What direction does it go?"
Me: "North"
Guy: *embarrassed; smiles* "I mean does it go to Blueridge Mall?"
Me: "Yes"
Guy: "Ok, thanks"

He gets in his car & leaves.

[Broomjockey]

"What direction does I25 North go?"

"east."

[Merriweather]

"What direction does I25 North go?"

"east."

Actually, it does happen. My Dad kept a little compass on his dashboard, and loved road trips. We did a lot of cross country traveling when I was a kid, and I recall him pointing out once that we were on (dont recall the number) I## West, but on the compass, we were actually headed south.

My Dad was something else, years after the fact he would refer to a specific trip we took, event that happened, etc. by route number - as in, remember that little museum we stopped in on hwy 77 that summer? I can't even remember the numbers of hwys I drive every day, LOL. I always had to just look at him blankly and tell him cmon, at least give me the state name, LOL.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Thinking about it, you could have also said "South" and be right...

... or "Half the road goes North, the other half goes South."

[Broomjockey]

I## West, but on the compass, we were actually headed south.

It's called a correction line. In Alberta, they're used to prevent major roads cutting through farmers' land, but other places it's done to save on construction costs by following flatter land, or for various other reasons. Sometimes it's also just because one road flows to the next, and they need to pick a point to rename it.

[lordlundar]

"What direction does I25 North go?"

"east."

Corollary:

"What direction does I25 North go?"

"up."

[wolfie]

OK, here's another one: Near Wytheville VA, what direction does I81 North go? Also near Wytheville VA, what direction does I77 North go?

First question: West
Second question: East

From Wytheville to Fort Chiswell (only a few miles), I81 and I77 occupy the same piece of concrete - except I81 North is also I77 South. Both interstates are pretty much diagonal, and that short stretch of road is where they cross.

[Cassandra]

Here in Jersey we get a similar question a lot. You see there is a section of I295 N that turns into I95 S and most out of staters get so confused by this. Then throw in the fact that the road actually runs east/west, well, yeah it gets pretty darn confusing.

[simplyanother]

Ya, there is a section of Interstate 64 here that loops around, so 64 West actually heads east, and 64 East goes west.

[Sarlon]

north and south on highway names is actually only because they have odd numbers.

East and wast are the same way except they are even numbers...so I26 E actually may physically go north/south but the number it is says it must be an east/west sign direction.

please don't ask why they did it this way...I don't know

[EricKei]

You could always try our roads here...From where I am, you have to go SOUTH along I-10 EAST in order to reach the WEST Bank of the river...

Confuses the hell outta some people.

[HermitIX]

You laugh but I go South on I35 East every morning.

[RootedPhoenix]

Q: "What direction does I25 North go?"

A: "Sideways."
[/sarcasm]

You could always try our roads here...From where I am, you have to go SOUTH along I-10 EAST in order to reach the WEST Bank of the river...

.......... Wow.
There seem to be a lot of highways that don't follow their north/south or east/west descriptions.
(There's actually one sort of close to Los Angeles that does that, but I'm not quite sure which one.)

I wonder how more people don't get lost because of things like that.

[Lachrymose]

There's a highway near Oakland, CA (I think) that carries two interstates at one time. One's signed as North and the other South. So, you're going both directions at once.

(Can any CA CS'ers confirm? It's been 10 years or so since I've been out there and I can't remember exactly what/where it is.)

[wolfie]

There's a highway near Oakland, CA (I think) that carries two interstates at one time. One's signed as North and the other South. So, you're going both directions at once.

(Can any CA CS'ers confirm? It's been 10 years or so since I've been out there and I can't remember exactly what/where it is.)

I'd read that the I77/I81 stretch near Wytheville was the only "opposite directions" piece in the whole interstate system - would be interesting to find out if there's another. BTW, I'm from Ontario CA but have never been within a hundred miles of Los Angeles ("namespace collision" in postal abbreviations).