Portal:U.S. roads/Did you know

This is an archive of previous "Did you know?" items on the U.S. Roads Portal. Items are listed by the first month that they were displayed. To nominate an interesting fact for next month, please visit Portal:U.S. Roads/Did you know/Recommend.

2006

February

March

April

Interstate H-1 eastbound previous to the Waikiki exits

May

2007

February

August

I-15 southbound at milepost 17.8—afternoon sun in a bright red rock cut

September

A portion of Interstate 580 following the collapse

October

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania highlighted in red

November

Interstate 190 northbound at exit 18A (New York State Route 324) on Grand Island

2008

February

Arroyo Seco Parkway looking south from Marmion Way

April 1 (April Fool's Day)

I-75 shield

April

Seney Stretch along M-28

May

Old and new route numbers at the intersection with US 191 in Monticello

June

Hite Crossing Bridge, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

August

Map of U.S. Routes in Washington

September

I-15 at the Cedar Pocket

October

Map of Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado

November

Interstate 90 in Wallace, Idaho

December

Julia Butler Hansen Bridge to Puget Island, Washington

2009

January

February

Aerial map and diagram of the Newhall Pass Interchange
  • ... that Washington State Route 531's bridge over Cougar Creek had a collapsed culvert that was discovered and fixed during October 2008?
  • ... the routing of U.S. Route 191 has changed so many times that Yellowstone National Park is the only place that has been continuously served by the highway?
  • ... that the Robert Moses State Parkway was originally one continuous road; however, due to low usage, a portion of the parkway near Niagara Falls was removed, separating the parkway into two sections?
  • ... that the Newhall Pass interchange (pictured) has collapsed from earthquakes twice and burned from trucks colliding in a tunnel once?

March

April 1 (April Fool's Day)

I-75 shield

April

May

June

July

The Dewey Bridge, constructed in 1916

August

SR 508 eastbound as Main Avenue in Morton near the SR 7 intersection

September

Drawbridge at Tilghman Island, Maryland

October

Southbound New Jersey Route 55 approaching the exit for Deptford Center Road, exit 58

November

Looking westbound along the Vestal Parkway (NY 434) in Vestal

December

Maryland Route 231 (Prince Frederick Road) at the intersection with Maryland Route 5 Business in the heart of downtown Hughesville

2010

January

February

Interstate 78 across the Watchung Reservation in New Jersey

March

Hand-painted centerline on state highway M-15 in Marquette County, Michigan in 1917

April 1 (April Fool's Day)

The route, the route, the route is on fire

April

Alabama route 10 and 141 signs as posted in Easthampton, Massachusetts

May

Seney Stretch along M-28

June

Approaching Donner Pass from the east on Lincoln Highway / old US 40, April 2007

July

Portage Lake Lift Bridge, at night, connecting the cities of Hancock and Houghton, Michigan

August

Road sign for Zzyzx Road in California

September

Looking east from the top of the Boji Tower showing the corner of Michigan and Grand avenues, part of the Capitol Loop

October

Lava from Puʻu ʻŌʻō flows through subsurface lava tubes until it meets the ocean, creating the steam plumes seen in the distance from Chain of Craters Road
  • ... that the interchange between Maryland Route 90 and U.S. Route 113 sat unused for 24 years until US 113 was relocated as a four-lane divided highway in 2000?

November

December

2011

January

Tumbleweed Snowman

February

Disambiguation sign posted in advance of the MD 68 interchange on westbound I-70 near Clear Spring

March

Westbound on the Benedict Bridge over the Patuxent River looking toward Benedict

April 1 (April Fool's Day)

So many lights but no clocks
  • ... that Nevada State Route 604 (pictured) is one of the most famous highways in the world?
  • ... that because of some torpedos, cars were once stranded in a mousetrap?
  • ... that trying to drive the length of Maryland Route 797 sends drivers in circles?
  • ... that Interstate 4 crosses some of the coldest, most snow covered terrain in North America?
  • ... that people who have driven Utah State Route 299 end to end several times are really crappy drivers?
  • ... that 99 percent of people who claim to have been to Beatosu, Ohio are lying?

April

Plants washed onto the road at the Post Office, Pago Pago, American Samoa

May

Interstate 99 northbound in Blair Township

June

The SS Drummond Islander IV crossing the De Tour Passage

July

Westernmost end of the Fenway near Brookline Avenue

August

The Cave Rock Tunnel in winter

September

Virginia Street Bridge in downtown Reno, Nevada

October

The Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge

November

December

2012

January

February

March

April 1 (April Fool's Day)

April

Launch of Discovery on February 24, 2011

May

Motorcycles on the International Selkirk Loop, Colville National Forest, northeast Washington

June

Point Iroquois Lighthouse boardwalk along the Whitefish Bay National Forest Scenic Byway

July

US 50 stretching across the Nevada desert

August

SR 55 southbound at I-405 interchange in Costa Mesa

September

The Davison (M-8)

October

Route 17 at the Linwood Avenue East exit

November

Night photograph of the Mackinac Bridge

December

The Prospect Highway at one of the scenic overlooks along the mountainside

2013

January

Gateway I-94 bridge over US 24

February

Signage denoting the State Senator Norman J. Levy Memorial Parkway designation just south of exit M7E on the northbound Meadowbrook

March

SR 162 crosses the Puyallup River northwest of Orting on the McMillin Bridge opened in 1934

April 1 (April Fool's Day)

I-95 shield

April

The original Sawgrass Expressway road signs

May

Seward Highway looking southbound along the Turnagain arm stretch

June

Portage Lake Lift Bridge

July

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel

August

View north to the Terwilliger curves from Terwilliger Boulevard

September

October

State Route 102 within Acadia National Park in Maine

November

December

2014

January

CA 14U along Sierra Highway in Santa Clarita

February

Legacy Parkway approaching 500 South

March

A rural segment of I-37 between Corpus Christi and San Antonio

April

Brick-paved section of Lincoln Highway in West Omaha near Elkhorn

May

I-495 near the I-678 exit

June

A drawing entitled "the escape of Stonewall Jackson's Army down the valley pike at Strausburg [sic], Va." U.S. Library of Congress Collection

July

I-182 in Richland

August

September

View of Newburgh Bay and Pollepel Island from highway, 2006

October

November

December

2015

January

February

Frankford Avenue Bridge over the Pennypack Creek in Northeast Philadelphia

March and April

The Schuylkill Parkway freeway stub in Bridgeport

May

US 25 on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit in 1941

June and July

August

September

I-180/US 85/I-25 BUS at its northern terminus at US 30/I-80 BUS in Cheyenne

October

November

December

Marquette–Negaunee Road in 1917

2016

January

Main Street and the Hotel Jerome

February

March

The Chickasaw Turnpike westbound at Mile 13

April

Old and new route numbers at the intersection with US 191 in Monticello

May

Bridge over Hanalei River on Hawaii Route 560

June

Viewed from the east end of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in Medina shortly after opening in April 2016

July

The Arroyo Seco Parkway looking south from Marmion Way, showing the differently-colored passing lanes

August

September

October

November

The Tridge in winter

December

2017

January

February

March

April

The Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain

May

June

July

August

1955 map of the proposed Michigan Turnpike

September

View north from the south end of MD 995

October

November

Abandoned section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike

December

The "Tunnel of Trees" between Harbor Springs and Good Hart

2018

January

Orchard Pond Parkway route marker

February

March

April

J. F. Roberts Octagonal Barn, located on Missouri Route 48

May and June

July

Alabama route 10 and 141 signs as posted in Easthampton, Massachusetts

August

Interstate 78 across the Watchung Reservation in New Jersey

September

October

November

December

2019

January and February

M-10 (Lodge Freeway) passing under Cobo Hall

March

Drawbridge at Tilghman Island, Maryland

April

View along MD 797, which follows State Circle in Annapolis

May

Hand-painted centerline on state highway M-15 in Marquette County, Michigan in 1917
  • ...that, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation, the first highway centerline in the US (pictured) was painted on the first designation of M-15 in 1917?
  • ... that none of State Highway 32 as it was originally designated through southwestern Oklahoma in 1934 is a part of the current route?
  • ...that speed limits on Guam Highway 1 may differ depending on which side of the road you are on?
  • ...that in the 1950s, four service plazas on the Garden State Parkway had uniformed female employees known as the "Park-ettes" whose duties included providing directions and other information to motorists as well as rendering odd bits of service such as sewing a missing button on a patron's coat?
  • ...that California State Route 174, which includes a historic 1924 bridge, was not designated a State Scenic Highway due to opposition by residents concerned about their property rights?

June

Mileage sign at the eastern terminus of I-70 near Baltimore

July

Westbound view on beginning of US 50 in Ocean City, with an overhead sign giving the distance to the western terminus in Sacramento, California

August

Sign at beginning of westbound US 6 in Provincetown, Massachusetts

September

Sign for US 20 at Kenmore Square, near the Boston Citgo sign

October and November

Mileage sign at the western terminus of US 50

December

US 6 heading east from Bishop, California

2020

January

Sign at western origin of US 20 in Newport, Oregon

February

Seney Stretch along M-28

March

Approaching Donner Pass from the east on Lincoln Highway / old US 40, April 2007

April

Road sign for Zzyzx Road in California

August

Arroyo Seco Parkway looking south from Marmion Way