Maryland Roads - I-695
Non-new shield courtesy Scott Colbert, on N Gay St. NB in downtown Baltimore, which becomes US 1. I'm not sure if one is supposed to follow I-83 or US 1 to I-695 at that decision point.
Stevenson Rd. SB at I-695; those turning left to go west get right on the highway, but those turning right to go east must follow Radio Tower Drive to MD 129, where traffic jogs right to cross I-695 and get to the WB (soon to be SB - hence lack of direction on the sign) onramp.
MD 177 WB into MD 10 NB, a short freeway connecting to I-695 on the western shore of the Baltimore Harbor/Patapsco River. All standalone shields should have MARYLAND on top; only green-sign shields (such as in the second photo) lack them.
Outer Loop
Ongoing work to untangle the tangled interchange with I-95 at Exit 33 - currently, the opposing roadways of each highway cross each other so that all eight ramps head straight from one highway to the other. You can see I-695 EB crossing the WB side in the first photo. These photos are of the future I-95 NB flyover ramp to I-695 WB, taken from the SB-WB ramp in August 2007.
In April 2008, the NB-WB flyover ramp is starting to look like a road instead of a modern Concretehenge.
A November 2007 run from northbound to westbound along I-695 (this is basically where it switches).
Construction speed limits don't need to be MUTCD compliant, but the fonts were laughable in this summer 2005 zone.
The ampersand sees occasional use around Maryland, which is far more often than in most states.
Creative uses of right arrows. As sharp as these turns may be, considering that one is exiting an Interstate, the arrows should not be pointing hard right (though it is attention-getting).
EB at Exit 4 to I-97. If you're going to use the type of signs that are for assemblies, why put them on a green sign?
Inner Loop
The sky gets lighter as I drive over the Francis Scott Key Bridge (well, the higher I go, the better the angle to the sun). Dualizing the western approach to this bridge was the last step in upgrading the highway to I-695. Also, because the two main routes through Baltimore are tunnels, all of the through truck traffic is directed this way, which is another great reason to have dualized it.
The first painted shield I ever saw, three or four times later when I finally was able to capture it on "film", for Exit 4.
I'm fine with using the big first letter for directions, but then actually make the first letter bigger, not just higher.
Old signs, two with button copy and one stanchion that's just waiting to get taken down (I prefer the old signs, they have more space and it's better practice to tell about the next exit rather than list distances).
Lou Corsaro took the last two of these photos. In addition to being button copy (well, the first, new one is just there for the odd destination of Local Traffic), these show that Park & Ride was not the initial destination being considered, especially if you look at the ramp sign (the last one) where it's the only part of the sign not in button copy. I-70 was meant to continue into Baltimore Harbor, meeting I-95 near I-83. Naturally, it never made it close, so ends just to the east here. There's no real point in even signing the east direction as I-70, but old signs had to plan ahead just in case the route was finished.
The Exit 20 Reisterstown Road SPUI, as seen from the I-695 NB offramp. All left turns between Reisterstown and the I-695 ramps occur to the left of the center island, which is demarcated by pylons and signs with that weird triangle thingy. This setup makes U-turns really easy, and prevents queuing across the bridge from left-turning traffic.
Exit 25 non-reflective button copy; this follows in progression from a sign on I-83 (linked below), which has a ramp merging into this one prior to this sign. MD 139 begins on the north side of I-695 at a rotary, so even just having two lanes turn left may be considered overkill, but signing it MD 139 is certainly too much.
Why is Beltway white? Why is White Marsh off-center? Ask the birds, they've been there for awhile.
Key Bridge from MD 158's western end.
Exit 4 to US 301
Exit 11 or 33 to I-95
Exit 16 to I-70
Exit 23 to I-83
Exit 23 to MD 25
Exit 25 to MD 139
Exit 32 to US 1
I-695 on Steve Anderson's dcroads.net
Partially built Windlass Freeway (now I-695) on Steve Anderson's dcroads.net
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