These are mostly sign oddities that don't fit elsewhere on the site.
 |
Sign seen on the Natchez Trace Parkway, north of Tupelo. "Business MS 145" is really Mississippi Highway 145, the old route of U.S. 45 through Tupelo (also known as Gloster St). At Gloster and McCullough (MS 178), the same route is signed as "Business U.S. 45". |
 |
Sign in Olive Branch on Goodman Rd. at MS 178. This appears to be an "old" design for the Mississippi highway signs. A similar sign can be seen for MS 314 in Oxford along University Ave. Note the similarity with the Tennessee secondary route sign. Another oddity is that this sign is on westbound Goodman Rd., about 2 blocks east of Germantown Rd. MS 305 apparently "jogged" here over to MS 178, instead of staying on the Germantown Rd. alignment. |
 |
This sign is just east of the MS 7/MS 30 interchange just outside Oxford. It was apparently erected by MDOT as part of a signage upgrade at the intersection to keep trucks from continuing along the old highway, and eventually along Molly Barr Road through north Oxford. Among the other new signs: a sign directing I-55 traffic to follow MS 7 south to MS 6, as well as at least two "To MS 6" signs. |
 |
A (much bigger than typical) End State Maintenance sign, just west of the MS 7/MS 30 interchange on Old Hwy 30. Normal "End State Maintenance" signs are the size of the "Begin State Maintenance" sign on MS 314 (below), and usually the state doesn't put one on each side of the roadway. I suspect MDOT did this to reinforce the message that through traffic should have turned left at MS 7. |
 |
|
This sign is on MS 3 just south of U.S. 61 in DeSoto County. U.S. 3 does not pass anywhere near Mississippi. (This is also a relatively rare sighting of a highway dedication sign in Mississippi; most honorary names are not posted on signage; instead they are often relegated to roadside markers.) |
 |
The city of Birmingham, Alabama, uses these signs to mark where city maintenance starts and ends; this particular sign is on AL 269 around milepost 15 at Birmingport. |
 |
This sign is one of a number along MS 25 between Iuka and Belmont. I'm not really sure what this "Color Tour" sign is supposed to mark. |
MS 314 is one of those highways that makes one ask "why is this road a state highway?" MS 314 doesn't go much of anywhere (the state highway ends--literally--in the middle of nowhere), and a lot of it isn't maintained by the state.
There is also no good reason for it to have its own number; MS 314 and MS 334 (a very old routing of MS 6) both end at the same place in Oxford at the MS 7 interchange, so MS 314 could just be part of MS 334. At one time, MS 314 may have actually crossed the Tallahatchie River and connected to the rest of the state highway system, but the creation of Sardis Reservoir cut off the road, and also split Lafayette County into two parts.
 |
This sign is on Mississippi Highway 314, just inside the Oxford City Limits. The road itself ends, as indicated, about 10 miles from this point; between Oxford and Sardis Lake, different sections are maintained by MDOT, Lafayette County, and the U.S. Corps of Engineers. It ends at a boat ramp. |
 |
This sign is about 4 miles past the "Road Ends" sign shown above. It is preceded by an "End State Maintenance" sign. Lafayette County does not sign county roads by direction (though even-numbered roads are generally east-west, with odds being generally north-south), and virtually all roads are numbered. |
 |
This steel-reinforced concrete pole is in the right of way between the CR 100 sign above and the "End State Maintenance" sign. I have no clue what it's doing there, but I figured it was worth photographing. |
 |
The rather inauspicious start to MS 314 (across the street from the two items above). Out of frame is a "Weight Limit 57,650 lbs" sign. There is no reassurance signage for MS 314 here, or anywhere on eastbound MS 314 west of the intersection of 9th Street and Jackson Avenue in Oxford. |
The U.S. 78 photos have been moved to their own page.
Back to my roads pages.