The New York State Department of Transportation goofed. TWICE.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I notice things. Probably things I shouldn’t normally notice.

But hear me out.

If you travel on any route-marked highway, you’ll notice some distinct nomenclatures about road route signage. There are state routes that only run from one part of the state to the other, and the route signs would look like this.

Route 5, for example, goes from Albany to Buffalo. You can tell it’s a state route sign by the shape of the sign’s white background. The white outline varies from state to state – in Massachusetts the white field is a circle; in New Hampshire it has the profile of the “Old Man of the Mountain”; and in Washington State it has the outline of George Washington. Because of COURSE it does.

That doesn’t mean that a numbered state route is limited to that state; State Route 7, for example, runs from Binghamton through Oneonta, then through Schenectady and Troy and Hoosick Falls. And once it ends in Vermont, the route becomes Vermont State 9, with a white-on-green signage.

Got it? Good.

There are also U.S. routes that traverse states. You can see an example of a U.S. route on the right side of this blog. All U.S. routes have this shield-like white outline with a black-colored sans serif number. This indicates that if you stay on this route long enough, you’ll eventually leave one state and enter another.

You’ve probably seen this outline on anything branded for Route 66 (which winds from Missouri to L.A., more than two thousand miles along the way …), or for U.S. 1 (which goes from New England all the way down to Florida, and stops at Key West – where you can’t drive any farther without owning an Amphicar or one of those duck boat touring things.

Now there’s a third route designation, and this can get a bit wonky. Work with me on this.

The interstate system is a federal highway network, and these routes are often designated as freeways, toll roads and high-volume traffic routes. And yes, there are interstates in Hawaii – because those roads were built with federal funding, therefore they too are designated as interstates. In fact, there are some interstates that don’t leave a state’s border – I-83 stays in Maryland, while I-87 goes from New York City to Rouses Point and stays entirely in New York.

Okay. You’ve gotten a nerdy explanation of highway signage.

So when I saw this on my way home yesterday … I had to pull over and take a photo of this.

See if you can spot the problem.

This sign is showing a detour route for Route 9 … State Route 9. See the outline on the signage? That’s the pattern for New York State routes, not Interstate routes. If I travel U.S. Route 9 south from Albany, I could reach Delaware without leaving the signed route.

Now there WAS a State Route 9 … 100 years ago … before it was reclassified as State Route 7.

Okay. Not the worst thing in the world to get hung up about. Besides, it’s a detour sign for road construction, it’ll disappear at some point and only highway nerds will ever remember seeing it.

Besides, I want to go home now. Oh look, there’s some signage for 787 –

Now before you see this photo, understand something about I-787. It only exists as a ten-mile spur from I-87 in Albany to the Watervliet / Green Island area. Once it bisects with State Route 7, I-787 becomes State Route 787 from the Watervliet / Green Island area to Cohoes. The speed limit also drops from 55 MPH to 35 MPH, and Johnny Badge is waiting for you should you forget which road you’re on.

So then … why would I see a sign that says this?

Yes. That sign clearly states that if I turn here, I’ll end up on U.S. Route 787. A road that travels into a different state.

Now if you’ve ever traveled on any part of 787, the only “state” this road provides is a state of abject terror. Between the bonkbrains who don’t clear the snow off the roofs of their cars and then try to drive 75 MPH in a blizzard – to the navel-gazers who zing from lane to lane like they’re playing competitive Mario Kart … the only “state” 787 should be in is a state of demolition.

And this sign is not a detour sign. Someone made this and installed it on the corner of Route 32 and Tibbetts Avenue, right near the soon-to-be-reopened Hot Dog Charlie’s.

Let’s face it. Some cross-eyed dingle-nut figured one sign is as good as another, as long as there’s a number on the sign, we’re all fine and dandy.

I suppose that’s what you get when you pick a Real World cast member as your Secretary of Transportation. Believe me. They should have picked Puck instead of this yonk. Believe me, signage mistakes like this wouldn’t have happened on Pete Buttigieg’s watch!

And before any of you say to me, “Calm down, Chuck, it’s just a road sign. We’ve all got GPS in our cars now, we probably don’t even need to read the road signs.”

Yeah, why bother if someone spent MY HARD EARNED TAXPAYER DOLLARS for this shit?

Idiots.

GRRRRR