[cooperadymas]

While are are not on the topic, anyone want to help me petition our senators to get all U.S. Interstate exits to be numbered by their mile marker rather than sequentially?

Know that exit 32 is at mile marker 32 provides me so much more information than knowing that exit 8 is immediately after exit 7, which could be 1/4 mile past it or 40 miles past it.

[mikhailfranco]

Note that linear markers on roads become incorrect when the road is diverted, re-routed or interrupted by new roads. For example, consider a new ring-road constructed to by-pass a town. However, US Interstates have special 3-digit numbering for ring-roads and other connectors.

Luckily for you, America is not building any new infrastructure, so mileposts should be stable for some time.

[paledot]

No new highways is lucky for all of us. Not maintaining the infrastructure you have is a problem, though.

[masklinn]

> Know that exit 32 is at mile marker 32 provides me so much more information than knowing that exit 8 is immediately after exit 7, which could be 1/4 mile past it or 40 miles past it.

OTOH you know that exit 8 is the exit which follows exit 7[0], whereas you have no clue whatsoever whether there are other exits between 15 and 32.

[0] except for exit 7B.

[cooperadymas]

That's not any more useful, though, is it, since you don't know the distance between exits 7 and 8?

If you're running low on fuel, and you know you need exit 32, and you come up on exit 15, you don't know if there are any exists between 15 and 32 but you can at least judge whether your car can make it 17 more miles on its fuel.

If you're low on fuel, and you know you need exit 8, and you come up on exit 7, you know it's the last exit before you need to get off the Interstate, but you don't know the distance between exits 7 and 8, so you can't make an informed decision on whether the fuel you have remaining is sufficient to get to your exit.

To be fair, your point is the argument my SO has been battling me with for the past decade :-)

[pjc50]

You know you can refuel before the light comes on, right?

[xxpor]

It's been required since the 2009 edition of the MUTCD, however there's no deadline for updating existing roads.

[cbm-vic-20]

Even better: do it in kilometers like Interstate 19:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19#Signage

Of course, this doesn't come without some controversy.