SR 720 EB at US 460 outside Bluefield. This short secondary route has a lot of interesting and old shields - the first one being the oldest and using Virginia's old pre-1970s font.


Things get interesting at the eastern end of the route, which comes to VA 102, not I-102. Bluefield is an independent city, so it gets to sign its own routes. That seems to mean a lot of neglect of older signs and a lot of recycling of signs outside their intended purpose. There's no three-digit Interstate in the area, though, so this must have been custom-ordered by someone who didn't know how to specify a Virginia shield. Click for a clearer version courtesy H.B. Elkins. The problem continues on 102 itself, which you can see via the link below.


In the westbound direction, old and interesting happen at the same time. The second sign is clearly a Virginia state route blank that was converted into a circle using cheap black paint, which then faded back to white (just like the circle outline in the first photo. Getting even lazier, the third photo contains an upside-down US shield with a 720 circle cutout patched on top. Bluefield didn't even try to paint this one. I have to wonder, why is it so hard to come by a circle blank? If it's easier to get a primary route shield, why doesn't VA 102 have more of those?

Onto US 460
Onto VA 102
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