City listed on Interstate road signs as a destination of a particular road. For example, the control cities on Interstate 95 immediately south of Washington are Fredericksburg and Richmond, Virginia.

When two cities fairly close together are on an interstate, they can wind up having gunfights over who gets to be the control city. Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Hampton all had a major pissing contest over who got to be a secondary control city on Interstate 64 east of Richmond (since Norfolk was the obvious primary control city). They wound up compromising, to the point where every sign on I-64 East once you pass tourist mecca Williamsburg has a different secondary control city.

In section 2F-7, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways states that "Freeways offer superior traffic service to population centers located on or near them. For this reason, the course of the freeway route and the major destinations of 'control cities' along it must always be clearly identified."

And further, that "To provide continuity and consistency, the 'control city' should remain the same on all successive signs throughout the length of the route until that destination is reached. Continuity in signing for 'control cities' should be maintained as a route continues into another state."

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) lists the following cities as being "approved" control cities for US Interstate highways as of 1998 (this list is re-published every five years):

  • 5 San Diego, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Redding, Mount Shasta City, Weed, Yreka, Ashland, Medford, Grants Pass, Roseburg, Eugene, Salem, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver B.C.
  • 8 San Diego, El Centro, Tucson, Phoenix
  • 10 Santa Monica, Los Angeles, San Bemadino, Riverside, Indio, Blythe, Phoenix, Tucson, Lordsburg, Deming, Las Cruces, El Paso, Van Horn, San Antonio, Houston, Beaumont, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Bay Saint Louis, Pascagoula, Mobile, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Lake City, Jacksonville
  • 12 Baton Rouge, Hammond, Slidell
  • 15 San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Barstow, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Butte, Helena, Great Falls
  • 16 Macon, Savannah
  • 17 Phoenix, Flagstaff
  • 19 Nogales, Tucson
  • 20 El Paso, Abilene, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Shreveport, Monroe, Vicksburg, Jackson, Meridian, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbia, Florence
  • 24 Chattanooga, Nashville, Clarksville, Paducah
  • 25 Sheridan, Cheyenne, Ft. Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Raton, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, El Paso
  • 26 Ashville, Spartanburg, Columbia, Charleston
  • 27 Lubbock, Amarillo
  • 29 Kansas City, Saint Joseph, Mound City, Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks, Winnipeg
  • 30 Ft. Worth, Dallas, Texarkana, Little Rock
  • 35 Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Kansas City, Des Moines, Ames, Mason City, Albert Lea, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth
  • 37 Corpus Christi, San Antonio
  • 39 Rockford, Bloomington-Normal
  • 40 Barstow, Needles, Kingman, Flagstaff, Gallup, Albuquerque, Santa Rosa, Tucumcari, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Asheville, Statesville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Benson, Wilmington
  • 43 Beloit, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Green Bay
  • 44 Wichita Falls, Lawton, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Joplin, Springfield, Rolla, Saint Louis
  • 45 Galveston, Houston, Dallas
  • 49 LaFayette, Opelousas, Alexandria, Shreveport
  • 55 New Orleans, Hammond, McComb, Jackson, Grenada, Memphis, Blytheville, Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, Saint Louis, Chicago
  • 57 Chicago, Cairo, Charleston, Sikeston, Memphis
  • 59 New Orleans, Slidell, Hattiesburg, Laurel, Meridian, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Gadsden, Chattanooga
  • 64 Wentzville, Saint Louis, Louisville, Lexington, Ashland, Huntington, Charleston, Beckley, Lewisburg, Lexington, Staunton, Richmond, Norfolk, Chesapeake
  • 65 Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, Huntsville, Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago
  • 66 strasburg, Washington
  • 69 Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron
  • 70 I-15, Grand Junction, Denver, Limon, Hays, Salina, Topeka, Kansas City, Columbia, Wentzville, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, Dayton, Columbus, Wheeling, Washington Pa., New Stanton, Breezewood, Hancock, Hagerstown, Frederick, Washington D.C., Baltimore
  • 71 Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland
  • 72 Springfield, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana
  • 74 Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Peoria, Des Moines
  • 75 Miami, Naples, Tampa, Lake City, Valdosta, Macon, Atlanta, Marietta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Sault Sainte Marie
  • 76 Denver, Fort Morgan, Sterling, Omaha Akron, Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Valley Forge, Philadelphia
  • 77 Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Marietta, Parkersburg, Charleston, Beckley, Bluefield, Wytheville, Statesville, Charlotte, Columbia
  • 78 Harrisburg, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, New York City
  • 79 Charleston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, Washington Pa., Pittsburgh, Erie
  • 80 San Francisco, Sacramento, Reno, Elko, Salt Lake City, Evanston, Cheyenne, Sidney, North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Iowa City, Davenport, Chicago, Cleveland, Youngstown, Sharon, Clarion, Du Bois, Clearfield, Bellefonte, Williamsport, Bloomsburg, Hazleton, Stroudsburg, Delaware Water Gap, New York City
  • 81 Knoxville, Bristol, Roanoke, Winchester, Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Chambersburg, Carlisle, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Binghamton, Syracuse, Watertown Canada
  • 82 Yakima, Pendleton
  • 83 Baltimore, York, Harrisburg
  • 84 Boston, Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury, Newburgh, Scranton, Ogden, Twin Falls, Boise, Ontario, Baker, La Grande, Pendleton, The Dalles, Portland
  • 85 Montgomery, Atlanta, Greenville, Spartanburg, Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham, Petersburg
  • 86 I-84, Pocatello
  • 87 New York City, Albany, Montreal
  • 88 Binghamton, Albany, Chicago, Moline, Rock Island
  • 89 Montreal, Saint Albans, Burlington, Montpelier, White River Junction, Concord
  • 90 Seattle, Ellensburg, Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Missoula, Butte, Billings, Sheridan, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Albert Lea, La Crosse, Wisconsin Dells, Madison, Janesville, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Albany, Boston
  • 91 New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, Brattleboro, White River Junction, Saint Johnsbury, Newport, Sherbrooke
  • 93 Quincy, Boston, Salem, Manchester, Concord, Plymouth, Littleton, Saint Johnsbury
  • 94 Port Huron, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin Dells, Eau Claire, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Moorhead, Fargo, Bismarck, Billings
  • 95 Houlton, Bangor, Augusta, Portland, Kittery, Portsmouth, Boston, Providence, New London, New Haven, New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia, Chester, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Benson, Fayetteville, Florence, Savannah, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach, Miami
  • 96 Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Detroit
  • 135 Wichita, Salina
  • 185 Columbus, Atlanta
  • 195 Providence, Fall River, New Bedford, Cape Cod, Trenton, Belmar
  • 196 Chicago, Holland, Grand Rapids
  • 270 Frederick, Washington D.C.
  • 275 Toledo, Flint
  • 280 Newark, Parsippany, Troy Hills
  • 287 Rye, White Plains, Tappan Zee Bridge, Suffern, Mahwah, Morristown, Perth Amboy
  • 295 Trenton, Wilmington, Boston, Warwick
  • 380 Cedar Rapids, Waterloo
  • 385 Greenville, Columbia
  • 390 Corning, Rochester
  • 395 Worcester, Norwich, New Haven
  • 595 Atlanta, Canton
  • 696 Lansing, Port Huron
  • 985 Atlanta, Gainesville
  • H-1 Waianae, Honolulu
  • H-2 Wahiawa, Honolulu
  • H-3 Kancohe, Aica
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