Exit number

An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit. In some countries, including the United States and Canada, it is also marked on a sign in the gore.

Exit numbers typically reset at political borders such as state or provincial lines.

Some non-freeways use exit numbers. An extreme case of this was in New York City, US, where the Grand Concourse and Linden Boulevard were given sequential numbers, one per intersection (neither boulevard has had exit numbers since 2011). A less extreme version was used on the West Side Highway, also in New York, where only the major intersections are numbered, possibly to match the planned exits on the cancelled Westway freeway. Another case is the Nanaimo Parkway in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Highway 19, where all exits are numbered, though all except one are at-grade intersections. Some other intersections on Highway 19 outside Nanaimo are also given numbers. As a means of educating motorists, some state highway maps include a brief explanation of the exit numbering system on an inset. Iowa DOT maps from the 1970s and 1990s included a picture or drawing of a milepost and briefly described how Iowa had included milepost references near interchanges on the map.