Oak Ridge Turnpike/95/58 ride

This morning we rode from the west end guard shack in Oak Ridge out 95/Turnpike to where it turns into 58 and from there on out to where it crosses I-40. This used to be one of our favorite local rides until construction started for widening the road from two to four lines a couple of years ago.

Now the construction is finished and today was our first time to enjoy the ride again since the construction started.

One of the items I noted with interest as we rode out toward the interstate is where 95 crosses the East Fork of Poplar Creek. The bridge there used to be narrow and we'd have to ride in the traffic lane to get across it. Now there's a separate bridge for each pair of lanes and each bridge has plenty of space for the wide shoulder to get across without getting in the traffic lane.

What I noticed with amusement was the sign giving the name of the creek -- "East Fork Popular Creek" (with the "u"). The same misspelling appears on the sign on the other side, which we saw as we were returning. I took a picture, which my iPhone managed to lose before I got it posted here. Perhaps sometime when I'm out that way, I'll stop and get the picture to post.

Updated 2012.0624:

This sign has been on the Turnpike just west of its intersection with Illinois since before we moved to Oak Ridge:

This work on widening 95 has been completed and they did a beautiful job -- this bridge used to be two lanes with no shoulder. Now there's a nice wide two lane bridge on each side, both with wonderful wide shoulders so you can get across the creek on your bike without having to ride in the cars' lane. But notice the name of the creek: