Why was U.S. 140 decommissioned?

[Molandfreak]

There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason for the decommissioning of U.S. 140. Nothing really replaced it except I-795 for a short stretch, and it remained state routes anyway. Does anyone know exactly why it was decommissioned?

[roadman65]

US 213 had no route replacing it either, but look what happened.  It ended up staying Route 213, but with another shield. 

However, good question.  It would be great to know that answer, although I detect we will hear soon from our resident complainers soon some kind of incoherent answer.

[NE2]

I detect we will hear soon from our resident complainers soon some kind of incoherent answer.

Sooner than you expected.

[BrianP]

It's a route with no purpose in terms of a national network.  It got you to Gettysburg.  Who's going to Gettysburg?  If you continue north you would have been better off taking I-83.  If you continue westward you would have been better off taking I-70. 

[roadman65]

It's a route with no purpose in terms of a national network.  It got you to Gettysburg.  Who's going to Gettysburg?  If you continue north you would have been better off taking I-83.  If you continue westward you would have been better off taking I-70. 

That is a good answer as it only connects with two other US routes that are best served by other routes.  Even if you would have extended it further north along PA 34 where would it get you also.  Or even further north, where it just goes to middle PA where there is no commerce or tourism between the two ends.

I only wish they would do that with US 46 in New Jersey, but New Jersey will never petition AASHTO to have it done do to the state being broke.  I have no quarrels with the number, but if it were to become NJ 46, no one would really care as everything in NJ is "Route" anyway.  The same with US 130 becoming extended US 301, but that may cause alarm for people as its a new number, but IMO that is what I think US 130 should become.

[Alex]

There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason for the decommissioning of U.S. 140. Nothing really replaced it except I-795 for a short stretch, and it remained state routes anyway. Does anyone know exactly why it was decommissioned?

Two reasons, the sub-300 mile AASHTO rule and the then future Interstate 795.

Looks like I neglected to cite the news article where I read this a few years back. I posted it on the main site at
https://www.aaroads.com/guide.php?page=s0140md

[cpzilliacus]

There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason for the decommissioning of U.S. 140. Nothing really replaced it except I-795 for a short stretch, and it remained state routes anyway. Does anyone know exactly why it was decommissioned?

There was at one time a proposal to have a high-speed and possibly Super-2 (at least in part) type of road running from U.S. 15 near Emmitsburg to Baltimore, and perhaps another that would have run east-west across Baltimore County north of I-695, and into Harford County.

Remnants can be seen in the form of the high-speed Md. 140 (formerly Md. 32) between Taneytown and Westminster, in the Westminster Bypass (IMO a failure because of inadequate access controls and a lot of "retail sprawl" along much of its length), I-795 in Baltimore County, and Md. 23 (appropriately called East West Highway) in Harford County.

And as was suggested above, U.S. 140 did not follow the path of Md. 140 north or northwest of Westminster.  It followed what is now Md. 97 and Pa. 97 to Gettysburg.

And yes, it was too short to have a U.S.  number at about 50 miles.

[NE2]

the sub-300 mile AASHTO rule

Which only applies to single-state routes.

[Alex]

the sub-300 mile AASHTO rule

Which only applies to single-state routes.

Nonetheless that rule was cited in the newspaper article I found on the old Google News timeline search.

I believe I tracked down the original article I researched with five years ago. Indeed I appear to be incorrect and have amended the MD 140 guide accordingly. The short length of the route was cited as one of the reasons for removing it, but not the 300-mile rule.

The original article that I referenced for the Maryland 140 route guide citing the possibility of decommissioning U.S. 140:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rpsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0OgFAAAAIBAJ&dq=route+140+gettysburg&pg=2817,1340916&hl=en

Another pertinent article on the route:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19680605&id=sTUmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cf4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1749,2342163&hl=en

A 1968 plan sought to extend U.S. 140 northward from Gettysburg to Newport along Pennsylvania 34. AASHO was already in the process of removing "short-length" routes and one suggestion was to renumber the existing U.S. 140 as a multi-state route 34.

[wdcrft63]

The AASHTO single-state rule (U.S. highways in a single state shorter than 300 mi should be decertified) is being ignored almost everywhere, and I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense any more (if it ever did). Here are some examples:

US 211 in VA. Probably should be decertified, since its function is now taken by I-66.
US 360 in VA. Definitely not; this is still an important highway linking Richmond to Danville in one direction and to the Northern Neck resorts in the other.

US 117 in NC. Probably should be decertified, since its function is now taken by I-40/I-795.
US 264 in NC. Definitely not; this is still an important highway linking Raleigh to Wilson and Greenville and Greenville to the Outer Banks.

The question should be, does a route serve a significant amount of non-local traffic?

[Henry]

I think you could say the same thing about US 240, which was "replaced" by I-270 and MD 355. As it didn't go into another state (but did terminate in DC), it was a single-state route, though on a technicality.

At least US 140 did enter PA, and I imagine it terminated at its parent either on Pennsylvania Ave or the Monroe/Fulton corridor. I'll have to look at historic maps for further clarification.

[cpzilliacus]

I think you could say the same thing about US 240, which was "replaced" by I-270 and MD 355. As it didn't go into another state (but did terminate in DC), it was a single-state route, though on a technicality.

At least US 140 did enter PA, and I imagine it terminated at its parent either on Pennsylvania Ave or the Monroe/Fulton corridor. I'll have to look at historic maps for further clarification.

U.S. 240 definitely went into the District of Columbia on Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.  That meant it was an interstate road (crossing the D.C./Maryland border is enough - for the purposes of most transportation matters, D.C. is equivalent to a state).

At first, U.S. 240 followed what is now Md. 355.  As the new Washington National Pike (a freeway) was completed in the 1950's, U.S. 240 was moved over to the new road, but from Pooks Hill (site of the I-495/Md. 355/I-270 interchange) it followed Rockville Pike and Wisconsin Avenue south into D.C.

Then Washington National Pike became I-70S, though the U.S. 240 signs remained - for a while, but those signs were eventually removed, leaving U.S. 240 disconnected from its parent and only running from Pooks Hill south into D.C. 

Then U.S. 240 was decommissioned, and what was left of U.S. 240 in Maryland became Md. 355, and in D.C. just un-numbered D.C. streets.

[Mapmikey]

US 240 may have also entered Virginia for a time in the 1930s-40s...

From the 1937 Virginia Official (only the short distance between Columbia Island and US 1 is in Virginia):



Gen Draft maps over several years also suggested this was the case..

Mapmikey

[kkt]

There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason for the decommissioning of U.S. 140.

Clearly, it was to allow the vitally important Winnemucca to the Sea Highway (Nevada-Oregon 140) to get a US route number!

Okay, maybe not.

[bsmart]

I think you could say the same thing about US 240, which was "replaced" by I-270 and MD 355. As it didn't go into another state (but did terminate in DC), it was a single-state route, though on a technicality.

At least US 140 did enter PA, and I imagine it terminated at its parent either on Pennsylvania Ave or the Monroe/Fulton corridor. I'll have to look at historic maps for further clarification.

Remember that US 140 used to change direction at Westminster and go up what is now MD-97 to Gettysburg.  About the same time it became MD 140 it and MD 97 were 'swapped' beyond Westminster

[midwesternroadguy]

US 240 may have also entered Virginia for a time in the 1930s-40s...

From the 1937 Virginia Official (only the short distance between Columbia Island and US 1 is in Virginia):



Gen Draft maps over several years also suggested this was the case..

Mapmikey

Ever so briefly however--isn't Columbia Island part of the District?  So we're talking about 1000 feet within Virginia.

[cpzilliacus]

Ever so briefly however--isn't Columbia Island part of the District?  So we're talking about 1000 feet within Virginia.

Columbia Island is indeed in the District of Columbia. 

And I think it may be less than 1000 feet from the bridge over the Boundary Channel to (what was then) the junction with U.S. 1 at the Long Bridge (a/k/a "the Highway Bridge").  The Long Bridge name lives on - the railroad bridge (now owned by CSX, I think it was owned by PRR when the map above was drawn), is still known by that name.

[froggie]

Based on 1949 aerial imagery and going with the old "Highway Bridge" (as it was called at the time..."Long Bridge" is technically mislabeled on the VDOT map) centerline yields a US 240 length in Virginia of just over 1,000ft (I measured 1,044ft specifically).

[1995hoo]

US 240 may have also entered Virginia for a time in the 1930s-40s...

From the 1937 Virginia Official (only the short distance between Columbia Island and US 1 is in Virginia):



Gen Draft maps over several years also suggested this was the case..

Mapmikey

Ever so briefly however--isn't Columbia Island part of the District?  So we're talking about 1000 feet within Virginia.

Notice Mapmikey indeed said that when he posted the map.