What is the most important us highway?

[Quillz]

US 101 by far, especially considering it is at minimum an expressway that is the most direct route between Los Angeles and San Francisco....no traffic lights either.   

Only remaining traffic lights on the 101 through California are in S.F. and Eureka, IIRC. It's either freeway, expressway, or standard divided highway everywhere else.

[adventurernumber1]

My pick would be for US Highway 101, for obvious reasons. US 101 has many limited-access sections, it is highly independent of interstates, and it goes through some very large cities and metro areas (Los Angeles and the Bay Area). The only other US Highway that is, to my current personal knowledge and experience, even comparable to US 101 in importance is US Highway 287. US 287 is immensely important for a good portion of its route, probably most notably as a pivotal corridor from DFW to Amarillo. For that reason, it is no surprise that a proposed interstate is a good and important idea in Texas from DFW to Amarillo, along the US 287 corridor. Both of these US Highways are incredibly important to this country.

US 101 by far, especially considering it is at minimum an expressway that is the most direct route between Los Angeles and San Francisco....no traffic lights either.   

Only remaining traffic lights on the 101 through California are in S.F. and Eureka, IIRC. It's either freeway, expressway, or standard divided highway everywhere else.

Though it makes sense, that is a very intriguing fact that I actually was not aware of. 

[Quillz]

Though it makes sense, that is a very intriguing fact that I actually was not aware of. 

Santa Barbara had some traffic lights on the 101 as recently as 1992. I believe they were at the junctions with Garden and State Streets, given the fact those streets dip underneath the freeway, while none of the other local streets do. Between Santa Barbara and S.F., it's all freeway or expressway. The North Coast is freeway where possible, but you've still got some narrow sections through the redwoods. And Eureka, much like S.F., has done everything possible to avoid freeway bypasses.

Of course, 101 has plenty of lights in Oregon and Washington, and it's not a freeway at all through Oregon. Although it has a pretty equally important alignment. Brookings, Florence, Newport, Lincoln City, all are pretty busy during the summer months with tourists. If any part of 101 in Oregon should get a freeway bypass, it would be Lincoln City.

[Scott5114]

US-66. It hasn't been in the system for 30 years and it's still the most well-known designation in it. None of the others draw travelers from other countries just to drive on the road, as far as I know.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'll nominate US 2 for northern New England, it's the primary east-west route since there's no interstate highway through there.

Well moose need roads!

[US 89]

The most important US highways in the US, especially the West, were often rewarded by having freeways built next to or on top of them. Then these freeways got Interstate designations, and the US highways got decommissioned...
This is the story of US 10, 40, 60, 66, 70, 80, 91, 99, and many others. These were all some of the most important US highways. Look where they are now.