News:

The AARoads Wiki is live! Come check it out!

Main Menu

Crossroads of your state

Started by ParrDa, July 17, 2017, 03:46:26 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

tman

Minnesota:
I'm thinking St. Cloud. It is fairly central, and has MN 15, MN 23, US 10, and I-94. But I'm not too sure.


tdindy88

This may come to a complete surprise to people but the Crossroads of Indiana is Indianapolis. Mapping it out one day I saw that 65 of Indiana's 92 counties have direct highway access (via interstate, U.S. or state highway) to Marion County. Also it's the state capital, largest city and largest metro area, so there's that too.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: tman on July 18, 2017, 07:12:36 PM
Minnesota:
I'm thinking St. Cloud. It is fairly central, and has MN 15, MN 23, US 10, and I-94. But I'm not too sure.

I think it's MSP, just because of how well-established the "spokes on the wheel" routes are in radiating outward to the rest of the state.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

tdindy88

Quote from: ParrDa on July 18, 2017, 11:54:34 PM
Quote from: tdindy88 on July 18, 2017, 09:57:35 PM
This may come to a complete surprise to people but the Crossroads of Indiana is Indianapolis.

That's a dictionary-worthy example of sarcasm...
I hope that's how you meant it  :confused:

Yes. I was being funny.

berberry

I suppose the most important crossroads in Mississippi would probably be the I-55 interchanges with I-20. The town with roads that look more like spokes on a wheel would have to be Hattiesburg, with I-59, US 49 and US 98 all combining to give it that appearance.

For this state, we could add an "other-wordly" catagory. Clarksdale would go there, and the intersection of US 49 and old US 61, the infamous "Crossroads" where Robert Johnson was said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the guitar.

michravera

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 17, 2017, 09:39:58 PM
Probably either CA 58 at CA 99 or I-5 at I-80 for California.
Or I-5@CASR-152 or I-80@I-505 or US-101@I-280/I-680. But, I would think that the MacArthur maze I-80/I-880/I-580/I-980 tops it all.

I-15@CASR-58, I-15@I-10, and CASR-41@CASR-99.

In Nevada, I-80@I-580 and I-15@US-95.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: berberry on July 19, 2017, 04:45:26 AM
For this state, we could add an "other-wordly" catagory. Clarksdale would go there, and the intersection of US 49 and old US 61, the infamous "Crossroads" where Robert Johnson was said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the guitar.

Which interestingly as Dale Sanderson pointed out, the location of the Crossroads monument is not where 61/49 intersected when Johnson was alive; it was a few blocks away at today's modern intersection of DeSoto and MLK (4th St).
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

berberry

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on July 19, 2017, 09:35:29 AM
Which interestingly as Dale Sanderson pointed out, the location of the Crossroads monument is not where 61/49 intersected when Johnson was alive; it was a few blocks away at today's modern intersection of DeSoto and MLK (4th St).

Yes, that's true. I guess somebody thought making it easy to find was more important than accuracy.

Roadsguy

Probably Harrisburg for Pennsylvania, as it's fairly center in the state, and is served by several major roads, directly or indirectly providing access to...


  • Pittsburgh and Philly via the Turnpike
  • Lots of places via I-81 south
  • Scranton/Wilkes-Barre via I-81 north
  • State College via 22/322
  • York and Baltimore via I-83
  • Frederick and D.C. via US 15 south
  • Williamsport and ultimately Rochester via US 11/15 north
  • Lancaster via PA 283
  • New York City via I-78 (indirect)
Mileage-based exit numbering implies the existence of mileage-cringe exit numbering.

CNGL-Leudimin

No answer from me since I don't have a state.
Supporter of the construction of several running gags, including I-366 with a speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h) and the Hypotenuse.

Please note that I may mention "invalid" FM channels, i.e. ending in an even number or down to 87.5. These are valid in Europe.

Darkchylde

Probably where US 50, 54 and 63 meet in Jefferson City.

jaehak

In Kansas, the most populous metro area, most populous county, and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 9th largest cities proper all comprise metro KC, but most of the major roads cross on the wrong side of the state line. That basically leaves 4 viable options for Kansas.

1) Topeka - where 70 and the Turnpike split and US 75 is a major N-S US Highway. The problem is that it's basically a Y intersection and 75 doesn't really go anywhere important.

2) Emporia, where the Turnpike (335) and 35 meet, and 50 continues west to Hutchinson. Problem - northbound thru traffic choosing between 35 and 335 will all end up in KC within ~90 minutes.

3) Wichita. 35/Turnpike and 135, with 54 going west toward Dodge City and environs. Pretty good, but it's a crossroads that doesn't involve I 70, easily the most important road in the state.

4) Salina. 70 and 135/81. I suppose this would be it. 70 east for Topeka/Lawrence/KC/eventually Chicago/New York/Washington. 70 west for Hays/Denver/eventually Seattle/Vegas/LA. 135 south for Hutchinson/Wichita/OKC/eventually Dallas/San Antonio/Mexico. 81 north for, ahem, Concordia. Eventually Winnipeg.

US 89

The obvious crossroads of Utah is Salt Lake City, since it's the junction of I-15 and I-80.

However, I believe a case could be made for Provo/Spanish Fork, since that's the split of I-15, US 6, US 89, and US 189.

jwolfer

#38
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 18, 2017, 02:27:51 PM
Quote from: jwolfer on July 18, 2017, 02:19:52 PM

Florida i would say Orlando. That gets some of the east coast into the mix.

Florida, Texas and California are a more difficult call than a lot states because there isnt "one" major city like Georgia or Arizona or a midpoint like NJ

LGMS428

With Florida that's why I picked I-75 with the Turnpike.  That junction is still in the middle of state and will fork you off to; Tampa, Orlando, and Miami.
I understand your reasoning.. I like to get i4 in the mix and a bit closer to i95.

Orlando has the mix of deep South, transplants from northeast and midwest and Latin America.. I find Orlando interesting in that respect

LGMS428

empirestate

Quote from: ParrDa on July 19, 2017, 12:01:39 AM
For New York, I have to say Syracuse.

NYC definitely is a crossroads, but more so for the region (including Jersey and Connecticut) than the state as a whole. In other words, most people in the state would not need go through NYC on their way to other areas of the state. Syracuse, on the other hand, has I-90 and I-81 providing direct access to every metro in the state. 

A case could also be made for Albany, which has 2-dis in five directions to Syracuse's four. But it lacks the central location.

Completely agree; there's no doubt that it's Syracuse. And it doesn't have to be a regional center–Syracuse is, but before the Interstate era I might have said Lafayette because of its location on the Great Western/Cherry Valley Turnpike route. (And it's no coincidence that Syracuse is where the state fair is held.)

Albany is definitely a crossroads, but not the crossroads. If anything, it's more like the crossroads of western New England. And I was also prepared to be talked into Binghamton, but I feel it's really more of a confluence than a crossroads. Or at least, like Albany, it's the crossroads of a region that spans beyond the state boundary.

The "feel" thing is harder to answer. It certainly can have an effect, but it's hard to tell in this case since Syracuse already feels commensurately large to its size. I think both Albany and Binghamton have a more "inflated" feel to them than Syracuse: Albany because it's both the capital and one of a cluster of good-sized cities; and Binghamton because of its relatively strategic location.


iPhone

Bickendan


Buck87

I'd say Columbus is a pretty obvious choice for Ohio

bassoon1986

I'll take a stab at Texas. My vote goes to San Antonio.

-2 of the major cross country routes: I-10 and I-35. These are also arguably the 2 busiest ones in Texas
-Most of its highways connect to the other major cities in Texas: 35 hits DFW, Waco, Austin, and Laredo, 37 gets to Corpus, 10 gets Houston and El Paso, 281 makes it to the Valley, and 87 gets San Angelo, Lubbock and Amarillo
-It's not totally central to the center of Texas, but more like south-central which isn't bad



iPhone

The High Plains Traveler

Colorado: Denver. All three Interstates meet within a few miles. Most significant population centers are along those routes, mostly along I-70 and 25, or not very far off them.
New Mexico: Albuquerque. Two of three Interstates (40/25) meet, and there are few significant population centers that aren't along either of those routes.
"Tongue-tied and twisted; just an earth-bound misfit, I."

Buffaboy

#44
Hmm...for WNY, one could say Batavia. In theory it could be East Aurora as well, for the Buffalo area.

For the (up)state itself, it's either Newburgh or Albany. I-84 meets I-87, two crucial corridors. But with Albany, I-90 meets I-87. I don't know if this satisfies the question.

Syracuse makes a lot of sense as well, but is there really that much NB traffic past the city?
What's not to like about highways and bridges, intersections and interchanges, rails and planes?

My Wikipedia county SVG maps: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Buffaboy

empirestate

Quote from: Buffaboy on July 23, 2017, 02:36:27 AM
Hmm...for WNY, one could say Batavia. In theory it could be East Aurora as well, for the Buffalo area.

For the (up)state itself, it's either Newburgh or Albany. I-84 meets I-87, two crucial corridors. But with Albany, I-90 meets I-87. I don't know if this satisfies the question.

Syracuse makes a lot of sense as well, but is there really that much NB traffic past the city?

Depends what you mean by "that much". How much do you require in order to consider some place to be a crossroads? I don't have any particular traffic amount in my criteria, so yes, for me there is "that much". :-)

vdeane

Quote from: Buffaboy on July 23, 2017, 02:36:27 AM
Hmm...for WNY, one could say Batavia. In theory it could be East Aurora as well, for the Buffalo area.

For the (up)state itself, it's either Newburgh or Albany. I-84 meets I-87, two crucial corridors. But with Albany, I-90 meets I-87. I don't know if this satisfies the question.

Syracuse makes a lot of sense as well, but is there really that much NB traffic past the city?
Is I-84 really that important of a corridor to NY specifically?  Sure, it has traffic, but it strikes me as being a mix of local traffic and out of state traffic.  The corridor is really more important on a regional level than a NY level.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

michravera

Quote from: tdindy88 on July 18, 2017, 09:57:35 PM
This may come to a complete surprise to people but the Crossroads of Indiana is Indianapolis. Mapping it out one day I saw that 65 of Indiana's 92 counties have direct highway access (via interstate, U.S. or state highway) to Marion County. Also it's the state capital, largest city and largest metro area, so there's that too.
It's not much of an exaggeration to say that Indianapolis is the crossroads of the US. You could make a case for Denver and St. Louis, also.

hotdogPi

Quote from: michravera on July 23, 2017, 07:24:11 PM
Quote from: tdindy88 on July 18, 2017, 09:57:35 PM
This may come to a complete surprise to people but the Crossroads of Indiana is Indianapolis. Mapping it out one day I saw that 65 of Indiana's 92 counties have direct highway access (via interstate, U.S. or state highway) to Marion County. Also it's the state capital, largest city and largest metro area, so there's that too.
It's not much of an exaggeration to say that Indianapolis is the crossroads of the US. You could make a case for Denver and St. Louis, also.

We had an entire thread on that. This thread was based on that one.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

empirestate

Quote from: ParrDa on July 23, 2017, 09:37:21 PM
Quote from: vdeane on July 23, 2017, 05:23:41 PM
Quote from: Buffaboy on July 23, 2017, 02:36:27 AM
Hmm...for WNY, one could say Batavia. In theory it could be East Aurora as well, for the Buffalo area.

For the (up)state itself, it's either Newburgh or Albany. I-84 meets I-87, two crucial corridors. But with Albany, I-90 meets I-87. I don't know if this satisfies the question.

Syracuse makes a lot of sense as well, but is there really that much NB traffic past the city?
Is I-84 really that important of a corridor to NY specifically?  Sure, it has traffic, but it strikes me as being a mix of local traffic and out of state traffic.  The corridor is really more important on a regional level than a NY level.

I agree completely. I-84 only goes through a relatively narrow section of the state and essentially serves to connect PA and Connecticut. And with regards to traffic north of Syracuse, I-81 has 6 lanes all the way up to Central Square. That's around 20 miles, and a lot more than can be said for south of the city where it drops to 4 lanes just outside downtown.

With that said, anyone heading to Watertown/US-11 corridor/Thousand Islands/Northern Ontario, from anywhere south, east or west of Syracuse, is going to pass through the thruway/I-81 junction. Which actually says quite a bit. I'd say Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, and the Adirondacks, all contribute to Syracuse's crossroads status as it's difficult to cut off any corners, making Syracuse a more likely waypoint.

Right. Being a crossroads isn't just a matter of being the intersection of two busy routes. It isn't the sheer number of trips that passes through the point, but rather the number of different unique trips that would pass through it. Of every possible trip between two points in the state, where do most of them converge?



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.