Crossroads of your state

[sprjus4]

How exactly does Abilene rank above Houston?

[Roadgeekteen]

How exactly does Abilene rank above Houston?

More central in the state?

[US 89]

Here's another related topic, how about crossroads of a region of this nation? ... Some regions would be more difficult, like I can see a case for either Denver or SLC as the crossroads for the Mountain states.

Salt Lake is the crossroads of the west - it's more or less in the middle of the western US and there's a good, reasonably direct route to almost every significant population center.

[Avalanchez71]

Here's another related topic, how about crossroads of a region of this nation? ... Some regions would be more difficult, like I can see a case for either Denver or SLC as the crossroads for the Mountain states.

Salt Lake is the crossroads of the west - it's more or less in the middle of the western US and there's a good, reasonably direct route to almost every significant population center.

It also makes a good airline hub.

[CoreySamson]

How exactly does Abilene rank above Houston?

More centralized location, and lots of US highways intersect near there.

[Roadgeekteen]

How exactly does Abilene rank above Houston?

More centralized location, and lots of US highways intersect near there.

Houston still has I-10, I-45, and US 59/I-69.

[JREwing78]

I'd say for the whole state it'd probably be US-10 and US-127 in Clare. There is even a Michigan Welcome Center in the median there.

It's a crossroads for the region, but not the entire state. Lansing wins this contest hands down, with freeways connecting all the largest population areas in the state, connections to all four international border crossings in the state, and direct access to the U.P..

There are no east-west freeway corridors north of Lansing, so many trips "Up North" involve driving through Lansing. It's one of only two ways north with direct 4-lane access to the Mackinac Bridge. Clare's crossroad status relies on its connection to Lansing.

Lansing is on one of only two direct Interstate highway connections south out of the entire state, and one of only three north-south freeway corridors. (I-94 is an east-west route nudged southward by Lake Michigan).

When I-69 is completed, Lansing will be on one of only two direct Mexico to Canada Interstate routes (I-5 being the only other one, with I-35 unlikely to ever extend north of Duluth).

SM-G991U

[hobsini2]

No one has attempted a full list yet, so based on my opinions and the opinions of others in this thread, here's mine:

Alaska: Fairbanks
Hawaii: Honolulu
Washington: Seattle
Oregon: Portland
California: Tracy
Arizona: Phoenix (duh)
New Mexico: Albuquerque (duh)
Colorado: Denver (duh)
Utah: SLC
Nevada: Vegas
Idaho: Boise
Montana: Billings
North Dakota: Fargo
South Dakota: Sioux Falls
Nebraska: Omaha
Kansas: Wichita
Oklahoma: OKC (duh)
Texas: DFW
Louisiana: Alexandria
Arkansas: Little Rock (duh)
Missouri: Jefferson City
Iowa: Des Moines (duh)
Minnesota: MSP
Wisconsin: Madison
Illinois: Chicago
Indiana: Indianapolis (big duh, as it's the crossroads of the entire country)
Michigan: Lansing
Ohio: Columbus (no, it's not Dayton, please don't overthink it)
Kentucky: Lexington
Tennessee: Nashville (duh)
Mississippi: Jackson
Alabama: Montgomery
Florida: Orlando
Georgia: Atlanta (again, please don't overthink it)
South Carolina: Columbia
North Carolina: Greensboro
Virginia: Richmond
West Virginia: Charleston
Maryland: Baltimore
Delaware: Wilmington
Pennsylvania: Harrisburg
New Jersey: Newark
New York: Albany
Connecticut: Hartford
Rhode Island: Providence
Massachusetts: Springfield
Vermont: Montpelier
New Hampshire: Concord
Maine: Augusta

Objections?

LA: Being Alexandria? I suppose. But you could make a case for Lafayette too.
ID: I would say Pocatello is more than Boise.
MO: You could make a case for KC, St Louis and Columbia as well.
AL: Birmingham is more of a true crossroads.
NC: Greensboro??? I think Charlotte is a more obvious one.

[Roadgeekteen]

No one has attempted a full list yet, so based on my opinions and the opinions of others in this thread, here's mine:

Alaska: Fairbanks
Hawaii: Honolulu
Washington: Seattle
Oregon: Portland
California: Tracy
Arizona: Phoenix (duh)
New Mexico: Albuquerque (duh)
Colorado: Denver (duh)
Utah: SLC
Nevada: Vegas
Idaho: Boise
Montana: Billings
North Dakota: Fargo
South Dakota: Sioux Falls
Nebraska: Omaha
Kansas: Wichita
Oklahoma: OKC (duh)
Texas: DFW
Louisiana: Alexandria
Arkansas: Little Rock (duh)
Missouri: Jefferson City
Iowa: Des Moines (duh)
Minnesota: MSP
Wisconsin: Madison
Illinois: Chicago
Indiana: Indianapolis (big duh, as it's the crossroads of the entire country)
Michigan: Lansing
Ohio: Columbus (no, it's not Dayton, please don't overthink it)
Kentucky: Lexington
Tennessee: Nashville (duh)
Mississippi: Jackson
Alabama: Montgomery
Florida: Orlando
Georgia: Atlanta (again, please don't overthink it)
South Carolina: Columbia
North Carolina: Greensboro
Virginia: Richmond
West Virginia: Charleston
Maryland: Baltimore
Delaware: Wilmington
Pennsylvania: Harrisburg
New Jersey: Newark
New York: Albany
Connecticut: Hartford
Rhode Island: Providence
Massachusetts: Springfield
Vermont: Montpelier
New Hampshire: Concord
Maine: Augusta

Objections?

LA: Being Alexandria? I suppose. But you could make a case for Lafayette too.
ID: I would say Pocatello is more than Boise.
MO: You could make a case for KC, St Louis and Columbia as well.
AL: Birmingham is more of a true crossroads.
NC: Greensboro??? I think Charlotte is a more obvious one.

Charlotte borders South Carolina.

[hobsini2]

No one has attempted a full list yet, so based on my opinions and the opinions of others in this thread, here's mine:

Alaska: Fairbanks
Hawaii: Honolulu
Washington: Seattle
Oregon: Portland
California: Tracy
Arizona: Phoenix (duh)
New Mexico: Albuquerque (duh)
Colorado: Denver (duh)
Utah: SLC
Nevada: Vegas
Idaho: Boise
Montana: Billings
North Dakota: Fargo
South Dakota: Sioux Falls
Nebraska: Omaha
Kansas: Wichita
Oklahoma: OKC (duh)
Texas: DFW
Louisiana: Alexandria
Arkansas: Little Rock (duh)
Missouri: Jefferson City
Iowa: Des Moines (duh)
Minnesota: MSP
Wisconsin: Madison
Illinois: Chicago
Indiana: Indianapolis (big duh, as it's the crossroads of the entire country)
Michigan: Lansing
Ohio: Columbus (no, it's not Dayton, please don't overthink it)
Kentucky: Lexington
Tennessee: Nashville (duh)
Mississippi: Jackson
Alabama: Montgomery
Florida: Orlando
Georgia: Atlanta (again, please don't overthink it)
South Carolina: Columbia
North Carolina: Greensboro
Virginia: Richmond
West Virginia: Charleston
Maryland: Baltimore
Delaware: Wilmington
Pennsylvania: Harrisburg
New Jersey: Newark
New York: Albany
Connecticut: Hartford
Rhode Island: Providence
Massachusetts: Springfield
Vermont: Montpelier
New Hampshire: Concord
Maine: Augusta

Objections?

LA: Being Alexandria? I suppose. But you could make a case for Lafayette too.
ID: I would say Pocatello is more than Boise.
MO: You could make a case for KC, St Louis and Columbia as well.
AL: Birmingham is more of a true crossroads.
NC: Greensboro??? I think Charlotte is a more obvious one.

Charlotte borders South Carolina.

So? A crossroads of a state doesn't need to be center. It needs to go to the other major cities in the state. You can get to everywhere easily from Charlotte as well as Greensboro. Not saying that Greensboro is a bad choice. It wouldn't be my choice.

[sprjus4]

Charlotte lacks full freeway access to the east to Wilmington, and partially to the west until the Shelby Bypass is complete. Greensboro has I-40 for both movements.

[Roadgeekteen]

Charlotte lacks full freeway access to the east to Wilmington, and partially to the west until the Shelby Bypass is complete. Greensboro has I-40 for both movements.

Greensboro is just connected to more parts of the state by freeway than Charlotte.

[empirestate]

I would still go with Albany, as I-87 south of Albany is more important than I-81 south of Syracuse.

Yeah.  This is compelling.
[/quote]

More important to the concept of a "crossroads"? Or just a more important road? I'm not aware that the two ideas are connected. A crossroads is, literally, a meeting point of roads and, idiomatically, a point of decision, where one can approach from any direction and then choose any direction to proceed. There's nothing about it that suggests to me the relative importance of the different options–the meeting and the choice are the inherent characteristics.

I'm sure there's a way to actually measure this, if you're a little handy with computer scripting. You could calculate the route between each pair of points in the state (perhaps within a certain threshold, such as a minimum population, or the center of each town or city), and then find the area where a plurality of them meet. If you could translate this script into a map, the result would probably be visually quite apparent.

[hotdogPi]

I'm sure there's a way to actually measure this, if you're a little handy with computer scripting. You could calculate the route between each pair of points in the state (perhaps within a certain threshold, such as a minimum population, or the center of each town or city), and then find the area where a plurality of them meet. If you could translate this script into a map, the result would probably be visually quite apparent.

That would cause issues for North Dakota, where Fargo is on the edge of the state but connects to out-of-state cities.

[empirestate]

I'm sure there's a way to actually measure this, if you're a little handy with computer scripting. You could calculate the route between each pair of points in the state (perhaps within a certain threshold, such as a minimum population, or the center of each town or city), and then find the area where a plurality of them meet. If you could translate this script into a map, the result would probably be visually quite apparent.

That would cause issues for North Dakota, where Fargo is on the edge of the state but connects to out-of-state cities.

What kind of issues do you think it would cause? (And why would they be unique to Fargo?)

[thspfc]

I went with Fargo (Sioux Falls is a similar situation) because they just have by far the most significant junctions. Centrally located is more of a tiebreaker between qualified cities. Like Greensboro vs Charlotte. They're both good options, but I went with Greensboro because of its location relative to Charlotte's.

[jaehak]

No one has attempted a full list yet, so based on my opinions and the opinions of others in this thread, here's mine:

Alaska: Fairbanks
Hawaii: Honolulu
Washington: Seattle
Oregon: Portland
California: Tracy
Arizona: Phoenix (duh)
New Mexico: Albuquerque (duh)
Colorado: Denver (duh)
Utah: SLC
Nevada: Vegas
Idaho: Boise
Montana: Billings
North Dakota: Fargo
South Dakota: Sioux Falls
Nebraska: Omaha
Kansas: Wichita
Oklahoma: OKC (duh)
Texas: DFW
Louisiana: Alexandria
Arkansas: Little Rock (duh)
Missouri: Jefferson City
Iowa: Des Moines (duh)
Minnesota: MSP
Wisconsin: Madison
Illinois: Chicago
Indiana: Indianapolis (big duh, as it's the crossroads of the entire country)
Michigan: Lansing
Ohio: Columbus (no, it's not Dayton, please don't overthink it)
Kentucky: Lexington
Tennessee: Nashville (duh)
Mississippi: Jackson
Alabama: Montgomery
Florida: Orlando
Georgia: Atlanta (again, please don't overthink it)
South Carolina: Columbia
North Carolina: Greensboro
Virginia: Richmond
West Virginia: Charleston
Maryland: Baltimore
Delaware: Wilmington
Pennsylvania: Harrisburg
New Jersey: Newark
New York: Albany
Connecticut: Hartford
Rhode Island: Providence
Massachusetts: Springfield
Vermont: Montpelier
New Hampshire: Concord
Maine: Augusta

Objections?

Salina for KS. I 70 is unquestionably the Main Street of the state, you can't have a crossroads that doesn't involve 70.

Agree on the anti Jefferson City sentiment others have posted. I grew up in KS and I've driven to, through, and across MO countless times and on various routes, and I've never been to Jefferson City.

[thspfc]

Yeah, now that I think about it KS's crossroads must be on I-70. However I would go with Topeka rather than Salina. Salina is enticing because of its location, but Topeka has more major highways.

[empirestate]

I went with Fargo (Sioux Falls is a similar situation) because they just have by far the most significant junctions. Centrally located is more of a tiebreaker between qualified cities. Like Greensboro vs Charlotte. They're both good options, but I went with Greensboro because of its location relative to Charlotte's.

I don't think the system would mind that you guessed Fargo–it just may disagree with you, is all!

[texaskdog]

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.

35W & 94 in Minneapolis

[D-Dey65]

Florida: Orlando

Wildwood would disagree with you on that.

[rarnold]

I'll do another couple of states no one has mentioned.

Montana - It's a toss up between Butte and Bozeman, but I'll go with Bozeman.  They're both pretty close to the center of population of the state, but Bozeman has a better chance of getting passed through on the way to Yellowstone.  Not to mention it has a more popular airport.

I'd agree with Butte because of the two Interstates, but I'd argue Billings is more important as a crossroads for the eastern part of the state. Bozeman is only important mostly for I-90.

I would agree with Billings as well. It has I-90 and I-94, US 87 which serves Great Falls, US 212 which serves Yellowstone. Bozeman is a great town, but I've never thought of it as a crossroads. Butte is in the same boat.

[Roadgeekteen]

Florida: Orlando

Wildwood would disagree with you on that.

No connection to the eastern coast.

[CoreySamson]

Florida: Orlando

Wildwood would disagree with you on that.

No connection to the eastern coast.

See US-192, FL-528, and FL-50. Seems like pretty good connections to me.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

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.

35W & 94 in Minneapolis

If you wanted to pinpoint an exact location, that's a good choice. Maybe even more so if MN 55 and 65 still followed their original alignments through downtown.  Choice #2 might be the 94/694/100/252 meetup in Brooklyn Center.