Highways you're surprised it hasn't gotten truncated/decommissioned

[vdeane]

I'm surprised that in 6 pages of this thread, no one yet has mentioned US 1 in northern Maine between Madawaska and Fort Kent. Indeed, that was the route that came to mind for me when I saw the thread title.

Anyway, having traveled the entire length of US 1 from Fort Kent to Key West, Florida in Street View, I cannot for the life of me understand why US 1 was not truncated in Madawaska. That town connects to a much more important highway in New Brunswick than Fort Kent does, and the road from Madawaska to Fort Kent goes opposite its nominal direction (i.e. US 1 "north" actually goes southwest). To me, it would make a lot more sense to extend ME 11 from Fort Kent to Madawaska, while the north end of US 1 would be at the border bridge in Madawaska, as opposed to Fort Kent where it actually is.

That would be nice.  I have rules for where I'll fudge a clinch at the border and where I won't, and the US 1 north end is a gray area that I mostly lean towards "won't".  The problem is, there is basically nothing across the river from Fort Kent, whereas Edmundston actually has things that are worth crossing over for a quick visit.  Alas, with the "America's First Mile" monument in Fort Kent, I don't think they have plans to truncate it anytime soon.

[texaskdog]

Why not keep it going to Dickey?

[texaskdog]

Unless the connection to Peoria is ever finished (something I don't see happening in this lifetime given that IDOT is many higher priorities!), Interstate 180 Illinois. Pretty much a road to nowhere!
I would have also said the Elgin-O'Hare until the tollway took over and actually started extending it to at least O'Hare and gave it a number (IL 390)! I don't hold out any similar optimism for I-180.

maybe when it starts deteriorating they'll close one side and make it a super 2

[Some one]

I'll add another highway, US 74 in Tennessee. This doesn't really bother me. Moreso, it confuses me why they extended US 74 over US 64 and I-75 to I-24. The only reason I can think of is to have a continuous route between Chattanooga and Charlotte.

There's also SH 124 in Texas, which parallels I-10 north of Winnie.

[hbelkins]

I'll add another highway, US 74 in Tennessee. This doesn't really bother me. Moreso, it confuses me why they extended US 74 over US 64 and I-75 to I-24. The only reason I can think of is to have a continuous route between Chattanooga and Charlotte.

There's also SH 124 in Texas, which parallels I-10 north of Winnie.

I think it was designed so a truck route with one route number could be designated. IIRC, the original route of US 74 was designated US 74A when the four-lane was built to extend to I-26. From I-26 westward, all of US 74 is concurrent with other routes (I-26, I-40, US 23, US 441, US 19, US 64, I-75). It is not signed along I-74 and only spottily signed on the Cleveland bypass, and it ends at I-24 without any fanfare. And much of that is also signed as Truck US 64.

[ChiMilNet]

Unless the connection to Peoria is ever finished (something I don't see happening in this lifetime given that IDOT is many higher priorities!), Interstate 180 Illinois. Pretty much a road to nowhere!
I would have also said the Elgin-O'Hare until the tollway took over and actually started extending it to at least O'Hare and gave it a number (IL 390)! I don't hold out any similar optimism for I-180.

maybe when it starts deteriorating they'll close one side and make it a super 2

With the traffic it probably gets (or better yet doesn't get, it might make sense). IDOT could save some money that way.

[TheOneKEA]

Maryland has a ridiculous number of these highways, many of which are unsigned frontages, original alignments, tiny stubs or otherwise unremarkable local streets. The ones I can think of include:

MD 17 (north of US 40)
MD 32 (north of MD 97)
MD 99
MD 104
MD 132
MD 334
MD 432
MD 462
MD 562
MD 662 (between MD 322 and the US 50/MD 309 intersection)
MD 763
MD 851

MD-3 Business in Glen Burnie. It no longer connects with mainline MD-3 because I-97 replaced it in the area.

Another one near Glen Burnie is MD 169, which is little more than a city street.

You could make a case for MD 2 south of Sunderland (where it begins overlapping with MD 4).  It's a bit of a pointless overlap since at the other end in Solomons, 2 turns off 4 and simply runs parallel, ending here less than a quarter mile later (side question: was the end of state maintenance always here, or did 2 used to extend all the way into Solomons?).  I'm guessing it remains because 2 existed thru Calvert County before 4, and many are now familiar with that stretch as "2-4".

At one time I believe MD 2 did indeed extend onto Solomon's Island. The concurrency today is probably retained due to the fact that MD 2 was already there and MD 4 came much later, and replaced the designation of MD 416. Before the Governor Johnson Bridge was built I believe both highways ended at Solomon's.

[mapman1071]

US 60 from I-10, La Paz County To I-10 at Superstition Freeway, Tempe

Thomas Road @ I-17 to Wickenberg Traffic Circle could be US 93/AZ 93 (After I-11)
Wickenberg Traffic Circle To Hope AZ 72, I-10 To Aguila AZ 71 With overlap of 71 and 72 between Hope and Aguila.

[Max Rockatansky]

US 60 from I-10, La Paz County To I-10 at Superstition Freeway, Tempe

Thomas Road @ I-17 to Wickenberg Traffic Circle could be US 93/AZ 93 (After I-11)
Wickenberg Traffic Circle To Hope AZ 72, I-10 To Aguila AZ 71 With overlap of 71 and 72 between Hope and Aguila.

Why do so many people seem to be okay with US 93 being carried on a massive multiplex of I-11?  That's a long haul through a lot of empty desert just to carry two route designations.  Just truncate US 93 back to I-15 in Nevada and leave US 60 alone.

[Konza]

I-11 in Arizona does not yet exist.  When it does, US 93 can cease to exist south of Las Vegas.  Until it does, it makes sense for the route from Phoenix to Las Vegas to have one route number.

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

I-11 in Arizona does not yet exist.  When it does, US 93 can cease to exist south of Las Vegas.

What about 95 to Reno?

[Konza]

I-11 in Arizona does not yet exist.  When it does, US 93 can cease to exist south of Las Vegas.

What about 95 to Reno?

I-11 north of Las Vegas is certainly a longer term proposition than is I-11 south.  US 95 south of Las Vegas is apparently not a potential Interstate corridor and runs through two states.  If Arizona no longer sees the need for the US route designation, then it would be up to California and Nevada to determine whether or not it is worth signing US 95 south of Reno.

[thspfc]

I-11 in Arizona does not yet exist.  When it does, US 93 can cease to exist south of Las Vegas.

What about 95 to Reno?

Is I-11 even officially going to extend to Reno in the future? I thought that was just something that we discuss on here, not something that could actually happen.

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

I-11 in Arizona does not yet exist.  When it does, US 93 can cease to exist south of Las Vegas.

What about 95 to Reno?

Is I-11 even officially going to extend to Reno in the future? I thought that was just something that we discuss on here, not something that could actually happen.

The government actually approved an extension from Vegas to Reno, but no further north.

[bing101]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_19

Im Surprised that CA-164 was never decommissioned because its mainly a hidden route within CA-19.  Some of this is due to when I-605 in the planning stages and the proposed Rio Hondo Fwy was in debate as an alternative to I-710.

[jmacswimmer]

Maryland has a ridiculous number of these highways, many of which are unsigned frontages, original alignments, tiny stubs or otherwise unremarkable local streets. The ones I can think of include...(snipped)

To add another big one to your list: US 40 ALT/US 40 Scenic/MD 144.  At least be consistent with the designation
MD 765 also comes to mind, since MD 2-4 is already being discussed.

At one time I believe MD 2 did indeed extend onto Solomon's Island. The concurrency today is probably retained due to the fact that MD 2 was already there and MD 4 came much later, and replaced the designation of MD 416. Before the Governor Johnson Bridge was built I believe both highways ended at Solomon's.

IMHO, it would make more sense if 2 still went all the way into Solomons, but I guess MDOT SHA probably wanted to get it off their hands.  It just seems so silly the way 2 ends almost immediately after departing the overlap with 4.

[sparker]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_19

Im Surprised that CA-164 was never decommissioned because its mainly a hidden route within CA-19.  Some of this is due to when I-605 in the planning stages and the proposed Rio Hondo Fwy was in debate as an alternative to I-710.

Seeing as how much of the surface Rosemead Blvd. (CA 164/originally retaining CA 19 signage) has been relinquished to the cities it traverses, the point may be rendered moot.  With the exception of the singular 1970-71 actual CA 164 signage placed on the I-10 C/D roads at the Rosemead Blvd. interchange, the facility continued to be field-signed as CA 19, its historical number since 1934.  But the relinquishments, like others in D7, have made the point moot; while the relinquishment agreements specify that signage of the through route should be maintained, that's often honored in the breach more than the observance, particularly if the street(s) are modified in any fashion.  The last time I was through the area (2018) CA 19 still appeared on freeway BGS's; didn't have the opportunity to check out surface signage, though.  If typical D7 care is applied, if the street is altered, the signage comes down and isn't replaced; if not, existing signage tends to remain until it ages out.

The Rio Hondo/CA 164 freeway, which would have been the optimal way to access Pasadena from I-605, was NIMBY'd to death before an actual alignment could be adopted.  Both San Gabriel and Temple City, the two adjacent jurisdictions through which any of several route options would have had to traverse, came out in opposition to the corridor in the early '70's at just about the time the generalized "freeway revolt" was occurring.  Because no formal alignment had been adopted, Caltrans studies toward that end were simply suspended until such time as the opposition waned; that never happened, and the corridor remained the "line of circles on a map" denoting unadopted general corridor locations.   But both opposing cities were "old-line" longstanding suburbs carrying a lot of clout with local legislators as well as with L.A. County, so the 164 freeway concept was, for all intents & purposes, permanently shelved.   

[silverback1065]

most of ohio's state routes are superfluous, especially in cities

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

most of ohio's state routes are superfluous, especially in cities

Thank you the state that does NOT sign roads within cities.

[dvferyance]

US-266 really what is the purpose of it? It's like 40 miles long and runs close to I-40. In my state I would say WI-127 and WI-134. WI-127 is just a parallel route with WI-16 and does not serve any towns. WI-134 is a short spur to an unincorporated town that nobody cares about.

[DandyDan]

US-266 really what is the purpose of it? It's like 40 miles long and runs close to I-40. In my state I would say WI-127 and WI-134. WI-127 is just a parallel route with WI-16 and does not serve any towns. WI-134 is a short spur to an unincorporated town that nobody cares about.

WI-127 probably continues to exist solely because the Columbia Correctional Institution (coincidentally the prison where Jeffrey Dahmer got killed at) is on the route, even though it's close to the east end.

[silverback1065]

most of ohio's state routes are superfluous, especially in cities

Thank you the state that does NOT sign roads within cities.

there are tons of routes in every one of their cities. aren't they maintained by odot? that statement isn't relevant to the topic at hand anyway

[DandyDan]

One more for Iowa, which is the N-S section of IA 415. It is a mile west of US 69 and doesn't really go anywhere. IA 415 could then swallow up IA 160 in Ankeny and make a nice E-W road through the northern Des Moines area.

[bing101]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_285_(Georgia)

Florida Highway-400 and Georgia Highway-407 should be decommissions because they are entirely inside signed interstate routes.

[Max Rockatansky]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_285_(Georgia)

Florida Highway-400 and Georgia Highway-407 should be decommissions because they are entirely inside signed interstate routes.

You do realize every US Route and Interstate in Florida has a State Road designation that often isn't even field signed?  If you examine the numbering convention it actually is a pretty solid grid design.  FL 400 even exists as an independent highway East I-4 in Daytona.