Highway 1

[zachary_amaryllis]

I always felt like every state's highway 1, should be something grand and cool, something representative of the state. Does your state's highway 1 fit that description?

Colorado's, i feel doesn't. it's about a 10 mile stretch of road from north Fort Collins to Wellington, that more or less stairsteps on county roads. Wellington is a largely unremarkable town. I think CO 1 might have been something more back in the day, but not so much now.

Tell us about your state's highway 1.

[Bruce]

Washington does not have a Highway 1. Its place in the numbering grid is occupied by US 101, which is important in its own right but not of top billing.

Until 1964, its Highway 1 was appropriately the main north-south corridor west of the Cascades, later part of US 99 and now replaced by I-5.

[tolbs17]

Major highway in NC that runs from Henderson through Wake Forest, Raleigh, Sanford, and Rockingham.

[Vocalicacorn187]

I live in Ontario and we have never had a Highway 1, though we do have the Highway 401 which is the most important and grand highway in the province.

The 401 is the busiest highway in North America.

[Scott5114]

I've always heard that OK-1 is numbered as such because it was considered the most scenic highway in the system, but I don't know if that's true or just a bit of roadgeek legend.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Indiana State Road 1 is split into two sections with the longer piece being 138 miles (I-275 near Lawrenceburg to I-469/US 33 near Fort Wayne) and the shorter piece being only 41 miles (I-69 in Fort Wayne to US 20 near Angola). Is it important in Indiana? No.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Ohio State Route 1 has been decommissioned back in 1965 for present-day I-71, I-271, and I-90.

[LilianaUwU]

Most Canadian provinces that have an highway 1 (BC, AB, SK, MB, PEI, NL) have them as part of the Trans-Canada highway. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are the two exceptions, though their 1s are still long highways.

As for the territories (Yukon and NWT), both their highways numbered 1 are major, with Yukon's acting as *the* road connection between Alaska and the rest of North America.

[MATraveler128]

Other than US 1, which is the longest US route in the US, I would say that Delaware's Route 1 is very important as it is one of the main north south arteries through Delaware. It begins at the Maryland border and connects the beach towns and turns towards Dover becoming the relief route and goes all the way to Wilmington.

[Rothman]

NY only has US 1, which is barely navigable through the City due to lousy signage.

[hotdogPi]

Other than US 1, which is the longest north-south US route in the US,

FTFY

[Rothman]

Other than US 1, which is the longest north-south US route in the US,

FTFY

Heh.  Good catch.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN 1 is the state's longest state highway, running from the Lake Superior cliffs to the ND border. Despite that, it's not really a good route to get from point A to point B and arguably could be broken up into 3 or 4 different numbers. As far as geological landscapes go, it's a good cross section of what the state has to offer: Lake Superior, Boundary Waters, northern forests, boredom, western Minnesota farmland.

[SEWIGuy]

No Highway 1 in Wisconsin. I think it should be the expressway portion of WI-29 between I-94 and I-41 leaving two WI-29s at either end.

[SkyPesos]

OH 1: went from hero (second Ohio Turnpike between Cincinnati to Conneaut via Columbus and Cleveland) to zero (not existing at all after the interstates).

This designation is actually the second one for OH 1. The first one was before the US routes, when OH 1 was signed on the state's portion of the National Road. That became US 40 later on.

[US 89]

Utah hasn't had a highway 1 since 1977, when the state eliminated its system of unsigned internal legislative designations. SR 1 was the hidden state route that covered I-15. Before the interstates, it was assigned to US 91. There hasn't been a signed state highway 1 in Utah since the US system was first signed.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Ohio State Route 1 has been decommissioned back in 1965 for present-day I-71, I-271, and I-90.

Though in a previous life, it followed the National Rd (before US routes came to be)

[FrCorySticha]

Montana 1, formerly US 10 ALT, is a beautiful drive and a nice alternative for I-90 between Drummond and Anaconda if you're not in a hurry. It shows off the mountainous terrain that covers the western 1/3rd of the state.

North Dakota 1 is a fairly important north-south highway in eastern part of the state, running from the SD border to the Canadian border. The terrain is the typical ND rolling prairies, and the highway goes through a number of typical small towns.

[plain]

Virginia has only US 1, which is almost completely overtaken in importance by I-85 & I-95. The only portion that has any merit left as it's own routing is the stretch north of Lorton. The rest of it does provide the obvious alternate when I-95 gets jammed up though, which happens a lot.

I agree with BlueOutback7 on the importance of DE 1 for Delaware. That just might be the best example for this thread.

[Max Rockatansky]

I wonder if I've ever written anything for CA 1?

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/05/paper-highways-california-state-route-1.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/02/california-state-route-1-cabrillo.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/11/historic-highway-alignments-in.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/06/california-state-route-1-from.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/02/california-state-route-1-tom-lantos.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2018/08/california-state-route-1-in-big-sur-mud.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2018/07/shield-of-day-california-state-route-1.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2018/03/california-state-route-1-exploring-big.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2017/12/challenger-adventures-in-coast-ranges.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2017/10/big-sur-slide-spectactular-part-5-new.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2017/08/california-state-route-1big-sur.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2017/11/november-bay-area-trip-part-7.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/02/california-state-route-1-shoreline.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/02/california-state-route-1-shoreline_11.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/02/california-state-route-1-shoreline_14.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/02/the-original-alignment-of-california.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/07/former-california-state-route-1-over.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/08/former-alignments-of-california-state.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2022/02/los-alamitos-traffic-circle-current.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/11/the-legislative-route-gaps-of-us-route.html?m=1

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/08/former-us-route-101-along-santa-barbara.html?m=1

[skluth]

No Highway 1 in Wisconsin. I think it should be the expressway portion of WI-29 between I-94 and I-41 leaving two WI-29s at either end.

I always thought it interesting that there are no single digit state routes in Wisconsin. Only US 2 and US 8.

[iowahighways]

Iowa's highway 1 goes through Iowa City, which was Iowa's first state capital, but that's the only city it serves with a population of over 10,000. (The original Primary Road 1 in 1920 was for the Jefferson Highway, which became US 65 in 1926; IA 1 was then assigned to part of the former Primary Road 11.)

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana State Road 1 is split into two sections with the longer piece being 138 miles (I-275 near Lawrenceburg to I-469/US 33 near Fort Wayne) and the shorter piece being only 41 miles (I-69 in Fort Wayne to US 20 near Angola). Is it important in Indiana? No.

Important? No. Representative of the state? Yes. It goes through a town called Farmland. It doesn't get much more representative than that.

[Big John]

No Highway 1 in Wisconsin. I think it should be the expressway portion of WI-29 between I-94 and I-41 leaving two WI-29s at either end.

I always thought it interesting that there are no single digit state routes in Wisconsin. Only US 2 and US 8.

I thought so there would be no elite status for any highway.

[wanderer2575]

Michigan's M-1, Woodward Avenue, between Detroit and Pontiac is fairly representative, although now it's mostly urban.  It is "Detroit's Main Street" and was Michigan's first paved road.  Also supposedly has the dubious distinction of being the first road (in the US?) for which a police citation was written for drag racing, in March 1895.