Weird Routes

[Flint1979]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

I know at the I-75 exit it's signed east and west.

And if the reason is terrain (that would explain 3/4 of a circle but not a spiral shape) then it is also going up and down and should be designated up/down. So it's actually a 3d spiral...

All the intersections I see with it just sign KY-620 with an double sided arrow for both directions with no directional plate.

[Mike2357]

I gotta check it out some day.

[MinecraftNinja]

That is trippy.

[Mapmikey]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

I know at the I-75 exit it's signed east and west.

It is labeled E-W throughout and does not change as 620's orientation changes around.  At the I-75 exit it is signed the opposite of actual east-west.

[kphoger]

US 412 should be US 66.  It fits the grid.

Can you imagine the outrage among the Historic Route 66 tourism industry, if US-66 were re-designated somewhere else?

[Max Rockatansky]

US 412 should be US 66.  It fits the grid.

Can you imagine the outrage among the Historic Route 66 tourism industry, if US-66 were re-designated somewhere else?

If I recall correct the standard rhetoric from Avalanche on the topic is that nostalgia for a long dead US Route has little to no value.

[kphoger]

Like, moral value?  Or financial value?  Or political value?

[Max Rockatansky]

Like, moral value?  Or financial value?  Or political value?

All of the above I believe.  He'll have to chime in to fully explain his reasoning

[SEWIGuy]

My top 3 weird routes - one state, one US, and one interstate:

OH-37.  Winding through the hills of SE Ohio, skirts north of Columbus, then turns north through the flat farmlands.
US-68. Does this really need to be a 2 digit route?  Does it really need to be one route?
I-94.  Should have ended in Milwaukee.  Give Detroit to Chicago I-90 or I-92.  No real reason to use one number.

You're going to use an I-x0 for a short 300 mile Detroit to Chicago route?

No. 90 would be Seattle to Detroit, and 92 would be Cleveland to Boston (or if that's too long, extend 86 and 88, and have 92 from Erie to Albany).

I-90 going to Boston makes the most sense though it gives it the coast to coast route. Sometimes geographical things get in the way it looks like I-94 was meant to go across the lake but of course the lake is too wide so you have to go around it. But then again I-94 on the west side of the lake lines up more with I-96 on the east side of the lake. Still though it takes a jog around the lake and possibly meant to be a Detroit-Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities route.

If you look at the history of the interstate system, there wasn't originally a plan for an interstate between Milwaukee and Green Bay - it came about 10 years later.  In addition, Illinois didn't want I-57 extended through Chicago.  So for Milwaukee to have an interstate connection to both Chicago and Madison, it made sense for it to be the same number.

[Mike2357]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

I know at the I-75 exit it's signed east and west.

It is labeled E-W throughout and does not change as 620's orientation changes around.  At the I-75 exit it is signed the opposite of actual east-west.

What do you mean the opposite?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Argument for I-94: As I've commented a number of times, I-94 is the "business route" of the Upper Midwest hitting Fargo, MSP, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit, so it makes sense for this corridor to have one number, and I'd argue it's even more important given long-distance traffic will be deviating from I-94 between Madison and Chicago to come back to one number when they meet up with 94 again.

[Mapmikey]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

I know at the I-75 exit it's signed east and west.

It is labeled E-W throughout and does not change as 620's orientation changes around.  At the I-75 exit it is signed the opposite of actual east-west.

What do you mean the opposite?

I-75 NB ramp says 620 west is to the right when it is physically east.

[Mike2357]

Yep, that's why it would make more sense to designate Clockwise and CounterClockwise.

[kphoger]

Yep, that's why it would make more sense to designate Clockwise and CounterClockwise.

I think it would make more sense to have no directions posted at all.

[SEWIGuy]

But I get the point about I-94 ending in Milwaukee.  Ideally, I-55 running up the Edens Expressway and the current I-41/94 to Milwaukee, and I-43 to Green Bay makes perfect sense. 

[frankenroad]

I think OH-163 fits the bill.   Most of it runs east-west, but when it gets to the end of the Marblehead peninsula, it turns south and then west, so you are going due west on "East OH-163".   And then, when it gets to Quarry Road, the designation ends, and you are now on Ottawa County 135.

If you look at this on Google maps, it shows the southern leg as CR 135, but Rand McNally shows it correctly as OH-163. 

[keithvh]

I think OH-163 fits the bill.   Most of it runs east-west, but when it gets to the end of the Marblehead peninsula, it turns south and then west, so you are going due west on "East OH-163".   And then, when it gets to Quarry Road, the designation ends, and you are now on Ottawa County 135.

If you look at this on Google maps, it shows the southern leg as CR 135, but Rand McNally shows it correctly as OH-163.

Another Ohio state highway sort of like this is OH-703 down by Grand Lake Saint Mary's.

It goes west from Saint Mary's to Celina, hugging the north shore of the lake.  That makes sense.  It then duplexes with OH-29, goes west to US-127, where it duplexes with that highway for several miles going south, only to now turn east to go 1 mile to Montezuma.

The southwestern part of the highway is important enough to be a state highway (Ohio signs ALL KINDS of roads as state highways after all).  But give that 1-mile stretch of highway a different number than 703.  Then it could be signed directionally correctly too (that southwestern portion is basically 180 degrees off in cardinality).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_State_Route_703

[Mike2357]

Another highway from my area that should be on this list is the Nassau Expressway. It is a 1-directional highway, only eastbound. It's designated 878 despite not connecting to 78, should probably be a part of route 27, but nope and it just parallels the belt parkway, with another exit just to get back onto it, and then is no longer an expressway the rest of the route to Atlantic Beach. A westbound addition would help relieve some of the traffic near 678 and JFK Airport.

[Scott5114]

If we lock a thread because the title contains an demeaning word, that means stop using that word, and definitely don't start thinking up people you feel it applies to.

[MCRoads]

Another highway from my area that should be on this list is the Nassau Expressway. It is a 1-directional highway, only eastbound. It's designated 878 despite not connecting to 78, should probably be a part of route 27, but nope and it just parallels the belt parkway, with another exit just to get back onto it, and then is no longer an expressway the rest of the route to Atlantic Beach. A westbound addition would help relieve some of the traffic near 678 and JFK Airport.

That is unique... there used to be something similar in Australia, except it was a lot longer, and reversible. It has since been made into a dual-carriage road, but for the time it existed, it was... weird.

[JayhawkCO]

There are plenty of useless routes in Colorado (CO101, CO53, CO394, CO317, and CO239 jump to the top of the list).  But the most random routing is probably CO30.  Takes over when US285 ends at I-25, has to turn north otherwise it would run into the Cherry Creek Reservoir, cuts east again at 6th Ave and then instead of ending at I-225 which would make some sense, keeps going around Buckley Air Force Base and then ends at Quincy Avenue, which isn't a particularly important intersection. 

For the record, the blue dot is my house (that I just noticed was on the snip). 

Chris

[MinecraftNinja]

Don't forget about Massachusetts route 139.

[Mike2357]

Route 7 in NJ has a similar weird shape, it served its purpose as a direct connection between Route 139/Skyway and I-280, but continuing it after that on random local streets is pointless. Also, the exit from NJ 139 to NJ 7 has TWO consecutive 360 degree turns in the same direction, which makes no sense.

[kphoger]

There are plenty of useless routes in Colorado (CO101, CO53, CO394, CO317, and CO239 jump to the top of the list).  But the most random routing is probably CO30.  Takes over when US285 ends at I-25, has to turn north otherwise it would run into the Cherry Creek Reservoir, cuts east again at 6th Ave and then instead of ending at I-225 which would make some sense, keeps going around Buckley Air Force Base and then ends at Quincy Avenue, which isn't a particularly important intersection. 

For the record, the blue dot is my house (that I just noticed was on the snip). 

Kinda looks like CO-30 is going out of its way to avoid you.

[JayhawkCO]

There are plenty of useless routes in Colorado (CO101, CO53, CO394, CO317, and CO239 jump to the top of the list).  But the most random routing is probably CO30.  Takes over when US285 ends at I-25, has to turn north otherwise it would run into the Cherry Creek Reservoir, cuts east again at 6th Ave and then instead of ending at I-225 which would make some sense, keeps going around Buckley Air Force Base and then ends at Quincy Avenue, which isn't a particularly important intersection. 

For the record, the blue dot is my house (that I just noticed was on the snip). 

Kinda looks like CO-30 is going out of its way to avoid you.

I avoid it quite a bit as well, except for the stretch between Parker Road (CO83) and Mississippi Avenue which has the best stretch of every foreign cuisine restaurant one could want - great sushi, Korean, Ethiopian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Persian, Uzbek, etc.  Mmmmm.  Might need to get some mandu today (Korean dumplings).

Chris