America's Main Street?

[dariusb]

Which of these interstates in your opinion is America's Main Street? I-10, I-35, I-40, I-70, I-75, I-80, I-90, I-95 or other.

[CoreySamson]

Out of those I would probably say 90 or 95, but America to me doesn't really have a main street. Maybe other countries do, but America is too spread out to have a true "Main Street" IMO.

[Scott5114]

Can I cheat and say I-40/I-44/I-55?

[ilpt4u]

Can I cheat and say I-40/I-44/I-55?

AKA US 66

I could ask why I-80 isn't on the list - San Francisco to the Approach to the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, by way of the southern end of the Chicagoland Metro Area, southern end of the Cleveland Metro Area, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Des Moines and Omaha. I mean, come on!

[hotdogPi]

I could ask why I-80 isn't on the list - San Francisco to the Approach to the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, by way of the southern end of the Chicagoland Metro Area, southern end of the Cleveland Metro Area, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Des Moines and Omaha. I mean, come on!

I-80 is pretty unimportant.

Think about it: it passes through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa. How many people live in those places? Not very many. It's concurrent through Indiana and Ohio for almost 300 miles, so that's unnecessary, then goes through rural Pennsylvania; again, no one lives there. Then it ends in quite possibly the least important city on the planet, New York.

Case closed.

[CtrlAltDel]

The problem with those choices is that none of them are really streets at all, at least in my view. If I had to pick, I'd go with something like Kansas Avenue in Marceline, Missouri, since that was the inspiration for the Main Street USA at Disneyland.

If we're looking for something like "Premier Interstate Highway of the United States," I would go with I-90. It has free parts and toll parts. It goes through major cities and extensive rural areas, mountains, plains, and forests, and so on. There are of course other interstates that do so as well, but this one is the longest, and therefore the best.

[Takumi]

I could ask why I-80 isn't on the list - San Francisco to the Approach to the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, by way of the southern end of the Chicagoland Metro Area, southern end of the Cleveland Metro Area, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Des Moines and Omaha. I mean, come on!

I-80 is pretty unimportant.

Think about it: it passes through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa. How many people live in those places? Not very many. It's concurrent through Indiana and Ohio for almost 300 miles, so that's unnecessary, then goes through rural Pennsylvania; again, no one lives there. Then it ends in quite possibly the least important city on the planet, New York.

Case closed.

You pulled that up within 5 minutes of his post? Did you have it saved or something?

[hotdogPi]

I could ask why I-80 isn't on the list - San Francisco to the Approach to the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, by way of the southern end of the Chicagoland Metro Area, southern end of the Cleveland Metro Area, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Des Moines and Omaha. I mean, come on!

I-80 is pretty unimportant.

Think about it: it passes through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa. How many people live in those places? Not very many. It's concurrent through Indiana and Ohio for almost 300 miles, so that's unnecessary, then goes through rural Pennsylvania; again, no one lives there. Then it ends in quite possibly the least important city on the planet, New York.

Case closed.

You pulled that up within 5 minutes of his post? Did you have it saved or something?

No. It actually took several searches. The one that did it was "i-80 new york san francisco" (without quotes). I wasted several searches thinking the word "nothing" was in the post, as in "a whole lot of nothing".

[Max Rockatansky]

None of them are streets.  None of them offer what one would expect out of a "Main Street"  experience you could/can get from a US Route. 

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

None of them are streets.  None of them offer what one would expect out of a "Main Street"  experience you could/can get from a US Route. 

I nominate US 40 then.

[dariusb]

None of them are streets.  None of them offer what one would expect out of a "Main Street"  experience you could/can get from a US Route. 

This is not to be taken literally. I know these choices aren't streets but which of the interstates best shows in your opinion, America(rural/urban) whatever.

[dariusb]

Can I cheat and say I-40/I-44/I-55?

AKA US 66

I could ask why I-80 isn't on the list - San Francisco to the Approach to the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, by way of the southern end of the Chicagoland Metro Area, southern end of the Cleveland Metro Area, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Des Moines and Omaha. I mean, come on!

I don't see how I overlooked it but it has been added.

[thspfc]

I-10 is too far south. I-35 and I-40 don't hit enough major population centers. I-90 is too far north. I-75 and I-95 are too far east. So that leaves I-70 and I-80. On one hand, I-80 reaches both coasts while I-70 doesn't, but on the other hand, I-70 is much more interesting mile for mile. Overall I would say I-80 by a hair.

[Max Rockatansky]

None of them are streets.  None of them offer what one would expect out of a "Main Street"  experience you could/can get from a US Route. 

This is not to be taken literally. I know these choices aren't streets but which of the interstates best shows in your opinion, America(rural/urban) whatever.

But the analogy being sought doesn't fit the reality (in my opinion).  The Interstates might be a lot of things, but none of them are a good representation of what a "American Main Street Experience"  should offer.  It's often been said that the Interstates made it possible to travel America and see nothing in the process. 

To that end historically I'd say US 66 would obviously leap off the page given it was the Los Angeles-Chicago.  Someone else stated US 40 also above.  I would go even further back and say stuff like the National Old Trails Road or Lincoln Highway were the truest "Main Street"  experience. 

[Rothman]

I-90 is concurrent with I-80 and not the other way around.  Therefore, I-80 is America's Main Street.

[thspfc]

I-90 is concurrent with I-80 and not the other way around.  Therefore, I-80 is America's Main Street.

Hmm. I believe that I-80 and I-90 share the same road between Portage, Indiana and Elriya, Ohio, which would mean that I-80 is indeed concurrent with I-90. Is that correct?

Seriously though, what is with all the hate towards the I-80/90 concurrency? There is a natural barrier called the Great Lakes. It's no different than the Rockies or Apps creating wacky alignments and concurrencies.

[Rothman]

No.  I-90 is concurrent with I-80.

[vdeane]

The western I-86

[Ned Weasel]

WTF are we on about now?  If X and Y are concurrent, then X is concurrent with Y, and Y is concurrent with X.  Never in my life have I heard the concept that X can be concurrent with Y without Y being concurrent with X.  What definition of "concurrent" are you using?

Maybe I'm a simpleton, but I thought it was a pretty simple concept: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concurrent

Seriously though, what is with all the hate towards the I-80/90 concurrency? There is a natural barrier called the Great Lakes. It's no different than the Rockies or Apps creating wacky alignments and concurrencies.

This is a question I can maybe entertain.  First of all, I wasn't aware of any hate towards the I-80/I-90 concurrency.  But I'll make up my own reason.  It's kind of inconsistent that I-80 is allowed to run coast-to-coast, but I-76 was split into two segments.  If it weren't for the part of I-76 that runs southwest of I-80 in Ohio, I-76 could have been concurrent with I-80 from western Nebraska to eastern Ohio, but that would be sign clutter.  So, some would argue that there should be two I-80s, just like there are two I-76s, 84s, 86s, 88s, and now even two I-87s all of a sudden.  But you could turn that around and say I-80 should have been the continuous route and I-90 should have been split into two.  How do you decide which is more worthy when there's no criteria?  You really can't choose fairly, and the only difference it would make is it would eliminate a lot of shields in Indiana and Ohio.

[vdeane]

WTF are we on about now?  If X and Y are concurrent, then X is concurrent with Y, and Y is concurrent with X.  Never in my life have I heard the concept that X can be concurrent with Y without Y being concurrent with X.  What definition of "concurrent" are you using?

Maybe I'm a simpleton, but I thought it was a pretty simple concept: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concurrent

For DOT inventory/reporting requirements, concurrent routes are often treated as if they are only the more important and/or lower numbered of the two in order to avoid duplicated data (which would mess up total mileage figures, among other things).  Thus, the concurrent section would be inventoried as I-80 and I-90 would be split in this system.  Both FHWA and NYSDOT do this for certain data reports (this is, incidentally, why FHWA once listed I-80 as the longest interstate on the internet somewhere even though I-90 is actually longer).

[Ned Weasel]

For DOT inventory/reporting requirements, concurrent routes are often treated as if they are only the more important and/or lower numbered of the two in order to avoid duplicated data (which would mess up total mileage figures, among other things).  Thus, the concurrent section would be inventoried as I-80 and I-90 would be split in this system.  Both FHWA and NYSDOT do this for certain data reports (this is, incidentally, why FHWA once listed I-80 as the longest interstate on the internet somewhere even though I-90 is actually longer).

Well, that makes sense.  But--  I think it makes more sense to say I-80 is the primary route and I-90 is the secondary route than it does to say X is concurrent with Y but Y is not concurrent with X.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Heh, that would make CNGL's head explode since he's been railing about I-80 being the useless one of the duo (plus the 80/94 pairing) all these years.

[oscar]

None of them are streets.  None of them offer what one would expect out of a "Main Street"  experience you could/can get from a US Route. 

This is not to be taken literally. I know these choices aren't streets but which of the interstates best shows in your opinion, America(rural/urban) whatever.

But the analogy being sought doesn't fit the reality (in my opinion).  The Interstates might be a lot of things, but none of them are a good representation of what a "American Main Street Experience"  should offer.  It's often been said that the Interstates made it possible to travel America and see nothing in the process.

IMO, a realistic "American Main Street Experience" would show traditional downtowns in decline, after losing business to Wal-Marts and other big-box stores built near the Interstates and other new highways.

[Brandon]

No.  I-90 is concurrent with I-80.

One could make the other argument based on the Indiana Toll Road's mileage.  It follows I-90, and I-80 jumps from mile 16 to mile 21 at Burns Harbor.

[thspfc]

No.  I-90 is concurrent with I-80.

So do you have any reasoning behind this, or are you just mad at I-90?