Control cities without direct access to downtown

[chrismarion100]

Control cities that don't have direct access to downtown
Eau Claire Wisconsin (have to exit and use either US 12 or US 53 to get to a road that leads to downtown) since I-94 don't have an exit that leads to downtown without using US 12 or US 53

[SkyPesos]

Baltimore on I-70 

[roadman65]

New York City on I-80 in NJ. Exit 53 connects to US 46, NJ 3, and NJ 495 for Midtown NYC, but not Downtown. I-80 connects to I-95 for Uptown NYC, but not Downtown either.

I-49 whenever AR completes it won't have a direct route to Downtown Fort Smith.

[tolbs17]

264 in Greenville used to be like that. You had to make 2 turns to get to downtown. Farmville Blvd ended at 14th Ave.

[Dirt Roads]

In days gone by, neither I-85 or I-40 in North Carolina had direct access to downtown Durham.  Over the past two decades, downtown Durham has expanded south of the North Carolina Rail Road such that the Durham Freeway (NC-147) is becoming an unofficial border to the south of downtown.  There are still some large high-rise developments to occur along the Durham Freeway before this transformation is truly complete.  But after all these years, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) now feels like a downtown stadium.

[Dirt Roads]

Fayetteville, North Carolina falls into this category, but wasn't originally planned that way.  Exit 52 for NC-24 was anticipated to be the main access to downtown Fayetteville for anyone not brave enough to trek down Green 95.

Long before the arrival of I-95, both US-301 and NC-87 had bypassed downtown.  And parallel to the construction of the I-95 "bypass", NC-24 was placed on an extension of Bragg Boulevard that also bypasses downtown.  So upon completion of I-95, there was no direct access to downtown Fayetteville.  The new I-295 has a Morganton Road exit that provides direct access to downtown, but I seriously doubt that anyone on I-95 would ever use that routing.

[webny99]

Are we talking city limits, or the actual central downtown area/CBD?

Either way, Buffalo NY on I-90 qualifies.

[bwana39]

New York City on I-80 in NJ. Exit 53 connects to US 46, NJ 3, and NJ 495 for Midtown NYC, but not Downtown. I-80 connects to I-95 for Uptown NYC, but not Downtown either.

I-49 whenever AR completes it won't have a direct route to Downtown Fort Smith.

I-49 will be MILES from downtown.

[Flint1979]

Almost all the 2di highways in Michigan with the exception of Detroit and I-69 in Flint bypass the downtowns.

I-75: Travels through downtown Detroit then it bypasses downtown Flint and Saginaw with connections made via I-475 and I-675 respectfully so I wouldn't count those they have connections via a 3di.

I-94 goes through the downtown in none of the cities it travels through in Michigan. It comes closest to traveling through downtown Detroit but misses it by a mile or two.

I-96 also doesn't enter any downtown in Michigan. Coming the closest in Detroit missing downtown by a mile or two as well.

I-69 only travels through downtown Flint.

[jp the roadgeek]

Scranton and Boston on I-84 (need I-81 to the Expressway to Nowhere Central Scranton Expressway and I-90 east from Sturbridge)
Providence on I-384 It's not even the best option
Boston and Portland, ME on I-95 (I-93, I-90, or US 1 for Boston; I-295 for Portland)
Washington on I-95 (I-395, US 50 among the options)
Springfield and Worcester on I-90 (Need I-91 or I-291 for Springfield; and I-290 or MA 146 for Worcester)
Albany and Montreal on I-87 (need to use I-787 from the south or head east on I-90 from the north. And of course, I-87 ends at the border).

[roadman65]

I-78 for Newark used to be that way, but the direct connection to NJ 21 remedied that awkwardness.  NJ 75 was supposed to be that connection originally, but never got built.

I-78 for Phillipsburg is via Exit 3 to US 22 West to South Main Street. No direct route.

I-40 to Los Angeles. Need I-15 to I-10.

[ilpt4u]

I-65 Chicago
I-88(IL) Chicago, Aurora, DeKalb, Moline/Rock Island; Basically all of its Control Cities in IL
I-80 Des Moines, Moline/Rock Island/Bettendorf/Davenport, Chicago, Cleveland, NYC
I-35 Des Moines
I-76 Pittsburgh
I-70 Washington, DC
I-55 Bloomington/Normal, Springfield(IL)
I-74 Bloomington/Normal
I-39 Bloomington/Normal, Rockford, Madison
I-90 Rockford, Madison
I-94 Madison
I-24 St Louis, Paducah

[jp the roadgeek]

Some more:

Chicago and Cleveland for I-80.  Passes nowhere near either downtown.
Erie for I-90: Need I-79
Pittsburgh and Harrisburg for I-76.  Passes way north of Pittsburgh. 
Hazleton for I-80 and I-81.  Both pass way outside the town. 
Washington for I-270: ends at the Beltway.
Memphis for I-57

Bonus: Cape Cod for I-495.  Ends way short of both bridges.

[Ted$8roadFan]

I-495 in Mass. also used to/may still reference Worcester (need I-290) and Portsmouth, NH (need I-95).

[MATraveler128]

The eastern I-88 uses Albany. I-88 ends in Schenectady. I-86 in New York uses Erie, but the eastern I-86 ends in North East, Pennsylvania.

[SEWIGuy]

I-41 & I-43 Green Bay

[MATraveler128]

I-495 in Mass. also used to/may still reference Worcester (need I-290) and Portsmouth, NH (need I-95).

I-495 still references Portsmouth, NH. Also on the Tobin Bridge in Charlestown at the I-93 interchange, Cape Cod is used for I-93 southbound, but 93 doesn't even come close to the Cape. Instead it turns westward along the old 128 to end at I-95 in Canton.

[thspfc]

I-41 and Milwaukee

I-65 and Chicago

I-80 and New York

I-76 and Denver

[Scott5114]

I-44 bypasses downtown OKC (though it does form the north and the west boundaries of what is often called "the core" on OKCTalk; the densest and most urban part of OKC).

[plain]

I-20 Columbia (connected via US 21, US 176, US 321, and I-126 via I-26)

I-26 Charleston (connected via various city streets)

I-26 Columbia (connected via I-126 and US 21/176/321)

I-40 Raleigh (connected via US 70/401)

I-64 Norfolk (connected via I-264)

I-95 Baltimore (connected via I-395)

I-95 Philadelphia (connected via I-76, I-676/US 30, and PA 611)

[hbelkins]

Lexington on both I-64 and I-75. Ashland, Huntington, Beckley, and Lewisburg on I-64.

[Tom958]

Knoxville and Chattanooga on I-75

Greenville, Spartanburg, Charlotte, and Greensboro on I-85

Asheville, Winston Salem, and Greensboro on I-40

Meridian, Tuscaloosa, Augusta, Columbia, and Florence on I-20

Anything on I-26

[jmacswimmer]

Baltimore on I-70 

This one gets so much, er, "attention"  that 2 others involving the same city fly under the radar - I-795 & I-97, both also ending at I-695.

(And I-97, for that matter, does the same thing at the other end not reaching downtown Annapolis.)

[tolbs17]

Pretty much all interstates here in NOrth Carolina have no access to downtown except for I-77 and I-277 in Charlotte. As well as I-240 in Asheville.

[Scott5114]

I-44 bypasses downtown OKC (though it does form the north and the west boundaries of what is often called "the core" on OKCTalk; the densest and most urban part of OKC).

Thinking about it more, I-44 bypasses downtown Tulsa too (I-244 serves downtown). And the place where Lawton's downtown used to be. As well as the downtowns of Joplin and Springfield. In fact, the only downtown areas it serves at all are those of the cities at its termini, Wichita Falls and St. Louis.