Topic: Stories of interstates (Read 50411 times)

Henry · « **Reply #100 on:** July 08, 2022, 10:52:44 AM »

Hello, I'm I-40. I go from the Golden State to the Tar Heel State, and have been to many great cities in the South and Southwest, such as Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Memphis and Nashville. Originally, I was going to end in Greensboro, but then I wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean, so they sent me to Wilmington via Raleigh. I despise I-85 because it runs east-west alongside me, and I also hate I-26 because it runs north-south through Asheville to the Tri-Cities of TN and Charleston, SC, but that's for another story, and I would like to hear them explain themselves why they got mixed up the way they were. Anyway, my dream was to go to Los Angeles, until I-15 and I-10 denied me that opportunity, but I'm hoping to reach Bakersfield and somewhere even further west of I-5, because I want to reach the Pacific Ocean someday. Caltrans needs to make it happen, and soon, because Barstow is not exactly a tourist destination, but knowing them, they're notorious for procrastinating on things like this. Oh, and one more thing: I'm good friends with Route 66, and I felt bad for taking over most of the western half of its path, so they made it a Historic Route, which I call a victory for both of us.

bing101 · « **Reply #101 on:** July 08, 2022, 02:01:51 PM »

Hello I am I-710 and I am one of two 3dis in California most known for Truck Traffic because we happen to be located near ports. The other interstate in California in this situation is I-880.

ethanhopkin14 · « **Reply #102 on:** July 08, 2022, 03:17:47 PM »

I-8 here. I was born in the prefect beach weather of San Diego, California and immediately met two friends as a youngster, I-5 and I-15. Life was cool and hip and exciting in my youth, so I decided after college to head east and see the world. I passed the mountains east of El Cajon and wack!! I was in the desert. No water, no shade...I wasn't prepare for that. I spent my 20s and 30s trying to get out of California (and not accidently end up in Mexico). I had never felt more alone. Then I cross the Colorado River into Arizona and finally saw a good sized city. It was okay, but people don't do much out in Yuma, so I went on...and on... and on... Unfortunately my 40s and 50s were much the same. Empty and alone. I even crossed Telegraph pass where my legs got tangled and I was really messed up. Toward the end of my life, I was ragged. I was only 55 years old but had the face of a 122 year old man! I finally met another friend after all these years, I-10. He's another main interstate, which is all I have ever known...but he killed me. As I was dying, he said "let me take your soul where I am going". He did. I was able to see the rest of the USA! When I-10 finally comes to rest in Jacksonville, FL, I am there. I am there in spirit. Most people don't remember me. I seem to be forgotten because I-10's family of zeros overshadow me. I may not be a zero, but I do act like it. Please, don't forget me. I am always there in your hearts when you reach the east coast for the sacrifices I made in the west!

I-55 · « **Reply #103 on:** July 11, 2022, 11:42:07 PM »

Hi, I'm I-840. My parents planned to have me in 1991, but it took them a few years to actually come through. I was born August 2, 1995 and stopped growing in 2017 when I was 17. I graduated from Interstate University in 2016 in just 3 years. I'm 6'4 (76") but I wish I was about 9' 3" taller so I could reach my friends in the northern suburbs of Middle Tennessee. I still live off my mom, I-40, who feeds me most of my traffic. As the area grows, I believe I will have the opportunity to be more independent of my mother as more traffic will come from within the region. I'm jealous of my brother, I-440, because I'm a baseball fan and he gets to watch Vandy play all the time while I'm stuck with MTSU. I guess that's what I get for being the youngest in the family. I-640 is still recovering from this recent postseason. He's probably on his third bottle of Jack Daniels by now. I-240 still thinks she's recovering form the 12 inches she's lost to Mom in the "incident". Oh well, I gotta get back to lobbying for my northward expedition so I can steal more traffic from my neighbors, I-24 and I-65. See y'all 'round.

Henry · « **Reply #104 on:** July 12, 2022, 02:33:24 PM »

Here's the story of the stillborn I-50 and I-60:

When Dwight Eisenhower first laid out the Interstate Highway System in 1956, he decided to reverse the grid of the existing U.S. Highways so that duplication would not be a problem. And for the most part, he had everything covered except for the areas that contained US 50 and US 60. The large gap between I-40 and I-70 is very obvious, in part because I-50 and I-60 would've run through the exact same states that their same-numbered US counterparts did, so it was best to abort them and let them only exist in a fantasy world. The closest either of those two routes have come to exist is the 2002 film Interstate 60, and also in the Fictional Highways section of this forum, but as a consolation prize, we saw US 400 and US 412 rise from the ashes.

Hobart · « **Reply #105 on:** July 13, 2022, 08:49:27 PM »

I-190 in Chicago would be rather brief.

"Wow! I can't believe my dad gave me the Kennedy! Everything's gonna be so exciting... there's Rosemont with that convention where people wear animal costumes in December, there's I-294! Hi, I-294!"

"Who the heck is Bessie Coleman?"

"Am I entering... an airport? Are those... CDOT guys maintaining me?"

I-190 would begin to scream as it faces agony that is only ended by hitting the actual entrance part of O'Hare Airport. Its high hopes given to it by taking over the Kennedy Expressway from its father, I-90, would be dashed in a cruel end to its short life.

Roadgeekteen · « **Reply #106 on:** July 14, 2022, 02:14:34 AM »

I created a fictional road universe with interstates as characters as a kid. I tried posting it here and the mods locked it instantly.

triplemultiplex · « **Reply #107 on:** July 14, 2022, 04:33:59 PM »

I-90 and I-94 would have a sort of on again, off again thing going on between them.
They got together in Wisconsin, but then things got weird when they tried to become a throuple with I-39 so 94 bailed. 90 stayed with 39 for a while, but couldn't resist the pull of the big city. 39 is a country girl, though so they broke up. While in the city, 90 and 94 ran into each other again and got back together.

See, after bailing on the three-way, 94 hooked up with 41, but 41 up and died on 94. So 94 was still on the rebound when it bumped into 90 again. But it wasn't as good as the first time so they broke up again. 94 found a younger mate in the form of I-80. But when they bumped into the ex in Indiana, that sneaky bastard 90 up and stole 80 from 94. So 94 headed off to retire up by the lakes while 90 and 80 stayed together quite a while.

highwaytuna · « **Reply #108 on:** July 14, 2022, 07:57:30 PM »

Hey there, I'm I-895. My parents love children dearly and have an extraordinary capacity to raise them. They are free spirits; they lived fruitful lives travelling up and down the East Coast, visiting all the major cities, and having children as they went. Unfortunately, their plan to grow a large family didn't quite turn out the way they wanted it to. One of my siblings didn't make it past his first birthday, and two didn't even make it out of the womb. I do have one brother though; he lives in a nice little place next to the river in the Bronx. He's about to reach his 50's, but he had to go through reconstructive surgery a few years back. They took out quite a number of body parts from him, something he calls "a degrading experience". As for myself, I am 43 and live in Baltimore. Miraculously, I am a triplet, and the three of us leech off of each other all the time. When I was born, I got to keep my name, but since I was the first one to come out of the womb, the others are simply called A and B -- some weird naming convention my parents came up with, probably. I don't really know what's going on between the two of them, but rumors has it that they're both competing over I-97, who due to her shortness is just as much of an outlier as they are.

(Context: Almost all designations of I-895 were either planned but cancelled, or withdrawn at some point in a highway's history.)

KCRoadFan · « **Reply #109 on:** July 14, 2022, 11:08:40 PM »

Quote from: triplemultiplex on July 14, 2022, 04:33:59 PM

I-90 and I-94 would have a sort of on again, off again thing going on between them.
They got together in Wisconsin, but then things got weird when they tried to become a throuple with I-39 so 94 bailed. 90 stayed with 39 for a while, but couldn't resist the pull of the big city. 39 is a country girl, though so they broke up. While in the city, 90 and 94 ran into each other again and got back together.

See, after bailing on the three-way, 94 hooked up with 41, but 41 up and died on 94. So 94 was still on the rebound when it bumped into 90 again. But it wasn't as good as the first time so they broke up again. 94 found a younger mate in the form of I-80. But when they bumped into the ex in Indiana, that sneaky bastard 90 up and stole 80 from 94. So 94 headed off to retire up by the lakes while 90 and 80 stayed together quite a while.

What would be the metaphor for the start of I-94 on I-90 in Montana? Met as high school classmates, went their separate ways in college, and found each other later, working at the same company in Tomah, Wisconsin?

WillWeaverRVA · « **Reply #110 on:** July 15, 2022, 08:21:55 AM »

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 14, 2022, 02:14:34 AM

I created a fictional road universe with interstates as characters as a kid. I tried posting it here and the mods locked it instantly.

Given the horror that is Intertropolis & Routeville, that seems a little unfair as there's no way your fictional road universe could be as bad as that.

SEWIGuy · « **Reply #111 on:** July 15, 2022, 08:38:13 AM »

Quote from: KCRoadFan on July 14, 2022, 11:08:40 PM

Quote from: triplemultiplex on July 14, 2022, 04:33:59 PM
I-90 and I-94 would have a sort of on again, off again thing going on between them.
They got together in Wisconsin, but then things got weird when they tried to become a throuple with I-39 so 94 bailed. 90 stayed with 39 for a while, but couldn't resist the pull of the big city. 39 is a country girl, though so they broke up. While in the city, 90 and 94 ran into each other again and got back together.

See, after bailing on the three-way, 94 hooked up with 41, but 41 up and died on 94. So 94 was still on the rebound when it bumped into 90 again. But it wasn't as good as the first time so they broke up again. 94 found a younger mate in the form of I-80. But when they bumped into the ex in Indiana, that sneaky bastard 90 up and stole 80 from 94. So 94 headed off to retire up by the lakes while 90 and 80 stayed together quite a while.

What would be the metaphor for the start of I-94 on I-90 in Montana? Met as high school classmates, went their separate ways in college, and found each other later, working at the same company in Tomah, Wisconsin?

Got divorced around Madison - the threesome with I-39 was a little too much to handle for I-94.

Eventually they had a final fling in Chicago (after I-94's weird relationship with I-41 unexpectedly ended) before I-90 finally hooked up with I-80.

VetteDriver16 · « **Reply #112 on:** July 15, 2022, 10:28:38 AM »

I'm Interstate 99. I was "fathered" by Bud Shuster out of wedlock. Everyone hates me because (1) I'm always "out of place" and (2) spend a lot of time with my cousin US-15.

I'm Interstate 285. I matured too fast and never had a chance to develop and grow like most of my interstate brethren.

I'm Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway). I'm the butt of political jokes.

I'm Interstate 4. For some reason I'm identified with suburban swing voters.

I'm Interstate 275 (Cincinnati). I'm neglected by most I-75 motorists once they figure out I'm bloated and worthless.

I'm Interstate 696. I'm just an ugly 8-lane slab of below grade concrete.

I'm Interstate 894. It seems everyone on the AA Roads Forum wants me to just go away.

I'm Interstate 210 (California). I want to be an official member of the club, especially in San Bernardino. But Caltrans or someone won't include me.

I'm Interstate 495 (Massachusetts). I'm a grown-up now.

JayhawkCO · « **Reply #113 on:** July 15, 2022, 11:45:58 AM »

Hi. I'm I-225. I'm an only child. I like to play with trains.

Henry · « **Reply #114 on:** July 15, 2022, 01:27:45 PM »

We're the quadruplets I-395 and I-695. We are very close to each other, because half of us reside in Baltimore and the other half in Washington. The Baltimore version of I-695 was always the very popular kid because it knew how to direct motorists around the city while going through the nicest suburbs in the state. I-395 in DC was sort of a rebel because it stole its parent's route in 1977 after plans to go through the District were scrapped. I-395 in Baltimore was the busy guy who helped I-95 users get in and out of downtown. And finally, DC's I-695 was the forgotten one, because no one knew or cared that it ever existed in the first place. Lots of people thought it was an extension of I-295, which it never was, and even after signs began to pop up, everybody assumed that it would somehow warp them to the same-numbered Beltway 35 miles to the north. I-495 is our big brother who acts as a bully and is easily overloaded with through traffic to the east, no wonder even I-95 hates it. But I-95 will do anything for us because it loves us all the same.

MoiraPrime · « **Reply #115 on:** July 19, 2022, 01:53:21 AM »

I'm Mississippi's Interstate 110. Everyone hates me because I cut the city of Biloxi in half. I feature a drawbridge that rarely opens, but when it does have to open it always gets stuck. Both of my southbound offramps at US 90 have insanely sharp and dangerous curves.

I set such a bad example in Biloxi that I caused my sibling in Gulfport, Interstate 310, to never get built.

bing101 · « **Reply #116 on:** July 19, 2022, 09:41:36 AM »

I-280 California
Hello I seen both San Jose and San Francisco but I also take a scenic tour near the Bay Area portion of the San Andreas fault along the way where there are some wonderful hills and forest section. However I was originally supposed to connect to CA-480 and I-80 back when Mission Bay was an industrial wasteland. Now I see this area as the most gentrified part of San Francisco for the past two decades. Well I am not like US-101 Bayshore where I am near businesses.

I-380 I was supposed to connect to Half Moon Bay to I-238 but was prevented from doing so for landslide reasons and I am near the airport too.

BlueOutback7 · « **Reply #117 on:** July 19, 2022, 10:43:34 AM »

I’m I-476. Some call me the Blue Route and others call me the Northeast Extension of my cousin the PA Turnpike. I’ve been the longest 3 digit Interstate for 26 years since overtaking I-495 up in Massachusetts. Although some want to get rid of me because I function more as a 2di.

skluth · « **Reply #118 on:** July 19, 2022, 02:32:42 PM »

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 06, 2022, 02:08:24 PM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 06, 2022, 01:24:12 PM
Hello, I'm I-70. I'm a little bit of a introverted extravert. I love climbing mountains and running in deserts, but I also like to just hang out at a nice Park & Ride. Baltimore is my favorite city and I'm glad I live there.

You didn't mention that I-70 has a severed leg that forces you to use someone else's leg to get to the rest of the leg.

That's because I'm old. I'm the oldest interstate. Not as impressive as being the oldest human art or the oldest bridge in Europe, but still pretty cool. There are some older highways that are now interstate but I was the first highway built specifically as interstate which makes me pretty special. Some people argue this; they can get off my concrete.

epzik8 · « **Reply #119 on:** July 20, 2022, 11:29:55 AM »

I'm Interstate 97. I used to be called Maryland Route 3, and then they upgraded me. A lot of people think I should have three numbers. Why? Doesn't connecting the state capital and the largest city merit only two?

skluth · « **Reply #120 on:** July 20, 2022, 04:52:19 PM »

I'm I-11. I'm just a child compared to most of the other interstates, born in 2017. I may be young and small now but I have big plans. My goal is to extend from Southern Arizona to at least I-80 though it may take decades before I reach my full size. I may even grow as far as Boise or Redding. I have a lot of friends who can barely wait for me to grow up but fortunately I'm a patient highway.

kurumi · « **Reply #121 on:** July 21, 2022, 04:52:18 PM »

So my big brother was going to move to Providence way back in the day and I had my own place for a while. Pretty small, but they were doing a complete remodel and my neck of the woods was going to look really nice and modern. Also I would extend across the river to I-91 in Wethersfield, how cool would that be?

But my brother (I-84) ran into some problems and eventually had to come back home and kick me out. However, meanwhile I was able to find a new place in Idaho, next to a guy with the same name as my brother! What a coincidence. I was also small there ("small potatoes" hahaha get it, it's Idaho), and didn't even cross a state line.

But that's not the end of it! A couple decades later, I'm back in the northeast, in New York state! (but also in Idaho... I'm nationwide!) I'm intersecting I-90 again! And I'm almost as long as "big" brother eastern I-84 already -- and later on, I'll be much longer (about 370 miles), and will be intersecting my big brother again. But things will be different now.

So TL;DR I'm back, I'm here to stay, I'm better than ever, and no hard feelings but all you haters can suck it. I-86 out.

Gnutella · « **Reply #122 on:** July 26, 2022, 06:58:16 AM »

Hi, I'm I-84 of the East. Though many people forget that I exist, I serve a vital purpose, helping people travel between Pennsylvania and New England without having to pass through New York City. Not only am I built for your convenience, but I'm also quite scenic, and the leaves around me in the fall change colors like this:

Hunty2022 · « **Reply #123 on:** September 06, 2022, 08:23:45 PM »

Hello, I’m the Eastern I-264. I enjoy bragging to all my siblings on how I get to be at the beach! My parent (I-64) tried to replace me back in 1997, but I got to consume VA-44, which allowed me to be at the beach! I’ve grown up to 8 lanes in parts, but I get to take all the tourists to the oceanfront!

gonealookin · « **Reply #124 on:** September 06, 2022, 08:47:36 PM »

I'm Interstate 580. Most people think I'm in California but they don't know who I really am. I am in Nevada.

It has taken over 50 years to build me to my full length and we're still not done. Somebody needs to pay for the SPUI at my south end and that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Get to it, Nevada! There are some politicians from the Las Vegas area who think I look fat in this six-lane dress from south Reno to Washoe Valley. They would have preferred a slimmer four-lane look and maybe that's why the SPUI funds are being withheld.

Only the geekiest of road geeks even knew I existed until about 10 years ago when I finally got some red, white and blue shields. Prior to that people called my various bits and pieces "US 395". Well, ha, "US 395" is my maiden name now; I'm pretty much universally known as "I-580" locally and although I have black and white US 395 shields posted for my entire length that designation is mostly ignored.

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Author Topic: Stories of interstates (Read 50411 times)