Hanging Ends

[CapeCodder]

I posted in the regional forum thread about Massachusetts that talked about Route 80. The route is a hanging end, as it does not end at another route. I know RI 100 is a hanging end on its northern end, as it is an unnumbered route in MA. Are there many examples of "hanging ends" in the US?

[hotdogPi]

MA 31
MA 88
MA 109
NH 121
NH 121A
NH 122
NH 123
NH 123A
NH 124
NH 128
RI 179
MA 228
RI 238
CT 272

EDIT:

US 21
US 30
US 40/322
US 41
US 70

[Brandon]

I posted in the regional forum thread about Massachusetts that talked about Route 80. The route is a hanging end, as it does not end at another route. I know RI 100 is a hanging end on its northern end, as it is an unnumbered route in MA. Are there many examples of "hanging ends" in the US?

Quite a few.  Many, at least in these parts, end at a major river.

Illinois (not including ones that end at the state line on land):
IL-70, ends in downtown Durand.
IL-178, ends at the junction of two county highways in Lowell.
IL-17, ends in  New Boston, at the Mississippi River.
IL-156, ends in Valmeyer, shy of the Mississippi River.
IL-155, ends at Fort de Chartres State Park, near the Mississippi River.
IL-34, ends in Rosiclare, at the Ohio River.
IL-142, ends in downtown Equality.
IL-49, ends in Willow Hill

[Hurricane Rex]

Will update when I find out more: Oregon:
SR 224
SR 542
SR 351
SR 350
SR 173

[webny99]

NY 590 used to be one. I'm not sure where it officially ends now, but I think it's at NY 104.

[HazMatt]

In NC there are plenty that end at or near the coast, which are kind of trivial.  I'll list the ones I know besides those.

NC 90 - Ends in Edgemont at Blue Ridge Escarpment.
NC 128 - Mount Mitchell access
NC 114 - Short route that ends in Drexel
NC 5 - Ends at Malcolm Blue Farm in Aberdeen
NC 153 - Ends at old US 29 in Landis.
NC 184 - Ends in Beech Mountain.
NC 151, NC 694 - End at the Blue Ridge Parkway, which technically isn't a numbered route in NC (I think).  I wouldn't count them.
NC 194, NC 103, NC 903 don't continue as primary highways in Virginia.  I believe TN, GA, and SC continue all as primary (or TN secondary but they still have a shield).

[Mapmikey]

In NC there are plenty that end at or near the coast, which are kind of trivial.  I'll list the ones I know besides those.

NC 90 - Ends in Edgemont at Blue Ridge Escarpment.
NC 128 - Mount Mitchell access
NC 114 - Short route that ends in Drexel
NC 5 - Ends at Malcolm Blue Farm in Aberdeen
NC 153 - Ends at old US 29 in Landis.
NC 184 - Ends in Beech Mountain.
NC 151, NC 694 - End at the Blue Ridge Parkway, which technically isn't a numbered route in NC (I think).  I wouldn't count them.
NC 194, NC 103, NC 903 don't continue as primary highways in Virginia.  I believe TN, GA, and SC continue all as primary (or TN secondary but they still have a shield).

Also for NC:
NC 149
US 117
NC 125
NC 56
NC 53
NC 213
NC 9
NC 461

Also NC 39 ends at Virginia line without continuing as primary

[MNHighwayMan]

MN-11 (east end) and MN-172 (north end) both end at private entrances. There are a number of 200-series state highways that have termini not at other state highways, but as county routes, though I'm not sure if you're counting that or not.

There used to be a lot of these in Iowa before 2003, but to my knowledge only Iowa 98 and 316 remain.

[Max Rockatansky]

The California list would be pretty long with a lot of planned routes that never were finished.  Some that come to mind off the top my head would include; 130, 190, 168, and 178.  There are others like 3 and 191 that end in inhabited places while others like 41, 140, and 180 end in National Parks.  299 ends at the Nevada State Line at what was once NV 8a. 

Arizona has some weird route endings like 238, 99, and 288 which all continue as non-State Routes.  AZ 95 continues as a city street in Needles on the California side. 

[oscar]

Most numbered routes in Alaska have a hanging end:

AK 1 west end at Homer Spit

AK 2 west end near Manley Hot Springs

AK 4 south end near Valdez

AK 6 east end at Yukon River in Circle

AK 7 (Haines) east end at ferry terminal

AK 7 (Juneau) north end near Echo Cove, and south end near downtown Juneau

AK 7 (Petersburg) north end east of downtown Petersburg, and south end in the middle of nowhere at the south end of Mitkof Island

AK 7 (Ketchikan) north and south ends at trailheads on opposite sides of downtown Ketchikan

AK 9 south end in Seward

AK 10 (northern segment) east end in Chitina

AK 10 (southern segment) west end at ferry terminal, east end past Million Dollar Bridge

AK 11 north end at Lake Colleen in Deadhorse

AK 98 west end at ferry terminal

AK 3, AK 5, and AK 8 are the only Alaska routes that don't have hanging ends.

====

Hawaii also has many hanging ends. Here are some of the most notable:

On the Big Island, HI 130 west end, where the highway was "truncated" by multiple lava flows (HI 130 previously connected to Chain of Craters Rd. in the national park)

HI 270 north end, and HI 240 west end, on opposite sides of the deep Waipio Valley

On Maui, HI 360 east end, at the Hana Bay wharf (but less than a mile west of the wharf, county 31 will take you back to western Maui, along the south side of the Haleakala volcano)

HI 31 south end, in Wailea (planned extension inland to HI 37/county 31 dead in the water)

On Kauai, HI 50, HI 560, and HI 550 all have dangling ends on the west side of the island, because of the steep Na Pali cliffs, and the high-altitude Alakai Swamp frustrating plans for an inland connecting highway

On Oahu, HI 93 north end, and HI 930 west end, with the former connecting road broken up by landslides and the Kaena Point nature preserve

HI 92 west end at the Pearl Harbor military base, and east end in the messy Waikiki street network

Also, the east end of Interstate H-3, and a multitude of short and often unsigned state routes, all ending at military bases

[ftballfan]

Michigan has quite a few:
M-5 (northwestern end at Pontiac Trail in Commerce Twp)
M-8 (eastern end at Conant St in Detroit)
M-10 (northwestern end at Orchard Lake Rd/14 Mile Rd in West Bloomfield)
M-37 (northern end at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula)
US-41 (northern end at Fort Wilkins State Park)
US-45 (northern end at Ontonagon St in Ontonagon)
M-46 (western end at Muskegon Ave in Muskegon)
M-64 (southern end at Wisconsin state line, connecting to CTH-B)
M-77 (northern end at Carlson St in Grand Marais)
M-93 (southwestern end at Camp Grayling and northeastern end at Hartwick Pines State Park)
M-95 (southern end at Wisconsin state line, connecting to CTH N)
M-116 (northern end at Ludington State Park)
M-119 (northern end at C-66 in Cross Village)
M-121 (western end at Main Ave in Zeeland, just 500 feet away from BL I-196)
M-134 (eastern end at Townline Rd on Drummond Island)
M-137 (southern end at Interlochen State Park)
M-143 (western end at Lansing/East Lansing city limit)
M-149 (northern end at Palms Book State Park)
M-150 (northern end at Tienken Rd in Rochester Hills)
M-152 (western end at Van Buren/Berrien county line in the Sister Lakes area, two miles short of M-140)
M-154 (northern end at ferry connection to mainland and southern end along South Channel Dr, both on Harsens Island)
M-183 (southern end at Fayette State Park)
M-188 (southeastern end at VFW National Home near Eaton Rapids)
BS I-196 (eastern end at Clyde Park Ave in Wyoming; the portion in Grand Rapids was turned back to local control last year)
M-201 (northern end at Leelanau State Park)
M-211 (northern end at Onaway State Park)
M-212 (western end at Aloha State Park)
M-217 (southern end at Indiana state line, connecting to CR 17)

[NWI_Irish96]

Since Indiana started turning over their urban sections of state highways to cities and decommissioning them, there are a whole bunch in Indiana, plus several others that already existed due to ending at state lines or the Ohio River and not meeting up with a numbered highway from the neighboring state. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN-11 (east end) and MN-172 (north end) both end at private entrances. There are a number of 200-series state highways that have termini not at other state highways, but as county routes, though I'm not sure if you're counting that or not.

MN 40 has a hanging east end because Willmar wanted the final mile turned over to them and converted for industrial expansion.

US 75 has a hanging north end because Canada closed the Emerson/Noyes customs station.

MN 169 has a hanging north end near Winton, east of Ely.

I believe WIS 24's west end is at a city/county line.

WIS 42 ends at the Washington Island ferry dock (not sure if this counts).

[MNHighwayMan]

MN-11 (east end) and MN-172 (north end) both end at private entrances. There are a number of 200-series state highways that have termini not at other state highways, but as county routes, though I'm not sure if you're counting that or not.

MN 40 has a hanging east end because Willmar wanted the final mile turned over to them and converted for industrial expansion.

US 75 has a hanging north end because Canada closed the Emerson/Noyes customs station.

MN 169 has a hanging north end near Winton, east of Ely.

Good call on US-75, but MN-40 and 169 end at county routes, which I'm not sure if OP counts that or not.

Another one I just thought of is MN-65 in Minneapolis, though Washington Ave is CSAH 152.

[freebrickproductions]

If we're talking about the route having to end at another state route, US route, or Interstate, then here are a few from Alabama:
AL 255 is technically "hanging" on both ends. It's southern terminus is at Gate 9 for Redstone Arsenal and it's current northern terminus is Bob Wade Lane on the north side of Huntsville.

AL 281 ends at two unpaved roads and a parking lot in the middle of Talladega National Forrest.

AL 101 ends at CR 460 in Lawrence County, AL. The road had originally been AL 24, but it was rerouted to the north when the road got widened though AL 101 was never truncated to match this change.

AL 62 is a rather infamous example of one, with the west end being at a locked gate for a long-closed factory (especially since the road got state route status after said factory closed).

Other states also have a few state routes that end at the Alabama State Line, but don't have an AL state route on the other side:
GA 301's northern terminus at the AL State Line is CR 90 in Jackson County, AL.

TN 121's southern end at the AL State Line is Winchester Road (unsigned CR 65) in Madison County, AL.

Likewise, TN 274's southern end at the AL State Line is Old Railroad Bed Road in Madison County, AL.

TN 98 is another route ending at the AL State Line that leads to a county route, this time CR 89 in Lauderdale County, AL.

In a non-Alabama example: GA 97 ends at the Florida State Line and leads directly into CR 269A in Gadsden County, FL. CR 269A used to be FL 269A years ago, but Florida decommissioned a bunch of these daughter and suffixed routes state wide to be able to build the Interstates in the state without having to go over their state mileage cap.

[Eth]

Since Georgia does have an ocean border, we have a few (but not many) routes with hanging east ends near the coast:

• US 80/GA 26
  
• GA 204 Spur
  
• GA 144 Spur
  
• GA 144
  
• The Torras Causeway to St. Simons Island is shown on the official GDOT map as "SR 25SE", whatever that means; it seems to be unsigned
  
• GA 520
  
• GA 40 Spur
  
• GA 40
  

GA 177 exists in two segments, separated by Okefenokee Swamp; both segments have a hanging end at the swamp.

GA 39, GA 253, and GA 97 Spur all end at Lake Seminole in the southwest corner of the state. A little further north, GA 273 Spur ends short of the Chattahoochee and doesn't cross into Alabama.

[fillup420]

In NC there are plenty that end at or near the coast, which are kind of trivial.  I'll list the ones I know besides those.

NC 90 - Ends in Edgemont at Blue Ridge Escarpment.
NC 128 - Mount Mitchell access
NC 114 - Short route that ends in Drexel
NC 5 - Ends at Malcolm Blue Farm in Aberdeen
NC 153 - Ends at old US 29 in Landis.
NC 184 - Ends in Beech Mountain.
NC 151, NC 694 - End at the Blue Ridge Parkway, which technically isn't a numbered route in NC (I think).  I wouldn't count them.
NC 194, NC 103, NC 903 don't continue as primary highways in Virginia.  I believe TN, GA, and SC continue all as primary (or TN secondary but they still have a shield).

Also for NC:
NC 149
US 117
NC 125
NC 56
NC 53
NC 213
NC 9
NC 461

Also NC 39 ends at Virginia line without continuing as primary

Also,

US 74 - dead end in Wrightsville beach north end
US 76 - dead end at Wrightsville beach south end
US 421 - dead end in Fort Fisher
NC 12 - basically dead ends into the ocean
NC 211 - ends at a ferry
NC 90 - one of only two unpaved state routes. Ends at a secondary road.

[webny99]

The title of this thread leaves little to be desired for those of us with vivid imaginations 

[Brandon]

The title of this thread leaves little to be desired for those of us with vivid imaginations 

Would you rather some hanging chads?

[Beltway]

Hanging is lethal.

[MNHighwayMan]

The title of this thread leaves little to be desired for those of us with vivid imaginations 

Is that better?

[webny99]

The title of this thread leaves little to be desired for those of us with vivid imaginations 

Is that better?

Did you intend it to be?
It is, but only slightly.

ETA: TIL that when someone changes the thread title, it changes it for all further replies unless you change it back manually.

[MNHighwayMan]

The title of this thread leaves little to be desired for those of us with vivid imaginations 

Is that better?

Did you intend it to be?

I'll leave that for you to decide.

[Brandon]

The title of this thread leaves little to be desired for those of us with vivid imaginations 

Is that better?

Did you intend it to be?

I'll leave that for you to decide.

Could be a better title?

[webny99]

This is going from bad to worse