Misconceptions about highways/ interstates.

[US 89]

*Bear with me*

I used to think US highways and Interstates were "married" and I came up with *crazy* storylines with them for fun.

You aren't the only one...

https://intertropolisandrouteville.fandom.com/wiki/Intertropolis_%26_Routeville_Wiki

I just want to know how the fuck anyone has enough time for something like this.

[jmacswimmer]

I used to think US highways and Interstates were "married" and I came up with *crazy* storylines with them for fun.

Yup Growing up off I-70/US 40 in MD, I was mortified the first time heading west to where US 40 ditches I-70 for I-68 (and then a wounded I-70 turns 90 degrees, drops its speed limit, and beelines to US 30 in Breezewood for a quick rebound...)

[SkyPesos]

I used to think US highways and Interstates were "married" and I came up with *crazy* storylines with them for fun.

Yup Growing up off I-70/US 40 in MD, I was mortified the first time heading west to where US 40 ditches I-70 for I-68 (and then a wounded I-70 turns 90 degrees, drops its speed limit, and beelines to US 30 in Breezewood for a quick rebound...)

I thought that US 40 is more close with I-64 than I-70 for a while, until finding out later that US 40’s “partner” is actually I-70, and I-64’s is US 60.

Also note that I-64 wasn’t signed on the US 40 freeway in St Louis until the late ‘80s (which I didn’t know about either back then), so US 40’s closest parallel interstate was I-70.

[thspfc]

When I was really young I thought that US-12 never left Madison, and was a route created specifically for the Beltline.

[JayhawkCO]

I assumed that suffixed interstates were everywhere since I grew up in the Twin Cities and thought it was weird when I was on plain I-35 for the first time.  I also thought business interstates were the same "standard" as regular interstates.

Chris

[zachary_amaryllis]

I assumed that suffixed interstates were everywhere since I grew up in the Twin Cities and thought it was weird when I was on plain I-35 for the first time.  I also thought business interstates were the same "standard" as regular interstates.

Chris

i'm old enough to remember 80S before it was 76.

[kenarmy]

- The (now-defunct) retail store Nine West was named after US-9W

I love this!

Here's some more:
- Similar to that ^, I thought I-70 got mad that US 40 was "flirting" with I-64 so that's why 64 terminates at it.
- I thought US 1 and US 101 were opposite twins.
- I thought US 6 was the longest US route, and I had no idea it used to go to LA. Ngl, I'm still kind of heartbroken it isn't.
- I thought US routes not being signed on an interstate concurrency was a sign of an abusive relationship.
- Idk what the length would be, but I thought it was a mileage limit for an interstate concurrency and it was way shorter than the one for US routes. Either way, I'm sure I-80/ I-90 would break it  XD
- I thought US 49 was lonely since it barely had concurrencies compared to nearby routes.
- I thought branch routes couldn't parallel interstates.
- I thought I-40 was the devil and I hated it.. and I mostly blamed it for the decommissioning of US 66  !
- I thought US 70 and US 64 were in a fight with each other over I-40 and that's why they were pretty close together.
- I thought US 8 was supposed to be 2's child route, but it begged to be a main US route.

[SkyPesos]

Continuing with the relationships thing, I would imagine how sad I-5 would've been after seeing its love US 99 getting killed off.

- Similar to that ^, I thought I-70 got mad that US 40 was "flirting" with I-64 so that's why 64 terminates at it.

I had some sort of thing for my I-70 to SF fictional reroute. There was a love triangle between I-70, I-80 and US 40 out west. I-70 got mad at I-80 for flirting with US 40, and wanted it to go back to being with US 30 west of SLC, so I-70 can be on its relationship with US 40 all the way to San Francisco.

[jmacswimmer]

- I thought US routes not being signed on an interstate concurrency was a sign of an abusive relationship.

We might need to hold an intervention for I-25 then, and put US 85 & US 87 in therapy.

[sparker]

• Texas applied for US 57 and US 96 at the same time, and some doofus file clerk mixed up the paperwork so that they ended up with each other's number.
• Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee duplicated every US route with a state number so that old "Unreconstructed Rebels"  would never have to refer to any road by some accursed Yankee US route number.
• The lack of even Interstate numbers between 44 and 64 (with those two virtually ending at each other) was to allow leeway in case Canada and/or Mexico wanted to establish a coordinated North American freeway numbering system. For example, if Canada wanted a joint numbering system, then the US would subtract 10 from every 2dI from 64 on up, and the Trans-Canada Highway would become Canada 90.

US 96 was commissioned almost two decades before US 57 came along (the latter as a "courtesy" connector to Mexican Federal 57).  The non-duplication regarding US and Interstate numbers within a particular state accounts for the lack of even numbers from 44 to 64 (although what's now the future southern I-87 could readily had utilized a number from that batch) rather than any pending international codicil.  And to tell the truth, I thought much the same in my youth about the state/US overlap in those Southern states mentioned -- this was during the civil-rights movement in the 50's and 60's; I figured that the duplication was there so that if they tried to secede again they'd have a cohesive in-state network if US shields were removed.

[SkyPesos]

• The lack of even Interstate numbers between 44 and 64 (with those two virtually ending at each other) was to allow leeway in case Canada and/or Mexico wanted to establish a coordinated North American freeway numbering system. For example, if Canada wanted a joint numbering system, then the US would subtract 10 from every 2dI from 64 on up, and the Trans-Canada Highway would become Canada 90.

I actually thought of that not that long ago, though without Canada as part of the system. I-70 and US 60 are far away from each other and in different states for the most part that I think number duplication in Missouri wouldn't be that big of an issue. Had I-70 been I-60, I think all the numbers from 64 and up would be lower by default, and I-94 as I-90.

[Roadgeekteen]

Most drivers drove below the speed limit.

[JCinSummerfield]

That exit numbers everywhere were based on mile markers.  That is, any exit between mile markers 23 & 24 were numbered exit 24, whether is was at 23.1 or 23.9.

Commonly it appears exits are number to the nearest mile marker. So an exit at 23.1 would be exit 23, and an exit at 23.9 would be exit 24.

[SeriesE]

That exit numbers everywhere were based on mile markers.  That is, any exit between mile markers 23 & 24 were numbered exit 24, whether is was at 23.1 or 23.9.

Commonly it appears exits are number to the nearest mile marker. So an exit at 23.1 would be exit 23, and an exit at 23.9 would be exit 24.

The former makes more sense to me than the latter for exit numbering.

[OCGuy81]

Growing up in southeastern Wisconsin, I used to think orange construction barrels were part of every freeway.

[thspfc]

Growing up in southeastern Wisconsin, I used to think orange construction barrels were part of every freeway.

That's hilarious. And I 100% understand why you would think that.   

[Konza]

The Tri-State Tollway in Chicago is an example of highways that I thought went through multiple states, but really is only in one state.

What's funny about this is that the Tri-State Highway, of which the Tri-State Tollway is a part, actually connects four states- Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.

It's really only known as such in Illinois and Indiana, where there are states on both sides.

[Flint1979]

All interstates are actually inter-state.

I had that misconception in my early roadgeek days. Back when I lived in the St Louis area, I lived not that far off MO 364. I thought the reason why 364 and 370 aren't interstate highways is because it's only in Missouri, while 270 is an interstate because it's in Missouri and Illinois. Got confused later after noticing my parents driving on I-170, which is in Missouri only, and thought that it will get extended to Illinois in the future with the interstate designation.

The Tri-State Tollway in Chicago is an example of highways that I thought went through multiple states, but really is only in one state.

The Tri-State Tollway is called that because it connects Wisconsin to Indiana via Illinois. It is only in Illinois though but it ends just short of the state line at both ends.

[I-55]

Growing up in southeastern Wisconsin, I used to think orange construction barrels were part of every freeway.

That's hilarious. And I 100% understand why you would think that.   

I-65 and I-75 have entered the chat

[Scott5114]

All interstates are actually inter-state.

I had that misconception in my early roadgeek days. Back when I lived in the St Louis area, I lived not that far off MO 364. I thought the reason why 364 and 370 aren't interstate highways is because it's only in Missouri, while 270 is an interstate because it's in Missouri and Illinois. Got confused later after noticing my parents driving on I-170, which is in Missouri only, and thought that it will get extended to Illinois in the future with the interstate designation.

I just assumed that that "rule" didn't apply to 3dis, since they were clearly meant to be local in nature (I knew I-240 in Oklahoma City obviously had no hope of reaching any other state). I think what finally broke the illusion was when I studied a map of Texas and saw I-27.

[kernals12]

That the highway builders of the 50s and 60s were solely focused on displacing as many minorities as possible (with the possible exception of Robert Moses).

[Flint1979]

The Tri-State Tollway in Chicago is an example of highways that I thought went through multiple states, but really is only in one state.

What's funny about this is that the Tri-State Highway, of which the Tri-State Tollway is a part, actually connects four states- Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.

It's really only known as such in Illinois and Indiana, where there are states on both sides.

Never heard of a Tri-State Highway especially reaching Michigan and I've been traveling back and forth between Chicago and Michigan all my life. The Tri-State Tollway though is called that because it takes you from Wisconsin to Indiana and vice versa via Illinois.

[SkyPesos]

That exit numbers everywhere were based on mile markers.  That is, any exit between mile markers 23 & 24 were numbered exit 24, whether is was at 23.1 or 23.9.

Commonly it appears exits are number to the nearest mile marker. So an exit at 23.1 would be exit 23, and an exit at 23.9 would be exit 24.

The former makes more sense to me than the latter for exit numbering.

When I make my fictional exit lists, I normally round .8 and .9 miles up to the next whole exit number, and everything else down. Though rounding everything up, everything down, or use the 0.5 and above round up, below 0.5 round down rule that's generally used in math class makes sense too. Sometimes, I may change things a bit to reduce the number of exit number suffixes. For example, three exits at mileposts 3.1, 3.6 and 5.2, I might do 3, 4, 5 instead of 3A, 3B, 5 if there's nothing notable in milepost 4 that's worth adding as an infill exit later. .

[roadman65]

I used to think that freeways could not duplicate control cities until I seen FDOT use "North Port"  twice on two consecutive exits.

[HighwayStar]

The alleged "rule" that at least every fifth mile on an interstate highway had to be a straightaway so an aircraft could land on it.

BTW, the term "tolled freeway" is NOT an oxymoron, especially since modern technology allows for non-stop toll systems (don't get me started on the proliferation of tolls... see my avatar).

The term "freeway" was never intended to imply no tolls.  It implies that traffic flows freely because there are no traffic signals, traffic turning sharply off and on, etc.  (The reality may be another thing.)

While I doubt the rule was ever worded that way or specified in such a manner, I strongly suspect that some planning of the interstate system revolved around creating emergency runways, just as much of the planning for the system was based on civil defense requirements.