Which is the greatest of all US routes? (objectively)

[usends]

Many of us might have subjective answers to the question, based on non-measurable criteria, such as "this route is the most scenic", or "that route connects the most important cities".  But I'm wondering if it would be possible to throw out all the non-quantifiables and instead come up with a more objective answer to the question based only on measurable criteria.  Obviously sort of tongue-in-cheek, but the answer could still be interesting.  Some criteria that immediately come to mind:
Distance



• The greater the length of the route, the more points
• Routes of less than 300 miles get points subtracted
Longevity

• The longer the route has existed, the more points
• Maybe a bonus for routes that were among the 1926 originals?
States

• Negative points for intra-state routes
• More negative points for new intra-states commissioned after 1937 *gives US 57 the stink-eye*
• Maybe positive points for number of states passed through?  (although that would tend to favor something like US 1 and penalize something like US 99)
Other

• Negative points if does not connect to implied parent route
• More negative points if never connected to implied parent route
• Negative points if number and direction conflict

Granted, the result would still be quite subjective, for a lot of reasons.  For example, different DOTs did things differently (most routes in California would get penalized after 1964, but most other routes would get rewarded because most other DOTs kept their US route designations).  The result would also be subject to how much weight is assigned to each of the criteria.  So which of those criteria should get the most weight?  Should any of the criteria above be excluded?  And are there any other measurables that should be included?

[hotdogPi]

For each route, integrate AADT over its length.

[Max Rockatansky]

Out of the completely deleted US Routes the greatest probably hands down US 99 using only objective criteria.  Trouble is, how do you factor for a US Route which had the majority of its corridor overtaken by Interstate?  My thought is  that ought to be worth some sort of legacy points if we are consider deactivated US Routes.

Off the top of my head I would assume US 1 would win this.  It's a long route, has the longevity, has the child routes and serves a bunch big metro areas.

[zzcarp]

Many of us might have subjective answers to the question, based on non-measurable criteria, such as "this route is the most scenic", or "that route connects the most important cities".  But I'm wondering if it would be possible to throw out all the non-quantifiables and instead come up with a more objective answer to the question based only on measurable criteria.  Obviously sort of tongue-in-cheek, but the answer could still be interesting.  Some criteria that immediately come to mind:
Distance



• The greater the length of the route, the more points
• Routes of less than 300 miles get points subtracted
Longevity

• The longer the route has existed, the more points
• Maybe a bonus for routes that were among the 1926 originals?
States

• Negative points for intra-state routes
• More negative points for new intra-states commissioned after 1937 *gives US 57 the stink-eye*
• Maybe positive points for number of states passed through?  (although that would tend to favor something like US 1 and penalize something like US 99)
Other

• Negative points if does not connect to implied parent route
• More negative points if never connected to implied parent route
• Negative points if number and direction conflict

Granted, the result would still be quite subjective, for a lot of reasons.  For example, different DOTs did things differently (most routes in California would get penalized after 1964, but most other routes would get rewarded because most other DOTs kept their US route designations).  The result would also be subject to how much weight is assigned to each of the criteria.  So which of those criteria should get the most weight?  Should any of the criteria above be excluded?  And are there any other measurables that should be included?

Length alone would nearly limit discussion to the x0 routes, mostly US 20, 30, 50, 60, 40, and 70 with a couple outlier routes such as US 64 and US 84, or US 2 if both segments were considered one route. But that would eliminate most N-S cross country routes as we're just a much longer east-west country than a north-south one. [/list][/list][/list]

[thspfc]

US-6

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

US 30

[Henry]

Historically, US 66.

Among the current routes, US 20.

[oscar]

What about US 101?

For that, I would not count US 1 as an "implied parent route".

[Max Rockatansky]

What about US 101?

For that, I would not count US 1 as an "implied parent route".

AASHO certainly didn't, from what I always recall reading the "10"  in "101"  was considered the first digit.  I would certainly agree US 101 probably hits the mark of the highest evolved US Route that has ever existed in any particular state (in this case being California).  The Redwood Highway alone would probably be a contender for most scenic/interesting segment of US Route (which also includes US 199).  As beautiful as US 101 in Oregon and Washington is it didn't really hit any large communities. 

[MikieTimT]

My vote goes to US-62, the only E-W US highway to connect Mexico to Canada, enter and depart Texas twice, as well as cross the Ohio River twice. It's even signed N-S in Pennsylvania and NY.  I doubt that anyone here has ever clinched this road, however.  I've been on it or crossed it in 6 out of the 10 states, the middle six. There inevitably quicker routes than this in most states to get elsewhere.

[Max Rockatansky]

Historically, US 66.

Among the current routes, US 20.

How many states that US 66 occupied was it the most important US Route?  It certainly wasn't in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas or Kansas.  US 66 has a lot of pseudo history that isn't a true representation of the highway or it's level of importance.  While I'd agree US 66 would be a top ten historically important US Route I find it wanting terms of being the "most historically important."   US 40, US 20, US 30 and US 80 all come to mind as carrying more weight historically for east/west US Routes.

[gonealookin]

Among 3-digit routes not named US 101, I would put US 395 at the top of the list, in spite of not connecting to US 95.  It's long and goes through a lot of different topography, but manages to miss major cities almost entirely.

I do have regional bias on this and I think US 101 is the overall winner.

[Scott5114]

Historically, US 66.

Among the current routes, US 20.

How many states that US 66 occupied was it the most important US Route?  It certainly wasn't in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas or Kansas.  US 66 has a lot of pseudo history that isn't a true representation of the highway or it's level of importance.  While I'd agree US 66 would be a top ten historically important US Route I find it wanting terms of being the "most historically important."   US 40, US 20, US 30 and US 80 all come to mind as carrying more weight historically for east/west US Routes.

What was the more important US route in New Mexico? If you're talking about US 80, I don't really see how you could argue in favor of it being more important to NM than US 66 without invalidating the reason you're saying US 66 wasn't the most important to AZ.

[Max Rockatansky]

Historically, US 66.

Among the current routes, US 20.

How many states that US 66 occupied was it the most important US Route?  It certainly wasn't in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas or Kansas.  US 66 has a lot of pseudo history that isn't a true representation of the highway or it's level of importance.  While I'd agree US 66 would be a top ten historically important US Route I find it wanting terms of being the "most historically important."   US 40, US 20, US 30 and US 80 all come to mind as carrying more weight historically for east/west US Routes.

What was the more important US route in New Mexico? I don't really see how US 80 would be more important to NM than US 66.

US 85, I'll give you US 66 as the most important east/west route for New Mexico.  US 60 went through the middle of nowhere and US 70 jumped around a ton via realignments. 

Where US 80 was certainly more important by far was Arizona.  US 80 in generally was the most significant US Route corridor to exist in Arizona.  It was the first fully paved and connected the two largest cities.

[pderocco]

I'm inclined to go with US-1 and US-99. US-1 has the advantage of still existing, and being quite a bit longer, but both went through a lot of cities, and were very heavily traveled along most of their lengths.

[SkyPesos]

For north-south, I haven't seen US 41 mentioned yet, so going to here. 2nd longest north-south US route (after US 1), alignment on a former auto trail (Dixie Highway's western branch), passes through major cities like Miami, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago (Lake Shore Drive is still a very iconic road today), Milwaukee.

[Konza]

It has to be US 1, 40, or 66.

US 40 has been called "America's Main Street" .

My vote is cast accordingly.

[RoadWarrior56]

I would vote for US 41.  I have been connected to it geographically for most of my life, and I have been around for a long time.  First, I currently live close to it, being in metro Atlanta.  I spent most of my growing-up years in Evansville, IN, of which US 41 is the main N-S route, and crosses the Ohio River immediately south.  I went to college at Purdue in West Lafayette IN, which is less than 30 miles to the east of US 41, and I used much of US 41 in Indiana to travel between college and home.  My grandfather spent his last 15 years in Lehi Acres FL, which is near Ft. Myers, of which US 41 travels through.  I-75 did not yet continue south of Tampa/St Petersburg while he was still alive.  None of this counts the overall length and importance of the route, as well as the numerous cities that it travels through.

[Roadgeekteen]

US 202 due to it going near Amherst. Now really, US 202 obviously won't be the best but it's always been a cool route to me due to being like a mega bypass of the Northeast Corridor.

[Hobart]

Allow me to make my case for US Route 6, using the stipulations given in the initial post.

In regards to distance, it's second longest, and used to actually be the longest before it was truncated from Long Beach. The route was original to 1926, but was extended and absorbed at least two other highways to get its current mileage. It also connects 14 different states.

It might not be the most efficient route between its endpoints (a quality which isn't even considered in this system), but US 6 has a high amount of local significance in many areas, from South Suburban Chicago, to Cape Cod, to Loveland Pass.

US 20 objectively might still do better at this system, but if we start getting into combining this assessment system with subjective qualities, like impact on culture, the tides may turn.

[Poiponen13]

US 20 (longest)

[Max Rockatansky]

US 20 (longest)

You sure about that?

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=27532.msg2527972#msg2527972

[kenarmy]

US 6 & US 50 goodnight.

[MATraveler128]

I stand by US 20 since I can drive it all the way from Downtown Boston to Newport, Oregon.

[Max Rockatansky]

I stand by US 20 since I can drive it all the way from Downtown Boston to Newport, Oregon.

Can you though?  That gap in Yellowstone is in fact an actual route gap on AASHTO logs.  That's more or less the rationale I've gone by in my head canon for always giving a slight edge to US 30.  That and US 30 was always a cross country route whereas US 20 originally terminated at Yellowstone. 

I think it might be good to get a solid top ten list to pair this down to and go from there.  Here are the frequent mentions in this thread thus far:

US 1
US 6
US 20
US 30
US 40
US 41
US 50
US 66
US 99
US 101