Commission approves US Highway 78 designation through Northeast Arkansas

[thisdj78]

https://www.kait8.com/2023/10/25/commission-approves-highway-78-designation-through-northeast-arkansas/

[74/171FAN]

Well, this is weird, I am sure most of us were just waiting for US 78 to be truncated to I-22 northwest of Birmingham.   

[RoadWarrior56]

Extending US 78 following the route on the map is an even dumber extension of a US highway in Arkansas than the US 63 and US 278 extensions in years past, and it certainly is not direct.  I am wondering if AASHTO has approved this yet.

[Mapmikey]

would make way more sense to try to extend US 68.  Or get a new number that would also include KY 80.

[Max Rockatansky]

Was this one of the AASHTO approvals this year?  Maybe I ought to start paying attention to their minutes if they are actually approving US Route extensions again.

[74/171FAN]

Was this one of the AASHTO approvals this year?  Maybe I ought to start paying attention to their minutes if they are actually approving US Route extensions again.

It was not in the Spring one. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Was this one of the AASHTO approvals this year?  Maybe I ought to start paying attention to their minutes if they are actually approving US Route extensions again.

It was not in the Spring one.

That's even more interesting then if the Arkansas Highway Commission decided they are just doing this without an AASHTO application.

[MikieTimT]

Why?

Like they'll actually sign it anywhere other than where it replaces state routes?  The logical routing would be along I-555 into Jonesboro, then along US-49/AR-226 as that's the only reason anyone would take that routing from Memphis.  Maybe to get more federal money for maintenance of roads within Jonesboro, for AR-226, and a 4-lane facility between Blytheville and Jonesboro?

[usends]

Raise your hand if you think Arkansas will dual-sign US 78 along its I-55 concurrency 

I noticed this is a 4-lane corridor, so I guess I can see why AR wants to unify it under a single number.  But why is it always Arkansas' first move to do a frivolous US route extension?  Why can't they just give it a single state route number and be done with it? 

[zzcarp]

Talk about a routing no one will use. This routing makes so little sense that I doubt even AASHTO would approve it. Then again, AASHTO has allowed US routes to be truncated at Interstate overpasses without exit ramps, so maybe they'd approve this silly routing.

[Max Rockatansky]

Talk about a routing no one will use. This routing makes so little sense that I doubt even AASHTO would approve it. Then again, AASHTO has allowed US routes to be truncated at Interstate overpasses without exit ramps, so maybe they'd approve this silly routing.

Maybe that's the angle?  If you don't think it will get approved then don't bother asking for permission.  That angle has worked for a couple states like with US 50A in Nevada and with New Mexico yanking US 82 signs back to Alamogordo.

[The Ghostbuster]

US 78 has connected Memphis, Tennessee with Charleston, South Carolina since the US Highway System debuted in 1926. Outside of the newspaper article I could not find anything official about the extension: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2023/oct/26/commission-approves-extending-us-78-designation/. So, I think this is one of those I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it proposals.

[usends]

A little more research reveals that this idea seems to have been put forth by interests in Jonesboro/Craighead County.  So it may well be that ARDOT realizes it's a dumb idea.  But maybe they don't want to be the ones to tell their own constituents "no".  If they submit it to AASHTO but the proposal gets nixed, then at least ARDOT can say they tried, and they don't look like the bad guy.  There's lots of precedent for that tactic, going all the way back to... oh, about 1927.

[kphoger]

https://craigheadcountyar.gov/files/documents/2023-20%20Resolution%20requesting%20the%20addition%20of%20US%20Hwy%2078%20designation%20to%20portions%20of%20interstates%20to%20future%20Interstate%2057.pdf

"Federal Highways" . . .

[bwana39]

Raise your hand if you think Arkansas will dual-sign US 78 along its I-55 concurrency 

I noticed this is a 4-lane corridor, so I guess I can see why AR wants to unify it under a single number.  But why is it always Arkansas' first move to do a frivolous US route extension?  Why can't they just give it a single state route number and be done with it?

It is all over Arkansas. It was mostly done during the Clinton Presidency and the Huckabee Governor Administration it obviously is still going.

Overall in Arkansas, there is a CLEAR difference between the quality of State Highways versus U.S. Highways

[Road Hog]

Looks like the main reason for this is to replace a major 3-digit state road with a shield. AR 18 has shoulders but is crooked and goes through a bunch of towns.

[triplemultiplex]

I'm offended by this proposal as a road geek.

[hbelkins]

Yeah, this is a dumb idea. Who, other than a route-clincher, is going to take US 78 from Memphis to Jonesboro (via Blytheville) when you can take I-155 instead?

[edwaleni]

This is in preparation for a new bridge at Memphis. When the new bridge is built, they will demote the M-A Bridge to a US route only. (Ahem, US-78)

There I said it.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm offended by this proposal as a road geek.

On the contrary, this should be fascinating you.  I see this as something potentially unnecessarily weird and maybe bucking established AASHTO protocols.  We need more asymmetry in this hobby as opposed to homogenization.

[formulanone]

I'm offended by this proposal as a road geek.

On the contrary, this should be fascinating you.  I see this as something potentially unnecessarily weird and maybe bucking established AASHTO protocols.  We need more asymmetry in this hobby as opposed to homogenization.

In the days when improved or paved routes were scarce, or terrain made a through nearly impossible, then route anomalies like this made sense.

This is just...strange and unnecessary. Kind of fascinating in weird way, because nobody seriously asks for major route extensions like this anymore. But it's more of a "US 400" type of thing which adds nothing to the system.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm offended by this proposal as a road geek.

On the contrary, this should be fascinating you.  I see this as something potentially unnecessarily weird and maybe bucking established AASHTO protocols.  We need more asymmetry in this hobby as opposed to homogenization.

In the days when improved or paved routes were scarce, or terrain made a through nearly impossible, then route anomalies like this made sense.

This is just...strange and unnecessary. Kind of fascinating in weird way, because nobody seriously asks for major route extensions like this anymore. But it's more of a "US 400" type of thing which adds nothing to the system.

Right, I get all that.  That said, if things like US 400 didn't exist how much less interesting would this hobby be?  I tend to be of the belief that not having anomalies lessens how interesting the hobby can be when it comes to signed routes.  This is part of my argument why grid perfectionism is bad for the hobby.

[GaryV]

If it's really needed to have a US route between Blytheville and Jonesboro (to emphasize the road "quality"), they could have applied for it to be an x49 3dus. And it could extend west to hit current US-67 or the future I-57. (When's I-57 going to be finished, anyway?)

The balderdash about needing a single US route from Memphis to I-57 is just that - nonsense. There's already Interstate routes.

[kphoger]

At least US-400 is a corridor.

(says the guy who lives 2½ blocks from it...)

[codyg1985]

I grew up close to US 78, and I still find this extension that may not have even be coordinated with Tennessee or AASHTO quite silly and unnecessary.