Missing Exits

[roadman65]

Why is I-84 in New York missing an Exit 9?  It seems that it cannot be for a freeway, maybe a bypass for US 9W, cause its on the wrong end of town.  Plus Exits 8 and 10 are too close anyway.

[vdeane]

My guess is that exit 10S used to be exit 9.  Other than that, no idea.

If you want to talk missing exits, I-86/NY 17 has a ton: 3 (when PA was sequential, current exit 3 was exit 2; first in NY is exit 4, an apparent continuation of PA's numbers), 5, 22 (left for US 219 freeway?), 55, 86 (some at-grade?)

Exits that appear(ed) to be missing but aren't/weren't: 2 (former), 53 (Horseheads), 57 (former), 58 (at-grade before interchange), 73 (I-81 exit 4), 74 (I-81 exit 3), 85 (Hale Eddy)

There might be more, but I'm less familiar with the quickway than the southern tier.

[shadyjay]

And on the east side of the Hudson, I-84 Exit 14 is missing!

[Roadgeek Adam]

From what I've heard

I-84 Exit 9: Was supposed to be Gidney Avenue, as the bridge is state-owned.

I-84 Exit 14: Interstate 487 junction was reserved as 14.

[hbelkins]

There are a few that I've noticed in certain places in the northeast, most memorably along I-91 in Springfield. You'll see a sign "No Exit XX" -- I guess that's to let drivers know that a partial exit on the other side has that exit number, but there's no corresponding exit on their side.

[Brandon]

There are a few that I've noticed in certain places in the northeast, most memorably along I-91 in Springfield. You'll see a sign "No Exit XX" -- I guess that's to let drivers know that a partial exit on the other side has that exit number, but there's no corresponding exit on their side.

Never got the point of signage like that, but then again, distance based exit numbering does fix this problem.

[wytout]

I 91 in CT just south of Springfield in e. windsor, has no exit 43, NB or SB.  It's completely missing altogether.  Eliminated during the Dexter Coffin Bridge reconstruction.  Exit 43 used to be Main St E. Windsor (warehouse point).

[kurumi]

CT 2 in Marlborough has a missing exit 14. Suspected, but not proven, to be set aside for a CT 66 freeway.

Exit 43 on the Merritt Parkway (CT 15) was set aside for an extension of the Sherwood Island Connector (SR 476).

[relaxok]

and, of course, we already discussed it awhile ago but.. Exit 12 was deleted in both directions on I-84 in CT, and Exit 13 is missing going west, but exists going east - so driving west, it goes from 11 to 14, even though there's about 4 miles of settled area between them.

I can't tell you the number of people from out of town that got all messed up by that.

As for the 'why', our very own kurumi's site says that when the Exit 11 interchange was re-made in 1976, the old 11 and 12 were removed.  12 has never been replaced - the area does not have much room for building a safe interchange.  I believe 13 West was considered unsafe as well, and only eastbound was improved and kept alive.

[shadyjay]

Elsewhere in Connecticut

I-91:
NB Exits 30 & 31 were both eliminated in the late 1980s as part of a reconstruction of I-91 through Hartford.  Exit 30 was the designated route to I-84 EB but actually led to the Founders Bridge (CT 2) but was always signed solely as "EAST I-84".  Exit 31 was a left hand exit leading to Downtown Hartford.  SB, only Exit 29 was eliminated and Exit 27 was relocated from the left to the right, but has always been located before Exit 28.  Further north, Exits 39 & 41 were combined, with Exit 40 in the middle.  NB, the signs read EXITS 39 & 41 and SB, they read EXITS 41 & 39.  Exit 43 was only accessible NB and was eliminated when I-91 was rebuilt through the area in the late 80s/early 90s.  It led to "Main Street / Warehouse Point". 

I-95:
Exit 1 is missing - though it may at one time had been designated as the Greenwich Toll Booth
Exit 49 only existed NB/EB and was removed as part of the "Q" Bridge replacement project
Exit 77-79 never existed, and Exit 76 only exists NB and became "signed" about the time CT 52 became I-395. 


And then there's Vermont, which has never had a missing exit - though it does have a couple of spots were "ghost" interchanges were constructed (some grading or some pavement).  In fact, VT has not had any interchanges added to its interstate system, except a tweaking of Exit 21 on I-91 in St J. 

[xcellntbuy]

Exit 3 of the Adirondack Northway has never been built.  It was originally set aside for the never-constructed Interstate 687.  For years, signs were erected on Interstate 87 stating "Exit 3 To Be Built."  I believe these signs are long gone.  There is still no Exit 3.

Long, long ago, the Adirondack Northway only had an Exit 7 for NY 9R and US 9 in Latham from the northbound lanes.  A similar sign stating "Exit 7 To Be Built" was found in the southbound lanes of the Northway just passed the uphill curve from the Twin Bridges over the Mohawk River.  Exit 7 was completely redesigned and upgraded in the mid-1980s for the new NY 7 (commonly called "Alternate 7, to this day) from downtown Troy to the Northway.  Extensive work is underway to create better alignment with NY 7, NY 2 and Interstate 87.

There was a missing exit in the formerly sequential numbering system of Pennsylvania's Interstate 81 somewhere between the Maryland state line and Carlisle.  I believe it was "Exit 7."  There used to be large hand-painted signs on the highway stating "Exit 7 We Don't Want It."  Another of our members here may qualify if this was the correct exit number and its exact proposed location.

[Roadgeek Adam]

All the years of RI 4 having NO EXIT 7 on it was fun. Too bad there now is an Exit 7 and the sign is gone.

[mightyace]

There was a missing exit in the formerly sequential numbering system of Pennsylvania's Interstate 81 somewhere between the Maryland state line and Carlisle.  I believe it was "Exit 7."  There used to be large hand-painted signs on the highway stating "Exit 7 We Don't Want It."  Another of our members here may qualify if this was the correct exit number and its exact proposed location.

I think that's right.

I-81 had another missing number in the old system.  PA 309 (Blackman St./Mountaintop) was exit 45 (now 165) and PA 115 (now 309/115) was exit 47 (exit 170).  Exit 46, IIRC, was reserved for the North Cross Valley Expressway.  The expressway has been built but it connects with I-81 at exit 170 (old exit 47).  The interesting thing is that there is now an exit between them (168) built primarily for access to the new arena.

EDIT:
I have the 1970 Official PA road map on my computer as a PDF.  (I downloaded it from PennDOT's web site.)  I confirmed that Exit 7 was indeed missing on I-81 as was Exit 46.

[OracleUsr]

I remember driving through PA one time pre-distance numbering, and there was a hand-made sign on the side of the road near Chambersburg that said "NO EXIT 7...WE DON'T WANT IT"

[Duke87]

I-95:
Exit 1 is missing - though it may at one time had been designated as the Greenwich Toll Booth

The Greenwich toll booth was north of exit 2, so, doubtful.

I would think that "Exit 1" is the New England Thruway. That is, the south end of the Connecticut Turnpike.

[Brandon]

^^ Interesting.  Any other toll roads that use/used an exit number for a toll plaza?  The Ohio Turnpike used to use "Exit 1" for their Westgate Plaza and "Exit 18" for their Eastgate Plaza.

[NE2]

Yes, many ticket system roads do, so they have a number to put on the tickets. New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania come to mind.

[newyorker478]

Sometimes mile-based states like to skip a mile at the beginning.

[NE2]

Sometimes mile-based states like to skip a mile at the beginning.

Yes, but they make it up by having 1.5-2 miles of exit 1. Or they pull a Missouri: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_freeway_loop_(Kansas_City)

[WNYroadgeek]

My guess is that exit 10S used to be exit 9.  Other than that, no idea.

If you want to talk missing exits, I-86/NY 17 has a ton: 3 (when PA was sequential, current exit 3 was exit 2; first in NY is exit 4, an apparent continuation of PA's numbers), 5, 22 (left for US 219 freeway?), 55, 86 (some at-grade?)

Exits that appear(ed) to be missing but aren't/weren't: 2 (former), 53 (Horseheads), 57 (former), 58 (at-grade before interchange), 73 (I-81 exit 4), 74 (I-81 exit 3), 85 (Hale Eddy)

There might be more, but I'm less familiar with the quickway than the southern tier.

I-86 also lacks an Exit 5 and an Exit 22.

[NE2]

He said that...

[PAHighways]

^^ Interesting.  Any other toll roads that use/used an exit number for a toll plaza?  The Ohio Turnpike used to use "Exit 1" for their Westgate Plaza and "Exit 18" for their Eastgate Plaza.

The PTC has exit numbers for the Gateway (2/formerly 1), Warrendale (30), and Delaware River Bridge (359/formerly 30) mainline barriers.

[mightyace]

^^^

And the north end of the Northeast Extension ticket system was originally Exit 131 (old 38) and the barrier was number the same as the exit.

IIRC The ticket system north end was moved to its current location south of the Exit 115 (old 37) for PA 315 before the renumbering to mileage based as was numbered 37 same as the exit.

Today, that toll barrier is numbered 112 while the exit is still 115.

[HighwayMaster]

There was a missing exit in the formerly sequential numbering system of Pennsylvania's Interstate 81 somewhere between the Maryland state line and Carlisle.  I believe it was "Exit 7."  There used to be large hand-painted signs on the highway stating "Exit 7 We Don't Want It."  Another of our members here may qualify if this was the correct exit number and its exact proposed location.

I think that's right.

I-81 had another missing number in the old system.  PA 309 (Blackman St./Mountaintop) was exit 45 (now 165) and PA 115 (now 309/115) was exit 47 (exit 170).  Exit 46, IIRC, was reserved for the North Cross Valley Expressway.  The expressway has been built but it connects with I-81 at exit 170 (old exit 47).  The interesting thing is that there is now an exit between them (168) built primarily for access to the new arena.

EDIT:
I have the 1970 Official PA road map on my computer as a PDF.  (I downloaded it from PennDOT's web site.)  I confirmed that Exit 7 was indeed missing on I-81 as was Exit 46.

That new Exit 17 in Chambersburg may be the de facto Old Exit 7.