Long Island, NY - US route

[prenatt1166]

Was there ever a US route planned on Long Island?  Also, can anybody direct me to a detailed account of NY's history with US routes?  thx

[Michael in Philly]

My knowledge of this stuff is less...encyclopedic...than that of some people here, but I grew up in North Jersey and have been looking at maps all my life.  It struck me when I was about 10, in the early 70s, that there were no U.S. routes on Long Island (no Interstates at the time either; 495 turned into a state route at the Clearview).  I've seen maps going back to the 20s, and never seen any sign of a U.S. route there.  (Which doesn't mean none were ever planned.)

As a layman who's just interested in this stuff, I've always assumed the reason for this is that U.S. routes are legally state routes - Long Island's not missing out on any federal funding by not having any - and the original reason for them, back in the 20s, was to make sure routes of national importance got adequate attention as the states were developing highways for the sudden rise of automobiles.  Since Long Island's a dead end - there's no place you get to by passing through it - there was no need for them.  Similarly, Alaska and Hawaii have none either; a lot of the U.S. routes on the West Coast have been de-designated (which may not be the right word) because they were rerouted onto Interstates but then, since there was no next state for California to hand them off to, the U.S. numbers seemed superfluous.

Wikipedia should have articles on the history of particular routes.

I'm sure there are pople here who can correct my understanding of the history of the U.S. system, and direct you to good sources for the history in New York as a whole; I know there are New York road sites, just can't name them offhand.  But their creators are probably hanging around here.  :-)

[NE2]

New York never cared much for the U.S. Routes.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.cfm (search for Greene)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/1926us.jpg
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=5208.0

[prenatt1166]

Thanks for the info.   I thought Long Island may have had a US route planned since Cape Cod has US 6 and Key West has US 1.  However, which route would have made sense?  Would there have been a logical way ot extend US 22 over NY 27's route, or perhaps a 3 digit number?

[NE2]

Would there have been a logical way ot extend US 22 over NY 27's route?

Yes, since NY 27 used to begin at the east end of the Holland Tunnel.

[Alps]

New York never cared much for the U.S. Routes.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.cfm (search for Greene)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/1926us.jpg
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=5208.0

Conversely, PA was and still is a whore for them. Interesting to see two things - US 66/99 long concurrency, and US 50 long discontinuity.

[okc1]

I've guessed that the 1926 location of US 13, 15 & 17 near or east of US 1 was a result of NY not allowing them to continue into the state, and PA having to change their designation to 3di US routes.  The northward extension of US 15 probably reflected the original intent and US 17 would have gone through Johnstown or Altoona to Buffalo.

Anyone with info to substantiate this?