This may not be a new topic, but I couldn't find an earlier one. SkyPesos said it better than I could when he wrote, "potential freeway shortcuts that (are) shorter and/or more desirable to travel, and easy to miss, than the parent route." It came up as part of the discussion on longest time spent on one highway and users noticed several places where the bypass is better. I think it's worthy of it's own thread. I'm not concerned with the "easy to miss" qualification, but kudos if you add one. Here's part of the discussion:
Quote from: sprjus4 on August 23, 2021, 01:16:45 AM
Quote from: SkyPesos on August 22, 2021, 10:43:45 PM
Quote from: webny99 on August 22, 2021, 09:38:49 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on August 22, 2021, 06:13:05 PM
My point is that every time someone posted I-75 as their longest, someone questioned whether or not they used I-475, but nobody ever questioned anybody on other interstates. It was as if that was the only spot where someone might shortcut a route.
Most 3di alternates are longer than their parent. I-475 is a notable exception in terms of being an actual "shortcut".
There's also I-275 in Detroit and I-295 in Maine; those haven't come up much yet but I'm sure they'll be questioned if/when they do. :D
Let's create a list of potential freeway shortcuts that's shorter and/or more desirable to travel, and easy to miss, than the parent route then. I'll start...
I-10:
- I-12 Louisiana
I-70:
- I-670 KC
- I-270 St Louis (rare example of a beltway shorter than parent route between two points)
- I-470 Wheeling
I-75:
- I-475 Macon
- US 23 Toledo-Flint (and no, I don't think I-275 would be questioned, as it doesn't reconnect back with I-75)
I-95:
- B-W Parkway
- I-895 Baltimore
- NJ Turnpike unnumbered section
- I-295 Maine
Quote from: sprjus4 on August 22, 2021, 05:38:53 PM
^ Or I-270 vs. I-70 through St. Louis, I-295 vs. I-95 through Richmond-Petersburg, I-664 vs. I-64 through Norfolk, I-459 vs. I-59/20 through Birmingham, I-410/I-35 or Loop 1604 vs. I-10 through San Antonio, etc.
Starting list consolidated from above: (apologies for any I missed)
I-10:
- I-12 Louisiana
- I-410 San Antonio
- Loop 1604 San Antonio
- I-610 New Orleans
I-59
- I-459 Birmingham
I-64
- I-295 Richmond
- I-664 Hampton Roads
I-70:
- I-670 KC
- I-270 St Louis (rare example of a beltway shorter than parent route between two points)
- I-470 Wheeling
I-75:
- I-475 Macon
- US 23 Toledo-Flint
I-95:
- B-W Parkway
- I-895 Baltimore
- NJ Turnpike unnumbered section
- I-295 Portland-Augusta
relevant thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=24149.0) (the entire thread, not just this one quote from it)
Not a freeway, but:
Quote from: cl94 on January 04, 2019, 09:25:34 PM
Between Crow Agency, MT (east of Billings) and Whitewood, SD (west of Rapid City), it's 12 minutes and 56 miles faster to use US 212 and SD 34 instead of I-90.
If we're removing the easy to miss qualification, I'll add in the following:
- I-79/I-68 for I-70 between Washington, PA and Hancock, MD
- I-57 for I-55 between Sikeston and Chicago
- Florida Turnpike for I-75 between Miami and Wildwood
- US 24/I-75/I-94 for I-69 between Ft Wayne and Port Huron
Quote from: SkyPesos on August 25, 2021, 07:36:25 PM
If we're removing the easy to miss qualification, I'll add in the following:
- I-79/I-68 for I-70 between Washington, PA and Hancock, MD
- I-57 for I-55 between Sikeston and Chicago
- Florida Turnpike for I-75 between Miami and Wildwood
- US 24/I-75/I-94 for I-69 between Ft Wayne and Port Huron
The last one is backwards. US-24/I-75/I-94 is actually the shortest and quickest way between Fort Wayne and Port Huron. Taking I-69 adds on about 30 miles and about 20 minutes.
I-5 and I-405 in the Seattle area are almost the same length, at 29 miles (i-5) and 31 miles (I-405) from Tukwila to Lynnwood.
Both also have tons of traffic, so travel time-wise they can be similar.
I-475 and I-675 in Michigan are no goes here. Both are about 2 miles longer than staying on I-75.
I think I-805 is slightly shorter/2 miles compared to I-5 from San Ysidro to Torrey Pines for San Diego
I-255 around STL is within 2 miles of I-55 thru Downtown STL
I-294 around Chicago is within 4 miles of I-94
Depends if "as short" is a straight "=" or more of a "neighborhood same distance"
I second I-475 in GA for I-75 as well as I-610 in NOLA for I-10.
I-670 for I-70 in Kansas City is one for sure. It goes straight while it's parent goes up , across, and down.
I -270 in St. Louis is shorter as the OP stated, but Indy does not get the honor of control city there. However the OP forgot that add MO 370 to it and it's also shorter.
Quote from: roadman65 on August 25, 2021, 09:54:03 PM
I second I-475 in GA for I-75 as well as I-610 in NOLA for I-10.
I-670 for I-70 in Kansas City is one for sure. It goes straight while it's parent goes up , across, and down.
I -270 in St. Louis is shorter as the OP stated, but Indy does not get the honor of control city there. However the OP forgot that add MO 370 to it and it's also shorter.
I think it's a tossup between I-70 to I-270 and I-70/MO 370/I-270. The former is actually shorter (232-224 is 8, and 22-20 is 2, so that's 10 miles compared to MO 370's 12 miles), but traffic is lighter on MO 370 most of the time, so to keep it simple in my post in the other thread, I just mentioned I-270, as that's the main one.
I-465 around Indy/SW Side is within 2 miles of I-65 thru Downtown (which isn't passable right now anyway due to an InDOT project near the North Downtown Indy 65-70 Split, closing the Freeway)
I don't recall these being mentioned:
I-440 / I-24 through Nashville is usually faster than I-40 and I think more desirable, and less than 1 mile longer.
I-295 / FL 9B is shorter and faster than I-95 through downtown Jacksonville
Quote from: skluth on August 25, 2021, 07:16:13 PM
I-59
- I-459 Birmingham
Also I-20 (I-459 is a shorter bypass for I-20 than it is for I-59)
For I-95, the side of I-495 (VA/MD) that is not part of I-95 is shorter by distance than the side that is, although I think it may not be shorter by travel time.
Quote from: roadman65 on August 25, 2021, 09:54:03 PM
I second I-475 in GA for I-75 as well as I-610 in NOLA for I-10.
Also I-12 as a bypass for I-10.
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 25, 2021, 07:41:33 PM
Quote from: SkyPesos on August 25, 2021, 07:36:25 PM
If we're removing the easy to miss qualification, I'll add in the following:
- I-79/I-68 for I-70 between Washington, PA and Hancock, MD
- I-57 for I-55 between Sikeston and Chicago
- Florida Turnpike for I-75 between Miami and Wildwood
- US 24/I-75/I-94 for I-69 between Ft Wayne and Port Huron
The last one is backwards. US-24/I-75/I-94 is actually the shortest and quickest way between Fort Wayne and Port Huron. Taking I-69 adds on about 30 miles and about 20 minutes.
That's the point. That the 24/75/94 alternate is shorter than I-69. Just like US-23 is shorter than staying on I-75 from Flint to Toledo.
Another one: I-496 through Lansing (a "bypass" that goes through the center of the city) is about 1-1/2 miles shorter than staying on I-96. But often a longer drive time.
I-90 is 5 miles shorter (though much more expensive) than I-94 between Lake Station, IN and 63rd St, Chicago
Quote from: cabiness42 on August 26, 2021, 07:29:43 AM
I-90 is 5 miles shorter (though much more expensive) than I-94 between Lake Station, IN and 63rd St, Chicago
The expense part is why I opt for I-94 in that area over the shorter I-90.
Quote from: GaryV on August 26, 2021, 07:01:17 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 25, 2021, 07:41:33 PM
Quote from: SkyPesos on August 25, 2021, 07:36:25 PM
If we're removing the easy to miss qualification, I'll add in the following:
- I-79/I-68 for I-70 between Washington, PA and Hancock, MD
- I-57 for I-55 between Sikeston and Chicago
- Florida Turnpike for I-75 between Miami and Wildwood
- US 24/I-75/I-94 for I-69 between Ft Wayne and Port Huron
The last one is backwards. US-24/I-75/I-94 is actually the shortest and quickest way between Fort Wayne and Port Huron. Taking I-69 adds on about 30 miles and about 20 minutes.
That's the point. That the 24/75/94 alternate is shorter than I-69. Just like US-23 is shorter than staying on I-75 from Flint to Toledo.
Another one: I-496 through Lansing (a "bypass" that goes through the center of the city) is about 1-1/2 miles shorter than staying on I-96. But often a longer drive time.
I-496 isn't a bypass of anything it connects I-96 to downtown Lansing on both ends that's all it does.
I-676 between Philadelphia and New Jersey is shorter than I-76 by about half a mile. Not sure how much "faster" it is due to the surface street portion though.
I put this one in the other thread, but Google Maps normally routes me on I-235 in Des Moines instead of taking I-35/80.
Chris
The Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway is slightly shorter between its two endpoints then staying on I-10 (23.4 miles versus 23.9 miles) but is much shorter travel time wise as it avoids downtown Phoenix.
It's easy to miss as it isn't signed very well as a bypass of Phoenix and doesn't have any control cities listed (although per ADOT fashion the S/B and E/B control city should be Tucson and the N/B and W/B control city should be Los Angeles).
Might not exactly qualify as all parts of this route are not up to freeway standards (though a majority of it is - and long term plans call for upgrading the rest), but I-26 and US-74 across North Carolina is faster than following I-40 between Asheville and Wilmington.
I-215 in SoCal's Inland Empire is 6 miles shorter than I-15 from where they split to where they rejoin.
Similarly, I-805 in San Diego is 2 miles shorter than I-5.
Was mentioned briefly in the other thread and didn't carry over, but I-694 is about two miles shorter than I-94 through MSP.
Barely 15 years ago though, it wasn't exactly "more desirable" than I-94 because of the awful jammed and dangerous interchanges with I-35E and US 10 as well as being a miserable slog in general between 94/MN 100 and I-35E. The drive between 35W and 35E is much better now, but getting caught in rush hour driving between 100 and 35W is still some of the worst congestion in the metro.
I-91/CT 15/I-84/I-90/I-290/I-495 between New Haven, CT and Salisbury, MA is 22 miles shorter than taking I-95 between the two.
I-5 as a Central Valley bypass for Route 99 between Wheeler Ridge, CA and Sacramento is about 2 miles shorter (though way further to the west at times between Buttonwillow and Manteca).
In Jacksonville, the eastern bypass route of I-295 and SR 9B is about 0.8 mile shorter than staying on I-95.
---
Not really a "bypass" in a conventional sense, and entirely created only due to a 1960s rerouting:
Between the Alemany Maze in SF and the 280/380 interchange in San Bruno, the US 101/I-380 routing is 1.6 miles shorter than staying on I-280 south the whole way.
Quote from: Occidental Tourist on August 27, 2021, 12:06:02 AM
I-215 in SoCal's Inland Empire is 6 miles shorter than I-15 from where they split to where they rejoin.
Similarly, I-805 in San Diego is 2 miles shorter than I-5.
I wouldn't call I-215 a bypass for I-15; both extend through major populated areas. 215 does go through the centers of the older regional cities (Riverside, San Bernardino), while 15 itself connects cities considered more suburbs (Corona, Ontario, Fontana) than original regional mainstays cited above -- with the distinguishing features large and newer housing tracts plus massive industrial/warehousing facilities. But then the northern portion of 215 (north of I-10)
was the original route of I-15 prior to 1972; not surprising since downtown San Bernardino straddles 215; it was until recent years the largest incorporated city in the Inland Empire (long since surpassed by both Riverside and Corona).
Quote from: sparker on August 27, 2021, 04:13:43 AM
Quote from: Occidental Tourist on August 27, 2021, 12:06:02 AM
I-215 in SoCal's Inland Empire is 6 miles shorter than I-15 from where they split to where they rejoin.
Similarly, I-805 in San Diego is 2 miles shorter than I-5.
I wouldn't call I-215 a bypass for I-15; both extend through major populated areas. 215 does go through the centers of the older regional cities (Riverside, San Bernardino), while 15 itself connects cities considered more suburbs (Corona, Ontario, Fontana) than original regional mainstays cited above -- with the distinguishing features large and newer housing tracts plus massive industrial/warehousing facilities. But then the northern portion of 215 (north of I-10) was the original route of I-15 prior to 1972; not surprising since downtown San Bernardino straddles 215; it was until recent years the largest incorporated city in the Inland Empire (long since surpassed by both Riverside and Corona).
The I-215* routing between Devore and Murietta is shorter than I-15. If the thread is to highlight 3dis shorter than their partents, than it qualifies. If the thread is to highlight bypasses shorter than thru-city routes, then it doesn't qualify.
In that sense, how would we treat I-376 through Pittsburgh? It's a 3di, but absolutely goes through the city center, while I-76 on the Penn Turnpike is the bypass. Between Big Beaver and Monroeville I-76 is absoultely shorter and its the bypass, but it's also the 2di, while I-376 goes through the city and takes quite a bit longer in distance and time. Not an entry for this thread, IMO.
*Another factoid, in my thinking is that I-15 was routed through eastern Ontario and not San Bernardino since it was closer to L.A. (making it easier for folks heading from Vegas to LA to stay on I-15 until I-10) and the I-15 freeway between Devore and Murittea was finished as a full freeway before the I-215 routing. I-215 alongside March AFB in southern Riverside was an expressway and not interstate standard for a long time. With that being the case, the 2di needs to be routed on the route that was a completed freeway first.