Business Route That Misses It's Mark as a Business Route

[Avalanchez71]

So what designated business route misses that mark as a business route?  Was the route once in the business area or was the route intended for future growth.  Can you name the routes? 


I-40 Business Loop in Glenrio, TX comes to mind for sure.

[hotdogPi]

I-40 Business Loop in Del Rio, TX comes to mind for sure.

It's also horribly misplaced, but then, any business Interstate in Del Rio would be misplaced.

[oscar]

So what designated business route misses that mark as a business route?  Was the route once in the business area or was the route intended for future growth.  Can you name the routes? 


I-40 Business Loop in Del Rio, TX comes to mind for sure.

Del Rio is on the Mexican border, nowhere near I-40 or any other Interstate.

You might be thinking of Glenrio, TX, off I-40 at the New Mexico border. The business route passes right through what's left of the town, only the town is dying (if not already dead).

I-10 Business Loop in Balmorhea, TX is somewhat similar, though the decay is not quite as advanced as for Glenrio.

[US 89]

The I-40 loops through Tucumcari and Santa Rosa, NM sure come to mind as loops through dead towns.

[oscar]

The I-40 loops through Tucumcari and Santa Rosa, NM sure come to mind as loops through dead towns.

Not really. Both towns have several thousand residents, and businesses both modern and historic (but still open) along the business route. Indeed, this summer I stayed one night at the Holiday Inn Express in Santa Rosa, on its business loop. (Tucumcari also has an HIE and other modern chain motels, but they're mainly near the freeway rather than the business/old US 66 route.)

It's hard to find a place, with an Interstate business route, deader than Glenrio.

[Avalanchez71]

Tucumcari isn't much of a town, however, the business route does serve the businesses in town. 

[mgk920]

When it was in existence, BR US 41 in Green Bay, WI was a misplaced business route in that it didn't go anywhere near downtown Green Bay.  It followed the Military Ave pre-freeway US 41 routing through the city.

Mike

[TheHighwayMan3561]

BL I-25 in Chugwater, Wyoming

In Minnesota the best example is the MN 371 business loop in Brainerd. The independent portion not duplexed with MN 210 doesn't serve many businesses the average traveler will be looking for, and once it gets on 210 no one cares about it anymore. It's not even signed at the 210/371 junction.

The MN 371 bypass, now open about 20 years has really changed Baxter into the principal economic center of the Baxter/Brainerd pair.

[1995hoo]

The current routing of US-29 Business in Lynchburg. It bypasses the city's business district on an outdated Pennsylvania-like freeway. It used to be US-29 Bypass, but that route moved east when a new (and much-needed) bypass opened around 2005, so the old bypass became the business route and the old business route became a state route.

(To be sure, US-29 Business does run through a business area in Madison Heights, north of Lynchburg, and that's where the real problem was–some very annoying traffic lights–that necessitated a better bypass, so the route doesn't totally miss the point of being a business route, but as to Lynchburg arguably it does.)

[FrCorySticha]

Business 2 and 52 in Minot, ND always struck me as misplaced. Of course, they're the routes of the highways through town before Bypass 2 and 52 was built south of town, and there are businesses along the historic parts of Minot. However, since the bypass was put in place, most businesses have moved to the bypass or US 83 through town. Much of Business 2 and 52 travel through residential neighborhoods.

Still, it's better that the historic routes of highways are marked by the Business designation, than to allow those routes to be forgotten completely. I wonder if the Alternate designation would be a better choice than Business for some routes.

[JayhawkCO]

BL25 in Aguilar, CO.  No gas stations.  A couple of cafes and a liquor store.  That's about the whole town.

Chris

[kphoger]

This thread already exists for Interstate highways.

Business Interstates That Don't Serve That Many Businesses

[Max Rockatansky]

This thread already exists for Interstate highways.

Business Interstates That Don't Serve That Many Businesses

But couldn't this thread also include non-Interstate Business routes?

[roadman65]

No one has brought up US 90 Business in NOLA. That ones is mostly freeway and part expressway. It goes nowhere near a downtown ( except over New Orleans Central Business district) and the mainline it bypasses is a suburban arterial.

Then US 190 Business in Slidell, La is also a residential road with no business activity. In fact it's mainline US 190 that is aligned through Downtown Slidell

[kphoger]

This thread already exists for Interstate highways.

Business Interstates That Don't Serve That Many Businesses

But couldn't this thread also include non-Interstate Business routes?

Yes, but it's worth checking out the previous thread before posting here.

Perhaps the least necessary non-Interstate business route I'm familiar with is US-277-Business in Weinert, TX (pop. 172).

[roadman65]

It's funny as US 90 Business is an interstate, but not signed.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 51 is a worthless Business I-80 given it's a freeway. 

[CapeCodder]

The former Business 85 in NC. When we took it earlier this year, I just about died inside, thinking "WTF, why is this even a business route?". We passed from 85 to 40 and then met back up with 85. The whole thing was weird.

[Terry Shea]

BS 196 in Grand Rapids serves no real purpose as a business route.   It's more of a slow connector to US 131 through a somewhat undesirable area of town.  That being said, I don't know anyone who uses it as a connector.  The exit to a parallel and somewhat distant Chicago Drive has never made any sense to me.  I have no idea what they were thinking when they built this exit.

[kphoger]

BS 196 in Grand Rapids serves no real purpose as a business route.   It's more of a slow connector to US 131 through a somewhat undesirable area of town.  That being said, I don't know anyone who uses it as a connector.  The exit to a parallel and somewhat distant Chicago Drive has never made any sense to me.  I have no idea what they were thinking when they built this exit.

It's a spur that goes from I-196 past the metalworks and railroad logistics yard and slaughterhouse and shipping terminals and factories along the way to downtown.  Sounds like what a business spur should be, to me at least.

As for "what they were thinking", the route had previously been M-21.  When that designation was removed, the former alignment was renamed M-21-Business.  That was in 1953, which means the route was already a "business" route eleven years before I-196 through Grand Rapids was even opened to traffic.

Read up on the history here (Chris Bessert's site).

[Terry Shea]

BS 196 in Grand Rapids serves no real purpose as a business route.   It's more of a slow connector to US 131 through a somewhat undesirable area of town.  That being said, I don't know anyone who uses it as a connector.  The exit to a parallel and somewhat distant Chicago Drive has never made any sense to me.  I have no idea what they were thinking when they built this exit.

It's a spur that goes from I-196 past the metalworks and railroad logistics yard and slaughterhouse and shipping terminals and factories along the way to downtown.  Sounds like what a business spur should be, to me at least.

As for "what they were thinking", the route had previously been M-21.  When that designation was removed, the former alignment was renamed M-21-Business.  That was in 1953, which means the route was already a "business" route eleven years before I-196 through Grand Rapids was even opened to traffic.

Read up on the history here (Chris Bessert's site).

The point is that it's not someplace to get off the freeway and look for a quick bite to eat.  And I still don't understand the need to build expensive ramps to a parallel roadway some distance away that doesn't really have any services available.  Having said that, I haven't been on it in decades, so maybe it does now, but when it was build and for several decades thereafter it was nothing but an industrial corridor with no real services available to the average traveler.  And I doubt that's changed much, if at all.  Also, it's only accessible from EB I-196 but you can't re-enter onto EB I-196.

[kphoger]

BS 196 in Grand Rapids serves no real purpose as a business route.   It's more of a slow connector to US 131 through a somewhat undesirable area of town.  That being said, I don't know anyone who uses it as a connector.  The exit to a parallel and somewhat distant Chicago Drive has never made any sense to me.  I have no idea what they were thinking when they built this exit.

It's a spur that goes from I-196 past the metalworks and railroad logistics yard and slaughterhouse and shipping terminals and factories along the way to downtown.  Sounds like what a business spur should be, to me at least.

As for "what they were thinking", the route had previously been M-21.  When that designation was removed, the former alignment was renamed M-21-Business.  That was in 1953, which means the route was already a "business" route eleven years before I-196 through Grand Rapids was even opened to traffic.

Read up on the history here (Chris Bessert's site).

The point is that it's not someplace to get off the freeway and look for a quick bite to eat.  And I still don't understand the need to build expensive ramps to a parallel roadway some distance away that doesn't really have any services available.  Having said that, I haven't been on it in decades, so maybe it does now, but when it was build and for several decades thereafter it was nothing but an industrial corridor with no real services available to the average traveler.  And I doubt that's changed much, if at all.  Also, it's only accessible from EB I-196 but you can't re-enter onto EB I-196.

The point is that business spurs don't exist primarily to "look for a quick bite to eat".  They exist primarily to serve the businesses of the city–i.e., to facilitate the transport of goods and services from the highway bypass to and from the central business district.  Typically, they take over the former main route through the city, which is why businesses exist along or at the end of the route in the first place.  In this particular case, the main route had already become bypassed, and one business route number took over a former business route number.

There are plenty of business route exits around the country that don't have tourist services (restaurant, gas station, motel) conveniently nearby.  It all comes down to where the old route and new route diverge.  Examples that I'm personally familiar with:  I-44-BL west of El Reno, OK;  I-35-BL south of Cameron, MO;  US-281-BUS south of Lawton, OK.  Those are just the first few that came to mind, and I could come up with plenty more.

Especially when it comes to a spur, it's not intended to be an alternate route that passes by services along the way back to the main route.  Rather, it's a deviation away from the main route toward the business district(s) of a town.

[vdeane]

My understanding is that interstate business routes were invented by the feds with the intent of preserving small town businesses that were being bypassed.  Whether all states used them that way (or if one used to function that way but the businesses are now gone) is a different story.  Personally, I'm not exactly a fan of them (or bannered routes, for that matter).  If something really needs a number, give it a state route.

[NWI_Irish96]

My understanding is that interstate business routes were invented by the feds with the intent of preserving small town businesses that were being bypassed.  Whether all states used them that way (or if one used to function that way but the businesses are now gone) is a different story.  Personally, I'm not exactly a fan of them (or bannered routes, for that matter).  If something really needs a number, give it a state route.

I don't know if that's why they were invented, but to me, that's the way that they should be used. A business route should be a brief route off the fastest route where you can find gas stations, restaurants and drug stores. A 10+ mile long business route doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's impractical to follow through to the other end just to find a place to get gas and lunch.

[kphoger]

My understanding is that interstate business routes were invented by the feds with the intent of preserving small town businesses that were being bypassed.  Whether all states used them that way (or if one used to function that way but the businesses are now gone) is a different story.  Personally, I'm not exactly a fan of them (or bannered routes, for that matter).  If something really needs a number, give it a state route.

I don't know if that's why they were invented, but to me, that's the way that they should be used. A business route should be a brief route off the fastest route where you can find gas stations, restaurants and drug stores. A 10+ mile long business route doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's impractical to follow through to the other end just to find a place to get gas and lunch.

See, you're looking at business routes from the perspective of a tourist, whereas I'm looking at them from the perspective of a truck driver.