US routes that end concurrent with other US routes: why do they exist?

[froggie]

US 48 can go on this list now, since it has officially been extended and signed all the way west to Weston, WV, but the reason is to give Corridor H one continuous number.

Is it the only US route that has both ends at an interstate?

US-10 qualifies (its western end is at I-94 and its eastern end is at I-75)

So does US 2's western segment, I-5 on the west end and I-75 on the east end.

US 7 as well (I-95 and I-89).

[Flint1979]

US 48 can go on this list now, since it has officially been extended and signed all the way west to Weston, WV, but the reason is to give Corridor H one continuous number.

Is it the only US route that has both ends at an interstate?

US-10 qualifies (its western end is at I-94 and its eastern end is at I-75)

So does US 2's western segment, I-5 on the west end and I-75 on the east end.

US 7 as well (I-95 and I-89).

I think there are a lot more examples. I was assuming that US 7's north end was at the border though.
US 24 is another one it turns in Toledo to go north so it has a northern terminus which is I-75, it's western terminus is I-70.
US 27 ends at I-195 in Miami and I-69 in Fort Wayne so I think this one counts.
US 46 ends at I-80 on the west and I-95 on the east.
US 48 which was mentioned and I guess the cause of this whole conversation. US 48 use to go from Morgantown, WV to Hancock, MD but all that was replaced by I-68 and I don't think the current US 48 was a part of that route either.
US 101 starts and ends at I-5 with 1,500 miles in between each end.
US 181 goes between I-37 and I-35 ending on both sides.
US 276 has it's ends at I-40 and I-385.
US 290 goes between I-610 and I-10 with 275 miles between each end.
US 380 goes between I-25 and I-30.
US 412 which shouldn't even be numbered as such between I-25 and I-65.

Those are the one's I can find.

[sparker]

US 399 used to multiplex US 99 to US 466 in Bakersfield, I always found that one a little on the strange side when the natural north terminus would be US 99.  The multiplex can still be seen on the 1963 California state highway map city insert:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239530~5511853:-Verso--State-Highway-Map,-Californ?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=30&trs=86

US 466 was co-signed with US 93 to US 66 in Kingman.  Interestingly US 466 predated US 93 over the Hoover Dam. 

Most likely the 399 multiplex over 99 into central Bakersfield was simply to provide a terminus at a major regional city -- as well as also providing a single U.S. designation for a route from the principal E-W artery in the area (US 466) to the coastal area NW of Los Angeles, simplifying navigation. 

[index]

I believe US 264 used to end concurrent with US 64 at either Roanoke Island, Manns Harbor, or Whalebone Junction. This was changed by NCDOT in I think 2000. However I'm not entirely sure when.

[froggie]

I believe US 264 used to end concurrent with US 64 at either Roanoke Island, Manns Harbor, or Whalebone Junction. This was changed by NCDOT in I think 2000. However I'm not entirely sure when.

All the way to Whalebone.  Truncated in 2003....not long after the new US 64 bridge across Croatan Sound (and bypassing Manteo) opened.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky has a couple of former examples. US 641 used to be concurrent with US 60 all the way to Henderson, and there have even been some pictures posted of it being signed in Evansville. US 68 also used to run concurrently with US 62 and then US 60 to end in downtown Paducah.

[Max Rockatansky]

US 399 used to multiplex US 99 to US 466 in Bakersfield, I always found that one a little on the strange side when the natural north terminus would be US 99.  The multiplex can still be seen on the 1963 California state highway map city insert:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239530~5511853:-Verso--State-Highway-Map,-Californ?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=30&trs=86

US 466 was co-signed with US 93 to US 66 in Kingman.  Interestingly US 466 predated US 93 over the Hoover Dam. 

Most likely the 399 multiplex over 99 into central Bakersfield was simply to provide a terminus at a major regional city -- as well as also providing a single U.S. designation for a route from the principal E-W artery in the area (US 466) to the coastal area NW of Los Angeles, simplifying navigation.

When you think about it, in a roundabout way that mindset makes sense.  Suppose you cross the country on US 70 from the east coast.  Would it not make more sense to have an XO US Route end somewhere important like Los Angeles as opposed a place out in the boons like US 60 in Globe?  I would imagine a lot of the leftover US Routes that end concurrent more or less have the same function.  The multiplexed examples with Yellowstone up thread are prime examples showing some viability.

[ftballfan]

Michigan really doesn't have a ton of US highways. US 10 use to run multiplexed with US 23 and I-75 as well as US 24 just to end in Detroit it now ends in Bay City about 110 miles north of Detroit. I can think of a state highway example that it seems to make no sense but the purpose I believe is to let people know that the route is there and the example I'm talking about is M-43 ending at I-96 after multiplexing with M-52 for it's last mile or so. US 223 ends multiplexed with US 23 for some reason and that one really doesn't make any sense, as a matter of fact US 223 really doesn't make any sense anyway it does end both ends at other US highways but it's only about 45 miles long and could be downgraded to a state highway. At least if that happened then they could eliminate the stupid multiplex it has with US 23.

The M-43 example dates back to the early days of I-96, when M-52 ended at Stockbridge (originally, M-52 was mostly in Lenawee County with M-92 running between Clinton and Stockbridge) and M-47 (now M-52) ended at M-43 west of Webberville)

[GaryV]

Michigan really doesn't have a ton of US highways. US 10 use to run multiplexed with US 23 and I-75 as well as US 24 just to end in Detroit it now ends in Bay City about 110 miles north of Detroit. I can think of a state highway example that it seems to make no sense but the purpose I believe is to let people know that the route is there and the example I'm talking about is M-43 ending at I-96 after multiplexing with M-52 for it's last mile or so. US 223 ends multiplexed with US 23 for some reason and that one really doesn't make any sense, as a matter of fact US 223 really doesn't make any sense anyway it does end both ends at other US highways but it's only about 45 miles long and could be downgraded to a state highway. At least if that happened then they could eliminate the stupid multiplex it has with US 23.

The M-43 example dates back to the early days of I-96, when M-52 ended at Stockbridge (originally, M-52 was mostly in Lenawee County with M-92 running between Clinton and Stockbridge) and M-47 (now M-52) ended at M-43 west of Webberville)

There's another state example where M-54 and M-83 meet east of Birch Run, and then run together in a backwards concurrency to I-75.  This one is a leftover from the construction of the I-75 freeway; US-10 used to run along what is now M-54 and then continued northwesterly on the now un-signed Dixie Highway.  As the freeway was opened in stages, parts of old US-10 were changed into state highways.

I suspect that a number of short concurrencies exist to ease in signage.  Suppose US-X ends at US-Y, and US-Y ends a few miles later at US-Z.  On a large-scale map, it would look like they both ended at Z anyway; only in a city inset would one be able to tell that X ended.  Someone looking at the map, driving on Z, would know they needed to use X to get to their destination.  But they only find an intersection for Y, and they get lost.  The way to resolve that would be to either sign Y as "To X" or to sign them both for that short section.  The latter was probably considered to be better.


I suspect

[cjk374]

• 69, 96, and 287
• 63 in Louisiana
• 14 and 16
• 40 and 322
• 270 in Kansas
• 319 at 98
• most of 400
• 18 at 20
• 25 and 341

I see no use for any of these; if they end at the same point, pick one, otherwise, truncate the one that ends there. Is there any reason why these exist, historical or otherwise? (Note: 270 has its own thread.)

Also, feel free to list more examples.

They exist as a trail blazer. Leaving AC for a tourist, you may forget that 322 ends and 40 takes you the rest of the way. It is to basically show you how to get out of the location with what US routes that road surface leads to.

That is exactly what US 63 in LA does. In fact, IMO, US 63 should never have been extended southward from its original terminus in northeast Arkansas. But then again, I don't operate ARDOT. 

Louisiana really didn't want US 63. When signing the overlap, DOTD just bolted the US 63 shields underneath all of the US 167 shields. They didn't care about the height between the ground and the bottom of the sign. Nor did they put END or BEGIN assemblies at the I-20 junction where US 63 officially ends.

If you are driving on I-20 and you are looking for the US 63 exit....FORGET ABOUT IT!!!! DOTD never made new BGSs reflecting the change. In fact, the BGSs only show US 167. There has always been a concurrency of US 167 & LA 146 through Ruston ever since the interstate was built in 1959, but DOTD never listed it for interstate travellers to see. They sure as hell ain't gonna list a highway they didn't want to have in the first place.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

In contrast: US 65 used to be cosigned with US 84 from Clayton, LA to the US 61 junction in Natchez, MS. US 98 terminates on the MS River bridge at the MS state line. So in MS, you had a US 65/84/98 concurrency between US 61 and the river. IMO, this was a wonderful way to point motorists (in MS) in the right direction to major highways. So what does DOTD do? They truncate 65 to Clayton and extend US 425 from Bastrop down to the river, and MSDOT obliges by extending 425 from the river to US 61. A more important US highway was truncated and ignored so that a much less important highway (which, by the way, 425's northern terminus is just south of Pine Bluff, AR at US 65!!!) could be brought in, running concurrent with US 84. What I am saying is...DOTD keeps missing the mark on trailblazing major routes.

[hbelkins]

In contrast: US 65 used to be cosigned with US 84 from Clayton, LA to the US 61 junction in Natchez, MS. US 98 terminated on the MS River bridge at the MS state line.

FIFY. It now terminates at US 84 east of Natchez, even if signage doesn't reflect the current state of affairs.

[Flint1979]

US-35 use to have it's northern terminus at US-12 in Michigan City, Indiana. INDOT submitted an application in October 2008 to AASHTO for the removal of US-35 between US-12 and the east junction of US-20. INDOT still has US-35 overlapping US-20 to the interchange between SR-212 and US-20 for whatever reason. A TO US-35 sign on I-94 would work fine without US-35 multiplexing US-20 for a mile just to end while it's multiplexed.

[texaskdog]

Why not have US 287 end in Bowie and make the whole stretch south of it US 81?

Why not end US 62 at US 83?

Why not have US 85 replace all of US 285, but turn south at Fort Stockton into Big Bend?

[ekt8750]

The south end of US 202 in Delaware does this thread one better by running concurrent over a major interstate in I-95 only to hop off it and run concurrent over a minor state route (DE141) and randomly ending at the intersection with US 13/40 in the random city of New Castle. Bear in mind 202's original routing took it through Wilmington to a more logical endpoint in town.

[Bitmapped]

In Ohio, US 36 used to multiplex with US 250 for its last 25 miles until it ended at US 22 in Cadiz. The thinking was apparently that a 2-digit US route should end at another 2-digit US route. The overlap was removed and US 36 was truncated back to Uhrichsville around 1970.

[silverback1065]

Michigan really doesn't have a ton of US highways. US 10 use to run multiplexed with US 23 and I-75 as well as US 24 just to end in Detroit it now ends in Bay City about 110 miles north of Detroit. I can think of a state highway example that it seems to make no sense but the purpose I believe is to let people know that the route is there and the example I'm talking about is M-43 ending at I-96 after multiplexing with M-52 for it's last mile or so. US 223 ends multiplexed with US 23 for some reason and that one really doesn't make any sense, as a matter of fact US 223 really doesn't make any sense anyway it does end both ends at other US highways but it's only about 45 miles long and could be downgraded to a state highway. At least if that happened then they could eliminate the stupid multiplex it has with US 23.

US 10 dropping down to detroit never made any sense, glad it doesn't do that anymore.  And you're right us 223 doesn't need to be a us highway

[GaryV]

Michigan really doesn't have a ton of US highways. US 10 use to run multiplexed with US 23 and I-75 as well as US 24 just to end in Detroit it now ends in Bay City about 110 miles north of Detroit. I can think of a state highway example that it seems to make no sense but the purpose I believe is to let people know that the route is there and the example I'm talking about is M-43 ending at I-96 after multiplexing with M-52 for it's last mile or so. US 223 ends multiplexed with US 23 for some reason and that one really doesn't make any sense, as a matter of fact US 223 really doesn't make any sense anyway it does end both ends at other US highways but it's only about 45 miles long and could be downgraded to a state highway. At least if that happened then they could eliminate the stupid multiplex it has with US 23.

US 10 dropping down to detroit never made any sense, glad it doesn't do that anymore.  And you're right us 223 doesn't need to be a us highway

US 10 to Detroit sure made sense from 1926 to nearly 1970.

[Flint1979]

Michigan has had three examples of using numbers for routes that sort of violate the system but the examples are/were only in Michigan and don't extend to other states.

US-24 running north and south between it's northern (should be eastern) terminus and the Ohio line.

US-10 running north and south between Bay City and it's southern (should be eastern) terminus in Detroit. No longer exists with US-10 now ending at I-75 in Bay City.

I-69 running east and west between Lansing and it's eastern (should be northern) terminus.

Having a US highway running north and south in that area made sense before I-75 was built but since I-75 is there now there was no need for US-10 to go to Detroit any longer. It was actually moved off of Woodward Avenue and onto the Lodge Freeway at one point. The Lodge now uses the number M-10.

[cpzilliacus]

US 17 into Fredericksburg

I am glad it got extended to the north and west toward Opal and then in the direction of I-66 at Marshall.

US 17 at US 11-50-522 Winchester VA

I do not see the value in this.  U.S. 17 could be cut back to where it joins U.S. 50 near Paris.  Or it could be pruned even  more, back to I-66, with the section between I-66 and U.S. 50 at Paris being downgraded to a secondary highway.

[Mapmikey]

US 17 at US 11-50-522 Winchester VA

I do not see the value in this.  U.S. 17 could be cut back to where it joins U.S. 50 near Paris.  Or it could be pruned even  more, back to I-66, with the section between I-66 and U.S. 50 at Paris being downgraded to a secondary highway.

Prior to the 1960s extension to Winchester, VA 17 also went all the way into Winchester, since the 1940s when it was rerouted to no longer meet MD 17 at Brunswick MD.

I always thought it would be a good idea to have US 17 replace US 522 north of Winchester and turn 522 south of Winchester back into VA 49 and/or VA 3.

[wanderer2575]

Michigan has had three examples of using numbers for routes that sort of violate the system but the examples are/were only in Michigan and don't extend to other states.

US-24 running north and south between it's northern (should be eastern) terminus and the Ohio line.

US-10 running north and south between Bay City and it's southern (should be eastern) terminus in Detroit. No longer exists with US-10 now ending at I-75 in Bay City.

I-69 running east and west between Lansing and it's eastern (should be northern) terminus.

Since these are/were the terminal sections of these routes (i.e. they don't change direction again), I'm okay with the nonstandard cardinal directions.  I would not be okay with, for example, signing I-94 as north-south between Chicago and Milwaukee because the route continues east-west on both sides of that segment.

Having a US highway running north and south in that area made sense before I-75 was built but since I-75 is there now there was no need for US-10 to go to Detroit any longer. It was actually moved off of Woodward Avenue and onto the Lodge Freeway at one point. The Lodge now uses the number M-10.

Getting myself back on topic, there was a useless concurrency of US-10/US-24 between Southfield and Bloomfield Hills when the former was rerouted along the Lodge Freeway and Telegraph Road.  US-24 ended at Square Lake Road without even an ENDS sign while US-10 continued north.  When this stretch of US-10 was decommissioned, US-24 was extended north along its route to I-75.

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of Michigan, has anyone mentioned US 223 ending concurrent with US 23 just over the Ohio State Line?  That route ought to be decomissioned as a US Route entirely.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Speaking of Michigan, has anyone mentioned US 223 ending concurrent with US 23 just over the Ohio State Line?  That route ought to be decomissioned as a US Route entirely.

The theory is just so US 223 can enter a second state and meet the "300 mile or 2+ states" requirement for US routes.

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of Michigan, has anyone mentioned US 223 ending concurrent with US 23 just over the Ohio State Line?  That route ought to be decomissioned as a US Route entirely.

The theory is just so US 223 can enter a second state and meet the "300 mile or 2+ states" requirement for US routes.

That's just it, even in Michigan the route really isn't that entirely worthy of being a US Route.  I say just bump it down to a Trunkline and call it a day.

[Flint1979]

Speaking of Michigan, has anyone mentioned US 223 ending concurrent with US 23 just over the Ohio State Line?  That route ought to be decomissioned as a US Route entirely.

The theory is just so US 223 can enter a second state and meet the "300 mile or 2+ states" requirement for US routes.

That's just it, even in Michigan the route really isn't that entirely worthy of being a US Route.  I say just bump it down to a Trunkline and call it a day.

I've already mentioned that US-223 should be downgraded to a state highway and the multiplex with US-23 would be gone.

Also US-46 then violates the 300 mile or 2+ states requirement. It does not enter Pennsylvania or New York. On the eastern end it ends on the New Jersey side of the GWB.