Which state has the BEST overall highway/freeway connectivity?

[webny99]

I've been thinking a bit recently about which states have good freeway connectivity to the population centers within their state, and which are lacking in that regard, especially in terms of long-distance/cross-state trips that require using non-freeways. In other words, if you pick any two cities population ~20k or more, what is the chance of a freeway connection?

I think Michigan and Wisconsin would rank fairly high on the list, and North Carolina is a given because they're constantly adding freeways and interstates. Missouri and Nevada would be near the bottom, since both are lacking north/south interstates or freeways. Then you have many southern states, and to some extent the Dakotas/Minnesota/Iowa, that would be lower based on freeways, but make up for it with four-lane expressways that can easily handle long-distance traffic.

I think New York would be average. Overall long-distance connectivity is good, and all the major population centers are well served. Outside of the North Country, it's rare to have to use two-lane roads in the middle of any 2+ hour trip. But some smaller cities such as Ithaca and Auburn have poor connectivity to the rest of the state, and the I-88 corridor is awkward to access from north or south. Connectivity between New York and Vermont is also a major problem, particularly the US 4 and NY 7 corridors.

[roadman65]

Vermont is one that is poor. Only two N-S interstates and not many other freeways. Most of the non interstates are two lane roads and no major direct routes. US 7 comes close but no long distance four lane parts.  All but two of the two lane roads have a posted speed limit of 50 in rural parts.

Connecticut and Massachusetts are good with going from major city to major city with Rhode Island being good only cause it’s one major metro area.  CT is only via freeways though, as off freeways are suburban roadways of suburban character and very low speed limits and plenty of sprawl.

[thspfc]

Illinois has Interstates everywhere. 64, 70, 72, 74, 80, 88, and 90 all crisscross the state. It makes sense that IL has a lot, being !flat!, in the middle of the country, with a huge city that is one of the nation's biggest transportation hubs.

[Roadgeekteen]

Vermont is one that is poor. Only two N-S interstates and not many other freeways. Most of the non interstates are two lane roads and no major direct routes. US 7 comes close but no long distance four lane parts.  All but two of the two lane roads have a posted speed limit of 50 in rural parts.

Vermont has a very low population though.

[Max Rockatansky]

California for as much grief it gets during modern times has a bunch of random freeways in places one wouldn't likely expect to find them.  There is stuff like full interchanges in cities like Porterville (CA 65/CA 190) and Super Twos (CA 255 and CA 108 in Sonora) which pop into existence removed from other freeways.

[Rothman]

Makes me wonder about West Virginia.

[roadman65]

Vermont is one that is poor. Only two N-S interstates and not many other freeways. Most of the non interstates are two lane roads and no major direct routes. US 7 comes close but no long distance four lane parts.  All but two of the two lane roads have a posted speed limit of 50 in rural parts.

Vermont has a very low population though.

But lacks east to west freeways or major highways making you use back roads to go from New York to New Hampshire.

[Rothman]

Vermont is one that is poor. Only two N-S interstates and not many other freeways. Most of the non interstates are two lane roads and no major direct routes. US 7 comes close but no long distance four lane parts.  All but two of the two lane roads have a posted speed limit of 50 in rural parts.

Vermont has a very low population though.

But lacks east to west freeways or major highways making you use back roads to go from New York to New Hampshire.

Yeah, driving from upstate NY into VT is pretty miserable.  Taking NY 7 through Troy and Brunswick is slow as molasses, even with the Bennington Bypass.

[HighwayStar]

California for as much grief it gets during modern times has a bunch of random freeways in places one wouldn't likely expect to find them.  There is stuff like full interchanges in cities like Porterville (CA 65/CA 190) and Super Twos (CA 255 and CA 108 in Sonora) which pop into existence removed from other freeways.

California also has more people than any other state, and more area than all but 2 other states. It should have an excellent freeway network but it is a disaster instead.

[roadman65]

New Jersey is almost complete as it lacks connections in South Jersey. The never built US 322 freeway is still needed to connect Delaware with Atlantic City and The Shore with a seam less connection.

Then Route 55 needs to be extended further south, but that's another story as it's dealing with environmental issues.  Cape May County needs a better route than Route 47 to facilitate shore to Philly traffic.

NJ 23 needs an interstate like freeway to bypass its congested and rural winding areas.

Other than that the state is okay.

[Max Rockatansky]

California for as much grief it gets during modern times has a bunch of random freeways in places one wouldn't likely expect to find them.  There is stuff like full interchanges in cities like Porterville (CA 65/CA 190) and Super Twos (CA 255 and CA 108 in Sonora) which pop into existence removed from other freeways.

California also has more people than any other state, and more area than all but 2 other states. It should have an excellent freeway network but it is a disaster instead.

You sure about that?  There is more random freeways than anywhere in the country.  Those cities I listed aren't exactly large nor in the major population centers.  A Porterville sized city in most states isn't getting two freeways many other places in the country. 

[sprjus4]

Virginia is overall decent... there haven't been any major additions (long distance routes) constructed on either the interstate or freeway system in the state since the original was created, but all of the interstates do a decent job linking the major metropolitan areas together. Northern Virginia, Richmond, Hampton Roads, and Roanoke are all connected via interstate highways (I-95, I-66, I-81, I-64). The major exception here would be Lynchburg, which has no interstate or freeway connection to the rest of the system and is 60+ miles from any interstate highway. The freeways around Lynchburg are decent, though do not extend outside the metropolitan area. Outside of freeways, Lynchburg is well connected via four-lane divided highways (US-29, US-460) to Richmond, Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Northern Virginia, Danville, etc.

North Carolina has good connectivity as well. All of the major metropolitan areas are linked via freeways and interstate highways, for the most part. Raleigh-Durham, Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point are all relatively connected. There are some gaps though in full freeway connectivity, such as Asheville to Charlotte (will be fixed once the Shelby Bypass is completed), Charlotte to Wilmington, Greensboro to Fayetteville, etc.

One glaring connectivity gap between the two states, in terms of full freeway, is Hampton Roads and Raleigh-Durham and the rest of North Carolina. Hampton Roads currently does not have a freeway connection to the south (I-95, I-85 corridors) and requires at least 70-80 miles of arterial connection. For a metropolitan area of over 2 million, it's overdue this be fixed. Virginia has studied improving US-58 out to I-95 into a freeway, along with the proposed I-87 corridor in North Carolina, but both are decades from becoming any reality.

Between both states, North Carolina has done a seemingly better job of improving the interstate highway system through various widening projects to better improve traffic flow between cities. I-85 links Raleigh-Durham, the Triad, and Charlotte with a 6 to 8 lane interstate highway. Various widening projects along I-40 as well has helped to strengthen these links. Virginia undertook a major widening of I-95 in the 1980s to complete a 6 lane highway between Richmond and Northern Virginia, however remains a bottleneck corridor nonetheless (unlike NC's 6-8 lane connection on I-85). A second undertaking is currently ongoing to expand I-64 between Hampton Roads and Richmond to 6 lanes which is almost halfway complete, with more soon to be underway. Outside those two roads, and the urban cities, I-81, I-66, and I-95 remain bottlenecks with little worked planned to expand these routes. I-95 in North Carolina is currently having about 50 miles of roadway widened to 8 lanes and carries less than half the volumes the clogged 6 lane highway in Virginia carries. VDOT is spot widening certain areas of I-81, though the entire 325 mile highway in the state is a freight bottleneck, particularly during peak weekends.

[Revive 755]

Missouri and Nevada would be near the bottom, since both are lacking north/south interstates or freeways.

Disagree with Missouri being near the bottom if we can count expressways as well as freeways/interstates:
* The west side has I-49 which by way of I-435 around Kansas City can be used to continue north to Iowa on I-29 or I-35.
* The east side of Missouri south of St. Louis has I-55 and a mostly four lane US 67 that only needs 12 more miles widening to reach the Arkansas border (and which would have had more freeway segments if funding wasn't an issue).  North of St. Louis there's the mostly expressway grade US 61/Avenue of the Saints Corridor up to Iowa.
* There are three east-west corridors across Missouri: US 36 (mix of freeway and expressway), I-70, and the I-44/MO 360/US 60/I-57 corridor (mix of freeway and expressway, excluding US 60 through Mountain Grove)

The biggest area I would consider Missouri lacking is having decent bypasses for the expressway system:
* US 61 needs a bypass of Hannibal.
* US 63 needs a bypass of Macon.
* The MO 7/MO 13 corridor needs a better bypass of Clinton along with a better tie in to I-44 at Springfield.
* US 65 needs a bypass of Sedalia
* US 60 needs better bypasses for many of the towns between Springfield and Poplar Bluff, with Mountain View being the worst.



IMHO Wisconsin should not be a contender for the best given the missing links in the southeast portion of the state.  The system in Wisconsin is good, but Racine (around 75k population) and Kenosha (around 100k population) should have at least expressway grade routes to Madison that do not require going through the Milwaukee area.  Janesville (65k) should also have better/more direct connectivity to the east.

[webny99]

Makes me wonder about West Virginia.

The terrain doesn't help, but even so, WV's connectivity isn't great. Getting from Wheeling to the rest of the state generally requires going through PA or Ohio, and connectivity to Virginia is lacking too. Parts of Corridor H are nice, but completion is still a long way off, and there's no true east/west alternatives out of Charleston.

One small point in WV's favor: US 19 is a very decent road which cuts a big corner between Beckley and I-79.

[webny99]

Missouri and Nevada would be near the bottom, since both are lacking north/south interstates or freeways.

Disagree with Missouri being near the bottom if we can count expressways as well as freeways/interstates:
* The west side has I-49 which by way of I-435 around Kansas City can be used to continue north to Iowa on I-29 or I-35.
* The east side of Missouri south of St. Louis has I-55 and a mostly four lane US 67 that only needs 12 more miles widening to reach the Arkansas border (and which would have had more freeway segments if funding wasn't an issue).  North of St. Louis there's the mostly expressway grade US 61/Avenue of the Saints Corridor up to Iowa.
* There are three east-west corridors across Missouri: US 36 (mix of freeway and expressway), I-70, and the I-44/MO 360/US 60/I-57 corridor (mix of freeway and expressway, excluding US 60 through Mountain Grove)

Sure, expressways can count if they're free-flowing (no traffic signals) and can handle the traffic volumes on the corridor without major safety issues or demand for upgrades.

My issue with Missouri isn't really the connections to other states - as you've outlined, those are all pretty good, and that extends to the KC and St. Louis areas in general. It's the smaller cities that are the problem, especially in the center of the state. Jefferson City, Springfield, and to a lesser extent Columbia, do not have very good connectivity to the rest of the state. There is a glaring lack of a north/south corridor through the center of the state, and that extends from central Missouri into Arkansas, where you have to go to either I-49 or I-55 to get to a major north/south corridor.

Jefferson City to Poplar Bluff is one example that has poor in-state connectivity IMO. It's almost a four-hour trip and it looks like mostly two-lane roads and several different route numbers and corridors throughout.

[Roadgeekteen]

Makes me wonder about West Virginia.

The terrain doesn't help, but even so, WV's connectivity isn't great. Getting from Wheeling to the rest of the state generally requires going through PA or Ohio, and connectivity to Virginia is lacking too. Parts of Corridor H are nice, but completion is still a long way off, and there's no true east/west alternatives out of Charleston.

One small point in WV's favor: US 19 is a very decent road which cuts a big corner between Beckley and I-79.

How many people travel from Wheeling to the rest of WV? Economically, is Wheeling more connected to Ohio/PA than the rest of their own state?

[Rothman]

Makes me wonder about West Virginia.

The terrain doesn't help, but even so, WV's connectivity isn't great. Getting from Wheeling to the rest of the state generally requires going through PA or Ohio, and connectivity to Virginia is lacking too. Parts of Corridor H are nice, but completion is still a long way off, and there's no true east/west alternatives out of Charleston.

One small point in WV's favor: US 19 is a very decent road which cuts a big corner between Beckley and I-79.

I don't see having to go through other states as a negative as long as the needed connection is made.

[webny99]

Makes me wonder about West Virginia.

The terrain doesn't help, but even so, WV's connectivity isn't great. Getting from Wheeling to the rest of the state generally requires going through PA or Ohio, and connectivity to Virginia is lacking too. Parts of Corridor H are nice, but completion is still a long way off, and there's no true east/west alternatives out of Charleston.

One small point in WV's favor: US 19 is a very decent road which cuts a big corner between Beckley and I-79.

I don't see having to go through other states as a negative as long as the needed connection is made.

I don't disagree with that, just pointing out that there's not much at all in terms of good north/south connectivity so you've pretty much got to go west to I-77 or east to I-79.

[Roadgeekteen]

Obviously Nevada is not well connected, with 2 isolated systems. But the state is so sparse that you can't really fault it for it (unless you are MMM/Owl).

[hbelkins]

The two panhandles really don't feel like they're part of West Virginia, but all the major towns (Huntington, Charleston, Beckley, Princeton/Bluefield, Parkersburg, Clarksburg/Fairmont, and Morgantown) are easy to travel between using the interstates and ADHS expressways.

Kentucky has good connectivity. All the major towns are on an interstate or parkway, even if it's easier to get from Louisville to Henderson by going through Indiana.

[Rothman]

The two panhandles really don't feel like they're part of West Virginia, but all the major towns (Huntington, Charleston, Beckley, Princeton/Bluefield, Parkersburg, Clarksburg/Fairmont, and Morgantown) are easy to travel between using the interstates and ADHS expressways.

Kentucky has good connectivity. All the major towns are on an interstate or parkway, even if it's easier to get from Louisville to Henderson by going through Indiana.

Pikeville...

[Great Lakes Roads]

Indiana has pretty good connectivity with its major cities (used to be worse before I-69 connected Indy to Evansville on a direct four-lane corridor)...

[Roadgeekteen]

Indiana has pretty good connectivity with its major cities (used to be worse before I-69 connected Indy to Evansville on a direct four-lane corridor)...

Still gotta complete that Indy to Evansville interstate. Also no Indy-South Bend or Chicago-Fort Wayne but the roads are 4 lanes so it's fine.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

In MN, the only major population centers (>50K) you will spend a lot of time on 2-lane roads is between Duluth and St. Cloud on TH 23 from Foley to Hinckley. Duluth to Moorhead is arguably worse, though.

We don't think of it in 2023, but a lot of cities developed independently of each other and thus there was no need for a major connection between them. Reno and Vegas is one pair of such cities.

[HighwayStar]

California for as much grief it gets during modern times has a bunch of random freeways in places one wouldn't likely expect to find them.  There is stuff like full interchanges in cities like Porterville (CA 65/CA 190) and Super Twos (CA 255 and CA 108 in Sonora) which pop into existence removed from other freeways.

California also has more people than any other state, and more area than all but 2 other states. It should have an excellent freeway network but it is a disaster instead.

You sure about that?  There is more random freeways than anywhere in the country.  Those cities I listed aren't exactly large nor in the major population centers.  A Porterville sized city in most states isn't getting two freeways many other places in the country.

Random is the problem. Where California needs more freeways they don't have them. Having them in random locations is not helpful.