State highways with the most variance

[Quillz]

Something I've been thinking about: what are some state highways that have large amounts of variance? It can be anything, from changes in geography, to going from two-lanes to massive freeway. Basically any scenario where it seems like you're on totally different state highways, yet it's all one number.

In California, I always think of CA-299. Starts off in redwood forest (or at least very near to them), and then ends up on a dry alkali lake bed before turning into a dirt road in the vast Nevada desert. In between it climbs a mountain range on either side of the Sacramento Valley. Quite a lot of variance within 300 miles.

Another one is CA-2. But more due to an urban-rural shift. Starts off as just another series of Los Angeles streets, then climbs into the San Gabriels and suddenly it's very thinly populated. Maybe not as impressive as CA-299, but the shift is drastic enough it almost feels like they two halves could be separate state highways.

[hotdogPi]

I mentioned MA 2 in this similar thread (not a duplicate though) that I created.

MA 2 is a 2-lane road through the mountains in the western part of the state, then it becomes a super-2, then a full freeway, then a busy surface arterial, then a full freeway again, and ends in Boston as a busy urban street.

[KCRoadFan]

How about MO 9 in the Kansas City area, where I live: first a short freeway leading to a bridge, beginning at I-70 in River Market, then a four-lane suburban arterial (Burlington Street in North KC), then a freeway again through Briarcliff and Riverside, then a two-lane suburban road parallel to the river and the BNSF tracks until downtown Parkville, then through a sharp right turn and up a hill and past the Park University campus, then through a residential area before a commercial strip near the junction with MO 45, then a tree-lined road through largely residential areas of the KC Northland before merging onto Prairie View Road (the west frontage road parallel to I-29), then along that road through more commercial areas until meeting its northern terminus at Barry Road. All that in just under 15 miles!

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 4 always did it for me:

-  Starts as an urban expressway in the northern Bay Area and becomes a freeway.
-  Becomes levee road in the San Joaquin River Delta.
-  Becomes a major urban freeway in Stockton.
-  Becomes a rural two lane highway in eastern San Joaquin Valley towards the Sierra Foothills.
-  Becomes an obvious road meant to shuttle skiers in the winter east of Angels Camp to Bear Valley and passes a Redwood Sequoia Grove.
-  Becomes a single lane highway largely overlapping a stage route over Ebbetts Pass towards the ghost town of Silver Mountain City. 
-  Ends at CA 89 neat Markleeville with the terrain starting to transition to Great Basin Desert biome.

[zachary_amaryllis]

I got a couple.

CO 82, as you come into Glenwood from Aspen and beyond.
Mostly 4 lanes, 55-65 mph, until you come into Glenwood. Reduce (in stages, but quickly) to 25. After plodding through Glenwood, over the bridge, through the fusterclucked roundabout, to come to ......

.... a dead end after crossing under I-70.

The other one I'm less familiar with, CO 78, to the SW of Pueblo. I know it's dirt at one point, and I think it's a 4 or 5-lane street for a while in Pueblo.

[wanderer2575]

OH-315 goes from six-lane freeway in downtown Columbus to rural two-lane road.

[JayhawkCO]

I got a couple.

CO 82, as you come into Glenwood from Aspen and beyond.
Mostly 4 lanes, 55-65 mph, until you come into Glenwood. Reduce (in stages, but quickly) to 25. After plodding through Glenwood, over the bridge, through the fusterclucked roundabout, to come to ......

.... a dead end after crossing under I-70.

The other one I'm less familiar with, CO 78, to the SW of Pueblo. I know it's dirt at one point, and I think it's a 4 or 5-lane street for a while in Pueblo.

From a geography standpoint, I'd probably add your favorite state highway, CO14, going from North Park through Poudre Canyon, as a fairly busy urban thoroughfare through FoCo, then out to the fairly desolate plains.

For most variation in a fairly short span, probably CO119 which starts as a very switchbacky road near Blackhawk and Central City, eventually ends up in the heart of Boulder, through some farmland, and then through the heart of Longmont before ending at I-25. Not a lot of state highways start in the mountains and make it to major population centers here.

[GaryV]

In Michigan, I nominate M-53. From city street in Detroit to major arterial and freeway in Macomb County to farmland through the Thumb.

Honorable mentions are those highways that are arterials, sometimes with a freeway concurrency, in cities but also traverse farmland and small towns, including:
- M-66 (Battle Creek, including I-194)
- M-37 (Battle Creek and Grand Rapids, including I-96)
- M-46 (Saginaw and Muskegon)
- M-21 (Flint and suburban Grand Rapids)

[ilpt4u]

IL 1 starts on Chicago's South Side at 95th St as Halsted St, traverses basically the eastern border of the state, and ends at a rural Ohio River Ferry to Kentucky at Cave-In-Rock

Got big city, suburbs, small towns, a few bigger Downstate towns, lots of corn fields, starts getting hilly and into Southern IL to reach the ferry

Most of the route is 2 lane rural. Segments are urban arterial. Other segments are 4 lane divided expressway. No Freeway segments, tho

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN TH 65: Its south end is at Washington Avenue in Minneapolis, one of the city's main streets, while the northernmost section beyond Nashwauk is one of the most sparsely populated stretches of state highway we have.

Back when TH 7 rode up Hennepin Avenue (the city's most well-known street) into downtown Minneapolis, you had a route that connected through the Lake Minnetonka area, the vast farm fields, and the Minnesota River source area along Big Stone Lake.

[roadman65]

US 101 in CA. It's mostly freeway but in SF it's a city street and north of Santa Rosa it drops down to two lanes in some parts with rural character. In all the road sees urban, suburban, rural, farms, and mountains.

[hbelkins]

US 60 is the hands-down winner in Kentucky.

[Amaury]

Do Interstate 90, US Route 12, Washington State Route 14, and Washington State Route 410 in Washington count between the Westside and Eastside?

[fillup420]

NC 16 spends time as a 2-lane downtown street, 2-lane highway, 4-lane arterial/boulevard, 4-lane highway, and a full freeway through its journey across NC

[ilpt4u]

US 60 is the hands-down winner in Kentucky.

If US routes also count, US 45 trumps IL 1. Everything about IL 1 also applies to US 45, except the ferry bit, as US 45 uses the old Brookport bridge into KY. US 45 also directly serves O'Hare Airport, has some urban freeway-like segments, and extends from Wisc to KY

US 51 and US 67 would also be up there. If all of US 54 were still active up to Chicago, it would also be in the running

[Bickendan]

OR 126, going from coastal forest, to city artery in Eugene, to freeway, back to artery, to Cascade forests and pass, to high desert brush.

[Bruce]

SR 14 in Washington starts off as an urban freeway and becomes a meandering rural highway with views of the Columbia River that change from the evergreen forests of the west side to the semi-arid hills east of the Cascades.

SR 410 similarly has a good bit of terrain variance but doesn't go far enough into Eastern Washington for the more noticeable changes. It ends in the foothills well outside Yakima.

[Takumi]

US 58 and 60 both traverse the entirety of kinds of terrain in Virginia, as well as both major urban areas and very isolated rural communities. (60 between Powhatan and Bent Creek is a whole lot of nothing.)

Some others:

-VA 33: starts off as city streets in downtown Richmond, becomes a suburban arterial, then a rural highway for a bit with US 60, before going onto I-64 for a little while, then branching off to become a mainline rural highway.

-VA 6: also starts off as city streets in Richmond and becomes a suburban arterial, but eventually becomes a very long country road. Its westernmost segment is something out of Initial D, and it ends halfway up a mountain.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I know we've had threads like this one before. in MN US 169 is probably overall the best cross-section of the state, with rural southern MN farmland, the Minnesota River Valley from Mankato to Shakopee, the Twin Cities metro, cabin country with Lake Mille Lacs, and the Iron Range. US 61 likely worked better before its truncation.

[WillWeaverRVA]

US 58 and 60 both traverse the entirety of kinds of terrain in Virginia, as well as both major urban areas and very isolated rural communities. (60 between Powhatan and Bent Creek is a whole lot of nothing.)

Some others:

-VA 33: starts off as city streets in downtown Richmond, becomes a suburban arterial, then a rural highway for a bit with US 60, before going onto I-64 for a little while, then branching off to become a mainline rural highway.

-VA 6: also starts off as city streets in Richmond and becomes a suburban arterial, but eventually becomes a very long country road. Its westernmost segment is something out of Initial D, and it ends halfway up a mountain.

VA 10 probably fits the bill as well. It's everything from a 2-lane city street to a 6-lane suburban arterial and even a super-2 freeway.

Before Chesterfield County twinned Old Hundred Road you could've also lumped VA 76 in here too by virtue of its weird endpoint - from a 4-lane freeway to a 2-lane road.

VA 3 also shows a lot of variance, starting as a city street, then becoming a long country road, then a suburban arterial for a long ways, even briefly becoming a freeway in Fredericksburg.

[thspfc]

I'd say WI-32. For a shorter example, WI-113. But US-45 is the best example in Wisconsin if you pretend it's a state route.

[DandyDan]

My best guess for Iowa is IA 5. It's a suburban freeway, a divided highway to Knoxville and a 2-lane rural road south to Missouri from there.

[HighwayStar]

Montana 200 has to be up there. From forests and rugged mountains to cities to the high rolling plains. From 5620 feet crossing the Continental Divide to 1900 feet leaving the state by the Yellowstone River. Many miles of 2 lane, some 4 lane, and even a bit of Interstate thrown in.

[pianocello]

My best guess for Iowa is IA 5. It's a suburban freeway, a divided highway to Knoxville and a 2-lane rural road south to Missouri from there.

I was thinking that too. Another Iowa example could be IA 141; it also has significant 2-lane rural and 4-lane divided stretches, but its stretch in the Des Moines metro is more indicative of a suburban road than IA 5 IMO (albeit not a freeway).

I'm also going to submit IL 92. Goes from 2-lane rural road that doesn't serve much traffic to suburban freeway to urban arterial connecting several downtowns, and then back in reverse order.

[1995hoo]

US 58 and 60 both traverse the entirety of kinds of terrain in Virginia, as well as both major urban areas and very isolated rural communities. (60 between Powhatan and Bent Creek is a whole lot of nothing.)

Some others:

-VA 33: starts off as city streets in downtown Richmond, becomes a suburban arterial, then a rural highway for a bit with US 60, before going onto I-64 for a little while, then branching off to become a mainline rural highway.

-VA 6: also starts off as city streets in Richmond and becomes a suburban arterial, but eventually becomes a very long country road. Its westernmost segment is something out of Initial D, and it ends halfway up a mountain.

VA 10 probably fits the bill as well. It's everything from a 2-lane city street to a 6-lane suburban arterial and even a super-2 freeway.

Before Chesterfield County twinned Old Hundred Road you could've also lumped VA 76 in here too by virtue of its weird endpoint - from a 4-lane freeway to a 2-lane road.

VA 3 also shows a lot of variance, starting as a city street, then becoming a long country road, then a suburban arterial for a long ways, even briefly becoming a freeway in Fredericksburg.

I was thinking VA-7 is a good example. An urban street in the City of Alexandria, then a suburban arterial (including a segment with a 25-mph speed limit through Falls Church), a commercial artery in Tyson Corner (with an elevated subway line), a full freeway from Route 28 out to, and including, the Leesburg bypass, and then a rural four-lane highway (part freeway, part what some people call "expressway") from Leesburg west to its end. Route 7 also crosses a mountain pass, Snickers Gap near Bluemont.

The infamous VA-28 could qualify in that it's a fairly wide (I-366) freeway north of I-66, a fairly wide suburban arterial from I-66 south to Prince William County, a less-wide suburban arterial through Manassas Park, a city street through Manassas (twinned one-way through Old Town Manssas), and a rural two-lane road (carrying ample traffic, to be sure) south of Nokesville.