Hierarchy of Interstates in Your State (from Most Vital Highways thread)

Started by OCGuy81, January 27, 2015, 12:16:07 PM

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SkyPesos

My version for Ohio:
1) I-71: Passes through the 3 largest cities in the state, important diagonal highway for E-W traffic in the overall interstate system
2) I-75: Major trucking route for the country; passes through Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo in the state.
3) I-90: Major route between Chicago and the northeast; passes through Cleveland.
4) I-70: Passes through Dayton and Columbus in state, and connection through other secondary Midwestern cities to the east coast.
5) I-80: Loses some points due to long concurrency with I-90, but still very important
6) I-77: Shorter interstate in state than the 5 above, but serves the entire Cleveland-Akron-Canton area
7) I-76: It's much more important next door, but for Ohio, it's very short and serves Akron
8) I-270: Complete beltway around Columbus
9) I-275: Complete beltway around Cincinnati, but falls below I-270 because it's not entirely in the state, and has some noticible rural feel portions, especially in the west loop.
10) I-74: Very short in the state; connects Cincinnati westward.
11) I-480: Partial beltway around Cleveland, serving the southern suburbs of the city and connecting downtown Cleveland to I-271 and the eastern suburbs
12) I-271: Partial beltway around Cleveland, serving the eastern suburbs of the city. Also only interstate in Ohio I know of with a full set of express lanes
13) I-675: Partial beltway around Dayton; serves the Wright Patterson AFB
14) I-670: Connects downtown Columbus to its airport
15) I-475: Partial beltway around Toledo
16) I-280: Partial beltway around Toledo
17) I-680: Connects I-80 and I-76 to downtown Youngstown
18) I-471: Only half a mile long in the state, but serves as a connection from downtown Cincinnati to the eastern Ohio suburbs of the city, specifically the OH 32 corridor, via Kentucky
19) I-490: Will rise in importance when the Opportunity Corridor finishes, but currently, just a short connector between I-71/I-90 and I-77. Maybe useful for specific suburb-suburb travel.
20) I-277: Bypass for Akron. Completely overlapped with US 224; we could do without the interstate number.
21) I-470: Bypass for...Wheeling, WV? Not really useful for Ohio, as there's only 2 exits besides I-70 through some desolate areas.


Ketchup99

Pennsylvania:

I-76
I-476
I-80
I-78
I-81
I-79
I-83
I-95
I-376
I-676
I-276
I-70
I-380
I-99
I-279
I-84
I-90
I-283
I-295
I-176
I-579
I-180
I-86

Sctvhound

South Carolina:

1. I-95- Vital route north and south, connecting everybody from Mid-Atlantic to the state, plus several decent towns are connected (Florence, Walterboro), and exits to US 17, I-26, I-20 are huge
2. I-26- Basically Main Street of South Carolina, connecting Charleston, Columbia, and Spartanburg, and is the major interstate in all of them. Also huge trucking route between Charleston port and inland cities with I-95 exit
3. I-20- Major east-west route between Atlanta and west is major route through Columbia, connecting over to I-95, but part east of Columbia over to Florence is much less traveled
4. I-85- Main Street of the Upstate, going through Greenville and Spartanburg down to Atlanta, but most people in the Lowcountry don't use it
5. I-77- Connector between Charlotte and Columbia, and goes through the fast-growing Rock Hill area. Will only grow in importance in next several years
6. I-74 (if built)
7. I-385- Connection to Greenville via I-26, and connects a very populated area to the rest of SC
8. I-526- Vital route in the Charleston area, with three major river crossings, and a major commuter route as well
9. SC 277- connector from I-77 into downtown Columbia
10. I-126- I-26 connector into downtown Columbia
11. I-520- Georgia part is more important as the major beltway around Augusta
12. I-185- cut through from 385 to 85 that usually has very little traffic because most people forget it exists
13. SC 31- Important parkway that cuts US 17 traffic problem
14. SC 22- Basically just a bypass of Conway that connects with US 17
15. I-585- stub route serving downtown Spartanburg.

US 17 is probably the most important US highway. Probably between 85 and 77. Maybe above 85

Avalanchez71

Tennessee:

1.  I-40  Serves three of the big four metropolitan areas of TN. Runs from CA to NC.
2.  I-24  Serves two of the big four and connects IL to GA.  Nashville to Murfreesboro traffic is insane.  Huge traffic BNA to ATL.
3.  I-75  Serves Knoxville and Chattanooga. Linking points from MI to FL.  This is a big one as it actually does for a very brief moment also carry Nashville bound traffic from usually FL and ATL.  Due to this I rank it 3 in front of I-65.
4.  I-65  Serves Nashville and the gowning micropolis of Franklin.  Franklin is now home to many large corporations HQ/Regional offices.
5.  I-81  This is a weird one but it is an important link to the NE US.
6.  I-640  Actually does make a nice I-75 movement.  Doesn't really help much during non-peak hours.
7.  I-440  Good connection to BNA from I-65 south points.  Not much of a bypass.  Some woman complained about the noise of cars that travel faster and had the speed limit lowered from 65 to 55.  This does help through trucks avoid truckers curve.
8.  I-269  Ranking now ahead of I-240 since it now carries the I-40 to I-55 south movement that once was home to I-240.
8.  I-240  Serving through traffic those connecting I-40 to I-55 now I-269 serves this movement. It really isn't a bypass but serves parts of Memphis and MEM.
9.  I-55  Not much to see in TN but it does connect MEM to MSY and STL.
10.  I-275 The defunct I-75.  Connects downtown Knoxville with points north.
11.  I-124 not signed.  Connection to downtown Chattanooga.
12.  I-140 connects points west of Knoxville to points south of Knoxville.
13.  I-840 This one should really still be SR 840.  This one is robbing tourist dollars and throwing traffic into areas where traffic should not be.  I-40 provides this movement and using I-840 is a waste of time for through traffic.
14.  I-155  The forgotten one.  This is important as an interregional connection and it is very important as a bridge over the Mississippi River.
15.  I-26  Seriously why did they even build this?  US 23 and US 19 served this corridor well without this.
16.  I-69  This is pork barrel highway.  What a boondoggle.  Build a highway that goes everywhere whilst going nowhere.  None of it in TN is actually really built just designated along concurrencies.

achilles765

I'm going to go ahead and throw in my ranking for Texas too since it's my adopted home state snd we have so many.

Texas:
1. IH 10— three of the largest cities in the state, services a ton of oil/gas/ industry in southeast texas. Connects the state to the gulf coast, New Orleans, and to the sun belt in Arizona  and la. Houston is about to overtake Chicago as the third largest city.
2. IH 35- I would actually call this a tie even. Also connects three of the major cities, and connects both borders
3: iH 45- connecting Houston to Dallas and Galveston. Also serves the main offices of TDcJ and tons of industrial facilities in Texas city and la marque. Hurricane evacuation route. And nasa
4. IH 69- I'm thinking of it as it will be when finished. A major route connecting Houston to corpus and the rio grande valley is a big deal. The valley had no interestate routes for so long and now they'll be well connected. Also a major border to border route.
5: IH 30 – main DFW east West route, connects to Arkansas and farther east.
6. IH 635 – so important to the dfw area they had to build toll express lanes under the main lines.  Crucial for several Suburbs and airport 
7. IH 610- port of Houston, one of the busiest and largest in America. Runs through the galleria area, which is essentially a second downtown. Also provides access to the largest single concentration of medical facilities in America and the stadium.
8: IH 20: connects Dallas to the Deep South
9. IH 2: major east west route  for the valley
10: IH 37: major evacuation route. Access to beaches and the valley for people coming from the iH 35 corridor. Plus, is the only one or the three interstates that really runs through downtown San Antonio.
11 IH 345
12 IH 820
13 IH 40— yes it's a "coast to coast"  route but it only serves Amarillo.
14 IH 410— important to San Antonio but parts of it are practically rural.
15: IH 44
16: IH 27
17: IH 14
18: IH 110
19. IH 169
20: IH 369
21. IH 49)eventually)

I love freeways and roads in any state but Texas will always be first in my heart

US 89

Quote from: ski-man on January 27, 2015, 10:20:37 PM
WYOMING.........

1. I-80
2. I-25
3. I-90
4. I-180

I would actually say as far as Wyoming is concerned I-25 is more important to the people who actually live in the state. 25 goes between Cheyenne and Casper, the state's two largest cities by far, and connects them both to the nearest major metropolitan area in Denver. Sure, there are a few substantial cities on Wyoming's I-80 mileage (including Laramie, home to the University of Wyoming), but by and large I-80 is for out-of-state drivers passing through. Drive on it and you'll notice a significant majority of license plates are out of state.

JMoses24

Oklahoma:

1) I-35 – major transcontinental route
2) I-40 – see I-35
3) I-44 – Connects NE to SW parts of the state
4) I-235 – Spur route, carries US 77
5) I-244 – part of the Tulsa loop

JayhawkCO

Quote from: JMoses24 on January 21, 2021, 05:53:23 PM
Oklahoma:

1) I-35 – major transcontinental route
2) I-40 – see I-35
3) I-44 – Connects NE to SW parts of the state
4) I-235 – Spur route, carries US 77
5) I-244 – part of the Tulsa loop

How about 240 and unsigned 444?

Chris

kenarmy

Mississippi:

I-55 (Very Obvious)
I-20
I-10 (I thought about putting 59 here, but the only major cities it directly connects to outside of the state are while it is overlapped with 20. And 55 and 59 both eventually terminate at 10..)
I-59
I-22
I-220 (Honestly I was tempted to put this above 22)
I-269
I-110
I-69 (lol)
Just a reminder that US 6, 49, 50, and 98 are superior to your fave routes :)


EXTEND 206 SO IT CAN MEET ITS PARENT.

CapeCodder

My MO and MA list:

Missouri

I-70
I-44
I-55
I-35
I-29
I-57
I-49
I-72

MO-Loops/spurs
I-435
I-270
I-170
I-255
I-470
I-635
I-229
I-155

Massachusetts:

I-95
I-90
I-91
I-93
I-84

MA- Loops/Spurs
I-495
I-195
I-290
I-395
I-291
I-391
I-190

JayhawkCO

Quote from: thenetwork on January 27, 2015, 10:41:23 PM
COLORADO: 

- I-25
- I-70
- I-225
- I-270
- I-76

Although personally, I would put I-70 above I-25 mainly for its vital link between Denver and points west, but I-25 overall has more traffic per mile across more of it's presence in CO than I-70 does, thanks to it's desolation east of Denver.

I guess I'll do my version (obviously not too different since there are only 5):


  • I-25 - Maybe 30 years ago, I could see I-70 taking top billing, but the Front Range has grown so much it has to be I-25
  • I-70 - Heavy economic driver of the state transporting people into the mountains
  • I-225 - A toll-free bypass of downtown as well as a vital route for the nearly 400K person city of Aurora
  • I-76 - Yeah, not many people live along it in Sterling and Fort Morgan, but a vital shortcut helping freight traffic
  • I-270 - A miserable little road.  It definitely helps to bypass downtown, but it's often so clogged that it doesn't save much more time than just going through the Mousetrap

Chris

JMoses24

Quote from: jayhawkco on January 21, 2021, 06:45:15 PM
Quote from: JMoses24 on January 21, 2021, 05:53:23 PM
Oklahoma:

1) I-35 – major transcontinental route
2) I-40 – see I-35
3) I-44 – Connects NE to SW parts of the state
4) I-235 – Spur route, carries US 77
5) I-244 – part of the Tulsa loop

How about 240 and unsigned 444?

Chris

D'oh! Forgot 240, but I wasn't going to count 444 since it's not signed in the field. 240 fits just above 235 since it connects 40 on the east side with 44 on the southwest.

444 would be last.

Avalanchez71

Quote from: Sctvhound on January 16, 2021, 06:06:55 PM
South Carolina:

1. I-95- Vital route north and south, connecting everybody from Mid-Atlantic to the state, plus several decent towns are connected (Florence, Walterboro), and exits to US 17, I-26, I-20 are huge
2. I-26- Basically Main Street of South Carolina, connecting Charleston, Columbia, and Spartanburg, and is the major interstate in all of them. Also huge trucking route between Charleston port and inland cities with I-95 exit
3. I-20- Major east-west route between Atlanta and west is major route through Columbia, connecting over to I-95, but part east of Columbia over to Florence is much less traveled
4. I-85- Main Street of the Upstate, going through Greenville and Spartanburg down to Atlanta, but most people in the Lowcountry don't use it
5. I-77- Connector between Charlotte and Columbia, and goes through the fast-growing Rock Hill area. Will only grow in importance in next several years
6. I-74 (if built)
7. I-385- Connection to Greenville via I-26, and connects a very populated area to the rest of SC
8. I-526- Vital route in the Charleston area, with three major river crossings, and a major commuter route as well
9. SC 277- connector from I-77 into downtown Columbia
10. I-126- I-26 connector into downtown Columbia
11. I-520- Georgia part is more important as the major beltway around Augusta
12. I-185- cut through from 385 to 85 that usually has very little traffic because most people forget it exists
13. SC 31- Important parkway that cuts US 17 traffic problem
14. SC 22- Basically just a bypass of Conway that connects with US 17
15. I-585- stub route serving downtown Spartanburg.

US 17 is probably the most important US highway. Probably between 85 and 77. Maybe above 85

How about the Business Interstate routes?

thspfc

I may or may not have done this already.
1. I-94: serves the two largest metro areas in the state, as well as the Dells and Eau Claire.
2. I-41: the most important north-south corridor in the state, serving the Milwaukee area, the Fox Valley, and Green Bay.
3. I-90: mostly long-distance significance, as its only places of note in WI are Madison, the Dells, and La Crosse.
4. I-43: the fastest way between Milwaukee and Lambeau Field. Don't underestimate the importance of that connection for Wisconsinites.
5. I-894: important bypass of the Stadium and Marquette areas. Its recent upgrade has made it possibly the nicest freeway in the Midwest.
6. I-39: important for Illinois weekenders.
7. I-794: Milwaukee downtown spur.
8. I-535: a long bridge. Glorified exit ramp, some would say.

CoreySamson

My interpretation for Texas:

I-35- Connects 3 of the largest 4 cities in Texas.
I-10- Longest interstate in Texas
I-45- Forms crucial HOU-DFW route
I-20- Important corridor for NE-SW traffic
I-30- Also part of that corridor, but not as long
I-69- (including the suffixed routes and in its current state. It would probably rise to 4th or 5th once complete)
I-610- Port of Houston, busy as heck, most important 3di in Texas
I-635- Haven't ever been to Dallas, but looks important.
I-2- Important RGV connector
I-37- See achilles765's post
I-410- San Antonio beltway. Has concurrency with I-35
I-40- Route 66
I-820- Again, never been to DFW, but seems relatively important
I-345- Same as above
I-14- Connects I-35 with Fort Hood
I-27- Out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, if extended, it will be higher up
I-44- Barely gets into the state
I-110- Important border crossing
I-369- Partial loop of Texarkana. Will become more important in future
I-169- Port access?
I-49 (once complete)
Buc-ee's and QuikTrip fanboy. Clincher of FM roads. Proponent of the TX U-turn.

My Route Log
My Clinches

Now on mobrule and Travel Mapping!

achilles765

Quote from: CoreySamson on January 22, 2021, 02:56:50 PM
My interpretation for Texas:

I-35- Connects 3 of the largest 4 cities in Texas.
I-10- Longest interstate in Texas
I-45- Forms crucial HOU-DFW route
I-20- Important corridor for NE-SW traffic
I-30- Also part of that corridor, but not as long
I-69- (including the suffixed routes and in its current state. It would probably rise to 4th or 5th once complete)
I-610- Port of Houston, busy as heck, most important 3di in Texas
I-635- Haven't ever been to Dallas, but looks important.
I-2- Important RGV connector
I-37- See achilles765's post
I-410- San Antonio beltway. Has concurrency with I-35
I-40- Route 66
I-820- Again, never been to DFW, but seems relatively important
I-345- Same as above
I-14- Connects I-35 with Fort Hood
I-27- Out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, if extended, it will be higher up
I-44- Barely gets into the state
I-110- Important border crossing
I-369- Partial loop of Texarkana. Will become more important in future
I-169- Port access?
I-49 (once complete)
I have to admit I like your take on Texas too. 35 and 10 really are tied for first honestly. They are equally important. You have ih 14 a bit higher than i do but if one ranks it the way I did IH 69, with consideration given to its future, I could see that. As long as it ends up actually going somewhere like Georgia or even Natchez, ms. But it really needs to go through Austin and then to houston along US 290
I love freeways and roads in any state but Texas will always be first in my heart

Roadgeekteen

Let's do this again:

I-90
I-95
I-93
I-495
I-91
I-195
I-290
I-84
I-291
I-190
I-391
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5



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