Interesting things about states and their roads

[roadman65]

I have found that the State of Rhode Island has absolutely no 3 digit US routes within its borders and the fact that the 3 US routes that are in the Ocean State actually transit between CT and MA.

Then Maine, has only both 1 and 3 digit US routes, but no 2 digits.  In addition Maine's only primary US routes are both US 1 and US 2, while the child US routes are US 201, 202, and 302, both outnumbering the  primary US route count by one.

Delaware, only to date has one three digit route that is within itself as the rest of the  interstate highways are shared with other states.

New York State, for its size, has very few US designations within it.  In fact NY City has only 2 US Routes within its borders considering that the largest city in the US should have more.  Both even are N-S as no E-W routes pass through the five boroughs. 

Then there is New Jersey and its one of a kind jug handles usage.  Though some of PA near NJ has them.

California, and its alone interstates being they are one of the many that decommissioned US highway designations upon completion of the interstate system.  However, many states still have some US routes kept near interstate freeways or co signed silently or very well.  However being the former US routes that did once grace the Golden State, all ended there due to it being in the corner of the US, it had no routes on either side of it that were kept due to the ocean and Mexico preventing any US routes then to go in one end and out the other.  Close to it is the northern segment of US 395, which is the only CA US route to transit the state because it enters Nevada to the east after coming down from Oregon in the north.


Any other interesting qualities that you can find about one state that is interesting.

[Max Rockatansky]

California

-  Every route that is under State Maintenance is considered to be the same thing no matter if it is a; US, State or Interstate designation in-field.  That's the reason why number duplication is a no-go and things like I-238 happened.
-  Caltrans uses their version of Post Mile paddles that count mileage by county rather than by the state wide distance in field.
-  Caltrans has it's own MUTCD which leads to some interesting variations; most notably the cut-out shield designs.
-  California has a network of lettered County Routes that denote what part of the state the route has an origin in.  The lettered county routes are often some of the most bizarre and interesting through routes in the state.
-  Expressways aren't considered fully limited access like a "freeway" but rather require some sort of grade separation that must be accessed via some sort of controlled intersection.  Whats interesting is that California has a huge number of two-lane expressways that are often plotted out on land that was designed for four.  US 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco is mostly four-lane expressway but yet somehow doesn't have a single traffic light.
-  The amount of incomplete and unbuilt state highways is absolutely huge.  Many of them are still considered active projects simply because nobody wants to go to the legislature to officially cancel them.
-  There is a huge push to relinquish urban highways which has led to some really weird oddities like CA 225 still technically existing for only 0.09 miles.
-  Not all State Highways are actually signed which to me seems bizarre.  Some examples that come to mind off the top of my head; CA 225, CA 283, CA 275, CA 109 and CA 114.

[GaryV]

There are only 5 states where all the US and Interstate routes in the state end in that state.  4 of them are in the "corners" - ME, FL, CA, WA.  The other is Michigan (counting the east and west parts of US-2 as separate routes)

[hotdogPi]

There are only 5 states where all the US and Interstate routes in the state end in that state.  4 of them are in the "corners" - ME, FL, CA, WA.  The other is Michigan (counting the east and west parts of US-2 as separate routes)

US 95

[Max Rockatansky]

Arizona:

-  There are several State Highways with dirt segments; AZ 88 and 288 come to mine most prominently.
-  The original run of State Highways were given numbers consecutive to the original run of US Route which is why there are so many in the 60-99 range. 
-  State Highways often have child Routes which are three digits akin to 3D Interstates. 
-   Arizona has two colored shield era; first in the 50s/60s with US Route/State Highway shields and later with the Phoenix Loop Highways.  Some signage on the Loop Highways remains in color.
-  Arizona probably is the most controlling western state with mountain speed limits.  Almost every mountain grade contains an absurd amount of speed limit signs and slow ones at that.
-  Arizona has no 3D Interstates. 
-  Arizona has no tolled State Highways. 
-  Arizona has a surprisingly large number of hanging ends such as; AZ 99, AZ 238 and AZ 96.
-  Arizona has numerous number duplications.  AZ 95 and US 95 actually meet in Quartzsite.
-  Both I-8 and I-10 borrowed from State Highways (AZ 84 and AZ 86) better alignments through the state over US 80.   
-  US Routes have State Highway family's.  The family routes of US 66 still exist in AZ 266 and AZ 366, they were connected to US 66 by way of US 666. 

[thspfc]

I just thought of this- all five of Wisconsin's interstates come within a mile of (or cross) the Illinois border.

[tolbs17]

US 64 from Plymouth to Columbia is a freeway and there's very little traffic on it.

[thspfc]

US 64 from Plymouth to Columbia is a freeway and there's very little traffic on it.

(!)

[US 89]

Might as well do one for Utah:

• All Interstates, US highways, and state routes are legislatively defined, and even different types of routes are equivalent in state law (for example, I-15 is legally just "route 15"). This means there is no route number duplication at all.
• With only two exceptions, all state-maintained highways are numbered routes, and all numbered routes are state-maintained highways.
• • This results in a set of around thirty "institutional routes" numbered from 281 to 320, which consist of various road segments in Utah state institutions and parks that happen to be maintained by UDOT. Most of the institutional routes are unsigned, but several of the park routes are indeed signed as such.
  • It also means Utah can't just give back random segments of road to cities as is done in the Northeast. If a city wants to maintain a small segment of a numbered route, it often results in a complex series of truncations, renumberings, and/or decommissionings.
  • Another consequence of this principle is that state-maintained business routes (which is almost all of them) also have a state route designation which tends to be better signed than the BL. Only two segments of non-SR business loop exist: a portion of I-15 Business in Tremonton and most of US 6/191 Business in Helper. Because the state doesn't maintain these roads, BL signage is pretty poor on them.
  • The two exceptions to the above rule are SR 900 and SR 901, which consist of a handful of BLM and county roads in the Skull Valley. They were created in the late 1990s so that the state could prevent construction of a nuclear waste-carrying rail line, which would have crossed those roads.
• Two unpaved segments of state highway still exist: the famous Moki Dugway on SR 261, and an unpaved portion on SR 153.
• State route numbering is largely done without any real organization in mind, but some vestiges of a former number-clustering system are present: the original routes in the 10s were located towards the southwestern area of the state, 20s were more in the central areas, 30s were generally northern and 40s more eastern. Numbers were assigned in order of creation for a while, but that gradually transitioned to a random assignment of previously-used numbers. Even today, route numbers with similar digits tend to be located relatively close to one another.
• Almost all exits, even those from non-interstates, are numbered.
• Despite widespread implementation of a rural 80 mph/urban 70 mph limit on interstates, there is still a statutory maximum of 65 mph for any non-interstate road, regardless of quality.
• In addition to the HOT express lanes on I-15, two toll roads exist and neither are state maintained. One is a privately owned connector road from I-84 to South Ogden, and the other is a county-maintained causeway used to access Antelope Island.

[Techknow]

California:

• A couple interstates have long portions (significant fractions of the route) that have not seen much urban development despite existing for decades. I-5 in the Central Valley is well known for this, but I-280 from I-380 and CA-85 is largely rural and scenic for a SF Bay Area freeway.
• Signs exist denoting the mileage of the east termini of a few cross-country routes, mainly I-40, US 6, and US 50.
• One particular state route is signed as "California's shortest state highway" but is in fact not the shortest, both signed and unsigned.
• Some state routes that had to be renumbered (before the 1964 renumbering) still keep the same digits. CA 35 was once CA 5, CA 128 was once CA 28, CA 371 was once part of CA 71.

[Max Rockatansky]

California:

• A couple interstates have long portions (significant fractions of the route) that have not seen much urban development despite existing for decades. I-5 in the Central Valley is well known for this, but I-280 from I-380 and CA-85 is largely rural and scenic for a SF Bay Area freeway.
• Signs exist denoting the mileage of the east termini of a few cross-country routes, mainly I-40, US 6, and US 50.
• One particular state route is signed as "California's shortest state highway" but is in fact not the shortest, both signed and unsigned.
• Some state routes that had to be renumbered (before the 1964 renumbering) still keep the same digits. CA 35 was once CA 5, CA 128 was once CA 28, CA 371 was once part of CA 71.

Heh...that whole thing with CA 77 sure threw a wrench in the "shortest signed" party for CA 153.  CA 153 ranks behind; CA 225, CA 283, CA 275 and CA 77 in terms of actual field mileage.   

[CNGL-Leudimin]

However being the former US routes that did once grace the Golden State [i.e. California], all ended there due to it being in the corner of the US, it had no routes on either side of it that were kept due to the ocean and Mexico preventing any US routes then to go in one end and out the other.  Close to it is the northern segment of US 395, which is the only CA US route to transit the state because it enters Nevada to the east after coming down from Oregon in the north.

I believe something was overlooked here...

US 95

[Henry]

In GA, all freeways have 400-series route numbers assigned to them. With SR 400 being the lone exception, these numbers are hidden designations.

I-16--SR 404
I-20--SR 402
I-75--SR 401
I-85--SR 403
I-95--SR 405
I-516--SR 404 Spur
I-420--SR 414
I-520--SR 415
I-175--SR 412
I-475--SR 408
I-575--SR 417
I-675--SR 413
I-185--SR 411
I-285--SR 407
I-485--SR 410
I-985--SR 419

[epzik8]

Maryland:

-The state's lowest state route number range, 2-37, is scattered sporadically throughout the state. Route 2-6 are present mainly in southern Maryland, 7-10 are outliers in various parts of the state, then 12-21 up the Eastern Shore from south to north, 22-24 all in Harford County, and then 25-32 between Baltimore and Frederick, and finally 34-37 through western Maryland. 11, 13, 15 and 29 are unused to avoid duplication with U.S. routes. Also, routes 17 and 33 are swapped, with 17 being in Frederick and Washington counties out west, and 33 in Talbot County on the Eastern Shore.

-A number of Maryland state routes are dead-end stubs that lead to State Highway Administration facilities.

-Some higher-numbered routes are old alignments of lower-numbered state routes and U.S. routes that run parallel to said routes. Some of these old alignments are county-maintained instead.

-Each county, excluding Baltimore city, has a range of designated state route number ranges between the numbers 38 and roughly 378. For example, Cecil County's state route number range is 268-285.

[vdeane]

Maryland also tends to have numbers for old stretches of concrete left over from when a route was realigned, such as MD 856.

[oscar]

Maryland:

...

-Some higher-numbered routes are old alignments of lower-numbered state routes and U.S. routes that run parallel to said routes. Some of these old alignments are county-maintained instead.

The route numbers seem to exist only for old alignments that the DOT has failed to fob off on a county or other local government. Maryland, like Hawaii, seems to assign a number to every scrap of state highway department-maintained pavement. But many of them are unsigned.

[PHLBOS]

This was probably mentioned in another thread a while back.  MA no longer has any route 40, 45, 50 or 55 in its state route system.  Such were changed decades ago, usually to MA 1XX, to avoid potential confusion with corresponding speed limit signs... especially when the numeral fonts used for both the route numbers & speed limit numbers were the same.

[hotdogPi]

This was probably mentioned in another thread a while back.  MA no longer has any route 40, 45, 50 or 55 in its state route system.  Such were changed decades ago, usually to MA 1XX, to avoid potential confusion with corresponding speed limit signs... especially when the numeral fonts used for both the route numbers & speed limit numbers were the same.

MA 40 exists. However, even if there was confusion, 40 is a reasonable speed for that road.

[Eth]

(Couple fixes in this list)

In GA, all freeways have 400-series route numbers assigned to them. With SR 400 being the lone exception, these numbers are hidden designations.

I-16--SR 404
I-20--SR 402
I-75--SR 401
I-85--SR 403
I-95--SR 405
I-24--SR 409
I-59--SR 406
I-516--SR 404 Spur SR 421
I-420--SR 414
I-520--SR 415
I-175--SR 412
I-475--SR 408
I-575--SR 417
I-675--SR 413
I-185--SR 411
I-285--SR 407
I-485--SR 410
I-985--SR 419

Though I-485 died, GA 410 remains and is signed.



404 Spur is a signed route along US 17 on the bridge over the Savannah River into South Carolina; I-516's unsigned number is 421.

There's also another (along with 400) not associated with an Interstate: 422, the Athens Perimeter. Unlike 400 and 410, though, that one's unsigned.

(SR 420 has, to my knowledge, never been used, maybe to prevent confusion with the cancelled I-420?)

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN has corridors that are defined in the state constitution going back to the initial creation of the state highway system, so as roads grew and evolved with the addition of US routes and later Interstates, those corridors still needed to be met by the new roads.

[fillup420]

North Carolina, as far as I can tell, has no county routes. Secondary roads have a four digit SR code; signed on green street blades as SR 1101, as an example.

Also, I have only ever seen the "superstreet" highway concept in NC. This design is based heavily on U-turns. All roads intersecting such a highway can only turn right. Left turns, as well as straight across movements, must turn right and go through a U-turn. I am not a fan of the setup.

[hotdogPi]

Also, I have only ever seen the "superstreet" highway concept in NC. This design is based heavily on U-turns. All roads intersecting such a highway can only turn right. Left turns, as well as straight across movements, must turn right and go through a U-turn. I am not a fan of the setup.

Metro Detroit has a lot of them.

[sparker]

California:

• A couple interstates have long portions (significant fractions of the route) that have not seen much urban development despite existing for decades. I-5 in the Central Valley is well known for this, but I-280 from I-380 and CA-85 is largely rural and scenic for a SF Bay Area freeway.
• Signs exist denoting the mileage of the east termini of a few cross-country routes, mainly I-40, US 6, and US 50.
• One particular state route is signed as "California's shortest state highway" but is in fact not the shortest, both signed and unsigned.
• Some state routes that had to be renumbered (before the 1964 renumbering) still keep the same digits. CA 35 was once CA 5, CA 128 was once CA 28, CA 371 was once part of CA 71.

Except for a little bit of I-5 between Patterson and the I-580 split (as well as I-580 NW of there) there isn't much in the way of adjacent residential (or ancillary commercial) development along the San Joaquin Valley segment of I-5; the snippets of Patterson-area development are simply part of the Bay Area "affordable" housing spillover.  The fact that it's remote and lacks much in the way of amenities only partially explains that dearth; the simple fact that most of the adjoining land from Wheeler Ridge to around the Gustine (CA 140) exit is owned by various forms of agribusiness, from cotton along the southern reaches south of the Kettleman Hills to the famous/notorious (just take a whiff!) Harris Ranch and its feedlot adjoining the CA 33/145 interchange.  If the land is producing substantial income, its owners have little incentive to further develop it. 

And speaking of derivative route numbers -- there's always CA 330, which was the original routing of the late CA 30 "up the hill" from Highland to Running Springs -- still the fastest way to get from the "flatlands" to the Big Bear area. 

[kurumi]

Here's one for all states:

a state's "missing 3di score" is the number of primary interstates that have a 3di in another state but not that one. For example I-24, I-59 and I-95 all enter Georgia, and have 3di's in other states (TN, AL, east coast) but not Georgia. So the Peachtree State's score is 3.

Yeah, it's not fair, because those routes cut through corners of GA (and I-16 takes the place of an x95 spur that would otherwise connect to Savannah), but that's how the score is calculated.

Several states have a score of zero: New Jersey takes care of I-76, 78, 80, and 95; and even New York has a 3di for every interstate that has any at all (I-86 and I-88 do not.)

What state has the highest score? Arizona has 3 (10, 15, 40). Indiana has 5 (70, 74, 80, 90, 94). But the winner has 6 -- and unlike the others, it has plenty of 3di's in-state (and 2 of its primary routes don't have 3di's anywhere else!)

What could this mystery state be?

[Great Lakes Roads]

Here's one for all states:

a state's "missing 3di score" is the number of primary interstates that have a 3di in another state but not that one. For example I-24, I-59 and I-95 all enter Georgia, and have 3di's in other states (TN, AL, east coast) but not Georgia. So the Peachtree State's score is 3.

Yeah, it's not fair, because those routes cut through corners of GA (and I-16 takes the place of an x95 spur that would otherwise connect to Savannah), but that's how the score is calculated.

Several states have a score of zero: New Jersey takes care of I-76, 78, 80, and 95; and even New York has a 3di for every interstate that has any at all (I-86 and I-88 do not.)

What state has the highest score? Arizona has 3 (10, 15, 40). Indiana has 5 (70, 74, 80, 90, 94). But the winner has 6 -- and unlike the others, it has plenty of 3di's in-state (and 2 of its primary routes don't have 3di's anywhere else!)

What could this mystery state be?

And the answer is: Texas!