Unpopular Route Opinions

[kenarmy]

Decommission US 49 and remove it from existence including deleting all avatars for it off this board.

49 Slander won't be tolerated

Idk if this is already a thread buttt:

I can answer for some of what I've driven on or ridden a bus on. Out of curiosity have you been on the roads you propose changes and decommissioning?

- US 34 and 44 should be branch routes of 6.

US 34 west of Galesburg was busy the few times I have been on it. I don't see what it has to do with US 6 other than the overlap between Wyanett and Princeton.

- US 50 is an XL US 40S.

US 50 is fairly important through Illinois and Indiana. Ohio it has been replaced by OH 32 until Athens Ohio. Between Athens OH and Bridgeport WV US 50 has become a popular alternative to people going east to hook up with I-68. I can't remember ever riding across it from Bridgeport to Washington DC but east of Washington DC US 50 is the connection to the Delmarva Peninsula. It really doesn't do the same things US 40 does at least east of St Louis.

- US 40 should be decommissioned

Send out the Police in Riot gear before you remove the signs in Ohio and Indiana.

Jim

- I've driven on some of them
- I'm not saying 34 or 50 are unimportant, but 34 has 3 or 4 concurrencies with 6 and it never goes far away from it. And I think 50 is more important than 40, but between Pueblo and St. Louis, it seems more like a 40s. but ESPECIALLY between St. Louis and Kansas City.

[Avalanchez71]

CO 94 should be US 40S.

[Scott5114]

And here's an unpopular opinion: US 66 is overrated.

Overrated? Possibly. But it is unique and not "just another number". Even as a roadgeek, there is something special about the US-66 corridor that you don't get on US-81, or US-270, or US-62.

Speaking of Kansas, that US 69 bump off and on at Merriam is a crazy thing.  You have the route going SB on I-35 with a short concurrency exit at Metcalf Avenue  and then follow Metcalf to Shawnee Mission Parkway and then get back on the freeway two exits later having no purpose but to maintain an inventory in KDOT. 

It's the result of an unfortunate interaction in Kansas law and KDOT policies, which is that 1) no road can be state-maintained without a highway designation and 2) no highway entirely within city limits can carry a K-number. So if you tried to change US-69 to a more sensible routing, you would have to turn the old routing over to the cities it passes through, since you couldn't make like a K-269 or something like that to take over the routing (the way Missouri does with things like MO-744).

[TheHighwayMan3561]

And here's an unpopular opinion: US 66 is overrated.

Overrated? Possibly. But it is unique and not "just another number". Even as a roadgeek, there is something special about the US-66 corridor that you don't get on US-81, or US-270, or US-62.

66 came into being right at the time the Southwest was booming into the final frontier for mass population migration in the US, so I think it became the Oregon Trail of its generation.

[epzik8]

US 422 in Pennsylvania should be a continuous route.

[Flint1979]

US 422 in Pennsylvania should be a continuous route.

Yeah that gap don't make much sense, I wonder why it doesn't just run concurrent with US-22 and US-322.

[achilles765]

US 61 should return north of MSP, but it should stay on I-35 to Duluth. It doesn't need to go back on its old alignment.

So what you're saying is "Highway 61 doesn't need to be revisited".   

*high fives you for the Dylan reference on a post about US 61 that mentions Duluth–double Dylan references*

[ftballfan]

- US-31 and US-231 should swap routings south of Montgomery, with US-31 going to the Redneck Riviera (aka PCB) and US-231 paralleling I-65 to Spanish Fort
- US-127 in TN should be rerouted onto TN 111

[paulthemapguy]

US 191 and US 91 should swap designations.  Grid perfection seems to be why that one gets rebuked so often in the road community.

Agreed! Or renumber US191 as US89, and change US89 to US91.

[kenarmy]

- I think US 10 should've been rerouted to follow US 12 from Minneapolis to the Billings area when it became extremely redundant, and 12 should've followed 212. But instead of dipping south in Billings like 212, the new 12 would go north and reconnect with its former route and that's where the new 10 would end. Or we could have a wrong-way concurrency and have it go to Billings.

And what about the orphaned section of 10 from Fargo to Minnie? Name it 212. *Drops Mic*

- I know some people think 12 should just be renamed 10 altogether, but this is a solution where it wouldn't have to be decommissioned

[dvferyance]

US 52 should be decommissioned west of St Paul. The part between Jamestown and Minot could be an extension of US 10. The rest of it could be downgraded to state routes.

[SkyPesos]

US 52 should be decommissioned west of St Paul. The part between Jamestown and Minot could be an extension of US 10. The rest of it could be downgraded to state routes.

Imo US 52 can be decommissioned west of US 41. The section in Illinois can be downgraded to various state routes. US 61 can be rerouted onto the Rochester-St Paul freeway segment with a reroute in IA onto US 218 and US 63 (this will decommission US 218). This will keep the AotS in a single US highway number. US 67 rerouted onto the US 61 freeway north of Quad Cities, and a possible combination with US 53 into a single route.

[OCGuy81]

How about US 57 and US 96 and they're wrong directions given their numbers, and not fitting into the grid?

Could 96 be a branch of 90?

[kenarmy]

57 gets a pass since it connects with Mexico 57, I think 57 should be extended along I-35 and SR 21 so that it could subsume US 79. They go in the same direction and it's fitting. This is out of the grid, but 59 is too.

But 96 isn't even worthy of a US route. The only major city it touches is Beaumont, and when it reaches that city it is overlapped with another route(s). I can't think of a logical extension for it. It's just a glorified SR 87. 

[brad2971]

- US 40 should be decommissioned

Have a better number you'd prefer for UT/CO/KS where it's not just a supplement to an existing interstate at best?

Chris

US 40 between I-80 at Park City and I-70 at Empire can be renumbered as US 32 (not in use as US highway). CDOT no longer has a highway with that number, and UDOT can easily renumber SR 32 (formerly US 189) as SR 40. A relatively simple swap that would not really cause that much confusion. And frankly, US 40 between US 287 and Oakley (KS) doesn't even need to be a US highway; it can just be renumbered as SH 40/K-40. The independent part between Topeka and K-10 can simply be renumbered as K-340, or even turned over to Douglas and Shawnee Counties.

Do the above, and one can pull back US 40 to at least Terre Haute (IN).

[brad2971]

And here's an unpopular opinion: US 66 is overrated.

Overrated? Possibly. But it is unique and not "just another number". Even as a roadgeek, there is something special about the US-66 corridor that you don't get on US-81, or US-270, or US-62.

66 came into being right at the time the Southwest was booming into the final frontier for mass population migration in the US, so I think it became the Oregon Trail of its generation.

One unintended consequence of mass decommissioning of US 66 is a general reluctance among both state DOTs and AASHTO to mass decommissioning of other routes. Past the end of Bush 41's term in office, the only mass decommissioning of a US route has been US 27 in Michigan+Indiana, and THAT was mainly replaced by US 127.

[JayhawkCO]

- US 40 should be decommissioned

Have a better number you'd prefer for UT/CO/KS where it's not just a supplement to an existing interstate at best?

Chris

US 40 between I-80 at Park City and I-70 at Empire can be renumbered as US 32 (not in use as US highway). CDOT no longer has a highway with that number, and UDOT can easily renumber SR 32 (formerly US 189) as SR 40. A relatively simple swap that would not really cause that much confusion. And frankly, US 40 between US 287 and Oakley (KS) doesn't even need to be a US highway; it can just be renumbered as SH 40/K-40. The independent part between Topeka and K-10 can simply be renumbered as K-340, or even turned over to Douglas and Shawnee Counties.

Do the above, and one can pull back US 40 to at least Terre Haute (IN).

CO40 already exists.  Are you saying extend that to the border?  I personally like the US24 switch better.  When it separates from I-70 in eastern Colorado, it's not particularly useful.

Chris

[brad2971]

- US 40 should be decommissioned

Have a better number you'd prefer for UT/CO/KS where it's not just a supplement to an existing interstate at best?

Chris

US 40 between I-80 at Park City and I-70 at Empire can be renumbered as US 32 (not in use as US highway). CDOT no longer has a highway with that number, and UDOT can easily renumber SR 32 (formerly US 189) as SR 40. A relatively simple swap that would not really cause that much confusion. And frankly, US 40 between US 287 and Oakley (KS) doesn't even need to be a US highway; it can just be renumbered as SH 40/K-40. The independent part between Topeka and K-10 can simply be renumbered as K-340, or even turned over to Douglas and Shawnee Counties.

Do the above, and one can pull back US 40 to at least Terre Haute (IN).

CO40 already exists.  Are you saying extend that to the border?  I personally like the US24 switch better.  When it separates from I-70 in eastern Colorado, it's not particularly useful.

Chris

CDOT's Online transportation system (OTIS) considers both SH 40 and US 40 as sections of the same highway. From Empire eastward to the KS line, CDOT can just as easily change out the US highways signs for the flag shield.

[US 89]

Decommission US 49 and remove it from existence including deleting all avatars for it off this board.

49 Slander won't be tolerated

Well, I don't tolerate US 40 slander, so...

[SkyPesos]

Decommission US 49 and remove it from existence including deleting all avatars for it off this board.

49 Slander won't be tolerated

Well, I don't tolerate US 40 slander, so...

Here's an idea, decommission its replacement I-70 so US 40 can be the most important US route from SF to Atlantic City as it's almost all freeway. There's justice for our highway farty

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I think US 70 through the triple split in Tennessee should be changed to US 70N between Pegram and Lebanon, US 70S between Sparta and Crossville and US 70C between Lebanon and Sparta.

[Ned Weasel]

Unpopular opinion: This whole thread should be in Fictional Highways.

Popular opinion: I'm not a mod, so I can't do anything about it.

Middle-ground opinion: US routes that are so un-cared for that they don't get signed consistently (even US 1 somehow ends up in that category in Rhode Island) should either be re-routed and signed consistently, truncated, or decommissioned.

[brad2971]

Here's some more:

- US 16 should've been completely decommissioned and 14 should use its present routing instead of the long overlap with 20

South Dakota's Depts of Tourism and Transportation would scream bloody murder at this idea, and the reason is quite obvious. No, if you're wanting a single route from I-90 into Yellowstone Natl Park, you can do this:

1. Have US 16 replace US 14 from Gillette westward to Yellowstone's east gate. Including US 14A in WY changed to US16A.
2. Have US 20 run on current US 26 from Shoshoni to Idaho Falls, and turn US 26 in Oregon into state highway 26. Which would leave US 26 only in existence from I-25 to Ogallala since all the rest of it piggy backs onto US 20, US 30, and I-84.
3. Turn the existing part of US 20 from Idaho Falls to West Yellowstone, and US 287 in Montana, into an extension of US 91.
4. Truncate US 14 to Pierre, since it would be a redundant highway from Pierre westward.

[kenarmy]

Decommission US 49 and remove it from existence including deleting all avatars for it off this board.

49 Slander won't be tolerated

Well, I don't tolerate US 40 slander, so...

Rather it is more important or not, 49 isn't redundant to an interstate for nearly all its route like 40. and I didn't entirely decommission it I changed my mind!

[hotdogPi]

No US route should be decommissioned just because it parallels an Interstate. It provides a valid alternate route in cases of congestion or road closures, and it's a major route for the cities it serves. For example, US 5 (which parallels I-91 throughout almost its entire length) is a major corridor in the Springfield, MA area and Hartford, CT areas locally. The US route system is already a secondary system.