Will a 2 digit interstate ever be decomissioned? And can it be done?

[Roadgeekteen]

A bit of a stupid question, but let's say that New York suddenly didn't want I-87 anymore, would they get approval to replace it with State Route 749 or something? Also, do you think that any 2 digit interstates will someday not exist?

[-- US 175 --]

I haven't heard of any, outside of the ones that were suffixed that were changed to other non-suffixed ones, or any that were moved away from initial/incompatible routings (I-80 in Sacramento, I-40 in NC, I-20 in/near Dallas and Fort Worth) and onto newer, permanent routes.

With as much push as there is for new and extended interstates, I doubt that there would be much effort to downgrade or get rid of current designations.

[NWI_Irish96]

I could see a specific number going away (196 becoming part of a longer 67 though that's not a 2di it's the only example I can think of right now), but I can't imagine a scenario in which any significant length of interstate becomes something other than an interstate.

[MATraveler128]

Possibly I-19 if I-11 is sent down to the Mexican border.

[Henry]

It has happened before:

The original eastern I-86, which was created when the ill-fated I-84 to Providence was being proposed, ran from East Hartford to Sturbridge. Once it was determined that I-84 would never reach Providence, I-86 was decommissioned as a result, and I-84 now occupies the East Hartford-Sturbridge route, with the immediate branch to the east becoming I-384.

(Of course, I-86 would reappear a decade later, as a new route connecting Erie to Binghamton, with several disconnected segments along the way.)

[Hobart]

If the Wikipedia page for the list of interstates in North Dakota is anything to be trusted, I-31 existed from Fargo to Canada for about a year before it got absorbed by I-29. I imagine decommissioning could occur as routes are fused together, but I-31 is the only one that comes to my mind.

[froggie]

If the Wikipedia page for the list of interstates in North Dakota is anything to be trusted, I-31 existed from Fargo to Canada for about a year before it got absorbed by I-29.

That is correct, though I don't think anything was actually built and signed as I-31 before it became part of I-29.  North of Fargo was approved as part of the system in 1956 while Sioux Falls to Fargo was not.  But Sioux Falls to Fargo got added by the end of the 1950s.

[SEWIGuy]

It has happened before:

The original eastern I-86, which was created when the ill-fated I-84 to Providence was being proposed, ran from East Hartford to Sturbridge. Once it was determined that I-84 would never reach Providence, I-86 was decommissioned as a result, and I-84 now occupies the East Hartford-Sturbridge route, with the immediate branch to the east becoming I-384.

(Of course, I-86 would reappear a decade later, as a new route connecting Erie to Binghamton, with several disconnected segments along the way.)

Perhaps something similar could happen to these incomplete interstates like I-74 in North Carolina.

[1995hoo]

It has happened before:

The original eastern I-86, which was created when the ill-fated I-84 to Providence was being proposed, ran from East Hartford to Sturbridge. Once it was determined that I-84 would never reach Providence, I-86 was decommissioned as a result, and I-84 now occupies the East Hartford-Sturbridge route, with the immediate branch to the east becoming I-384.

(Of course, I-86 would reappear a decade later, as a new route connecting Erie to Binghamton, with several disconnected segments along the way.)

Does that really count, though? I-86 remained an Interstate, it just got a different number. There have been other instances of that around the country over the years, perhaps most obviously with the replacement of suffixed route numbers. In other words, the number "I-86" was decommissioned, but the Interstate designation applicable to that road was not. I thought the OP was inquiring about the total downgrading of an Interstate highway to a different class of road–to use that example, perhaps if the old I-84 had been designated CT-84 instead of I-384.

To answer the original question, I could perhaps foresee a scenario in which a portion of a 2di might be decommissioned as an Interstate, most likely if the route is relocated to a new alignment and the state doesn't think it's necessary to keep the old one as an Interstate. (Hypothetically, I-93 through Franconia Notch could be the sort of segment where that sort of thing could be worthwhile if we assume, for discussion purposes, that there were a viable alternative alignment that would allow for compliance with Interstate standards, recognizing of course that if such an option existed it probably would have been done in the first place.) But it seems unlikely that a full 2di would be decommissioned unless federal highway funding laws change big time.

[froggie]

It has happened before:

The original eastern I-86, which was created when the ill-fated I-84 to Providence was being proposed, ran from East Hartford to Sturbridge. Once it was determined that I-84 would never reach Providence, I-86 was decommissioned as a result, and I-84 now occupies the East Hartford-Sturbridge route, with the immediate branch to the east becoming I-384.

(Of course, I-86 would reappear a decade later, as a new route connecting Erie to Binghamton, with several disconnected segments along the way.)

Does that really count, though? I-86 remained an Interstate, it just got a different number. There have been other instances of that around the country over the years, perhaps most obviously with the replacement of suffixed route numbers. In other words, the number "I-86" was decommissioned, but the Interstate designation applicable to that road was not. I thought the OP was inquiring about the total downgrading of an Interstate highway to a different class of road–to use that example, perhaps if the old I-84 had been designated CT-84 instead of I-384.

I-86 is still partially applicable here, specifically because what is now CT 3 between I-91 and CT 2 was built to become part of I-491, which was renumbered I-86 in the late 1960s, then eliminated altogether when the remainder of the road up to I-84/384 (as well as what had previously been planned out to Providence) was dropped.

[kurumi]

The segment of I-84 in Willimantic, CT gets a little closer -- it was signed I-84, open to traffic, and now it's just US 6. As far as the city is concerned, I-84 doesn't have a new nearby alignment, it's just gone. But in the big picture, I-84 still exists, and Willimantic's section is an interesting footnote.

[J N Winkler]

In terms just of chargeable Interstates, we have seen examples of number changes (elimination of suffixed Interstates), relocations (I-40 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), and hidden designations (California I-305).  However, I know of no examples of a finished Interstate corridor being dropped from the books altogether even now that the Interstate Maintenance funding category has been more or less closed out.  I'd question whether it was even possible for a state to do so without having to repay previously expended IC and IM funds to the federal government.

[hbelkins]

Wasn't the eastern part of I-70 -- the short segment inside I-695 that actually enters the Baltimore city limits -- removed as part of I-70? Doesn't it now carry some other official designation?

[kphoger]

Wasn't the eastern part of I-70 -- the short segment inside I-695 that actually enters the Baltimore city limits -- removed as part of I-70? Doesn't it now carry some other official designation?

Star Memorial Highway

[Mapmikey]

Wasn't the eastern part of I-70 -- the short segment inside I-695 that actually enters the Baltimore city limits -- removed as part of I-70? Doesn't it now carry some other official designation?

Unsigned MD 570

[therocket]

I-12 and I-99 would be good candidates for decomissioning.

[skluth]

I-12 and I-99 would be good candidates for decomissioning.

I-97 and that bogus I-87 in North Carolina too

[Rothman]

The segment of I-84 in Willimantic, CT gets a little closer -- it was signed I-84, open to traffic, and now it's just US 6. As far as the city is concerned, I-84 doesn't have a new nearby alignment, it's just gone. But in the big picture, I-84 still exists, and Willimantic's section is an interesting footnote.

^This.

The signed portions of old I-84 to Providence definitely count.

[Dirt Roads]

...and that bogus I-87 in North Carolina too

There's already a bunch of traffic between Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (pop 2.08M) and Tidewater/Hampton Roads (1.85M).  But with the current route structure, only a small percentage of that traffic uses US-64 -to- US-17 as a through route (I never have used that as a through route).  It seems like everyone (including myself) is underestimating the potential of a 2DI connecting the two.  But since the route is perceived to mostly benefit folks in Virginia, I doubt that NCDOT will push to construct the remainder of I-87 as quickly as they pushed through I-485 around Charlotte and I-540/NC-540 around Raleigh (which only benefited North Carolina).

The flip side of this is that I do think that NCDOT would have pushed to complete the I-495 link between Raleigh -and- Rocky Mount, since that corridor was very important to the region.  It's not such a big deal now given the future 2DI designation, since that portion of the route has been 70MPH and *just not quite Interstate standards* since 2006.  But it does seem confusing with only a little piece of the route actually posted, part of which is on the Beltline.

[jp the roadgeek]

Does the portion of the former I-95 in the Boston area that follows the Tobin Bridge and the US 1 expressway/Jersey freeway count?

[skluth]

...and that bogus I-87 in North Carolina too

There's already a bunch of traffic between Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (pop 2.08M) and Tidewater/Hampton Roads (1.85M).  But with the current route structure, only a small percentage of that traffic uses US-64 -to- US-17 as a through route (I never have used that as a through route).  It seems like everyone (including myself) is underestimating the potential of a 2DI connecting the two.  But since the route is perceived to mostly benefit folks in Virginia, I doubt that NCDOT will push to construct the remainder of I-87 as quickly as they pushed through I-485 around Charlotte and I-540/NC-540 around Raleigh (which only benefited North Carolina).

The flip side of this is that I do think that NCDOT would have pushed to complete the I-495 link between Raleigh -and- Rocky Mount, since that corridor was very important to the region.  It's not such a big deal now given the future 2DI designation, since that portion of the route has been 70MPH and *just not quite Interstate standards* since 2006.  But it does seem confusing with only a little piece of the route actually posted, part of which is on the Beltline.

It's not the traffic. It's the number. It really should be something like I-56 as it's mostly an east-west interstate. Plus, it's a bit confusing with another I-87 in NY. It could run either to Tidewater or the Outer Banks as both are mostly four lanes at this point. But my contention with all those highways is the number itself. I have no problems with the freeways themselves (except the Breezewood-light gap at Bedford between the Turnpike and I-99).

[wanderer2575]

I can't see any mainline 2di completely losing Interstate status, because every state/county/municipality affected would cry foul over the loss of the "critical" element that will "spur economic development."

The I-84 Willimantic segment that kurumi mentioned is a little different in that it's a short segment that never connected to another freeway on either end.

[dvferyance]

Possibly I-19 if I-11 is sent down to the Mexican border.

That would just be a renumber not a decommissioning.

[kphoger]

Maybe they'll give up on the I-69 trident and then decommission I-2 . . .

[Road Hog]

If the most famous US highway ever (66) can be decommissioned, it stands to reason a future interstate will follow suit in the coming decades.

In the short term, the only instance I can immediately cite is the relinquishing of the I-40 segment inside the I-240 loop to the city of Memphis following the Overton Park mess.