Bannered Routes That Don’t Make Sense

Started by roadman65, November 25, 2024, 09:03:54 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

D-Dey65

Quote from: dlsterner on November 27, 2024, 11:14:18 PMI always felt that the designation "ALT US 301" for the Starke FL bypass was a bit odd.  I would have thought that it would be "BYP US 301" instead - or even better, to be main-line "US 301" and the former routing becoming "BUS US 301".
Not only do I think the Starke Bypass deserves to be designated mainline US 301 while the existing one should be Business US 301, but I think the same thing should be done to the Baldwin Bypass. Of course, there are a few other ideas about the Baldwin Bypass that should be different as well.



PNWRoadgeek

There are a few examples that bother me in Oregon, but I do not know why US 97 Business exists in Bend when half of it is just US 20 and the other half just has no advantage to driving on over the Bend Pkwy. The only reason it's there is because that's the old alignment of US 97 through Bend, and they probably want to "preserve" it.
Applying for new Grand Alan.

D-Dey65

You know, I can't think of anything like that in New York.
:confused:

index

All the truck routes in Watauga County, NC. US 221 Truck should just be mainline US 221, and mainline US 221 should become NC 105. US 321/421 Truck should be mainline US 321/421 (or bypass), and US 321/421 through downtown Boone should become business routes.

The de-facto NC 105 Bypass designation, although not an actual bannered route, doesn't make sense with its name. It doesn't take you around main NC 105 or connect you back to it.

US 74 Bypass around Monroe should probably become the main route or get congressionally designated as an odd I-x85 and have the US 74 Bypass designation removed. NCDOT clearly wants motorists to treat it as the main thoroughfare, seeing how they gave directional priority on US 74 to it. Giving it a secondary designation probably hurts that goal.

A lot of ALT designations are also pretty inconsistent (along with using A-suffixed routes instead of ALT banners for some). Why is the old alignment of US 74 in WNC half designated as Business, half as ALT? Why not just the whole thing as ALT? Why is US 221 ALT not US 221 Business if US 74 Business, serving a similar purpose, is right there? US 321 Business takes up US 321's old alignment in a lot of the towns along its route, except for Lenoir to Granite Falls, which is US 321A instead.

As mentioned earlier NCDOT doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason with bannering their routes. Why did they decide to do something sensible with the Asheboro Bypass but not the others?

Molandfreak

Quote from: SD Mapman on November 30, 2024, 02:11:03 PM
Quote from: TheCatalyst31 on November 30, 2024, 01:59:24 PM
Quote from: vdeane on November 27, 2024, 08:14:53 PM
Quote from: Bitmapped on November 27, 2024, 07:34:33 PMI'm not a fan of WV's recent adoption of BYPASS routes with US 19 in Beckley and US 522 at Berkeley Springs. Making the mainline route BUSINESS in both cases would seem to make more sense.
Maybe someone at WVDOT is on Travel Mapping and doesn't want people to lose their clinches?

US 14 in Brookings, SD has the same setup, but it also has an I-29 Business Spur that just follows mainline US 14 for two miles, which is much sillier.

So the 14 mainline/bypass split has been that way for at least as long as I can remember, depending on which side of town you're on you either get defaulted onto the mainline or the bypass. There really aren't business US routes in SD.

Now the business spur is basically a TM invention. If you're driving on I-29, the business spur is very well signed for Exit 132 in both directions, but there are no signs whatsoever on US 14/6th St. Back in the old CHM days, after biking around Brookings and field-confirming everything, I sat down in a hotel room in Brookings and laid out a plan for that route. It was originally in CHM as a Business Loop, but as there was no signage anywhere I had the idea to just route it along US 14 to downtown where the old loop route turned off. That way the route stayed (since there was the obvious consistent signage along I-29) but there was no new clinched mileage in the system (since the whole length of the "spur" is concurrent with US 14). I need to talk to DOT about getting those business spur signed off the BGS's, much like I need to email them about other things...
Now that there's another exit in Brookings, maybe they can have a second go at creating a business loop there.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 05, 2023, 08:24:57 PMAASHTO attributes 28.5% of highway inventory shrink to bad road fan social media posts.

fillup420

Quote from: index on December 01, 2024, 12:00:09 AMAll the truck routes in Watauga County, NC. US 221 Truck should just be mainline US 221, and mainline US 221 should become NC 105. US 321/421 Truck should be mainline US 321/421 (or bypass), and US 321/421 through downtown Boone should become business routes.

The de-facto NC 105 Bypass designation, although not an actual bannered route, doesn't make sense with its name. It doesn't take you around main NC 105 or connect you back to it.

US 74 Bypass around Monroe should probably become the main route or get congressionally designated as an odd I-x85 and have the US 74 Bypass designation removed. NCDOT clearly wants motorists to treat it as the main thoroughfare, seeing how they gave directional priority on US 74 to it. Giving it a secondary designation probably hurts that goal.

A lot of ALT designations are also pretty inconsistent (along with using A-suffixed routes instead of ALT banners for some). Why is the old alignment of US 74 in WNC half designated as Business, half as ALT? Why not just the whole thing as ALT? Why is US 221 ALT not US 221 Business if US 74 Business, serving a similar purpose, is right there? US 321 Business takes up US 321's old alignment in a lot of the towns along its route, except for Lenoir to Granite Falls, which is US 321A instead.

As mentioned earlier NCDOT doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason with bannering their routes. Why did they decide to do something sensible with the Asheboro Bypass but not the others?

I went to App State, and i agree that the truck banners don't make much sense. Also US 221 and NC 105 should definitely switch spots. However, I don't think the current 105 needs to also be 321 and 421, those routes are fine through town. It would make more sense to sign bypass routes for 321/421 along 105 and the 105 Bypass.

US 74 Bypass in Monroe is probably labeled as such because its a toll road. Despite the fact that it's the most "worth it" toll road i've ever used, the main line through Monroe still carries a majority of the 74 traffic.

I think NCDOT's general rule with business vs ALT is based on if its in town limits or not.

One you didn't mention that I find a bit odd, is the signing of US 421 and NC 87 around Sanford. The bypass route is US 421/NC 87 BYPASS, whereas the original route is US 421 BUSINESS/NC 87. The routes are concurrent through the entire town, so why not sign both as bypass/business?


roadman65

ALT County Route 511 in Morris and Passaic Counties of NJ don't make sense. It's really a spur of CR 511 as it's south end is in Mountain View at NJ 23 no where's near it's parent.

If it was concurrent with US 202 from Lincoln Park to Boonton it would make sense, but the concurrency with US 202 goes the other way in Lincoln Park to Mountain View.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.