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[US 89]

Coming soon: I-81 in Syracuse NY

[Scott5114]

To me, the unqualified term "decommission" implies a complete and total removal of a highway number from the network in its current form. Moving the highway designation to a different physical road doesn't count (that's a realignment), and neither does the removal of a portion of the highway (that's a truncation).

Using that definition, it's hard to see where a two-digit Interstate highway designation realistically has a chance of being removed. Plenty of 2-digit US routes have be decom'd over the years, but those are an entirely different animal, since most of those were due to being replaced by Interstate highways. That situation would only apply to the Interstates if a higher class of road were introduced above them, which seems unlikely.

I suppose conditions could develop where one of the shorter single-state routes could be given the axe, like I-97. If the financial well-being or transportation strategy of North Carolina changes, I could see unbuilt projects there getting cancelled, and that could then lead to things like I-73, I-74, I-42, etc. getting decommissioned since it would be impossible for them to fulfill the function they were designed to fill as part of the system.

[kphoger]

Plenty of railroads over the years have gone from double track to single track in order to cut down on costs.  Could something like that apply to an Interstate?

[Rothman]

Coming soon: I-81 in Syracuse NY

It's moving, not being decommissioned.

[Dirt Roads]

Plenty of railroads over the years have gone from double track to single track in order to cut down on costs.  Could something like that apply to an Interstate?

A common tactic of the Class I railroads back in the 1980s was to evaluate the capital improvement budget and back into the track mileage that could be maintained.  At the onset, the original version of CSX had more than 23,000 track miles to maintain and the Engineering Department determined (or perhaps decided) that they could only afford to maintain 18,000 track miles.  It didn't take long to shed off that much.

[epzik8]

Probably not, the simplest explanation being it would be more disruptive than decommissioning a 3DI.

[froggie]

To me, the unqualified term "decommission" implies a complete and total removal of a highway number from the network in its current form. Moving the highway designation to a different physical road doesn't count (that's a realignment), and neither does the removal of a portion of the highway (that's a truncation).

Using that definition, it's hard to see where a two-digit Interstate highway designation realistically has a chance of being removed. Plenty of 2-digit US routes have be decom'd over the years, but those are an entirely different animal, since most of those were due to being replaced by Interstate highways. That situation would only apply to the Interstates if a higher class of road were introduced above them, which seems unlikely.

Again, I offer I-86 CT.  Not all of it was a "renumbering".  What is now CT 3 was built to become Interstate.

Plenty of railroads over the years have gone from double track to single track in order to cut down on costs.  Could something like that apply to an Interstate?

Depends on if the Federal law (implemented ca. late '60s) that mandated constructing the Interstates as minimum 4 lanes still applies or not.

[SEWIGuy]

To me, the unqualified term "decommission" implies a complete and total removal of a highway number from the network in its current form. Moving the highway designation to a different physical road doesn't count (that's a realignment), and neither does the removal of a portion of the highway (that's a truncation).

Using that definition, it's hard to see where a two-digit Interstate highway designation realistically has a chance of being removed. Plenty of 2-digit US routes have be decom'd over the years, but those are an entirely different animal, since most of those were due to being replaced by Interstate highways. That situation would only apply to the Interstates if a higher class of road were introduced above them, which seems unlikely.

I suppose conditions could develop where one of the shorter single-state routes could be given the axe, like I-97. If the financial well-being or transportation strategy of North Carolina changes, I could see unbuilt projects there getting cancelled, and that could then lead to things like I-73, I-74, I-42, etc. getting decommissioned since it would be impossible for them to fulfill the function they were designed to fill as part of the system.

Realistically I think the situations in your last paragraph are the only circumstances in the short term that would cause a decommissioning.

Longer term...

...oceans continue to rise, Mississippi River switches course, New Orleans is unlivable. I-10 rerouted over I-12.
...Hawaii declares independence. The Hawaiian interstates are no longer part of the system.
...Mexico gets its revenge and re-takes Texas.  Goodbye I-2.
...earth is swallowed by the Sun when it enters red giant phase. No more system.

[US 89]

Coming soon: I-81 in Syracuse NY

It's moving, not being decommissioned.

People were using I-40 in Memphis as an example, so…

[kphoger]

...earth is swallowed by the Sun when it enters red giant phase. No more system.

Who would remain to decommission them?   

[Evan_Th]

...earth is swallowed by the Sun when it enters red giant phase. No more system.

Who would remain to decommission them?   

HM Emperor Musk of Mars.

[kphoger]

So Mars would remain unaffected?

[Evan_Th]

So Mars would remain unaffected?

For a few thousand years, at least.  (Or million?  I don't know how fast red giants expand.)

[skluth]

So Mars would remain unaffected?

For a few thousand years, at least.  (Or million?  I don't know how fast red giants expand.)

One of the more interesting things I've read recently is that Betelgeuse was considered orange or even yellow a couple thousand years ago. While stellar color is directly correlated with star surface temperature I don't know if it changed color because of expansion (which would cool the star because the heat is disbursed) or some other some other factor. But that's less than 2000 years.

[kirbykart]

So Mars would remain unaffected?

 No, it would probably get destroyed like the rest of the Earth.

[jmacswimmer]

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

I remember it being discussed in the Maryland thread somewhat recently that this change had indeed been made by MDOT SHA at some point, with the 2020 Baltimore County Highway Location Reference updated accordingly (I-70 is on page 1, MD 570 on page 119).  No signage changes, however - I-695 still signs "I-70 east, Local Traffic", and the I-70 signage is simply accurate now after previous stating incorrectly that I-70 ended at I-695.

I'll be curious to see whether or not the Baltimore Red Line project (which was the original impetus for decommissioning I-70 inside I-695 so that stretch could be downgraded alongside rail construction) sees any second life with the upcoming administration change in Maryland.

[Molandfreak]

Something that’s a little easier to imagine than I-87 being decommissioned might be a combination of depopulation, newer and cheaper ways of transporting goods, and some other factors leading to states with a small population being unwilling or unable to keep portions of their 2DIs up to interstate standards. Because Texas was granted a little leeway to allow a limited amount of at-grade intersections to give ranches along I-40 and I-10 normal access, I’m sure that could happen elsewhere if they make a compelling case to replace overpasses/exits with at-grades, but where does that line end? Stoplights on a full interstate? Would North Dakota be able to unilaterally split up I-94 and just re-extend US 10 across the state if they no longer had the will or money to keep it up to standards?

[Henry]

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

I remember it being discussed in the Maryland thread somewhat recently that this change had indeed been made by MDOT SHA at some point, with the 2020 Baltimore County Highway Location Reference updated accordingly (I-70 is on page 1, MD 570 on page 119).  No signage changes, however - I-695 still signs "I-70 east, Local Traffic", and the I-70 signage is simply accurate now after previous stating incorrectly that I-70 ended at I-695.

I'll be curious to see whether or not the Baltimore Red Line project (which was the original impetus for decommissioning I-70 inside I-695 so that stretch could be downgraded alongside rail construction) sees any second life with the upcoming administration change in Maryland.

At least there's a definitive answer to what I had meant to ask, whether the former I-70 would continue to be assigned a route number. If the ICC is any indication, transportation projects can and do get brought back from the dead, and the Red Line ought to be one of them.

[MultiMillionMiler]

I honestly doubt it, as the labor to remove all the signs would be deemed unworth it. It also depends on whether it's the entire length or just a small section losing the interstate designation. 2 digit ones would be rarer because they are longer. 3 digit ones however, like I-895 in NYC were downgraded as recently as 2017. I-878 is another example, but I don't even know how Long that was an interstate, if ever. I could see ones like I-78 being truncated before the Holland tunnel, to remove the gap in Jersey city. I-73 and I-74 as mentioned here are also great examples of this. I-97 and I-99 need to go, but I don't know if renumbering to another interstate designation counts as a decommission.

[kphoger]

I honestly doubt it, as the labor to remove all the signs would be deemed unworth it.

I strongly doubt that the decision to retain or decommission an Interstate would boil down to the cost of paying a couple of dozen guys in work trucks to drive around with a socket set for a day.

[1]

I honestly doubt it, as the labor to remove all the signs would be deemed unworth it.

I strongly doubt that the decision to retain or decommission an Interstate would boil down to the cost of paying a couple of dozen guys in work trucks to drive around with a socket set for a day.

I looked for a specific post but couldn't find it. It basically said "When I-99 was designated, we (or was it State College students?) could have just ninja-replaced the I-99 signs with [forget which 3di] and PennDOT wouldn't have cared, and the ninja replacement would become the new number."

[MultiMillionMiler]

I honestly doubt it, as the labor to remove all the signs would be deemed unworth it.

I strongly doubt that the decision to retain or decommission an Interstate would boil down to the cost of paying a couple of dozen guys in work trucks to drive around with a socket set for a day.

I looked for a specific post but couldn't find it. It basically said "When I-99 was designated, we (or was it State College students?) could have just ninja-replaced the I-99 signs with [forget which 3di] and PennDOT wouldn't have cared, and the ninja replacement would become the new number."

Literally any even x80, but nope I-99 makes more sense!

[kirbykart]

^Why even x80? Should be odd x80, like I-580. Or you could actually upgrade the entire Williamsport loop to Interstate standards, renumber that I-680, then you have I-180 for such a long 3di as "I-99".

[SEWIGuy]

Or you could keep it I-99, because there is nothing wrong with the number.

[GaryV]

Or you could keep it I-99, because there is nothing wrong with the number.

You risk being labeled an anti-gridder.