Most useless US Highway?

[Roadgeekteen]

You guys already know my views on 5 and 11.

But US 400 has no use, most of it has another number.

[hotdogPi]

US 350

[silverback1065]

Us 400 is a waste of a number. Us 56 is another.

Pixel 5

[Max Rockatansky]

Subtracting the scenic factor US 191 between Alpine and Morenci in Arizona. 

[SkyPesos]

From a google search:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11557.0
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=20373.0

And at this point, the "Unpopular US highways opinions" thread is pretty much a type of useless US highways thread.

[kphoger]

But US 400 has no use, most of it has another number.

It's tough for me to get to I-44 from here without it, considering that's the highway I use.  These 132 miles of that route are not duplexed with any other highway, except exactly one mile of K-99.

Before you go and say it should go back to just being K-96, consider that it's the primary corridor between Wichita and Springfield, MO.  It is heavily utilized by truckers, RV travelers, regional businessmen, and locals alike.  Truck traffic accounts for about 25-35% of the total volume, depending on the segment.

Boring? yes.  Useless? no.

Personally, I think it should be extended eastward over K-171, MO-171, and MO-96 (old Route 66) to Halltown.

[JayhawkCO]

US 350

I'll pick a different one from my state. US138.  At least US350 provides a shortcut from New Mexico to La Junta.  US138 is basically just BL76.

Chris

[RoadWarrior56]

To me, US 138 is the US Highway equivalent of an elderly almost-forgotten man who lost his parents when he was a toddler (US 38 of course), and has no memory of them.  He  only has a tattered old roadside photo of a US 38 sign in the field to remind him of who his birth parents were.  His foster parents (US 6) never adopted him, so he lived almost all of his life feeling like an orphan.  His useful working life was even cut short by I-80S/I-76, so he lives out his days as a lonely old man.

[kenarmy]

If a highway has a paralleling interstate, then it doesn't make it useless, but it is kinda worthless. But anyway,
- US 96, I mean cmon. At least the 400 routes serve important areas
- US 57. What's the point of having a duonational route if it doesn't go anywhere..? EXTEND IT
- US 113. It was a nice alternate, but it isn't that much faster than 13 anymore and it's purpose was defeated when it got truncated to DE 1.
- US 59/69/71/73/75/77 and 159. 159 doesn't even do its job now. But those other routes are literally too close together! I get these mixed up so I can't even go into detail.
- US 166. This is literally very useless. Its just a straight line between the 60's. It wishes to be US 400.
- US 56. I kinda like this, but did it really need to be a US route?
- US 180.. It reminds me of the kid who cheated in PE and ran shortcuts so they could get the most laps.

I was gonna put 138 on here, but I see yall already did. I kinda feel bad for it now

[Scott5114]

- US 59/69/71/73/75/77 and 159. 159 doesn't even do its job now. But those other routes are literally too close together! I get these mixed up so I can't even go into detail.

If you can't tell the difference between, in order, Lawrence, Muskogee, Joplin, Leavenworth, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, that will get you mixed up about a lot of different things in life, I'd imagine.

[kenarmy]

- US 59/69/71/73/75/77 and 159. 159 doesn't even do its job now. But those other routes are literally too close together! I get these mixed up so I can't even go into detail.

If you can't tell the difference between, in order, Lawrence, Muskogee, Joplin, Leavenworth, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, that will get you mixed up about a lot of different things in life, I'd imagine.

No I mean in deciding which one should be done away with. Like at one point, 59,73,75,77,275, 269, and 69 are only around 150 miles apart, it may be smaller than this at another point, but I just picked one and measured. That's too much.

[hotdogPi]

From a google search:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11557.0
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=20373.0

And at this point, the "Unpopular US highways opinions" thread is pretty much a type of useless US highways thread.

The second one is his own.

[ahj2000]

How about US 46? Small, only in NJ (gross), and end in the middle of the GW Bridge

[Scott5114]

- US 59/69/71/73/75/77 and 159. 159 doesn't even do its job now. But those other routes are literally too close together! I get these mixed up so I can't even go into detail.

If you can't tell the difference between, in order, Lawrence, Muskogee, Joplin, Leavenworth, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, that will get you mixed up about a lot of different things in life, I'd imagine.

No I mean in deciding which one should be done away with. Like at one point, 59,73,75,77,275, 269, and 69 are only around 150 miles apart, it may be smaller than this at another point, but I just picked one and measured. That's too much.

They all serve completely different corridors. Why would you need to get rid of one?

Also there's no such thing as US-269.

[Ned Weasel]

How about US 46? Small, only in NJ (gross), and end in the middle of the GW Bridge

I wouldn't call it "small;" it's a pretty major route in New Jersey.  And why is that "gross?"  US 57 is only in Texas, US 92 is only in Florida, and US 96 is only in Texas.  That being said, you could make the case for any of the above being downgraded to state routes.

No I mean in deciding which one should be done away with. Like at one point, 59,73,75,77,275, 269, and 69 are only around 150 miles apart, it may be smaller than this at another point, but I just picked one and measured. That's too much.

They all serve completely different corridors. Why would you need to get rid of one?

Also there's no such thing as US-269.

Didn't Alanland get started by putting it in the middle of a list of other countries?

[Flint1979]

None of them are useless.

[kenarmy]

- US 59/69/71/73/75/77 and 159. 159 doesn't even do its job now. But those other routes are literally too close together! I get these mixed up so I can't even go into detail.

If you can't tell the difference between, in order, Lawrence, Muskogee, Joplin, Leavenworth, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, that will get you mixed up about a lot of different things in life, I'd imagine.

No I mean in deciding which one should be done away with. Like at one point, 59,73,75,77,275, 269, and 69 are only around 150 miles apart, it may be smaller than this at another point, but I just picked one and measured. That's too much.

They all serve completely different corridors. Why would you need to get rid of one?

Also there's no such thing as US-269.

I meant 169, and you can add 159 to that list. And you would need to get rid of one because they are too close together! There are several other corridors that really deserve a two digit number and it has a lot to do with the system being so skewed. All those routes aren't deserving a US number, or a 2 digit one at least. Why is 73 still a thing? It's a shortcut to KC, but using 75 to go to I-40 is slightly faster.. Why couldn't it have been downgraded so the number could be used elsewhere?

[hotdogPi]

- US 59/69/71/73/75/77 and 159. 159 doesn't even do its job now. But those other routes are literally too close together! I get these mixed up so I can't even go into detail.

If you can't tell the difference between, in order, Lawrence, Muskogee, Joplin, Leavenworth, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, that will get you mixed up about a lot of different things in life, I'd imagine.

No I mean in deciding which one should be done away with. Like at one point, 59,73,75,77,275, 269, and 69 are only around 150 miles apart, it may be smaller than this at another point, but I just picked one and measured. That's too much.

They all serve completely different corridors. Why would you need to get rid of one?

Also there's no such thing as US-269.

I meant 169, and you can add 159 to that list. And you would need to get rid of one because they are too close together! There are several other corridors that really deserve a two digit number and it has a lot to do with the system being so skewed. All those routes aren't deserving a US number, or a 2 digit one at least. Why is 73 still a thing? It's a shortcut to KC, but using 75 to go to I-40 is slightly faster.. Why couldn't it have been downgraded so the number could be used elsewhere?

2010 to 1930 population ratios:

United States	2.51
North Dakota	0.99
West Virginia	1.07
South Dakota	1.18
Iowa	1.23
District of Columbia	1.24
Pennsylvania	1.32
Nebraska	1.33
Mississippi	1.48
Kansas	1.52
Rhode Island	1.53
New York	1.54
Massachusetts	1.54
Oklahoma	1.57
Arkansas	1.57
Missouri	1.65
Kentucky	1.66
Maine	1.67
Illinois	1.68
Ohio	1.74
Vermont	1.74
Alabama	1.81
Montana	1.84
Wisconsin	1.94
Indiana	2.00
Michigan	2.04
Minnesota	2.07
Louisiana	2.16
New Jersey	2.18
Connecticut	2.22
Tennessee	2.43
Wyoming	2.50
South Carolina	2.66
New Hampshire	2.83
North Carolina	3.01
Virginia	3.30
Georgia	3.33
Idaho	3.52
Maryland	3.54
Hawaii	3.69
Delaware	3.77
Oregon	4.02
Washington	4.30
Texas	4.32
Colorado	4.86
New Mexico	4.86
Utah	5.44
California	6.56
Alaska	11.98
Florida	12.81
Arizona	14.67
Nevada	29.66

States with lower numbers than the US average of 2.51 will, in general, have more US routes than it seems like they should.

[Flint1979]

US-59 has always been out of the grid but it's part of the NAFTA corridor and yes it parallels US-75 for almost it's entire route never getting anymore than 100 miles away from it until it gets to Houston but it's still an important highway I guess it's just a numbering issue. US-59 really should be US-73. I don't even think the current US-73 even needs to exist as a US highway at all it's only 113 miles long and almost entirely within Kansas (except for the northern 22 miles which are in Nebraska). 73 isn't used as a state highway in Kansas that should have been KS-73 and US-73 should have been on US-59's route.

[capt.ron]

US 371. Most of it is overlapped with other highways anyway.

[Scott5114]

And you would need to get rid of one because they are too close together!

No, you don't.

This thread is "most useless US Highway". All of the corridors you mentioned have distinct uses.

US-59 really should be US-73. I don't even think the current US-73 even needs to exist as a US highway at all it's only 113 miles long and almost entirely within Kansas (except for the northern 22 miles which are in Nebraska). 73 isn't used as a state highway in Kansas that should have been KS-73 and US-73 should have been on US-59's route.

US-73 actually used to follow the US-69 corridor through eastern Oklahoma, ending in Atoka. For some reason US-69 got extended over what used to be US-73 in 1935. A portion of what is now US-59 in Kansas was actually US-73W.

[hotdogPi]

All of the corridors you mentioned have distinct uses.

Even 159?

[roadman65]

How about US 46? Small, only in NJ (gross), and end in the middle of the GW Bridge

As a designation yes. As a route no.

[hbelkins]

US 641, to me, is the textbook example.

[kenarmy]

All of the corridors you mentioned have distinct uses.

Even 159?

^This. You can't tell me that every one of the highways I listed needs a US route number or isn't necessary. just because its "distinct"  You could say 73 is distinct, but do we realllyy need it? Does it being distinct make it useful? Not really, especially when there's a faster route between it's terminuses.