Highways that cross state lines and change dramatically?

[1995hoo]

The quality of I

[1995hoo]

The quality of I-83 declines almost immediately when you cross from Maryland into Pennsylvania, IMO. Pennsylvania's segment is yet another of that state's outdated Interstates with a nonexistent median, too-narrow roadway, etc. US-15, on the other hand, improves when you enter Pennsylvania, due in part to a higher speed limit (65 mph since the segment near Gettysburg has interchanges and Maryland's has at-grade intersections). Maryland's part of Route 15 isn't BAD, mind you, other than the 55-mph speed limit; on the whole I find it to be a pleasant drive whenever I use it late at night coming home from Hershey Bears games.

U.S. 15 crossing between Loudoun County, Virginia and Frederick County, Maryland includes a multiple-span series of "through" truss structures over the Potomac River. 

But on the Maryland side, it is otherwise a reasonably modern two-lane arterial highway. In Loudoun County (and, for that matter Prince William County north of Va. 234) it is mostly a relatively narrow road without shoulders, signed as a Virginia Scenic Byway.

Yeah, you know what, I probably should have clarified I was thinking about the segment north of Frederick. I agree that the segment between Frederick and Point of Rocks is a decent road, though I have to say I tend to avoid it: A few years ago, a friend of mine lost her father and brother four days after Christmas when they were hit head-on by someone who was doing in excess of 80 mph and lost control of her Cadillac Escalade. The Escalade driver had a long rap sheet of DUIs and the like. She also died in the crash. May she rot in hell.

I know accidents can happen to anyone anywhere and the fact of one is not an indictment of that road, but when it's someone you know it can linger in your mind a bit more.

[Duke87]

US 301 is a four lane expressway with no signals and a 55 mph speed limit in Maryland, all the way from the US 50 split to the Delaware state line. As soon as you hit Delaware it narrows down to a two lane road, the speed limit drops, and then you start encountering signals and strip malls.


NY 35 at its eastern extreme in Westchester County has a decently straight 55 zone. You hit the CT state line and are welcomed with the speed limit dropping to 40, the road no longer having any shoulders, and becoming twistier.
Meanwhile NY 137 actually becomes a noticeably flatter and straighter road with a higher speed limit (45 instead of 40) when you enter Connecticut. Go figure.



When you cross from Colorado into Utah on I-70, the road itself doesn't change much but the scenery at that point quickly changes from rolling terrain with some green about it to wide open desert. A nice coincidence for a state line that was just drawn a long a meridian.

[tcorlandoinsavannah]

For me the #1 road on this list is I-95 crossing between South Carolina and Georgia. Big improvement southbound due to Georgia having widened their portion; also, a lot of South Carolina's southernmost portion past Ridgeland and Hardeeville feels like an older road. Going northbound, the road narrowing can often cause traffic jams.

The quality of I-83 declines almost immediately when you cross from Maryland into Pennsylvania, IMO. Pennsylvania's segment is yet another of that state's outdated Interstates with a nonexistent median, too-narrow roadway, etc. US-15, on the other hand, improves when you enter Pennsylvania, due in part to a higher speed limit (65 mph since the segment near Gettysburg has interchanges and Maryland's has at-grade intersections). Maryland's part of Route 15 isn't BAD, mind you, other than the 55-mph speed limit; on the whole I find it to be a pleasant drive whenever I use it late at night coming home from Hershey Bears games.

I-85 used to be a considerably worse road as soon as you crossed from Virginia into North Carolina, and it remained crappy all the way down to Durham, but North Carolina's been improving their portion big-time.

I suppose technically I-87 and Autoroute 15 are not the "same road." For all practical purposes, though, it's one continuous highway. I-87 is a far better road, both as to the condition of the road itself and as to the driving experience. Autoroute 15 generally has a narrow median and you don't have a buffer from oncoming headlights. I suppose I notice that more there than on some other roads because when I reach the border, I'll have been driving for eight or nine hours already, so I find oncoming headlights to be more tiring and distracting than they are in local driving.

I agree about I-95.  Georgia has done a nice job of bringing it up to par (although it took about 15 years).  The South Carolina portion is abysmal, however.  No effort has been made to 6-lane it through the state (which it desperately needs).  And the pavement mostly resembles the surface of the moon.  Add to that the horrific drivers that are usually on the road, and you have a perfect clusterf*ck.

[GCrites]

When you go into WV on I-70 from PA it gets a lot wider.

I'm gonna have to disagree with that.  It's relatively the same (check the Satellite View)

It's more gradual than I let on I suppose.

[tcorlandoinsavannah]

Has anyone traveled a highway beginning in one state that (crosses the state line) leads into another and noticed a difference, whether from good to bad     or from bad to worse or from bad to good  ... etc.?

If so, more out of curiosity, share your experience? 

Does this qualify? 
State Line

[Buck87]

US 23 at KY/VA

Kentucky portion has plenty of shoulder, rumble strip, and smooth surface on well graded roadbed. In Virginia there's little to no shoulder, with worse pavement and lots of little hills and dips.

[froggie]

US 23 at KY/VA

Kentucky portion has plenty of shoulder, rumble strip, and smooth surface on well graded roadbed. In Virginia there's little to no shoulder, with worse pavement and lots of little hills and dips.

As I understand it, the 4-laning on the Virginia side predates 4-laning on the Kentucky side by a number of years.  Virginia's side of the line was 4-laned (and partially realigned...the old routing is SR 667) from Pound to the state line in 1980.  HB may have an idea when the Kentucky side was widened.

[Pete from Boston]

NJ/NY 17 used to go from a six-lane divided highway with grade-separated cross streets in New Jersey to a two- to four-lane arterial street, basically, in New York.

The construction of the 87/287 interchange in the early 90s kicked this transition down the road a bit north from the state line, but it still more or less works that way.

[SP Cook]

I-64 WV - KY.  Heading into WV, 64 (one of the oldest interstates in WV) drops to 65, and becomes quite curvy.  It is also currently in very poor condition.  KY's portion is not only in much better shape, but built to a higher standard.

I-77 VA - NC.  The border, by accident of geography since it is a straight line, if 77 were further east VA would have some flatter land, if it were further west, NC would have some real mountains, is about exactly the terminus between the higher peaks of the central Appalachians and the upper Piedmont. 

US 4 VT - NY.  A fairly unimportant 2 lane to NY, it expands at the border to something close to interstate standards.

[sandiaman]

US  550 is four lane,  semi limited access  highway from  its southern origin  in Bernalillo, NM.  It is that  expressway  type of roadway  190 miles to the Colorado border, and one mile   after that it is two lane  until  its termination point in Montrose, CO.   A very noticeable  change  when you cross the  state line.

[hbelkins]

US 23 at KY/VA

Kentucky portion has plenty of shoulder, rumble strip, and smooth surface on well graded roadbed. In Virginia there's little to no shoulder, with worse pavement and lots of little hills and dips.

As I understand it, the 4-laning on the Virginia side predates 4-laning on the Kentucky side by a number of years.  Virginia's side of the line was 4-laned (and partially realigned...the old routing is SR 667) from Pound to the state line in 1980.  HB may have an idea when the Kentucky side was widened.

Mid- to late-1990s. I remember the construction on the Kentucky side.

[roadfro]

US-95 NB by ssoworld, on Flickr

US-95 NB - one can tell where the Nevada state line is buy the pavement.  California's portion also looks like you're riding a roller coaster whereas Nevada's portion is smooth.  It becomes 4-lane after the junction with the Hoover Dam alternate route.

Significant differences exist on most crossings into California in how roads are constructed.

Yes, there are many instances of a marked difference in pavement quality between California and Nevada.

On seeing this thread, the first thing that came to mind was the state line on i-80. Up until Caltrans finished their multi-year rebuild of the highway in the Sierra Nevada and over Donner Summit (maybe 5-ish years ago now), you'd go from smooth, quiet asphalt in Nevada to loud, rough and cracked concrete in California. Another difference is on I-15, where NDOT drops the highway to 2 lanes each way right before the border, the California side had rougher asphalt with crack seals, and the Call Boxes suddenly appeared (prior to NDOT installing some on the Nevada side circa 2008).

And the cattle guard looks to be at the state line also. Is that NV or CA trying to keep the cattle in?

Most likely, it's a Nevada cattle guard. While I've seen them in California, I haven't seen too many that cross major highways–there's probably at least 5-6 cattle guard crossings along US 95 on the way between Las Vegas and Reno. I don't get the sense that California allows open ranges to the extent rural Nevada does.

[jakeroot]

I-10 from Louisiana into Texas. Nice smooth pavement, then the "Welcome to Texas" sign, and the road immediately narrows and the smooth pavement becomes rough concrete from the days of Roman Empire. It did improve but it certainly doesn't give off a nice first impression.

[cpzilliacus]

Yeah, you know what, I probably should have clarified I was thinking about the segment north of Frederick. I agree that the segment between Frederick and Point of Rocks is a decent road, though I have to say I tend to avoid it: A few years ago, a friend of mine lost her father and brother four days after Christmas when they were hit head-on by someone who was doing in excess of 80 mph and lost control of her Cadillac Escalade. The Escalade driver had a long rap sheet of DUIs and the like. She also died in the crash. May she rot in hell.

I know accidents can happen to anyone anywhere and the fact of one is not an indictment of that road, but when it's someone you know it can linger in your mind a bit more.

Unfortunately, you are correct.  U.S. 15 between Point-of-Rocks and U.S. 340 is an "almost" Super-2 road, and very crash prone.  It was opened to traffic about 1969 or 1970 (the old route of U.S. 15 followed Md. 85 and Md. 28 between Frederick and Point-of-Rocks).

The state purchased enough right-of-way to build four-lane divided, and Maryland politicians (especially the execrable ex-Gov. Parris Glendening) have often claimed that this is where a new crossing of the Potomac River should be built, never mind that the Loudoun County (Va.) Comprehensive Plan and VDOT do not envision a big upgrade to U.S. 15, and truck combinations over 65 feet are prohibited on the Virginia side.

[cpzilliacus]

When you cross from Colorado into Utah on I-70, the road itself doesn't change much but the scenery at that point quickly changes from rolling terrain with some green about it to wide open desert. A nice coincidence for a state line that was just drawn a long a meridian.

The spectacular part of I-70 in Colorado is some distance to the east of Grand Junction, but headed west into Utah the scenery starts to get nice almost immediately, and stays that way most of the way to the western terminus of I-70 at I-15.

[corco]

US-95 NB by ssoworld, on Flickr

US-95 NB - one can tell where the Nevada state line is buy the pavement.  California's portion also looks like you're riding a roller coaster whereas Nevada's portion is smooth.  It becomes 4-lane after the junction with the Hoover Dam alternate route.

Significant differences exist on most crossings into California in how roads are constructed.

And the cattle guard looks to be at the state line also. Is that NV or CA trying to keep the cattle in?

Nevada is an open range state, California (mostly) is not, so ostensibly it's California's cattle guard to keep Nevada cattle out.

[robbones]

I-55 going from MO to AR, cross the state line and the right lane becomes a spine breaker with bad expansion joint placement.

Anything leading into Arkansas is a dramatic change for the worse.

[NE2]

Anything leading into Arkansas is a dramatic change for the worse.

I-55 from Tennessee says hi.

[thenetwork]

The spectacular part of I-70 in Colorado is some distance to the east of Grand Junction, but headed west into Utah the scenery starts to get nice almost immediately, and stays that way most of the way to the western terminus of I-70 at I-15.

Them's fightin' words what you say there about I-70 between Utah and Glenwood Springs (this from a GJ resident)  .  Mount Garfield, the Bookcliffs (the only major east-west mountain chain in the US), the Colorado National Monument (which is a series of Mesas and rock formations -- NOT a granite marker), The Grand Mesa (the largest flat-topped mountain in the world), DeBeque & South Canyons, and the hills that surround Rifle, Parachute, New Castle and Silt are a hell of a lot more scenic than on I-70 from the Utah/Colorado border to Green River, UT, which looks more like a Mars- or moon-scape!



Crossing from Michigan into Ohio around the Toledo area changes quickly.  Via US-23 you go from suburbia to farmland while via I-75 you go from suburbia to marshland as Lake Erie quickly hugs close to I-75 (within a couple of miles) on the east side of the freeway.  Even more fun when there has been a strong west wind for a couple of days -- the shoreline looks like low tide as the water is pushed out further into Lake Erie.

One exception is US-24/Telegraph Road and M-125/Old OH-25 (collectively Old US-25) which both lie parallel between the two freeways.  There is very little immediate difference when crossing between the states.  But again, these were the "old highways" that were the main connectors between Toledo and Detroit.

[jakeroot]

Anything leading into Arkansas is a dramatic change for the worse.

I-55 from Tennessee says hi.

Not sure about coming from Memphis, but into Memphis was a pretty wicked change from the relative straightness of the 55 in Arkansas.

[cpzilliacus]

The spectacular part of I-70 in Colorado is some distance to the east of Grand Junction, but headed west into Utah the scenery starts to get nice almost immediately, and stays that way most of the way to the western terminus of I-70 at I-15.

Them's fightin' words what you say there about I-70 between Utah and Glenwood Springs (this from a GJ resident)  .  Mount Garfield, the Bookcliffs (the only major east-west mountain chain in the US), the Colorado National Monument (which is a series of Mesas and rock formations -- NOT a granite marker), The Grand Mesa (the largest flat-topped mountain in the world), DeBeque & South Canyons, and the hills that surround Rifle, Parachute, New Castle and Silt are a hell of a lot more scenic than on I-70 from the Utah/Colorado border to Green River, UT, which looks more like a Mars- or moon-scape!

No intent to be negative about I-70 in any of Colorado, including around Grand Junction, though I really liked I-70 eastbound from Green River, Utah to Grand Junction.

Unfortunately it rained most of the way from Denver to Grand Junction when I drove it westbound in the daylight, though Glenwood Canyon was still pretty cool, as was the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel from Denver (but everything would have been nicer without the rains). Into Utah the weather got really nice, and stayed that way most of the rest of the way to I-15, which may have biased my observations.

[Pete from Boston]

The spectacular part of I-70 in Colorado is some distance to the east of Grand Junction, but headed west into Utah the scenery starts to get nice almost immediately, and stays that way most of the way to the western terminus of I-70 at I-15.

Them's fightin' words what you say there about I-70 between Utah and Glenwood Springs (this from a GJ resident)  .  Mount Garfield, the Bookcliffs (the only major east-west mountain chain in the US), the Colorado National Monument (which is a series of Mesas and rock formations -- NOT a granite marker), The Grand Mesa (the largest flat-topped mountain in the world), DeBeque & South Canyons, and the hills that surround Rifle, Parachute, New Castle and Silt are a hell of a lot more scenic than on I-70 from the Utah/Colorado border to Green River, UT, which looks more like a Mars- or moon-scape!

No intent to be negative about I-70 in any of Colorado, including around Grand Junction, though I really liked I-70 eastbound from Green River, Utah to Grand Junction.

Unfortunately it rained most of the way from Denver to Grand Junction when I drove it westbound in the daylight, though Glenwood Canyon was still pretty cool, as was the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel from Denver (but everything would have been nicer without the rains). Into Utah the weather got really nice, and stayed that way most of the rest of the way to I-15, which may have biased my observations.

My own eastward drive of this stretch included torrential rains and hail on the leg down from the Eisenhower Tunnel.  I considered this part of the local scenery.

[Kniwt]

Kansas Turnpike?

[dgolub]

I-84 crossing between New York and Connecticut.  The exits are much closer together in Connecticut than they are in New York (or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts for that matter).