The only thing I am surprised at is how many people are into all the technical geographical/economic/political implications of fictional highways.
Our forum has lots of civil engineers, planners, DOT workers, history buffs, long-distance drivers, travelers, road warriors, driving enthusiasts, and those into transportation. We're not all here for quite the exact same reasons.
I thought roadgeeks would mainly be obsessed with the grid and building new highways than how feasible it would be. Even on suggestions just involving redesignations, I never expected people to start responding with how it would cost $100,000 in signage..etc.
How interesting would this place be if we all agreed? And there's many of us who aren't obsessed with The Grid because within any system, there's always exceptions. A lot of the stringent attitudes might have made sense 20+ years ago, but this land is not a giant flat rectangle and many folks get around without maps. The Grid makes sense from the standpoint of a predetermined example of Point A and Point B, which would be great if every town, city, hamlet, borough, township, and village were placed in alphabetical order.
The Grid gives people some order where they think it's needed, yet many states and most other countries do fine without it. Many of us have just let it go. There's a lot more people and communities to think of than shaving 10 minutes off my commute. We don't really live in a world where a suit and tie can tell us that our traffic / economic / social problems will be solved with 5 years and some bulldozers.
Lastly, some of us actually enjoy driving on some windy two-lane road for the thrill and beauty of it. I've lived in places where the road doesn't change direction for 30+ miles, and that's rarely held my enthusiasm for long.