Which state has the BEST overall highway/freeway connectivity?

[Roadgeekteen]

Is there really a need for any interstates west out of Colorado Springs? The terrain would be a huge issue anyways.

[J N Winkler]

In Kansas, the only cities with population over 20,000 that are isolated from the statewide freeway network are Hutchinson (40,000), Garden City (28,000), Dodge City (27,000), and Pittsburg (20,000).  Hutchinson already has (AASHTO) expressway connections via K-61 and K-96, while Pittsburg is in the process of receiving one to the US 69 freeway at Fort Scott.  The other two function more as regional centers, with the long-distance traffic on their feeder two-lane state-maintained primary highways being served tolerably well with the odd passing lane.



While Colorado does well in terms of freeway connections for populous incorporated cities, it does poorly in terms of the following:

*  Engineering standards, especially for older facilities (rural segments of I-25 are full of reduced-speed curves)

*  Crosstown mobility (Colorado Springs and Pueblo, both of which lack complete east-west freeway bypasses, are cases in point)

*  Traffic capacity west of the Front Range (throughput on state-maintained two-lane primary highways goes down even in the plateau country, notably along US 24 between Artero Junction and Woodland Park)

Underfunding highway infrastructure, as Colorado has done partly as a result of TABOR, has consequences.

[JayhawkCO]

Is there really a need for any interstates west out of Colorado Springs? The terrain would be a huge issue anyways.

No, there isn't. I-70 is an architectural wonder and should remain very unique in Colorado as the only interstate in the mountains.

[webny99]

The existing route is about 26-27 miles, and a beltway routing would shave it a couple down to about 25 miles. It's probably not as bad as it seems, at least outside peak hours.

True, although to be clear, Fort Collins is not the main reason that quadrant is needed. It would serve a much more important role for Boulder and the other northwestern suburbs, which currently use the mostly two-lane CO 93 and various other arterials to get to I-70 WB.

[Roadgeekteen]

Is there really a need for any interstates west out of Colorado Springs? The terrain would be a huge issue anyways.

No, there isn't. I-70 is an architectural wonder and should remain very unique in Colorado as the only interstate in the mountains.

They didn't even build a railroad west of Colorado Springs. Only north-south. In Colorado, the interstates tend to roughly follow where they built the railroads.

[Flint1979]

Is there really a need for any interstates west out of Colorado Springs? The terrain would be a huge issue anyways.

No, there isn't. I-70 is an architectural wonder and should remain very unique in Colorado as the only interstate in the mountains.

They didn't even build a railroad west of Colorado Springs. Only north-south. In Colorado, the interstates tend to roughly follow where they built the railroads.

In West Virginia it seems like the Interstates follow the railroads which follow the rivers.

[JayhawkCO]

The existing route is about 26-27 miles, and a beltway routing would shave it a couple down to about 25 miles. It's probably not as bad as it seems, at least outside peak hours.

True, although to be clear, Fort Collins is not the main reason that quadrant is needed. It would serve a much more important role for Boulder and the other northwestern suburbs, which currently use the mostly two-lane CO 93 and various other arterials to get to I-70 WB.

CO93 flows pretty well though. I take it relatively often as I have friends that live just north of Golden. It'd save a couple of minutes to have a highway connection, but it's not the time saver you'd think.

[webny99]

In Kansas, the only cities with population over 20,000 that are isolated from the statewide freeway network are Hutchinson (40,000), Garden City (28,000), Dodge City (27,000), and Pittsburg (20,000).  Hutchinson already has (AASHTO) expressway connections via K-61 and K-96, while Pittsburg is in the process of receiving one to the US 69 freeway at Fort Scott.  The other two function more as regional centers, with the long-distance traffic on their feeder two-lane state-maintained primary highways being served tolerably well with the odd passing lane.

Interestingly, Dodge City and Garden City are quite close, only about 50 miles apart. Is US 400 between them mostly two-lanes as well?

[JayhawkCO]

In Kansas, the only cities with population over 20,000 that are isolated from the statewide freeway network are Hutchinson (40,000), Garden City (28,000), Dodge City (27,000), and Pittsburg (20,000).  Hutchinson already has (AASHTO) expressway connections via K-61 and K-96, while Pittsburg is in the process of receiving one to the US 69 freeway at Fort Scott.  The other two function more as regional centers, with the long-distance traffic on their feeder two-lane state-maintained primary highways being served tolerably well with the odd passing lane.

Interestingly, Dodge City and Garden City are quite close, only about 50 miles apart. Is US 400 between them mostly two-lanes as well?

Nope, mostly (if not all) four lane if I recall correctly.

[kphoger]

Interestingly, Dodge City and Garden City are quite close, only about 50 miles apart. Is US 400 between them mostly two-lanes as well?

Yes.  It changes to four lanes divided at the Garden City airport.

[kphoger]

↓  AADT map  ↓



Bottom number is heavy commercial traffic.  Numbers are 2021 data.

[webny99]

The existing route is about 26-27 miles, and a beltway routing would shave it a couple down to about 25 miles. It's probably not as bad as it seems, at least outside peak hours.

True, although to be clear, Fort Collins is not the main reason that quadrant is needed. It would serve a much more important role for Boulder and the other northwestern suburbs, which currently use the mostly two-lane CO 93 and various other arterials to get to I-70 WB.

CO93 flows pretty well though. I take it relatively often as I have friends that live just north of Golden. It'd save a couple of minutes to have a highway connection, but it's not the time saver you'd think.

That's fair. I obviously can't speak to any experience, but Boulder is also almost 20 miles north of Golden. I would guess you'd save at least 10 minutes between Boulder and I-70 if it was all or mostly all freeway.

[webny99]

Interestingly, Dodge City and Garden City are quite close, only about 50 miles apart. Is US 400 between them mostly two-lanes as well?

Yes.  It changes to four lanes divided at the Garden City airport.

Nope, mostly (if not all) four lane if I recall correctly.

[JayhawkCO]

Interestingly, Dodge City and Garden City are quite close, only about 50 miles apart. Is US 400 between them mostly two-lanes as well?

Yes.  It changes to four lanes divided at the Garden City airport.

Nope, mostly (if not all) four lane if I recall correctly.

Apparently I don't recall correctly.  I even spot checked two spots on GSV and both were 4-lane, but looking further, it's just two most of the way.

[zzcarp]

The existing route is about 26-27 miles, and a beltway routing would shave it a couple down to about 25 miles. It's probably not as bad as it seems, at least outside peak hours.

True, although to be clear, Fort Collins is not the main reason that quadrant is needed. It would serve a much more important role for Boulder and the other northwestern suburbs, which currently use the mostly two-lane CO 93 and various other arterials to get to I-70 WB.

CO93 flows pretty well though. I take it relatively often as I have friends that live just north of Golden. It'd save a couple of minutes to have a highway connection, but it's not the time saver you'd think.

CO 93 would flow well without the lane drops and traffic lights right in Golden. CDOT really needs to push those grade separations on US 6/CO 93 as these are constant sources of backups.

As for the missing metro Denver beltway quadrant (octant?), the stretch between CO 93 near 64th Ave and CO 128 near Interlocken was supposed to be a toll road called the Jefferson Parkway. But this toll road would have traffic lights at both ends and no freeway connections. Broomfield has pulled out of that project due to an outlier soil test for radiation near the old Rocky Flats plutonium factory (which hasn't been repeated in subsequent investigations). But for the foreseeable future, the NW Denver beltway is likely dead.

[JayhawkCO]

Broomfield always being the outlier.

[StogieGuy7]

Is there really a need for any interstates west out of Colorado Springs? The terrain would be a huge issue anyways.

No, there isn't. I-70 is an architectural wonder and should remain very unique in Colorado as the only interstate in the mountains.

They didn't even build a railroad west of Colorado Springs. Only north-south. In Colorado, the interstates tend to roughly follow where they built the railroads.

There's a difference between pointing out something that's a gap and advocating that the gap be filled. Didn't I say that I get why there's no freeway access west of Colo Spgs? Yes, I did.

Also, having lived there I can assure Jayhawk that I-70 west of Denver is not a good substitute if you live in the Pikes Peak region. You grin and bear it because it's quite out of your way and perhaps not worth passing up US-24 for.

[JayhawkCO]

Is there really a need for any interstates west out of Colorado Springs? The terrain would be a huge issue anyways.

No, there isn't. I-70 is an architectural wonder and should remain very unique in Colorado as the only interstate in the mountains.

They didn't even build a railroad west of Colorado Springs. Only north-south. In Colorado, the interstates tend to roughly follow where they built the railroads.

There's a difference between pointing out something that's a gap and advocating that the gap be filled. Didn't I say that I get why there's no freeway access west of Colo Spgs? Yes, I did.

Also, having lived there I can assure Jayhawk that I-70 west of Denver is not a good substitute if you live in the Pikes Peak region. You grin and bear it because it's quite out of your way and perhaps not worth passing up US-24 for.

I never inferred that I-70 was a substitute for Springs residents. I would likely never take it if I lived down there. Again, most of my mountain time is spent over 50 miles away from the interstate, so you don't have to convince me it's not the most ideal route to the mountains for anyone, much less someone who lives south of Denver.

[webny99]

↓  AADT map  ↓

[img snipped]

Bottom number is heavy commercial traffic.  Numbers are 2021 data.

Oh, Kansas has it easy. Meanwhile in New York, NY 104 between Williamson and Sodus has an AADT of 13k with basically no hope of ever being widened.

[SkyPesos]

In a theoretical rankings list, I'll place Ohio somewhere between 11th and 15th best. Besides the interstates, lots of 4-lane divided highways around the state. But Columbus-Toledo is important enough to warrant an interstate, dragging it down in the overall rankings.

[thenetwork]

On paper, Ohio looks like a good state, but when you factor in the lack of a "free-flowing" Northwest‐to‐Southeast artery coughcoughUS-23coughcough, and are not in any hurry to rectify the obvious problems along this corridor.

[Henry]

WA may not have much in the freeway department, but the ones it does have do their job well. I-5 and I-90 obviously provide connections to the rest of the nation from Seattle, but I-82 is a nice shortcut to places like Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT. And most of the towns that aren't directly on any freeway corridor (Walla Walla and Pullman come to mind) are not too far from one either.

[Roadgeekteen]

WA may not have much in the freeway department, but the ones it does have do their job well. I-5 and I-90 obviously provide connections to the rest of the nation from Seattle, but I-82 is a nice shortcut to places like Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT. And most of the towns that aren't directly on any freeway corridor (Walla Walla and Pullman come to mind) are not too far from one either.

US 395 as well is almost as good as an interstate

[Revive 755]

That's a fair point. Connectivity from Kenosha and Lake counties to Janesville and Madison is definitely a bit lacking. Yet I wouldn't say there's a total lack, since the fastest route generally uses I-94, it's just annoying that you have to go up to the Milwaukee area and deal with that instead of taking a more direct route. The area would definitely be well served by a better connection between I-94 and US 12, as well as upgrades to US 12 itself. For areas west of Kenosha where it doesn't make sense to use I-94, I would also consider a need for upgrades to US 14 and WI 50.

WI 50 is already four lanes between US 12 and Kenosha.  It just needs better access control, a higher speed limit (it never goes above 55), the stoplights replaced with interchanges, and a bypass of Paddock Lake (though Paddock Lake isn't as bad as some of the towns on US 12 and US 14).

[Flint1979]

In a theoretical rankings list, I'll place Ohio somewhere between 11th and 15th best. Besides the interstates, lots of 4-lane divided highways around the state. But Columbus-Toledo is important enough to warrant an interstate, dragging it down in the overall rankings.

As someone who enters Ohio from the north and Toledo being the first Ohio city I hit I can tell ya that I have tinkered with ways to get to Columbus. US-23 is a decent route but I have found that after you get off I-75 in Findlay you can take US-68 to OH-31 to US-33. It's not all freeway but it's not a bad route. It probably takes an extra 10 minutes to get to Columbus I would think without it being freeway.