State or US Highways with little or no use.

[Rover_0]

UT 174 is a little-used road that goes to the Intermountain power plant. UT 45 is a highway to nowhere. I have no idea why roads like these are kept as state routes.

Also, compared to other cities/metro areas, the state maintains a much larger proportion of the arterials and collectors in the Wasatch Front metro area. With only three exceptions, every exit of I-15 in Salt Lake County is to a state route. I'm not sure why the cities couldn't take over a lot of these routes.

A lot of the UT state highways serving state parks and institutions in the 281-320 number block are only given numbers because UDOT maintains the road. As an example, UT 312 begins at a local road and goes half a mile northwest to the boat ramp at Willard Bay. UT 299 is the drivers license test course in West Valley.

And there are other roads that have never been (or used to be) on the state system that would be make much better parts of the state highway system if you were to swap UT-42 or UT-45 for them. Re-extending UT-22 south to the UT-12/63 junction, re-extending UT-29 west to US-89 in Ephraim, and connecting UT-165 with UT-158 are all examples that come to mind.

I've long felt that the state parks and institutions series of routes with no discernable direction (parking lots, road segments, etc.) should be on a completely different system, like "Service Routes" or "Service Facilities." Actual roads like UT-290, UT-302, and UT-319 can stay, but routes like UT-299 or UT-320 should be something like Service Route or Facility H (or A9).

I have noticed that there seems to be a slight uptick in swaps and transfers in the last 5-10 years. In that time, we've had UT-212 returned in full to Washington City. UT-107 East of 3000 W in West Point has mostly been transferred to local control (I don't know why there's any remaining piece of 107, mind you). There's also UT-48 between what is now UT-209 and UT-154 Bangerter Highway) that was transferred to West Jordan City a couple years ago. There are also the complete transfer of UT-197 and partial transfer of UT-73 to Cedar Point and Lehi (leading to the odd segmented UT-73 for the time being). I feel that this trend will continue for some time, though no state route system changes have been made this year.

XT1710-02

[Jordanes]

NC Highways 136 and 400 are both very short (400 being the shortest in the state) and serve very little, ending at a dead end. 136 serves some homes and I think a handful of businesses in Currituck County and is 1.36 miles long and ends at a boat ramp.

NC 400 is more useful but not that important, its existence is hardly known and it wouldn't be any different not existing. It serves the downtown area of Manteo and a festival park, ending at a dead end on a small island. I think this route's in the realm of 4,000-4,500 feet long.

NC 343 south of US 158 also serves some homes and a handful of businesses, and also ends at a dead end.

Also, we definitely have had a bunch of useless/short route threads in the past, I think they've primarily been about Interstate Highways. I don't remember seeing any one about state or federal highways, although I'm 100% sure they exist.

NC 136 used to be NC 3 until the route numbers were switched following Dale Earnhardt's death. That made a low primary route number have even a higher degree of uselessness.

[mrpablue]

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7953422,-120.8924438,3a,75y,239.96h,90.67t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1semXc2ERKYDYcweXR0PNeZg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

California SR153 connects SR49 in Coloma to a historic monument. It ends at a parking lot because the only other road out is oneway.

[Max Rockatansky]

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7953422,-120.8924438,3a,75y,239.96h,90.67t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1semXc2ERKYDYcweXR0PNeZg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

California SR153 connects SR49 in Coloma to a historic monument. It ends at a parking lot because the only other road out is oneway.

How is connecting CA 49 to part of the state park system unless?  Hell the route is even signed:

153CAa by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Incidentally CA 153 isn't even the shortest state highway, it is just the shortest one that is signed.

[ftballfan]

M-143. Less than a mile long and was unsigned for years until signage was erected during a recent reconstruction

[Scott5114]

ok so this begs the question: what is the lowest AADT for any numbered highway in the US?

I would guess the aforementioned M-185 would have an AADT of somewhere between 0 and 1, though I don't know how often the ambulance and/or fire truck are called out. I doubt MDOT keeps data on it, in any case.

[Mapmikey]

ok so this begs the question: what is the lowest AADT for any numbered highway in the US?

I would guess the aforementioned M-185 would have an AADT of somewhere between 0 and 1, though I don't know how often the ambulance and/or fire truck are called out. I doubt MDOT keeps data on it, in any case.

They state it as 1.  Zoom in to it at: http://mdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Viewer/index.html?appid=18a4b2f2ba3b4e079e935f8835862c73 

[Aaron Camp]

The northern segment of IN-71 in Benton and Newton counties in Indiana sees very little use...the highest AADT I could find for that segment of IN-71 was 264 near its northern terminus with US-24/US-52. The two largest communities on that stretch of IN-71 are Raub and Freeland Park, which are unincorporated communities with probably less than 200 residents combined.

[Flint1979]

M-143. Less than a mile long and was unsigned for years until signage was erected during a recent reconstruction

I've clinched that highway so many times and every time I have it was without even trying. I wouldn't say it gets little or no use though as there are about 20,000 vehicles that use it every day. It use to be a part of M-43 but it's western terminus really doesn't make much sense to me, I've never been a fan of the state highways that end at a location rather than another highway and M-143 could have very easily went to US-127 or to the Capitol Loop.

[silverback1065]

The northern segment of IN-71 in Benton and Newton counties in Indiana sees very little use...the highest AADT I could find for that segment of IN-71 was 264 near its northern terminus with US-24/US-52. The two largest communities on that stretch of IN-71 are Raub and Freeland Park, which are unincorporated communities with probably less than 200 residents combined.

Benton County is one of the least populated counties in Indiana.  I drove that piece of 71 a few weeks ago, nothing out there, very zig zaggy

[Flint1979]

The northern segment of IN-71 in Benton and Newton counties in Indiana sees very little use...the highest AADT I could find for that segment of IN-71 was 264 near its northern terminus with US-24/US-52. The two largest communities on that stretch of IN-71 are Raub and Freeland Park, which are unincorporated communities with probably less than 200 residents combined.

Benton County is one of the least populated counties in Indiana.  I drove that piece of 71 a few weeks ago, nothing out there, very zig zaggy

Fourth from last, tiny Ohio County is the least populated and the smallest by land area as well.

[roadman65]

Not exactly a highway but a number that is useless which is GA 300 south of Albany, GA which is completely coextensive with US 19 and its companion GA route GA 3.   To have it signed with US 19 to the FL State Line is a waste of signage.

I believe it has something to do with that stretch of US 19 being the GA-FL Parkway which is also the name of independent GA 300 from Albany to its terminus at I-75 near Cordele.  It was originally to be an interstate spur connecting I-75 to Tallahassee, but GA opted out of building it and instead created GA 300 to Albany and dualizing US 19 from Albany to the FL State line.

[texaskdog]

Texas 165

[Mark68]

CO 16. 1.31 miles in length from I-25 east until it curves northward and BECOMES CO 21. If there are no plans to continue 16 eastward on Mesa Ridge Pkwy or no plans to build Powers Blvd (or some other potential CO 21 alignment) south of there, why not just give the whole segment ONE state highway designation?

https://goo.gl/maps/ggfXzYBonX92

[cl94]

NY 421. Dead-end spur to Horseshoe Lake off of NY 30 in the middle of the Adirondacks. 2015 AADT just off of NY 30 was 132, lowest on a state route or reference route in New York. I'm willing to bet most, if not all, of those vehicles were only on the westernmost third of the route, which services every building on the route and a waterfall.

[ftballfan]

CO 16. 1.31 miles in length from I-25 east until it curves northward and BECOMES CO 21. If there are no plans to continue 16 eastward on Mesa Ridge Pkwy or no plans to build Powers Blvd (or some other potential CO 21 alignment) south of there, why not just give the whole segment ONE state highway designation?

https://goo.gl/maps/ggfXzYBonX92

Then CO 21 becomes CO 83 on the north end of Colorado Springs

[Mark68]

CO 16. 1.31 miles in length from I-25 east until it curves northward and BECOMES CO 21. If there are no plans to continue 16 eastward on Mesa Ridge Pkwy or no plans to build Powers Blvd (or some other potential CO 21 alignment) south of there, why not just give the whole segment ONE state highway designation?

https://goo.gl/maps/ggfXzYBonX92

Then CO 21 becomes CO 83 on the north end of Colorado Springs

At least you have to turn to get from 21 to 83 or vice versa. Powers is eventually supposed to be completed as a freeway to I-25, so that will be a full interchange when that happens. CO 21 ends on the future on/off ramps to 83.

[Flint1979]

NY 421. Dead-end spur to Horseshoe Lake off of NY 30 in the middle of the Adirondacks. 2015 AADT just off of NY 30 was 132, lowest on a state route or reference route in New York. I'm willing to bet most, if not all, of those vehicles were only on the westernmost third of the route, which services every building on the route and a waterfall.

At least they have a dead end sign posted there.