The "Ugly Red-Headed Stepchild" Highway...

[Jordanah1]

i would say WI 145 in Milwaukee...part of the would be milwaukee freeway system....that basicaly just goes straight into a ghetto....no new upgrades....not much traffic...i wouldnt be surprised if it would be downgraded to an expressway/ boulevard in ten or twenty years...also US12 from the illinois border to Elkhorn...which is a short freeway segment origionaly intended to be from the chicago area to madison...but illinois didnt hold up its part.....although there have been some mumblings about building this freeway as of recent, and the whole freeway stretch would undoubtedly be compleately rebuilt...

[triplemultiplex]

i would say WI 145 in Milwaukee...part of the would be milwaukee freeway system....that basicaly just goes straight into a ghetto....no new upgrades....not much traffic...i wouldnt be surprised if it would be downgraded to an expressway/ boulevard in ten or twenty years.

SEWRPC recommended to leave WI 145 as is in their SE Wisconsin Freeways plan from ~10 years ago.  Same for the other remaining stub, the Stadium North Freeway.  They cite the cost of filling in the trench created by those freeways' construction.  It's just cheaper to repave them and maintain the bridges.

Oh and FDL & Hampton (the south end of the WI 145 freeway) is not much of a ghetto by Milwaukee's standards.

[The High Plains Traveler]

I-25 through Pueblo, especially on the south end, is the worst piece of that highway in the state.

negative.  I-25 through Trinidad.  there is a billboard southbound in Walsenburg advertising "Trinidad: the best Colorado has to offer", or something similar.  As of Jan 2010, it had, scrawled on it, graffiti noting "25 mph speed trap".

I-25 through Trinidad, which consists of twin viaducts along the edge of downtown, has been newly reconstructed. The 25 mph slam may be the result of someone getting nailed for violating construction zone speed limits; I went through there during the peak of construction and recall a short 35 mph segment where lane shifts on a one-lane section on part of a viaduct occurred. If you didn't follow the speed limit, you risked spearing the end of a jersey barrier. Not sure what the design speeds for the reconstructed viaducts are but I'd venture a guess they're at least 55 since I haven't been through there since the construction has been completed.

[The High Plains Traveler]

The Twin Cities definitely has a few candidates, but I think my vote goes to the Crosstown Highway (State Highway 62). Not enough lanes for the traffic, really short merge areas. Mn/DOT did do a fairly good job with the 35W-Crosstown Commons project though.

Honorable mentions include MN 36 and US 169.

Does the short merge area comment still apply after completion of the 35W/62 rebuild? I know once you get away from the interchange you're still stuck with the freeway built by Hennepin County. If you're looking at Twin Cities freeways to give this award to, I'd pick 280.

[twinsfan87]

Yeah, the 35W/62 rebuild addressed some of the more harrowing merge areas, but issues still remain at the cloverleaf interchanges with MN 100 and MN 77 as well as some of the older interchanges to the east of 35W.

After thinking about it some more, maybe I should change my vote to US 169. Way too many access points with lots of traffic, especially the area near I-394. Plus those short "half ramps" which spit you out onto the freeway going about 30 mph and trying to merge with 60+ mph traffic. US 169 has been due for widening and redoing interchanges for way too long...

[agentsteel53]

I went through there during the peak of construction and recall a short 35 mph segment where lane shifts on a one-lane section on part of a viaduct occurred. If you didn't follow the speed limit, you risked spearing the end of a jersey barrier.

why, that doesn't sound ugly at all!  that's the kind of standard I want the interstate system to hold itself to.

it was like that for at least a year, and it was a rather long segment.  it was, effectively, the aesthetic and engineering-marvel antithesis of Glenwood Canyon.

plus, it claimed the last two '57-spec Colorado I-25 shields.  why they bothered to replace the signs at some obscure junction that may have been a side street to old US-85/87 in the 1960s, I will never know.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Yeah, the 35W/62 rebuild addressed some of the more harrowing merge areas, but issues still remain at the cloverleaf interchanges with MN 100 and MN 77 as well as some of the older interchanges to the east of 35W.

After thinking about it some more, maybe I should change my vote to US 169. Way too many access points with lots of traffic, especially the area near I-394. Plus those short "half ramps" which spit you out onto the freeway going about 30 mph and trying to merge with 60+ mph traffic. US 169 has been due for widening and redoing interchanges for way too long...

That 62/77 interchange is awful. I used to commute north on 77 then follow about 60% of the northbound traffic around the loop onto westbound 62. I think this interchange was pushed back in the redesign queue because of talk about moving the MSP terminal to the north side of the airport, which would have rendered any highway improvements along 62 immediately obsolete. Doing a flyover here would take out some homes, though.

What, you don't think Hennepin County built modern freeways in the 1960s?

[twinsfan87]

Well, that tells you how long they're overdue!

[Darkchylde]

For Louisiana as a whole, definitely I-110's first three miles or so. Partial exits, left exits, left merges, almost no room to merge even on the right-side merges... if you're going straight through it's exhilarating, but woe be unto you if you actually have to exit onto Business US 61/190 (or anything else along there) for something.

Closer to home, the short stretch of US 190 between I-12 and LA 22 in Mandeville that exists as freeway. It isn't that far behind I-12 or I-10 when it comes to design standard, but post-Katrina truck traffic took the last few years of life it had and drained them away in short order, especially southbound.

[brownpelican]

Closer to home, the short stretch of US 190 between I-12 and LA 22 in Mandeville that exists as freeway. It isn't that far behind I-12 or I-10 when it comes to design standard, but post-Katrina truck traffic took the last few years of life it had and drained them away in short order, especially southbound.

I swear that current asphalt has been there more than 20 years.

I'd also like to nominate US 190 between downtown Hammond to almost Livingston. Potholes and the road has buckled quite a bit.

Also: nearly every city-owned and county-owned major thoroughfare in Hinds County, Mississippi. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about.

[Darkchylde]

I swear that current asphalt has been there more than 20 years.

It has. Most of that asphalt was new in the mid to late 80's - the last segment to be paved was the Fairway Drive overpass. 2005 would have been near the end as it was. That section doesn't just need repaved, though, it needs widened like 190 to the north and Causeway Boulevard to the south.

I'm glad they opened Exit 68, so I can avoid that stretch of 190 almost all of the time.

[texaskdog]

In Austin I nominate FM 2222.  US 290 comes in from the east and turns south with I-35.  Was originally supposed to be extended west, and instead we have 2222 which winds all over and backs up all over.   Has some nice scenic views on the west end of town while it doesn't connect to a logical thru road a block away, and head out to Lakeway on the only artery thru there which, of course, backs up.