Decomissonings that suprised you the most.

[roadman65]

VA 31 in Williamsburg. It used to travel with VA 5 all the way to VA 143.  I would figure that VA 5 would be truncated as VA 31 was the straight through route and it would eliminate a wrong way concurrency with US 60 on Paige Street.

VA 162, through Colonial and Downtown Williamsburg along Lafayette Street and Richmond Road.  VA 162 was originally as it is now, that short connector to VA 143 from US 60/VA 5.  Then it was extended when VA 132 was realigned to continue south along Henry Street to VA 199 as that went west on Lafayette and then west on Richmond Road to end at US 60 after that US 60Z route was eliminated. VA 162 went the wrong way on US 60 along Paige, then west on Lafayette (with VA 5 and now truncated VA 31) and went along old VA 132 to Richmond Road, then west and terminated at US 60 where it takes over Richmond Road.

[MantyMadTown]

INDOT's decomissoning all of the state routes through Lafayette and West Lafayette surprised me the most!! 

Lots of decommissionings in Indiana have been surprising. IN-44 in Franklin is another example. As far as Wisconsin goes the ones that surprised me the most were WI-149 and WI-163 leaving huge gaps with no state highways I don't get it.

Those didn't surprise me, they operated as glorified minor county highways.

There are other in the state that I am surprised that WisDOT still hangs onto (ie, WI 152).

One decommissioning in Wisconsin that did kind of surprise me was when US 41 was removed from S 27 St in Milwaukee and most of it was not reflagged as WI 241, instead being turned over to the city to be downgraded into a boulevard street.

Mike

That's not true at all most of it became WI-241 except the the mile gap between Forest Home and National which made no sense to have that gap the whole thing plus the 27th street portion of WI-57 should have all become WI-241 At least WI-152 serves mt Morris a popular resort community I think WI 127 and WI 134 are more surprising especially that latter the town it's serves as spur London is not even incorporated and who even goes there? Yet they agreed to the idiotic request by Menomonee Falls to decommission 74 despite it being a major route connecting Brown Deer Rd the main E W route in northern Milwaukee County to the Sussex Pewaukee area. That is going to cause major problems as semi trucks now have to take long detours to get to that area which is a major industrial area in Waukesha County including the big Quad Graphics plant all just so we could make the downtown falls more pedestrian friendly so dumb communities make such laws all in the name of appeasement.

Yeah what's the point of WI 127? It's literally just a lame bypass of WI 16 that goes through no towns or anywhere of importance.

I was also surprised when WI 123 (between Baraboo and Devil's Lake State Park) was decommissioned and became an extension of county highway DL.

[Beltway]

VA 168 north of the HRBT!  VDOT went through the trouble of renumbering it to VA 143 when the put it on I-64, but as soon as the arterial section of it got upgraded to freeway in the early 80's, they truncated it to Willouby Spit in Norfolk.
It made no sense to transfer the route to only decommission it later.

Too much overlapping, and redundant after the last section of I-64 was opened in 1979 to replace the VA-168 segment just west of Williamsburg.  Certainly no need for the overlap on the HRBT.

[roadman65]

VA 168 north of the HRBT!  VDOT went through the trouble of renumbering it to VA 143 when the put it on I-64, but as soon as the arterial section of it got upgraded to freeway in the early 80's, they truncated it to Willouby Spit in Norfolk.
It made no sense to transfer the route to only decommission it later.

Too much overlapping, and redundant after the last section of I-64 was opened in 1979 to replace the VA-168 segment just west of Williamsburg.  Certainly no need for the overlap on the HRBT.

Which more the reason to have kept both Jefferson Avenue and Merrimac Trail as VA 168 instead of resigning it VA 143.

[plain]

US 113 could have been the DE 1 Turnpike instead.

This actually wouldn't be a bad idea... never thought about that. Although there's certainly importance in the DE 1 number, I don't see why both designations can't run to I-95. If anything it would further solidify US 113's status as the alternate to US 13.

[Beltway]

Too much overlapping, and redundant after the last section of I-64 was opened in 1979 to replace the VA-168 segment just west of Williamsburg.  Certainly no need for the overlap on the HRBT.

Which more the reason to have kept both Jefferson Avenue and Merrimac Trail as VA 168 instead of resigning it VA 143.

Probably didn't want two disjoint sections of the same route number.

[Mapmikey]

VA 168 north of the HRBT!  VDOT went through the trouble of renumbering it to VA 143 when the put it on I-64, but as soon as the arterial section of it got upgraded to freeway in the early 80's, they truncated it to Willouby Spit in Norfolk.

It made no sense to transfer the route to only decommission it later.

This was a 22-year long process.

I assume the reason they did this was because north of Williamsburg VA 168 had routing that was not in the path of I-64 plus I-64 was built/upgraded from east to west making it more logical to hold onto 168.  Had they built I-64 from west to east they might have renumbered the northern section over to VA 33-249 sooner and just dropped 168 altogether as sections of 64 opened.

I also assume that 168 was not kept on 143 because it was likely touted as the fastest way to Williamsburg since its inception and by moving it to the freeway segments that statement would still be true.

As for VA 162, it is even stupider than you think.  VA 162 does not connect to US 60 anymore either.  It ends at the Williamsburg CL just 0.17 miles from VA 143.

[Scott5114]

OK-74A in Norman, mostly because I had no idea it was happening until I drove past the crew that was taking the signs down before my very eyes.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

One decomissioning I'm surprised it has not yet happened is that of I-894, which is now totally redundant to I-41.

[mgk920]

Yeah what's the point of WI 127? It's literally just a lame bypass of WI 16 that goes through no towns or anywhere of importance.

WI 127 is the US 16 'old road' on that segment.  Yes, I'm a bit surprised that it wasn't turned over to Columbia County when the current US (now 'WI') 16 road was first built.

I was also a bit surprised when 'US 16' became 'WI 16' when I-90 was completed farther west, seeing as most of the interstate-supplanted US highways in Wisconsin retained their 'US' highway numbers (only US 141 south of Green Bay did not).  OTOH, had it stayed 'US 16', US 16 would have then had to have been combined with I-90 between just SW of Rochester, MN and Rapid City, SD.

Mike

[dvferyance]

One decomissioning I'm surprised it has not yet happened is that of I-894, which is now totally redundant to I-41.

Here we go again it's I-41 that is redundant and should be truncated to the zoo.

[MantyMadTown]

Yeah what's the point of WI 127? It's literally just a lame bypass of WI 16 that goes through no towns or anywhere of importance.

WI 127 is the US 16 'old road' on that segment.  Yes, I'm a bit surprised that it wasn't turned over to Columbia County when the current US (now 'WI') 16 road was first built.

I was also a bit surprised when 'US 16' became 'WI 16' when I-90 was completed farther west, seeing as most of the interstate-supplanted US highways in Wisconsin retained their 'US' highway numbers (only US 141 south of Green Bay did not).  OTOH, had it stayed 'US 16', US 16 would have then had to have been combined with I-90 between just SW of Rochester, MN and Rapid City, SD.

Mike

Yeah WI-127 should become a county highway. I don't see any point for it to stay commissioned by the state.

One decomissioning I'm surprised it has not yet happened is that of I-894, which is now totally redundant to I-41.

Here we go again it's I-41 that is redundant and should be truncated to the zoo.

Nah, it's logical to keep it as I-41 all the way to where it breaks off from US 41 just south of the Illinois state line. It also makes sense to designate the segment of highway between Milwaukee and Illinois as a north-south road.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

One decomissioning I'm surprised it has not yet happened is that of I-894, which is now totally redundant to I-41.

I thought it had been explained many times, but as I think about it perhaps not as much in the general board as the regional ones which I understand you may not read (or read as much) not living in the US.

There are two (valid, in my view) reasons I-894 still exists. The first one was provided by WisDOT itself, the second one is more speculation by me.

1. Local familiarity for Milwaukee drivers.
2. To maintain a clear marked Milwaukee bypass for I-94, which I-41 on its own may not effectively communicate.

This is why 894 exists and is not going away.

[dvferyance]

Yeah what's the point of WI 127? It's literally just a lame bypass of WI 16 that goes through no towns or anywhere of importance.

WI 127 is the US 16 'old road' on that segment.  Yes, I'm a bit surprised that it wasn't turned over to Columbia County when the current US (now 'WI') 16 road was first built.

I was also a bit surprised when 'US 16' became 'WI 16' when I-90 was completed farther west, seeing as most of the interstate-supplanted US highways in Wisconsin retained their 'US' highway numbers (only US 141 south of Green Bay did not).  OTOH, had it stayed 'US 16', US 16 would have then had to have been combined with I-90 between just SW of Rochester, MN and Rapid City, SD.

Mike

Yeah WI-127 should become a county highway. I don't see any point for it to stay commissioned by the state.

One decomissioning I'm surprised it has not yet happened is that of I-894, which is now totally redundant to I-41.

Here we go again it's I-41 that is redundant and should be truncated to the zoo.

Nah, it's logical to keep it as I-41 all the way to where it breaks off from US 41 just south of the Illinois state line. It also makes sense to designate the segment of highway between Milwaukee and Illinois as a north-south road.

Still have US 41 which is north and south. Illinois will never extend I-41 south of the stateline. You don't need that many routes. The zoo is as far south as I-41 goes without being duplexed with another interstate it makes way more sense to end it there.

[dvferyance]

INDOT's decomissoning all of the state routes through Lafayette and West Lafayette surprised me the most!! 

Lots of decommissionings in Indiana have been surprising. IN-44 in Franklin is another example. As far as Wisconsin goes the ones that surprised me the most were WI-149 and WI-163 leaving huge gaps with no state highways I don't get it.

Those didn't surprise me, they operated as glorified minor county highways.

They may have been underutilized but I am not a fan of leaving huge holes with no state highways. I probably would have modified the routing of 149 a little bit as it was much of a stair step route.

[vdeane]

Still have US 41 which is north and south. Illinois will never extend I-41 south of the stateline. You don't need that many routes. The zoo is as far south as I-41 goes without being duplexed with another interstate it makes way more sense to end it there.

Agreed.  Overlaps where one route is concurrent with another where it ends should be eliminated where possible (which it isn't always; US 44/NY 55 is one such case, at least without renumbering half of NY 55, though it could be minimized by truncating US 44 to US 9W).

[roadman65]

Still have US 41 which is north and south. Illinois will never extend I-41 south of the stateline. You don't need that many routes. The zoo is as far south as I-41 goes without being duplexed with another interstate it makes way more sense to end it there.

Agreed.  Overlaps where one route is concurrent with another where it ends should be eliminated where possible (which it isn't always; US 44/NY 55 is one such case, at least without renumbering half of NY 55, though it could be minimized by truncating US 44 to US 9W).

US 44 should be decommissioned anyway as its not in the grid perfectly and is surpassed by the interstates.  Considering it was an alternate to US 6 it should have been numbered that way in the first place.

I-495 along the east end of the Beltway around DC was decommissioned and then reinstated due to whiners who did not want to refer to the road as simply I-95 just as Massachusetts people not wanting to relinquish calling Yankee Division Highway Route 128 even when it was truncated to Dedham.

[Beltway]

I-495 along the east end of the Beltway around DC was decommissioned and then reinstated due to whiners who did not want to refer to the road as simply I-95 just as Massachusetts people not wanting to relinquish calling Yankee Division Highway Route 128 even when it was truncated to Dedham.

Not a good explanation.  One circumferential highway with one number, then later changed to two separate numbers.   

Many regional motorists never fully adjusted to having a full-circle beltway with halves with two different numbers (I-95 and I-495).  In 1989, the I-495 designation was applied back to the eastern portion of the beltway, so the whole beltway is again I-495, and the eastern portion is I-95 also.

[Mapmikey]

I-495 along the east end of the Beltway around DC was decommissioned and then reinstated due to whiners who did not want to refer to the road as simply I-95 just as Massachusetts people not wanting to relinquish calling Yankee Division Highway Route 128 even when it was truncated to Dedham.

Not a good explanation.  One circumferential highway with one number, then later changed to two separate numbers.   

Many regional motorists never fully adjusted to having a full-circle beltway with halves with two different numbers (I-95 and I-495).  In 1989, the I-495 designation was applied back to the eastern portion of the beltway, so the whole beltway is again I-495, and the eastern portion is I-95 also.

Driver confusion was indeed the impetus for the change which was pushed by Virginia and approved in 1991.  Here is a 1991 article discussing the change  - https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1991/06/11/vote-on-numbering-will-mean-a-less-loopy-beltway/62bd03d3-91a6-4aa2-a01b-4367e1226204/?utm_term=.e258f0f29c2a

Note that the article talks about continued confusion because the mileposts and exit numbers were not consistent around the beltway.  It took another 10 years to get that aspect completely changed to today's more sensible scheme.

I also found that the Aug 1991 CTB reference to add 495 back to the eastern beltway did nt state any reason for the change except to say Virginia was who proposed it.

[Beltway]

Many regional motorists never fully adjusted to having a full-circle beltway with halves with two different numbers (I-95 and I-495).  In 1989, the I-495 designation was applied back to the eastern portion of the beltway, so the whole beltway is again I-495, and the eastern portion is I-95 also.

Driver confusion was indeed the impetus for the change which was pushed by Virginia and approved in 1991.  Here is a 1991 article discussing the change  -https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1991/06/11/vote-on-numbering-will-mean-a-less-loopy-beltway/62bd03d3-91a6-4aa2-a01b-4367e1226204/?utm_term=.e258f0f29c2a
Note that the article talks about continued confusion because the mileposts and exit numbers were not consistent around the beltway.  It took another 10 years to get that aspect completely changed to today's more sensible scheme.
I also found that the Aug 1991 CTB reference to add 495 back to the eastern beltway did nt state any reason for the change except to say Virginia was who proposed it.

With the hope of ending 16 years of confusion for drivers, the entire 64-mile Capital Beltway will be numbered as Interstate 495 by fall, a national group of transportation officials decided yesterday.
Meeting in Georgia, the executive committee of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved a request by the Maryland, Virginia and District highway departments to renumber the Beltway so the 32-mile section designated as I-95 also will be marked I-495 in Maryland and Virginia.

The article quotes a whole list of officials from both sides of the river, supporting the change.

My parents used to live in Old Town Alexandria, and the Beltway interchange for that is US-1.  Suppose a trip to Vienna, you use one Beltway but both I-95 and I-495.  A trip to Silver Spring, you use one Beltway but both I-95 and I-495.  That is an example of what was common all around the Beltway, and not  just for local trips.  That is not efficient. 

[Rothman]

Dude.  What's with the unreadable font color?

[Beltway]

Dude.  What's with the unreadable font color?

What are you using?  Works in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

[plain]

Dude.  What's with the unreadable font color?

What are you using?  Works in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

That particular post might be appearing on the green shaded part of the thread (as it alternates white & green) on his screen. That would be a problem if the quote is also green.

[Beltway]

Dude.  What's with the unreadable font color?

What are you using?  Works in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

That particular post might be appearing on the green shaded part of the thread (as it alternates white & green) on his screen. That would be a problem if the quote is also green.

Mine alternates white and green backgrounds and that post has white.   I used italics and green for the quoted text.  I'll try a different color.

Brown seems to work well.

[Captain Jack]

For Indiana and Illinois, I was surprised that they both decommissioned US 460 the minute I-64 was completed. Of all the US highway routes replaced with an interstate, US 460 probably strayed the farthest from the interstate, serving places like Carmi, Boonville, etc.

US 54 across Illinois seems a little odd as well, since it seems to be a primary route.

IMO, US 150 should have been decommissioned in both states, well before both 54 and 460. It straddles I-74 anywhere that it would have any relevancy, and multiplexes the rest of the way with more significant routes. No one from Terre Haute has ever said take 41-150 to Vincennes. It is strictly 41. And I am pretty certain no one there in the last 40-50 years has taken 150 to go to Peoria or Louisville.