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[Bickendan]

I'm hardpressed to think of one for Oregon. Best I'm coming up with is WA 14 (with possibly WA 4) or US 12.

You could make a case for I-15 bringing traffic up from Salt Lake, Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

That, or possibly I-90.

I could accept those.

[DandyDan]

I've seen 2 submissions for Minnesota thus far: WI-35 and US-18.

Could I-39 or even I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) also be considered?  Obviously, if one is going to Milwaukee or Downtown Chicago, they don't need either.  But both routes are important for travel to anywhere else south and east of Chicago-Land, in terms of missing some Chicago congestion.

Someone upthread said I-29, although I think some people were dismissive of it. That's probably because it will not get you to the Twin Cities. It is my belief if you start somewhere south of Sioux City and wish to go somewhere west of US 71, or if you are close to the MN 60 corridor,  you will use it at some point.

[Crown Victoria]

Pennsylvania is tricky since its position spanning almost the entire base of the northeast means that all major Interstates and US routes enter PA (e.g. I-95, I-70, I-80, I-81, US 1, US 30, etc.). The only way around it is to go directly from DE to NJ across the Delaware River/Bay. The only three routes that do this are I-295 and US 40 (both on the Delaware Memorial Bridge) and US 9 (on the Cape May–Lewes Ferry). I-295 and US 40 both enter PA elsewhere, so that just leaves US 9, which isn't exactly a "most important" anything.

Since no major long-distance routes completely bypass PA, this just leaves nearby major routes that can be used to get to PA via one of the routes that does enter it. I-71 and I-77 are the two that seem to best qualify, perhaps also I-87. To forcibly include a US route, I'd say US 50, but no one would use that route for long-distance travel since the region is well served by parallel Interstates.

For PA, the New Jersey Turnpike mainline. It is the main route for traffic from NYC and New England to travel south and links to the only roadway that bypasses PA entirely (Delaware Memorial Bridge).

*The NJ Turnpike counts despite also carrying I-95 (which enters PA) because only part of the Turnpike is I-95. If one wishes we can consider the unsigned NJ 700 portion of the Turnpike as the "most important route".

[doorknob60]

I'm hardpressed to think of one for Oregon. Best I'm coming up with is WA 14 (with possibly WA 4) or US 12.

You could make a case for I-15 bringing traffic up from Salt Lake, Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

That, or possibly I-90.

I could accept those.

I could also make the argument for I-80. Long distance traffic (eg. anywhere east of Utah) traveling to Oregon will likely use I-80 (more likely than I-90). I-80 provides connections to Eastern Oregon via US-95 and US-395, though admittedly insignificant compared to I-84 (most traffic using those two routes will be crossing I-80 more than actually using it, eg. traffic from Reno or Vegas). And adding in this one puts it over the top IMO, it's part of the route between the San Francisco area and anywhere in Oregon, along with I-505 and I-5.

I think it's more important than I-15 at least, but I-90 and WA-14 are just as good of contenders. WA-14 gets points for being a major detour route if I-84 has to close in the gorge. Whether it be for general winter weather, wildfires, derailed trains, etc., I've seen WA-14 used as a detour for I-84 many times.

[ethanhopkin14]

Has I-70 for California been mentioned?

[KCRoadFan]

Has I-70 for California been mentioned?

It has been.

[dkblake]

For Massachusetts, I could see CT 15 being it because of it's role for Boston to New York travel.

Seconded- Boston being the focal point of the New England interstate system makes Massachusetts a challenging one for this, since either roads go into Mass or (like NH 101) explicitly provide non-Mass intrastate corridors. The second tier would probably be I-89 and I-287.

[The Nature Boy]

I'll tackle the New England states not otherwise mentioned:

Vermont: I-87, it's the primary route that one might travel to get to Burlington from NYC. If not for the tiny bit of I-93 that enters St. Johnsbury, the answer would be I-93.

I'm having trouble with Maine though. My temptation is to say NH 101 because it essentially serves as a connector for Portland and Manchester (and basically anywhere else in NH).

[dkblake]

I'll tackle the New England states not otherwise mentioned:

Vermont: I-87, it's the primary route that one might travel to get to Burlington from NYC. If not for the tiny bit of I-93 that enters St. Johnsbury, the answer would be I-93.

I'm having trouble with Maine though. My temptation is to say NH 101 because it essentially serves as a connector for Portland and Manchester (and basically anywhere else in NH).

I-495?

[1995hoo]

....

I'm having trouble with Maine though. My temptation is to say NH 101 because it essentially serves as a connector for Portland and Manchester (and basically anywhere else in NH).

The Trans-Canada Highway might qualify if you consider it as one route instead of as a series of separately-numbered highways in Quebec and New Brunswick (limiting it to those two provinces because they're the only ones that border Maine). No reason to limit the discussion to highways located solely in the USA.

[webny99]

For New York, it might be I-80. It sounds absurd, but there are not a lot of other good options.

[ethanhopkin14]

....

I'm having trouble with Maine though. My temptation is to say NH 101 because it essentially serves as a connector for Portland and Manchester (and basically anywhere else in NH).

The Trans-Canada Highway might qualify if you consider it as one route instead of as a series of separately-numbered highways in Quebec and New Brunswick (limiting it to those two provinces because they're the only ones that border Maine). No reason to limit the discussion to highways located solely in the USA.

I asked this question and didn't get a response.  Do routes that can't legally enter a state/province count?  For Quebec I could say it would be I-89, but that's only because the designation can't enter the province.  The pavement enters the province and continues as (future) A-35.

Same thing with I-35 being the most important route to Nuevo Leon, but that's again only because the designation can only legally go to the border. 

[vdeane]

Given that I-35 stops several blocks north of the border, it arguably counts either way.

[X99]

For South Dakota...

I got nothing. Maybe MN 60 or I-25, but I think both of those are a stretch. How would you even determine a "most important route" for a state with two completely separate population centers?

[JayhawkCO]

For South Dakota...

I got nothing. Maybe MN 60 or I-25, but I think both of those are a stretch. How would you even determine a "most important route" for a state with two completely separate population centers?

I think for South Dakota, I'd go a little farther afield and go either I-35 (connecting to I-29), I-49 (similar, especially once finished), or maybe even MB-75.  There's nothing particularly close to a border anywhere that carries much traffic.

Chris

[The Nature Boy]

I'll tackle the New England states not otherwise mentioned:

Vermont: I-87, it's the primary route that one might travel to get to Burlington from NYC. If not for the tiny bit of I-93 that enters St. Johnsbury, the answer would be I-93.

I'm having trouble with Maine though. My temptation is to say NH 101 because it essentially serves as a connector for Portland and Manchester (and basically anywhere else in NH).

I-495?

I considered I-495 because of its role in funneling Maine traffic to points south of Boston but I feel like a road that avoids Boston doesn't work for Maine, given how important the city is for all of New England. But I can see the argument.

[X99]

For South Dakota...

I got nothing. Maybe MN 60 or I-25, but I think both of those are a stretch. How would you even determine a "most important route" for a state with two completely separate population centers?

I think for South Dakota, I'd go a little farther afield and go either I-35 (connecting to I-29), I-49 (similar, especially once finished), or maybe even MB-75.  There's nothing particularly close to a border anywhere that carries much traffic.

Chris

In that case, I think I'll just pick one route for each population center. For East River, I-35 fits the position better than MN 60. For West River, I-25 still seems to be the best option, with US 20 becoming a possibility once the Heartland Expressway is finished to that point.

[Mark68]

I'm hardpressed to think of one for Oregon. Best I'm coming up with is WA 14 (with possibly WA 4) or US 12.

You could make a case for I-15 bringing traffic up from Salt Lake, Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

I'd say I-80 might be a better example for bringing traffic from Denver (via I-84). I've traveled between Portland & Denver using primarily I-80 thru WY to I-84 in UT.

[JayhawkCO]

I'm hardpressed to think of one for Oregon. Best I'm coming up with is WA 14 (with possibly WA 4) or US 12.

You could make a case for I-15 bringing traffic up from Salt Lake, Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

I'd say I-80 might be a better example for bringing traffic from Denver (via I-84). I've traveled between Portland & Denver using primarily I-80 thru WY to I-84 in UT.

Even if people did take I-80 west into Utah, they'd still be utilizing I-15 after I-80.  So if you made I-15 the "more important route", you'd get all those that came across on I-80 from Wyoming plus anyone in Utah.

Chris

[roadman65]

I-95 is for Florida as the East Coast uses it to vacation or patronize the developers here and become permanent residents.

[1]

I-95 is for Florida as the East Coast uses it to vacation or patronize the developers here and become permanent residents.

Did you read the thread title?

[kphoger]

I see I-49/US-71 and I-29 have both been suggested for Kansas, and ... ehhh ... I'm not so sure how important they are to Kansas.

But that just goes to show that this is a tough question for Kansas.  Both I-435 and I-635 (KC bypasses) exist in Kansas, so they're out.  I-29 might still fit the bill anyway, but just because it serves the KC airport.

[JayhawkCO]

I see I-49/US-71 and I-29 have both been suggested for Kansas, and ... ehhh ... I'm not so sure how important they are to Kansas.

But that just goes to show that this is a tough question for Kansas.  Both I-435 and I-635 (KC bypasses) exist in Kansas, so they're out.  I-29 might still fit the bill anyway, but just because it serves the KC airport.

Given that most of the population in KS in in the eastern half, I think we can safely eliminate anything to the west.  Since there's not much directly north or south of the state line (other than OKC which I-35 disqualifies and Tulsa which US75 disqualifies), I think you have to go something just east of the state line.  I'd personally say right now, I-29 gets the nod.  Once I-49 is finished all the way through Arkansas, that might end up being the most highly used freight route to get to/from Kansas.

Chris

[kphoger]

For Texas, I'd say Carr. Fed. 85 in Mexico for reasons of international freight shipping.

[CoreySamson]

For Louisiana, I'd think I-65's probably the way to go. One could probably make a case for I-45, though.