Questionable routings that take added time

[hotdogPi]

Relevant thread (Indirect U.S. Routes by NE2):
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=9540.0

[Dirt Roads]

Double whammy (and probably the winner):  US-119 between Charleston and Morgantown, West Virginia. 

You could even make the argument that US-119 was never the best route from Charleston to Spencer. 

Another oddity here is that for a brief time, US-21 was temporarily routed down WV-14 to Spencer and mulitplexed with US-33 over to Ripley (while US-21 was under construction in the Medina to Rockport area.  That was circuitous, but certainly better than a muddy single lane route over the mountain.  US-21 and US-119 never met in Spencer, since WV-14 comes down into town on the west side of town and came up into town on the east side (WV-14 is now truncated at US-33 on the west side of Spencer).

[GaryV]

I-75 from Flint to Toledo.  Use US-23 instead, saving miles and time.

[NWI_Irish96]

US 20 between South Bend and Rolling Prairie. The existing route is 25% longer in distance and 50% longer in time than routing along IN 2.

Back when US 20 first got designated, it made sense because US 20 went through South Bend instead of around and IN 2 was not yet 4 lanes, but now it's really silly.

[NWI_Irish96]

I-75 from Flint to Toledo.  Use US-23 instead, saving miles and time.

I'm not familiar enough with the other examples to know if any of them are like this, but the problem here is that Detroit is the main destination of I-75. Its purpose is to be a route to and from Detroit, not a route between Flint and Toledo. Of course US 23 is the fastest route between Flint and Toledo but it wouldn't make sense to route I-75 that way.

[webny99]

US 20 between South Bend and Rolling Prairie. The existing route is 25% longer in distance and 50% longer in time than routing along IN 2.

Back when US 20 first got designated, it made sense because US 20 went through South Bend instead of around and IN 2 was not yet 4 lanes, but now it's really silly.

Didn't we have a thread recently about highways that "bump", like I-76 and I-80 outside Youngstown? I can't find it now, but in any case, US 20 and IN 2 would be a good candidate for that thread. Hopefully Street View goes through there again sometime because I'd like to see what the redesigned interchange looks like. I'm generally not a huge fan of roundabouts at interchanges, but I really like the bowtie design there in the context of the bump.

[jmacswimmer]

To the average member of the public who is not a member of this forum, I-95 through Wilmington and Philadelphia. While it probably looks less odd now than it did before when it ran up past Trenton, I'm sure the average member of the public likely finds it odd that I-95 goes the way it does instead of via the Delaware Memorial Bridge and New Jersey Turnpike (and, of course, there are plenty of people who think it does do just that).

To add another I-95 example: if heading from Southern CT thru to NH/ME, it is longer to stick with I-95 the entire way via Providence & Boston than it is to leave I-95 at New Haven and use I-91, I-84, I-90, & I-495 (reconnecting just south of the MA-NH line).

[NWI_Irish96]

US 20 between South Bend and Rolling Prairie. The existing route is 25% longer in distance and 50% longer in time than routing along IN 2.

Back when US 20 first got designated, it made sense because US 20 went through South Bend instead of around and IN 2 was not yet 4 lanes, but now it's really silly.

Didn't we have a thread recently about highways that "bump", like I-76 and I-80 outside Youngstown? I can't find it now, but in any case, US 20 and IN 2 would be a good candidate for that thread. Hopefully Street View goes through there again sometime because I'd like to see what the redesigned interchange looks like. I'm generally not a huge fan of roundabouts at interchanges, but I really like the bowtie design there in the context of the bump.

I included this intersection in that thread. I use that route to go to my parents' house (which I will resume doing again once I get vaccinated) and the removal of the stoplight is nice.

[webny99]

US 20 between South Bend and Rolling Prairie. The existing route is 25% longer in distance and 50% longer in time than routing along IN 2.

Back when US 20 first got designated, it made sense because US 20 went through South Bend instead of around and IN 2 was not yet 4 lanes, but now it's really silly.

Didn't we have a thread recently about highways that "bump", like I-76 and I-80 outside Youngstown? I can't find it now, but in any case, US 20 and IN 2 would be a good candidate for that thread. Hopefully Street View goes through there again sometime because I'd like to see what the redesigned interchange looks like. I'm generally not a huge fan of roundabouts at interchanges, but I really like the bowtie design there in the context of the bump.

I included this intersection in that thread. I use that route to go to my parents' house (which I will resume doing again once I get vaccinated) and the removal of the stoplight is nice.

It would be even better if the two exit ramps crossed over to meet the opposite roundabouts to provide continuity on both routes. That should be the standard for all bump intersections from now on!

[texaskdog]

I-75 from Flint to Toledo.  Use US-23 instead, saving miles and time.

I'm not familiar enough with the other examples to know if any of them are like this, but the problem here is that Detroit is the main destination of I-75. Its purpose is to be a route to and from Detroit, not a route between Flint and Toledo. Of course US 23 is the fastest route between Flint and Toledo but it wouldn't make sense to route I-75 that way.

thus the "explanations" lol  some actually do make sense

[epzik8]

To the average member of the public who is not a member of this forum, I-95 through Wilmington and Philadelphia. While it probably looks less odd now than it did before when it ran up past Trenton, I'm sure the average member of the public likely finds it odd that I-95 goes the way it does instead of via the Delaware Memorial Bridge and New Jersey Turnpike (and, of course, there are plenty of people who think it does do just that).

Honestly, I-95 just through Wilmington. In fact, signs direct through traffic in each direction onto 495.

[bulldog1979]

If I recall correctly, M-35 along the lake wasn't as good a road at the time.  Of course if US-41 had been routed that way, it might have been improved sooner.

You are correct, US-41 was intended to go straight north instead of jogging to Escanaba, but terrain and mines made that plan fall by the wayside.

At the time, M-35 stopped at Gladstone. M-91 ran north of Menominee to Cedar River and stopped. The M-35 extension southward came in 1927 as the highway was completed between Cedar River and Escanaba.

[bulldog1979]

US-41 travels through Marquette but it takes a westerly turn for about 50 miles and then turns north to go to Houghton/Hancock and on up to Copper Harbor. I think US-41 should have followed US-141's routing and then went north at the northern end of US-141 and had US-141 go to Marquette. That overlap on M-28 makes no sense for anyone following a normal routing like for example if you were trying to clinch US-41 you'd have to take that stretch to clinch it when US-141 is the shorter routing. Having US-141 go to Marquette instead would have eliminated that useless concurrency.

Marquette is, and was, the larger city in the area. Looking back at the highway configuration in 1926 though, and it all makes more sense. M-15 ran roughly along what is now US 41 in the UP and connected to STH-15 in Wisconsin. In 1925, US 41 was set to run north along M-15, turn west along M-12 (new US 2) to Crystal Falls, north along M-69 to Covington and then back along M-15 to Houghton—Hancock and points north. US 102 would have run along M-15 between M-12 at Rapid River through Marquette to Humboldt. (It didn't even continue back to US 41 at Covington.) By the next year, US 41 was shifted to follow M-15, and US 102 replaced the original M-69. US 141 ran between Milwaukee and Green Bay. Within another two years, US 141 was extended north along roads that weren't all state highways in 1925/26 from Green Bay to Quinnessec, along US 2 from there to Crystal Falls and then replaced US 102. At that point, it would have been more radical to reroute US 41 away from the largest city in the UP, especially when thee missing Powers—Gwinn—Marquette connection was probably still on the drawing boards. (MDOT maintains a bridge over the Escanaba River that could have been used for such a missing link.)

[ilpt4u]

The Illinois portion of MO/IL 110/the CKC Expressway

No one in the right mind will drive thru Forgottonia/Rural Western IL on IL 336 between Quincy and Macomb, then US 67 to Monmoth, to the US 34 Freeway in Galesburg, to get up to I-74 to the Quad Cities to reach I-88 to get to Chicago

The MO portion of the routing is fine - I-35 to US 36/Eventually I-72. The IL portion of the routing should simply be I-72 to Springfield and then I-55 to Chicago

Of course, the IL routing is a political bone thrown to Rural Western IL, a part of the state that the Interstate system mostly bypassed

[DandyDan]

MN 6 near Deer River passes the "Deer River Shortcut", Itasca County 11. County 11 doesn't even go to Deer River...it takes you back to MN 6 on the east edge of town where 6 is duplexed with US 2 heading westbound into Deer River.

Using Steve Riner's Minnesota highway website, I figured out MN 6 between MN 200 and US 2 is Minnesota Constitutional Route 34, which has to connect Remer and Grand Rapids. Looking at my DeLorme Minnesota atlas as I write this, I would have to assume the road that goes straight west from Cohasset, Itasca County 87, was part of Constitutional Route 34 at its creation. It also shows Itasca County 11 as mostly going through wetlands, which may make it a bad road for heavy vehicles.

[Avalanchez71]

Looks like US 41 is a winner for routings.  Now there is history behind the US 41 routing in Florida that gives it the dog leg.

[Flint1979]

US-23 has been there longer than I-75 has. To get from Flint to Toledo pre-Interstate era you'd take US-23, to get from Flint to Toledo after I-75 was built you'd still take US-23. I-75 is meant to go through Detroit which makes sense considering when I-75 was built Detroit was the 5th largest city in the country.

You could also take US-23 to I-96 to I-275 back to I-75 and have bypassed Detroit at that point.

[Rothman]

Looks like US 41 is a winner for routings.  Now there is history behind the US 41 routing in Florida that gives it the dog leg.

Wut.  It's just the old Tamiami Trail.

[kphoger]

CKC

Shortened for the sake of clarity.   

[StogieGuy7]

It's certainly shorter to follow I-90 to get from Chicago to Madison (and beyond to MSP) than to take I-94.  But, I-94's routing through Milwaukee is such an awkward diversion (if you're looking at it in the perspective of the overall interstate system) that you're best to avoid it from Lake County, IL or Kenosha, WI in favor of traveling west to US 12 and following it to Madison (and beyond). 

[ilpt4u]

CKC

Shortened for the sake of clarity.   

But MO's portion of 110/CKC actually makes sense. IL's portion is the 

[SkyPesos]

'CKC' is a fancy way of saying 'Long distance St Louis and Des Moines bypasses'

[kphoger]

CKC

Shortened for the sake of clarity.   

But MO's portion of 110/CKC actually makes sense. IL's portion is the 

But MO's portion of 110/CKC...

  – doesn't connect C to KC.  Therefore I stand by my statement that the CKC's routing doesn't make sense.

  – doesn't need its own number anyway.  It's already I-35 and US-36.

[SkyPesos]

CKC

Shortened for the sake of clarity.   

But MO's portion of 110/CKC actually makes sense. IL's portion is the 

But MO's portion of 110/CKC...

  – doesn't connect C to KC.  Therefore I stand by my statement that the CKC's routing doesn't make sense.

  – doesn't need its own number anyway.  It's already I-35 and US-36.

Missouri's issue is that they duplicated an existing state route number in the state for a route that doesn't need another designation, and didn't bother renumbering the other one.

[HTM Duke]

For me, it would be US-98's current routing that has it run north of Belle Glade and through Pahokee to Canal Point, instead of using the FL-700 corridor as a straight shot.  As it stands, the current routing comes in around 24 miles compared to FL-700's 14 miles, with a travel time that is roughly doubled due to lower speed limits.