Top 20 Longest U.S. Route Freeways (excluding interstates)

[Flint1979]

If this excludes interstates how is US-131 continuous between Portage and Manton? There is a hidden interstate I-296 between I-196 and I-96.

Cripes sake, stop nitpicking at the OP's intent.  296 is a secret unsigned designation.  131 is clearly signed and on maps; it's not a hidden or assumed routing.

I don't think there is anything secret about it, unsigned yes but secret nah.

[Terry Shea]

If this excludes interstates how is US-131 continuous between Portage and Manton? There is a hidden interstate I-296 between I-196 and I-96.

I live in Grand Rapids, and I'll bet 90%+ of the residents here have no idea that there is an unsigned I-296 designation.

Cripes sake, stop nitpicking at the OP's intent.  296 is a secret unsigned designation.  131 is clearly signed and on maps; it's not a hidden or assumed routing.

I don't think there is anything secret about it, unsigned yes but secret nah.

[SkyPesos]

Do the average non-roadgeek even know about unsigned interstates? Like I don't think more people call the US 50 freeway as "I-595"  than "US 50" .

[Flint1979]

It doesn't matter unsigned or not it's still an Interstate between I-196 and I-96.

[zzcarp]

If this excludes interstates how is US-131 continuous between Portage and Manton? There is a hidden interstate I-296 between I-196 and I-96.

Cripes sake, stop nitpicking at the OP's intent.  296 is a secret unsigned designation.  131 is clearly signed and on maps; it's not a hidden or assumed routing.

It's not very secret amongst this group.

I would say that not only would US 131 count with the unsigned I-296 segment, but the 55 mile stretch of US 127 from just north of I-94 to just north of St. Johns, Michigan would also count. While I-496 joins US 127 for 4 miles, I-496 is incidental to the longer I-127 freeway which extends in either direction just as US 131 does in Grand Rapids.

[GaryV]

If this excludes interstates how is US-131 continuous between Portage and Manton? There is a hidden interstate I-296 between I-196 and I-96.

Cripes sake, stop nitpicking at the OP's intent.  296 is a secret unsigned designation.  131 is clearly signed and on maps; it's not a hidden or assumed routing.

It's not very secret amongst this group.

And it used to be signed.

[thspfc]

To me, unsigned = nonexistent.

[sprjus4]

To me, unsigned = nonexistent.

Agreed.

[Flint1979]

If this excludes interstates how is US-131 continuous between Portage and Manton? There is a hidden interstate I-296 between I-196 and I-96.

Cripes sake, stop nitpicking at the OP's intent.  296 is a secret unsigned designation.  131 is clearly signed and on maps; it's not a hidden or assumed routing.

It's not very secret amongst this group.

And it used to be signed.

And is still considered I-296 even though it's not signed correct?

[sparker]

Amusingly if US 99 wasn't decommissioned it would blow anything on this list out of the water. 

And it still would have been even without the south Merced section finished a few years back; from I-5 at Wheeler Ridge to the Madera/Merced county line north of Chowchilla (the previous north end of the freeway section) is 173 miles and change; longer than the US 131 continuum in MI (including the multiplex with hidden I-296).  Now, it's a hair over 299 miles to the Oak Park interchange in Sacramento -- then you have the situation where it would multiplex with hidden I-305 and I-5 to get to the next freeway section.  So avoiding controversy, 299 it is.  But the shields are green spades, so it's moot; the next likely designation would be as an Interstate (maybe). 

[Bruce]

Washington's longest might be US 395, which has a 20-mile section between two at-grade intersections. If the remaining at-grade intersections between Pasco and Ritzville are eliminated/replaced, then it would be 73 miles of continuous freeway.

[Max Rockatansky]

Amusingly if US 99 wasn't decommissioned it would blow anything on this list out of the water. 

And it still would have been even without the south Merced section finished a few years back; from I-5 at Wheeler Ridge to the Madera/Merced county line north of Chowchilla (the previous north end of the freeway section) is 173 miles and change; longer than the US 131 continuum in MI (including the multiplex with hidden I-296).  Now, it's a hair over 299 miles to the Oak Park interchange in Sacramento -- then you have the situation where it would multiplex with hidden I-305 and I-5 to get to the next freeway section.  So avoiding controversy, 299 it is.  But the shields are green spades, so it's moot; the next likely designation would be as an Interstate (maybe).

Wasn't the Wheeler Ridge-Chowchilla segment of US 99 finished to freeway standards before it was truncated out of California in 1965?  I want to say the Turlock Bypass was another post US 99 segment which opened in the late 1970s?

[ztonyg]

Amusingly if US 99 wasn't decommissioned it would blow anything on this list out of the water.

I never understood that decommissioning.

[sparker]

Amusingly if US 99 wasn't decommissioned it would blow anything on this list out of the water. 

And it still would have been even without the south Merced section finished a few years back; from I-5 at Wheeler Ridge to the Madera/Merced county line north of Chowchilla (the previous north end of the freeway section) is 173 miles and change; longer than the US 131 continuum in MI (including the multiplex with hidden I-296).  Now, it's a hair over 299 miles to the Oak Park interchange in Sacramento -- then you have the situation where it would multiplex with hidden I-305 and I-5 to get to the next freeway section.  So avoiding controversy, 299 it is.  But the shields are green spades, so it's moot; the next likely designation would be as an Interstate (maybe).

Wasn't the Wheeler Ridge-Chowchilla segment of US 99 finished to freeway standards before it was truncated out of California in 1965?  I want to say the Turlock Bypass was another post US 99 segment which opened in the late 1970s?

There were a couple of segments of 99 south of Chowchilla that remained expressway both before and after the 1966 re-signing as CA 99; both were in Madera County; one between the San Joaquin River bridge and Madera, and the other between Madera and CA 152.  The former was upgraded to full freeway circa 1980, while the latter retained at-grade crossings through about 2010 (one actually accessed one of the last "big orange" juice stands, which IIRC finally closed up shop circa 1998). 

I never understood that decommissioning.

Since the total mileage of US 99 (including 99E) not subsumed by various portions of I-5 would have exceeded 300 intrastate miles, it could have technically been retained in CA.  But after both WA and OR decided to decommission their sections, the DOH, with AASHO's consent, elected to follow suit.  Apparently DOH management decided that the only US routes that should remain within CA were those serving other states as well; US 99 would have been an intrastate "orphan", which didn't sit well with the prevailing agency policies at the time, especially since it would have multiplexed on I-5 through Sacramento in any case.  Also, the portion of CA 99 between Sacramento and Yuba City was at the time considered substandard (particularly the narrow Feather River bridge on former LRN 245 as well as the then-awkward CA 99/113 junction) and deemed inappropriate as a signed US route.  Essentially DOH didn't want to buck the trend started in OR and WA, so they simply cited the situations described above, plus their own policies, and went ahead and decommissioned the US highway.

P.S.: the Turlock freeway bypass was completed in late 1973, 7 years after the signage change from US 99 to CA 99.

[TheStranger]

Since the total mileage of US 99 (including 99E) not subsumed by various portions of I-5 would have exceeded 300 intrastate miles, it could have technically been retained in CA.  But after both WA and OR decided to decommission their sections, the DOH, with AASHO's consent, elected to follow suit.  Apparently DOH management decided that the only US routes that should remain within CA were those serving other states as well; US 99 would have been an intrastate "orphan", which didn't sit well with the prevailing agency policies at the time, especially since it would have multiplexed on I-5 through Sacramento in any case.  Also, the portion of CA 99 between Sacramento and Yuba City was at the time considered substandard (particularly the narrow Feather River bridge on former LRN 245 as well as the then-awkward CA 99/113 junction) and deemed inappropriate as a signed US route.  Essentially DOH didn't want to buck the trend started in OR and WA, so they simply cited the situations described above, plus their own policies, and went ahead and decommissioned the US highway.

P.S.: the Turlock freeway bypass was completed in late 1973, 7 years after the signage change from US 99 to CA 99.

I remember a 1964 era California Highways and Public Works article that straight up mentioned that switching from US 99 to Route 99 was done in part because of wanting to use the green shields more.  Not that that was the only reason - but that it was mentioned at all was interesting.  I know I've posted about it before in this forum but not sure which exact issue mentioned it.

[Bickendan]

Since the total mileage of US 99 (including 99E) not subsumed by various portions of I-5 would have exceeded 300 intrastate miles, it could have technically been retained in CA.  But after both WA and OR decided to decommission their sections, the DOH, with AASHO's consent, elected to follow suit.  Apparently DOH management decided that the only US routes that should remain within CA were those serving other states as well; US 99 would have been an intrastate "orphan", which didn't sit well with the prevailing agency policies at the time, especially since it would have multiplexed on I-5 through Sacramento in any case.  Also, the portion of CA 99 between Sacramento and Yuba City was at the time considered substandard (particularly the narrow Feather River bridge on former LRN 245 as well as the then-awkward CA 99/113 junction) and deemed inappropriate as a signed US route.  Essentially DOH didn't want to buck the trend started in OR and WA, so they simply cited the situations described above, plus their own policies, and went ahead and decommissioned the US highway.

P.S.: the Turlock freeway bypass was completed in late 1973, 7 years after the signage change from US 99 to CA 99.

I remember a 1964 era California Highways and Public Works article that straight up mentioned that switching from US 99 to Route 99 was done in part because of wanting to use the green shields more.  Not that that was the only reason - but that it was mentioned at all was interesting.  I know I've posted about it before in this forum but not sure which exact issue mentioned it.

I remember something about CalTrans wanting a Green 99 over White 99 and it still baffles me. By that logic, they could have gone for a Green 101 south of Crescent City and Green 395 south of Bishop, though I'm glad they didn't.
And I'm fairly certain I read that Oregon didn't opt to downgrade 99 prior to California; that they did so following Green 99 and Washington did theirs in.
I still miss the missigned US 99E along I-5 between Salem and Albany