Counterfeit/Bootleg Highways

[cl94]

Would the temporary  winter alternate US 50 near Tahoe count as this? Except aren't all the signs (and the designation) CalTrans-provided, even though the road is not signed regularly and not signed on maps...

Counterfeit, Caltrans never asked AASHTO for it.

It being a winter alternate would also require them to plow Mormon Emigrant Trail. That's a seasonal road, but Carson Pass has been closed due to snow every time 50 flooded this winter, so...

[Max Rockatansky]

Would the temporary  winter alternate US 50 near Tahoe count as this? Except aren't all the signs (and the designation) CalTrans-provided, even though the road is not signed regularly and not signed on maps...

Counterfeit, Caltrans never asked AASHTO for it.

It being a winter alternate would also require them to plow Mormon Emigrant Trail. That's a seasonal road, but Carson Pass has been closed due to snow every time 50 flooded this winter, so...

Really it is my primary argument as to why CA 88/NV 88 ought to be a X95 US Route.  That highway has a lot of utility given it is open all-year provided Caltrans keeps up with the plowing of snow.

[oscar]

Would the temporary  winter alternate US 50 near Tahoe count as this? Except aren't all the signs (and the designation) CalTrans-provided, even though the road is not signed regularly and not signed on maps...

Counterfeit, Caltrans never asked AASHTO for it.

It being a winter alternate would also require them to plow Mormon Emigrant Trail. That's a seasonal road, but Carson Pass has been closed due to snow every time 50 flooded this winter, so...

I kept it in Travel Mapping despite concerns about whether it belonged, considering all the trouble I went to clinch it (including one failed attempt foiled by snow on the MET in early July -- the Forest Service believes in "solar snow removal"). What convinced me to remove it in February 2021 was Caltrans' planned detour route for its latest prolonged closure of US 50 was entirely on state routes, avoiding the MET. So for whatever reason, Caltrans gave up on the alternate route.

The route markers on US 50 Alternate were usually covered up, except one BGS on the MET.

I think the original alternate route was rarely, if ever, used as a US 50 closure detour during the winter.

[cl94]

Would the temporary  winter alternate US 50 near Tahoe count as this? Except aren't all the signs (and the designation) CalTrans-provided, even though the road is not signed regularly and not signed on maps...

Counterfeit, Caltrans never asked AASHTO for it.

It being a winter alternate would also require them to plow Mormon Emigrant Trail. That's a seasonal road, but Carson Pass has been closed due to snow every time 50 flooded this winter, so...

I added it to Travel Mapping, considering all the trouble I went to clinch it (including one failed attempt foiled by snow on the MET in early July -- the Forest Service believes in "solar snow removal"). What convinced me to remove it was Caltrans' planned detour route for its latest prolonged closure of US 50 was entirely on state routes, avoiding the MET. So for whatever reason, Caltrans gave up on the alternate route.

The route markers on US 50 Alternate were usually covered up, except one BGS on the MET.

I think the original alternate route was rarely, if ever, used as a US 50 closure detour during the winter.

A lot of the markers were taken out by the 2021 Caldor Fire and not replaced, so Caltrans likely considers the alternate dead. A couple of covered markers remain near the west end of the 88/89 concurrency, but that's it. One of the covered markers is on a BGS along SR 88. This doesn't mean MET isn't worth driving, since the Caldor Fire cleared out the overgrowth and it currently has some of the best views of any road in the region. The recent flood closures have all been during storm events where both 80 and 88 were impassable, so no reason to consider activating a long-term detour.

This is in stark contrast to the permanent DETOUR US 395 along NV 208-829-338 and CA 182, which still has plenty of signs (all on rotating posts similar to the chain control signs and mostly in Nevada) and is used as an official detour quite frequently in the winter due to rockfall or flooding along the West Fork Walker River.

[roadman65]

NJ 24 after truncation to Morristown was still called Route 24 after its truncation through parts of Morris and Mendham and even Chester and Long Valley.

I don't know if it's still done today, but NJ 3 was still called by many on NJ 495 decades after NJ 3 got truncated to North Bergen.

[kphoger]

What roads are out there that never were part of a Signed Route but ...

*sigh* ...

[TheStranger]

I'm now super intrigued by Alt US 50 (given that I've been on the Route 88 portion, but not really the rest of it yet), after the discussion in this thread.

There isn't a map of it on Cahighways, only a text description, but I wanted to clarify what the routing was:

1. Sly Park Road starting at US 50 Exit 60 in Pollock Pines, heading southwest towards Sly Park itself (so eastbound Alt 50 was essentially heading southwest for a few miles there)
2. Mormon Emigrant Trail east from Sly Park east to Route 88 at Iron Mountain Sno-Park
3. Route 88 east from Iron Mountain Sno-Park east to Route 89 at Picketts Junction
4. Route 89 north to US 50 in Meyers

Is that correct?

[hbelkins]

There are a number of routes signed with route markers and "Truck Route" designations, some with very funky-looking markers, in Birmingham, Ala. They're probably city-designated routes and aren't officially blessed by Alabama DOT.

Would those count?

[cl94]

I'm now super intrigued by Alt US 50 (given that I've been on the Route 88 portion, but not really the rest of it yet), after the discussion in this thread.

There isn't a map of it on Cahighways, only a text description, but I wanted to clarify what the routing was:

1. Sly Park Road starting at US 50 Exit 60 in Pollock Pines, heading southwest towards Sly Park itself (so eastbound Alt 50 was essentially heading southwest for a few miles there)
2. Mormon Emigrant Trail east from Sly Park east to Route 88 at Iron Mountain Sno-Park
3. Route 88 east from Iron Mountain Sno-Park east to Route 89 at Picketts Junction
4. Route 89 north to US 50 in Meyers

Is that correct?

Correct. Until the 2021 Caldor Fire, the portion along SR 88 was very clearly signed, even if signs were usually covered. Several signs also existed near the 50/89 intersection in Meyers before that was rebuilt in 2019.

With one exception (this BGS along Mormon Emigrant Trail), every remaining sign is at/near Picketts Junction.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I cannot believe no one has mentioned the true bootleg highway yet: US 377 between Madill and Stroud, Oklahoma

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Does this count as a "Counterfeit" highway?

[Scott5114]

I cannot believe no one has mentioned the true bootleg highway yet: US 377 between Madill and Stroud, Oklahoma

I don't think that really counts–it exists because a US Congressman wrote it into federal law because AASHTO kept rejecting Oklahoma's applications for it. So that was basically AASHTO getting overruled by the federal government. Out of the normal process, sure, but the U.S. government considers it legit.

[froggie]

I cannot believe no one has mentioned the true bootleg highway yet: US 377 between Madill and Stroud, Oklahoma

I don't think that really counts–it exists because a US Congressman wrote it into federal law because AASHTO kept rejecting Oklahoma's applications for it. So that was basically AASHTO getting overruled by the federal government. Out of the normal process, sure, but the U.S. government considers it legit.

Taking a strict interpretation of the OP's criteria, it wouldn't count anyway because pre-US 377 it was still a Signed Route.

[Declan127]

Are there any in NY or PA?

NY had I-695 before it actually became a real route

[TheGrassGuy]

There are 5 in China's national expressway system, and 12 former ones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_auxiliary_NTHS_Expressways#Provincial_expressways_with_incorrect_use_of_NTHS_codes