Most Exciting/Most Embarrassing Ends Of A Single Interstate

[SkyPesos]

Probably one of the most pathetic ends to any notable Interstate is the western terminus of the western segment of I-76:

Traveling west on the last few miles, the upcoming exits BGS does not mention a junction or merge with I‐70 west, in fact there is NO mention of I-70 until it merges with I-70 at the Wadsworth Interchange -- on a reassurance shield next to the END I-70 assembly!!!

The eastern end of I-76 isn't that much better. Suddenly you onto NJ 42 (and eventually the ACE).

[JayhawkCO]

Probably one of the most pathetic ends to any notable Interstate is the western terminus of the western segment of I-76:

Traveling west on the last few miles, the upcoming exits BGS does not mention a junction or merge with I‐70 west, in fact there is NO mention of I-70 until it merges with I-70 at the Wadsworth Interchange -- on a reassurance shield next to the END I-70 assembly!!!

The eastern end of I-76 isn't that much better. Suddenly you onto NJ 42 (and eventually the ACE).

Nor the eastern end of western I-76. I-80 in the middle of nowhere.

[StarlightRunner]

Probably one of the most pathetic ends to any notable Interstate is the western terminus of the western segment of I-76:

Traveling west on the last few miles, the upcoming exits BGS does not mention a junction or merge with I‐70 west, in fact there is NO mention of I-70 until it merges with I-70 at the Wadsworth Interchange -- on a reassurance shield next to the END I-70 assembly!!!

The eastern end of I-76 isn't that much better. Suddenly you onto NJ 42 (and eventually the ACE).

That interchange between 295 and 76 is a travesty. I say that as a local.

[MCRoads]

Low hanging fruit: KS TPike at KS/OK state line.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Probably one of the most pathetic ends to any notable Interstate is the western terminus of the western segment of I-76:

Traveling west on the last few miles, the upcoming exits BGS does not mention a junction or merge with I‐70 west, in fact there is NO mention of I-70 until it merges with I-70 at the Wadsworth Interchange -- on a reassurance shield next to the END I-70 assembly!!!

The east end is no great shakes. just keep going straight and suddenly you're on 80. at least theres some warning, and the gsv / google earth shows them redoing that interchange, solving a weird TOTSO-like thing for 80 east

[tsmatt13]

Some NJ examples for y'all. 

Most exciting: I-80 ends at I-95 right before the GWB.

Most embarrassing: I-278 pathetically ends at US 1-9 with a whimper near Elizabeth, with its WB lanes somehow squeezing into the middle of US 1-9 until it fades out of existence at a stoplight.

[hbelkins]

Two I find embarrassing, not far from each other.

I-26's western end in Tennessee. It's pretty scenery with all the mountains, but the route number designation just ends at an interchange with US 11W. The freeway continues as US 23 and a not-quite-hidden Tennessee state route (there are End I-26/Begin TN xxx and End TN xxx/Begin I-26 assemblies) until you get to the state line, where the route merges into the four-lane surface route that is US 23 in Virginia and old US 23 (TN 36) in Tennessee. It was the same way when it was I-181. It makes absolutely no sense for the interstate to not be designated along the entire freeway.

I-381 just seems to arbitrarily become VA 381 before the freeway ends and becomes a surface route. I can't remember if the transition point from interstate to Virginia state route is signed anymore or not; it was at one time.

[epzik8]

As far as most embarrassing (not necessarily the LEAST exciting), I would have to nominate I-70:  Little fanfare on WB I-70 approaching I-15 and the original east end permanently ending at a u-ey in a Park N Ride in Baltimore.

Reminder that I-70 doesn't go to Baltimore, and that the park & ride doesn't count

Bringing this thread full circle, the State Highway Administration inventories a tenth of a mile of I-70 within Baltimore city limits. I count the park and ride, and it's a legendary ending to a near-cross-country Interstate.

[thspfc]

I-55's northern ending is exciting but its southern ending is about as boring as it gets.

[Takumi]

I-195 in Richmond simply stops being an interstate at some point, but continues being a freeway all the way to I-95. (VA 195's east end is arguably the most exciting, because you're in the air over downtown Richmond.)

I-264 in Virginia Beach has a pretty exciting east end to me. The freeway turns to surface streets and you're only a little ways from reaching the ocean.

[bwana39]

I don't know about the southern end but I absolutely agree with Blue Outback on I-55's northern end at US 41 Desable Lake Shore Dr (especially the North LSD ramp) on the doorstep of Grant Park and McCormick Place.

The southern end is an anticlimactic merge with I-10 just outside of (rural town) Laplace LA.

I-55’s northern ending is exciting but its southern ending is about as boring as it gets.

[Dirt Roads]

I-195 in Richmond simply stops being an interstate at some point, but continues being a freeway all the way to I-95. (VA 195's east end is arguably the most exciting, because you're in the air over downtown Richmond.)

The Rosewood/City Stadium exit (eastbound only) on I-195 is the last exit before the mainline RMA tollgate.  Everything east of there is officially a Toll Road, therefore not part of the Interstate route.  The VDOT route log stated the same back in the 1980s, but I haven't seen an updated one in many years.

[pderocco]

It's been mentioned, but I've always really liked the W end of I-10. You're driving along a rather ugly interstate through a crowded suburban area, you go into the McClure Tunnel, and you pop out on Pacific Coast Highway at the beach, seemingly in another world. Try it at dusk...

[Henry]

I-195 in Richmond simply stops being an interstate at some point, but continues being a freeway all the way to I-95. (VA 195's east end is arguably the most exciting, because you're in the air over downtown Richmond.)

The Rosewood/City Stadium exit (eastbound only) on I-195 is the last exit before the mainline RMA tollgate.  Everything east of there is officially a Toll Road, therefore not part of the Interstate route.  The VDOT route log stated the same back in the 1980s, but I haven't seen an updated one in many years.

I-195/VA 195 could've very easily been an I-x64 too, because the north end is at the I-95/I-64 West interchange (albeit more of an offramp from I-64 than I-95), making it basically a third branch from the junction.

[kirbykart]

I-494/I-694.  Just turn into the other for no good reason?

A similar thing happens with I-290 and I-395 in Massachusetts.