Most Important Non-Interstates in Your State

[webny99]

Generally, the interstates that serve our states get much of the truck, long-distance, and even intrastate traffic going from one area of the state to another.

What are the most important corridors in your state - for the people in your state - that aren't interstate or may not even be divided highways? Do these corridors also have importance in other states?

[cu2010]

US11 between Watertown and Rouses Point. Pretty much the main highway across the North Country. It's the only significant chunk of 11 not paralleled by an Interstate highway.

[Techknow]

In California, it would probably have to be a tie between US 101 and CA 99. CA 99 probably gets more truck traffic going through the Central Valley and it connects all the major cities there, but US 101 gets a lot of truck traffic going through the central coast, and it is the most important route in the San Francisco Peninsula, connecting most cities there. It's also the longest highway in the state (807 miles compared to about 796 for I-5), so naturally it connects many regions in the state.

[hotdogPi]

MA 2
US/MA 3
MA 24
MA 128

Freeways, as expected.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN 7
MN 23
US 52
MN 60
US 169

Of these MN 60 is really the only one with importance in another state.

[jon daly]

CT-15, CT-2, CT-8, then CT-9 for freeways

US-6; esp from Bolton to the R.I. line.

Edited because I let my eastern CT bias get in the way.

[bzakharin]

The NJ Turnpike (south of I-95), Garden State Parkway, and Atlantic City Expressway, of course. The first one is especially important as it's part of the Northeast Corridor (for those bypassing Philly anyway).
There are certain other non-Interstate freeways in NJ which are important within the state, or for commuters from NJ to Philadelphia or NYC: NJ 17, NJ 18, NJ 24, NJ 42, NJ 55, NJ 440.

As for non-Freeways, US 40 is the only route from points south to Atlantic City. US 206 is the only direct route from the Trenton area to the Somerville area and, by extension, to NYC and Albany. NJ 47 carries traffic from NJ 55 to the beaches of Cape May County.

[briantroutman]

In terms of "importance" , the OP seems to be putting emphasis on long-distance traffic (rather than high traffic volumes on an urban/suburban route), and in Pennsylvania, US 15 probably takes the award. It's part of a significant interstate (and even international) corridor connecting Upstate New York and Ontario with Baltimore, Washington, and points south on I-95.

US 6 is part of a longer transcontinental corridor, but its usefulness has largely been supplanted by other Interstate routes.

Other major US routes are co-signed with or have been functionally replaced by Interstates for significant portions of their length (US 22, US 30, US 322), so while they may be significant routes for part of their length (such as US 30 in the York-Lancaster-Malvern corridor), their importance as a long-distance corridor is far less elsewhere in the state.

[txstateends]

It would be a bit difficult to find the *one* important non-interstate in TX.  Definite candidates would include:
* US 59 (the parts not already supplanted by the I-69 designation)
* US 75
* US 287 (especially Amarillo to I-45)

I guess US 290 could be considered as well, although I don't ever get the chance to see that one.

I'm not sure about the level of importance of any of the TX primary-level highways in comparison, other than those in the major metros (examples: TX 114, TX 121, TX 183, TX 360 in DFW; TX 225, TX 288 in Houston)

[MNHighwayMan]

MN 7
MN 23
US 52
MN 60
US 169

Of these MN 60 is really the only one with importance in another state.

I assume you mean Iowa (IA-60), since MN-60 is the only state-numbered route to cross state lines at both ends. It's my opinion, though, that MN-60 is really two separate routes joined together by consecutive concurrencies (with 169 and 14).

[doorknob60]

Without a second thought it is US-95 for Idaho. It's the only highway that connects Northern and Southern Idaho (without going through Oregon, Washington, or Montana, that is), it's the longest highway in the state, and is the primary access for many important cities including Lewiston, Moscow, Coeur d'Alene, and Sandpoint. Not to mention it's a major suburban arterial in Coeur d'Alene, and also provides access to the popular Silverwood theme park. As for regional importance, it is the connection from Boise to Reno and most of California.

You asked if the highways are also important in other states? It serves a similar purpose in Nevada, providing a major North/South link where no interstate exists. It also connects the only 2 metro areas, Las Vegas and (it comes close enough to) Reno/Carson City. US-95 would be my answer for Nevada too. US-95 is not terribly important to Oregon, California, or Arizona, however.

Oregon is a little tougher, but I definitely argue for US-97. It's the only other quick north/south route through the state besides I-5. US-101 is slow and windy, and US-395 is completely in the middle of nowhere, and also has slow/windy segments. US-95 barely counts. And of course it is the backbone of the Bend area, from La Pine to Madras. US-26 is also another close contender, considering its importance in the Portland area as a freeway, and being a major connection to the coast and Mt. Hood, and the main link between Portland and Bend. But it loses points for the segment between Madras and Vale not being terribly important. US-101 is super important on the coast, but is not really relevant to the rest of the state.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky:

US 23
US 25E
AA Highway (KY 9/eastern portion of KY 10)
US 127
US 150
The southern tier corridor of KY 80 (including long US 68 concurrency) and the Cumberland and Hal Rogers parkways (note that this involves using I-65 north of Bowling Green)
The parkway system

West Virginia:
WV 2
US 35
Corridor G portion of US 119
Corridor L portion of US 19

[webny99]

In terms of "importance" , the OP seems to be putting emphasis on long-distance traffic (rather than high traffic volumes on an urban/suburban route)

Yep, I'm primarily interested in roads used by long-distance traffic. That will usually, but not always, exclude urban and suburban arterials.

And in Pennsylvania, US 15 probably takes the award. It's part of a significant interstate (and even international) corridor connecting Upstate New York and Ontario with Baltimore, Washington, and points south on I-95.

Definitely agree on this one, and in fact CSVT addresses what must be one of the worst mixtures of local and long-distance traffic in the country.

[SCtoKC]

US 36
US 50
US 61
MO 5
MO 13
MO 32

I would have included US 40 and US 71 if they weren't multiplexed with Interstates for most of their length.

[Max Rockatansky]

In California, it would probably have to be a tie between US 101 and CA 99. CA 99 probably gets more truck traffic going through the Central Valley and it connects all the major cities there, but US 101 gets a lot of truck traffic going through the central coast, and it is the most important route in the San Francisco Peninsula, connecting most cities there. It's also the longest highway in the state (807 miles compared to about 796 for I-5), so naturally it connects many regions in the state.

58 is pretty up there as well simply due to Tehachapi Pass. 

For Arizona I would say US 60 given it has a major freeway segment, Grand Avenue, and serves almost the entire of the state still. 

[jp the roadgeek]

CT-15, CT-2, CT-8, then CT-9 for freeways

US-6; esp from Bolton to the R.I. line.

Edited because I let my eastern CT bias get in the way.

To add my somewhat more western bias, I'll add CT 10, CT 25, and CT 34, along with US 7 from Norwalk to Danbury. 

[hotdogPi]

For New Hampshire:

US 3
NH 101
NH 16
NH 9

[GaryV]

Michigan is easy to give examples, because not every freeway is "Interstate-ized".
US-23, US-31, US-131, US-127
M-14, M-6
What's hard is deciding which is the most important.
And there's a number of important non-freeways as well.

[LM117]

Virginia:

US-29
US-58
US-460
US-360

North Carolina (my home state):

US-74
US-64
US-70
US-17
US-117 (section between Goldsboro and I-40)

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana: US 31, US 30, US 41, US 50, US 421

[wriddle082]

South Carolina:

US 17
All the rest are of average importance

Tennessee (no particular order):

TN 111
TN 155
TN 385
US 27
US 51
US 412
US 64
TN 1

[adwerkema]

Michigan is easy to give examples, because not every freeway is "Interstate-ized".
US-23, US-31, US-131, US-127
M-14, M-6
What's hard is deciding which is the most important.
And there's a number of important non-freeways as well.

I'd have to say the most important of those is US-23. Local traffic uses it as the main north-south road in Ann Arbor. The recent addition of flex-lanes shows that the state views the corridor as high priority. Long-distance north-south traffic uses US-23 as an alternative route for I-75. Traffic can depart from I-75 in Toledo, bypass Detroit, and then rejoin I-75 in Flint.


The second most important is a tough call between US-31, US-131, and US-127. All three routes serve as important north-south roads for their respective cities. US-31 for Holland and Muskegon. US-131 for Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. US-127 for Jackson and Lansing. For long distance traveling, US-31 serves as an access road to the Lake Michigan coast for traffic coming from Chicago and points wests of there. US-131 serves as the shortest way for Chicago traffic (and points west of there) to get to Sault Ste. Marie, and U.P., and northern Ontario. US-127 serves the same purpose as US-131 for long distance traffic, but for traffic coming directly south of Michigan.

Though US-131 definitely wins in terms of local traffic, I think US-31 is more important for long distance, as there is probably more tourist traffic along the Lake Michigan coast than through traffic into northern Ontario. By default, this means US-131 takes third place and US-127 takes fourth.


Lastly, for 5th place, I nominate M-28. It seems to be the main east-west throughway in the U.P - connecting northern Wisconsin to Sault Ste. Marie and the northern Lower Peninsula.


So, my order would be:
1) US-23
2) US-31
3) US-131
4) US-127
5) M-28

[amroad17]

Even though I do not live in Ohio, I do work in Ohio.  Here are some I believe are most important...
      -US 23
      -US 30 (Indiana to Canton)
      -US 35 (Dayton to West Virginia)
      -OH 11

[US 89]

If we focus on urban arterials and freeways, then for Utah we have:
-UT 201
-UT 67
-UT 154
-UT 85 (especially in the future)

But if we focus on long-distance traffic, then:
-US 40/189 to Heber City--already an interstate-grade freeway. Heber's four-lane connection to the interstate, plus a good amount of tourist traffic. Turns out a lot of people commute to SLC from Heber.
-US 189, Heber to Provo. Again, heavy commute traffic and tourist traffic, but less so than 40/189. Most of this is four lanes, though there is a 2-lane section left near Deer Creek.
-US 6 (between Spanish Fork and Green River). I don't understand why UDOT has made very little effort to four-lane it, only adding passing lanes in select locations. It is the major through route from the Wasatch Front to all points southeast.
-US 89/91, the Logan metro area's only four-lane connection to the interstate.
-US 40, Heber to Vernal. This could get by as a 2+1, but it shouldn't be 2 lanes with all the tanker trucks on it.

[tdindy88]

Indiana: US 31, US 30, US 41, US 50, US 421

Why US 421? The others make sense for sure, I'd add US 24 and SR 37 (for now) into the mix, but why 421?