Largest Cities Not Connected by Freeway

[Beltway]

Honolulu to Los Angeles?

Would need a plane or boat to connect the two.

Amphibious cars.

[sprjus4]

FritzOwl interstate ferries

[Flint1979]

FritzOwl interstate ferries

One of his classics is the ferry to Hawaii.

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

Has anybody mentioned Hartford-Providence yet?

[sprjus4]

^ Page 1

St Louis-Twin cities
LA-San Jose
Las Vegas-San Francisco
Providence-Hartford

[Beltway]

Has anybody mentioned Hartford-Providence yet?

They had proposed I-84.

[dvferyance]

Indianapolis to Grand Rapids.

I-65 -> I-94 -> I-196 is a reasonable freeway connection between the two if desired.

I-65 takes you out of the way it goes northwest then you have to backtrack east.

[dvferyance]

Wichita to Lincoln.

[sprjus4]

Indianapolis to Grand Rapids.

I-65 -> I-94 -> I-196 is a reasonable freeway connection between the two if desired.

I-65 takes you out of the way it goes northwest then you have to backtrack east.

Yes, but if an all freeway connection is desired, it's only 15 minutes slower, 30 additional miles. If the time difference was less, perhaps only ~5 minutes, it would certainly be an option.

[sparker]

San Jose to just about anywhere south/southeast.   It's touch-and-go whether US 101 will ever reach full freeway status; the various Caltrans districts, even those not hogtied by Coastal Commission requirements, have elected to effect relatively "half-measure" upgrades (cf. Prunedale) along that corridor, so the future prospects there are indeed cloudy.  The best bet -- even though it's been "kicked down the road" for quite some time, is a full-freeway upgrade of CA 152 from Gilroy over to at least I-5 -- considering the route's deficiencies, a pretty daunting task.  But it's already a major regional commercial corridor, with traffic levels rivaling and at times exceeding those of CA 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield.  However, it -- or at least the segment between US 101 and CA 156 -- has been "studied to death" over the past few decades, with issues (wetlands, farmer objections) that have prompted endless "returns to the drawing board".  But recently, with the attention given to the adjacent CA 25 corridor because of regional housing growth, some 152 divergence concepts have been attached to plans for that route -- so there is a glimmer of hope.  Now whether the plans involve a facility that is or can readily be upgraded to a full freeway has yet TBD; one can only hope!

[Verlanka]

Wichita to Lincoln.

Wouldn't I-135, US 81, and I-80 get the job done?

[thspfc]

Wichita to Lincoln.

Wouldn't I-135, US 81, and I-80 get the job done?

US-81 is not a freeway.

[StogieGuy7]

Salt Lake City > Denver

While technically connected by I-80 to I-25, that is a significantly longer routing that taking I-15 to US-6 to i-70 or I-80 to US-287 to CO-14 to I-25.  Made this trip many times and it's a PITA, taking longer than you'd think it would.

Salt Lake's interstate connections are far better to the northwest and west coast than to most other cities in the Mountain Time zone.

Fact is that cities in the mountain west are not as well connected by the interstate system as the rest of the country is. Probably because they were all small back in the 1950's when the interstate system was plotted out. 

[sprjus4]

Salt Lake City > Denver

While technically connected by I-80 to I-25, that is a significantly longer routing that taking I-15 to US-6 to i-70 or I-80 to US-287 to CO-14 to I-25.  Made this trip many times and it's a PITA, taking longer than you'd think it would.

Per Google Maps, I-80 to I-25 is only 5 minutes, 15 miles longer. I would say that's close enough to say the cities are connected by an interstate, relatively directly if you're staying on the interstate system. For me personally, it would be more of a hassle to get off, follow largely 2-lane road down, go through Fort Collins, just to save 5 minutes (assuming you don't get caught behind slower traffic with minimal opportunity to pass, assuming you don't get stuck at a long red light, etc. that would easily eliminate any time savings) rather than just to stay on and meet I-25 at Cheyenne.

[Some one]

Houston>Corpus Christi
Houston>Laredo
Corpus Christi>Laredo
Houston>College Staton>Waco
DFW>Witchita Falls>Amarillo
DFW>Lubbock
Austin>San Angelo
San Antonio>San Angelo
Laredo>Rio Grande Valley
There's a lot of decent-sized cities in Texas not connected by freeways. However, the current options are stoplight-free, and there are plans to upgrade some of these routes to interstates (though it'll take a long time to complete, if ever).

[sprjus4]

Houston>Laredo

I-10 and I-35.

[Some one]

Houston>Laredo

I-10 and I-35.

It's faster if you take US 59 to Laredo, although it's only by 4 minutes.

[sprjus4]

Houston>Laredo

I-10 and I-35.

It's faster if you take US 59 to Laredo, although it's only by 4 minutes.

Towns, red lights, slow traffic, etc. can all hinder that 4 minutes. Granted, heavy I-10 traffic, truck micropassing, and San Antonio can to.

I suppose it's a "pick your own poison" scenario.

On a regular day, I'd just take the interstate, but maybe not during peak traffic periods.

[hotdogPi]

There can be cities not connected by freeway where a freeway is still the fastest route, specifically if there is no direct route connecting the two (as opposed to a surface route).

[webny99]

There can be cities not connected by freeway where a freeway is still the fastest route

For the purposes of this thread, though, if the fastest route is already freeway, or if it's a toss-up (within 3% travel time) between the freeway or the non-freeway, then that's close enough.

Personally, I would say Houston-Laredo is fine as-is. US 59 is a decently high-quality route, and anybody that wants to take the freeway can do so for an extra 5-10 minutes added a 5-hour trip. It's not completely lacking freeway options like Phoenix-Vegas or St. Louis-Des Moines.

[sprjus4]

Personally, I would say Houston-Laredo is fine as-is. US 59 is a decently high-quality route, and anybody that wants to take the freeway can do so for an extra 5-10 minutes added a 5-hour trip. It's not completely lacking freeway options like Phoenix-Vegas or St. Louis-Des Moines.

Agreed, and this is one of the reasons I feel that I-69W will be the last to be completed, if ever. The existing route is largely super 2 (not limited-access, rather high quality 2-lane, full paved shoulders, 75 mph speed limit, etc) with light traffic volumes. The other two routes (I-69E and I-69C) actually connect Houston and San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley up two major trucking corridors that lack interstate access.