Lowest quality numbered highway in your area?

[RyanGentry]

Mine would probably have to be FM 1376

[Max Rockatansky]

County Route J1 by a mile.  A lot of it is single lane in the Diablo Range and honestly would be better off with a top layer of gravel to cover the jagged asphalt.

[hbelkins]

KY 199 in Pike County. Much of it is a one-lane gravel road winding along the side of a mountain.

[Bitmapped]

KY 199 in Pike County. Much of it is a one-lane gravel road winding along the side of a mountain.

Which begs the question - why is this a state route? KY 3419 isn't great but it's at least 1.5 lanes wide and paved and is about 3 miles east.

[Quillz]

I'd say CA-23. While it's well paved, there is zero reason to take this route when Kanan-Dume Road is just to the east and is both shorter, wider, and straighter. Making CA-23 kind of low quality in a relative sense. For actual poor quality, probably CA-270. It has nine miles of unpaved dirt, IIRC.

[Otto Yamamoto]

The Cross-Bronx Expressway

STV100-2

[Brandon]

Locally, US-52 west of IL-47.  It's a glorified county highway masquerading as a US highway.

[sparker]

In northern CA in general, I'd have to say CA 169 -- both sections.  Single lane, essentially a local street/road with no other purpose except as exactly that -- despite its original concept as a Klamath River regional highway and connector.     

[JJBers]

CT 275, while in Connecticut, everything is well kept, CT 275 not only has a one lane underpass in Eagleville (Mansfield, CT), it's useless beyond CT 32.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'd say CA-23. While it's well paved, there is zero reason to take this route when Kanan-Dume Road is just to the east and is both shorter, wider, and straighter. Making CA-23 kind of low quality in a relative sense. For actual poor quality, probably CA-270. It has nine miles of unpaved dirt, IIRC.

The dirt section of Bodie Road isn't under state maintenance.  The original alignment definition went all the way to the ghost town but the park wanted the last three miles to be dirt to have a level of authenticity, plus it probably deters vandalism given how bad the dirt is wash boarded.  There is even an "end" placard/shield when the asphalt runs out:

270CAend by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Speaking of dirt what about CA 173?  The dirt segment is just boarded up with a gate and abandoned by Caltrans nowadays.  CA 39 is an obvious long term abortion that was never fixed in the Islip Saddle.

[Bitmapped]

In West Virginia, I'd probably say WV 72 is the lowest quality state route on its segment from Hendricks to WV 32 in Tucker County. The road is paved but trucks are banned, there are no center or edge lines, it has a 35 speed limit, much of it's about 1.5 lanes wide, and it has a 35mph speed limit. WV 72 should be truncated back to US 219 at Parsons.

[fillup420]

In North Carolina, NC 90 drops off the pavement and onto gravel for the westernmost 20 miles. Not good quality gravel for that matter. The crazy part is that NC 90 was at one point one of the highest quality roads in the state, as well as a very important route.

[Thing 342]

Sticking to the VA Primary system, I'll go with VA-91 between VA-42 and Tazewell, with the section between SR-601 and SR-604 in particular being the only unpaved section of primary routing in the state (and having been so for over 60 years). The rest isn't much better, being narrow asphalt without any striping. This section feels exactly like a rural secondary route yet inexplicably remains on the primary system.

[JJBers]

CT 275, while in Connecticut, everything is well kept, CT 275 not only has a one lane underpass in Eagleville (Mansfield, CT), it's useless beyond CT 32.

]
Here's a photo of it.
I believe it should be unsigned beyond CT 32 at the least

[Quillz]

"SEE YOURSELF FROM THIS"

[hbelkins]

KY 199 in Pike County. Much of it is a one-lane gravel road winding along the side of a mountain.

Which begs the question - why is this a state route? KY 3419 isn't great but it's at least 1.5 lanes wide and paved and is about 3 miles east.

KY 199 has been in the state system, and numbered as such, on the oldest official state-issued Pike County maps that I've seen.

In West Virginia, I'd probably say WV 72 is the lowest quality state route on its segment from Hendricks to WV 32 in Tucker County. The road is paved but trucks are banned, there are no center or edge lines, it has a 35 speed limit, much of it's about 1.5 lanes wide, and it has a 35mph speed limit. WV 72 should be truncated back to US 219 at Parsons.

And it's little brother (Alt. WV 72) near Kingwood is just about as bad, but with worse pavement. Also, WV 67 east of Bethany. Also, WV 71 north of Matoaka.

After having now driven every mile of signed state highway in West Virginia except WV 53 and WV 5 between Elizabeth and Burnsville, I think the reason that WV 72 is signed as a primary route on to WV 32 is that it appears to me that West Virginia wants a through state primary route serving every incorporated town. While Virginia will end state primary routes and continue them as secondary routes in incorporated places, West Virginia doesn't. Every signed state primary route ends at another primary route, US route or interstate. (Except WV 279, which seems to have been extended from I-79 to the entrance to the FBI facility).

[Max Rockatansky]

"SEE YOURSELF FROM THIS"

Missing a photo link?

[JJBers]

"SEE YOURSELF FROM THIS"

Missing a photo link?

?
My photo should be working normally.
Ohhhh... see the railroad bridge from the post above.

[Max Rockatansky]

"SEE YOURSELF FROM THIS"

Missing a photo link?

?
My photo should be working normally.
Ohhhh... see the railroad bridge from the post above.

Yeah brain farted that one.  I was half expecting some far flung mountain road in California given it was a post from Quillz.

[bzakharin]

NJ 154 seems to get horrible potholes every few months despite actually being maintained fairly well.

[doorknob60]

OR-27 from Prineville, OR south to US-20. There is value of a good connection between the two (with some large data centers and warehouses in Prineville, plus as a bypass of Bend). However, OR-27 winds through canyons and difficult terrain, and is not fully paved. I have no idea why it's a state highway, because only a few miles to the west, there is a fully paved, mostly straight and flat county road (Millican Rd.) used for this exact purpose. It would be a logical fit in the state highway system.

[Flint1979]

OR-27 from Prineville, OR south to US-20. There is value of a good connection between the two (with some large data centers and warehouses in Prineville, plus as a bypass of Bend). However, OR-27 winds through canyons and difficult terrain, and is not fully paved. I have no idea why it's a state highway, because only a few miles to the west, there is a fully paved, mostly straight and flat county road (Millican Rd.) used for this exact purpose. It would be a logical fit in the state highway system.

Geez looking at both OR-27 and Millican Road the choice between the two would be easy. From what I see Millican Road is a straight direct route to the same place that OR-27 takes you to with OR-27 not being a good route.

[Flint1979]

For Michigan I guess I could say that M-119 is a lower quality. It has nothing to do with the pavement and is paved for the entire stretch but in the Tunnel of Trees section between Cross Village and Harbor Springs has no center line and is about 1.5 lanes wide. M-119 is not a primary highway though.

[wxfree]

Reading these descriptions makes me realize that Texas doesn't make a habit of building roads like those described here.  Every TxDOT road is paved, center-striped, and signed (with some exceptions such as those below).  Almost all have center reflectors, although some minor roads in urban areas with street lights don't.  Pretty close to all are at least 22 feet wide, although some have narrower bridges (I've seen some 18-footers replaced with wider ones recently).  Edge striping is not as universal on narrow FM roads.

The nearest truly substandard road to me is Park Road 7 in Meridian State Park.  It is a designated highway, but it carries only in-park traffic at very low speeds.  Most of the road is about 15 feet wide and has no stripes.  On one side it's a spur with two-way traffic, so trailers and large vehicles are banned.  On the other side of the park it's a one-way loop so larger vehicles can use that part.

I'm pretty sure the most substandard road is SH 165, which is the drive inside the state cemetery.   It looks like it's about 10 feet wide, it has a speed limit of 10, it has no stripes, and it's closed at night.  Other than these special facility roads that just happen to be designated highways, we really don't have a lot of low design standard problems.

There are, of course, roads in bad shape.  The much-lamented (mostly by me) low-quality chip seal epidemic has left some low-traffic roads visibly worn within a few days of being rebuilt.  These roads are usually fairly smooth and suitable for high speeds in dry weather, but may be slippery in rain.  There are also at least two chip-sealed Interstates.  Overall, the system is quite good.  We benefit from not having a lot of freeze damage or having to spend a lot on snow removal.

[Max Rockatansky]

For Arizona I'd say it would have to be AZ 88 but that's an easy target because of the dirt segment which definitely isn't kept up by ADOT enough with the heavy wash boarding.  The asphalt segment of the route is really bad also and could use some from Apache Junction to Tortilla Flat.   AZ 83 also comes to mind with bad asphalt surfacing and narrow roadways the entire route.