When I-69 is completed...

[bugo]

...Where will US 59 end? Texas has been aggressive in decommissioning US routes that parallel interstates and I expect US 59 will one day be truncated. It could end at I-30 in Texarkana but Arkansas has never been too keen on US 59 so it might be easy to get them on board to truncating US 59 to the US 270 intersection in Heavener, OK. It could also end at US 71 in Acorn, AR.

Another idea is to decommission US 259 and reroute US 59 to replace all of US 259. Apparently rerouting US 59 out of Arkansas along modern US 259 was planned at one time but never happened for whatever reason.

[Henry]

I could see US 59 end in Texarkana. Any sections that are bypassed by I-69 (or I-69W) could easily become Business Loops off that Interstate.

[MikieTimT]

... we will all be dead.

[GreenLanternCorps]

... we will all be dead.

In the year 2525, if Man is still alive...

(Seriously, I think the final status of US 59 is not an issue we will have to deal with for a while.)

[capt.ron]

...Where will US 59 end? Texas has been aggressive in decommissioning US routes that parallel interstates and I expect US 59 will one day be truncated. It could end at I-30 in Texarkana but Arkansas has never been too keen on US 59 so it might be easy to get them on board to truncating US 59 to the US 270 intersection in Heavener, OK. It could also end at US 71 in Acorn, AR.

Another idea is to decommission US 259 and reroute US 59 to replace all of US 259. Apparently rerouting US 59 out of Arkansas along modern US 259 was planned at one time but never happened for whatever reason.

I could see that happening. The AR sections of US 59 could be either be renumbered as AR 359 or as AR 59 (it may have to run concurrent with US 71 from the Fort Smith area to Texarkana. Change the routing of US 59 in Oklahoma to follow the route of US 259 so it then stays out of Arkansas completely.

[Avalanchez71]

What a waste of good ole tax payer money on a boondoggle.

[Tomahawkin]

Hopefully either IH 49 or IH 69 Will be completed by 2030???

[Bobby5280]

I could see an outside chance of I-49 being completed between I-40 and I-30 by the year 2030 if the federal government got serious about supporting major highway projects again. If it's up to Arkansas to piece-meal together that section of I-49 on their own then the road may not get completed until the year 2040.

I would be surprised if Texas' segments of I-69 were completed by the year 2030. The current pace feels more like a completion date past 2040. And Texas looks like it's doing more on I-69 projects than the other states along the corridor. It could be the year 2050 or beyond before the rest of I-69 is complete (if it is ever completed).

[txstateends]

I can see TX (and AR?) somehow scaling back or decommissioning US 59 where it would shadow or overlap I-69, I-369, and I-49, since the state has had history in that regard before.  At least they haven't tried to blot out US 87 along I-27, nor the rest of US 77 between OK and Waco, US 67 between Mount Pleasant and the Hunt-Rockwall county line, or US 90 between San Antonio and LA (the Dallas and Houston areas notwithstanding).  I've not run across anything yet regarding any type of possible US 59 truncation.  If I-69 and I-369 are completed, I wouldn't cry in my beer at any loss of US 59.  I guess that might be because I don't have the history with it like I do with other roads; also US 59 in TX has not exactly fit the US numerical order (it should be somewhere farther east, really).

[Tomahawkin]

Texas gets so much money from toll roads to use on other interstate projects. It's why I advocated at least a 50 cent to 1 dollar toll on 49 between the Boston mountains and IH 40. That would help a lot with the snowbird traffic...

[MikieTimT]

What a waste of good ole tax payer money on a boondoggle.

I don't see it as a boondoggle so much as poorly routed to serve a more than local traffic as it stands.  It won't save time as it is for many transiting the states of LA and AR unless I-30/east of LR I-40 gets down to LOS D or below.

[nexus73]

... we will all be dead.

In the year 2525, if Man is still alive...

(Seriously, I think the final status of US 59 is not an issue we will have to deal with for a while.)

Your thoughts and mine are close.  I figure the day these freeways are completed will be when the Apocalypse in some form strikes...LOL!

Rick

[sparker]

...Where will US 59 end? Texas has been aggressive in decommissioning US routes that parallel interstates and I expect US 59 will one day be truncated. It could end at I-30 in Texarkana but Arkansas has never been too keen on US 59 so it might be easy to get them on board to truncating US 59 to the US 270 intersection in Heavener, OK. It could also end at US 71 in Acorn, AR.

Another idea is to decommission US 259 and reroute US 59 to replace all of US 259. Apparently rerouting US 59 out of Arkansas along modern US 259 was planned at one time but never happened for whatever reason.

I could see that happening. The AR sections of US 59 could be either be renumbered as AR 359 or as AR 59 (it may have to run concurrent with US 71 from the Fort Smith area to Texarkana. Change the routing of US 59 in Oklahoma to follow the route of US 259 so it then stays out of Arkansas completely.

At which point my extended family down in Broken Bow will be raising their glasses (they're mostly teetotalers, so they'll be filled with generic cola) to finally having a N-S 2dus through their town.  Something of a Pyrrhic victory, as commercial traffic would be shunted over (hopefully) to I-49 by that time -- not that US 259 is terribly amenable to such traffic presently -- the winding northern end and the alignment convolutions to get from US 70 to TX are barriers to that.  But it'll give them something to talk about -- that area doesn't attract a lot of attention!

[sprjus4]

I saw the title and laughed.

[bugo]

...Where will US 59 end? Texas has been aggressive in decommissioning US routes that parallel interstates and I expect US 59 will one day be truncated. It could end at I-30 in Texarkana but Arkansas has never been too keen on US 59 so it might be easy to get them on board to truncating US 59 to the US 270 intersection in Heavener, OK. It could also end at US 71 in Acorn, AR.

Another idea is to decommission US 259 and reroute US 59 to replace all of US 259. Apparently rerouting US 59 out of Arkansas along modern US 259 was planned at one time but never happened for whatever reason.

I could see that happening. The AR sections of US 59 could be either be renumbered as AR 359 or as AR 59 (it may have to run concurrent with US 71 from the Fort Smith area to Texarkana. Change the routing of US 59 in Oklahoma to follow the route of US 259 so it then stays out of Arkansas completely.

There are no parts of US 59 in Arkansas that aren't overlapped with US 270 or US 71 so there would be no need to renumber anything.

[MantyMadTown]

I wouldn't know if I-69 will be built in Arkansas and Louisiana. My main goals for I-69 are completing the segments in Texas, and the one from Indy to Memphis. Those are obviously the main ones that look the most important and are mostly likely to get off the ground. If traffic needs rise and there eventually needs to be a new I-69 segment in Arkansas and Louisiana after those first segments are built, then by all means it should be built, but that may not happen until the far future.

[amroad17]

...it will be used for "classic" go-kart racing as much of humanity will be in flying vehicles by then.
...our great-grandchildren (at 40 years old) will be saying, "I remember when great-grandpa in the 2020's talked about when the highway will be finished in a few years."
...three days later the New Madrid earthquake will destroy it between Shreveport and Indianapolis.
...the earth will put on its brakes and time will stand still.

[The Ghostbuster]

When I-69 is completed... Hell will have truly frozen over!

[MantyMadTown]

When I-69 is completed... Hell will have truly frozen over!

Too bad I-69 doesn't go anywhere near Hell...

[ilpt4u]

When I-69 is completed... Hell will have truly frozen over!

Too bad I-69 doesn't go anywhere near Hell...

No, but a decent portion of the US Motoring Public would use portions of I-69 to reach Hell (Michigan), at least from Indy to Fort Wayne

[MikieTimT]

When I-69 is completed... Hell will have truly frozen over!

Too bad I-69 doesn't go anywhere near Hell...

No, but a decent portion of the US Motoring Public would use portions of I-69 to reach Hell (Michigan), at least from Indy to Fort Wayne

Oh, well then Hell freezes over annually then.

[Stephane Dumas]

... we will all be dead.

In the year 2525, if Man is still alive...

(Seriously, I think the final status of US 59 is not an issue we will have to deal with for a while.)

Or maybe it'll be when the Lions or the Browns will win a Super Bowl championship or the Cubs will win another World Series title.

Also could we imagine some road fans creating some US-59 clubs and associations just like US-66?

[MNHighwayMan]

Also could we imagine some road fans creating some US-59 clubs and associations just like US-66?

That seems unlikely, given that US-59 isn't going anywhere in its northernmost states. But maybe there'd be a small movement to sign a "historic US-59" in Texas if it disappears in large parts from that state.

[The Ghostbuster]

What about "historic US 77, or 83 or even 281"?

[MantyMadTown]

I don't think those highways are as historic as US 66 was. US 66 had a long history of carrying people west to New Mexico, Arizona, and California, and became a symbol of American car culture. US 59, 77, and 281 don't have the same legacy that US 66 has today.