The Worst Concurrencies

[Hunty2022]

So, Virginia Secondary Route 634 in Rockingham County is concurrent with US 33 for a certain part, but both lanes of SR-634 are concurrent with US 33 for different distances.

Southbound SR-634 use US 33 for what seems like half a mile, but that's only on West US 33. There's a crossover, which SR-634 uses, just to turn around onto East US 33, the 2 routes head together for a smaller distance, where SR-634 gets onto a different road to go to US 340.
Northbound isn't as bad though. All North SR-634 has to do is turn onto East US 33, go a tiny distance, and go onto its own road, reuniting with Southbound.

The whole thing is signed for SR-634 too. Is there any other awful concurrencies like this, or even worse?

[Max Rockatansky]

The multiplex of MN 1/MN 169 is a little long considering the latter never was built out to US 61 like originally envisioned.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The multiplex of MN 1/MN 169 is a little long considering the latter never was built out to US 61 like originally envisioned.

The stub east of Ely was originally TH 221 into the 1950s, long after any plans for the through road had died. Why 169 was extended, I'm not sure, but it's my understanding the stub is on the turnback list.

[US 89]

Georgia is full of state routes that consist of completely independent sections of road connected by long pointless concurrencies.

Allow me to illustrate with SR 154. Basically, there are two useful sections of this route, one on each end: an 8 mile N/S stretch connecting SR 54 at Sharpsburg to US 29 south of Palmetto, and then a 10-mile E/W stretch of Memorial Drive through Atlanta. Those are connected by nearly 40 miles of concurrencies with US 29/SR 14, Alt US 29/Alt SR 14, SR 70 (with SR 92 also hopping on for a bit), SR 166, US 29/SR 14 again (but now also with SR 139 for some time), and SR 14 alone to downtown Atlanta where 14 randomly ends and 154 continues. And 154 is not the primary label on any one of those overlaps.

SR 139 is similar but is not quite as bad. SR 520 has two independent bits at opposite ends of the state connected by a very long concurrency with US 82. I could go on.

[jp the roadgeek]

US 202 with any route

[fillup420]

Georgia is full of state routes that consist of completely independent sections of road connected by long pointless concurrencies.

Allow me to illustrate with SR 154. Basically, there are two useful sections of this route, one on each end: an 8 mile N/S stretch connecting SR 54 at Sharpsburg to US 29 south of Palmetto, and then a 10-mile E/W stretch of Memorial Drive through Atlanta. Those are connected by nearly 40 miles of concurrencies with US 29/SR 14, Alt US 29/Alt SR 14, SR 70 (with SR 92 also hopping on for a bit), SR 166, US 29/SR 14 again (but now also with SR 139 for some time), and SR 14 alone to downtown Atlanta where 14 randomly ends and 154 continues. And 154 is not the primary label on any one of those overlaps.

SR 139 is similar but is not quite as bad. SR 520 has two independent bits at opposite ends of the state connected by a very long concurrency with US 82. I could go on.

Georgia's unique way of signing routes has always confused me. I don't understand why there are so many long pointless multiplexes.

[SkyPesos]

OH 3 south of Columbus: entirely concurrent with US 22 and US 62. Yes, I know it's called SR 3 because it passes through the 3C cities, except this isn't the fastest way between the 3C cities (I-71 is), and if US 66 can get decommissioned, so can this section.

[cockroachking]

US 202 with any route

Agreed.

Here are some from NY:
NY-9N: Two concurrencies with its parent (including a wrong way one) and a 25 mile concurrency with NY-22.
NY-55: Independent north-south segment and an independent east-west segment, before a 37 miles of concurrency with US-209 and US-44. Then, there are two more independent east-west segments east of the Hudson separated by a 7 mile north-south concurrency with NY-22.
NY-78: An independent east-west segment and an independent north-south segment separated by 15 miles of concurrency with US-20A, NY-16, and US-20.
NY-96: I would love to know why it is concurrent with NY-34 rather than following NY-96B to Ithaca.
NY-205: The northernmost 2 miles are concurrent with NY-80 for no good reason.
NY-213: The "easternmost" 0.3 miles are concurrent with NY-32 for no good reason, other than it potentially being a leftover from when US-9W followed Broadway.
NY-324: Why this route is still concurrent with I-190 over both Grand Island Bridges puzzles me. NY-324 should be left for the mainland while the route on Grand Island should be given a new number. I know this is a relic from when the Bridges were first built, but these changes should have happened as soon as the Niagara Thruway was built. (At least the concurrency over the North Grand Island Bridge is unsigned.)
NY-343: Just up the road from NY-55 is NY-343, which is a 18.5 mile east-west route, with a stupid 7.3 mile north-south concurrency with NY-22.
NY-443: The easternmost 1.3 miles are concurrent with US-9W, which is a remnant of NY-443's history as NY-43 previously.
NY-812: Most, if not all, of its concurrencies serve no purpose other than giving the whole route one number.

[amroad17]

^ NY 812 was commissioned to have as few route numbers to travel between Deposit and Ogdensburg.  The routing is NY 8 from Deposit, NY 8/NY 12 through Utica, NY 12 to Lowville, then NY 812 (a play on NY 8 & 12) to Ogdensburg.  These concurrencies that NY 812 has are needed to maintain the continuity of that routing, just as you stated.

[adventurernumber1]

Georgia is full of state routes that consist of completely independent sections of road connected by long pointless concurrencies.

Allow me to illustrate with SR 154. Basically, there are two useful sections of this route, one on each end: an 8 mile N/S stretch connecting SR 54 at Sharpsburg to US 29 south of Palmetto, and then a 10-mile E/W stretch of Memorial Drive through Atlanta. Those are connected by nearly 40 miles of concurrencies with US 29/SR 14, Alt US 29/Alt SR 14, SR 70 (with SR 92 also hopping on for a bit), SR 166, US 29/SR 14 again (but now also with SR 139 for some time), and SR 14 alone to downtown Atlanta where 14 randomly ends and 154 continues. And 154 is not the primary label on any one of those overlaps.

SR 139 is similar but is not quite as bad. SR 520 has two independent bits at opposite ends of the state connected by a very long concurrency with US 82. I could go on.

Georgia's unique way of signing routes has always confused me. I don't understand why there are so many long pointless multiplexes.

Georgia does indeed have some unique state route habits, such as having a hidden state route concurrent with each interstate within the state, as well as long routes like GA 1, GA 3, and GA 7 concurrent with US Highways (virtually entirely) throughout the state (i.e. US 27, US 19-then-US 41, and US 41 respectively). Of all these patterns, the 500-series state highways seem to have the most practicality behind them: this being because they denote significant corridors across the state -- such as GA 520 from Columbus to Brunswick across southern Georgia, GA 540 as the Fall Line "Freeway" across Middle Georgia (connecting Columbus, Macon, and Augusta), and GA 515 as part of the ADHS system (Corridor A) and an important connection between the Atlanta Metro Area and the north Georgia mountains. With all three of these routes, a miniscule amount of the designation is on a road by itself with no other concurrencies, with the routes mostly being multiplexed with one or more other highways almost the whole time (whether it be state routes, US Highways, or even an interstate (as with I-75/GA 540)). But despite this, the designations serve their purpose as a consistent number the whole way with all of these distinct corridors, which is an interesting concept. But as for some of those other concurrencies, such as with GA 154, those are definitely much less necessary. But hey, both it and GA 166 can lay claim to the remnants of what once could have been I-420 (and are shown on equal footing on the BGS off of I-285). 

[kurumi]

US 189 could lose 64 miles of continuous, superfluous overlap by being truncated to Daniel, WY at US 191.

(There are some benefits, though; I got a US 189 pic without having to drive south of Jackson, as well as the 4-way US overlap you see here: https://goo.gl/maps/ARGbpfQsdvV8i5LZ6)

[Max Rockatansky]

Probably the worst in California is the supposed overlap of CA 1 south of Gaviota Pass on US 101 to El Rio.  I don't recall ever actually seeing a multiplex sign assembly on US 101 south of Gaviota Pass unlike the multiplexes which exist to the north.  CA 1 has a segment on the Rincon Seawall which might as well be a standalone highway.  There is a signage gap now in the El Rip/Oxnard area which reflects relinquishments but does nothing to aid the driver in finding the PCH segment of CA 1.  This all could have been easily solved by reverting CA 3 back over the corridor of US 101A during the 1964 Renumbering.  Considering removal of long multiplexes was a primary goal of the 1964 Renumbering in retrospect extending CA 1 south of Gaviota Pass seems like an odd choice.

[skluth]

Wisconsin has a large number of bad interstate concurrencies but the Wisconsin concurrency I dislike most is WI 32/57 between De Pere and Millhome. There were only two short concurrencies of WI 32 and WI 57 when I was growing up. Both included the ends of the current concurrency; in De Pere from the Claude Allouez Bridge to CTH PP (formerly WI 32) and from Kiel to Millhome. WI 32 once ran along CTH PP, CTH W, US 151, and WI 67 between De Pere and Kiel but it's been this ugly concurrency for several years now. WI 32 has several other concurrencies but most of the others are pretty old and many are in areas where there aren't many other options for routing (e.g., US 8, WI 64) or where a short concurrency makes sense (WI 29, I-43). My bias is partly because I grew up in the area but that doesn't mean I can't complain about it.

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana:

All the US highway concurrencies on I-465, which have been debated to death so I won't comment further.

US 150 being concurrent with US 50 and US 41 from Shoals-Vincennes-Terre Haute. Route should have ended at US 50 in Shoals. The Terre Haute-Danville segment doesn't need to be a US highway at all, and the Danville-Quad Cities segment should have been US 136. The actual US 136 west from Danville could have been a US X24.

IN 19 takes an out of the way concurrency with IN 18 east, IN 13 south, and IN 22 west, in order to connect the independent northern and southern sections. Following the concurrency costs you 7 minutes versus IN 18 west, CR 300 E south, and IN 22 west. Should just be two separate routes.

IN 39 has a long concurrency with US 421 between Buffalo and Frankfort, where IN 39 south from there could just be an extension of IN 75 that ends in Frankfort.

[GaryA]

Probably the worst in California is the supposed overlap of CA 1 south of Gaviota Pass on US 101 to El Rio.  I don't recall ever actually seeing a multiplex sign assembly on US 101 south of Gaviota Pass unlike the multiplexes which exist to the north.  CA 1 has a segment on the Rincon Seawall which might as well be a standalone highway.  There is a signage gap now in the El Rip/Oxnard area which reflects relinquishments but does nothing to aid the driver in finding the PCH segment of CA 1.  This all could have been easily solved by reverting CA 3 back over the corridor of US 101A during the 1964 Renumbering.  Considering removal of long multiplexes was a primary goal of the 1964 Renumbering in retrospect extending CA 1 south of Gaviota Pass seems like an odd choice.

US 101 and CA 1 used to be both displayed on the BGS overhead at the SB CA 126 split.  But the CA 1 shield was greened out (first just the number, which left an odd blank shield, and then the shield outline).  You can still see the traces at https://goo.gl/maps/owfyXEXVq8RgGQqB7.  But that could have been less of "let's sign both highways in the multiplex" and more "let's sign CA 1 to reassure drivers that the CA 1 exit is coming up, but this isn't it yet".

It's definitely odd to see the signs (at Oxnard Blvd, the old 1/101 split) denoting the truck restrictions on CA 1 when there are no other references to CA 1.

[SectorZ]

MA 4/225 from Bedford to their end at MA 2 in Lexington. One could end in Bedford, but for some reason they both hold hands to their death after a 7 mile overlap.

[Hobart]

I would like to nominate US-400 both with US-166 and US-50.

US-400 terminates when US-50 intersects US-385 in Colorado, with US-50 still ongoing. US-166 and US-400 share a terminus.

US-400 has a considerable amount of mileage that is useless, given that the highway has another number already. These concurrencies merely exist to extend the highway unnecessarily, and in my opinion, never held any real value.

[MATraveler128]

MA 129 has a pointless concurrency with US 1 from Saugus to Lynnfield. If they really wanted it to reach Marblehead, they should've routed it along Lowell and Salem Streets to the traffic circle in Lynn rather than sending it through downtown Wakefield.

[US 89]

Georgia is full of state routes that consist of completely independent sections of road connected by long pointless concurrencies.

Allow me to illustrate with SR 154. Basically, there are two useful sections of this route, one on each end: an 8 mile N/S stretch connecting SR 54 at Sharpsburg to US 29 south of Palmetto, and then a 10-mile E/W stretch of Memorial Drive through Atlanta. Those are connected by nearly 40 miles of concurrencies with US 29/SR 14, Alt US 29/Alt SR 14, SR 70 (with SR 92 also hopping on for a bit), SR 166, US 29/SR 14 again (but now also with SR 139 for some time), and SR 14 alone to downtown Atlanta where 14 randomly ends and 154 continues. And 154 is not the primary label on any one of those overlaps.

SR 139 is similar but is not quite as bad. SR 520 has two independent bits at opposite ends of the state connected by a very long concurrency with US 82. I could go on.

Georgia’s unique way of signing routes has always confused me. I don’t understand why there are so many long pointless multiplexes.

Georgia does indeed have some unique state route habits, such as having a hidden state route concurrent with each interstate within the state, as well as long routes like GA 1, GA 3, and GA 7 concurrent with US Highways (virtually entirely) throughout the state (i.e. US 27, US 19-then-US 41, and US 41 respectively). Of all these patterns, the 500-series state highways seem to have the most practicality behind them: this being because they denote significant corridors across the state -- such as GA 520 from Columbus to Brunswick across southern Georgia, GA 540 as the Fall Line "Freeway" across Middle Georgia (connecting Columbus, Macon, and Augusta), and GA 515 as part of the ADHS system (Corridor A) and an important connection between the Atlanta Metro Area and the north Georgia mountains. With all three of these routes, a miniscule amount of the designation is on a road by itself with no other concurrencies, with the routes mostly being multiplexed with one or more other highways almost the whole time (whether it be state routes, US Highways, or even an interstate (as with I-75/GA 540)). But despite this, the designations serve their purpose as a consistent number the whole way with all of these distinct corridors, which is an interesting concept. But as for some of those other concurrencies, such as with GA 154, those are definitely much less necessary. But hey, both it and GA 166 can lay claim to the remnants of what once could have been I-420 (and are shown on equal footing on the BGS off of I-285). 

The concept of having a concurrent state route with every interstate or US route is not unique to Georgia - several other states also in the southeast have this practice as well (AL, TN, FL come to mind). What is unique about Georgia is that they sign that concurrent SR on US routes.

Also - where are GA 1 and GA 3 independent routes? To my knowledge they are entirely concurrent with US 27, and US 19 and/or 41 respectively.

[adventurernumber1]

Georgia is full of state routes that consist of completely independent sections of road connected by long pointless concurrencies.

Allow me to illustrate with SR 154. Basically, there are two useful sections of this route, one on each end: an 8 mile N/S stretch connecting SR 54 at Sharpsburg to US 29 south of Palmetto, and then a 10-mile E/W stretch of Memorial Drive through Atlanta. Those are connected by nearly 40 miles of concurrencies with US 29/SR 14, Alt US 29/Alt SR 14, SR 70 (with SR 92 also hopping on for a bit), SR 166, US 29/SR 14 again (but now also with SR 139 for some time), and SR 14 alone to downtown Atlanta where 14 randomly ends and 154 continues. And 154 is not the primary label on any one of those overlaps.

SR 139 is similar but is not quite as bad. SR 520 has two independent bits at opposite ends of the state connected by a very long concurrency with US 82. I could go on.

Georgia's unique way of signing routes has always confused me. I don't understand why there are so many long pointless multiplexes.

Georgia does indeed have some unique state route habits, such as having a hidden state route concurrent with each interstate within the state, as well as long routes like GA 1, GA 3, and GA 7 concurrent with US Highways (virtually entirely) throughout the state (i.e. US 27, US 19-then-US 41, and US 41 respectively). Of all these patterns, the 500-series state highways seem to have the most practicality behind them: this being because they denote significant corridors across the state -- such as GA 520 from Columbus to Brunswick across southern Georgia, GA 540 as the Fall Line "Freeway" across Middle Georgia (connecting Columbus, Macon, and Augusta), and GA 515 as part of the ADHS system (Corridor A) and an important connection between the Atlanta Metro Area and the north Georgia mountains. With all three of these routes, a miniscule amount of the designation is on a road by itself with no other concurrencies, with the routes mostly being multiplexed with one or more other highways almost the whole time (whether it be state routes, US Highways, or even an interstate (as with I-75/GA 540)). But despite this, the designations serve their purpose as a consistent number the whole way with all of these distinct corridors, which is an interesting concept. But as for some of those other concurrencies, such as with GA 154, those are definitely much less necessary. But hey, both it and GA 166 can lay claim to the remnants of what once could have been I-420 (and are shown on equal footing on the BGS off of I-285). 

The concept of having a concurrent state route with every interstate or US route is not unique to Georgia - several other states also in the southeast have this practice as well (AL, TN, FL come to mind). What is unique about Georgia is that they sign that concurrent SR on US routes.

Also - where are GA 1 and GA 3 independent routes? To my knowledge they are entirely concurrent with US 27, and US 19 and/or 41 respectively.

The main routes are entirely concurrent, but they have a couple of miscellaneous routes such as connectors and spurs that have independent utility (such as GA 3 CONN in Dalton), and GA 1 Loop is designated on the bypass around Rome, but I believe the core routes are indeed entirely concurrent. It wasn't until my looking through Wikipedia pages last night that I actually realized that routes like GA 3 and GA 7 that had predated the US Highway system and were then supplanted by US Highways, were left to stay with the US Highways rather than be decommissioned or changed. So those state routes are old relics that are still signed to this day, which is cool.

[kphoger]

I would like to nominate US-400 both with US-166 and US-50.

US-400 terminates when US-50 intersects US-385 in Colorado, with US-50 still ongoing. US-166 and US-400 share a terminus.

US-400 has a considerable amount of mileage that is useless, given that the highway has another number already. These concurrencies merely exist to extend the highway unnecessarily, and in my opinion, never held any real value.

Yes, US-400 should not exist west of Dodge City.  Its original terminus at Garden City was bad enough, yet they extended it instead of truncating it...



My own nomination for Kansas is that I-135 doesn't need to exist at all.  Everything but the southernmost half-mile is concurrent with US-81.  Just call it US-81.

[Big John]

IL/MO 110.

[Scott5114]

My own nomination for Kansas is that I-135 doesn't need to exist at all.  Everything but the southernmost half-mile is concurrent with US-81.  Just call it US-81.

Of course, if I-135 (and before that I-35W) had never existed, US-81 probably wouldn't be a freeway. It was built with the initial batch of Interstate funding, which it of course wouldn't have gotten if it was US-81 alone.

So for the current situation to exist but for US-81 to be the only designation on the freeway, you would have to start with I-35W, renumber it to I-135, and then decommission it sometime after federal funding shifted to the NHS system in 1995...by which point everyone would already know it as I-135, so what would really be the point?

[GaryV]

Yes, US-400 should not exist

FIFY

[Henry]

NC 24/NC 27 east of Charlotte. The former ends in the city while the latter continues further west.