Pointless routes

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

Inspired by the "Pointless Termini" thread, what signed route designations would you consider pointless in themselves? This can be Interstate, US highway, state route, whatever.

[DrZoidberg]

Is the infamous "bridge to nowhere" part of Alaska's state highway system?

[deathtopumpkins]

VA-337. It is almost always multiplexed with other routes, and pretty much goes in one big loop.

I-664. Just make the whole I-64/I-664 loop the Hampton Roads Beltway and be done with it.

VA-278. It is nothing but a short stretch of King St. here, that serves no real purpose other than connecting US-258 with downtown Hampton (which can barely even be considered a downtown).

VA-169. It's almost a complete loop over a ton of different roads, all of which are known by locals solely by their names, i.e. Fox Hill Rd.

I can probably think of more...

[un1]

How about the highway to no where in Nunavut... One of Nunavut's longest highways (and most pointless)

[74/171FAN]

VA 296 and VA 298 in West Point are complelety useless town routes in residential areas without lines and US 460 in Chesapeake and in Norfolk south of downtown(basically US 460 should follow US 460 Alt as the whole route is multiplexed with state routes or US 13).

[Tarkus]

State Route 503 spur in Washington State, up near Mt. St. Helens.  As long as it is, they may as well make it an actual separate state route.  Actually, most "Spur" Routes, imo, are pointless.  I'm also not keen on "Alt" routes, either.  There's enough numbers to go around.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Alex]

Is the infamous "bridge to nowhere" part of Alaska's state highway system?

Although the Bridge to Nowhere was never constructed, the three-mile approach road to it was built.

[FLRoads]

Florida 145 between U.S. 98 and Florida 85 in Fort Walton Beach has no real value of being a state maintained route.  It's only 0.51 miles in length and only acts as a shortcut for those heading west on U.S, 98 to northbound Florida 85. Plus given the fact that Florida 145 doesn't fit into the Florida state road numbering scheme. Florida 145 should really be located somewhere in the northern part of Florida somewhere south of Florida 100 and north of Florida 200, preferably in the vicinity of Lake City or somewhere nearby.

[Sykotyk]

Texas Route 354.

Just south of Dumas.

Sykotyk

[vdeane]

I-790; multiplexed its entire length, only a little over a mile long.  The DOT wants to reroute it to Rome, so hopefully it will get some purpose soon (AASHO has already approved, but they want it to go all the way to Rome, so an at-grade railroad crossing needs to be removed first).

[US71]

Arkansas has too many

AR 180 at Fayetteville:
- Originally a loop to the local United Methodist retreat. Maybe AHTD felt justified in having a state maintained road (though it isn't anymore)

-Another section was about 2 miles in length and connected US 71 in the north-central part of town to AR 112 in the NW side of town. This was in the pre-bypass days so maybe it served a purpose. In the 1990's it was rerouted from an E-W, N-S, E-W road to simply E-W and N-S. AHTD just dropped a bunch of money the last two years to widen the road, then gave it to the city to maintain.

Also AR 60 near Rudy. It begins at AR 282 and heads north about 5 miles before becoming a county road. There are no businesses here, just houses and farmland.

Rogers has a 1/2 mile section of AR 102 which is little more than a state maintained spur to the Tyson chicken plant. The rest of the road is a city street.  Arkansas has a lot of state maintained factory access roads.

[Marc]

Texas Route 354.

Just south of Dumas.

Well, Dumas is pretty pointless in itself

[WillWeaverRVA]

I think VA 356 is pointless unless it is extended to US 250 or VA 6; it's a neighborhood street with no apparent purpose, plus the VA 3XX routes nowadays are mainly intended to serve state facilities.

Also pointless: VA 4, VA 270, VA 278, VA 283, VA 290, VA 300 and most of the I-81 to US 11 connector routes.

I know quite a few SR's in VA that should be primary, but that's not the focus of this thread.

[RoadWarrior56]

I have got the ultimate pointless route.  How about the proposed I-66 through Kentucky?  It doesn't connect to anything outside of the state.  It doesn't connect major population centers within Kentucky.  Most of the route is already constructed as four-lane limited access parkways anyway (and don't have much traffic on them to this day).  Even the route number is ridiculous.  It doesn't fit in the grid and the entire length of this route is south of I-64.  And does anybody really believe that this route will ever connect with existing I-66 in Virginia?  I know I-66 was at one time envisioned to be a new transcontentinal route.  But that is only a pipe dream now, and somehow, I think the country can get by without a new interstate connection between Summerset and London.

The money spent on I-66 would be better spent on completing the I-69 extension.   

[John]

All secondary state highways. Not every road over 2 blocks in length needs a state highway number.

[Alps]

VT F-5.  DE 24A (which only seems to exist on the official state map).  DE 9A.  DE 1D (entirely multiplexed).  NJ 413 (entirely county-maintained).  NJ 13, 59, 62, 64, 152, 162 - just because a bridge was built by the state doesn't mean it has to be a state route.  NJ 26 and 91 - parallel and useless.  NJ 163, 167, 324 - just because the state once owned it doesn't mean it has to be a route after it's made into a dead end.  NJ 165 - entirely concurrent with 29 now.  NJ 444S - make it part of 36.

[TheStranger]

In California...

- Route 229 (decomissioned?  but still partially signed) northeast of Santa Margarita
- Route 213 in Los Angeles along Western Avenue (interestingly, unbuilt Route 258 corresponds with Western Avenue north of 213's terminus - making me wonder why the seperate designation)
- Route 244 in Sacramento - since the segment connecting Auburn Boulevard with US 50 will never be built, the remainder (a ramp from I-80) is rather useless as an official (unsigned) state route
- Route 164 in the San Gabriel Valley, which with the exception of a never-built ramp to I-605 was originally Route 19 and still signed as such (was supposed to be part of a freeway realignment which never ocurred - why change the route number in any case, given that the signage has never been adjusted?)

[74/171FAN]

As for other "pointless routes", I'd add VA 246, VA 223, VA 404 (yes it still exists), VA 166 south of downtown Norfolk, ALT VA 337, and VA 216 to the list (amongst others in Virginia).

The thought of VA 166 being "pointless" goes back to my earlier posting of that US 460 should be moved onto US 460 ALT between the current US 58 and US 460 split and Downtown Norfolk, which would allow VA 166 to be more important without the multiplex and US 460 take a more direct route to Downtown Norfolk.

[RoadWarrior56]

Isn't KY 80 between Sommerset and London already a four-lane facility, although not a freeway?  Whether there is a need for a freeway between those two towns or not, my point is that designating an interstate highway across the entire southern lenght of Kentucky that doesn't really connect large population centers or fills in gaps within the existing interstate system seems pointless.

[Revive 755]

I don't think I-66 in Kentucky is completely useless.  There really needs to be a cutoff between the Natcher Parkway and I-65 at Bowling Green.

[mightyace]

I don't think I-66 in Kentucky is completely useless.  There really needs to be a cutoff between the Natcher Parkway and I-65 at Bowling Green.

Unfortunately, the official state maps I've seen have the proposed I-66 simply taking the Natcher to its end then duplex with I-65 until it gets to the Louie B. Nunn (Cumberland) Parkway.

But, I haven't been following it that closely since it seems to be a renumbering exercise in most of the state.  (and a way to pay for the parkways now that the tolls are gone)

Therefore, Revive 755, please let me apologize in advance if you've seen information I haven't on a different routing for "Future I-66" around Bowling Green.

[deathtopumpkins]

VA-337. It is almost always multiplexed with other routes, and pretty much goes in one big loop.

I disagree with you on this one.  First off, it's one of two main routes between downtown Norfolk and the Naval Base, and the only one that goes directly to NOB.  Second, it serves a rapidly growing area of northern Chesapeake and eastern Suffolk.  Thirdly, of the roughly 36 miles of VA 337 that exist, only about 5 miles are actually duplexed with other routes.

Yes VA-337 does travel up Hampton Blvd., doesn't it... I'm so used to using 564 to get to the Naval Base/NIT area that I forgot 337 even went up there. And the multiplexing through the Midtown tunnel and MLK Freeway plus with 58 in Portsmouth is only 5 miles? As for it reaching suffolk, I've never noticed it reaching that far... I can never figure out where exactly that route goes... back to Google Earth.

I-664. Just make the whole I-64/I-664 loop the Hampton Roads Beltway and be done with it.

If anything, I'd extend I-664 along the southern half of the Beltway and have the "I-64/264/664" interchange be the existing 64/264 interchange in eastern Norfolk.

I still think that cutting 664 out completely and calling the whole thing simply the beltway (instead of signing it as both) would be so much simpler...

VA-278. It is nothing but a short stretch of King St. here, that serves no real purpose other than connecting US-258 with downtown Hampton (which can barely even be considered a downtown).

Actually, that part of King St isn't part of VA 278, which only exists north of US 258/Mercury Blvd.  VA 278's main purpose is to connect US 258 with the King St. Gate into Langley AFB.  That said, there's no reason why such a connection requires a state highway route, especially considering that the city is in charge of all non-Interstate roads to begin with...

Oops!  You're right. I always think that sign at the bottom of the Mercury offramp says South 278 not north. But it's still pointless!

VA-169. It's almost a complete loop over a ton of different roads, all of which are known by locals solely by their names, i.e. Fox Hill Rd.

One could make a similar argument for VA 152.

Yes I meant to include that on my list... Cunningham/Todd's Lane really does not deserve a route number.

[yanksfan6129]

I didn't see I-180 in Illinois yet, I don't think. So there. I-180 in Illinois. One of the most lightly travelled interstates in the country. Connects 80 with Hennepin 'cuz of some government/military contract. Meh.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I-180 could become slightly less pointless if extended to I-74/I-474 in Peoria via current IL 6 and IL 29. However, since there's virtually nothing out there and no real benefit in doing so, it would still be pointless (and would need to be renumbered, maybe I-480).

I'm not entirely sure what the point is to I-155 in IL, either. It needs to be renumbered, for one, since it begins and ends at an interstate (I-455, maybe?). Peoria and Bloomington aren't exactly very large cities (Springfield is larger in terms of population, but isn't served by any 3dis - current IL 4 could have been one).

[deathtopumpkins]

And the multiplexing through the Midtown tunnel and MLK Freeway plus with 58 in Portsmouth is only 5 miles?

Actually, VA 337 follows down Brambleton, Tidewater, across the Berkley Bridge, down 464, and across the now-closed Jordan Bridge.  You're thinking of one of the two ALT VA 337's.

Well stupid Google Earth then!  All my maps just show it as VA-337, no ALT.

As for it reaching suffolk, I've never noticed it reaching that far... I can never figure out where exactly that route goes... back to Google Earth.

Or you could look here... 

Thanks! I can trace it now... you just have to zoom in really close for it to show up on Nansemond Pkwy. and Portsmouth Blvd.

I still think that cutting 664 out completely and calling the whole thing simply the beltway (instead of signing it as both) would be so much simpler...

Not gonna happen.  First off, that's Interstate mileage so it's not going to go without a number.  Second, the Southside (and Norfolk in particular) would raise a stink of I-64 didn't cross over from the Peninsula.

Yes but I can dream can't I?