Interstates that don't follow interstate standards

[KG909]

Okay so we know that the interstate system has rules and regulations but sometimes the rules aren't followed. My examples would be the I-10 in Texas where it is so isolated that it has at-grade intersections. My other is I-78 in New Jersey right before New York it is two separate surface streets (12th and 14th). Are there others?

[froggie]

Are you asking specifically for Interstates that are at-grade or have significant substandard features (like traffic signals or low drawbridges or the like), or asking more generally for Interstates that don't meet current Interstate standards?  The former is relatively limited though there are several examples.  There are numerous examples of the latter, in no small part due to Interstate standards having changed over the years.

[KG909]

Are you asking specifically for Interstates that are at-grade or have significant substandard features (like traffic signals or low drawbridges or the like), or asking more generally for Interstates that don't meet current Interstate standards?  The former is relatively limited though there are several examples.  There are numerous examples of the latter, in no small part due to Interstate standards having changed over the years.

That don't meet the standard in at least one way, like yes having traffic signals or being only one lane each direction, and etc. As long as it is breaking one rule, so yeah more than just at grade.

[Pink Jazz]

Alaska and Puerto Rico have unsigned Interstates, but are exempt from Interstate standards, so much of the Interstates in those two places are not built to freeway standards.  In Puerto Rico, only PRI-1 (which follows PR-52 and PR-18) is a freeway in its entire length; PRI-2 (which follows PR-2 and PR-22) and PRI-3 (which follows PR-26, PR-66, PR-3, and PR-53) only have certain sections built to freeway standards.

[NE2]

A whole shitload don't have high enough bridges or something and thus don't meet current standards.

If you want non-freeways: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gaps_in_Interstate_Highways#Freeway_gaps

[Pete from Boston]

This is where this forum could use something along the lines of the old time FAQs.

[The Nature Boy]

Textbook example: I-93 through the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

[KG909]

A whole shitload don't have high enough bridges or something and thus don't meet current standards.

If you want non-freeways: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gaps_in_Interstate_Highways#Freeway_gaps

Thanks I'm trying to find some freeways like this for a trip.

[KG909]

Textbook example: I-93 through the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

What is it there? Narrow I'm guessing?

[Molandfreak]

Textbook example: I-93 through the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

What is it there? Narrow I'm guessing?

two lanes

[The Nature Boy]

Textbook example: I-93 through the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

What is it there? Narrow I'm guessing?

Very much so

[KG909]

Textbook example: I-93 through the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

What is it there? Narrow I'm guessing?

Very much so

Ahh but atleast it's divided so that's something. Hopefully one day I can drive there.

[KG909]

Alaska and Puerto Rico have unsigned Interstates, but are exempt from Interstate standards, so much of the Interstates in those two places are not built to freeway standards.  In Puerto Rico, only PRI-1 (which follows PR-52 and PR-18) is a freeway in its entire length; PRI-2 (which follows PR-2 and PR-22) and PRI-3 (which follows PR-26, PR-66, PR-3, and PR-53) only have certain sections built to freeway standards.

So they're unsigned but technically they still exist and, by the most part, are freeways?

[Molandfreak]

Alaska and Puerto Rico have unsigned Interstates, but are exempt from Interstate standards, so much of the Interstates in those two places are not built to freeway standards.  In Puerto Rico, only PRI-1 (which follows PR-52 and PR-18) is a freeway in its entire length; PRI-2 (which follows PR-2 and PR-22) and PRI-3 (which follows PR-26, PR-66, PR-3, and PR-53) only have certain sections built to freeway standards.

So they're unsigned but technically they still exist and, by the most part, are freeways?

A couple in Puerto Rico are toll roads, but otherwise no.

[hbelkins]

Go to the FreewayJim YouTube channel and you will see at least two videos of his drives through Franconia Notch on I-93.

[vdeane]

I'll see your I-93 through Franconia Notch and raise you I-81 over the Thousand Islands Bridge:

[Road Hog]

I bet the bridge deck is slick from all that dressing.

[SidS1045]

]two lanes

Also:  Speed limit is 45mph, exits are sequentially lettered (34A, 34B, 34C) instead of numbered.  The eight miles through Franconia Notch are officially designated as a parkway (no heavy trucking permitted) and an act of Congress was required to make exceptions to the normal construction standards for Interstate highways.

[Molandfreak]

Speed limit is 45mph

That's against Interstate standards? I thought it just had to have a 60 mph design standard...

[The Nature Boy]

Speed limit is 45mph

That's against Interstate standards? I thought it just had to have a 60 mph design standard...

Speed limit is 45 through Springfield, MA on I-91 and 55 in other parts of the Northeast.

[adventurernumber1]

Two that immediately come to mind are that portion of I-93 in NH that's one lane each way (though it looks like a beautiful, unique drive), and we all know that I-180 in Wyoming that calls itself an interstate.

[Pink Jazz]

Also, I-264 in Hampton Roads along the Berkley Bridge and the Downtown Tunnel has a variable speed limit, but is usually set to 35.

[wxfree]

As a historical example, southbound I-35W in Texas reduced to one lane for a short distance before merging with I-35E north of Hillsboro until the new interchange was built.  It was, for a short bit, a three-lane Interstate.

Edit:  Google Street View imagery shows that both directions of I-35W have one lane near the I-35E merge in Denton, making for a short stretch of two-lane Interstate.

[DandyDan]

]two lanes

Also:  Speed limit is 45mph, exits are sequentially lettered (34A, 34B, 34C) instead of numbered.  The eight miles through Franconia Notch are officially designated as a parkway (no heavy trucking permitted) and an act of Congress was required to make exceptions to the normal construction standards for Interstate highways.

If having a 45 mph speed limit makes a freeway not up to interstate standard, then I-35E going SW from downtown St. Paul, MN would not be up to standard, either, although otherwise, it would be.

Of course, the real shocking thing no one has mentioned yet is Breezewood.

[froggie]

The eight miles through Franconia Notch are officially designated as a parkway (no heavy trucking permitted)

While it's officially designated as a parkway, heavy trucking *IS* permitted.

As for low speed limits, they are not against Interstate standards per se.  Low design speeds are.  There are situations where a 50 MPH design speed is acceptable (usually involving urban or mountainous areas), but a design speed lower than that requires an exemption and would, technically, be against standards.