US Route sections replaced by State Routes for through traffic

[SkyPesos]

Thought of this topic when a few people mentioned that US routes generally are higher quality than state routes in the "Short US Highways" thread, and I'm trying to find examples where a state route would be preferable over a US route between two points.

Here's three 4-lane SR examples that replaced 2-lane US routes for through traffic:
- OH 32 over US 50 between Cincinnati and Athens
- OH 2 over US 6 between Sandusky and Cleveland
- IN 63 over US 41 between Terre Haute and Carbondale, IN

[NWI_Irish96]

Also from Indiana:

IN 49 is faster between US 30/Toll Road/I-94 than US 421
IN 2 is faster between South Bend and Rolling Prairie than US 20

[dlsterner]

In Pennsylvania, here is one example:

PA 272 preferred over US 222 between Wakefield and Willow Street in Lancaster County.

(At least I prefer it)

[Bruce]

WA 231 bypasses the Spokane area, making it faster than US 395

WA 28 is an easier drive than US 97 for trips between I-90 and Wenatchee

[Flint1979]

M-65 is shorter and quicker than staying on US-23 north of Standish, MI. M-65 terminates at US-23 on both ends. Staying on US-23 takes you along the Lake Huron shoreline and through some smaller cities along the way making it a slower route.

[SEWIGuy]

WI-93 instead of US-53 between LaCrosse and Eau Claire, WI

[Mapmikey]

GA 96/540 instead of US 80

VA 7 instead of US 50 could be one

VA 168 did this with US 60 until I-64 was fully finished in 1980

WV/PA 43 and US 119

[Takumi]

^ You could also argue that VA 168 still does it for US 17 for Outer Banks traffic.

[Max Rockatansky]

How about a County Route?  US 395 in Susanville is effectively bypassed by Lassen County Route A3.  A lot of traffic heading north/south just outright bypasses Susanville given how much mileage is saved by taking A3.

[US 89]

Nevada's SR 318 is a shorter and more direct way from Crystal Springs to Ely than staying on US 93 the whole way.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN: MN 316 shortcutting US 61 between Hastings and where 316 rejoins 61 northwest of Red Wing

debatable for thread validity, because it involves the use of an interstate, but I-94/MN 101 between US 169 in Brooklyn Park and Elk River

[Roadgeekteen]

VT/NH 9 over US 4

ME 3 over US 1 for travel to Acadia and parts of the Maine Coast.

[ilpt4u]

Debateable on this example from Southern IL: IL 145 between Harrisburg and Metropolis over US 45, as IL 145 is much more direct N-S

[Bitmapped]

I suspect a lot of these cases, at least with older construction, are where one route goes through towns and the other tends to avoid them:
- In the present day, traffic is split on US 30 and OH 172 between East Canton and Lisbon. For through traffic, OH 172 has the edge because it's slightly shorter and doesn't go through any major towns.
- In the pre-Interstate era, WV 73 was preferred for through traffic between Morgantown and Bridgeport/Clarksburg. US 19 goes through Fairmont and number of coal towns, where WV 73 mostly avoided them.

[plain]

Another former VA one is VA 44 over US 58 in Virginia Beach (VA 44 is now just I-264 of course)

VA 7 instead of US 50 could be one

If traffic is bad enough it might be quicker to use VA 7 (and VA 267) over I-66!

[3467]

Davenport moved US 61 to the Interstates 80 and 280. And got the old one made a business route.
Peoria asked US 24 be moved to the other side of the river and became a city street.
Both felt a lesser designation have them more flexibility. I don't know if either has done anything different yet.

I have to disagree on design. US 67 in Warren County was in such poor shape until it's current reconstruction is was worse than many county roads.
AASHTO needs to at least embarrass states that have horrible US routes.

[TheStranger]

California decommissioning most US route segments means this isn't common in this state, even historically:

- from SF to Sacramento, Route 24 (now a combination of 24, 680, 242, 4, 160) was always a better corridor than US 50 (which detoured into Sacramento via former US 48 and former US 99W) but the real through route was US 40 (now I-80).

- Route 154 (originally Route 150) between Los Olivos and Santa Barbara has been the shorter route from those two points compared to US 101 the whole time, but 101 was widened out to expressway/freeway.  154 is still a decent route between the two spots though and Google Maps often recommends it instead of staying on 101.

That inland corridor actually existed before the advent of the state route system too.

- This briefly existed in LA when the San Diego Freeway was Route 7 and thus a slightly more direct route from Sylmar to Long Beach compared to using US 6.

[Max Rockatansky]

Pertaining to Arizona and the Mesa-Showlow corridor I would say the corridors of AZ 87/AZ 260 are now superior to that of US 60 given they have numerous new expressway segments.  US 60 has a huge obstacle with Salt River Canyon.

[epzik8]

Maine State Route 161 over US 1 in northern Maine

[bing101]

California decommissioning most US route segments means this isn't common in this state, even historically:

- from SF to Sacramento, Route 24 (now a combination of 24, 680, 242, 4, 160) was always a better corridor than US 50 (which detoured into Sacramento via former US 48 and former US 99W) but the real through route was US 40 (now I-80).

- Route 154 (originally Route 150) between Los Olivos and Santa Barbara has been the shorter route from those two points compared to US 101 the whole time, but 101 was widened out to expressway/freeway.  154 is still a decent route between the two spots though and Google Maps often recommends it instead of staying on 101.

That inland corridor actually existed before the advent of the state route system too.

- This briefly existed in LA when the San Diego Freeway was Route 7 and thus a slightly more direct route from Sylmar to Long Beach compared to using US 6.

US-66 is a notable one where the Arroyo Seco Parkway section became CA-11 and now CA-110.

[Dirt Roads]

NC-11 is now much preferred over US-258 between Murfreesboro and Kinston, North Carolina.  They are about the same distance.
Bonus:  US-258 is also not the preferred route on the way further to its south terminus in Jacksonville, North Carolina, but that section is only partially covered by NC-58 from Kinston to Pollocksville (and from there multiplexed with US-17 to Maysville).

[TheStranger]

California decommissioning most US route segments means this isn't common in this state, even historically:

- from SF to Sacramento, Route 24 (now a combination of 24, 680, 242, 4, 160) was always a better corridor than US 50 (which detoured into Sacramento via former US 48 and former US 99W) but the real through route was US 40 (now I-80).

- Route 154 (originally Route 150) between Los Olivos and Santa Barbara has been the shorter route from those two points compared to US 101 the whole time, but 101 was widened out to expressway/freeway.  154 is still a decent route between the two spots though and Google Maps often recommends it instead of staying on 101.

That inland corridor actually existed before the advent of the state route system too.

- This briefly existed in LA when the San Diego Freeway was Route 7 and thus a slightly more direct route from Sylmar to Long Beach compared to using US 6.

US-66 is a notable one where the Arroyo Seco Parkway section became CA-11 and now CA-110.

The thread isn't about US route corridors being remembered to state routes, but state route parallel alternates being more efficient than the US route in question (i.e. SR 63 in Indiana vs. US 41).

With that in mind...

Past example in Arizona:

AZ 84 (replaced by I-8), AZ 93 and AZ 86 (supplanted by I-10) vs. Now-former US 80 (now AZ 77, AZ 89 and AZ 80) between AZ 85 and New Mexico. 



SM-G973U1

[Dirt Roads]

Not sure how much this actually gets utilized, but WV-10 and WV-80 is still a much shorter and slightly faster route between Huntington and Gilbert, West Virginia than US-52. 

[Dirt Roads]

Also, NC-86 is preferred over US-421 between Sanford and Wilmington, North Carolina (not much different in time and distance).  However, if you take US-421 to NC-27 (which keeps going as NC-50), you can cut over to I-40 and run the route in about the same time as well.  NC-86 works better if you are headed for Southport and Oak Island, whereas I-40 works better if you are headed for Wrightsville or Topsail.  Not much difference in time for those going to downtown Wilmington or on further to Carolina Beach or Kure (but I-40 is about 15 miles longer).

[hbelkins]

KY 114 over US 460 between Salyersville and Prestonsburg, because US 460 jogs north to Paintsville and then runs concurrently with US 23 to Prestonsburg, while KY 114 runs directly between Salyersville and Prestonsburg.

Not sure how much this actually gets utilized, but WV-10 and WV-80 is still a much shorter and slightly faster route between Huntington and Gilbert, West Virginia than US-52.

WV 65 between Naugatuck and Delbarton instead of US 52 through Williamson.

If I am going to Gilbert or beyond on US 52, my normal route is to take WV 65 to US 119, then WV 73 to Logan and then WV 10 and WV 80 to rejoin US 52 at Gilbert. And I did that even before the four-laning of WV 10 was complete between Logan and Man.