This looks similar to a lot of other threads, but differs from them: for each possible route number, pick a noteworthy state route and explain why it should "represent" that number nationally.
For example, of all the state route 185's, I would nominate Michigan's; M-185 is an island loop, unique for allowing no motor traffic. That would make it the most interesting state route 185 in the US.
For Route 1, I'd look like a homer but would still suggest the Pacific Coast Highway, CA 1.
But what about Route 2, 3, and so on? Here are some of my thoughts. To make it more challenging, let's exclude former US routes (like CA 99): these routes should have been completely or mostly state-designated from day one. Let's also exclude hidden state designations of US or Interstate routes (looking at FL, GA, etc.)
OK 3 - Oklahoma's longest highway at 616 miles, and possibly the longest Route 3 in the US.
UT 12 - an All-American Road; scenic highway; access to multiple national parks and forests
CT 15 - The Merritt Parkway; one of the few roads in the National Register of Historic Places
M-22 (Michigan) - 116 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline; very scenic; also a sports apparel brand
VT 100 - the 216-mile spine of Vermont; access to scenery and skiing
Others:
hi 137
ct/ma/ri 138
tn 155
ct 169
ca 173
mi 185
mt 200
hi 360
fl 9336 (some serious competition for that number :-)
Quote from: kurumi on February 08, 2014, 02:53:46 PM
To make it more challenging, let's exclude former US routes (like CA 99): these routes should have been completely or mostly state-designated from day one.
Would this disqualify Route 1 as almost all of its SoCal portion is former US 101A?
IL 53 because of the way it transitions from 2 lane road to full blown freeway to 4 lane divided highway plus the southern half of it is part of Route 66.
SD 1804 and SD 1806 are the east and west River Roads along the Missouri River.
Here is the list of numbers used for reference:
1 3 12 15 22 53 100 137 138 155 169 173 185 200 360 1804 1806 9336
I would probably submit both 316 and 400 for Georgia. Both are part freeway (and expressway the rest of the way); 400 carries a large amount of traffic, connecting the city of Atlanta with many of the heavily populated northern suburbs, while 316 is a major route between the Atlanta area and Athens. Both do have lengthy concurrencies with US routes (29 and 19, respectively), but even those segments are universally known by the state route number, so I think they still count. (Were it not for that hidden concurrency rule, I'd have probably given 400 to Florida instead.)
Italics = added 20 minutes after original post
VT/NH/ME 9
NY 17
NJ 18
NY 22
WI 29
NJ 42
NJ 55
NH 101
NY 104
MA 128
DC 295
PA 611
VA 90003
VA 90004
VA 90005
Possibly counted:
MA 2
CT/MA/VT 8
CT/MA/NH/VT 12
MA/RI 24
NY 25
NY 27
MA/NH 28 (Pennsylvania might take this one though)
NE 71
NE 92
KS 96
NJ 73
RI 114
MA/NH 125
VA 143
GA 154
GA 166
VA/NC 168
VT 279
Quote from: kurumi on February 08, 2014, 02:53:46 PM
Others:
hi 137
HI 137 is a county, not a state, route. For HI, I'd go with 99 or 83 (parts of Kamehameha Highway on Oahu), though there are other options with unused numbers, including some 4-digit routes with little competition such as 2000 (Big Island), 3400 and 3500 (Maui), and 7012, 7101, 7110, 7310, and 8930 (Oahu).
Since Alaska has only 1-11 and 98, and some of those numbers are already taken, how about 2 (includes the Alaska Highway), 4 (most of the Richardson Highway), or 11 (Dalton Highway)?
For New York I would have said NY 17 prior to the introduction of I-86, but since the designation is now in the process of being mostly eliminated in favor of the interstate, I don't think it really qualifies anymore. Which leaves the state without a clear winner. Looking at the other longest state highways in New York...
NY 5? It's the state's longest state route, but I-90 runs parallel to it for its entire length, so I wouldn't call it "important".
NY 22? This might be a candidate but it isn't a logical long distance route to a non-roadgeek thanks to I-87.
NY 30? Probably not, it doesn't go to any major cities, although it does serve both the Catskills and the Adirondacks.
NY 28? Same story as NY 30, and it's more roundabout.
NY 3? Nah, it connects Watertown and Plattsburgh but it lives in US 11's shadow as a major east-west route
NY 12? Serves Binghamton, Utica, and Watertown. Might be a candidate.
NY 31? Significant, but it lives in I-90's shadow
Surprisingly, I find myself leaning towards NY 27 as the answer to this question. It runs out to a dead end at the end of Long Island and serves a grand total of four counties (two of which are in NYC), but after NY 17 goes bye bye it will have the longest segment of non-interstate freeway in the state.
OH 7 is a long route following the Ohio River, with several freeway segments. Might it be more important than other state routes 7?
OH 11 is a long-established intercity freeway in northeast Ohio. Might it be more important than other state routes 11?
There's probably tough competition for this number, but how about OH 4?
The following Ohio routes I suggest based on very little research or an assumption of very light competition; challenges are welcome:
13
32
49
104
315
334
562
750
823
Going for another shooting-fish-in-barrel candidate: NM 6563. In units of angstroms, the number of this route is the wavelength of the alpha line in the Balmer series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmer_series) and so is a fitting designation for a spur state highway that leads to the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot.
In Florida all even number routes ending in Zero and SR 44 are important to the state as they serve as trans peninsula routes.
In Louisiana LA 1 is a major route, at its longest, but now in the shadow of I-49 was once even more of a through route than US 71 was according to some old maps I had showing LA before I-49 was built. I think it had to do with LA 1 serving population centers such as Nachitoches which US 71 from Alexandria to Shreveport bypasses.
VA 168 was major before I-64 was built in the VA Peninsula as it was the through route over US 60 hence why it was always 4 lanes over 2 lane Warwick Boulevard for several years.
US 19 in WV is a shortcut between I-77 and I-79 despite its speed traps LOL!
Quote from: roadman65 on February 08, 2014, 09:26:40 PM
In Florida all even number routes ending in Zero and SR 44 are important to the state as they serve as trans peninsula routes.
In Louisiana LA 1 is a major route, at its longest, but now in the shadow of I-49 was once even more of a through route than US 71 was according to some old maps I had showing LA before I-49 was built. I think it had to do with LA 1 serving population centers such as Nachitoches which US 71 from Alexandria to Shreveport bypasses.
VA 168 was major before I-64 was built in the VA Peninsula as it was the through route over US 60 hence why it was always 4 lanes over 2 lane Warwick Boulevard for several years.
US 19 in WV is a shortcut between I-77 and I-79 despite its speed traps LOL!
Some of those in Florida might work. Not sure which ones yet.
Even though LA 1 is important, CA 1 is more important.
I mentioned VA 168 already.
US 19 is not a state route :pan:
SD 244: Mount Rushmore
Can a single state claim multiple numbers? If so then add CA 49 to California's list. It's the highway that runs through gold mining country.
Looking at New England...
List taken and modified from top 50 routes in New England, state routes only.
MA 1A: Would definitely count if 1A was separate from 1.
MA 2: Has a lot of competition, but it might work.
MA 3: Beaten by OK 3.
CT/MA/VT 8: Already mentioned by me.
VT/NH/ME 9: Already mentioned by me.
CT/MA/NH 10: Not sure what other 10s there are.
VT/NH/ME 11: Maybe, but 11 could also go to Ohio, Alaska, or Hawaii.
CT/MA/NH/VT 12: Already mentioned by me, but it's not the only important 12.
CT 15: Already mentioned in first post.
NH/ME 16: Maybe, maybe not.
MA/RI 24: Already mentioned by me, but it's not the only important 24.
MA/NH 28: Already mentioned by me as a possibility.
NH 101: Already mentioned by me.
MA 128: Already mentioned by me.
CT/RI/MA 138: Already mentioned in first post.
MA 140: If there is no other important 140, then this works.
MA/RI 146: This will probably be one.
MA/NH 125 could also count if there is no competition, as well as a slight chance of MA 213.
Not sure Kentucky can claim any spots in this list.
I would have suggested 15, but Connecticut probably wins that one.
One possibility is 9, since that's the number carried on the AA Highway and its Grayson spur.
Another possibility is 80, since it is a major east-west corridor across the southern part of the state.
Quote from: 1 on February 08, 2014, 03:35:23 PM
NY 104
Disqualified per the ex-US route rule.
Quote from: Duke87 on February 08, 2014, 08:28:46 PM
For New York I would have said NY 17 prior to the introduction of I-86, but since the designation is now in the process of being mostly eliminated in favor of the interstate, I don't think it really qualifies anymore. Which leaves the state without a clear winner. Looking at the other longest state highways in New York...
NY 5? It's the state's longest state route, but I-90 runs parallel to it for its entire length, so I wouldn't call it "important".
NY 22? This might be a candidate but it isn't a logical long distance route to a non-roadgeek thanks to I-87.
NY 30? Probably not, it doesn't go to any major cities, although it does serve both the Catskills and the Adirondacks.
NY 28? Same story as NY 30, and it's more roundabout.
NY 3? Nah, it connects Watertown and Plattsburgh but it lives in US 11's shadow as a major east-west route
NY 12? Serves Binghamton, Utica, and Watertown. Might be a candidate.
NY 31? Significant, but it lives in I-90's shadow
Surprisingly, I find myself leaning towards NY 27 as the answer to this question. It runs out to a dead end at the end of Long Island and serves a grand total of four counties (two of which are in NYC), but after NY 17 goes bye bye it will have the longest segment of non-interstate freeway in the state.
Why must there be only one answer? If I read this right, all of those could count if they're the most important or noteworthy instances of that number nationwide.
As such, I'd absolutely still count NY 17, impending demise notwithstanding.
NY 5, maybe. It does parallel I-90, but it also directly serves several of the most important cities' downtowns. State-wise, it's probably the single most important mostly-non-freeway state route. Whether it's the most important SR 5 in the nation, I'm not well-versed enough to be sure, but it definitely has a claim.
As for the others in your list, I can say that NY 28 probably doesn't beat PA 28. Others I can't be sure.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2014, 10:48:59 PM
Not sure Kentucky can claim any spots in this list.
I would have suggested 15, but Connecticut probably wins that one.
One possibility is 9, since that's the number carried on the AA Highway and its Grayson spur.
Another possibility is 80, since it is a major east-west corridor across the southern part of the state.
What about those that are 4 digits? They have no competition.
FL 50 FL 60 NY 25 NY 27
NY 5 is far enough away from I-90 to be its own corridor in many places, especially west of Syracuse. Plus I-90 having limited interchanges as a closed ticket toll road, makes NY 5 more usable to locals in between long stretches of interchanges where close by.
Quote from: empirestate on February 08, 2014, 10:52:16 PM
Why must there be only one answer?
Because I completely misread the OP and thought the question was "what's the most important state highway in each state". Apparently that's not what we're after!
This is actually a tougher question since my level of familiarity with most states outside of the northeast is not up to snuff enough to answer it without doing research.
Still, some are pretty obvious. CA gets 1, hands down. If CT gets any low numbers, it gets 15. And of course, ID/MT/ND/MN 200 (which is noteworthy enough that I know of it even though I've never been to any of those states!).
Can we give Ontario 401 even though it's not a state?
Nebraska might be a candidate for 2, and I have to believe with absolute certainty it has the most important 92 (longest continuous highway in NE) and 370 (most of it is 4 lane divided as it connects Gretna with Bellevue in suburban Omaha). If nothing else, it has the most important Connecting Link and Spur routes.
OK probably wins 51 as well–major cross-state highway, connects Stillwater (major university) to the Interstate system both east and west, major freeway in Tulsa, the state's second-largest city.
K-10 might be a good candidate for 10. Suburban freeway, helps connect Lawrence (major university) to the Kansas City metro.
I don't think any 13 could compare to MO 13. Long, nearly border-to-border route, forms a major part of the route between Kansas City and Springfield.
Quote from: Occidental Tourist on February 08, 2014, 10:17:13 PM
Can a single state claim multiple numbers?
I think so, considering there are many more numbers than states.
Quote from: DandyDan on February 09, 2014, 02:57:47 AM
Nebraska might be a candidate for 2
Because SPUI?
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 09, 2014, 04:09:33 AM
I don't think any 13 could compare to MO 13. Long, nearly border-to-border route, forms a major part of the route between Kansas City and Springfield.
OH 13 is also nearly border-to-border (actually almost river-to-lake) but it doesn't really help connect anything so big as KC and Springfield – unless you'd consider Mansfield and Charleston comparabl – but then again, that's probably not the preferred route between those points for most people.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 09, 2014, 04:09:33 AMK-10 might be a good candidate for 10. Suburban freeway, helps connect Lawrence (major university) to the Kansas City metro.
Much as it pains me to undersell a route in my native state, K-10 has serious competition from M-10 (John C. Lodge Freeway) in Detroit, which is an early example of a major metropolitan freeway and is known partly for the Lodge-Ford (M-10/I-94) interchange, which is a classically pure example of a directional interchange with directional direct connectors and is probably the world's first example of this particular design.
I don't know if K-10 could be promoted on the basis of its being the first example of a freeway stalled for a lengthy period of time by wetlands issues.
Looking at each of the numbers from 1 - 200, and skipping the numbers that probably don't have anything important:
1: CA 1.
2: Could be MA 2, NE 2 (SPUI), or others.
3: OK 3.
4: This would be expected to have lots of competition, but it doesn't. Maybe Alaska can have it, then.
5: NY 5? Does it parallel I-90 too much?
6: Not sure.
7: Probably OH 7.
8: CT/MA/VT 8, mostly for the CT freeway.
9: VT/NH/ME 9, which gives Maine one.
10: K-10 or M-10?
11: Could be VT/NH/ME, South Dakota, Alaska, or Hawaii.
12: Either UT or CT/MA/NH/VT.
13: MO 13.
14: Are there any important 14s? Maybe New York or California?
15: CT 15.
16: NH/ME 16? Is there any competition for it?
17: New York, as long as it still exists.
19: Hawaii could get this one.
20: Utah? South Dakota? Alabama?
21: Wisconsin? Alabama?
22: NY 22 or M-22.
23: MA/NY 23? NJ 23? AR 23?
24: MA/RI 24? NC 24? NJ 24?
25: Probably NY 25.
26: Maybe Wisconsin. Maybe Indiana.
27: Probably NY 27.
28: PA 28? MA/NH 28? M-28? I-366?
29: WI 29.
30: NY 30, assuming no competition.
31: New York?
32: CT/MA/NH 32? NY 32? Any competition?
33: Pennsylvania? Oklahoma? Idaho? Udaho?
34: Idaho? South Dakota?
35: Maybe Wisconsin.
37: Indiana or Illinois.
38: MA/NH 38 assuming no competition.
39: M-39.
41: Maybe California.
42: The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything goes to New Jersey.
44: Florida, probably.
46: IN 46?
47: Illinois?
49: California? Ohio? Indiana? North Carolina? There is competition here.
50: Maybe SD 50, maybe NC 50.
51: PA 51? OK 51?
53: Illinois.
55: New Jersey.
56: Maybe Pennsylvania.
57: Massachusetts, assuming absolutely no competition. WI 57 probably is competition.
58: CA 58.
59: Sweet home Alabama.
61: Pennsylvania or Kentucky.
62: MA 62 or CA 62.
63: Indiana, maybe.
64: WI 64?
65: PA 65?
66: Because of no former US alignments, this goes to Connecticut.
67: Utah, Mississippi, or Indiana.
69: Whichever state gets the most signs stolen.
71: NE 71.
72: M-72. CT 72 is under 5 miles of freeway.
73: New Jersey? Maybe?
75: Idaho, assuming no competition.
76: Virginia?
79: South Dakota, maybe.
80: Maybe KY 80.
82: Oklahoma?
83: Hawaii?
86: California.
87: NC 87, assuming no competition.
88: Massachusetts? Any competition?
90: Could be New Jersey or Kentucky.
92: NE 92.
96: Kansas.
98: Possibility for Alaska.
99: Oklahoma or Hawaii.
100: VT 100.
101: NH 101.
102: Could be Rhode Island, could be Michigan.
103: Another one for Vermont.
104: Since NY 104 used to be US 104, 104 goes to Ohio.
105: Vermont?
108: New Hampshire (and .9 miles of Massachusetts) with no competition.
110: Maybe Massachusetts, except it's shadowed by I-495.
111: Massachusetts-New Hampshire? Are there any other important 111s?
112: NH 112 is very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it's important.
114: Rhode Island, probably. Unless it's MA or KY.
115: South Dakota, assuming no competition.
119: MA/NH/VT, maybe? Does the Vermont part really count?
120: Virginia?
122: MA/RI, maybe.
123: Virginia?
125: MA/NH, assuming no competition.
126: MA/RI, maybe. Or Ohio.
128: Massachusetts, definitely.
138: CT/RI/MA, almost definitely.
139: Maybe New Jersey.
140: Probably Massachusetts.
141: Georgia?
143: Virginia, probably.
150: NC 150 or AL 150.
152: CA 152, maybe. Or maybe OK 152. Or even maybe AL 152.
154: Georgia? Utah?
155: TN 155, maybe.
157: Maybe Alabama.
163: IA 163, assuming no competition.
166: Georgia?
168: Almost definitely Virginia.
169: Connecticut?
172: Wisconsin, maybe.
173: California, maybe.
180: Alabama?
182: Maybe Alabama.
185: M-185 :spin:
200: ID/MT/ND/MN 200. Definitely.
Quote from: vtk on February 08, 2014, 09:01:54 PM
OH 7 is a long route following the Ohio River, with several freeway segments. Might it be more important than other state routes 7?
VA 7 is an important route across northern Virginia, serving as a commuter route from the Washington area to points west like Winchester. I'll also nominate NC 49 as an option to that number. It traverses the state (continues the number in both VA and SC) and serves Charlotte, Burlington, and other cities.
Some more nominees for Virginia:
288: freeway, western bypass of metro Richmond
195: freeway (despite its name of Downtown Expressway), serves downtown Richmond
147: connects downtown Richmond with the northwestern Chesterfield suburbs
162: just kidding
337: connects most cities of southern Hampton Roads. Partially former US 460, but not entirely, so it may get an asterisk.
165: like 337, this traverses southern Hampton Roads, but is not a former US route. Its meandering routing is a negative factor, though.
267: Dulles Toll Road/Dulles Greenway. Freeway, heavily traveled commuter route
895: should be I-895
40: longest state route in Virginia, but never goes through any heavily populated areas
164: freeway
Also noteworthy for VA under 200: 6, 16, 27, 36, 45, 55 (connects with WV 55), 80 (connects with KY 80), 134, 144, 146, 153, 156, 157, 166, 171, 172, 189, 194, 197, 199
I have a Northeast bias, but I'll throw these in...
* = first nomination to fill in the gap; thinking there are better options out there
4: NJ
14: I'd give a slight nod to CA over NY
31: I think NJ gets a slight nod over NY
32: MD 32
33: I might throw NY in the mix, as the main connector route between Downtown Buffalo and the Airport
41: PA, it's a short route but a trucking corridor...I could go either way between CA and PA
43*: PA is nothing else is out there
90: MD - short route, but vital in the summer for the OCMD traffic...
97*: PA/MD since nothing else is out there yet.
120: CA?
145*: PA; pretty important road to the Allentown area
Above 200, here are my quick nominations (most of these are freeways/quasi-interstates):
283: PA
295: MD/DC
390: NY
404: MD/DE
481: NY
581: PA
590: NY
690: NY
130 for TX's 85-mph tollway (HI also has a 130, but TX wins this one). 151 (San Antonio), 183 (DFW), and 191 (Midland-Odessa) are other TX freeways with numbers not used for this exercise. TX also has a US 183, but completely unrelated to the state 183.
CA could take 85, 134, and 170 (freeways), and 89 (non-freeway in the Tahoe area), with lesser routes available to fill in other gaps if needed.
TN 111 would be a worthy competitor (major north-south route, part freeway), and TN 153 (freeway in Chattanooga).
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2014, 10:48:59 PM
Not sure Kentucky can claim any spots in this list.
I'd say you'd be a pretty strong contender for 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007, 9008 & 9009
:D
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2014, 10:48:59 PM
Not sure Kentucky can claim any spots in this list.
It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.
Sounds like we could vote on them from 1-200, and after that, there probably would only be a rare competition for a number.
121 would have to be Florida-Georgia-South Carolina.
Quote from: formulanone on February 09, 2014, 07:11:23 PM
It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.
Not Virginia, unless you're including its secondary state routes 600 and higher.
But Maryland has quite a few state routes in the 500-999 range, perhaps including some semi-important ones (MD 528, main drag through Ocean City, comes to mind).
Check the last post of the previous page. What do think about states that have more than one listed? What about for those skipped (and 6)?
If nobody else is claiming 85, that one could probably go to Georgia. The only direct link from Columbus to (nearly) Atlanta (though certainly not the best way to get there by any means).
On the other hand, 154 seems like a weak claim. Yeah, it has a freeway segment, but that's only ever referred to as 166. If you take out the parts that are co-signed with 166/70/US 29, you're left with almost nothing. I'm fine with letting Utah have that one.
So apparenly a number can go to multiple states in the case of a "multi-state route"?
Also, check out OH 4. If I didn't mention it before it's because I thought there'd be more competition. Alaska still probably wins that one anyway, because Alaska is just epic.
If we're going to vote on 32, I think Ohio should at least be on the ballot.
Quote from: 1 on February 09, 2014, 03:35:09 PM
Looking at each of the numbers from 1 - 200, and skipping the numbers that probably don't have anything important:
(...)
58: CA 58.
59: Sweet home Alabama.
61: Pennsylvania or Kentucky.
62: MA 62 or CA 62.
(...)
60: IA-60 is pretty important. It's 4 lanes and the best way to get from Sioux City to the Twin Cities.
Quote
64: WI 64?
I feel like AZ-64 is more important. It should fit this thread, since it's merely a logical extension of the US highway rather than the former alignment.
Quote from: J N Winkler on February 09, 2014, 01:46:14 PM
the Lodge-Ford (M-10/I-94) interchange, which is a classically pure example of a directional interchange with directional direct connectors and is probably the world's first example of this particular design.
I thought this was discussed elsewhere as being the 'most obvious' style of grade separation; even more so than the stack... and that there was an example of such somewhere in either Germany or Italy that was built in the 1930s.
also: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10266.0
AR 7
6 may be a good contender for Tx and possibly LA. In Louisiana it's a short route, but it is part of the El Camino Real, and it passes through the state's oldest settlement, Natchitoches (also the oldest in the Louisiana Purchase - 1714).
In TX, it has freeway sections near Houston, College Station, and Waco
355: Maryland. Main drag of the state's most populous county (slightly over 1M people); home of world-famous medical institutions
Nobody mentioned NJ/NY 440 yet? Or is there a more important 440? Also, if NJ 73 should be NJ/PA 73, though I'm guessing the NJ portion is more important, it is one continuous route. Same with NJ/NY 17 for that matter.
Quote from: bzakharin on February 10, 2014, 11:27:02 AM
Nobody mentioned NJ/NY 440 yet? Or is there a more important 440? Also, if NJ 73 should be NJ/PA 73, though I'm guessing the NJ portion is more important, it is one continuous route. Same with NJ/NY 17 for that matter.
Arkansas 440 is short but an important freeway link in the North Little Rock area.
Quote from: oscar on February 09, 2014, 07:20:34 PM
Quote from: formulanone on February 09, 2014, 07:11:23 PM
It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.
Not Virginia, unless you're including its secondary state routes 600 and higher.
But Maryland has quite a few state routes in the 500-999 range, perhaps including some semi-important ones (MD 528, main drag through Ocean City, comes to mind).
Ah, that was the other one I forgot with multiple "high numbers".
Virginia has only a handful of primary routes over 500. 598 (shared with WV), 785, 895, and the 9000x triplets.
I don't know enough about many other states' routes to make a comparison.
IN 25 and IN 37 are probably Indiana's two most important state routes, but those are also numbers that are likely to be common to a lot of states.
IN 135, IN 267 and IN 331 are somewhat important routes that probably have less competition from other states.
47 seems to be an unimportant route number elsewhere, so I'll claim it for Illinois. In Illinois, it is an important route through the far western suburbs of Chicago from Wisconsin (Lake Geneva area) and down to the Champaign-Urbana area.
Quote from: Takumi on February 10, 2014, 03:08:14 PM
Virginia has only a handful of primary routes over 500. 598 (shared with WV), 785, 895, and the 9000x triplets.
The "9000x triplets" aren't state routes, they're maintained by Federal agencies rather than VDOT. VDOT assigns (unposted) numbers for their traffic counts and perhaps other statistics, but that doesn't make them state routes.
CA-99 and CA-58 because they are truck friendly State highways for California agricultural industry.
CA 99 fails the "no former US routes" rule
Mentioned above, but 96 fits for both Kansas and Colorado. For both states together, it is quite a long highway (I haven't added it up, but almost certainly over 400 miles). At one time it went all the way to, and crossed into Missouri.
Quote from: Brandon on February 10, 2014, 03:27:04 PM
47 seems to be an unimportant route number elsewhere, so I'll claim it for Illinois. In Illinois, it is an important route through the far western suburbs of Chicago from Wisconsin (Lake Geneva area) and down to the Champaign-Urbana area.
NJ 47 is an important route to the Jersey Shore due to 20 miles of unbuilt NJ 55 freeway (it parallels 55 where it *was* built). It is, however, a 2-lane road for most of the important portion. Not sure how it compares to the one in Illinois.
Quote from: formulanone on February 10, 2014, 03:00:05 PM
Quote from: oscar on February 09, 2014, 07:20:34 PM
Quote from: formulanone on February 09, 2014, 07:11:23 PM
It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.
Not Virginia, unless you're including its secondary state routes 600 and higher.
But Maryland has quite a few state routes in the 500-999 range, perhaps including some semi-important ones (MD 528, main drag through Ocean City, comes to mind).
Ah, that was the other one I forgot with multiple "high numbers".
Washington has several 5xx's (spurs off I-5), I believe two 7xx's (spurs off SR 7) and a small handful of 9xx's (spurs off I-90). And IIRC, there used to be both a 601 and a 801, but neither exist anymore.
The 700s and 900s are nothing exciting (though perhaps only as unexciting as the high-numbered routes in other states), but many of the 500s are vital links in the Puget Sound area.
704 is going to be the Cross Base highway in Tacoma, so it will be pretty important. 970 is a key link for Seattle to Wenatchee traffic.
Gah! I knew there was something after 90x, but I totally blanked. Also forgot the 82 spurs.
New Jersey's important 3-digit state routes are 139 (already mentioned), 208, and 440 (not yet mentioned). 444, 445, 446, and 700 all count (not yet mentioned either) if you allow unsigned designations. Ones that aren't unimportant but probably fall to other states: 124 (not yet mentioned), 138 (already mentioned).