Pointless routes

[Quillz]

• CA-77
  
• CA-153
  
• CA-164
  
• CA-173
  
• CA-183
  
  All of these routes are pointless to me because either a) they exist wholly within other, longer routes, b) they are extremely short (less than 1 mile) or c) they have no design standard. (CA-173 is a dirt road and usually in terrible condition.)
  
  I'd also like to throw in US-48 and US-96. Both are located wholly within one state and are both under 300 miles. They both could easily be state highways instead.

[national highway 1]

US 96 could be US 359 (or US 459 if you are confused with TX 359)

[thenetwork]

Any state (coughcoughOhiocough) that uses a highway number for a short 1-2 mile segment either as an extended connector ramp from a freeway to another highway (I forget the route number, but it was used as a connector between I-70 & US-40 near Cambridge, OH), or  just for a bridge crossing over a significant river (in the case of Ohio, going across the Ohio River into another state). 

In either case, my recommendation should be just signing the connector/bridge as "TO I/US/SR x".  The state could always give it a secret route number that would fit their inventory or route designation needs, but it eliminates the need for a route that takes longer to make one sign for it than it does to travel it.

[1995hoo]

I've always thought that a number of the Interstate designations in the New York City area were (and are) unnecessary, most notably I-895 and I-695 in the Bronx (yes, I know that I-695 isn't officially an Interstate). Both seem like throwaway uses of an Interstate number, sort of like throwing up an Interstate number just for the sake of doing it, though I guess in view of I-95's limited mileage in New York it was never all that likely that there would be a lot of need for those numbers elsewhere. I-295 doesn't seem necessary either, though I guess because it ties I-95 to I-495 it's more reasonable. (I guess even New York agreed that I-878 was unnecessary.)

I've also long thought that I-370 in Maryland was an unnecessary designation, even more so now that it leads directly into MD-200 such that you have to exit to stay on I-370.

[Duke87]

No interstate designation is pointless. But there are definitely some short 3dis that are signed which really don't need to be. 695 in New York and 370 in Maryland are good examples of this.

[ftballfan]

Michigan has more roads that aren't state highways that should be (I'm looking at you, 68th Ave) than state highways that shouldn't be (many of those have been decommissioned in recent years, such as M-107, M-108, M-110, M-168, etc.).

[agentsteel53]

Nevada has (had?) a bunch of useless ones in urban areas.  there are several that are just a few blocks long in Las Vegas, for example.

for pointless interstates: I-175 and I-375 in Tampa are my usual example. 

[Brandon]

No interstate designation is pointless. But there are definitely some short 3dis that are signed which really don't need to be. 695 in New York and 370 in Maryland are good examples of this.

I-180, Wyoming?

[JCinSummerfield]

While Michigan does need more state highways (I should be living on an eastern extension of M-34), I don't understand why it seems like every other road in Ohio is a state highway.

[froggie]

You ever been to Kentucky, JC?

[agentsteel53]

I-180, Wyoming?

it might fit the spirit of numbering spurs into downtown with an odd-number prefix, so I'd call it useless simply because I do not want interstate routes which are shorter than, say, I-476 in Pennsylvania, but in general most people would call it useful, if it were built as a freeway ... but how the Hell did it get added to the system when it has traffic lights on it???

why was it not called Business Spur 80?

it isn't a pointless number; it is simply a route that got the red, white, and blue shield despite not being anywhere near up to standard.  who granted that exemption, and why?

[ftballfan]

While Michigan does need more state highways (I should be living on an eastern extension of M-34), I don't understand why it seems like every other road in Ohio is a state highway.

On the Fictional forum, I posted my idea for expanding the Michigan state highway system, which includes an eastern extension of M-34 through Deerfield, Petersburg, Summerfield, and Ida to Monroe.

[pianocello]

M-185 in Mackinac Island is one of the most pointless routes I've ever seen...the only motor vehicle allowed is an ambulance!

A close second, third, and fourth would be the US-400, 412, and 425 (I'm surprised they haven't been mentioned in these two years)

[D-Dey65]

I've always thought that a number of the Interstate designations in the New York City area were (and are) unnecessary, most notably I-895 and I-695 in the Bronx (yes, I know that I-695 isn't officially an Interstate). Both seem like throwaway uses of an Interstate number, sort of like throwing up an Interstate number just for the sake of doing it, though I guess in view of I-95's limited mileage in New York it was never all that likely that there would be a lot of need for those numbers elsewhere. I-295 doesn't seem necessary either, though I guess because it ties I-95 to I-495 it's more reasonable. (I guess even New York agreed that I-878 was unnecessary.)

Since I-295, I-695, and I-895 are all intended to be loop highways, the numbers are appropriate. Plus, I-295 was the terminus of I-495 until it was extended along the rest of the Long Island Expressway in the 1980's.

[1995hoo]

I've always thought that a number of the Interstate designations in the New York City area were (and are) unnecessary, most notably I-895 and I-695 in the Bronx (yes, I know that I-695 isn't officially an Interstate). Both seem like throwaway uses of an Interstate number, sort of like throwing up an Interstate number just for the sake of doing it, though I guess in view of I-95's limited mileage in New York it was never all that likely that there would be a lot of need for those numbers elsewhere. I-295 doesn't seem necessary either, though I guess because it ties I-95 to I-495 it's more reasonable. (I guess even New York agreed that I-878 was unnecessary.)

Since I-295, I-695, and I-895 are all intended to be loop highways, the numbers are appropriate. Plus, I-295 was the terminus of I-495 until it was extended along the rest of the Long Island Expressway in the 1980's.

I didn't say they were "inappropriate," as they do conform to the numbering rules. I said I see no reason for them to be designated as Interstates. That's a different statement. 

[bulldog1979]

M-185 in Mackinac Island is one of the most pointless routes I've ever seen...the only motor vehicle allowed is an ambulance!

Well, it is a state-maintained highway on an island that has prohibited cars for nearly a century. There's nothing that says a highway is exclusively for motor vehicles. Beyond that, there are two other vehicles on Mackinac Island: the police car and the fire truck, and various construction equipment is allowed by permit.

[ftballfan]

M-185 also gives an easy path for people bicycling around Mackinac Island to follow. And yes, I have clinched it on bike.

[NE2]

Basically it's a choice between signing it with the internal designation or creating a new shield to represent it. MDOT went with the simpler option of prettying up M-185 shields.

[ftballfan]

Basically it's a choice between signing it with the internal designation or creating a new shield to represent it. MDOT went with the simpler option of prettying up M-185 shields.

Which includes the mile number within the shield. According to Wikipedia, the signs are created by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission.

[roadfro]

Nevada has (had?) a bunch of useless ones in urban areas.  there are several that are just a few blocks long in Las Vegas, for example.

Has and had. NDOT has gotten rid of a few urban state routes over the last few years that were especially pointless. Many of these were extremely short routes that didn't follow major arterials, and didn't serve any major transportation purpose--the state just owned the road. However, there are still some pointless routes out there that don't make sense to keep in the system.

A good example of this purging is in Carson City, the state has relinquished ownership of SR 511, 512, part of 513, 516, 520, part of 529 (old US 395) and 530 (old US 50) since about 2009--leaving only part of SR 513, SR 518, SR 525, part of SR 529 and SR 531. Most of what was relinquished were two-lane residential roads that didn't really take people anywhere. In exchange for the city taking on the roads, NDOT has reduced Carson City's financial obligations toward expediting construction of existing segments of the Carson City Freeway.

Another pointless route I was glad to see relinquished was SR 646 in Sparks. It comprised 0.090 miles of Prater Way at the intersection of McCarran Blvd...that amounts to about 475 feet.

[agentsteel53]

the state just owned the road.

and that is justification for spending tax dollars on signing the bloody things?  what a waste.  remember my first rule of transportation: nobody cares who maintains the road!

[NE2]

I don't think many of them were signed.

On the other hand, 'begin state maintenance' and 'end state maintenance' signs are useful so you know who to report a pothole to.

[agentsteel53]

I don't think many of them were signed.

On the other hand, 'begin state maintenance' and 'end state maintenance' signs are useful so you know who to report a pothole to.

the average taxpayer does not care which government agency ignores him most efficiently.
Post Merge: May 20, 2011, 10:30:04 PM
and besides, begin/end state maintenance signs are some of the lowest in the food chain as far as update policy goes.  I've seen 1920s "begin state route" signs in Massachusetts on roads that have not been a state highway since the 1940s.

yeah, when you call up the appropriate government agency, make sure to dial ALL FIVE DIGITS.

[yakra]

I think NY I-695 is really an interstate now; it was in the AASHTO minutes a few years back.

[Chicagosuburban]

The fact that US highways in Alabama are duplexed with state highways for their entireties...