Pointless routes

[mightyace]

Well, maybe when I-99 and I-73 are complete, they'll decommission US 220.

It will at least give some useful purpose for I-99's existence! 

[74/171FAN]

Maybe US 311 could take over US 220 up to Roanoke before following VA/WV 311(US 311's state route extension from before 311 was truncated)

[mightyace]

Maybe US 311 could take over US 220 up to Roanoke before following VA/WV 311(US 311's state route extension from before 311 was truncated)

How about all the way up to Bedford, PA where I-99 starts? 

[njroadhorse]

How about just to overtake both US 220 and I-99? 

[Scott5114]

US 266 is only about 30 miles long, the biggest town it goes through is Checotah (best known as a major Carrie Underwood-producing center), and its parent route was decommissioned! Kill it already!

[brad2971]

Two other pointless US routes:

1. C'mon CDOT and NDOR: Decommission US138 already. US38 hasn't been around since the '30s (when it got changed to an extension of US6), and it mainly serves as a frontage road for I-76. And besides, neither state is using the number 138 on any other road.
2. And while you're at it, CDOT, it's time to kill US350. It can just as easily be renumbered as an extension of SH71.

[ComputerGuy]

I got one for WA:

US 730...useless link...it serves Wallula and Walla Walla...which are also served by US 12 and SR 125/OR 11.

[corco]

Totally disagree again on US-730. I find myself on that road a LOT coming from Lewiston/Clarkston/Walla Walla to Portland. It's a very and important valuable link on the US-12 (US-12 still being an important interstate route from the Tri-Cities all the way to Helena, Montana) to Portland/Hermiston (and Umatilla, both of which are major agricultural processing areas for the region) corridor and is a very important Oregon-Washington freight corridor (in experience I'd say roughly 50% of the vehicles on that road are semitrucks).

You'd add about 45 minutes to the Lewiston/Clarkston/Walla Walla to Portland/Hermiston drive if you had to go through Pendleton and about 30 minutes going through the Tri-Cities.

Washington State has one of the most trimmed down and efficient state highway systems anywhere. There's very little fat and almost all the routes serve a very clear and significant purpose

[ComputerGuy]

All of them...except SR 339. Its a passanger-only ferry!

[corco]

Haha- yeah- but don't forget that is actually "maintained" by King County now, so I expect it to be decommissioned since it no longer exists 

[ComputerGuy]

Another pointless route: ID-1. It goes from US 95 to the border, which US 95 also does. Its US 95 Spur basically..

[corco]

You're trying to find fish in a dried up lake CG- ID-1 leads to Creston BC and Lake Kootenay, which is a major recreational area for Idahoans, as well as being part of the Selkirk International Loop. It's also an important enough route to warrant being a state highway.

Idaho's state highway system makes Washington's look fat- there's absolutely no useless state highways in Idaho- in fact there's several roads that really should be state highways but aren't (the Banks-Lowman Road being an obvious example)

[ComputerGuy]

Hmmm..I have to find a bad state route somewhere here...

WA 433? Its only a bridge long....the other side isn't even a state route!

[corco]

SR 433 is a state route on the Oregon side. It's Columbia River Hwy #2Y (US-30 Spur for those of you not privvy with the Oregon system, also there's no AAHSTO approval there, but functionally that's what it is), but it's so short there's no point in signing it

But yeah, that one also should be a state route for sure for tourists going from the I-5 corridor to Astoria (to get from PDX to Astoria it's much faster to go that way then up US-30).

I'd argue that the whole thing acutally should be signed as 30 Spur ( a la 95 Spur on the Oregon-Idaho border), but the SR 432/SR 433 corridor is VERY well signed as TO US-30, so it works.

I agree that actually signing the "SR 433" designation may be a bit pointless (TO US-30 would suffice), but the route itself is very useful.

Also, an argument could be made that the entire route IS SR 433. The first northbound SR 433 marker is actually in Oregon. On my site I consider the whole thing to just be SR 433 to simplify matters.

[ComputerGuy]

I sorta agree on that part...US 30 is slower than SR 433-SR 432-SR 4-SR 401-US 101 to Astoria..

A good renumbering also could be SR 432 Spur on the WA side only.

[corco]

I'd be against numbering it as SR 432 Spur- that seems to accomplish nothing. I'm usually against signing spurs off minor routes (SR 105 Spur, for instance, connects people to SR 105, which is the major road through the Westport area, so its OK) because from a tourist side there's no significance to SR 432. I'd wager most people going from  North Portland to Astoria are going to head up I-5 and then pay attention to the signs that say "TO US-30" rather than SR 432. Unless you've got an official WSDOT map you probably don't have a Longview inset, and without one of those it's hard to tell what route to take to get to US-30 from I-5.

So I'd either leave it signed as-is (SR 432 and SR 433 signed VERY liberally from I-5 clear to Oregon as TO US-30 (and TO I-5 going the other direction)), or sign it as US-30 Spur, because then you know when you turn on SR 433 you're going to US-30. Knowing that you're going to SR 432 has no real value.

Also- how could it possibly be faster to get from Longview to Astoria via SR 4? That's about 30 miles longer which doesn't make up for the 5 MPH speed limit difference. What I was referring to is that the fastest way to get from Portland to Astoria is to take I-5 North to SR 432, SR 432 West to SR 433, SR 433 South to US-30, US-30 West to Astoria. Taking the Sunset Hwy up to the PCH also works, but a lot of tourists will start in Astoria and work their way south down the coast and avoid doubling back. If you're going from PDX Airport then taking I-5 to US-30 is definitely the fastest way to go.

[ComputerGuy]

Oh...I see, I don't drive there everyday anymore.

Well...you could extend SR 433 along SR 432 west to SR 4 and have SR 432 end at 433...this would be a map:



Shields and map layout from Wikimedia Commons.

[corco]

That seems pointless, plus you'd be ditching SR 433's north south orientation

[ComputerGuy]

Hmm...but there are rule-breakers (e.g. SR 531, odd going west-east).

[cjk374]

The ultimate in useless-- US 63's southern extension from Memphis to Ruston, LA.   

[corco]

Speaking of US 63, US 163 doesn't have much point anymore either, besides being a numbering violation

[roadman65]

How about I-74 east of Rockingham, NC.  First of all it is duplexed with the same US route number.  Then it goes east and then turns southwest to go where another planned interstate is to join it again for the third time!

Why not build another interstate from Charlotte to Wilmington along the US 74 corridor as that is a major route that proposed I-74 will only relieve some of this through traffic and call it I-32?

Have I-73 go to Myrtle Beach ONLY!

Have I-74 go east of Cincinatti to meet up with  (and end) at I-73 north of Portsmouth.  I-73 all the way! In NC the rest could be three digits of I-40 or I-77.

[US71]

Secondary Route AE north of Springfield, MO. Distance: less than 10 miles. Communities served: none. It's a former segment of MO 13. North terminus is at MO 13, south terminus is a dead-end. It's not even posted along 13 at all (no junction signs).

[InterstateNG]

Why are two-year old threads being bumped?

[NE2]

Because of roadman65!!!