Opposite multiplexes

[mcdonaat]

US 425 South/US 165 North

[Alps]

I can come up with a routing for the Mixed-Up Mile in Pawtucket that would put US 1 North and South, RI 114 North and South, and RI 15 East and West all on the same section of Broadway...

[hbelkins]

have we found the mythical four-way multiplex yet?  all four cardinal directions represented by a single section of road?

I remember one example of such being posted in M.T.R. many years ago (in the group's infancy in the mid-90s) but I can't turn that post up in a Google Groups search. Someone must have been paranoid and used the "no-archive" header.

I seem to recall that it was in Massachusetts and it may have involved MA 2, but I can't be positive.

[Alps]

have we found the mythical four-way multiplex yet?  all four cardinal directions represented by a single section of road?

I remember one example of such being posted in M.T.R. many years ago (in the group's infancy in the mid-90s) but I can't turn that post up in a Google Groups search. Someone must have been paranoid and used the "no-archive" header.

I seem to recall that it was in Massachusetts and it may have involved MA 2, but I can't be positive.

Didn't come across anything in Mass. that struck me like that - not even sure there are four routes together anywhere. Maine is more likely with the number of quadruplexes it has.

[DandyDan]

In Nebraska, eastbound US 20 has North NE 7 and South US 183 from between Ainsworth and Long Pine to Bassett.  That one is 11 miles long and has to be one of the longer ones on record.  I know formerly, north NE 57 and south NE 15 had one on the road now marked NE 59 near Laurel.

Western Iowa has three, partly due to the diagonal nature of the roads (and the rivers they parallel): 1. east US 30 and west IA 37 for a few blocks in Dunlap 2: east US 30 and west IA 141 for a mile or so in Denison 3: east IA 141 and west IA 175 for about a mile in Mapleton.

NW Missouri has north US 159 and south MO 111 for a few miles west of I29.

The only one I know for sure in Minnesota is north US 63 and south MN 58 for a brief stretch in Red Wing.

[US71]

have we found the mythical four-way multiplex yet?  all four cardinal directions represented by a single section of road?

I have yet to find any in my travels. I've found a few 3-Ways (such as Meridian, MS) , but never any 4-Ways.

[PHLBOS]

These two would be open for debate:

1. MA 128 along I-93/US 1 between Canton & Braintree: Yes, this stretch was stripped of its 128 shields 2 decades ago but in the eyes of many Bay Staters, news & traffic reporters, etc. this stretch of I-93 is still referred to as Route 128 along w/its respective cardinals.

2. Fictional highway/state border case: Had the NY-NJ state line shifted in such a way that the entire length of I-287 was all in one state; the stretch of NYS Thruway where both I-87 & 287 occupies would have opposite cardinals (87N/287S & vice-versa).

[Kacie Jane]

2. Fictional highway/state border case: Had the NY-NJ state line shifted in such a way that the entire length of I-287 was all in one state; the stretch of NYS Thruway where both I-87 & 287 occupies would have opposite cardinals (87N/287S & vice-versa).

Not necessarily.  Just because it would be all in one state doesn't mean NJ couldn't decide to change its direction at Suffern still, especially since I-287 North/East curves southeast past the Tappan Zee.  (In fact, you don't need to enter the realm of fiction to imagine this.  The point where the directional signage changes isn't the state line, it's the I-87/I-287 interchange, squarely in New York.)

[PHLBOS]

2. Fictional highway/state border case: Had the NY-NJ state line shifted in such a way that the entire length of I-287 was all in one state; the stretch of NYS Thruway where both I-87 & 287 occupies would have opposite cardinals (87N/287S & vice-versa).

Not necessarily.  Just because it would be all in one state doesn't mean NJ couldn't decide to change its direction at Suffern still, especially since I-287 North/East curves southeast past the Tappan Zee.  (In fact, you don't need to enter the realm of fiction to imagine this.  The point where the directional signage changes isn't the state line, it's the I-87/I-287 interchange, squarely in New York.)

Not to nitpick but the Suffern interchange (Exit 15) is only a stone's throw from the state line.  Due to its close proximity, most of the approach BGS' along I-287 Northbound for this interchange are located in NJ and are NJDOT-spec'd.  The only reason why the change in cardinal direction is there rather than the state line is because it's more logical location to do so.

As I mentioned earlier, had all of the I-287 corridor (from I-95/NJ Turnpike Exit 11 to I-95 (Exit 22) in Rye, NY) been situated in one state (be it NJ or NY); it would've likely been an all North-South route in a similar manner that MA 128 is an all North-South route... Canton truncation or no Canton truncation.

Can highways change direction cardinals in the same state, sure (see I-695/Baltimore Beltway, I-495/Capital Beltway and RI 138 in Newport); but those are usually exceptions, not the rule.

[Scott5114]

Dunno about that. Most complete beltways will change cardinal directions four times, irrespective of any state lines.

[PHLBOS]

Dunno about that. Most complete beltways will change cardinal directions four times, irrespective of any state lines.

True but neither I-287 nor MA 128 are complete loop beltways like the Baltimore & Capital Beltways are.  They're beltways for sure but not complete loops.

[WNYroadgeek]

NY 78 and NY 98 have a wrong-way (North/South) multiplex in Java:



And there's also NY 54 and NY 415 in Bath:

[Alps]

Let's stop dealing in generalities.
RI 114 SB and RI 114 NB remains the single best opposite multiplex ever known.

[Roadsguy]

What?

Any pictures? Street View? On-a-map locations?

[PHLBOS]

I seem to recall that it was in Massachusetts and it may have involved MA 2, but I can't be positive.

The only opposite multiplex along MA 2 I'm aware of was already mentioned many posts back... w/MA 16 in Cambridge & Arlington via the Alewife Brook & Fresh Pond Parkways.  US 3 also multiplexes w/MA 2 & 16 in this area as well.

[NE2]

Let's stop dealing in generalities.
RI 114 SB and RI 114 NB remains the single best opposite multiplex ever known.

US 60 eastbound and US 60 westbound is better since it's actually signed.

[Scott5114]

Where's the US 60 example?

[NE2]

Newport News: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=36.97894&lon=-76.42769&zoom=17&layers=M&relation=420686

[TR69]

Not sure if this technically counts since one is a business route and the other is a mainline, but here it is anyway. Shelbyville, Kentucky.

[mvak36]

How about I-41, I-43, and I-894 in Milwaukee? Not sure if it's already been mentioned in this thread. I didn't look too closely.

[hbelkins]

Not sure if this technically counts since one is a business route and the other is a mainline, but here it is anyway. Shelbyville, Kentucky.

Somewhere I have a photo of that one from when before the KY 55 bypass was built.

[freebrickproductions]

Here's one in the Shoals area of Alabama, where AL 20 and US 72 run in opposite directions to cross the Tennessee River on the same road:
US 43/US 72/AL 13/AL 17/AL 20 by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

[hbelkins]

Here's one in the Shoals area of Alabama, where AL 20 and US 72 run in opposite directions to cross the Tennessee River on the same road:
US 43/US 72/AL 13/AL 17/AL 20 by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

Having just driven that a couple of weeks ago, I will note that there's a lot of salad to be found in that area.