Largest city without a U.S. highway (besides Honolulu or Anchorage)

[NE2]

and now I do wonder what the most populated city on the planet is which is not served by an interstate-quality freeway.  Karachi looks somewhat underdeveloped.

Define Interstate-quality.

Has to be Havana or Pyongyang.

Both seem to have several full freeways in the area. Maybe none inside city limits, but the same can be said of Paris.

[NE2]

Karachi looks somewhat underdeveloped.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Motorways_and_highways_of_Karachi

[InterstateNG]

Kinshasa has 9 million people and no freeways it appears.

[NE2]

Kinshasa has 9 million people and no freeways it appears.

That and Dhaka look like the only two on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_largest_cities with no freeways. Kinshasa has a bigger population in the city proper, but Dhaka wins otherwise.

[InterstateNG]

Dhaka appears to be trying to build an elevated expressway:  http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=237153

[mgk920]

and now I do wonder what the most populated city on the planet is which is not served by an interstate-quality freeway.  Karachi looks somewhat underdeveloped.

Define Interstate-quality.

Has to be Havana or Pyongyang.

Both seem to have several full freeways in the area. Maybe none inside city limits, but the same can be said of Paris.

Not only that, but Cuba has a partially completed motorway now running about two thirds of the length of the island between La Habana and Santiago, as well as one heading west out of the La Habana area.

Not interstate standard, of course, but a decent start, although it does look like they have not been worked on in many years.  They are easily traceable with Google aerial images.

Mike

[kphoger]

It's called the Autopista.  A very well-known Cuban highway famous for being freeway no one in their right mind would drive in its entirety.  Most everyone who travels from, say, Santiago to Havana goes by train.

[florida]

Didn't Waterbury, CT have Alt US 6 at one time?

In Florida, the largest non-suburb I can think of that never had one is Fernandina Beach [pop. 11,624].

[Duke87]

Didn't Waterbury, CT have Alt US 6 at one time?

I don't believe so.

That said, upon looking into it more, it seems as though US 6 itself did at some point in the distant past go to Waterbury, which removes that city from consideration.

Which means the question of "largest city that isn't a suburb of another city to never have had a US highway" is still unanswered, and tough to answer since no city in the US with 100,000 or more people fits that description.

[NE2]

Largest city that never had one is a more interesting topic, since it doesn't "penalize" cities for being on major routes that became Interstates. I wouldn't know where to start - Lake Havasu City? Keene, NH (for an older city)? Something on Long Island?

[empirestate]

Which means the question of "largest city that isn't a suburb of another city to never have had a US highway" is still unanswered, and tough to answer since no city in the US with 100,000 or more people fits that description.

Complicating things is the fact that, if we consider the whole history of US Highways, we'll likely find many cities that are now suburbs of others, but that weren't at the time they were served by US Highways. Or, they weren't served by US Highways when they were standalone cities, but have seen service added after becoming subservient to larger metro areas.

[sp_redelectric]

In Oregon, neither Salem nor Eugene (alternately Oregon's 2nd and 3rd largest cities) have a U.S. highway although Salem once had U.S. 99E and Eugene had both U.S. 99 and U.S. 126.

Hillsboro and Beaverton (in 5th and 6th place) are only barely scraped by with U.S. 26 along their absolute northern border.  However, both of these towns were much, much, much smaller in the 1950s and before and in the heyday of the U.S. Highway system U.S. 26 was a rural route well to the north of these small farming communities.

Portland (1st) and Gresham (3rd) have both U.S. 26 and U.S. 30 (although Gresham only barely with U.S. 30 as it is multiplexed with I-84) as well as U.S. 30 Bypass.  Portland was formerly served by all U.S. 99, 99W and 99E.

[mapman1071]

Tucson, Arizona
Formally served by US 80 (Decertified in AZ & 89 (Decertified South of Flagstaff, AZ)

[JustDrive]

Fremont, CA. All the larger cities in California have or have had US routes in the past.

[TheStranger]

Fremont, CA. All the larger cities in California have or have had US routes in the past.

The fun part of this is that Fremont was last served by a US highway in what, the mid-1930s with US 101E?  (And before that with the short-lived US 48)

[sandiaman]

 Albuquerque and Tucson (both about the same size) currently have no US  highways in their city limits.  And Prescott AZ  would also qualify.

[Pink Jazz]

Albuquerque and Tucson (both about the same size) currently have no US  highways in their city limits.  And Prescott AZ  would also qualify.

Actually, ABQ has unsigned US 85, which is concurrent with I-25.

[JustDrive]

Fremont, CA. All the larger cities in California have or have had US routes in the past.

The fun part of this is that Fremont was last served by a US highway in what, the mid-1930s with US 101E?  (And before that with the short-lived US 48)

If not Fremont, then it's Garden Grove.

[74/171FAN]

From what I am understanding, I think Manassas (pop. 37,821) wins in VA simply because US 29 never enters the city limits.