Community Question: Where should the Crossroads of America REALLY be and Why?

[GaryV]

Why is Chicago to Miami the main N-S route?  Why not Chicago to New Orleans or Houston?

It's not just Chicago.  It's Copper Harbor - that makes all the difference.   

Copper Harbor is just a dinky town in the middle of nowhere...

Copper Harbor is not in the middle of nowhere, it's beyond the edge of nowhere. :-)

As evidenced by this https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/1572231694

Copper Harbor is another 45 miles or so beyond Houghton.

[hbelkins]

Chicago should be disqualified due to geography. It's too far north. The "Crossroads of America" should be somewhere closer to the geographical center of the country. A better argument could be made for Kansas City or Oklahoma City based on location.

But after having said that...

Even I-65 is not always the best route to connect Chicago and Atlanta with I-57 & 24 being there.

Anybody who would go from Atlanta to Chicago via Paducah is crazy. You're going too far west to eventually go east.

The lack of a good route between Chicago and the Southeast is one reason I would vote against Chicago being the crossroads of America (the stoplight infested, lacking a decent connection to the Chicagoland freeway network US 41 doesn't count IMHO).

Huh? I can think of several very good routes from Chicago to the southeast.

I-65 to I-24 to I-75.

I-65 to I-74 to I-75.

I-65 to I-70 to I-75 to US 35 to I-64 to I-77, or US 35 to US 23 to I-26.

[CtrlAltDel]

Anybody who would go from Atlanta to Chicago via Paducah is crazy. You're going too far west to eventually go east.

Not necessarily. I-65 veers to the east just about as much as I-57/I-24 veers to the west before the two routings meet in Nashville. The I-57/I-24 route is about 25 miles longer, but you avoid all the truck traffic on I-65 in Indiana, which is nice.

[US 41]

Anybody who would go from Atlanta to Chicago via Paducah is crazy. You're going too far west to eventually go east.

Not necessarily. I-65 veers to the east just about as much as I-57/I-24 veers to the west before the two routings meet in Nashville. The I-57/I-24 route is about 25 miles longer, but you avoid all the truck traffic on I-65 in Indiana, which is nice.

Taking US 41 (SR 63 north of Terre Haute) and the Pennyrile Parkway across Indiana and Kentucky makes the most sense IMO. It is 32 miles shorter than I-65, and 67 miles shorter than the I-57 / I-24 route. Yes Terre Haute, Evansville, and the St. Johns areas will slow you down a little, but on the other hand I-65 also goes through the middle of Louisville and Indianapolis. It takes only 19 minutes longer than taking I-65 and most will save a gallon or more on gas. A lot of semi trucks go through Terre Haute on their way to Nashville from Chicago.

I also still think Terre Haute is a pretty reasonable candidate for being the Crossroads of America.

[skluth]

My list

Honorable Mentions (not quite good enough to make the list): Dayton, Kansas City, OKC, Chicago, Louisville, Atlanta, Birmingham

#5 Effingham, IL: May sound odd, but it is true. Currently the best route from Detroit to Laredo runs along I-70 and I-57. I-57 is basically I-55. Anyone not going to St. Louis will use I-57 to get across Illinois. It may move off the top 5 when I-69 is finished. 

#4 Memphis, TN: It will pass Nashville on this list once I-69 is complete. I-22 also helps. Memphis is going to be well prepared thanks to the new bypass I-269.

#3 Nashville, TN: I-40, I-65, and I-24 all go through the state capital. You can access any city in the southern part of the US very easily.

#2 St. Louis, MO: Anyone going to the southwestern US from the east or Chicago is going to go through St. Louis, unless they chose to go south on I-57 at Effingham (#5). I-70, I-44, I-64, and I-55 are all major interstates in the US and they all go through St. Louis.

#1 Indianapolis, IN: It's easily #1 and when I-69 is complete from Indy to Laredo it will be unanimous. I-65, I-69, I-70, I-74, US 31 are the major highways that go through Indianapolis.

If you are going to include every four lane, St Louis beats Indy hands down. Along with Interstates 44, 55, 64, and 70, there's US 61 going to the Twin Cities and US 67 which is mostly four lanes to Little Rock. There are four x5 interstates east and west of I-55 which goes through St Louis. There is no I-50 in part because US 50, which has four x0 routes to the north and south, already bisects the country and runs through St Louis. US 40 also through St Louis.

St. Louis is a huge rail crossing because the Eads Bridge was the only way to cross the Mississippi south of the Quad Cities for decades. The Eads is now used for light rail but there are still two railroad bridges. Finally, almost all the bulk grain traffic goes by barge down the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers which meet in St Louis.

It also used to be a major airport when TWA was headquartered in STL, but Carl Icahn destroyed the company and its now part of American.

[Rick Powell]

Chicago Heights, IL was touted as the "crossroads of America" with the Dixie Highway crossing the Lincoln Highway.  Back in the day, this junction was probably a hot corner for traffic, but the function of its crossroads has been supplanted by multiple north-south Interstates like 55, 57 and 65, and Interstate 80 for east-west movements.

[Scott5114]

Why is Chicago to Miami the main N-S route?  Why not Chicago to New Orleans or Houston?

It's not just Chicago.  It's Copper Harbor - that makes all the difference.   

Copper Harbor is just a dinky town in the middle of nowhere...

[SD Mapman]

Chicago should be disqualified due to geography. It's too far north. The "Crossroads of America" should be somewhere closer to the geographical center of the country. A better argument could be made for Kansas City or Oklahoma City based on location.

So therefore it should be Belle Fourche, SD. Problem solved.

[cpzilliacus]

I can think of  three places that should be considered.

(1) Chicago, Illinois - I-80, I-88, I-90, I-94, I-55, I-57, and I-65 a huge airport, ocean access via the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway and it is the center of the national railroad network.

(2) St. Louis, Missouri - junction of I-70, I-44, I-64 and I-55, in addition to railroads and the Mississippi River.

(3) Kansas City, Missouri - Junction of I-70, I-29, I-49 and I-35. Plenty of railroads there and the Missouri River.

[TravelingBethelite]

Chicago should be disqualified due to geography. It's too far north. The "Crossroads of America" should be somewhere closer to the geographical center of the country. A better argument could be made for Kansas City or Oklahoma City based on location.

So therefore it should be Belle Fourche, SD. Problem solved.

Technically, the... Are we including Alaska/Hawai'i? 'Cause no American road the Alaska Highway leads to either of those places. Lebanon, KS, folks, is the geographical center of the lower 48. Sillies. 

[noelbotevera]

Chicago should be disqualified due to geography. It's too far north. The "Crossroads of America" should be somewhere closer to the geographical center of the country. A better argument could be made for Kansas City or Oklahoma City based on location.

So therefore it should be Belle Fourche, SD. Problem solved.

Technically, the... Are we including Alaska/Hawai'i? 'Cause no American road the Alaska Highway leads to either of those places. Lebanon, KS, folks, is the geographical center of the lower 48. Sillies. 

Do you wanna extend I-8 over 2500 miles to Hawaii? Or do you wanna annex all of western Canada? Pick yer' poison.

[kkt]

Chicago should be disqualified due to geography. It's too far north. The "Crossroads of America" should be somewhere closer to the geographical center of the country. A better argument could be made for Kansas City or Oklahoma City based on location.

So therefore it should be Belle Fourche, SD. Problem solved.

Technically, the... Are we including Alaska/Hawai'i? 'Cause no American road the Alaska Highway leads to either of those places. Lebanon, KS, folks, is the geographical center of the lower 48. Sillies. 

Do you wanna extend I-8 over 2500 miles to Hawaii? Or do you wanna annex all of western Canada? Pick yer' poison.

Why choose?  In Fictional Highways, we can do both!

[silverback1065]

Chicago should be disqualified due to geography. It's too far north. The "Crossroads of America" should be somewhere closer to the geographical center of the country. A better argument could be made for Kansas City or Oklahoma City based on location.

So therefore it should be Belle Fourche, SD. Problem solved.

Technically, the... Are we including Alaska/Hawai'i? 'Cause no American road the Alaska Highway leads to either of those places. Lebanon, KS, folks, is the geographical center of the lower 48. Sillies. 

Do you wanna extend I-8 over 2500 miles to Hawaii? Or do you wanna annex all of western Canada? Pick yer' poison.

That would one insane bridge!