Largest city without a bypass

[GCrites]

I propose leaving out non-US cities since the philosophy in the rest of the world was to not necessarily bypass the cities in order to maintain the existing local economies.

WTF? In the UK, we bypassed cities in order to maintain the existing local economies. We Brits tend to be very surprised that the US sends main routes through the town as we are so keen on bypasses. Therefore it is relevant.

There's a few small rural locations where their economy was based entirely on serving stopping traffic and they get either signs saying that there's services or a new service area on the outskirts, but in the most part, we try and take through traffic away from towns.

Which makes Aberdeen, Aylesbury, etc even more odd - these are big places and through traffic doesn't go round them, but rather through them.

I think I didn't frame what I said properly. When I think of a bypass, I think of the instances where the economy gets pulled out towards the bypass as in the mall gets built next to the bypass, a Wal-Mart gets built, chain restaurants open up next to all of it then the city center becomes abandoned by much of the private sector. So I'm not looking at bypasses that exist with only a few exits designed to protect the city center and get people into it with minimum disruption.

[vdeane]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the "hub and spoke" model with the main road bypassing the city is MORE common in the rest of the world, not less.

[flowmotion]

Boise, ID:  205,000 residents with no true bypass of I-84.  There is a I-184 but it is mainly a feeder freeway for downtown.

In that case, I-84 is the bypass route (or was before development spread). I suspect that's the case with a number of these other examples as well. How big was Albuquerque before the interstates were constructed?

OP was looking for examples like Eureka, CA and Carson City, NV where the highway follows "main street" through town, and that's it.

[Max Rockatansky]

Boise, ID:  205,000 residents with no true bypass of I-84.  There is a I-184 but it is mainly a feeder freeway for downtown.

In that case, I-84 is the bypass route (or was before development spread). I suspect that's the case with a number of these other examples as well. How big was Albuquerque before the interstates were constructed?

OP was looking for examples like Eureka, CA and Carson City, NV where the highway follows "main street" through town, and that's it.

Not so much with Albuquerque since I-40 and I-25 run close to where the previous alignments of US 66 did.  US 66 originally came down from the north via Santa Fe to Los Lunas which I-25 runs close to and I-40 is along the more direct post 1937 alignment.  The OP didn't specify if he was interested single surface level routes or a single freeway routes...so I specified in my post that I was talking about freeways with no additional level bypasses.  I think if I recall correctly I went as far to list surface bypasses like with Las Cruces. 

If surface routes count then we're talking a whole different equation.  In Carson City you have US 395A running on the original alignment of US 395 before it was shifted to I-580.  Granted that's not exactly a bypass in either instance since I-580 still takes you to the heart of Carson City as it's currently built but one could argue that NV 531/College Parkway acts as a minor one to US 50...at least to the east and north directions.  Even 341/342 through Virginia City to head east or 431 west to Lake Tahoe could act as a bypass in various situations since you avoid Carson City completely...so where are we drawing the line of clarification?  What about a city the size of Phoenix that didn't have a true bypass until the 303 was complete between I-10 and I-17?  In that instance you could bypass Phoenix completely heading to L.A. from Tucson via I-8 and AZ 85 before rejoining I-10.

In the instance of I-84 it does run through the city limits of Boise.  Development or not the route is currently running through Boise as it stands.  By the technical definition of a bypass the route ought to outright avoid a city and continue in a cardinal direction.  A lot of Interstates, state routes and other various highways may have been designed as such but urban sprawl has negated them as true bypasses.

[flowmotion]

Boise, ID:  205,000 residents with no true bypass of I-84.  There is a I-184 but it is mainly a feeder freeway for downtown.

In that case, I-84 is the bypass route (or was before development spread). I suspect that's the case with a number of these other examples as well. How big was Albuquerque before the interstates were constructed?

In the instance of I-84 it does run through the city limits of Boise.  Development or not the route is currently running through Boise as it stands.  By the technical definition of a bypass the route ought to outright avoid a city and continue in a cardinal direction. A lot of Interstates, state routes and other various highways may have been designed as such but urban sprawl has negated them as true bypasses.

Given the varied ways urban boundaries are defined, the location of the city limits seems fairly irrelevant to the question. (Often, a city will even annex the land near a newly constructed bypass.)

In my book, the definition of a bypass is fairly simple. It's simply a route which was designed to avoid another more direct but more congested route. In that sense, much of the Interstate system is made of bypasses. And in many cases, the older roads being bypassed were bypasses themselves. Of course, bypasses often become developed and congested themselves, but it doesn't make them any less of a bypass.

(Although it does seems that many of the comments were discussing ring roads or 3dis rather than strictly bypasses.)

Even 341/342 through Virginia City to head east or 431 west to Lake Tahoe could act as a bypass in various situations

They could, but calling them "bypasses" would define the term down to uselessness.

[DandyDan]

Albuquerque (550K) appears to be the largest U.S. city with no freeway bypass, unless you count El Paso (680K).

El Paso has Loop 375, which isn't entirely freeway for its journey around El Paso, the part that's not freeway basically being a road to the top of a mountain and back down the other side.

[Max Rockatansky]

Boise, ID:  205,000 residents with no true bypass of I-84.  There is a I-184 but it is mainly a feeder freeway for downtown.

In that case, I-84 is the bypass route (or was before development spread). I suspect that's the case with a number of these other examples as well. How big was Albuquerque before the interstates were constructed?

In the instance of I-84 it does run through the city limits of Boise.  Development or not the route is currently running through Boise as it stands.  By the technical definition of a bypass the route ought to outright avoid a city and continue in a cardinal direction. A lot of Interstates, state routes and other various highways may have been designed as such but urban sprawl has negated them as true bypasses.

Given the varied ways urban boundaries are defined, the location of the city limits seems fairly irrelevant to the question. (Often, a city will even annex the land near a newly constructed bypass.)

In my book, the definition of a bypass is fairly simple. It's simply a route which was designed to avoid another more direct but more congested route. In that sense, much of the Interstate system is made of bypasses. And in many cases, the older roads being bypassed were bypasses themselves. Of course, bypasses often become developed and congested themselves, but it doesn't make them any less of a bypass.

(Although it does seems that many of the comments were discussing ring roads or 3dis rather than strictly bypasses.)

Even 341/342 through Virginia City to head east or 431 west to Lake Tahoe could act as a bypass in various situations

They could, but calling them "bypasses" would define the term down to uselessness.

Actually to me seems completely relevant to the conversation.  Basically is a bypass really a bypass if it runs through a part of a city rather than avoid it completely?  Someone else pointed out Provo on I-15 in a similar situation to Boise.  I don't think either example could be considered by the true definition a bypass in the traditional sense...at least not anymore with urban sprawl.  Urban sprawl in the post-Interstate era tended to have a great affect on where the flow of traffic went since it generally became the primary route...isn't the point of a bypass to avoid primary route?  And I actually disagree that most Interstates avoided the urban core, although I know there are examples of it doing so.  There is a whole another thread actually discussing urban core decay caused by Interstates running through the hearts of American Cities which pushed urban sprawl out of centralized downtown areas.

Something I would compare it to would be AZ 101 from I-10 to I-17 since you avoid downtown Phoenix and the bulk of the inner urban core but you are certainly well within the city limits for good part of the journey in addition to populated areas.  By contrast AZ 303 serves more as a bypass to me simply because it completely avoids the core city in Phoenix until the last leg of the journey to I-17 and travels in unpopulated area.  AZ 74 from I-17 to US 60 could be considered a bypass of the larger Phoenix area rather than traversing up I-10 and US 60 itself....that's a common one I took to save myself time heading out to Vegas. 

In the instances of NV 341, 342 and 431 that would largely depending on what you are willing to do to bypass an urban area.  Wouldn't something like that be considered a "scenic bypass" since for all intents and purposes they would be considered scenic highways bypassing a larger local to head to a scenic location?  Another example of this would be CO 340 which primarily takes you to Colorado National Monument but also bypasses the bulk of the city limits of Grand Junction to US 50.

[GCrites]

(Although it does seems that many of the comments were discussing ring roads or 3dis rather than strictly bypasses.)

That's what I'm saying.

[tckma]

Aberdeen, Scotland has no bypass (yet). The population is just short of 200k.

I think this is a hard question to answer, because many cities (including Aberdeen) that once had bypasses, had their bypasses engulfed by suburbia.

I propose leaving out non-US cities since the philosophy in the rest of the world was to not necessarily bypass the cities in order to maintain the existing local economies.

I respectfully disagree.  One of the design principles of the Interstate system was to connect major US cities.  For example, the I-95 situation in NJ exists partly because the highway was supposed to (and does) serve downtown Philadelphia.  People in DC and NY and Boston and other cities fought not to have major highways built through their downtowns, so you see the ring roads only, as opposed to the Interstates going right through downtowns as originally planned.

[Rothman]

Aberdeen, Scotland has no bypass (yet). The population is just short of 200k.

I think this is a hard question to answer, because many cities (including Aberdeen) that once had bypasses, had their bypasses engulfed by suburbia.

I propose leaving out non-US cities since the philosophy in the rest of the world was to not necessarily bypass the cities in order to maintain the existing local economies.

I respectfully disagree.  One of the design principles of the Interstate system was to connect major US cities.  For example, the I-95 situation in NJ exists partly because the highway was supposed to (and does) serve downtown Philadelphia.  People in DC and NY and Boston and other cities fought not to have major highways built through their downtowns, so you see the ring roads only, as opposed to the Interstates going right through downtowns as originally planned.

Hard to say that I-93 doesn't go through Boston's downtown.

[PHLBOS]

One of the design principles of the Interstate system was to connect major US cities.  For example, the I-95 situation in NJ exists partly because the highway was supposed to (and does) serve downtown Philadelphia.  People in DC and NY and Boston and other cities fought not to have major highways built through their downtowns, so you see the ring roads only, as opposed to the Interstates going right through downtowns as originally planned.

Hard to say that I-93 doesn't go through Boston's downtown.

I-95 was originally planned to go through downtown Boston & I-93 originally terminated north of the downtown area.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I guess Duluth (87.000) sort of counts. While I-35 now bypasses downtown with the tunnels, you can't leave town on MN 61 without driving through three miles of residential neighborhood, and there is no alternative to I-35/MN 61 through town.

[Rothman]

I guess Duluth (87.000) sort of counts. While I-35 now bypasses downtown with the tunnels, you can't leave town on MN 61 without driving through three miles of residential neighborhood, and there is no alternative to I-35/MN 61 through town.

Meh. I don't think the tunnels count as a bypass, especially since they're north of the real core of downtown Duluth (even north of Canal Park).  The Lake Ave exit puts you right in the middle of it.

[thenetwork]

Grand Junction, CO:  58,000 residents with I-70 as the only freeway.  No major surface bypass even.

There is a four-lane, divided bypass of US-50 downtown traffic which is part of the Riverside Parkway. And while there is no official bypass around the city, I-70 pretty much IS the northern bypass around the city, while BL-70 and US-6 are the main routes into and out of the heart of the town.

[Max Rockatansky]

Grand Junction, CO:  58,000 residents with I-70 as the only freeway.  No major surface bypass even.

There is a four-lane, divided bypass of US-50 downtown traffic which is part of the Riverside Parkway. And while there is no official bypass around the city, I-70 pretty much IS the northern bypass around the city, while BL-70 and US-6 are the main routes into and out of the heart of the town.

Yeah I had to venture through Grand Junction last October heading out Moab on UT 279 on the way to Black Canyon...suffice to say that drive had me quite hungry and no patient with morning rush hour.  I found a Burger King near the mall but the configuration of US 50/6/I-70 BL wasn't the easiest to get to.  Thankfully it was just before Riverside Parkway so I didn't have to go through downtown at least to US 50. Funny to think that US 50 being routed on San Juan Ave in Montrose for all intents and purposes is a bypass just a short distance away though.

[ftballfan]

Traverse City, MI (aka Traffic City; year-round city population around 15,000 but Grand Traverse County has over 90,000 people) has no actual bypass at all. The main road (US-31) goes almost right through downtown (Grandview Parkway MAY count as a downtown bypass) and is a traffic nightmare during the summer, especially during the Cherry Festival and the Film Festival. I would rather drive in Grand Rapids (metro population close to 1 million) than in Traverse City. There's almost 15 miles of continuous development from Chums Corner (M-37 south) to Acme (M-72 east). Heck, it's so bad that Google Maps' default routing between Chums and Acme has you taking back roads to get between those two points

[paulthemapguy]

Fresno has a population of half a million and there is no bypass in sight.

[r-dub]

I would have to put Colorado Springs into this list. Metro population approaching 700k and I-25 is the only freeway in sight. Nevada Avenue, the original US 85/87 through the city, is only a few blocks away from the interstate at any given point, so I don't really know if you can call the interstate a bypass versus easier routing when it was expanded. Ring roads (Circle/Fillmore, Academy, soon-to-be Powers) really weren't designed to be bypasses--just major arterials as the city grew east.

[jp the roadgeek]

Bridgeport, CT has a population of 147,000.  I-95 goes right through downtown and CT 8/25 feeds into 95 right in downtown.  One could use the Merritt Parkway (in a car) or head 25 miles north to I-84 to avoid the city, but neither is a true bypass.

[Chris]

Delhi, population 16.3 million, has no functional bypass yet, though they're working on both a western and eastern freeway bypass. The city also lacks a comprehensive freeway network.

Lagos, with a metro population of 21 million, does not have a bypass, though there are several freeways to get through the city.

[Plutonic Panda]

Oklahoma City has no bypass.

[Jbte]

Los Angeles
There might be some other rural highway that function as bypass in different segments such CA state route 128, 138 and 247 but outside of the metro area there's not a single interstate that bypasses LA without entering the urban area.

Tucson, lacks of a bypass road options.

Aguascalientes, no bypass all commercial traffic gets into the city avenues.

[Max Rockatansky]

Los Angeles
There might be some other rural highway that function as bypass in different segments such CA state route 128, 138 and 247 but outside of the metro area there's not a single interstate that bypasses LA without entering the urban area.

Tucson, lacks of a bypass road options.

Aguascalientes, no bypass all commercial traffic gets into the city avenues.

I don't know about that.  There are so many good ways to avoid L.A. with combinations of CA 62, CA 18, CA 247, US 95 and I-40 coming west from Arizona.  I'll agree with you that I-215, CA 210 and I-15 aren't much in the way of bypasses these days since the Inland Empire and Metro Los Angeles have grown into one giant cluster.

[mrsman]

Los Angeles
There might be some other rural highway that function as bypass in different segments such CA state route 128, 138 and 247 but outside of the metro area there's not a single interstate that bypasses LA without entering the urban area.

Tucson, lacks of a bypass road options.

Aguascalientes, no bypass all commercial traffic gets into the city avenues.

I don't know about that.  There are so many good ways to avoid L.A. with combinations of CA 62, CA 18, CA 247, US 95 and I-40 coming west from Arizona.  I'll agree with you that I-215, CA 210 and I-15 aren't much in the way of bypasses these days since the Inland Empire and Metro Los Angeles have grown into one giant cluster.

With that logic, basically everyplace is bypassed, because you can always find a combination of rural roads that form a type of bypass.  If one doesn't exist 5 miles from the city, you might find one at 10, 20, or even 50 miles away.

When I consider a bypass, I'm thinking of heading down a highway and approaching a sizable city that is not my final destination, is there a road that I can take that will allow me to get around the city and then back on the road that I am on to continue my journey.  For most cities, these are the circumferential beltways.  Yes, these days many of the beltways are just as crowded as the through routes -but at least the cities are bypassed.

LA's bypasses are I-405 and I-210.  The fact that you can make even wider bypasses with rural routes are good for practical purposes.

[Max Rockatansky]

Los Angeles
There might be some other rural highway that function as bypass in different segments such CA state route 128, 138 and 247 but outside of the metro area there's not a single interstate that bypasses LA without entering the urban area.

Tucson, lacks of a bypass road options.

Aguascalientes, no bypass all commercial traffic gets into the city avenues.

I don't know about that.  There are so many good ways to avoid L.A. with combinations of CA 62, CA 18, CA 247, US 95 and I-40 coming west from Arizona.  I'll agree with you that I-215, CA 210 and I-15 aren't much in the way of bypasses these days since the Inland Empire and Metro Los Angeles have grown into one giant cluster.

With that logic, basically everyplace is bypassed, because you can always find a combination of rural roads that form a type of bypass.  If one doesn't exist 5 miles from the city, you might find one at 10, 20, or even 50 miles away.

When I consider a bypass, I'm thinking of heading down a highway and approaching a sizable city that is not my final destination, is there a road that I can take that will allow me to get around the city and then back on the road that I am on to continue my journey.  For most cities, these are the circumferential beltways.  Yes, these days many of the beltways are just as crowded as the through routes -but at least the cities are bypassed.

LA's bypasses are I-405 and I-210.  The fact that you can make even wider bypasses with rural routes are good for practical purposes.

Well we're talking about L.A. which means the most sensible approach is to avoid it altogether if you aren't going there.    Yes that's true, something like I-405 is "technically" by definition a bypass but the civic growth of the Los Angeles market makes it anything but.  In the instance of I-405 it's actually the heaviest volume road in the entire country...I would gladly take my chances on I-5 any day of the week vs the 405 bypass.  I don't have the traffic numbers on I-210 but it's still in the neighborhood of I-10 especially when you get west of 57 and Pomona...or it feels like it at least.    The problem you run into with L.A. and effective bypass routes is that the geography of the mountains bottlenecks everything down into the valley floor.  Basically urban sprawl took a lot of routes that were once well plotted bypasses and basically made them just as busy as the main route.