Decomissionings/Truncations that disapponted you?

[DandyDan]

* NE 370 east of US 75 and all of IA 370
* US 460 west of Frankfort, KY:  While the Indiana portion stayed fairly close to I-64 and was lower quality, the Illinois portion strays a decent amount from I-64

As a resident of Papillion, NE when NE 370 was decommissioned, I was disappointed, but not really surprised. For the exact same reason, the old route of US 34 through Plattsmouth should have become an extension of NE 66.

[dvferyance]

WI-24 now at ends at a county line so illogical ditto for VA-108.
WI-163 it leaves a huge hole without a state highway. Not a fan of that.
IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.
Many of the gaps INDOT created in the cities. At least they could still be signed to keep continuous routes. What is the gap on IN-144 all about?
Were the 2 OH-152's ever connected? If so than that.
Few others I would change if I could but those are the ones that bother me the most.

[thspfc]

WI-24 now at ends at a county line so illogical ditto for VA-108.
WI-163 it leaves a huge hole without a state highway. Not a fan of that.
IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.
Many of the gaps INDOT created in the cities. At least they could still be signed to keep continuous routes. What is the gap on IN-144 all about?
Were the 2 OH-152's ever connected? If so than that.
Few others I would change if I could but those are the ones that bother me the most.

WI-24 should be decomissioned IMO. As for WI-163, if the traffic doesn't support it being a state highway, and if it's not an important corridor beyond the communities it connects, then why keep it?

[DandyDan]

IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that.

My Aunt Sue lives not far from MN-91 in SW Minnesota. When I lived in Nebraska and I would drive to her farm, I'd always look for IA-91 on IA-9. It's a lot harder looking for a county road, although I do believe there is signage pointing the way to Ellsworth, MN, which I went through to get to my aunt's farm.

As a more general statement, the 2003 Iowa highway decommissionings, of which IA-91 was one, were disappointing, also some more so than others.

[Mapmikey]

WI-24 now at ends at a county line so illogical ditto for VA-108.

If I-73 ever gets going north of Martinsville VA then there would be a more logical endpoint for VA 108 to have then a secondary route intersection 1.1 miles south of a county line.

[epzik8]

The supposed removal of I-70 between I-695 and the Park and Ride just west of Baltimore, although whether this occurred at all is disputed.

[74/171FAN]

WI-24 now at ends at a county line so illogical ditto for VA-108.

Well VA 162 was truncated to the York/James City County Line in 1993 turning this into so short of a route that I drove to the nearby McDonald's and turned around when I clinched it.

[Flint1979]

US-10 going to Detroit.
US-25 going to Port Austin.
US-27 going to Cheboygan.

I-75 can mainly be thanked for scaling these routes back along with a couple other highways.

[Flint1979]

IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.

Michigan does that to OH-120 and IN-120. Former M-120 was in between, now a state highway in another part of the state.

[dvferyance]

WI-24 now at ends at a county line so illogical ditto for VA-108.
WI-163 it leaves a huge hole without a state highway. Not a fan of that.
IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.
Many of the gaps INDOT created in the cities. At least they could still be signed to keep continuous routes. What is the gap on IN-144 all about?
Were the 2 OH-152's ever connected? If so than that.
Few others I would change if I could but those are the ones that bother me the most.

WI-24 should be decomissioned IMO. As for WI-163, if the traffic doesn't support it being a state highway, and if it's not an important corridor beyond the communities it connects, then why keep it?

WI-163 was a state highway for along time. I am just not a fan of huge holes without state highways regardless of traffic counts. And I am sure you could fine other state highways with similar or even lower traffic counts. I should not I would also extend WI-96 back east to end at WI-163. As for WI-24 it's plenty busy enough to keep it a state highway. I would just end it in Big Bend to give it a logical endpoint. That is just how I feel  I know there are some who disagree.

[dvferyance]

IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.

Michigan does that to OH-120 and IN-120. Former M-120 was in between, now a state highway in another part of the state.

I didn't think of that one otherwise that one would also be on my list. Bring back the real M-120 and the current M-120 can be M-128 since that was the lowest number never used in the state. I would also bring back M-205 so IN-19 would not be orphaned. It was only like what a mile long big deal saving MDOT one mile of maintaince cost.

[JCinSummerfield]

US-33 in Michigan

[Flint1979]

IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.

Michigan does that to OH-120 and IN-120. Former M-120 was in between, now a state highway in another part of the state.

I didn't think of that one otherwise that one would also be on my list. Bring back the real M-120 and the current M-120 can be M-128 since that was the lowest number never used in the state. I would also bring back M-205 so IN-19 would not be orphaned. It was only like what a mile long big deal saving MDOT one mile of maintaince cost.

Almost two miles I think. Indiana does it back to Michigan with M-217 becoming a County Road in Indiana.

[NWI_Irish96]

IA-91 orphans MN-91 not a fan of that. Also the southern IA-15 orphans MO-15.

Michigan does that to OH-120 and IN-120. Former M-120 was in between, now a state highway in another part of the state.

I didn't think of that one otherwise that one would also be on my list. Bring back the real M-120 and the current M-120 can be M-128 since that was the lowest number never used in the state. I would also bring back M-205 so IN-19 would not be orphaned. It was only like what a mile long big deal saving MDOT one mile of maintaince cost.

Almost two miles I think. Indiana does it back to Michigan with M-217 becoming a County Road in Indiana.

CR 17 was never a state highway though (but really ought to be), so M-217 really orphaned itself.

[skluth]

US 66 should at least still exist from Victorville CA to Ash Fork AZ. The road alone has inspired songs, a TV show, and countless kitschy collectable trinkets. It's far enough from the interstates to have inspired Pixar's Cars after its decommissioning. Driving the old highway is quite popular with tourists, including a lot of foreign tourists. CA 66 still runs along Foothill Blvd between San Dimas and San Bernardino, but it's mostly an ugly suburban racetrack with strip malls and crappy chain restaurants. It may be decommissioned from being CA 66 at this point; just marked that way in Google Maps and marked by "Historic 66" signs. (When there are signs at all. Caltrans often doesn't mark routes in urban environments.) It might attract more tourists if the new recommissioned US 66 ran west from Victorville by some routing to the Santa Monica Pier.

I still think more US highways need to be decommissioned than restored.

[hotdogPi]

MA 126 to Chelmsford.

[kphoger]

US 66 ... might attract more tourists if the new recommissioned US 66 ran ...

I wonder about that argument.  Isn't part of old US-66's allure the fact that it's no longer a commissioned highway?  If it were once again a commissioned highway, then in some sense it would cease to be a thing of the nostalgic past.

[Flint1979]

CR-17 in Indiana which becomes M-217 in Michigan is a high quality county road until at least the west side of Goshen. Then south of there it becomes a two lane county road and then becomes a dirt road further south.

[SectorZ]

MA 126 to Chelmsford.

Never understood why that went away, especially since it directly passes a state park. Especially since the state already has significant miles of routes not state maintained anyways.

I guess if there was a "closest truncation or decommissioning near you" thread, this would be my winner.

[kkt]

I'm disappointed that US 410 in Washington and a little in Idaho was demoted from a US route to a greatly truncated state route.  Replacing parts of it with US 12 made sense so I'm not sorry that happened, but a lengthy US 410 could have remained from US 12 at Elma to US 12 at Naches.

[bugo]

US 66 was decommissioned in part because in many locations, there are several alignments. There are 3 alignments in Tulsa (Admiral Place, 11th Street and Skelly Drive) and some places have even more, and having an "official" US 66 was confusing.

[bassoon1986]

The numbering of US 425 aside, I never liked how US 65 got truncated from US 61/84 in Natchez, MS to tiny Clayton, LA. Having a 6x end at another 6x just felt nice.


iPhone

[TheStranger]

beyond the obvious 66/99 in California...

- Route 82 south of I-880 (which is still somewhat signed anyway in downtown San Jose along the 1980s realignment that was created to improve access to Route 87).  This essentially was the southern link back to US 101, which no longer has any direct connection to any of the route, even though all of 82 is historic 101.  Kinda similar to how Route 72 south of La Habra was eliminated in the early 1980s.

- Route 85 between Cupertino and Route 9, which itself is a pre-1964 segment of Route 9.  I get that 85 eventually was used to cover the whole West Valley Freeway segment, but then would feel that 9 should have been restored on that De Anza Boulevard trajectory, as opposed to it currently doubling back awkwardly southeast to Route 17.

- Route 160 between the North Sacramento Freeway and Freeport.  I get why this was removed off city streets but always liked the idea of a numbered route passing by Capitol Park, along historic segments of US 40 and US 99.

- Route 16 between Woodland and Sacramento.  I-5 did replace it as a through route, but passes in a corridor so different that having 16 marked as an alternate would have been cool.

- Route 170 along Highland Avenue in Hollywood.  I enjoyed the randomness of its existence (and the fact it was in part a vestige of the never-built Laurel Canyon Freeway project connecting Universal City with the La Cienega Boulevard freeway segment and then to LAX).

- Route 274 in San Diego, another "this randomly exists" route (though it primarily served as an arterial while Route 52 was being built).

[Avalanchez71]

US 10 could go further west.  US 61 in Minnesota should go to the border.  US 60 could go further west.  US 70 also should go further west.  US 41 should go all the way to SR A1A like it did in the past.  Goofy why FL cut it back.  US 89 in AZ.

[sparker]

beyond the obvious 66/99 in California...

- Route 82 south of I-880 (which is still somewhat signed anyway in downtown San Jose along the 1980s realignment that was created to improve access to Route 87).  This essentially was the southern link back to US 101, which no longer has any direct connection to any of the route, even though all of 82 is historic 101.  Kinda similar to how Route 72 south of La Habra was eliminated in the early 1980s.

- Route 85 between Cupertino and Route 9, which itself is a pre-1964 segment of Route 9.  I get that 85 eventually was used to cover the whole West Valley Freeway segment, but then would feel that 9 should have been restored on that De Anza Boulevard trajectory, as opposed to it currently doubling back awkwardly southeast to Route 17.

- Route 160 between the North Sacramento Freeway and Freeport.  I get why this was removed off city streets but always liked the idea of a numbered route passing by Capitol Park, along historic segments of US 40 and US 99.

- Route 16 between Woodland and Sacramento.  I-5 did replace it as a through route, but passes in a corridor so different that having 16 marked as an alternate would have been cool.

- Route 170 along Highland Avenue in Hollywood.  I enjoyed the randomness of its existence (and the fact it was in part a vestige of the never-built Laurel Canyon Freeway project connecting Universal City with the La Cienega Boulevard freeway segment and then to LAX).

- Route 274 in San Diego, another "this randomly exists" route (though it primarily served as an arterial while Route 52 was being built).

Unfortunately, despite myself and other locals pushing to have the original US 101 alignment through San Jose (at least south from the "legal" end of CA 82 at I-880) signed as "Historic US 101", no one has so far come up with the requisite funding to deploy signage.  Hey, a couple of us volunteered to get up on ladders and do much of the work, but the city's liability coverage won't allow for that!  So the route goes unsigned and unremarked except for the BGS' on CA 87, I-280, and US 101 down at Blossom Hill.   Re the CA 9/CA 85 conundrum:  CA 9 got signed where it is over an unsigned pre-'64 portion of former LRN 42 into Los Gatos as an over-the-hill alternative to CA 17.  While CA 85 got signed up De Anza Blvd. back in '66 when the first freeway section of its corridor opened, it was always intended to relinquish it once the freeway extended south to at least CA 17.  Remember Caltrans signs based on maintenance rather than utility (or even simple logic!), so unless that policy can be altered from within, CA 9 and others will stay where they are.   And I'm surprised CA 160 signage wasn't maintained (as per legal requirements of relinquishments) by the city, seeing it was only three blocks east of Caltrans HQ!  To me, that in itself is evidence that the current Caltrans management has little interest in general signage much less enforcing relinquishment codicils.  Two issues prompted the full relinquishment of old CA 16 between Woodland and Sacramento:  the stretch through the Yolo Bypass floodplain just north of and parallel to the I-5 causeway, and the portion atop the levee near West Sacramento and Bryte.  That was and is narrow (particularly the part over the weirs) and accident-prone (this was a real problem with large trucks when 16 was used as a shortcut for old US 99W prior to I-5 deployment).  Caltrans, and D3 in particular, really doesn't want to promote usage of that road as an alternate to I-5 because of those issues.  170 in Hollywood made for a real nice shortcut from US 101 over to westward CA 2; relinquishments of portions of the latter have likely prompted the same for the short 170 surface segment.   And 274 was simply part of Caltrans' 55-year effort to rid itself of urban surface routes, particularly when there is a relatively close parallel freeway (here, CA 52).