Unpopular Route Opinions

[hotdogPi]

Some people hate 6 for being a grid violation and mostly parallel to Interstates.

[SkyPesos]

That brings up something. There was a thread from 2018 on the most roasted 2di. Would be interesting to see the results of a similar thread for most roasted 2dus.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

US 6 is the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.

Which brings another unpopular opinion: US Routes should be defined inside Yellowstone. This would settle the dispute on the current longest US Route in favor of US 20.

[Flint1979]

US 6 is the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.

Which brings another unpopular opinion: US Routes should be defined inside Yellowstone. This would settle the dispute on the current longest US Route in favor of US 20.

US-20 is 167 miles longer than US-6 so I don't think Yellowstone is going to make that mileage up.

[SkyPesos]

US 6 is the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.

Which brings another unpopular opinion: US Routes should be defined inside Yellowstone. This would settle the dispute on the current longest US Route in favor of US 20.

US-20 is 167 miles longer than US-6 so I don't think Yellowstone is going to make that mileage up.

Some people count US 20 as two segments because of the Yellowstone gap.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

US 6 is the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.

Which brings another unpopular opinion: US Routes should be defined inside Yellowstone. This would settle the dispute on the current longest US Route in favor of US 20.

US-20 is 167 miles longer than US-6 so I don't think Yellowstone is going to make that mileage up.

Some people count US 20 as two segments because of the Yellowstone gap.

Which doesn't really make sense because they're clearly meant to be the same road. US 2, not so much.

[3467]

I must defend the honor of 34. It has several sections of multilane  arterial. In Illinois Galesburg area West and outside Sandwich to downtown Chicago. As well as sections in Iowa and Colorado.. It used to end at Michigan Ave. With US 66.
Though I don't like the Nebraska Routings . Also I would like to bring back an Historic 32 so we could complain about an Intrastate historic route. Unless we extend it to Omaha and we can complain about 6 and it's new historic concurrency.

[Flint1979]

The one I hate the most for being grid violation is US-33. It's totally east of US-31 and runs E-W.

[Flint1979]

Where exactly does the US-20 gap start and end? I followed US-20 from the end of US-14 and 16 to West Yellowstone and Google Maps acts as if the route doesn't have a gap in it. I followed it along US-191 as well.

[Rothman]

Where exactly does the US-20 gap start and end? I followed US-20 from the end of US-14 and 16 to West Yellowstone and Google Maps acts as if the route doesn't have a gap in it. I followed it along US-191 as well.

At the border of the park.  I know people have speculated as to the actual routes through the park on here, but I don't know what sources they've used to back them up.

[kphoger]

US 6 is the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.

Which brings another unpopular opinion: US Routes should be defined inside Yellowstone. This would settle the dispute on the current longest US Route in favor of US 20.

US-20 is 167 miles longer than US-6 so I don't think Yellowstone is going to make that mileage up.

Don't you remember this thread?  US 6 may actually be LONGER than US 20

A selection of pertinent posts is shown below.

The 3365-mile figure cited on signs at both endpoints of US 20 seems to be significantly overstated.  That number was sourced from AASHTO's 1989 route log, which a.) may not have been correct even back then, and b.) US 20 has had several realignments over the past 30+ years, each one of which affects its total mileage.  I suspect both factors are in play; at any rate I calculate US 20's cross-country distance to be less than 3300 miles.  And then when you subtract implied mileage though Yellowstone (which isn't officially part of US 20), the total distance comes out to be just under US 6's 3205 miles.  Full article here

US-20 is supposedly 167 miles longer...

"Supposedly" is the whole point of this thread: I am questioning the so-called "official" mileages.  My results are right there in the link for anyone to see, to compare to official DOT mileages, and/or to dispute if their own research indicates otherwise.

I am suspicious of any methodology that doesn't use official DOT/AASHTO resources. Having dealt with this type of question dozens of times on Wikipedia with state routes, if you start straying from official sources, you risk misidentifying what the "real" route is.

I am suspicious of official DOT/AASHTO resources.  I can appreciate your position, but I have seen plenty of examples where the data is either a.) wrong due to human error, b.) wrong because it's outdated, c.) internally inconsistent, or d.) correct but not intended for measuring border-to-border mileage (as you and I have discussed previously).  Regardless, if DOT data is accurate, it should be able to stand up to a little fact-checking.  And (as I discussed in post #30) 95% of the time my results do match up well with the official DOT figure.

I finally found my 1989 spreadsheet of US routes.

It does not count Yellowstone for US 20 at all (US 89 is also split; oddly, US 441's mileage through GSMNP is included).  The east segment is 2500 miles and the west segment is 865 miles for a total of 3365.

However, it counts all the US 20 Bus and US 20 ALT routes in these totals!

Subtracting these out gets an east segment of 2376 miles and a west segment of 861 miles for a total of 3237 miles (in 1989...freewayization in Iowa has likely shortened it a little more)

For US 6: 3249 miles for full list which includes all US 6 ALT, US 6 Bus, US 6 Byp and US 6N.

Subtracting out everything gives 3208 miles.  For the curious, it credits Colorado with 474 miles.

The actual difference between US 6 and US 20 on this is close enough that even what I did there won't conclude the question because Iowa may not be the only changes in the last 31 years (and who knows how much of Iowa it has correct as of 1989) for either route.  For instance, two Pennsylvania bypasses of US 6 are not yet on there. 

Oregon chopped about 4 miles off US 20 when the Eddyville bypass opened in 2016.  I can't think of any other major changes to 20 out here in recent years.

There is no grand total given and only state totals are shown (plus individual distances to the next US or Interstate route intersected), which do not include the bannered routes.   But including the bannered routes is the only way to get to the quoted distance of 3365 miles.

[Flint1979]

If it counts all of US-20's business routes and all it's Alternate routes than you might have an argument that mainline US-20 isn't as long as mainline US-6. It's a tricky situation but the angle might make 6 longer but like I said in a previous post about 6 months ago 20 has to go around Lake Erie where 6 is already missing the lake due to it's angle plus the north-south section in Wyoming. But I'm not even sure so I'm just discussing at this point.

[Ketchup99]

Some people hate 6 for being a grid violation and mostly parallel to Interstates.

IMO, 6 is quite stupid. At least in the East, it doesn't do anything for long-distance traffic, except on Cape Cod and from Hartford to Providence. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, it's been totally supplanted for long distance traffic by I-90, I-86, and NY-17; it should be a state route in NY from the Thruway to the Palisades Parkway; and then it doesn't really do anything until Hartford. I'm going to maintain my opinion that most US highway designations are very stupid.

[kenarmy]

Even more:
- I-17 AND I-19 SHOULD NOT BE MERGED. Y'all are quick to roast I-59 for having a long concurrency with 20, but want this so bad..

- 89's truncation was unnecessary. If that's the case 70 should've been cut back to Las Cruces. (I hope US 89 doesn't see this  )
- US 34 should've been killed during 6's mega extension, not 32 and 38.
- Current US 48> The other ones
- US 82 should still go to Las Cruces. Most of yall hate longer concurrencies but I don't see anything wrong with this.
- OH 3 is top 10 for state routes. I mean it connects the three largest cities in OH and has several US highways and I-71 following its route.
- US 163 should be decommissioned.
- US 50 should've always ended in Sacramento.
- CA was reaching by getting rid of US 60, I can kind of understand the other truncations and decommissioning.
- US 101> your favorite US route
Edit: Yes, even my favorite highway 49 
- Everybody is hating on US 11 for being paralleled for so long, but what about US 5??
- US 65 holds the cake for most embarrassing truncation.
- US 6 and US 50 have the best concurrency. Ever.
- US 641 could easily become transcontinental.
- US 78> 74, 72, 76
- US 30 deserves more hate.

[SkyPesos]

- US 101> your favorite US route

So even above US 49 for you? 

Though I saw that you added US 50 into your sig. Good job, it's actually my favorite US route. One of three to pass through the nation's capital, and the only one of that three that isn't closely parallel with an interstate for the majority of its route. And my hometown bias for US 50, with it passing through 2/3 of the US cities I've lived in.

[kphoger]

- I-17 AND I-19 SHOULD NOT BE MERGED.
- OH 3 is top 10 for state routes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highway_System

[kenarmy]

- I-17 AND I-19 SHOULD NOT BE MERGED.
- OH 3 is top 10 for state routes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highway_System

I made it clear that I was including interstates and state highways but thanks for letting us know : )

[SkyPesos]

- I-17 AND I-19 SHOULD NOT BE MERGED.
- OH 3 is top 10 for state routes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highway_System

I made it clear that I was including interstates and state highways but thanks for letting us know : )

You can change title of the thread to something more general like "Unpopular route number opinions"

[kenarmy]

- I-17 AND I-19 SHOULD NOT BE MERGED.
- OH 3 is top 10 for state routes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highway_System

I made it clear that I was including interstates and state highways but thanks for letting us know : )

You can change title of the thread to something more general like "Unpopular route number opinions"

Oh well, y'all know what I mean. Well most of y'all. While I'm here: I think "City routes" should've never been replaced by "Business"

[interstatefan990]

Thought I would start this thread since a lot of people seem to be posting non-US route unpopular opinions in the Unpopular US Route Opinions thread.

Post your unpopular opinions about any route, whether it has to do with concurrencies, extensions, design, rerouting, renumbering, signage, or anything else.

[kphoger]

The OP had zero Interstate or State routes.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 1 north of the Golden Gate Bridge is just as scenic if not more so than the segment in Big Sur. 

[epzik8]

I-97 is fine as-is

[TheHighwayMan3561]

US 61 didn't need to remain parallel to I-35 in MN. Those roads serve local traffic and should be managed at the county level. But that said, they shouldn't have decommissioned it along the I-35 concurrency.

[midwesternroadguy]

Why are people so against US highways?  Philosophically, I'm not much of a southerner, but the southern states do respect their US highways.  I don't understand the purpose of decommissioning US routes to state routes, when the state still has to maintain the route, but then has spend money on resigning it as a state route?  There are those of us who see value in US Routes as we prefer traversing the back routes across state lines.