Highways with big changes at state lines

[Kniwt]

For no reason, I started thinking about highways that, when they cross state lines, undergo a big change in their character -- for instance, from expressway to random road. The example that made me think of this is US 95 at the NV/CA border: In Nevada, it's a four-lane 75mph expressway (upgraded post-9/11 to be the Hoover Dam truck detour), but in California it's still basically the same dangerous narrow 1930s-era two-lane road with no paved shoulders, undulating up and over every tiny hill.



I can think of a couple others, but this seems like a good one to get started with.

Edit: And before anyone else uses it, yes, here's the old Kansas Turnpike:

[Chris19001]

Probably not great examples of what you're looking for but:
US202 at the PA-NJ border.  While technically the NJ border is in the middle of a bridge, the highway goes from 4 lane limited access to a mess of a 2 lane arterial one it clears the toll booth area on the PA side.  It is a slow crawl through Bucks County, PA https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3771445,-74.9622251,3a,75y,228.54h,95.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sReJ1aLHwpchHOqokgiHsGw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

US-1 on the PA-MD border. 4 lane expressway to 2 lane arterial.  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7215626,-76.0310019,3a,52.1y,39.36h,92.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgkOKjORlSThLY0_DCfhFIA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Both are reasonably traveled and could be more effective bypasses of I-95 if they could handle the extra traffic on both sides.  Neither of the above is a spontaneous change at the exact border though.  (edit for wrong border on US-1)

[WillWeaverRVA]

US 23 downgrades from a freeway to an arterial entering Virginia from Tennessee.

WV 9 downgrades from a 4-lane divided expressway to a 2-lane road entering Virginia.

[MATraveler128]

Probably not great examples of what you're looking for but:
US202 at the PA-NJ border.  While technically the NJ border is in the middle of a bridge, the highway goes from 4 lane limited access to a mess of a 2 lane arterial one it clears the toll booth area on the PA side.  It is a slow crawl through Bucks County, PA https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3771445,-74.9622251,3a,75y,228.54h,95.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sReJ1aLHwpchHOqokgiHsGw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

US-1 on the PA-MD border. 4 lane expressway to 2 lane arterial.  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7215626,-76.0310019,3a,52.1y,39.36h,92.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgkOKjORlSThLY0_DCfhFIA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Both are reasonably traveled and could be more effective bypasses of I-95 if they could handle the extra traffic on both sides.  Neither of the above is a spontaneous change at the exact border though.

FTFY, US 1 doesn’t enter Delaware.

US 4 is a two lane road on the New York side and immediately becomes a freeway upon entering Vermont.

Also CT 695 is a freeway on the Connecticut side and upon entering Rhode Island, becomes an arterial, though it is US 6 at that point.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 299 becoming the not so official NV 8A (dirt surface) at the Nevada Stateline.  NV 8A is a relic of the pre-1976 Nevada numbering system and isn't part of the State Inventory.

[JayhawkCO]

CO318 becoming unpaved Browns Park Road in Utah

[US 89]

CO318 becoming unpaved Browns Park Road in Utah

I thought Browns Park Rd got paved within the past few years?

Also, while it's not exactly a major road, NC 60 goes from a 5-lane road (2+2 with center turn lane) to a narrow 2-lane road upon crossing the Georgia border and becoming GA 60 Spur (link). It's a really weird road to be five lanes, so I'm curious if the NC side was widened as some sort of Corridor K type plan that fell through at some point later on.

[hbelkins]

More from VA/WV: US 522 is four lanes in Virginia; two lanes in West Virginia.

US 340 is another hybrid. Four lanes in Virginia as you're going north, then becomes two lanes at the WV line. Has a four-lane stretch in the Charles Town/Harpers Ferry area, then becomes two lanes in WV and stays two lanes through another short run into Virginia, then becomes four lanes after it crosses into Maryland.

[SD Mapman]

CO318 becoming unpaved Browns Park Road in Utah

I-25 switching from pavement to washboard at the CO/NM state line... joking!

On a real note, you have the WY 430/CR 10N (WY/CO) pavement to gravel switch, the WY 10/CR 103 (WY/CO) pavement/gravel switch, SD 251 going to gravel when it hits NE... I think these are fairly common in western states where one state maintains a highway to the state line but the other side's just a county road because there's not as many paved county roads in this part of the country.

There's also US 385 going from 4-lane divided to 2-lane from SD to NE but that's not as stark.

[JayhawkCO]

CO318 becoming unpaved Browns Park Road in Utah

I thought Browns Park Rd got paved within the past few years?

Not the whole thing.  I was up there about a year and a half ago and it was maybe 60% paved?  I honestly can't remember right at the border if it went to dirt.  I might be misremembering.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Probably not great examples of what you're looking for but:
US202 at the PA-NJ border.  While technically the NJ border is in the middle of a bridge, the highway goes from 4 lane limited access to a mess of a 2 lane arterial one it clears the toll booth area on the PA side.  It is a slow crawl through Bucks County, PA https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3771445,-74.9622251,3a,75y,228.54h,95.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sReJ1aLHwpchHOqokgiHsGw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

US-1 on the PA-DE border. 4 lane expressway to 2 lane arterial.  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7215626,-76.0310019,3a,52.1y,39.36h,92.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgkOKjORlSThLY0_DCfhFIA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Both are reasonably traveled and could be more effective bypasses of I-95 if they could handle the extra traffic on both sides.  Neither of the above is a spontaneous change at the exact border though.

I think you mean US 1 at the PA/MD border.

[Chris19001]

FTFY, US 1 doesn't enter Delaware.

I think you mean US 1 at the PA/MD border.

Correct to both.  Anther brain blunder by yours truly.  Thanks for the rescue there.

[Dirt Roads]

Another one from Virginia from this neck of the woods:  US-501 is four lane headed down to the North Carolina border, then goes down to two lanes most of the way to Roxboro.  I have yet to try out the new Ca-vel bypass north of Roxboro.  Ca-vel is a small posted crossroads partially named after the old Collins and Aikman plant located there.

[webny99]

US 15 at the NY/PA line was pretty stark prior to the completion of I-99 on the NY side. A full freeway suddenly transitioned to a busy rural two-lane road with heavy truck traffic.

[1995hoo]

Some might disagree with whether it's a "big change," but the one that instantly comes to mind is I-95 crossing from Georgia to South Carolina (or vice versa). When I drive that route southbound, it feels liberating when the road widens out after crossing the state line there, whereas on the northbound trip it feels like the start of several hours of fighting other people for position (given the excessive amount of tailgating and other nonsense that goes on).

In terms of pavement condition, the portion of US-219 south of I-86 in New York State is a washboard compared to the road immediately over the state line in Pennsylvania.

[plain]

Any road that becomes a Turnpike immediately upon crossing a state line, without a free exit after crossing.

Ex. I-44 MO→OK, US 301 MD→DE

[mgk920]

US 12 changes from a 1960s-era fully interstate compatible rural freeway to a completely inadequate local street and two lane highway when it crosses from Wisconsin into Illinois.

The s due to IDOT (and/or ISTHA?) never building the planned interstate compatible highway on their side of the state line.

Mike

[Scott5114]

OK 58 becoming a dirt county road in Kansas.

Any road that becomes a Turnpike immediately upon crossing a state line, without a free exit after crossing.

Ex. I-44 MO→OK, US 301 MD→DE

I-44 MO→OK also changes in scenery pretty quickly after crossing the state line, from the hilly Ozark geography of southwest MO to the flatter topography of OK.

[HighwayStar]

US 287 at the TX-OK border

[Dirt Roads]

Any road that becomes a Turnpike immediately upon crossing a state line, without a free exit after crossing.

Not quite that bad, but VA-168 (Battlefields Boulevard south) is a four lane limited access [expressway] before entering North Carolina as NC-168, an upgraded two-lane highway.  But not that far north of the border, this turns into the Chesapeake Expressway (Toll VA-168), and there are only a handfull of escape points before then (including Bus VA-168, the old Battlefield Boulevard).

[vdeane]

US 15 at the NY/PA line was pretty stark prior to the completion of I-99 on the NY side. A full freeway suddenly transitioned to a busy rural two-lane road with heavy truck traffic.

Only for a few years.  The freeway in PA used to end at what is now exit 191.  PA just happened to get their part in closing the gap from there to exit 6 in NY done first.

[webny99]

US 15 at the NY/PA line was pretty stark prior to the completion of I-99 on the NY side. A full freeway suddenly transitioned to a busy rural two-lane road with heavy truck traffic.

Only for a few years.  The freeway in PA used to end at what is now exit 191.  PA just happened to get their part in closing the gap from there to exit 6 in NY done first.

When was that section completed? I definitely remember it being done on trips that way in the 2010-2011 timeframe, so I would guess sometime in the mid-late 2000's.

[vdeane]

US 15 at the NY/PA line was pretty stark prior to the completion of I-99 on the NY side. A full freeway suddenly transitioned to a busy rural two-lane road with heavy truck traffic.

Only for a few years.  The freeway in PA used to end at what is now exit 191.  PA just happened to get their part in closing the gap from there to exit 6 in NY done first.

When was that section completed? I definitely remember it being done on trips that way in the 2010-2011 timeframe, so I would guess sometime in the mid-late 2000's.

Looking at Historic Aerials, I'm guessing 2008.  Maybe 2009 depending on how long it took to finish the temporary end near Watson Creek Road.

[epzik8]

Edit: And before anyone else uses it, yes, here's the old Kansas Turnpike:

I first saw this photograph and the story behind it in a book I have "The Roads that Built America" about the Interstate system.

[hbelkins]

US 220 in Maryland is an improved widened two-lane road; almost but not quite a "super-2." Once upon entering Pennsylvania it becomes a narrow old-style traditional two-lane.