Long, but not important

[Techknow]

CA 299 is the third longest state route in California at ~306 miles. Like the routes Max mentioned in the thread beginning it goes through remote corridors with far less traffic than CA 1 and CA 99, the only two longer state routes. Even though it is a (ocean) border to border route it ends at a gravel road at the Nevada border.

[Bickendan]

For Oregon, OR 380 comes to mind, running from Prineville to Paulina via Post. All the longer Routes have some more significant functions.

[hobsini2]

Another I thought of is US-6.

To quote the Wikipedia article:

US 6 does not serve a major transcontinental corridor, unlike other highways. George R. Stewart, author of U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America, initially considered US 6, but realized that "Route 6 runs uncertainly from nowhere to nowhere, scarcely to be followed from one end to the other, except by some devoted eccentric".

I guess overall one could make that case 6 just meanders from MA to CA. However, 6 is certainly a busy corridor in New England. It's the main route between Hartford and Providence. It is a bypass of NYC. It is an alternate to 80 for much of it's route from PA to NE.  It is a busy corridor in Utah for SLC-Denver traffic. 

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 299 is the third longest state route in California at ~306 miles. Like the routes Max mentioned in the thread beginning it goes through remote corridors with far less traffic than CA 1 and CA 99, the only two longer state routes. Even though it is a (ocean) border to border route it ends at a gravel road at the Nevada border.

The thing with CA 299 is that it is one of the few highways that will handle getting larger freight traffic to the coast.  It might not get a ton of traffic but it is a hugely important corridor to the North Coast region of California. 

[SkyPesos]

Besides the fact that I-70 in Missouri goes a bit out of the way, what are its issues? Pavement quality, truck traffic, or both (or perhaps something else)?

It wasn't that bad when I drove it last summer between St Louis and Kansas City (was able to maintain a speed of at least 77 mph on most of the 70 mph speed limit section), but you may encounter trucks taking up both lanes side-by-side sometimes due to the heavy truck traffic. Since my start/end point was in the western suburbs of St Louis, I switched to I-64 in the metro area, but for those bypassing St Louis, I-270 is a major construction zone right now, and I-70 in St Charles County have 2 notable construction zones looking forward (one near exit 208, other between exits 225 and 229).

[SEWIGuy]

Another I thought of is US-6.

To quote the Wikipedia article:

US 6 does not serve a major transcontinental corridor, unlike other highways. George R. Stewart, author of U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America, initially considered US 6, but realized that "Route 6 runs uncertainly from nowhere to nowhere, scarcely to be followed from one end to the other, except by some devoted eccentric".

I guess overall one could make that case 6 just meanders from MA to CA. However, 6 is certainly a busy corridor in New England. It's the main route between Hartford and Providence. It is a bypass of NYC. It is an alternate to 80 for much of it's route from PA to NE.  It is a busy corridor in Utah for SLC-Denver traffic. 

It's also pretty busy in the Chicago area.

[Molandfreak]

MN 1 is Minnesota's longest state highway at 346 miles, but the largest city it visits is 8,000 and is not going to be the primary route people are going to take to get there. The other major city is Ely at 2,000, but the locals call that part of the route Highway 169.

MN 30 (265 miles) also comes to mind. It technically enters the city limits of Rochester, but nobody would bat an eye if the whole thing were turned over to the counties east of St. James.

[index]

NC 194 is an 85 or so mile piecemeal route that mostly serves local, niche connections. There are some important thru routes like heading to Tennessee from Boone or Avery County, but the entire route is more or less for locals.

NC 197 is 56 miles and serves mostly as a connector road to ridiculously sparse mountain areas in the High Country and near the TN border. It has some edge cases as a thru route - I took it with a friend to drive from Erwin to Mount Mitchell, but other than that, you'll hardly see anyone who isn't beginning or ending their trip on this route. It's the quickest way to just about nowhere.

Unless you're beginning your trip in its immediate vicinity,  the 108 or so miles of US 264 heading to the OBX on the peninsula are pretty useless for anyone that doesn't live there.

NC 903 is another one of those long, niche, local, piecemeal routings that serves as a bunch of different local connectors under one number. The same goes for NC 210 and NC 111, all of which are a pretty decent length. North Carolina has a lot of these examples.

US 19W is of moderate length for a US highway within a state, so it's a bit of a stretch to put it on this thread, but it's almost totally useless. In Tennessee, it more or less follows I-26, making it very redundant, and in North Carolina the road is hauntingly sparse. I drove its length from Temple Hill to Cane River and didn't see a single car, and it only has an AADT of like, 60.

[Flint1979]

NC 194 is an 85 or so mile piecemeal route that mostly serves local, niche connections. There are some important thru routes like heading to Tennessee from Boone or Avery County, but the entire route is more or less for locals.

NC 197 is 56 miles and serves mostly as a connector road to ridiculously sparse mountain areas in the High Country and near the TN border. It has some edge cases as a thru route - I took it with a friend to drive from Erwin to Mount Mitchell, but other than that, you'll hardly see anyone who isn't beginning or ending their trip on this route. It's the quickest way to just about nowhere.

Unless you're beginning your trip in its immediate vicinity,  the 108 or so miles of US 264 heading to the OBX on the peninsula are pretty useless for anyone that doesn't live there.

NC 903 is another one of those long, niche, local, piecemeal routings that serves as a bunch of different local connectors under one number. The same goes for NC 210 and NC 111, all of which are a pretty decent length. North Carolina has a lot of these examples.

US 19W is of moderate length for a US highway within a state, so it's a bit of a stretch to put it on this thread, but it's almost totally useless. In Tennessee, it more or less follows I-26, making it very redundant, and in North Carolina the road is hauntingly sparse. I drove its length from Temple Hill to Cane River and didn't see a single car, and it only has an AADT of like, 60.

I took US-19W one time and didn't think much of how long it was taking me since I wanted to use a scenic route but if I had to drive between Bluff City and Cane River I don't think I'd use it for it's southern 30 miles. North of that it just follows I-26 like you said.

[SSOWorld]

For Wisconsin state highways, I would nominate WI-27.  It is near 300 miles long, but spends a lot of time duplexing with other highways, doesn't really hit any major cities, and is a pretty narrow and windy for most of its route.

I present WIS 32 to you.  Yes it connects major cities, but it clearly is a redundant route to all those major routes it is concurrent with.

[dlsterner]

In the post-Interstate era, I suppose you could make a case for US 11 being "Long but not important".

Although 1600-plus miles long, it has been mostly supplanted by I-81 and I-59 (also I-40 and I-75 briefly) for most of its length (except for far northern New York).

[Rothman]

In the post-Interstate era, I suppose you could make a case for US 11 being "Long but not important".

Although 1600-plus miles long, it has been mostly supplanted by I-81 and I-59 (also I-40 and I-75 briefly) for most of its length (except for far northern New York).

True for most of NY, but I do wonder more about its southern split.

[webny99]

In the post-Interstate era, I suppose you could make a case for US 11 being "Long but not important".

Although 1600-plus miles long, it has been mostly supplanted by I-81 and I-59 (also I-40 and I-75 briefly) for most of its length (except for far northern New York).

True for most of NY, but I do wonder more about its southern split.

Also true for most of PA. I think it's probably more important in the North Country than it is anywhere in PA unless you count the US 15 overlap.

[DJ Particle]

Another I thought of is US-6.

To quote the Wikipedia article:

US 6 does not serve a major transcontinental corridor, unlike other highways. George R. Stewart, author of U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America, initially considered US 6, but realized that "Route 6 runs uncertainly from nowhere to nowhere, scarcely to be followed from one end to the other, except by some devoted eccentric".

I guess overall one could make that case 6 just meanders from MA to CA. However, 6 is certainly a busy corridor in New England. It's the main route between Hartford and Providence. It is a bypass of NYC. It is an alternate to 80 for much of it's route from PA to NE.  It is a busy corridor in Utah for SLC-Denver traffic.

Not to mention it's THE main central highway for Cape Cod.

[US 89]

Another I thought of is US-6.

To quote the Wikipedia article:

US 6 does not serve a major transcontinental corridor, unlike other highways. George R. Stewart, author of U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America, initially considered US 6, but realized that "Route 6 runs uncertainly from nowhere to nowhere, scarcely to be followed from one end to the other, except by some devoted eccentric".

I guess overall one could make that case 6 just meanders from MA to CA. However, 6 is certainly a busy corridor in New England. It's the main route between Hartford and Providence. It is a bypass of NYC. It is an alternate to 80 for much of it's route from PA to NE.  It is a busy corridor in Utah for SLC-Denver traffic.

The part in Utah between Spanish Fork and Green River does see a fair amount of SLC-Denver traffic (though the main route for this connection is I-80), but that segment is probably even more significant as a key link in a greater Pacific Northwest-Texas trucking corridor via Salt Lake and Albuquerque.

[iowahighways]

IA 175 gets my vote. It's 221 miles long through ten counties, but runs through only four county seats (Onawa, Ida Grove, Eldora, and Grundy Center) and doesn't go through any place with more than 3,000 people.

[sandwalk]

Another I thought of is US-6.

To quote the Wikipedia article:

US 6 does not serve a major transcontinental corridor, unlike other highways. George R. Stewart, author of U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America, initially considered US 6, but realized that "Route 6 runs uncertainly from nowhere to nowhere, scarcely to be followed from one end to the other, except by some devoted eccentric".

I guess overall one could make that case 6 just meanders from MA to CA. However, 6 is certainly a busy corridor in New England. It's the main route between Hartford and Providence. It is a bypass of NYC. It is an alternate to 80 for much of it's route from PA to NE.  It is a busy corridor in Utah for SLC-Denver traffic.

Not to mention it's THE main central highway for Cape Cod.

And the US-6 / 6th Avenue Freeway serves the west side of the Denver metro area while also being an alternative to I-70 in that part of town.

Oh yeah, and US-6 is the main route to Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio, especially when coming from Cleveland.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN 1 is Minnesota's longest state highway at 346 miles, but the largest city it visits is 8,000 and is not going to be the primary route people are going to take to get there. The other major city is Ely at 2,000, but the locals call that part of the route Highway 169.

MN 30 (265 miles) also comes to mind. It technically enters the city limits of Rochester, but nobody would bat an eye if the whole thing were turned over to the counties east of St. James.

MN 9 except from Benson to Morris sounds like this as well. MN 9 is just dumb in general; the section between MN 23 and US 12 really should be posted E-W.

[J N Winkler]

For Kansas, its least important state highway is probably K-9, its second longest.  It is about 317 miles long, runs east-west through the northern part of the state, passes through just two small county seats (Beloit/Mitchell County and Concordia/Cloud County), and on the official state transportation map is shown mainly with a line that is black (two-lane, "other highway") rather than red (also two-lane, but "principal highway").  It has no red segments other than brief overlaps with more important routes.

[Occidental Tourist]

Other than it's southern end between 166 and 101, most of CA-33 is redundant of I-5.  I would argue that north of CA-198, it doesn't serve much of a purpose at all.

[kphoger]

For Kansas, its least important state highway is probably K-9, its second longest.  It is about 317 miles long, runs east-west through the northern part of the state, passes through just two small county seats (Beloit/Mitchell County and Concordia/Cloud County), and on the official state transportation map is shown mainly with a line that is black (two-lane, "other highway") rather than red (also two-lane, but "principal highway").  It has no red segments other than brief overlaps with more important routes.

I considered suggesting K-9, but I decided against it only because it goes through Concordia and I was specifically looking for a route that only goes through smaller towns.  But I agree, that's a great candidate.

[bzakharin]

CR 501 in NJ is 53 miles long, but, where it doesn't overlap with NJ (and NY) 440, it only exists to access local communities from bigger roads. Unlike other long county routes, which traverse rural areas with an otherwise underdeveloped road network, CR 501 parallels I-287, then NJ 440, then I-95, then the Palisades Parkway and US 9W.

[skluth]

US 8. I think Rhinelander is the biggest city on its route and is <10K.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

US 8. I think Rhinelander is the biggest city on its route and is <10K.

It was much more important before it was replaced by I-35/W northeast of Minneapolis.

[DandyDan]

What about multistate (ID/MT/ND/MN) 200?

Along those same lines, there's WY/NE/IA/IL 92. Yes, it goes through Omaha and the Quad Cities (at least the Illinois part), but you wouldn't use it to go between the two.