Interstate 11 alignment, though Vegas and points north

[cl94]

Regardless of how they want to do it or when, NDOT probably won't wait until the freeway is built to Mercury. After the Snow Mountain interchange, there are no exit numbers or interchanges except for Mercury (and the exit number 132 or whatever appears on Google Maps is not official—no exit number has ever been signed at Mercury). So every exit up to SR 157 or even Snow Mountain can be renumbered now.

But would they be willing to give Snow Mountain an I-11 exit number even though I-11 doesn't go there?  Or have a jump for that last exit?  The I-580 freeway was completed in 2017, so they waited until two years after that to change the exits, so there's precedent for NDOT to wait until well after a freeway is complete to change the exits.

Please, there's precedent for them to never change numbers to reflect the I-designation. I-515 always used US 95 exit numbers.

[kernals12]

I think this is going to be an all-or-nothing affair. Either they extend it all the way to Reno or they don't extend it at all. There's basically nobody in between.

[vdeane]

I think this is going to be an all-or-nothing affair. Either they extend it all the way to Reno or they don't extend it at all. There's basically nobody in between.

You do realize that plenty of interstates end at military bases, right?  That's what Mercury is.

Regardless of how they want to do it or when, NDOT probably won't wait until the freeway is built to Mercury. After the Snow Mountain interchange, there are no exit numbers or interchanges except for Mercury (and the exit number 132 or whatever appears on Google Maps is not official—no exit number has ever been signed at Mercury). So every exit up to SR 157 or even Snow Mountain can be renumbered now.

But would they be willing to give Snow Mountain an I-11 exit number even though I-11 doesn't go there?  Or have a jump for that last exit?  The I-580 freeway was completed in 2017, so they waited until two years after that to change the exits, so there's precedent for NDOT to wait until well after a freeway is complete to change the exits.

Please, there's precedent for them to never change numbers to reflect the I-designation. I-515 always used US 95 exit numbers.

I feel like I-11 is more major than I-515 was.  Plus I-11 doesn't have US 95 continuing from it on both ends, and should it get extended past NV 157, it won't have the jump that I-515 would have had (and I-580 has) should it have ever gotten its own numbers.

I really, really, hope they don't leave the numbers as they are forever.  It would be especially stupid given that I-11 exit numbers do exist, some of them switched over from US 95 numbers south of I-215.

[Max Rockatansky]

Freeways that at end at military bases could be a topic unto itself.

[Rothman]

Freeways that at end at military bases could be a topic unto itself.

A very short one.

[roadfro]

Regardless of how they want to do it or when, NDOT probably won't wait until the freeway is built to Mercury. After the Snow Mountain interchange, there are no exit numbers or interchanges except for Mercury (and the exit number 132 or whatever appears on Google Maps is not official—no exit number has ever been signed at Mercury). So every exit up to SR 157 or even Snow Mountain can be renumbered now.

But would they be willing to give Snow Mountain an I-11 exit number even though I-11 doesn't go there?  Or have a jump for that last exit?  The I-580 freeway was completed in 2017, so they waited until two years after that to change the exits, so there's precedent for NDOT to wait until well after a freeway is complete to change the exits.

Who knows? 

US 95's exit numbers already jump from 85 to 90 between Craig Road and the Rancho Dr/Ann Rd interchanges even though the two interchanges are only about a mile apart. This oddity inexplicably introduced in the 1990's when the latter at-grade intersections were reconstructed as interchanges, and does not conform to the mileposts posted in the field. Eventually as more interchanges were constructed as development spread northwest, that jump caused the Snow Mountain interchange to be renumbered to exit 99 from the original exit 95 (which was accurate to the milepost) to avoid having two exit 95's—the Horse Drive interchange (now Skye Canyon Park Dr) was numbered exit 95 when that opened.

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe existing Exit 99 should be renumbered to correspond with Interstate 11's mileage, even if it never becomes part of Interstate 11. Having the exit numbers go from Exit 54 (which I assume will be the future number), to Exit 99 would be confusing. Another option would be to denumber Exit 99, until it becomes part of Interstate 11 (if it ever does).

[US 395]

Regardless of how they want to do it or when, NDOT probably won't wait until the freeway is built to Mercury. After the Snow Mountain interchange, there are no exit numbers or interchanges except for Mercury (and the exit number 132 or whatever appears on Google Maps is not official—no exit number has ever been signed at Mercury). So every exit up to SR 157 or even Snow Mountain can be renumbered now.

But would they be willing to give Snow Mountain an I-11 exit number even though I-11 doesn't go there?  Or have a jump for that last exit?  The I-580 freeway was completed in 2017, so they waited until two years after that to change the exits, so there's precedent for NDOT to wait until well after a freeway is complete to change the exits.

Who knows?

US 95's exit numbers already jump from 85 to 90 between Craig Road and the Rancho Dr/Ann Rd interchanges even though the two interchanges are only about a mile apart. This oddity inexplicably introduced in the 1990's when the latter at-grade intersections were reconstructed as interchanges, and does not conform to the mileposts posted in the field. Eventually as more interchanges were constructed as development spread northwest, that jump caused the Snow Mountain interchange to be renumbered to exit 99 from the original exit 95 (which was accurate to the milepost) to avoid having two exit 95's—the Horse Drive interchange (now Skye Canyon Park Dr) was numbered exit 95 when that opened.

I think I read somewhere that the reason on why the exit numbers jump from 85 to 90 instead of going from 85 to 86 or whatever had to do with the original US 95 alignment on surface streets. It said that by the time 95 made it to what is now the Rancho Drive interchange, it would've been around milepost 90. If true, I guess it makes sense but since 95 was being moved to the new freeway, why have it follow the old alignment mileposts. It would've been logical to have it follow the new alignment mileposts going forward.

[Scott5114]

Another option would be to denumber Exit 99, until it becomes part of Interstate 11 (if it ever does).

That's actually against the MUTCD—since 2009 it has said that all exits are supposed to be numbered. Unnumbered exits simply haven't been updated to comply with that requirement.

[roadfro]

US 95's exit numbers already jump from 85 to 90 between Craig Road and the Rancho Dr/Ann Rd interchanges even though the two interchanges are only about a mile apart. This oddity inexplicably introduced in the 1990's when the latter at-grade intersections were reconstructed as interchanges, and does not conform to the mileposts posted in the field. Eventually as more interchanges were constructed as development spread northwest, that jump caused the Snow Mountain interchange to be renumbered to exit 99 from the original exit 95 (which was accurate to the milepost) to avoid having two exit 95's—the Horse Drive interchange (now Skye Canyon Park Dr) was numbered exit 95 when that opened.

I think I read somewhere that the reason on why the exit numbers jump from 85 to 90 instead of going from 85 to 86 or whatever had to do with the original US 95 alignment on surface streets. It said that by the time 95 made it to what is now the Rancho Drive interchange, it would've been around milepost 90. If true, I guess it makes sense but since 95 was being moved to the new freeway, why have it follow the old alignment mileposts. It would've been logical to have it follow the new alignment mileposts going forward.

That cannot be true logically. If they used original mileposts past exit 85, the exit number would have been lower because the original alignment is shorter—Rancho Dr is basically a hypotenuse and the 95 freeway is the two sides forming the right triangle. Even if you factor the other former alignment along Fremont St & Boulder Hwy into the mix, that's also shorter because it's another straight shot out of town (as opposed to the turns/zig-zags the 95 freeway makes heading southeast from downtown).

[The Ghostbuster]

The exits on Interstate 11/US 95 jumping from 85 to 90 will, of course, become a moot point when they are renumbered to Interstate 11's mileage. Still, they should have renumbered the exits northwest of the Business 95/NV 599 interchange to correspond to the actual mileage of US 95, with the exits being numbered 86-94 instead of 90-99.

[Bobby5280]

I think this is going to be an all-or-nothing affair. Either they extend it all the way to Reno or they don't extend it at all. There's basically nobody in between.

It's not practical to connect I-11 directly to Reno. That's assuming the Interstate overlaps some or all of existing I-580. It's going to take major break throughs in tunnel building technology -advancements that significantly lower the cost- to make such a thing possible. Otherwise any hopes to extend I-11 up to the I-80 corridor would most likely go through Fallon and Ferley, well to the East of Reno. Clark is still a better connection, using NV-439 as the outlet from I-80. It splits the distance between Reno and Fernley. Unlike the situation in Fernley, there isn't a bunch of stuff next to existing highways to buy, demolish and build over. Under current circumstances I-11 will probably never get any farther North than Mercury.

You do realize that plenty of interstates end at military bases, right?  That's what Mercury is.

Lots of Interstate highways pass next to or within the vicinity of military bases. Very few of them actually start/end at military bases.


MOD NOTE: Much of the discussion about freeways that end at military bases that ensued from the second half of this post was broken off to its own thread on 8/19/2024. Due to quoting, the split wasn't perfect...and when it circled back to Mercury and atomic testing, I left that material in-thread. —Roadfro

[US 395]

US 95's exit numbers already jump from 85 to 90 between Craig Road and the Rancho Dr/Ann Rd interchanges even though the two interchanges are only about a mile apart. This oddity inexplicably introduced in the 1990's when the latter at-grade intersections were reconstructed as interchanges, and does not conform to the mileposts posted in the field. Eventually as more interchanges were constructed as development spread northwest, that jump caused the Snow Mountain interchange to be renumbered to exit 99 from the original exit 95 (which was accurate to the milepost) to avoid having two exit 95's—the Horse Drive interchange (now Skye Canyon Park Dr) was numbered exit 95 when that opened.

I think I read somewhere that the reason on why the exit numbers jump from 85 to 90 instead of going from 85 to 86 or whatever had to do with the original US 95 alignment on surface streets. It said that by the time 95 made it to what is now the Rancho Drive interchange, it would've been around milepost 90. If true, I guess it makes sense but since 95 was being moved to the new freeway, why have it follow the old alignment mileposts. It would've been logical to have it follow the new alignment mileposts going forward.

That cannot be true logically. If they used original mileposts past exit 85, the exit number would have been lower because the original alignment is shorter—Rancho Dr is basically a hypotenuse and the 95 freeway is the two sides forming the right triangle. Even if you factor the other former alignment along Fremont St & Boulder Hwy into the mix, that's also shorter because it's another straight shot out of town (as opposed to the turns/zig-zags the 95 freeway makes heading southeast from downtown).

Hence why I said "if true". Still, the logical sense would've been to have the mileposts and exit numbers align more with the at-the-time new freeway north of the interchange instead of having a random jump in numbers.
I have similar thinking with the 580/395 exit numbers. Should've either stayed as they were based on 395 mileage pre-2019 or have the entire freeway facility have one set of exit numbers instead of two as it is now today. Consistency should be key.

[vdeane]

The exits on Interstate 11/US 95 jumping from 85 to 90 will, of course, become a moot point when they are renumbered to Interstate 11's mileage. Still, they should have renumbered the exits northwest of the Business 95/NV 599 interchange to correspond to the actual mileage of US 95, with the exits being numbered 86-94 instead of 90-99.

I measured out US 95 from the state line to exit 99 on Google Maps and those exit numbers are accurate of US 95's mileage (especially the mileage as it was before the Boulder City Bypass opened and it was 2/3 of a mile longer).  It's the ones southeast of there that are wrong.

Off the top of my brain, I know of I-H3, I-564, and I-781 for interstates. Am I missing any others?

I-185

[roadfro]

The exits on Interstate 11/US 95 jumping from 85 to 90 will, of course, become a moot point when they are renumbered to Interstate 11's mileage. Still, they should have renumbered the exits northwest of the Business 95/NV 599 interchange to correspond to the actual mileage of US 95, with the exits being numbered 86-94 instead of 90-99.

I measured out US 95 from the state line to exit 99 on Google Maps and those exit numbers are accurate of US 95's mileage (especially the mileage as it was before the Boulder City Bypass opened and it was 2/3 of a mile longer).  It's the ones southeast of there that are wrong.

At least to the mileposts that are in the field, the old number was correct (granted, NDOT hasn't been good about maintaining milepost panels along US 95 within Vegas for years).

US 95's exit numbers already jump from 85 to 90 between Craig Road and the Rancho Dr/Ann Rd interchanges even though the two interchanges are only about a mile apart. This oddity inexplicably introduced in the 1990's when the latter at-grade intersections were reconstructed as interchanges, and does not conform to the mileposts posted in the field. Eventually as more interchanges were constructed as development spread northwest, that jump caused the Snow Mountain interchange to be renumbered to exit 99 from the original exit 95 (which was accurate to the milepost) to avoid having two exit 95's—the Horse Drive interchange (now Skye Canyon Park Dr) was numbered exit 95 when that opened.

I think I read somewhere that the reason on why the exit numbers jump from 85 to 90 instead of going from 85 to 86 or whatever had to do with the original US 95 alignment on surface streets. It said that by the time 95 made it to what is now the Rancho Drive interchange, it would've been around milepost 90. If true, I guess it makes sense but since 95 was being moved to the new freeway, why have it follow the old alignment mileposts. It would've been logical to have it follow the new alignment mileposts going forward.

That cannot be true logically. If they used original mileposts past exit 85, the exit number would have been lower because the original alignment is shorter—Rancho Dr is basically a hypotenuse and the 95 freeway is the two sides forming the right triangle. Even if you factor the other former alignment along Fremont St & Boulder Hwy into the mix, that's also shorter because it's another straight shot out of town (as opposed to the turns/zig-zags the 95 freeway makes heading southeast from downtown).

Hence why I said "if true". Still, the logical sense would've been to have the mileposts and exit numbers align more with the at-the-time new freeway north of the interchange instead of having a random jump in numbers.
I have similar thinking with the 580/395 exit numbers. Should've either stayed as they were based on 395 mileage pre-2019 or have the entire freeway facility have one set of exit numbers instead of two as it is now today. Consistency should be key.

After vdeane's post, that got me reevaluating my initial thought. I measured out on GoogleMaps the old route of US 95 using Boulder Hwy/Fremont St, Las Vegas Blvd, Bonanza Rd, and Rancho Dr. From the state line to the Snow Mountain interchange along this route is about 95 miles.

So this would seem to suggest that NDOT never recalibrated the overall US 95 mileposts when the freeway was constructed through Las Vegas. I guess given that the freeway construction actually started at downtown going west first, then southeast in stages, that somewhat makes sense. And also makes some sense why there haven't ever been decent mileposts on the 95 as well. But also, that freeway alignment in its current form has been complete since circa 1994, you'd think they would've made adjustments by now. 

Makes me wonder how they picked mileposts and exit numbers to begin with, as I couldn't find anything with the old route that quite aligns to the exit numbers on the freeway...

[Max Rockatansky]

FWIW, Mercury unlike many of the bases being discussed here doesn't have a very significant enlisted population living on site.  There is a couple barracks, a post office, a clinic and a small shopping complex but not much else on their admin side.

[pderocco]

FWIW, Mercury unlike many of the bases being discussed here doesn't have a very significant enlisted population living on site.  There is a couple barracks, a post office, a clinic and a small shopping complex but not much else on their admin side.

So does that mean there is less traffic between there and Vegas than if everyone lived on base, or more? I would think it would mean more. Or it could mean more commuter cars and fewer trucks. I dunno.

Personally, I don't obsess about where Interstates end, because a dangling end can always be excused with a "Someday ...".

[Max Rockatansky]

FWIW, Mercury unlike many of the bases being discussed here doesn't have a very significant enlisted population living on site.  There is a couple barracks, a post office, a clinic and a small shopping complex but not much else on their admin side.

So does that mean there is less traffic between there and Vegas than if everyone lived on base, or more? I would think it would mean more. Or it could mean more commuter cars and fewer trucks. I dunno.

Personally, I don't obsess about where Interstates end, because a dangling end can always be excused with a "Someday ...".

Eyeball test always told me it was more every time I passed the military rush hour.

[US 395]

FWIW, Mercury unlike many of the bases being discussed here doesn't have a very significant enlisted population living on site.  There is a couple barracks, a post office, a clinic and a small shopping complex but not much else on their admin side.

It used to. Long ago.

[Max Rockatansky]

Right, not exactly many nuclear weapon tests going on these day.

[Plutonic Panda]

Right, not exactly many nuclear weapon tests going on these day.

I think they should do one to give people appreciation for just how powerful these weapons are. I don't think a lot of people understand the end result of nuclear war especially if it mutually assured destruction.

[Max Rockatansky]

Right, not exactly many nuclear weapon tests going on these day.

I think they should do one to give people appreciation for just how powerful these weapons are. I don't think a lot of people understand the end result of nuclear war especially if it mutually assured destruction.

I'm sure if above ground testing was still a thing that the hotels in Las Vegas would still be throwing nuke parties.

[kernals12]

Right, not exactly many nuclear weapon tests going on these day.

I think they should do one to give people appreciation for just how powerful these weapons are. I don't think a lot of people understand the end result of nuclear war especially if it mutually assured destruction.

Can't do that. We're a party to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

[Plutonic Panda]

Right, not exactly many nuclear weapon tests going on these day.

I think they should do one to give people appreciation for just how powerful these weapons are. I don't think a lot of people understand the end result of nuclear war especially if it mutually assured destruction.

I'm sure if above ground testing was still a thing that the hotels in Las Vegas would still be throwing nuke parties.

lol it'd be a tourist attraction from all over the world. I read stories about about how people in big bear could see the explosions in Nevada like it was the second sunrise.

Has anybody ever seen a test?

[Plutonic Panda]

Right, not exactly many nuclear weapon tests going on these day.

I think they should do one to give people appreciation for just how powerful these weapons are. I don't think a lot of people understand the end result of nuclear war especially if it mutually assured destruction.

Can't do that. We're a party to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

I don't think the United States cares as much. As far as I know, we didn't even ratify it. Nor did several other countries.