AASHTO Route Numbering Database Documents

[usends]

I believe I have solved a mystery as to why US 143 was shown to have ended in Centerville TN instead of Nashville.  When AASHO floated their solutions to suffixed routes, maps and route logs all showed US 43 running from Florence AL to Columbia, Nashville, then Clarksville.  However, AASHO actually wanted US 43 to run due north out of Florence to reach Clarksville.  Tennessee was adamantly opposed to this and AASHO relented.  But they never addressed US 143's now-orphaned route from Nashville to Centerville.  The proof of AASHO's intent with US 43 was found in a 1934 document in the Alabama folder of the database

So in other words, the 1934 route log reflected TN's alterations to AASHO's originally-proposed routing of US 43, but AASHO did not update their description of US 143 accordingly.  Good find!

[Revive 755]

From Barcode 101277386, Correspondence, IL, 1958:  Looks like Illinois was at one time going to use A and B suffixes for auxiliary interstate routes?

• 94A:  Today's I-294
• 94B:  Would have been the Lake Shore Driver version of I-494
• 90A:  Dual signed with 94A on today's I-294 between today's I-290 and the I-80 interchange with the Bishop Ford.
• 74A:  Today's I-474
• 70A:  Today's I-270
• 55A:  Today's I-255
• 80A:  Today's I-280
• A duplicate 74A over today's I-80 from the I-80/I-74 cloverleaf in Illinois to the current I-80/I-74 trumpet in Iowa.

Also from this one:

• There's mention of bring I-65 into Illinois (sounds like it would have just be singed over I-90 to I-94).
• There's mention of a renumbering I-94 to I-92 in Michigan.  Sounds like this I-92 may have replaced I-94 in Illinois.
• I-57 may have been extended to meet I-55 in the Chicago area, though there were concerns of having three interstate numbers on one corridor.  The map further in has I-57 ending at the Circle Interchange.
• The St. Louis area map included seems to suggest the PSB being located further north, closer to today's Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.

[Max Rockatansky]

If you're looking at that August 1957 map it had a couple other items I'm working on from the 1958 Ohio Interstate files:

-  I-77 was plotted between Detroit and Port Huron.
-  I-79 ended in Cleveland. 

The Willow Freeway ended up becoming I-77 and I-177 north of planned I-80N by early 1958.  I-77 was still planes to go west to Toledo and meet I-75 via what is now I-280.

[Revive 755]

Some of the 1958 correspondence with Iowa (such as Barcode 101277386) had I-80 proposed to run along today's I-880, I-29, and I-480, with today's I-80 between the I-480 interchange in Nebraska and the east end of today's I-880 as I-480.

Looks like Iowa was also at one time going to go with A and B suffixes for auxiliary interstates.

[Alex]

From Barcode 101277386, Correspondence, IL, 1958:  Looks like Illinois was at one time going to use A and B suffixes for auxiliary interstate routes?

• 94A:  Today's I-294
• 94B:  Would have been the Lake Shore Driver version of I-494
• 90A:  Dual signed with 94A on today's I-294 between today's I-290 and the I-80 interchange with the Bishop Ford.
• 74A:  Today's I-474
• 70A:  Today's I-270
• 55A:  Today's I-255
• 80A:  Today's I-280
• A duplicate 74A over today's I-80 from the I-80/I-74 cloverleaf in Illinois to the current I-80/I-74 trumpet in Iowa.

There were a number of states that initially outlined prefixes or suffixes for branch routes.
Alabama used prefixes, A59 for 359, B59 for 459, C59 for 759

59B appearing on the 1960 Rand McNally North American Road Atlas alluded to this


Arkansas used prefixes, A30 for 530, A40 for 540
Colorado used prefixes, A25 for 270/225, amended to E25
Connecticut initially referenced E91, then 91E, for what would later be proposed as I-491.
Iowa used suffixes with 80A referenced both at Council Bluffs and the Quad Cities and 80B for 680 around Omaha.
Indiana used suffixes with B65 for the east and northern third of 465 and A65 for the southwestern third. C65 for 265
Kansas used directional suffixes with 435 as 35E, 635 as 35W, 70S for 470 and 27W for 235 (I-135 was proposed as I-27)
Louisiana used prefixes, A20 for 220, B20 for the cancelled bypass of Monroe, A10 for 210, B10 for 110 and C10 for 610
Maine used prefixes, A95 for 195, B95 for 295, C95 for 395
Missouri used prefixes, A29 for 229, B29 for 635, D35 for 35 between I-70 and I-435, E35 for I-35 between KS and I-70 (35 was shown as using I-435 to bypass Kansas City), I-35 for 470, H70 for 270, G70 for I-70 between I-270 and I-55 (I-70 was shown on I-270 bypassing St. Louis to the north), C55 for 255
Mississippi used prefixes, A20 for 220
Nebraska used prefixes, A80 for 180, B80 for 680, C80 for 480
Ohio used prefixes, A70 for the southern half of 270, B70 for the northern half of 270, C70 forming a loop around Downtown Columbus on 670 and 71, D470 for 470, A71 for 471, A74 for 275, B75 for 475, A90 for part of I-90 and 490, A78 for part of 271, B71 for part of 480
South Dakota used prefixes, A90 for 190, A29 for 229
Virginia used prefixes, U1 for 381, U2 for 581, U3 for 564, U4 for 264, U5 for 464
Vermont proposed 189 as SP 89

[SEWIGuy]

Could these have simply been placeholders prior to an official route number being selected?

[Alex]

Could these have simply been placeholders prior to an official route number being selected?

Most seemed to be just that. Some of the documentation in the database includes communication between states and AASHO requesting guidance on the initial numbering.

[SEWIGuy]

Could these have simply been placeholders prior to an official route number being selected?

Most seemed to be just that. Some of the documentation in the database includes communication between states and AASHO requesting guidance on the initial numbering.

Thank you. Interesting piece of history.

[kurumi]

You might have already seen this, but new to me: Application_SC_1958_5_US

This is a petition to renumber existing US Route 17 across South Carolina as US Route 5

OK, that's kind of interesting, a southern US 5

in conjunction with the change being made in other states which US 17 traverses, and also in conjunction with US Route 5 being extended from its southern terminus at New Haven, Connecticut to present US 17 (proposed US 5) at Norfolk, Virginia.

haha what

Also, 17A would become 5A under the proposal.

[Mapmikey]

You might have already seen this, but new to me: Application_SC_1958_5_US

This is a petition to renumber existing US Route 17 across South Carolina as US Route 5

OK, that's kind of interesting, a southern US 5

in conjunction with the change being made in other states which US 17 traverses, and also in conjunction with US Route 5 being extended from its southern terminus at New Haven, Connecticut to present US 17 (proposed US 5) at Norfolk, Virginia.

haha what

Also, 17A would become 5A under the proposal.

That was the shorter US 17A (since renumbered as US 17 into Savannah).  The longer US 17A would've become a rerouted US 701.  Which they could still do.  Nobody would use 17A as an alternate to US 17 today.

[Kulerage]

US 5 was requested to replace US 13 and US 17 all the way to Punta Gorda FL!

Man that is WEIRD. It's like they wanted a North-South version of US 6.

[Mapmikey]

So it is apparent that interim decisions on the initial US Route set were sometimes on maps too.  I'm not talking about the official 1925 list.  Talking about somewhere in the deliberations between that and the final system.

There is a 1926 Auto Trails map of the mid-Atlantic states that shows US 29 from Roanoke south (what became US 311).  There is a US 58 shown as using today's US 60.  I saw a fair amount of AASHO correspondence with this corridor being floated as US 62, US 52, US 60E, and US 150.  But not US 58.

US 211 *might* have been something else on this map too, but too fuzzy to tell.

Unfortunately, this is an ebay item with just snippet scans but US 29/58 are shown here - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7NwAAOSwy6BjzdU~/s-l1600.webp

The US 211 snippet is here - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PxAAAOSwKkljzdUw/s-l1600.webp

The ebay link itself it here where you can magnify the US 211 piece with its feature.  It sure looks like an x19 to me.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/165900642813?msockid=20d4190ca5fc6cd1124e0c8aa44b6dc6

Can't justify $90 to find out, though...

I have a 1926 Auto Trails of NC/SC and it has US 60 and US 311 properly (though does have other known pre-final routings...)

[WillWeaverRVA]

So it is apparent that interim decisions on the initial US Route set were sometimes on maps too.  I'm not talking about the official 1925 list.  Talking about somewhere in the deliberations between that and the final system.

There is a 1926 Auto Trails map of the mid-Atlantic states that shows US 29 from Roanoke south (what became US 311).  There is a US 58 shown as using today's US 60.  I saw a fair amount of AASHO correspondence with this corridor being floated as US 62, US 52, US 60E, and US 150.  But not US 58.

US 211 *might* have been something else on this map too, but too fuzzy to tell.

Unfortunately, this is an ebay item with just snippet scans but US 29/58 are shown here - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7NwAAOSwy6BjzdU~/s-l1600.webp

The US 211 snippet is here - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PxAAAOSwKkljzdUw/s-l1600.webp

The ebay link itself it here where you can magnify the US 211 piece with its feature.  It sure looks like an x19 to me.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/165900642813?msockid=20d4190ca5fc6cd1124e0c8aa44b6dc6

Can't justify $90 to find out, though...

I have a 1926 Auto Trails of NC/SC and it has US 60 and US 311 properly (though does have other known pre-final routings...)

Looks like it says US 419. I'm definitely not shelling out $90 to find out either though.

[Mapmikey]

So it is apparent that interim decisions on the initial US Route set were sometimes on maps too.  I'm not talking about the official 1925 list.  Talking about somewhere in the deliberations between that and the final system.

There is a 1926 Auto Trails map of the mid-Atlantic states that shows US 29 from Roanoke south (what became US 311).  There is a US 58 shown as using today's US 60.  I saw a fair amount of AASHO correspondence with this corridor being floated as US 62, US 52, US 60E, and US 150.  But not US 58.

US 211 *might* have been something else on this map too, but too fuzzy to tell.

Unfortunately, this is an ebay item with just snippet scans but US 29/58 are shown here - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7NwAAOSwy6BjzdU~/s-l1600.webp

The US 211 snippet is here - https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PxAAAOSwKkljzdUw/s-l1600.webp

The ebay link itself it here where you can magnify the US 211 piece with its feature.  It sure looks like an x19 to me.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/165900642813?msockid=20d4190ca5fc6cd1124e0c8aa44b6dc6

Can't justify $90 to find out, though...

I have a 1926 Auto Trails of NC/SC and it has US 60 and US 311 properly (though does have other known pre-final routings...)

Looks like it says US 419. I'm definitely not shelling out $90 to find out either though.

419 is what I thought it showed as well but that is quite puzzling given Us 1 and US 11 are in the right place. Don't see US 19 anywhere in the snippets.

[Revive 755]

US 5 was requested to replace US 13 and US 17 all the way to Punta Gorda FL!

Man that is WEIRD. It's like they wanted a North-South version of US 6.

Although this US 5 extension would be much closer to its proper place in the grid compared to most of US 6.