Which state most loves the Bypass?

[architect77]

My friend and I, both NC natives, drove from Atlanta to Emerald Isle, NC for the 4th of July. Heading up US 17 through Jacksonville, the highway briefly transformed into the most beautiful modern interstate you can imagine. The "bypass" was named the Ronald Reagan Freeway. I said to my friend, "North Carolina loves a bypass". He laughed in agreement.

I'll bet there are literally hundreds of bypasses around small towns in NC. It appears that they want to build even more.

[agentsteel53]

Texas also loves the bypass, though they seem to love the loop road even more. 

I've also noticed a lot of bypasses and loop roads in Pennsylvania.

[bugo]

Oklahoma, on the other hand, rarely uses bypasses.  Several major expressways in Oklahoma devolve into a 4 lane undivided city street where it goes through these towns.  Traffic lights, 35 MPH speed limits, speed traps.  Just miserable.  US 69 is an excellent example as it goes through small town after small town.  US 59 between Sunset Corner and Poteau is another good example.  The 65 MPH highway goes through Shady Point and Panama and the speed limits drop to 50 in Shady Point and 35 in Panama.  And I always see cops in both of those towns.  That stretch of highway is dangerous because the speed limit is constantly changing.  I wish they had just extended the Muskogee Turnpike to Poteau and I wouldn't have to deal with driving through those towns (and avoid I-40) and I'd be able to do 75.  And there are "bypasses" in Oklahoma that are nothing more than an urban arterial 4 lane street with lights, burger joints, Walmarts, and other businesses right along the road.  At least they built the Duncan and Poteau bypasses (even though they fucked up and signed the Poteau bypass at 55 MPH when it should be 70.

[TheStranger]

California is a mixed bag: Route 58 recently had a bypass constructed in Mojave, and US 101 between Salinas and San Luis Obispo is mostly expressway with quite a few bypasses (i.e. Greenfield, King City, Paso Robles) plus one planned in Prunedale between Gilroy and Salinas...

...but then the bypass of Eureka on US 101 was nixed for environmental/political reasons, and bypasses of Willits (on 101) and Kramer Junction (on 395 and 58) are still a while from being constructed.

Cloverdale, a town an aunt of mine used to live in, was bypassed not so long ago by a freeway along 101.


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Jeremy: Speaking of bypasses in Oklahoma, I wonder why the bypass of Ada isn't part of US 377 (or signed as Bypass 377)...

[bugo]

Jeremy: Speaking of bypasses in Oklahoma, I wonder why the bypass of Ada isn't part of US 377 (or signed as Bypass 377)...

It's baffling. 

[BigMattFromTexas]

Texas also loves the bypass, though they seem to love the loop road even more. 

I've also noticed a lot of bypasses and loop roads in Pennsylvania.

Yeah dude, like every town here has a Loop. There's two signed Loops here in Angelo.
BigMatt

[huskeroadgeek]

It depends on what exactly qualifies as a bypass-any city where there is a business route, the mainline is a newer road built to bypass the old road, even if it doesn't really bypass the city. Just by that definition, Arkansas has a lot of bypasses because there are a whole bunch of business routes(or "B" routes as they are signed).

[shoptb1]

It depends on what exactly qualifies as a bypass-any city where there is a business route, the mainline is a newer road built to bypass the old road, even if it doesn't really bypass the city. Just by that definition, Arkansas has a lot of bypasses because there are a whole bunch of business routes(or "B" routes as they are signed).

Yes, I believe that "US 71B" is signed more than "US 71" in Arkansas.  LOL

[US71]

Yes, I believe that "US 71B" is signed more than "US 71" in Arkansas.  LOL

There is the NW Arkansas segment (south Fayetteville to north Bentonville), Alma-Ft Smith and Waldron.

62 has more:
Fayetteville (former)
Rogers
Eureka Springs (former)
Yellville
Cotter
Mountain Home
Salem

Plus "Spur 62" in Berryville and "62 S" in Pyatt.

So there!

[triplemultiplex]

WisDOT has gotten into the habit of the half-ass bypass in the last decade with signalized intersections and, if you're lucky, jughandle interchanges.
Fond du Lac
Burlington
Whitewater
Oconomowoc
Janesville
the forthcoming Viroqua & Westby bypasses

To be fair, most of these don't have the traffic to justify the expense of a full freeway, but a few more interchanges would help them.

However, the US 151 bypass of Fond du Lac should definitely have been constructed as a freeway to WI 23.  When I first learned of this project, my instinct was for a cloverleaf interchange at US 41 with c/d lanes that also pick up ramps to/from a simplified US 41/WI 175 interchange.  Then there would be no access between US 151 and WI 175. My preferred alternative also had a real interchange at US 45, of course.

WI 16's bypass of Oconomowoc is another one we got cheaped out on.  As it is now, there are two traffic signals bracketed by full freeway segments to the west and east. At a minimum, I want those two intersections replaced with an interchange and an overpass.  Ultimately I want a better tie in to the existing freeway at the WI 67 south interchange.

On the Burlington Bypass, set to open later this year, I found it strange that two of the busiest junctions are at-grade intersections; WI 11 east and WI 83 south.  Almost all other junctions have some sort of jughandle set up.

[PAHighways]

Pennsylvania began a program of building bypasses around county seats, especially in the southwestern corner, as well as other towns such as State College between the late 50s and 70s.  Sometimes it was in conjunction with a grander project like the Greensburg Bypass with the four laning of 30 through Westmoreland County.

[roadfro]

Nevada doesn't really have any love for bypasses.

Only one or two towns I know of actually have a signed bypass. In most cases, the US highway or Interstate was built (or is being built) to still go through the town, just not on the main streets.

The future US 93/Boulder City Bypass will probably be the only major bypass the state has for a while. It will be the only one to truly avoid the developed town by going several miles around it to the south (although it will technically still be within city limits).

[sandiaman]

New Mexico  used to use  BYP, ALT, BUS LOOP (interstate  only)  and something  I have never  seen elsewhere,  RELIEF ROUTE.  Now, none of those are used, but  a former  Business Route will carry a  separate  SR  number, often not related  to any other route number.  There  are a few  remaining  RELIEF US 85  signs  left  around Second Street  in Albuqeruque.

[agentsteel53]

New Mexico  used to use  BYP, ALT, BUS LOOP (interstate  only)  and something  I have never  seen elsewhere,  RELIEF ROUTE.  Now, none of those are used, but  a former  Business Route will carry a  separate  SR  number, often not related  to any other route number.  There  are a few  remaining  RELIEF US 85  signs  left  around Second Street  in Albuqeruque.

there is a reference to a RELIEF ROUTE in Santa Fe.  This is on US-285.



business loops for interstates are still common, and Farmington has a single green sign for BUSINESS LOOP 64 (all within the shield!).  Oh, and the new business loop 54 in Tucumcari is signed with green and white US shields!

have never seen those Relief US 85 signs; I only know of one 85 shield left in Albuquerque.

[huskeroadgeek]

Oh, and the new business loop 54 in Tucumcari is signed with green and white US shields!

I assume this is the former routing through town? Last time I was there about 3 years ago, the former route through town and the bypass along the east side of town were both signed as US 54. I had been through there the year before and was getting off on US 54 towards Dalhart and got off at the first exit on EB I-40 because it was marked as US 54 East-not knowing at the time that there was another US 54 exit further east that bypassed the city. I don't think I've seen any green and white US shields before-any pictures?

[agentsteel53]

I assume this is the former routing through town? Last time I was there about 3 years ago, the former route through town and the bypass along the east side of town were both signed as US 54. I had been through there the year before and was getting off on US 54 towards Dalhart and got off at the first exit on WB I-40 because it was marked as US 54 East-not knowing at the time that there was another US 54 exit further east that bypassed the city. I don't think I've seen any green and white US shields before-any pictures?

correct; the old route through town is signed as Business Loop 54.  this is a very new development; I discovered the signs in Sept 09.



there is an old 54 segment that is not part of the current business loop - on that segment there is a straggler white wood square standard 54 shield.  The sign above (green 54, circle 237) is where that segment runs into the business loop.  Further east signs have EAST instead of JCT.

[Bickendan]

Oregon loves 'em -- surprisingly.

I-5 and 84 (and arguably 82) are all bypasses in of themselves, with the original route (US 30, 99, 395) serving as the business loop.
The US 97 corridor's gotten a few: Klamath Falls, Bend (more of an intercity route than a bypass, but point stands), Redmond.
OR 569 was meant to be a loop around Eugene, but as only the NW quadrant got built, works like a bypass for OR 126.
And of course, OR 126 around Springfield.

Newberg-Dundee is supposed to get one, but that may take a while because having to toll OR 99W as well as the bypass (OR 18?).

[dfilpus]

As a North Carolina roadgeek, I have to second North Carolina as the state that loves the bypass. US 64 has many bypasses. US 17 is almost just a chain of bypasses from one border to the other. Elizabeth City has been bypassed twice by US 17, leaving US 17 Business, US 17 and US 17 Bypass. The US 70 bypass of Goldsboro under construction is the second time Goldsboro has been bypassed by US 70. Wilson has had two US 264 bypasses: current US 264 Alternate and US 264.

For Interstates, Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem all have their loop bypasses. Each has a full beltway in construction or planning. Raleigh has its second loop half done.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Show me a state that doesn't love the bypass.  Your highway, or town, reaches a certain status when it has a bypass (or plural).

[mightyace]

I say the Vogons love the bypass the most.  They destroy whole planets for them. 

[huskeroadgeek]

Show me a state that doesn't love the bypass.  Your highway, or town, reaches a certain status when it has a bypass (or plural).

Every state has bypasses, but they don't all treat them the same. Some states just transfer the route number from the old route to the new route and turn the old route over to local control and leave it without a route number. Other states make the old route a business route of the main highway. Also some states are more agressive about building bypasses around even small towns, while others leave them mostly to medium-large sized cities.

[deathtopumpkins]

I think this thead is getting at the fact that North Carolina seems to bypass every single little small town with a full-fledged freeway, while most other states either leave the main road through town or build a bypass only when a town grows into a city or sees a LOT of through traffic.

And i must wholeheartedly agree. No state comes close to NC in its love of bypasses.

[74/171FAN]

Yeah I agree with the NC loving bypasses the most but I believe that Virginia loves them plenty too especially because of all those bypasses that have been built along US 58 these days and if VDOT had money bypasses of US 17 at Tappahannock, US 460(actually planned as a continuing freeway from Suffolk to Petersburg) of all the towns from Petersburg to Suffolk and maybe even Crewe would be built or exist now.

[Ian]

I know New Hampshire has its share of by-passes.

[mgk920]

WisDOT has gotten into the habit of the half-ass bypass in the last decade with signalized intersections and, if you're lucky, jughandle interchanges.
Fond du Lac
Burlington
Whitewater
Oconomowoc
Janesville
the forthcoming Viroqua & Westby bypasses

To be fair, most of these don't have the traffic to justify the expense of a full freeway, but a few more interchanges would help them.

However, the US 151 bypass of Fond du Lac should definitely have been constructed as a freeway to WI 23.  When I first learned of this project, my instinct was for a cloverleaf interchange at US 41 with c/d lanes that also pick up ramps to/from a simplified US 41/WI 175 interchange.  Then there would be no access between US 151 and WI 175. My preferred alternative also had a real interchange at US 45, of course.

WI 16's bypass of Oconomowoc is another one we got cheaped out on.  As it is now, there are two traffic signals bracketed by full freeway segments to the west and east. At a minimum, I want those two intersections replaced with an interchange and an overpass.  Ultimately I want a better tie in to the existing freeway at the WI 67 south interchange.

On the Burlington Bypass, set to open later this year, I found it strange that two of the busiest junctions are at-grade intersections; WI 11 east and WI 83 south.  Almost all other junctions have some sort of jughandle set up.

I was sounding the 'alarm' on that US 151 Fond du Lac one when it was still in its planning stages - and it hasn't disappointed me at all since it opened.  WisDOT is now beginning to look at upgrades along the way that will bring it up to what it was originally supposed to be and yes, it will likely have to include a re-engineered US 41 interchange.  Due to several fatal crashes, its crossroads south of WI 23 were cut off to cross traffic (only right/left off of US 151 and right on turns allowed) within a year or two of the bypass opening, too, much to the severe inconvenience of the locals.



US 12 at Whitewater should have been at least a 'super two' freeway with three interchanges (either end of town and at WI 89) at the open.  Let's hope that WisDOT does better with the Fort Atkinson bypass part, as well as with the future Whitewater-Elkhorn 'corner cut'.

Guys, I'm willing to wait a couple of additional years for that bypass if it means doing it right the first time!



Mike