Highway Oddities

[mightyace]

US 119 and PA 36 in downtown Punxsautawney is a "wrong way" multiplex:  US 119 North/PA 36 South and vice-versa.

I guess we can safely say that PENNDOT is not sure of which way it's going! 

[DrZoidberg]

 Just an interesting note on the US 1 / US 9 shield in New Jersey ( 1&9).  It's seen on the opening credits of The Sopranos, and for the longest time I thought it was a US 169 shield. 

[John]

Where does US 101 begin and I-80 end on the skyway?

I had always thought I-80 starts at the split that is just north of 17th street.  I don't know for sure; I figure one can dead-reckon from the postmiles on I-80 ... it starts one mile away from the 1.00 postmile, or two from the 2.00, or wherever from whichever one is available.

There's already a thread on this, but to summarize, signage begins at the interchange with 101, but it actually begins/ends at the west end of the Bay Bridge.

[akotchi]

Speaking of U.S. 1&9 shields, in recent years, New Jersey has been using one three-digit shield for the route pair, using "1-9" or "1&9" as the route number, rather than having separate two-digit shields.  Saves space on the guide signs.

[Voyager]

Oh I almost forgot...the planned freeway that goes along Sir Francis Drake blvd that was never build makes the interchange with US 101 a definite oddity.

[John]

That is an odd and dangerously substandard interchange. North 101's exit ramps have a stack like configuration, and there is a left exit for Sir Francis Drake west to 101 south, but the rest is a diamond. That freeway would have been horrible though; it would have met up with a CA-1 freeway at the Pacific and Mill Valley up to Pt. Reyes was going to be a huge suburb.

[DrZoidberg]

Nobody has mentioned "I" 180 in Wyoming yet.  That's a big oddity IMHO.

[Voyager]

The I-85 and US 311 interchange is definitely not what I'd expect. Are they planning on upgrading it?

[FLRoads]

The I-85 and US 311 interchange is definitely not what I'd expect. Are they planning on upgrading it?

There is already construction of a new high speed interchange with the future Interstate 74 (and future syphoned U.S. 311) north of the current diamond interchange.

[SSOWorld]

US 119 and PA 36 in downtown Punxsautawney is a "wrong way" multiplex:  US 119 North/PA 36 South and vice-versa.

Blame Phil for that one I guess

Wisconsin's got its share
I-894 is cosigned with something for the entire route.  (I-43 or US 45) I-894 flew solo along the east-west portion prior to I-43's extension.

I've seen enough wrong-way concurrencies in WI.

4 US routes on a single road, Beltline in Madison

A long stretch of a triplex of Interstates

I-39 is alone for only 5 miles.

US 18 ends at a city street

Several routes are extended along concurrences and end at a point (even if the concurrent number continues - such as WIS 32 at the Michigan Border (concurrent with US 45)

LEVEL railroads crossings on freeways (one left - US 151 Beaver Dam bypass, there used to be one on the West Madison Beltline Highway)

Diamond interchange connecting freeways in Wausau (practically gone now with reconstruction though  )

[TheStranger]

The freeway mainline that connects northbound Route 99 with eastbound Business 80 in midtown Sacramento has at least two of its own exits - Broadway (Route 99 exit 298B) and T Street (supposedly Business 80 Exit 6C, which doesn't make any sense) - but it's not clear if that is actually Route 99 or the start of hidden Route 51!  On the other hand, thanks to the 1970s freeway cancellations, all that exists of the proposed Route 244 bypass is a giant offramp from I-80 to Auburn Boulevard up near Del Paso Park.

Route 160 in Sacramento has a huge gap (due to the transfer of the portion from the North Sacramento Freeway to I-5 back to local jurisdiction) with no clear signage to connect the two portions.

The triple-concurrency of Business 80, US 50, and Route 99 in midtown/downtown Sacramento - which represents the most routes in one signed concurrency in the state - technically also involves two more routes as well, the paper I-305 and an implied Route 16.

[Voyager]

California's numbering system is an oddity in itself.

[vdeane]

I-81 at the St. Lawrence River has a few signage oddities in addition to being one lane each way (separated by a double yellow line) over the Thousand Islands Bridge.  As you head north, around exit 50N all signage for I-81 disappears (it's only signed as Thousand Islands Bridge/Wellesley Island/Canada).  Around exit 51 the signage for I-81 appears again.  I don't think anything like this happens when you head south.

[74/171FAN]

VA 156 is signed very weirdly in the Hopewell area.  In Prince George VA 156 is signed along VA 106(while it is supposed to be VA 156 BYP???).  However VA 156 Business is signed along presumably the real VA 156 up to Hopewell.  However in Hopewell VA 156 Business???? is known as VA 156 and the business route into Hopewell is not even posted at VA 10, VA 106, and VA 156 intersection east of Hopewell.

[mapman]

I always thought that CA 33 was an oddity, with respect to how it interacts with I-5 through the Central Valley of California.  This highway intersects I-5 a total of 5 times!

[njroadhorse]

Does anyone else find US 13 to be an oddity, considering is runs entirely east of US 1

[Michael]

I always thought that CA 33 was an oddity, with respect to how it interacts with I-5 through the Central Valley of California.  This highway intersects I-5 a total of 5 times!

Just look at US 11/I-81.  They intersect 16 times in New York alone (source)!  This doesn't count exits for a route that goes to US 11.

[njroadhorse]

I always thought that CA 33 was an oddity, with respect to how it interacts with I-5 through the Central Valley of California.  This highway intersects I-5 a total of 5 times!

Just look at US 11/I-81.  They intersect 16 times in New York alone (source)!  This doesn't count exits for a route that goes to US 11.

It's more prolific than that in Virginia.  I think its upwards of 20 times! 

[Duke87]

Such is the nature of building interstates along existing US route corridors. I-95 and US 1 intersect about 50 times or so.

[njroadhorse]

none in NC, SC, or GA.

When both 95 and 1 go far away from the coast/eastern shoreline areas, which they pretty much hug in most of their other states.  1 more so is an offender of this, which is a major oddity in my book.  If it's US 1, then it should be closest to the coast.

[Michael]

Just look at US 11/I-81.  They intersect 16 times in New York alone (source)!  This doesn't count exits for a route that goes to US 11.

Actually (and speaking from experience here, as Meaghan lived in Syracuse for 2 years and I could drive the I-81 corridor in my sleep), I-81 intersects US 11 a total of 11 times in New York.  2 of those crossings do not have any interchange ramps.  3 others are only partial interchanges.  In addition, there are 4 other locations (the northern Exit 8, southbound Exit 9, northbound Exit 14, and northbound Exit 15) where I-81 has direct ramps to or from US 11, but where the two routes do not cross.

njroadhorse is close...there are 17 locations where I-81 and US 11 cross in Virginia...if you count the two I-81/US 11 duplexes in Virginia as one crossing each.

Meanwhile, a quick atlas search suggests 41 crossings between I-95 and US 1 nationwide, with a large number of those...14...in Connecticut alone, counteracted by only 1 in Maine and none in NH, NC, SC, or GA.

I didn't bother going into that much detail!

[Duke87]

When both 95 and 1 go far away from the coast/eastern shoreline areas, which they pretty much hug in most of their other states.  1 more so is an offender of this, which is a major oddity in my book.  If it's US 1, then it should be closest to the coast.

The reason it deviates from the coast in the Mid-Atlantic is because in that region the major cities are further inland. If it followed the closest to coast route, its routing would be completely different all the way from Jacksonville to Woodbridge, NJ... following US Routes 17, 13, 113, and 9.

Which it could have. But think about something here. If it did that, it would hit these major cities:

- Atlantic City, NJ (sort of)
- Ocean City, MD (sort of)
- Norfolk, VA
- Wilmington, NC
- Charleston, SC
- Savannah, GA

but would miss all of these, which the existing route does hit:

- Trenton, NJ
- Philadelphia, PA
- Baltimore, MD
- Washington, DC
- Richmond, VA
- Raleigh, NC
- Columbia, SC
- Augusta, GA

That's why it deviates inland. It's an "oddity" so far as the numbering grid may be concerned, but it makes perfect sense practically.
Besides, US routes have always followed more of a general trend than a strict grid with their numbering anyway. US 44 and US 46 are both entirely north of US 22. US 12 and US 20 are near entirely north of US 6. US 10 and US 8 both are actually entirely north of it. And on and on and on.

And yet people raise a huge stink over I-99's number, one minor little offense in comparison.

[njroadhorse]

When both 95 and 1 go far away from the coast/eastern shoreline areas, which they pretty much hug in most of their other states.  1 more so is an offender of this, which is a major oddity in my book.  If it's US 1, then it should be closest to the coast.

You make a very valid point

The reason it deviates from the coast in the Mid-Atlantic is because in that region the major cities are further inland. If it followed the closest to coast route, its routing would be completely different all the way from Jacksonville to Woodbridge, NJ... following US Routes 17, 13, 113, and 9.

Which it could have. But think about something here. If it did that, it would hit these major cities:

- Atlantic City, NJ (sort of)
- Ocean City, MD (sort of)
- Norfolk, VA
- Wilmington, NC
- Charleston, SC
- Savannah, GA

but would miss all of these, which the existing route does hit:

- Trenton, NJ
- Philadelphia, PA
- Baltimore, MD
- Washington, DC
- Richmond, VA
- Raleigh, NC
- Columbia, SC
- Augusta, GA

That's why it deviates inland. It's an "oddity" so far as the numbering grid may be concerned, but it makes perfect sense practically.
Besides, US routes have always followed more of a general trend than a strict grid with their numbering anyway. US 44 and US 46 are both entirely north of US 22. US 12 and US 20 are near entirely north of US 6. US 10 and US 8 both are actually entirely north of it. And on and on and on.

And yet people raise a huge stink over I-99's number, one minor little offense in comparison.

[74/171FAN]

This could easily go into the rave category considering that VA 171 is my favorite Virginia state route(hence half of my user name).  Here is I-64 West one mile east of the VA 171 interchange    However, VA 171 continues west to VA 143(even though it could easily be extended to US 60) as shown by exit guide sign 1/4 mile west    However at both VA 171 exits VA 171 is only posted as going east on Victory Blvd even though it goes west onto Oyster Point Rd     

Fixed image sizes -DTP

[74/171FAN]

from Froggie:  As I recall, those new Clearview signs are also examples of that "carbon copy signage" that Alex has been complaining about.  I saw them on New Year's Day when I was down in the area...

I took these Saturday driving on I-64 from I-264(Exit 284) west to I-295.  At least there is a sign that VA 171 continues west of I-64.  BTW you can have the photo if you want for VA 171 entry in the VA Highways Project