Bannered Routes That Don’t Make Sense

[roadman65]

And then there's Rocky Mount, which has Bypass and Business bannered sections of US 301 but no unbannered section.  And Henderson also has Bypass and Business sections of US 1 and US 158 but no unbannered sections.

All business-bypass routes were posted this way in North Carolina up until ~1980 with oversize banners on each.  There are some AASHTO requests to renumber the bypass routes as unbanned mainline routes.

Shelby is likely going to join the 3 variations of a route club.

Virginia was that way too. In fact there used to be a Bypass US 13 on I-64 through Chesapeake and Norfolk while Military Highway was bannered as Business US 13.  When it came time instead of removing the bypass banner of US 13, they decommissioned it and removed the Business banner of US 13 so that Military Highway is now unbannered US 13.

Also keep in mind some independent cities don't still banner business routes even with the unbannered mainline nearby. Fredericksburg and South Hill for Business US 1 don't have business banners on their assigned routes trailblazers.

[74/171FAN]

Also keep in mind some independent cities don't still banner business routes even with the unbannered mainline nearby. Fredericksburg and South Hill for Business US 1 don't have business banners on their assigned routes trailblazers.

South Hill only has a US 58 business route that is signed from US 58 correctly, but not downtown at the split with US 1 at VA 47.

FWIW, US 1 Business is signed at its south end at US 1/VA 208 and at VA 3.  I am unsure how much US 17 BUS and US 1 BUS within the city of Fredericksburg is signed at well (if even correctly).

[Mapmikey]

Also keep in mind some independent cities don't still banner business routes even with the unbannered mainline nearby. Fredericksburg and South Hill for Business US 1 don't have business banners on their assigned routes trailblazers.

South Hill only has a US 58 business route that is signed from US 58 correctly, but not downtown at the split with US 1 at VA 47.

FWIW, US 1 Business is signed at its south end at US 1/VA 208 and at VA 3.  I am unsure how much US 17 BUS and US 1 BUS within the city of Fredericksburg is signed at well (if even correctly).

US 1 Bus is not signed terrifically in Fredericksburg, but mostly correctly where it is.  US 17 Bus is poorly signed and mostly incorrectly within the city proper in the few spots it is.

[roadman65]

Also keep in mind some independent cities don't still banner business routes even with the unbannered mainline nearby. Fredericksburg and South Hill for Business US 1 don't have business banners on their assigned routes trailblazers.

South Hill only has a US 58 business route that is signed from US 58 correctly, but not downtown at the split with US 1 at VA 47.

FWIW, US 1 Business is signed at its south end at US 1/VA 208 and at VA 3.  I am unsure how much US 17 BUS and US 1 BUS within the city of Fredericksburg is signed at well (if even correctly).

US 1 Bus is not signed terrifically in Fredericksburg, but mostly correctly where it is.  US 17 Bus is poorly signed and mostly incorrectly within the city proper in the few spots it is.

US 1 Bus. in Fredericksburg was unbannered US 1 until circa 1970 with current US 1 as US 1 Alternate.  So over the years the city never updated and the only reason why ALT banners got removed is because most of US 1 is outside the city limits where state maintenance is prominent.

The south end of the business route is also state maintained hence the proper signing.

From what I see is independent cities are careless with either shielding ( VA Beach for example) or proper bannering.

[Mapmikey]

So over the years the city never updated and the only reason why ALT banners got removed is because most of US 1 is outside the city limits where state maintenance is prominent

This is incorrect.  About 3/4 of the bypass is in the city. Other than the famous BGS at the north end, there have been no ALT banners anywhere back to at least 1995 and there are more US 1 postings along the bypass inside the city than outside.

[hbelkins]

Between Abingdon and Jonesville, Va., Alternate US 58 is a better route than "plain" US 58. More of the route is four lanes. So I'd argue in this instance, the regular route doesn't make sense.

[Henry]

I-80 Business in Sacramento never made a ton of sense after I-80 was realigned.  US 50 and CA 51 seem as though they are much more adequate sign route designations.

Sure. Freeways should never be business routes because they can't actually have any businesses on them at all. And even on the frontage streets, there aren't as many businesses as there are in the central downtown streets.

I agree with that assessment, which is why I'm glad that NC got rid of its nonsensical BL freeways, especially those that were concurrent with US routes, like BL 40 with US 421 and BL 85 with US 29. We just need Sacramento and Spartanburg to do the same with theirs (especially BL 80, where I support signing CA 51 over the leftover part).

[LilianaUwU]

Arkansas has a lot of Spur state routes that don't make a lot of sense

US 82 Spur is probably the most egregious. Yes, this driveway deserves the same shield as some of the most major highways in the US.

[TheCatalyst31]

Arkansas has a lot of Spur state routes that don't make a lot of sense

US 82 Spur is probably the most egregious. Yes, this driveway deserves the same shield as some of the most major highways in the US.

The Street View for that spur is amazing. It's very well-signed for a route that you can see the end of from US 82, and the other end is at a trash can.

[Scott5114]

Arkansas has a lot of Spur state routes that don't make a lot of sense

US 82 Spur is probably the most egregious. Yes, this driveway deserves the same shield as some of the most major highways in the US.

The Street View for that spur is amazing. It's very well-signed for a route that you can see the end of from US 82, and the other end is at a trash can.

I don't know what, but that's gotta be a metaphor for something.

[LilianaUwU]

Arkansas has a lot of Spur state routes that don't make a lot of sense

US 82 Spur is probably the most egregious. Yes, this driveway deserves the same shield as some of the most major highways in the US.

The Street View for that spur is amazing. It's very well-signed for a route that you can see the end of from US 82, and the other end is at a trash can.

I don't know what, but that's gotta be a metaphor for something.

The entire country?

[mapman1071]

AZ95 Truck route in Parker, AZ runs from AZ95 to the Colorado River Bridge and CA62.

[pderocco]

AZ95 Truck route in Parker, AZ runs from AZ95 to the Colorado River Bridge and CA62.

It's illogical as a bypass for AZ-95 to the north, but I think most trucks using AZ-95 south of Parker also use CA-62. That's a significant alternate route to I-10.

[Molandfreak]

US 69 Spur in Bethany, MO would make more sense as part of an I-35 business loop.

[Avalanchez71]

Arkansas has a lot of Spur state routes that don't make a lot of sense

US 82 Spur is probably the most egregious. Yes, this driveway deserves the same shield as some of the most major highways in the US.

I clinched that US 82S route.

[pderocco]

Arkansas has a lot of Spur state routes that don't make a lot of sense

US 82 Spur is probably the most egregious. Yes, this driveway deserves the same shield as some of the most major highways in the US.

I clinched that US 82S route.

I can see why there would be dinky spur routes in a state like California that officially designates such routes if CalTrans maintains them (even if it doesn't sign them), but this is a US route. Did AASHTO accede to this designation?

[roadman65]

In Florida US 27 ALT between Williston and Perry should be mainline US 27.  The existing un-bannered US ,27 overlaps US 41 from Williston to High Springs before it becomes solo West to Perry. The overlap should be US 41 and the rest should be ome FL 20 ( which is its state route designation) .

From what I understand it's because they wanted US 27 to serve a couple of county seats. However it's alternate serves two county seats as well

[roadfro]

Nevada's ALT US routes really don't make a whole lot of sense, if you try to think about them as actually being alternates to the mainline US route. Nobody is going to follow any of them from end to end back to the mainline.

NDOT had a hell of a time getting AASHTO to approve any of them.  Essentially the alternates ended up signed despite corridor rejections.  The signage was in place so long that the executive committee eventually relented.  It kind of makes sense given how against sub-300 mile intra-state US Routes AASHTO has been. 

Yes, none of Nevada's US Alt routes make sense in a present-day context. The one exception is US 395 Alt being signed through Washoe Valley, for the high profile vehicle detour during strong crosswinds on the main I-580/US 395 freeway. (Although the portion along Virginia St in south Reno that had previously been SR 430 could've been left alone—this section isn't signed as US 395 Alt though, but is officially designated internally by NDOT & AASHTO.) Even still, they could've made due with a state route number instead.

All of Nevada's US-Alt routes, with exception of US 95 Alt south of Fernley, are former mainline US route alignments. The Alt designations were clearly NDOT's attempts to keep these highways in the US route system.

In historical context, the portion of US 95 Alt that is not concurrent with I-80 makes a lot of sense. Mainline US 95 was originally extended southerly through Nevada on roads that were mostly or fully paved at the time. The route headed from Winnemucca west all the way into Fernley before backtracking to east to Fallon. So for travelers headed south from Fernley towards central Nevada, there was a viable choice between there and Schurz by going with mainline 95 via Fallon or 95 Alt via Yerington (it's only about a 3 mile difference). However, once the current US 95 was fully paved north of Fallon to connect to US 40 (today's I-80) more directly, the Alt route situation around Fernley got weird and a little desperate.

The alternates are pretty handy if you are trying to cut some time off your travel.  One I used to use frequently was US 95A to get from US 50 to mainline US 95.  Sure beat having to slog all the way to Fallon.

Oh, they absolutely make sense as part of the state highway system, and arguably even as part of the US Route system. "Alternates" they ain't, though.

To me, the defining characteristic of an alternate route is, at the spot where they diverge, if someone says "Which route do I need to follow?" the correct answer is "it makes no difference" (or at the very least, something like "the mainline is shorter but the alternate is less steep"). That certainly isn't true with Nevada's alternate routes.

Agreed that these currently don't meet the intent of any good definition of "alternate". Current US 50 Alt & US 93 Alt should never have been designated alternates with these numbers, and should have been established as spur routes instead.

[DandyDan]

US 69 Spur in Bethany, MO would make more sense as part of an I-35 business loop.

Not sure why that one isn't just a lettered route.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

Excluding US 90 Business in NOLA that is the most obvious misuse of a business banner, we have US 190 Business in Slidell, LA that doesn't not only serves a business district, but doesn't return to its parent at one end either. Plus the mainline it parallels travels through Downtown Slidell.

In Jacksonville, FL you have US 90 ALT that has been realigned to make no sense as an alternate route. It used to branch off its parent downtown and follow the couplet of State and Union Streets into the Arlington Expressway across the St John's River and use FL 115 to return to US 90.

Now US 90 ALT uses FL 10 from the wye east of I-95 at Beach and Atlantic and heads east to FL 115 and south on FL 115 ( it's only original alignment left) to rejoin its parent.  If you plot it on the map it makes no sense.

What bannered routes do feel need to go?

In Slidell replace US 190 Business with Spur US 190. In Jacksonville send US 90 over Alternate US 90's original alignment, as that is more direct than the current mainline. Let SR 212 and 10 replace the current US 90 and be done with it.

In general Louisiana s*cks at bannered routes, much less them making any sense routing wise. See present route of US 61/190 Bus in Baton Rouge, US 90 Bus in Lake Charles, and US 167 Bus in Alexandria.

[NE2]

Sacks? Socks? Sicks? Secks?

[kphoger]

Sacks? Socks? Sicks? Secks?

The asterisk as a wildcard need not represent only a single character.

Louisiana shocks at bannered routes.
Louisiana smacks at bannered routes.
Louisiana singletracks at bannered routes.

[LilianaUwU]

s*cks

I've seen absurd censorship, but this is a whole new level.

[Max Rockatansky]

I agree, Louisiana does "sock" when it comes to bannered routes.  I often ask people "do you know how much Louisiana socks?"

[TheCatalyst31]

I agree, Louisiana does "sock" when it comes to bannered routes.  I often ask people "do you know how much Louisiana socks?"

I mean, it is shaped like a boot, and one usually wears socks with boots.