Places where a route designation turns but not the traffic

[roadman65]

I was noticing that when I lived in New Jersey that NJ 28 in Plainfield heading EB on Front Street would have no traffic follow it onto Plainfield Avenue where NJ 28 would change alignment to head SE to Fifth Street where it again would turn left to follow its Northeasterly course through the city.  Most NJ 28 EB motorists would continue on Front Street even though the state highway turns away to another alignment.

It is because no long distance travelers use NJ 28 through Plainfield being in the shadow of nearby US 22.  No one uses, for example, NJ 28 to go from Dunnellen to Elizabeth or from even Westfield to Middlesex all communities on either end of Planinfield as US 22 provides a much easier transit.  Most of the traffic I am sure are Plainfield residents going from one side of town to the other and are not following NJ 28, if they even know of its existence.

Are there any other instances where a route number changes alignment, but the traffic flow continues on the straight through alignment with little or even no cars turning to follow the through route?

[Scott5114]

Most routes in larger cities are probably like this, since long distance traffic doesn't follow surface streets.

[hotdogPi]

Concurrencies everywhere.

[wriddle082]

On the southeast side of Lexington, KY, US 25/421 turns to the right onto a two lane country road, while four lane KY 418 continues straight ahead to reach I-75.

On the east side of Columbia, SC, SC 12 turns left onto two lane Percival Rd while four+ lane Forest Dr (or maybe it's Strom Thurmond Blvd) continues straight ahead to I-77 and the main gate into Ft. Jackson.

[GaryV]

I-75 through Detroit - you have to take an exit ramp to continue, whether you're going NB or SB.

[nexus73]

I-215 from Berdoo to Riverside becomes SR 91 if you just go straight.  Head west and it's SR 60.  Head east and it's I-215/SR 60.  This little boobytrap sure threw me for a loop back in June 1974 when I encountered it for the first time!

Rick

[Roadrunner75]

US 322 WB in Williamstown, NJ exits itself via a jughandle while the majority of traffic continues north on NJ Route 42 (Black Horse Pike).  Both US 322 and US 40 in southwestern NJ have frequent alignment changes where you will quickly find yourself on a local or county route if you don't pay attention (signage isn't always very good).

[DandyDan]

Here in the Omaha area, the West Dodge freeway goes from US 6 to L28B to US 275 and I suspect few people are following WB US 6 or EB US 275 as they leave the freeway.

Where Iowa 2 intersects I-29 in SW Iowa, the reverse happens, where EB Iowa 2 goes straight, but at least 90% of the traffic turns to SB I-29.

[SP Cook]

At the end of Corridor L in Beckley. WV, US 19 South takes the exit and becomes a minor local road, but traffic will remain on the corridor to enter the toll road.

In northern Ohio, US 23 north takes the exit and becomes a minor local road, but traffic will remain on the four lane, which is now numbered OH 15 to get to I-75.

[Alps]

I'm going to ignore where one route turns off of another one, because obviously the through route is favored in such a scenario. New Jersey:

US 1/9 at Tonnelle Circle - most traffic is going to the Holland Tunnel
NJ 3: Heading east, it exits itself, but traffic heads to NJ 495.
NJ 7: At the CR 506 multiplex, Washington Ave. N-S traffic tends to stay N-S, and Belleville Ave./Pike E-W traffic tends to stay E-W, even though NJ 7 is signed to turn. (Officially, it's in two pieces, though.)
NJ 27: Just like 28, no one's following 27 through Elizabeth. Also, I think more traffic follows 35 than 27 at their split.
US 30: When it hits 130 out of Philly, most traffic is going on NJ 38/70.
NJ 42: Most traffic continues on the Atlantic City Expwy.
US 46: NJ 10 is more popular west of Dover.
NJ 71: It's original NJ 35, now a bunch of north-south seashore town roads strung together. Every time 71 turns, local traffic goes wherever it wants.
I-76: More traffic stays on I-676
I-95: Very few follow where it turns from Turnpike Exit 6 to Trenton Exit 8...
NJ 124: East of NJ 82, most traffic is coming from either CR 577 (south) or NJ 82 (southeast). Surprisingly little traffic follows 124 here.
NJ 159: Being old US 46, most traffic is on regular 46. Clinton Rd. and Bloomfield Ave. each carry the through traffic, and the piece of 159 connecting them has no one.
NJ 171: Try following it in New Brunswick.
NJ 175: More traffic follows Upper Ferry Rd. at its turns. It's old 29, so this makes sense.
US 202: It's hard to track traffic through Morristown, but I'm sure there's almost no one going through on 202. Other places with little turning traffic: Littleton Rd. (CR 630/511), Intervale Rd., Myrtle at Washington (Boonton), Hamburg Tpk. at Terhune Dr.
US 206: When it turns in downtown Trenton, traffic scatters every which way.
I-278: It's configured WB to exit itself at the NJ Turnpike, and most traffic doesn't follow 278. I could also point to the Grand Central Parkway on the NY side as a place where traffic doesn't stay with 278.
I-287: More traffic heads north on I-87 than east on I-87/287 into New York. North is configured as the mainline.

[bugo]

At the end of the BA in Broken Arrow, OK 51 hops off the freeway and heads towards Coweta, while the main freeway becomes the Muskogee Turnpike and heads southeast towards I-40.

[tdindy88]

The freeway from Columbus, Ohio to Newark, Ohio starts at I-270 as OH 161 and before entering Newark becomes SR 16 without the freeway changing at all. The expressway continues east toward Coshocton as OH 16 and there becomes US 36 all the way to I-77. If I'm reading the map right this is all one undivided highway from I-270 to I-77.

[hbelkins]

At the end of the BA in Broken Arrow, OK 51 hops off the freeway and heads towards Coweta, while the main freeway becomes the Muskogee Turnpike and heads southeast towards I-40.

At the places where I-44 goes off the various turnpikes, what does the traffic do? I'm thinking westbound at the end of the toll roads at both Tulsa and OKC. Those are configured to keep you straight on the turnpikes instead of staying on I-44.

[MikeTheActuary]

CT20 westbound at the Windsor/Windsor Locks/East Granby tripoint,

CT20 exits the Bradley connector, but (I think) most traffic continues on CT401 to the airport.

[bugo]

At the end of the BA in Broken Arrow, OK 51 hops off the freeway and heads towards Coweta, while the main freeway becomes the Muskogee Turnpike and heads southeast towards I-40.

At the places where I-44 goes off the various turnpikes, what does the traffic do? I'm thinking westbound at the end of the toll roads at both Tulsa and OKC. Those are configured to keep you straight on the turnpikes instead of staying on I-44.

They do that on purpose.  I worked at a gas station just off of the Creek Turnpike at 31st Street and I would always have to give directions to lost customers who missed the exit to stay on I-44.  Those don't count for this thread because most traffic stays on I-44.  The Creek is nearly empty from I-44/US 412 to the Muskogee Turnpike/OK 51.

[74/171FAN]

I'm unsure how much VA 36 in Hopewell applies to this.  At Arlington Rd in Hopewell where VA 36 and VA 156 split most follow Winston Churchill Drive (VA 156) to the east.  Those that want to get to VA 10 and go into Chesterfield County normally follow VA 156 east to 6th Street (technically Ave) and follow it to VA 10.

The reason that I am unsure that it counts here is because VA 36 (after following Arlington Rd, 15th Ave, and Broadway) joins 6th Street at its intersection with Broadway and follows it from there north to its terminus at VA 10.

[TEG24601]

One of the ones I see a lot is the CF that is Monticello, IN.  As you are coming from the South on US-421/SR-39, the route goes West two blocks at the edge of downtown.  US-24/421 comes in From the West, and US-24 routes two blocks North, and 421 heads two blocks South, and SR-39 follows US-24 along its eastern route.


Very few locals actually follow these signed routes.  They tend to go straight through downtown, ignoring all signs to the contrary, making useless to route the traffic as they have. 

[PurdueBill]

Most traffic seems to follow through the new Logansport bypass segment either leaving IN 25 behind for US 24 or vice versa.  The old configuration favored US 35 thru traffic more, while the new configuration vastly favors 25 to 24/35 or vice versa (no exiting, must turn off to stay on your route).

[Bitmapped]

The freeway from Columbus, Ohio to Newark, Ohio starts at I-270 as OH 161 and before entering Newark becomes SR 16 without the freeway changing at all. The expressway continues east toward Coshocton as OH 16 and there becomes US 36 all the way to I-77. If I'm reading the map right this is all one undivided highway from I-270 to I-77.

It functions as a continuous corridor, but parts of SR 16 west of Coshocton are still 2 lanes.

[ibagli]

The freeway from Columbus, Ohio to Newark, Ohio starts at I-270 as OH 161 and before entering Newark becomes SR 16 without the freeway changing at all. The expressway continues east toward Coshocton as OH 16 and there becomes US 36 all the way to I-77. If I'm reading the map right this is all one undivided highway from I-270 to I-77.

It actually changes twice between Columbus and Newark. OH-161 and OH-16 are separated by about four miles where the freeway is OH-37.

[mcdonaat]

LA 15 turns off towards Monroe, while LA 137 continues to Rayville, to connect with I-20.

I-49 designation is dropped at I-10, leaving US 167, but US 167 turns from US 90 at Johnston Street, while most traffic stays on the Evangeline Thruway.

[PHLBOS]

PA 39 veering off Hersheypark Drive.

Further east, similar for PA 743 veering off Hersheypark Drive.

[Brandon]

IL-7 in Crest Hill and Joliet, Illinois.  Most traffic continues straight through the intersection of Larkin and Theodore where the route designation changes direction.

[doorknob60]

US-97 (concurrent with US-26) in Madras turns right to continue towards Biggs and The Dalles (via 197), while continuing straight heads on US-26 towards Portland, which is where most of the traffic is heading. Similarly, on the south side of town, US-26 turns off to the left towards Prineville, while US-97 continues south towards Redmond and Bend, where most traffic is headed. It's a concurrency so you could argue that it doesn't count, but I think it does because most traffic goes along US-97 south of Madras, and along US-26 north of Madras.

EDIT: I just discovered this cool map (in the past I only saw the AADT in a table), kinda demonstrates the point, and is interesting regardless: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/tsm/docs/Flow_Map_2012.pdf If someone has links to similar maps for other states, I'd love to see them.

EDIT2: And for the sake of completeness, here are the city insets for that map: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/tsm/docs/Enlargements_2012.pdf

EDIT3: Might as well throw in the ramp diagrams: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/tsm/docs/Ramps_2012.pdf

[cl94]

US 40 in Columbus, OH uses Drexel Avenue, a 2 lane residential street, to get between Main Street and Broad Street, both 5 lane arteries, on the east side.

In New York, there are quite a few that come to mind immediately:
NY 32 east of Glens Falls
NY 93 in Akron
NY 31 and NY 78 in Lockport
NY 63 at NY 408 in Mount Morris (most traffic continues onto NY 408 to access I-390)
NY 5 in downtown Buffalo
US 62 at NY 263 in Amherst
NY 78 at NY 263 in Amherst
NY 17/US 6/Future I-86 at I-87