National Highway System (US): Poor Route Selection?

[Revive 755]

I've been looking over the NHS highway maps, and it seems that there are some routes that should be included and others that don't seem important enough or duplicate other routes and should not have been included.

Illinois (general)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/il/il_illinois.pdf
Missing
* IL 29 - I-55 at Springfield to US 51 and Pana - highly traveled and partially upgraded to a low quality expressway, it seems like a good addition.

* US 136 - I-55 to I-74:  As long as the section between I-55 and I-155 is included, this one should be as well.

* IL 17 - I-55 to Kankakee - Should be enough population in Kankakee for this route.  Surely some of the residents there travel west to I-55.

Not Needed
* IL 26 -Dixon to Freeport  - Redundant with I-39 and the US 30 -IL 84 routes.  Sure Freeport is over 20,000, but so is Charleston, IL, and it doens't get any NHS routes.

General Corridor Correct, Questionable Routes
* IL 127 - I-64 to Murphysboro - The US 51 corridor seems to have a higher population and might be a better candidate.  If this route was for St. Louis metro to Carbondale access, then it is redundant with the IL 3 -IL 149 corridor, or should have used the IL 13 or IL 154 corridors.

* US 24 - I-172 to US 136 - Kind of redundant now with IL 336, but will be even more so once IL 336 makes it to the Peoria area. 

St. Louis Area
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/mo/stlouis_mo.pdf

Missing
* Jefferson Avenue - I-44 to I-64 - Important connector route between I-55 and I-64, certainly more important than some of the routes that got included

Not Needed
* IL 15 - East St. Louis to IL 159 - Not exactly a route of national importance.  The I-255 to IL 159 section is at least expressway grade, but there's no reason or need for the section inside I-255 given the proximity of I-64 (unless the FAP 414 freeway comes back from the dead)

* IL 159 - IL 15 to I-270 - An important local arterial, but not of national importance

* IL 160/IL 161 - US 50 to I-64 -Redundant with the US 50 - IL 4 route.  Also note the phantom partial bypass of Lebanon shown.

* IL 203/IL 162/IL 157 - I-55/70 to I-270 - There is a steel mill served by this route in Granite City, but little else of importance between I-55/70 and I-255.  Definetely nothing of importance to warrant the I-255 to I-270 section.

* US 67 - MO 367 to I-55 - Important local arterial, but otherwise redundant with MO 367 and I-270.

* MO 21 - Rte M/MM to MO 30 - Important local arterial in St. Louis County, scenic freeway in Jefferson County, but otherwise kind of limited in national importance

* MO 30 - Rte MM/W to I-55 - Important local arterial east of I-270, signalized, 60 mph expressway west of I-270, but of little national importance.

* MO 100 - East of I-270 to unbuilt I-170 - Important local arterial, not of national importance

* MO 340 - I-64 to I-170 - Important local arterial, not of national importance, redundant with Route D east of I-270.

General Corridor Correct, Questionable Routes
* MO 100, I-44 to I-270, and MO 340, MO 100 to I-64 - This route has been cited in the past as the only river crossing free route into St. Louis and of great importance in case of a New Madrid Earthquake.  However, given current proposals that may abuse MO 100 from MO 109 to MO 141, possibly with traffic calming, and the better access to I-64 via MO 340, it is questionable whether MO 100 should be included east of MO 340.  Ideally a single corridor would have gone up an improved MO 109 to I-64 route, but such a route is dead due to NIMBYs.

Decatur, IL
Not Needed[/u]]Not Needed
General Corridor Correct, Questionable Routes
* IL 121, I-72 to US 36 - questionable if this was a better choice over Business 51 to US 36.

Peoria, IL
Not Needed
* US 150, I-74 connector to IL 6 -Redundant with I-74; important local arterial, but not of national importance.

Springfield, MO
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/mo/springfield_mo.pdf
Not Needed
* MO 744, I-44 to US 160 - Not of national importance, close and redundant to I-44
* US 160, I-44 to James River Freeway - Not of national importance, though I'd be willing to consider this one more if there was a reason to have US 160 north of I-44 as an NHS route.
* Glenstone (Business 65 and BL 44), US 60 to I-44 - Busy local arterial, not of national importance.

Lincoln, NE
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/ne/lincoln_ne.pdf
Not Needed
* O Street and I-80 connector, I-80 to US 77 (West Bypass) - Redundant to I-80, and I don't recall an intermodal facility at the nearby BNSF yard to justify this one as an important freight route.

* 84th Street, NE 2 to US 6 - Not of national importance, even less so if the East Beltway ever gets built.

* US 6, O Street eastward - Not of national importance, redundant to I-80.

* US 34, I-180 to 84th Street - Not of national importance, though it would be justified if US 34 east of 84th was an NHS route.

General Corridor Correct, Questionable Routes
* O Street - US 77 to US 34 - Seems the Rosa Parks Way (shown as W Capital Parkway on the map), being an expressway type route, would be a better link to use from I-80 west of Lincoln to downtown Lincoln.

Other nominations?

[huskeroadgeek]

Lincoln, NE
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/ne/lincoln_ne.pdf
Not Needed
* O Street and I-80 connector, I-80 to US 77 (West Bypass) - Redundant to I-80, and I don't recall an intermodal facility at the nearby BNSF yard to justify this one as an important freight route.

* 84th Street, NE 2 to US 6 - Not of national importance, even less so if the East Beltway ever gets built.

* US 6, O Street eastward - Not of national importance, redundant to I-80.

* US 34, I-180 to 84th Street - Not of national importance, though it would be justified if US 34 east of 84th was an NHS route.

General Corridor Correct, Questionable Routes
* O Street - US 77 to US 34 - Seems the Rosa Parks Way (shown as W Capital Parkway on the map), being an expressway type route, would be a better link to use from I-80 west of Lincoln to downtown Lincoln.

Other nominations?

I admit that I'm not real familiar with what the real qualifications for being an NHS route are and I also am not familiar with the types of routes designated in most cities, but I can help speculate a little on why a few of these are designated NHS routes.

The West O Street and I-80 connector(Exit 396) from I-80 to US 77 (West Bypass) is probably on the list due to the configuration of the I-80/ US 77(Exit 397) interchange. Eastbound I-80 traffic heading for West O Street must use Exit 396 as there is no access to West O Street from Exit 397 eastbound. Similarly, there is no access to westbound I-80 from West O Street at Exit 397 and that traffic must enter I-80 at Exit 396.

84th Street gets a lot of truck traffic as the best connector between NE 2 and US 6 E. of Lincoln. The East Beltway definitely would take most of that away, but it seems to be at least 10-15 years away from ever coming to fruition(the proposed South Beltway is a higher priority).

As for West O/O Street from US 77 to US 34-Rosa Parks Way(Capital Parkway West until name change several years ago) is generally the quicker route to downtown from I-80, especially for non-commercial traffic. However, it seems based on what I have seen that most truck traffic headed between O Street and I-80 stays on O Street/West O Street from/to downtown.

[corco]

I could be wrong here, but aren't all US and interstate highways automatically NHS routes? That would explain 67 and 6/34.

[huskeroadgeek]

I could be wrong here, but aren't all US and interstate highways automatically NHS routes? That would explain 67 and 6/34.

Interstate routes are automatically part of the NHS, but US routes are not. I just looked at the Nebraska map for instance, and there are a number of portions of US routes that are not on the NHS.

[realjd]

Interestingly, the Puerto Rico map actually shows PR1-3 as if they're actual, signed interstate highways.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/pr/pr_PuertoRico.pdf