Top 10 most important roads in your state

[Kacie Jane]

Not in order -- though I-5 is clearly first -- but these would probably be the ten.

I-5
I-405
I-90
SR 520
US 101
US 2
SR 20
I-82
US 395
US 12

Personally, I would not have included 101, but instead used SR-99 or 18 due to traffic volumes, and maybe US-395 instead of US-12 for the same reason (and that it is nearly a freeway).

For me SR 20 is the stretch. I went with 16 over 99 or 18, but I could see those too. Besides Whidbey and Anacortes, 20 doesn't do much. A good chunk of it isn't open year round, and east of the Cascades it doesn't really connect any population. It's a gorgeous road, and one every Washingtonian should drive in its entirety, but I don't see it falling anywhere near the top 10.

16 was definitely my first cut, and I see the arguments for leaving off 101 or 20.  But since the OP said to use your own criteria, I tried to try and get them fairly balanced throughout the state, and decided that "a gorgeous road every Washingtonian should drive in its entirety" was in fact a measure of importance.   Thus I wouldn't include 99 or 18 as part of my balancing effort, and since parallel routes (5 and 405 respectively) are clearly much more important.

(And PS to TEG, no need to list 395 instead of 12, since I already have it on the list right above it.)

[hotdogPi]

Since Alaska has only twelve numbered routes (1-11, 98), I only need to select two routes to drop, to get to the top ten.  The most dispensable route (and the most likely to be decommissioned) is 8, which used to be the only access to Denali National Park, but now almost everybody uses AK 3.  6 is the next one to drop, serving no major destinations.  5 would've been a candidate, except the southern half is part of the popular "Top of the World" loop through Dawson City YT.

Any without numbers that are more important than anything on the list? It can go on the list. It doesn't have to be numbered.

[bing101]

California:
1. US 101
2. CA 99
3. I-5
4. I-405
5. I-10
6. I-110
7. I-80
8. I-880
9. I-15
10. I-210



This is based on how much disruption I imagine would be caused if that road (and only that road) were to disappear overnight.

What about I-710  Long Beach Freeway it has been referred as the Truckers freeway because many Truck use this Route to the Port of LA.  If that Closed down then we are in trouble. I-580 Important route for trucks  from the Port of Oakland Going to LA. I-280 and I-680 Important to avoid congestion on I-880 and US-101.  CA-118 for North Ventura Residents going to LA.  I-605 somewhat important as an alternate Truck route to Long Beach since parts of 110 does not Accept Trucks.

[hbelkins]

Tennessee:

1.) I-40
2.) I-65
3.) I-75
4.) I-24
5.) I-81
6.) US 51
7.) I-26/US 23
8.) US 64
9.) TN 111
10.) TN 66 (between I-40 and Sevierville)/US 441 (one corridor)

[corco]

decided that "a gorgeous road every Washingtonian should drive in its entirety" was in fact a measure of importance.

Okay, okay. I can buy what you're selling. Washington is a gorgeous state, and SR 20 hits more of the most beautiful parts than any other route, really only missing Mt Rainier and the Palouse (none of Washington's highways are particularly good for coastal views- you can only really see it for a couple miles on US 101, and even SR 109 never really has those sweeping ocean views like US 101 in Oregon or SR 1 in California). That's important for its own reasons.

[agentsteel53]

California:
1. US 101
2. CA 99
3. I-5
4. I-405
5. I-10
6. I-110
7. I-80
8. I-880
9. I-15
10. I-210



This is based on how much disruption I imagine would be caused if that road (and only that road) were to disappear overnight.

What about I-710  Long Beach Freeway it has been referred as the Truckers freeway because many Truck use this Route to the Port of LA.  If that Closed down then we are in trouble. I-580 Important route for trucks  from the Port of Oakland Going to LA. I-280 and I-680 Important to avoid congestion on I-880 and US-101.  CA-118 for North Ventura Residents going to LA.  I-605 somewhat important as an alternate Truck route to Long Beach since parts of 110 does not Accept Trucks.

what About you Just list every Freeway in the LA area. 

[US 41]

Not in Order Indiana

I-70
I-65
I-465
US 31
US 41 / SR 63
I-64
US 24 / SR 25
US 30
I-74
I-69

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

For Louisiana:

1) I-10
2) I-20
3) I-49
4) I-55
5) US 90 between Lafayette and NOLA
6) US 165
7) US 71
8) US 61
9) LA 1
10) US 171

I-10
I-12
I-20
I-49
US 165
US 90 east (south) of Lafayette
US 171
US 71 north of Shreveport (not for much longer)
US 167 north of Alexandria
LA 28

I could go back and forth on some of these. It's pretty much the same as Anthony's, though.

These are good choices. If there were more than 10 slots, I would also include US 190 between Opelousas and BR, the Causeway bridge and its approaches, LA 1/LA 20/LA 24 between Port Allen and Houma, and maybe US 61/425 between BR and Rayville via Natchez (no one said out of state connections couldn't count!).

[jemacedo9]

I'm gonna put my own spin on this (and it can be a different thread if that seems better)...here are my Top 10 Most Important STATE Roads in PA (excluding Interstates and US routes) - in no particular order:

1.  PA 28
2.  PA 309
3.  PA 56
4.  PA 611
5.  PA 65
6.  PA 51
7.  PA 283
8.  PA 61
9.  PA 33
10.  PA 8

Honorable mentions to PA 100, PA 462, and PA 41.

[cbeach40]

Ontario Highways

1.   401 – Windsor to Québec border
2.   QEW – Toronto to Fort Erie
3.   417 – Ottawa to Québec border
4-5.   400-11-69 Corridors – Toronto to Barrie (400), Barrie to North Bay (11) and Barrie to Sudbury (400 & 69)
6-7.   11 and 17 – North Bay to Manitoba Border, in many cases the only road to follow
8.   416 – Hwy 401 to Ottawa (main Toronto-Ottawa connection)
9.   417-17 Corridor – Ottawa to North Bay (main link between the northeastern and eastern regions)
10.   115 – Toronto to Peterborough (main connection to the eastern sections of the province away from the 401-416 corridors)



Highways 6, 10, and 35 I think meet the same criteria as others like 115 or 417-17 in terms of inter-regional traffic, but the volumes aren't there as in the former or the economic necessity like the latter.
I also neglected to include Highways like 402, 403, 405, and 407 as in spite of their tremendous economic impact they function more as a supplement to highways like 401 and QEW.

[1995hoo]

....

Great I agree basically every Freeway in the LA Area has been labeled Most Clogged in the Nation at some point in their history.

The moderators have asked us not to pick on grammar and punctuation, but could you please try to capitalize correctly? Your failure to do so makes your comments rather hard to follow.

[nexus73]

Oregon is about a few N/S routes and a bunch of E/W ones.  With that in mind I'll list the primary routes for each direction.

N/S:

#1 is I-5
#2 is US 101
#3 is US 97
#4 is 99W
#5 is 99E
#6 is US 395
#7 is I-82, which is more N/S than E/W despite it's number.
#8 is US 95

E/W:

#1 as a group are the routes which serve PDX and that means US 26 and US 30 in both directions as well as I-84 heading east.
#2 is a partly concurrent route that makes an X to connect Salem and McMinnville (99w, which then heads to PDX) to the coast, 18/22
#3 goes to 126, which is former US 126.  That connects Florence on the coast to Prineville in Central Oregon while passing through Eugene and Redmond.
#4 is the combination of 22 from Salem, US 20 from Albany and 126 from Eugene (all Willamette Valley cities) which combine at Santiam Pass to cross the Cascades before splitting with 126 heading to Redmond, Prineville and US 26 while US 20 goes to Bend, Burns and Ontario.
#5 goes to the two main routes which serve southwestern Oregon to connect the coast to I-5, 38 and 42.
#6 is 62, which connects Medford to US 97 while running past Crater Lake National Park.
#7 handles Medford, Klamath Falls, Lakeview and heads for Winnemuca NV, 140.
#8 is 58, a Cascades crossing route connecting Eugene to US 97 on the southerly part as it heads for Klamath Falls and Weed CA.
#9 handles connecting central Oregon to southeastern Oregon, US 97 to US 395 and it is known as 31.
#10 goes to US 199, which gets northern California/southernmost Oregon coast connected to Grants Pass and I-5.

Metro supplemental freeway routes:

#1 is I-205, the east Portland freeway loop
#2 is a group of Eugene/Springfield freeways, I-105, 126, 569 (Beltline Road) and Delta Highway.
#3 takes care of PDX southwest suburbs, 217.
#4 would be I-405, the Stadium Freeway, serving downtown PDX.

Since Oregon is about regions and their connections, it is hard to put down 10 routes and then leave out several more which are important regional connectors.  Coastline, Coast Range, three river valleys, the Cascades, central Oregon just east of the Cascades and the Big Empty Area (LOL!) AKA Eastern Oregon make up our state's geography and that is what defines our highway network the most since we only have one major metro area (PDX).

Knowing these routes when traveling our state is very important since weather, accidents and construction can cause closures which will require detours.  Know the parallel routes and you can get from A to B.

I'm interested in what Xonhulu (Chris) has to say.

Rick

[brianreynolds]

Here's my view of Michigan, kind of in order:

I-75
I-94
I-696
M-6
US-131
M-28
I-96
US-127
US-23
US-2

Here's my take.  I-94 has to be No. 1 as the top commercial/industrial/population corridor.  Probably a big majority of the state's population lives within 25 miles of this one highway.

I-75 would be No. 2 for the same reasons, to a somewhat lesser extent.

I-96 would be No. 3, as it runs coast to coast (so to speak), connects the state's two largest metropolitan areas, the state capital, and a huge chunk of exurban sprawl.

US-131 for No. 4, US-127 for No. 5.

If we are talking about magnitude of importance statewide, the U. P. is entitled to one of its own, but not more than one.  No. 6 is M-28, the Main Street of Yooperland.

So far we have three East-West, three North-South, none confined to a single metro area.  It gets hazier from here.

I-69 is No. 7.  It connects a series of secondary-sized cities, but also functions as a significant corridor for international trade, and a way-out-there bypass of the metro Detroit area.

No. 8 is US-31, important for tourism and for agriculture.

Rounding out the list are (No. 9) I-696 and (No. 10) M-6, short highways that have big impact over a smaller geographic area.

[hotdogPi]

Extended list for all of New England:



1. I-95
2. I-91
3. I-93
4. I-90
5. I-84
6. I-89
7. CT 15
8. I-395 (CT-MA)
9. US 1
10. US/MA 3
11. US 6
12. US 2
13. I-495 (MA)
14. VT/NH/ME 9
15. US 44
16. MA 128
17. NH/ME 16
18. I-295 (MA-RI)
19. MA 2
20. I-195 (MA-RI)
21. CT 2
22. MA/RI 146
23. NH 101
24. Everett Turnpike
25. MA/RI 24
26. CT/MA/VT 8 (mostly for the CT freeway)
27. US 4
28. CT 9
29. US 20
30. US 202
31. MA 1A / US 1A (RI)
32. MA 1A / NH 1A
33. I-290 (MA)
34. US 5
35. CT/MA/NH/VT 12
36. CT/RI/MA 138
37. NY 22 (used for New England travel, even though not in New England)
38. US 302
39. US 201
40. I-691
41. MA/NH 28
42. I-293
43. I-291 (MA)
44. I-291 (CT)
45. MA 140
46. CT/MA/NH 10
47. VT/NH/ME 11
48. CT 25
49. RI 4
50. MA 16

[mukade]

Not in Order Indiana

I-70
I-65
I-465
US 31
US 41 / SR 63
I-64
US 24 / SR 25
US 30
I-74
I-69

Missing from your list are I-90 and I-94. US 24/SR 25 would be displaced for sure, and I suppose US 30 would be the other one. You might make a case that US 30 is more important than I-74, but I doubt it.

[wriddle082]

Tennessee:

1.) I-40
2.) I-65
3.) I-75
4.) I-24
5.) I-81
6.) US 51
7.) I-26/US 23
8.) US 64
9.) TN 111
10.) TN 66 (between I-40 and Sevierville)/US 441 (one corridor)

I would rank I-24 as #2, since it connects the 5th (Clarksville), 2nd (Nashville), 6th (Murfreesboro), and 4th (Chattanooga) largest cities in the state.

And overall I-75 is more important than I-65 since traffic volumes on 65 south of Spring Hill drop off quite a bit.

[US81]

Well, I've revised my list a few times, but here's my provisional list for Texas:

1) I-35 (including E and W)
2) I-10
3) I-20
4) I-45
5) US 287
6) I-30/US 67
7) US 83
8) US 87
9) TX 6
10) I-40

[Alps]

....

Great I agree basically every Freeway in the LA Area has been labeled Most Clogged in the Nation at some point in their history.

The moderators have asked us not to pick on grammar and punctuation, but could you please try to capitalize correctly? Your failure to do so makes your comments rather hard to follow.

Actually, I think in this case we'd just be piling on top. You worded that very politely.

[doorknob60]

My view on Oregon (and I'll just pick 10):

1. I-5
2. I-84
3. US-101
4. US-26
5. US-97
6. US-20
7. OR-22/18 (I think it's fair to lump them together; I'm talking the Santiam Pass to Lincoln City route)
8. OR-126
9. I-205
10. OR-99W (thought about putting US-395 here, they are both important, but in very different ways)

EDIT: Rearranged the bottom 3

[DandyDan]

My attempt at Nebraska
1. I-80 (the only one I am certain belongs in the spot I put it in)
2. US 81
3. US 77
4. US 275
5. NE 2 (eastern segment)
6. US 75
7. US 20
8. NE 71 (at least between I-80 and Scottsbluff)
9. US 30
10. US 6

Honorable mention: I-180 and 27th Street (and probably a whole host of other roads I forgot to mention) in Lincoln on Husker football Saturdays.

[US 41]

Not in Order Indiana

I-70
I-65
I-465
US 31
US 41 / SR 63
I-64
US 24 / SR 25
US 30
I-74
I-69

Missing from your list are I-90 and I-94. US 24/SR 25 would be displaced for sure, and I suppose US 30 would be the other one. You might make a case that US 30 is more important than I-74, but I doubt it.

I-80/90 is more important than US 24 / SR probably. I-94 isn't that important. It is barely in the state.

[Indyroads]

Missing from your list are I-90 and I-94. US 24/SR 25 would be displaced for sure, and I suppose US 30 would be the other one. You might make a case that US 30 is more important than I-74, but I doubt it.

I-80/90 is more important than US 24 / SR probably. I-94 isn't that important. It is barely in the state.

Top 10 plus one

#1 Indiana Toll Road (I-90 ---> I-80/90)

#2 I-65

#3 I-70

#4 I-80/94 ---> I-94

#5 US 31 (north of Indy)

#6 I-465

#7 I-74

#8 I-64

#9 I-69 (once complete in southern Indiana this route will move up the list.) (Includes SR-37 south of Indy to Bloomington)

#10 US 41/SR 63 (once I-69 is open in southern Indiana this route will likely move down the list and the Hoosier heartland will take its place)

---

#11 US 24 / SR 25 (Hoosier Heartland Expy, Fort to Port)

[hbelkins]

And overall I-75 is more important than I-65 since traffic volumes on 65 south of Spring Hill drop off quite a bit.

I always thought that in Kentucky, I-75 was the more important and busier route than I-65, partly because it links Lexington with the northern Kentucky metro area, and possibly because I'm on it more than I am I-65. I was surprised to learn that traffic volumes, especially for trucks, are heavier on 65 than 75. I figured the same was true in Tennessee as well.

[codyg1985]

Tennessee:

1.) I-40
2.) I-65
3.) I-75
4.) I-24
5.) I-81
6.) US 51
7.) I-26/US 23
8.) US 64
9.) TN 111
10.) TN 66 (between I-40 and Sevierville)/US 441 (one corridor)

I would rank I-24 as #2, since it connects the 5th (Clarksville), 2nd (Nashville), 6th (Murfreesboro), and 4th (Chattanooga) largest cities in the state.

And overall I-75 is more important than I-65 since traffic volumes on 65 south of Spring Hill drop off quite a bit.

And overall I-75 is more important than I-65 since traffic volumes on 65 south of Spring Hill drop off quite a bit.

I always thought that in Kentucky, I-75 was the more important and busier route than I-65, partly because it links Lexington with the northern Kentucky metro area, and possibly because I'm on it more than I am I-65. I was surprised to learn that traffic volumes, especially for trucks, are heavier on 65 than 75. I figured the same was true in Tennessee as well.

I have to agree with Billy on this one. A lot of the truck traffic on I-65 north of Nashville ends up on either I-40 going towards Memphis or I-24 going towards Chattanooga and Atlanta. Things do indeed get somewhat desolate on I-65 between Spring Hill and Athens, AL. I-75 also connects Chattanooga with Knoxville while I-65 doesn't really connect any other large city within Tennessee other than Nashville. However, within Nashville metro, I-65 is indeed pretty important.

[hobsini2]

One for Indiana, not necessarily in order, but somewhat in order.

1) I-65
2) I-70
3) I-69 (including future Indy to B-Town stretch)
4) I-74
5) Indiana Toll Road (I-80/I-90)
6) I-94 (includes overlap with I-80 on Borman)
7) I-64
8) I-465
9) US 31
10) US 30

Honorable Mention (if this could be a Top-12): US 24, US 41/SR 63

Oh I don't know about that. US 41 is too a vital road if you want to get north-south while avoiding Indy to be out of the Top 10. As much as I hate to say it, US 30 would be my honorable mention. The rest of it is fine.