Top 10 most important roads in your state

[Alps]

I leave it up to you whether you want to use traffic numbers, how you interpret "most important," whether you allow unnumbered roads and highways, etc. Instead of disagreeing with people's lists, you can use your own criteria to create a second list!

NJ:
1. NJ Turnpike / I-95
2. I-80
3. US 1
4. NJ 495
5. Garden State Parkway
6. I-78
7. I-295
8. NJ 3
9. I-287
10. NJ 42 / Atlantic City Expwy. combo

CT:
1. I-84
2. I-95
3. I-91
4. US 7
5. CT 9
6. CT 15
7. US 6
8. CT 2
9. CT 8
10. I-395

RI:
1. I-95
2. US 6
3. US 1
4. I-195
5. I-295
6. RI 138
7. RI 4
8. RI 146
9. RI 24
10. US 44

MA:
1. MA 128
2. MA 3
3. I-93
4. I-95
5. MA 2
6. US 3
7. I-290
8. I-495
9. US 6
10. I-91

DE:
1. US 13
2. I-95
3. DE 1
4. I-495
5. US 301
6. US 113
7. DE 404
8. I-295
9. US 202
10. DE 141

[hotdogPi]

You forgot the Mass Pike!

[hotdogPi]

New Hampshire:

1. I-93
2. I-89
3. NH 101
4. I-95
5. NH 16
6. US 4
7. US 3
8. NH 9
9. US 2
10. US 1

Here's how I would do Massachusetts:

1. Mass Pike
2. I-93
3. MA 128
4. I-95
5. MA 2
6. I-495
7. MA 3
8. I-91
9. US 3
10. US 1

And New York:

1. Thruway
2. I-95
3. NY 17
4. I-81
5. I-495
6. Rest of I-87
7. I-84
8. I-390
9. I-278
10. I-287

[corco]

States listed in order of confidence in my top 10 list

Idaho:

1. I-84
2. US 95
3. I-15
4. I-86 (that's right, hos)
5. ID 55
6. I-90
(big gap)
7. I-184
8. US 20
9. ID 75
10. US 2

Wyoming:
1. I-80
2. I-25
3. I-90
4. WYO 789
5. US 287
6. US 20
7. WYO 220
8.  US 85
9. US 189
10. WYO 28

Montana:
1. I-90
2. I-15
3. I-94
4. US 93
5. US 12
6. MT 200
7. US 89
8. MT 16
9. US 191
10. MT 3

Arizona
1. I-10
2. I-17
3. Loop 101
4. Loop 202
5. I-40
6. AZ 87
7. AZ 69
8. US 93 (more important for interstate travel, for intrastate it's probably 8)
9. I-19
10. I-8
*honorable mention AZ 85

Washington (this one's hard)
1. I-5
2. I-90
3. I-405
4. I-82
5. SR 16
6. SR 167
7. SR 520
8. US 101
9. US 395
10. US 12

[dfilpus]

NC:
1. I-40
2. I-85
3. I-95
4. I-77
5. US 70
6. US 64
7. US 74
8. Blue Ridge Parkway
9. I-26
10. US 17

[Takumi]

Virginia:
1. I-95
2. I-64
3. I-495
4. I-81
5. US 1
6. I-66
7. I-395
8. US 58
9. US 460
10. US 29

[froggie]

My NC list would be similar to Dave's except I'd replace the Blue Ridge with US 1.

Here's what I'd do for Virginia, in no particular order:

1. I-95
2. I-81
3. I-495
4. I-64
5. US 29
6. US 58
7. US 460
8. US 13
9. I-66
10. I-295

For Minnesota:

1. I-35  (and its relevant splits in MSP)
2. I-94
3. I-90
4. US 10
5. US 52
6. US 2
7. US 169
8. MN 23
9. US 14
10. US 59

For Mississippi:

1. I-10
2. I-20
3. I-55
4. I-59
5. US 49
6. US 78 (or I-22 if you prefer)
7. US 45
8. US 82
9. US 84
10. US 61

For Vermont:

1. I-89
2. I-91
3. US 7
4. US 2
5. US 4
6. VT 9
7. VT 100
8. VT 15
9. VT 103
10. VT 105

[NE2]

the four two-digit Interstates and Turnpike
US 1 to Key West
US 27 for trucks avoiding tolls
US 98 along the Gulf
A1A along the Atlantic
the bridge to Cuba

[briantroutman]

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

Pennsylvania:
1. I-76
2. I-476
3. I-376
4. I-81
5. I-83
6. I-80
7. US 15
8. US 322
9. US 30
10. US 222

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

[hbelkins]

Kentucky:

1.) I-64
2.) I-75
3.) I-65
4.) I-71
5.) US 23
6.) Mountain Parkway/US 460/KY 114 (one corridor)
7.) WK Parkway/BG Parkway (one corridor)
8.) KY 80 (US 68)/Cumberland Parkway/KY 80/Hal Rogers Parkway/KY 80 (one corridor)
9.) US 127
10.) Pennyrile Parkway

West Virginia:

1.) I-64
2.) I-77
3.) I-79
4.) Corridor L (US 19)
5.) Corridor D (US 50)
6.) US 22
7.) Corridor H
8.) US 35
9.) I-70
10.) US 460

[tdindy88]

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

[hotdogPi]

Maine:

1. I-95
2. US 2
3. US 1
4. ME 9
5. I-295
6. US 201
7. US 302
8. US 202
9. ME 100
10. ME 11

[Anthony_JK]

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

[Thing 342]

SC, in my opinion:

• I-26
• I-85
• I-95
• I-77
• US-17
• I-20
• US-501
• US-76
• SC-9
• US-176

I put I-26 at the top because it connects three of the state's four largest economic areas (Charleston, Columbia, Greenville-Spartanburg). I put I-85 at No. 2 because of its role as a connector between Charlotte & the Northeast and Atlanta & the Southeast, as well as its regional importance in Greenville and Spartanburg. I put I-95 at No. 3 because I-95. I-77 is at No. 4 because it connects Columbia and Charlotte. US-17 connects Charleston and the beaches, so I put it at No. 5. I-20 connects Florence, Columbia, Augusta, and Atlanta, so I put it at No. 6. US-501 is at No. 7 because it is the primary access to Myrtle Beach. The rest are fairly important cross-state connectors.

[Charles2]

Alabama:

1) I-65
2) I-20 east of Birmingham (connects with Atlanta)
3) U.S. 280 in Jefferson and Shelby Counties (Birmingham metro)
4) I-459
5) I-565
6) SR-59 from I-65 at Bay Minnette to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach
7) I-20/59 between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa
8) U.S. 231 south of Montgomery (direct route to Panama City)
9) U.S. 431 south of Huntsville towads Anniston/Oxford)---connects with I-20 leading towards Atlanta
10) U.S. 31 south from downtown Birmingham to Homewood, Vestavia, Hoover and Shelby County

[Alps]

You forgot the Mass Pike!

I hate toll roads
I meant to put it in there, yes. Replace 91 with 90 and move it up to the 4-hole.

[Alps]

Pennsylvania:
1. I-76
2. I-476
3. I-376
4. I-81
5. I-83
6. I-80
7. US 15
8. US 322
9. US 30
10. US 222

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

Then I-99 should be at the top of your list because if it disappeared, so many roadgeeks would celebrate that it would cause a huge disruption. (No, really, I would replace 322 with 220.)

[cpzilliacus]

Maryland:

(1) I-95 (that includes I-895 through Baltimore)
(2) I-495
(3) I-695
(4) I-70
(5) I-270
(6) I-97
(7) I-83
(8) Md. 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway)
(9) U.S. 50 (includes "secret" I-595)
(10) I-68

[dgolub]

And New York:

1. Thruway
2. I-95
3. NY 17
4. I-81
5. I-495
6. Rest of I-87
7. I-84
8. I-390
9. I-278
10. I-287

I'm not sure that I agree with I-95 being so high on the list.  For a humongous state, this interstate just cuts through the corner near NYC.  I'd bet it's primarily used by people travelling into, out of, or through the state, not within it.

[PHLBOS]

Pennsylvania:
1. I-76
2. I-476
3. I-376
4. I-81
5. I-83
6. I-80
7. US 15
8. US 322
9. US 30
10. US 222

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

Why the omission of I-95?  That's the main artery southwest/northeast artery through Philadelphia, Bucks & Delaware Counties.

[1995hoo]

Virginia:

1) I-95
2) I-81
3) I-64 (due primarily to Richmond—Hampton Roads segment)
4) I-495
5) US-460
6) US-58
7) I-66 (because of how it connects the I-95 and I-81 corridors)
8) US-13 (Eastern Shore's only road connection to rest of state unless you go through Maryland)
9) I-295 (primarily because without it, I-95 through Richmond would probably be unusable with today's traffic volumes)
10) US-29 (the only major north—south road through the central part of the state that's not largely a two-lane road)

I wrestled a bit with 9 and 10. US-17 was one I thought might warrant inclusion, but the more I thought about it I felt it isn't quite of the same importance. It provides an important link from northwest to southeast (or vice versa) between I-66 and Fredericksburg, but the portions of the route beyond that segment aren't quite of the same importance because a lot of the traffic bears off via the Interstate at either end of that portion. Yes, the southeastern part from Fredericksburg to Yorktown can be an important alternate route to I-64, but I think the fact that it's so widely considered an "alternate route" is what stops me from bumping either I-295 or US-29 in favor of US-17. While the segment of US-29 from Lynchburg to Danville is pretty empty, the rest of US-29 in Virginia is significant to the point where a lot of people don't know of any other route between the DC area and Charlottesville.

I also thought about I-664. Without it, I-64 in the Hampton Roads area would become impassable due to congestion at the bridge-tunnel. Ultimately as it came down to I-295 versus I-664 I simply felt that I-295 is more important in the context of the state as a whole given its significance as a relief route for I-95.

I-495 is on there because of its importance in the overall network and its importance to Northern Virginia in the context of being the "economic engine" of the state. I-66's status as a connection between the I-95 and I-81 corridors depends on I-495 because of the ban on trucks on I-66 inside the Beltway, and without I-495 you'd be using local streets and going through DC to get between Virginia and Maryland (or going up to Leesburg).

(The same principle of attempting to view the Commonwealth as a whole is why I didn't list anything, other than I-81 and US-58, in the far part of Southwest Virginia.)


Edited to add: BTW, I had not read Takumi's post further up the thread before writing this one.

[Buck87]

Ohio (sticking to mainline routes)

1. Ohio Turnpike
2. I-71
3. I-75
4. I-70
5. I-77
6. I-90 (non turnpike)
7. US 23
8. US 33
9. US 30
10. I-76/80 (non turnpike)

[froggie]

Noticed that hoo's Virginia list is exactly the same as my own...(disregarding order of precedence)

[The High Plains Traveler]

Colorado:

1.   I-70
2.   I-25
3.   I-225
4.   E-470/C-470
5.   I-76
6.   U.S. 50
7.   U.S. 287
8.   U.S. 285
9.   U.S. 36 [Edited] (Boulder Tpk. and I-270 concurrent segment)
10.   U.S. 24
________________
New Mexico:

1.   I-40
2.   I-25
3.   I-10
4.   U.S. 70
5.   U.S. 285
6.   U.S. 60
7.   U.S. 550
8.   U.S. 54
9.   U.S. 62-180
10.   U.S. 87

[1995hoo]

Noticed that hoo's Virginia list is exactly the same as my own...(disregarding order of precedence)

Funny, I hadn't noticed yours up there either when I typed mine. I think that's because I was hitting "Page Down" and the line referring to Virginia was thus right at the top of the screen and I didn't notice it.