Most important "state route nnn" from all 50 US states

[Takumi]

OH 7 is a long route following the Ohio River, with several freeway segments. Might it be more important than other state routes 7?

VA 7 is an important route across northern Virginia, serving as a commuter route from the Washington area to points west like Winchester. I'll also nominate NC 49 as an option to that number. It traverses the state (continues the number in both VA and SC) and serves Charlotte, Burlington, and other cities.

Some more nominees for Virginia:

288: freeway, western bypass of metro Richmond
195: freeway (despite its name of Downtown Expressway), serves downtown Richmond
147: connects downtown Richmond with the northwestern Chesterfield suburbs
162: just kidding
337: connects most cities of southern Hampton Roads. Partially former US 460, but not entirely, so it may get an asterisk.
165: like 337, this traverses southern Hampton Roads, but is not a former US route. Its meandering routing is a negative factor, though.
267: Dulles Toll Road/Dulles Greenway. Freeway, heavily traveled commuter route
895: should be I-895
40: longest state route in Virginia, but never goes through any heavily populated areas
164: freeway

Also noteworthy for VA under 200: 6, 16, 27, 36, 45, 55 (connects with WV 55), 80 (connects with KY 80), 134, 144, 146, 153, 156, 157, 166, 171, 172, 189, 194, 197, 199

[jemacedo9]

I have a Northeast bias, but I'll throw these in...
* = first nomination to fill in the gap; thinking there are better options out there

4:  NJ
14:  I'd give a slight nod to CA over NY
31:  I think NJ gets a slight nod over NY
32:  MD 32
33:  I might throw NY in the mix, as the main connector route between Downtown Buffalo and the Airport
41:  PA, it's a short route but a trucking corridor...I could go either way between CA and PA
43*:  PA is nothing else is out there
90:  MD - short route, but vital in the summer for the OCMD traffic...
97*:  PA/MD since nothing else is out there yet.
120:  CA?
145*:  PA; pretty important road to the Allentown area

Above 200, here are my quick nominations (most of these are freeways/quasi-interstates):
283:  PA
295:  MD/DC
390:  NY
404:  MD/DE
481:  NY
581:  PA
590:  NY
690:  NY

[oscar]

130 for TX's 85-mph tollway (HI also has a 130, but TX wins this one). 151 (San Antonio), 183 (DFW), and 191 (Midland-Odessa) are other TX freeways with numbers not used for this exercise.  TX also has a US 183, but completely unrelated to the state 183. 

CA could take 85, 134, and 170 (freeways), and 89 (non-freeway in the Tahoe area), with lesser routes available to fill in other gaps if needed.

TN 111 would be a worthy competitor (major north-south route, part freeway), and TN 153 (freeway in Chattanooga).

[Buck87]

Not sure Kentucky can claim any spots in this list.

I'd say you'd be a pretty strong contender for 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007, 9008 & 9009

[formulanone]

Not sure Kentucky can claim any spots in this list.

It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.

Sounds like we could vote on them from 1-200, and after that, there probably would only be a rare competition for a number.

121 would have to be Florida-Georgia-South Carolina.

[oscar]

It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.

Not Virginia, unless you're including its secondary state routes 600 and higher.

But Maryland has quite a few state routes in the 500-999 range, perhaps including some semi-important ones (MD 528, main drag through Ocean City, comes to mind).

[hotdogPi]

Check the last post of the previous page. What do think about states that have more than one listed? What about for those skipped (and 6)?

[Eth]

If nobody else is claiming 85, that one could probably go to Georgia. The only direct link from Columbus to (nearly) Atlanta (though certainly not the best way to get there by any means).

On the other hand, 154 seems like a weak claim. Yeah, it has a freeway segment, but that's only ever referred to as 166. If you take out the parts that are co-signed with 166/70/US 29, you're left with almost nothing. I'm fine with letting Utah have that one.

[vtk]

So apparenly a number can go to multiple states in the case of a "multi-state route"?

Also, check out OH 4. If I didn't mention it before it's because I thought there'd be more competition.  Alaska still probably wins that one anyway, because Alaska is just epic.

If we're going to vote on 32, I think Ohio should at least be on the ballot.

[pianocello]

Looking at each of the numbers from 1 - 200, and skipping the numbers that probably don't have anything important:

(...)
58: CA 58.
59: Sweet home Alabama.
61: Pennsylvania or Kentucky.
62: MA 62 or CA 62.
(...)

60: IA-60 is pretty important. It's 4 lanes and the best way to get from Sioux City to the Twin Cities.

64: WI 64?

I feel like AZ-64 is more important. It should fit this thread, since it's merely a logical extension of the US highway rather than the former alignment.

[agentsteel53]

the Lodge-Ford (M-10/I-94) interchange, which is a classically pure example of a directional interchange with directional direct connectors and is probably the world's first example of this particular design.

I thought this was discussed elsewhere as being the 'most obvious' style of grade separation; even more so than the stack... and that there was an example of such somewhere in either Germany or Italy that was built in the 1930s.

also: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10266.0

[bugo]

AR 7

[bassoon1986]

6 may be a good contender for Tx and possibly LA. In Louisiana it's a short route, but it is part of the El Camino Real, and it passes through the state's oldest settlement, Natchitoches (also the oldest in the Louisiana Purchase - 1714).

In TX, it has freeway sections near Houston, College Station, and Waco

[Doctor Whom]

355: Maryland.  Main drag of the state's most populous county (slightly over 1M people); home of world-famous medical institutions

[bzakharin]

Nobody mentioned NJ/NY 440 yet? Or is there a more important 440? Also, if NJ 73 should be NJ/PA 73, though I'm guessing the NJ portion is more important, it is one continuous route. Same with NJ/NY 17 for that matter.

[bugo]

Nobody mentioned NJ/NY 440 yet? Or is there a more important 440? Also, if NJ 73 should be NJ/PA 73, though I'm guessing the NJ portion is more important, it is one continuous route. Same with NJ/NY 17 for that matter.

Arkansas 440 is short but an important freeway link in the North Little Rock area.

[formulanone]

It will vie with Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the numbers above 500, since few states bother with them.

Not Virginia, unless you're including its secondary state routes 600 and higher.

But Maryland has quite a few state routes in the 500-999 range, perhaps including some semi-important ones (MD 528, main drag through Ocean City, comes to mind).

Ah, that was the other one I forgot with multiple "high numbers".

[Takumi]

Virginia has only a handful of primary routes over 500. 598 (shared with WV), 785, 895, and the 9000x triplets.

[NWI_Irish96]

I don't know enough about many other states' routes to make a comparison.

IN 25 and IN 37 are probably Indiana's two most important state routes, but those are also numbers that are likely to be common to a lot of states.

IN 135, IN 267 and IN 331 are somewhat important routes that probably have less competition from other states.

[Brandon]

47 seems to be an unimportant route number elsewhere, so I'll claim it for Illinois.  In Illinois, it is an important route through the far western suburbs of Chicago from Wisconsin (Lake Geneva area) and down to the Champaign-Urbana area.

[oscar]

Virginia has only a handful of primary routes over 500. 598 (shared with WV), 785, 895, and the 9000x triplets.

The "9000x triplets" aren't state routes, they're maintained by Federal agencies rather than VDOT.  VDOT assigns (unposted) numbers for their traffic counts and perhaps other statistics, but that doesn't make them state routes.

[bing101]

CA-99 and CA-58 because they are truck friendly State highways  for California agricultural industry.

[vtk]

CA 99 fails the "no former US routes" rule

[The High Plains Traveler]

Mentioned above, but 96 fits for both Kansas and Colorado. For both states together, it is quite a long highway (I haven't added it up, but almost certainly over 400 miles). At one time it went all the way to, and crossed into Missouri.

[bzakharin]

47 seems to be an unimportant route number elsewhere, so I'll claim it for Illinois.  In Illinois, it is an important route through the far western suburbs of Chicago from Wisconsin (Lake Geneva area) and down to the Champaign-Urbana area.

NJ 47 is an important route to the Jersey Shore due to 20 miles of unbuilt NJ 55 freeway (it parallels 55 where it *was* built). It is, however, a 2-lane road for most of the important portion. Not sure how it compares to the one in Illinois.