Highways that cross state lines and change dramatically?

[Pete from Boston]

Kansas Turnpike?

We have a winner!

[US 41]

Most of the Illinois highways are way smoother than the Indiana ones and you notice as soon as you cross the border. US 36 and 150 is a good example of this. Also it goes from trees in Indiana to just flat cornfields in Illinois.

[cpzilliacus]

Most of the Illinois highways are way smoother than the Indiana ones and you notice as soon as you cross the border. US 36 and 150 is a good example of this. Also it goes from trees in Indiana to just flat cornfields in Illinois.

Crossing from Illinois to Indiana last fall got me into a miserable InDOT work zone at Terre Haute, with an hour of stopped traffic at the end of the afternoon rush hour.

I suppose I-70 will be better when the work is completed, but workzone mis-management did not give a good impression of the state.

[cl94]

Agree with the Pennsylvania examples.

NY 304 is a divided highway that quickly becomes limited-access immediately north of the New Jersey line, but is a little county route in New Jersey built to a much lower standard.

[kphoger]

The spectacular part of I-70 in Colorado is some distance to the east of Grand Junction, but headed west into Utah the scenery starts to get nice almost immediately, and stays that way most of the way to the western terminus of I-70 at I-15.

Them's fightin' words what you say there about I-70 between Utah and Glenwood Springs (this from a GJ resident)  .  Mount Garfield, the Bookcliffs (the only major east-west mountain chain in the US), the Colorado National Monument (which is a series of Mesas and rock formations -- NOT a granite marker), The Grand Mesa (the largest flat-topped mountain in the world), DeBeque & South Canyons, and the hills that surround Rifle, Parachute, New Castle and Silt are a hell of a lot more scenic than on I-70 from the Utah/Colorado border to Green River, UT, which looks more like a Mars- or moon-scape!

No intent to be negative about I-70 in any of Colorado, including around Grand Junction, though I really liked I-70 eastbound from Green River, Utah to Grand Junction.

Unfortunately it rained most of the way from Denver to Grand Junction when I drove it westbound in the daylight, though Glenwood Canyon was still pretty cool, as was the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel from Denver (but everything would have been nicer without the rains). Into Utah the weather got really nice, and stayed that way most of the rest of the way to I-15, which may have biased my observations.

I only recall having driven the Green River portion of I-70 one time, although I may have been a passenger on it when I was a young lad also. At any rate, we hit a desert squall right in the best part of the moon-scape scenery. Serious downpour, hydroplaning at under 55. I still vividly remember how surreal it was to drive in such heavy rain along a stretch of road that looked like it never saw rain.

Scenery is in the eye of the beholder, anyway. Some people think the Flint Hills of Kansas are butt-ugly, while others find them to be some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. Desert and semi-arid landscapes are similarly polarizing.

[SD Mapman]

I-25 from CO to NM. Ugh.

[Zzonkmiles]

My vote goes to I-85 from NC to VA. In NC, I-85 is just your regular run-of-the-mill four-lane interstate with a cable guardrail in the median. But as soon as it enters VA, the road becomes much prettier because VA seems to enjoy separating its interstates with lots of trees.  (I-95 and I-64 are the same way.) So you can travel for several stretches without seeing cars traveling in the opposite direction. Very beautiful to drive here, although the road quality halfway up I-85 starts getting a bit raggedy.

Oh, and like several people have mentioned already, I-95 coming from GA to SC is an embarrassment. I think we can ALL agree on that one here.

[The Nature Boy]

If you ever cross from NC to SC via back roads you also notice a dramatic change in quality when you cross the state line. SC DOT is terrible at maintaining their roadways.

[froggie]

Another notable change location not mentioned yet:  NC/VA 168.  5-lane undivided on the NC side (and pretty much stays that all the way down to US 158).  4-lane divided on the VA side.

[cpzilliacus]

Scenery is in the eye of the beholder, anyway. Some people think the Flint Hills of Kansas are butt-ugly, while others find them to be some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. Desert and semi-arid landscapes are similarly polarizing.

I enjoyed driving through the Fint Hills of Kansas.  Thought the scenery was pretty nice.

[Buck87]

Come to think of it, US 23 has an even more dramatic change at VA/TN than what I mentioned for VA/KY.

Coming north out of TN you go from full freeway to a 45 & 40 mph divided arterial through Weber City.

[Gulol]

If former US highways qualify, I would add old US 6-50 from Colorado into Utah.  Because of police activity on I-70 a couple of summers ago, traffic was detoured onto the old road and while it was pretty cool getting to drive the old road, the fear of my windshield being cracked by all of the gravel kicked up took a lot of the fun out of it.

[thenetwork]

If former US highways qualify, I would add old US 6-50 from Colorado into Utah.  Because of police activity on I-70 a couple of summers ago, traffic was detoured onto the old road and while it was pretty cool getting to drive the old road, the fear of my windshield being cracked by all of the gravel kicked up took a lot of the fun out of it.

UDOT just let that stretch of old 6/50 go back to "au natural" after I-70 was finished.  I wouldn't be surprised if they helped speed up the deterioration process by breaking up the old pavement into gravel, since there is few, if any civilization along that stretch.  In fact, most of the original pavement is intact at the Westwater exit (where the old road meets up with I-70 in Utah), but the further east you go, the pavement gradually disappears until the Colorado Line.

Across the border in Colorado, Mesa County has always maintained the old road as there is sufficient population living on or nearby the old highway to necessitate a quality road.

[Gulol]

If former US highways qualify, I would add old US 6-50 from Colorado into Utah.  Because of police activity on I-70 a couple of summers ago, traffic was detoured onto the old road and while it was pretty cool getting to drive the old road, the fear of my windshield being cracked by all of the gravel kicked up took a lot of the fun out of it.

UDOT just let that stretch of old 6/50 go back to "au natural" after I-70 was finished.  I wouldn't be surprised if they helped speed up the deterioration process by breaking up the old pavement into gravel, since there is few, if any civilization along that stretch.  In fact, most of the original pavement is intact at the Westwater exit (where the old road meets up with I-70 in Utah), but the further east you go, the pavement gradually disappears until the Colorado Line.

Across the border in Colorado, Mesa County has always maintained the old road as there is sufficient population living on or nearby the old highway to necessitate a quality road.

Agreed ... even without the old stateline marker, it's evident where Colorado ends and Utah begins (or vice versa) strictly based on how the road looks.

[thenetwork]

There was an article in the weekly GJ paper last Friday which said that the famous CO/UT state line marker on old 6 and 50 is currently being rehabbed off site and is set to return this summer. 

According to the article, is was a big deal in Grand Junction when the state line monument was originally unveiled back in the day -- despite being 35 miles away.

I'll try to provide the article link when I get home.

[Ray_Stantz]

There was an article in the weekly GJ paper last Friday which said that the famous CO/UT state line marker on old 6 and 50 is currently being rehabbed off site and is set to return this summer. 

According to the article, is was a big deal in Grand Junction when the state line monument was originally unveiled back in the day -- despite being 35 miles away.

I'll try to provide the article link when I get home.

GSV provides a decent view - the road construction sign is a nice touch:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Grand+Junction,+CO&hl=en&ll=39.206679,-109.050961&spn=0.00107,0.001985&sll=40.620117,-111.791317&sspn=0.004227,0.007939&oq=grand+juc&t=h&hnear=Grand+Junction,+Mesa+County,+Colorado&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.206691,-109.050831&panoid=U2tp44zDe4RBLIaSmb-JXg&cbp=12,265.17,,0,12.73

[briantroutman]

Kansas Turnpike?

Was that ever open to traffic in that configuration, or had motorists been forced to exit at an earlier interchange?

[kphoger]

Kansas Turnpike?

Was that ever open to traffic in that configuration, or had motorists been forced to exit at an earlier interchange?

Yes, and no. Traffic turned onto the county road.

[Kniwt]

Was that ever open to traffic in that configuration, or had motorists been forced to exit at an earlier interchange?

Yes, and no. Traffic turned often failed to turn onto the county road.

FTFY.
http://www.ksturnpike.com/assets/uploads/driven_by_vision_5.pdf

A photograph of the road dead-ending amuses us today. So do stories of travelers – the governor of Wyoming among them – overshooting the last Kansas exit in South Haven and plowing to embarrassing, muddy stops at the Oklahoma border, to be pulled out by the field's owner, soon-to-be nationally known farmer Amos Switzer.

[thenetwork]

There was an article in the weekly GJ paper last Friday which said that the famous CO/UT state line marker on old 6 and 50 is currently being rehabbed off site and is set to return this summer. 

According to the article, is was a big deal in Grand Junction when the state line monument was originally unveiled back in the day -- despite being 35 miles away.

I'll try to provide the article link when I get home.

GSV provides a decent view - the road construction sign is a nice touch:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Grand+Junction,+CO&hl=en&ll=39.206679,-109.050961&spn=0.00107,0.001985&sll=40.620117,-111.791317&sspn=0.004227,0.007939&oq=grand+juc&t=h&hnear=Grand+Junction,+Mesa+County,+Colorado&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.206691,-109.050831&panoid=U2tp44zDe4RBLIaSmb-JXg&cbp=12,265.17,,0,12.73

Here is said article about the rehab of the monument in the photo and it's history:

http://www.gjfreepress.com/news/15619615-113/history-monument-at-coloradoutah-state-line-gets-facelift

[Gulol]

There was an article in the weekly GJ paper last Friday which said that the famous CO/UT state line marker on old 6 and 50 is currently being rehabbed off site and is set to return this summer. 

According to the article, is was a big deal in Grand Junction when the state line monument was originally unveiled back in the day -- despite being 35 miles away.

I'll try to provide the article link when I get home.

GSV provides a decent view - the road construction sign is a nice touch:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Grand+Junction,+CO&hl=en&ll=39.206679,-109.050961&spn=0.00107,0.001985&sll=40.620117,-111.791317&sspn=0.004227,0.007939&oq=grand+juc&t=h&hnear=Grand+Junction,+Mesa+County,+Colorado&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.206691,-109.050831&panoid=U2tp44zDe4RBLIaSmb-JXg&cbp=12,265.17,,0,12.73

Here is said article about the rehab of the monument in the photo and it's history:

http://www.gjfreepress.com/news/15619615-113/history-monument-at-coloradoutah-state-line-gets-facelift

Good read - thanks for sharing.  Let's hope the bullet spraying people and paint wielding vandals don't start tagging or defacing it again, but that's probably wishful thinking.  I can't imagine if it ends up getting ruined again that people are going to be ponying up the $$ to fix it again.

[roadman65]

How about I-83 from MD to PA?  In MD its normal grassy median, but cross the border into PA as in PA its got a Jersey Barrier which was originally either a box girder guard rail or a two sided W guard rail.  I say that is because my first time on I-83 south of Harrisburg was in 1997 after PennDOT started eliminating the guardrail dividers on freeways, so I have no knowledge which of PennDOT's divider method was used previously.

Oh yes US 17 between NC and VA.  It used to be a narrow two lane road north of the border in VA, but a wider 4 lane divided highway in NC.  VA had two very narrow travel lanes on its side of the state line, but NC had the usual 12 feet wide lanes and, of course, the extra lanes and median.

[jeffandnicole]

http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2015/04/residents_near_massive_i-296_i-76_highway_project.html#incart_river

"Residents near massive I-295, I-76 highway project growing 'numb' to the noise"

In other words, they're getting used to the noise and the project.

It does help that where most of these residents are located, the work has been completed for now.  But that little tidbit is pretty much ignored by the writer here.

There is other work in the area so of course the noise will continue and those residents will have to put up with it unfortunately.  I was going thru the intersection a few weeks ago when they were banging down metal ground retention barriers and it sounded loud.  I didn't realize how good my car insulated me from outside noises until I put the window down to hear the pounding better.  That noise from about 100 feet away was LOUD!!!! 

It was mentioned that residents from Paulsboro could hear the pounding as well.  Paulsboro is about 7 miles away, and the area is almost totally filled with trees, houses and/or buildings that would help buffer sound.  Maybe when the wind blows right it could've heard it, but being there's a host of ports, refineries and other industry in that 7 miles, it probably could've been anything.

[cjk374]

I-20/59 crossing into MS from AL. AL has a horrible riding surface pretty much from Birmingham.  Then you cross into MS and the ride becomes quiet and smooth.

[1995hoo]

Kansas Turnpike?

Was that ever open to traffic in that configuration, or had motorists been forced to exit at an earlier interchange?

Yes, and no. Traffic turned onto the county road.

I found a prior discussion here on the forum about that with a link to pictures of the signs as you approached the end:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=5530.msg121047#msg121047