Smallest Cities Served by 3DI's

[mwb1848]

We've talked a lot about the biggest cities without a 3DI, but what about the opposite -- what are the smallest cities served by a 3DI.

In fairness, this is a more subjective listing which should only include cities primarily served by the Interstate. For example, I-635 passes through the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs (pop. 25,024), however it's clearly not the primary city served by the freeway since I-635 is clearly a part of the DFW Metroplex's network.

Given those parameters, here are the smallest cities I've found served by 3DIs:

• I-395: Bangor, ME: 32,673
• I-393: Concord, NH: 42,419
• I-110, Biloxi, MS: 44,820

[Brandon]

I've got you beat.

I-180, Hennepin, Illinois: 757.

[briantroutman]

• I-395: Bangor, ME: 32,673
• I-393: Concord, NH: 42,419
• I-110, Biloxi, MS: 44,820

While none of those would qualify as large cities under anyone's definition, they're not shockingly small to be served by a three-digit Interstate, either. There are several more in that 30-40K league:  I-172 (Quincy, IL), I-180, (Williamsport, PA), I-381 (Bristol, VA), I-781 (Watertown, NY), I-795 (Goldsboro, NC)

[US 41]

Lake Chareles, LA - I-210

Gadsen, AL - I-759

[NE2]

I've got you beat.

I-180, Hennepin, Illinois: 757.

If you count that as a city in any sense. It's legally a village and is not an urbanized area.

[FrCorySticha]

You can add I-115 in Butte, MT to the 30K group: it's population in the 2010 Census was 34,200.

[hotdogPi]

I-495 (MA) has several cities/towns in its path with under 10000 people.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I-535 in Superior, WI: 27,300. Some might argue that Duluth is the primary city served by 535 but it really has little to no use for traffic within Duluth.

[Brandon]

I've got you beat.

I-180, Hennepin, Illinois: 757.

If you count that as a city in any sense. It's legally a village and is not an urbanized area.

It's a municipality, and that's all that really counts here.  The only distinction between cities and villages in Illinois is governmental.  One (cities) is divided into wards or districts, the other (villages) is not.  That's how you get cities as small as Dallas City (945) and villages as large as Arlington Heights (75,101).

[NE2]

It's a municipality, and that's all that really counts here.

Why does it count? Because you can't accept an Interstate that doesn't serve any cities?

[bassoon1986]

Lake Chareles, LA - I-210

Gadsen, AL - I-759

Lake Charles is probably the largest one listed in this thread so far (about 75,000), but small enough that it hasn't gained an inset in any Rand McNally, yet.

Jonesboro, AR is of a similar size and may have I-555 shields soon.

[jbnati27]

How about I-470 and Wheeling, WV (pop. 28,486)?

[cl94]

I-781 doesn't serve Watertown. It technically serves the Fort Drum area (~17K), which has 10,000 less than Watertown including all military personnel.

Nobody mentioned I-587 yet. Kingston is 24K. Neither of these really has a metro area.

[NE2]

I-781 doesn't serve Watertown.

I-781 serves as a bypass of Watertown.

[cl94]

I-781 doesn't serve Watertown.

I-781 serves as a bypass of Watertown.

Not really. It was built to bypass NY 342. It's a bypass of a bypass.

[roadman65]

I-195in NJ serves no city as its a spur into a region.  Belmar is a borough, though you can say it serves that and depending on how you look at it, that alone could be a city as far as this topic goes.

[Pete from Boston]

I-195 in Maine enters Saco (<19,000) and Old Orchard Beach (<9,000).

[Brandon]

It's a municipality, and that's all that really counts here.

Why does it count? Because you can't accept an Interstate that doesn't serve any cities?

Because there is no size difference legislatively in this state between cities and villages.  It's a governmental difference.  You can't accept that?

[mapman1071]

I-495 New York outside of Queens County on Long Island serves no cities (The only cities on Long Island are Glen Cove and Long Beach both in Nassau County) but a lot of towns and villages.

[NE2]

Because there is no size difference legislatively in this state between cities and villages.  It's a governmental difference.  You can't accept that?

Reread the first post. We're being subjective.

[jeffandnicole]

It's tricky to say an even numbered 3di serves any city, as most of them are designed to go around a city, and just happens to pass thru various municipalities of various sizes. In many cases, these municipalities grew because of the highway going thru it.

Odd number 3dis though tend to lead people to a destination at its terminus, and often were built because there was already a reason to get people there.

[empirestate]

I-495 New York outside of Queens County on Long Island serves no cities (The only cities on Long Island are Glen Cove and Long Beach both in Nassau County) but a lot of towns and villages.

Well, yeah, any one-city Interstate serves no cities if you exclude the one it serves.


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[cl94]

I-495 New York outside of Queens County on Long Island serves no cities (The only cities on Long Island are Glen Cove and Long Beach both in Nassau County) but a lot of towns and villages.

Well, yeah, any one-city Interstate serves no cities if you exclude the one it serves.


iPhone

No cities, but that's more of New York not having many "cities". New York has villages that have over 30,000 people and cities with well under 10,000. In many cases, there is little benefit in being a "city" as everything here is incorporated. If the Town of Hempstead was a city, it would be the 16th largest in the country, just behind Columbus. Riverhead is relatively small, but the LIE west of Brookhaven (all but 15 miles) is one of the most densely-populated regions in the United States.

Because there is no size difference legislatively in this state between cities and villages.  It's a governmental difference.  You can't accept that?

Precisely. That is how it is here. "City" in New York only means that it is not part of a town.

[hbelkins]

It's tricky to say an even numbered 3di serves any city, as most of them are designed to go around a city, and just happens to pass thru various municipalities of various sizes.

That's a technicality, like saying Frankfort, Ky. is not served by I-64 merely because it does not enter the city limits. You can't make the logical argument that I-275 doesn't serve Cincinnati, or I-675 doesn't serve Dayton.

[empirestate]

I-495 New York outside of Queens County on Long Island serves no cities (The only cities on Long Island are Glen Cove and Long Beach both in Nassau County) but a lot of towns and villages.

Well, yeah, any one-city Interstate serves no cities if you exclude the one it serves.


iPhone

No cities, but that's more of New York not having many "cities". New York has villages that have over 30,000 people and cities with well under 10,000. In many cases, there is little benefit in being a "city" as everything here is incorporated. If the Town of Hempstead was a city, it would be the 16th largest in the country, just behind Columbus. Riverhead is relatively small, but the LIE west of Brookhaven (all but 15 miles) is one of the most densely-populated regions in the United States.

But that's neither here nor there. NYC is clearly the primary city served by I-495, so any cities that may or may not be nearby are explicitly excluded from the question.


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