Which US HWY has the most amount of through town alignments?

[Avalanchez71]

Can anyone cite a US Highway with the most through town alignments?  This would not include an bannered bypass routes or if the route has a bannered Business route and the through route is a bypass.  I am speaking of a route that actually still goes through town in lieu of it be realigned out of the town center. 

I know US 31 in Tennessee still goes through Pulaski, Columiba, Franklin and Nashville along with several other towns along the way.  Now I-65 was built so this may account for this.  What other routes out there not served by a nearby Interstate?

[TR69]

I don't know if this counts since it parallels I-74, but US 150 in central Illinois fearlessly goes right through each city it encounters: Galesburg, Peoria, Bloomington/Normal, Champaign/Urbana, and Danville.

[Stratuscaster]

US 34 through Illinois doesn't seem to bypass much.

[Max Rockatansky]

You're asking something pretty huge there.  Almost every US Route went through heavy town/city level realignments especially from the late 1920s to the 1960s.  I would suspect it would major routes that went through bigger cities like US 66 in Chicago or L.A.  Finding that level of information would be a pretty daunting task.

[Avalanchez71]

I guess that would be correct.  What if we look at which US route goes through more town centers rather than aligned to go out of town or the town center.

[hotdogPi]

I'll repost US 7 in Vermont (and much of the rest of US 7). I deleted my post before because I misinterpreted it as "most realignments" a few hours after posting.

Bennington, Rutland, and Burlington, while in no way are large cities, are large compared to the rest of Vermont. US 7 also goes through the center of Pittsfield, MA.

[The Nature Boy]

I'm blindly throwing out US 1.

[hotdogPi]

I'm blindly throwing out US 1.

My interpretation was cities/towns served divided by total length, adjusted in some way for population.

[sparker]

My interpretation was cities/towns served divided by total length, adjusted in some way for population.

Wow -- I guess it's time for us posters to start downloading that multiple-regression stat program on our devices so we can get cracking on this!

[Avalanchez71]

Wow that is off the rails now.

[NE2]

Wow that is off the rails now.

Maybe for someone who can't understand something as simple as global warming...

[Avalanchez71]

Climate changes and has changed long before our arrival.

[NE2]

Climate changes and has changed long before our arrival.

People die of natural causes. Therefore trying to keep sick people alive is quackery.

[Revive 755]

US 34 through Illinois doesn't seem to bypass much.

Debateable - I would consider Galesburg, Monmouth, Kirkwood, and Biggsville to be effectively bypassed even though the actual limits of those towns may now go beyond US 34.

Perhaps US 24 for Illinois?  It goes through downtown Quincy, Fowler (not much of a town), Paloma (ditto), Coatsburg, Camp Point, Mt. Sterling, Ripley, Rushville, Astoria, Lewiston, Eureka, El Paso, Chenoa, Fairbury, Forrest, Gilman, Crescent City, and Watseka.

[swbrotha100]

I would think one of the east-west US highways would have the most amount of towns to potentially go through.

[TEG24601]

It doesn't appear that either US-2 (West) nor US-421 does much in the way of bypassing.

[cpzilliacus]

Can anyone cite a US Highway with the most through town alignments?  This would not include an bannered bypass routes or if the route has a bannered Business route and the through route is a bypass.  I am speaking of a route that actually still goes through town in lieu of it be realigned out of the town center. 

You would have to start by plotting the current route of every extant U.S. highway against urbanized areas (Census calls them UAs, USDOT calls them  UZAs), to start, though urbanized areas often extend a considerable distance outside of a town center area.  Then look at each U.S. highway as it passes through those UZAs and decide if it runs through a city center or not.

My guess would be that U.S. 1 might be the champ of such an analysis (I'm not going to do it).

[coatimundi]

Do the "town centers" of former towns, that have now been annexed by adjacent cities, count? Would they only count if the respective highway was established prior to the town's annexation?

[epzik8]

Let's see, U.S. 1 has a business route right down the road from me in Bel Air, Maryland, one in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a couple in Pennsylvania, at least one in North Carolina, one in Waycross, Georgia...But that doesn't mean it doesn't go through bigger cities like Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia.

[hotdogPi]

Let's see, U.S. 1 has a business route right down the road from me in Bel Air, Maryland, one in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a couple in Pennsylvania, at least one in North Carolina, one in Waycross, Georgia...But that doesn't mean it doesn't go through bigger cities like Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia.

US 1 hits the edge of Philadelphia, not the center.

[GaryV]

It doesn't appear that either US-2 (West) nor US-421 does much in the way of bypassing.

Actually the route of US-2 through Ironwood and Hurley is a bypass of their downtown areas, although the bypass was created way back in 1934.  A new non-central business district (gas stations, motels, restaurants, stores and local businesses) has evolved along the current route.

Which points out a problem with this thread.  It may have been created as a bypass 50 or 80 years ago, but it no longer serves as a bypass today due to growth.  So is it a route with a bypass or not?

[Bickendan]

US 30: Astoria, Clatskanie, Rainier, Columbia City, [St Helens], Scappoose, Portland, [Maywood Park], [Gresham], Fairview, Wood Village, Troutdale, Cascade Locks, Hood River, Mosier, The Dalles, [Rufus], [Arlington], [Boardman], Pendleton, La Grande, [North Powder], Baker City, [Ontario], Fruitland, New Plymouth, [Caldwell], [Nampa], [Meridian], [Boise], [Mountain Home], [Glenns Ferry], [Bliss], Hagerman, Buhl, [Filer], Twin Falls, Kimberly, Hansen, Burley, Heyburn, [American Falls], Pocatello, [Inkom], [McCammon], [Lava Hot Springs], Soda Springs, Georgetown, Montpelier, [Cokeville], Kemmerer, Diamondville, [Granger], [Green River], [Rock Springs], [Wamsutter], [Rawlins], [Sinclair], [Hanna], Medicine Bow, Rock River, Laramie, Cheyenne, Pine Bluffs, [Bushnell], Kimball, Dix, [Potter], Sidney, Lodgepole, Chappell, Brule, Ogallala, Paxton, Trego, [Hershey], [North Platte], [Maxwell], Brady, Gothenburg, Cozad, Lexington, Overton, Elm Creek, [Odessa], Kearney, [Gibbon], [Shelton], Wood River, Alda, Grand Island, Central City, Clarks, Silver Creek, [Duncan], Columbus, [Schuyler], North Bend, [Fremont], Arlington, [Kennard], Blair, Missouri Valley, Logan, [Woodbine], Dunlap, [Dow City], [Arion], Denison, Vail, Westside, [Arcadia], Carroll, [Glidden], [Jefferson], [Grand Junction], [Beaver], [Odgen], [Boone], [Ames], [Nevada], [Colo], [State Center], [Marshaltown], [Le Grand], [Toledo], [Cedar Rapids], [Mount Vernon], [Mechanicsville], Stanwood, Clarence, [Lowden], [Wheatland], Calamus, [Grand Mound], [De Witt], Clinton.

This list is almost every community that US 30 passes through or touches between Astoria and the Mississippi River. Communities in brackets are ones with their downtowns bypassed or missed, whether by realignment or being on the wrong side of the tracks. I chose the Mississippi as a stopping point because I imagine the list will explode the further east I go.

[Avalanchez71]

It doesn't appear that either US-2 (West) nor US-421 does much in the way of bypassing.

Actually the route of US-2 through Ironwood and Hurley is a bypass of their downtown areas, although the bypass was created way back in 1934.  A new non-central business district (gas stations, motels, restaurants, stores and local businesses) has evolved along the current route.

Which points out a problem with this thread.  It may have been created as a bypass 50 or 80 years ago, but it no longer serves as a bypass today due to growth.  So is it a route with a bypass or not?

That would probably not count as a bypass as the through route is actually through town.  Now if the alignment goes on the outskirts of town or out of the commerce center I would say that it would count as a bypass.

[Buffaboy]

I'll throw out US 20 just because.

[wphiii]

It doesn't appear that either US-2 (West) nor US-421 does much in the way of bypassing.

Actually the route of US-2 through Ironwood and Hurley is a bypass of their downtown areas, although the bypass was created way back in 1934.  A new non-central business district (gas stations, motels, restaurants, stores and local businesses) has evolved along the current route.

Which points out a problem with this thread.  It may have been created as a bypass 50 or 80 years ago, but it no longer serves as a bypass today due to growth.  So is it a route with a bypass or not?

That would probably not count as a bypass as the through route is actually through town.  Now if the alignment goes on the outskirts of town or out of the commerce center I would say that it would count as a bypass.

I dunno I'd effectively consider that a bypass. Shouldn't matter when it was designed that way, it still doesn't go anywhere near the actual CBDs of those towns.