Route numbers that actually mean something

[hotdogPi]

NY 747 goes to an airport. ND/SD 1804 and ND/SD 1806 are numbered for years important to the region's history.

I can't think of any other examples. Half beltway numbered 180? SR 100 to Hundred Acre Wood? Missouri secondary Y that is 3-legged?

Non-US examples welcome. However, examples must be intentional.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 49 represents the 1849 California Gold Rush.  NM 2001 apparently was a reference to 2001 a Space Odyssey. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Both I-76s (PA's for 1776, CO's for statehood in 1876)

[hotdogPi]

Both I-76s (PA's for 1776, CO's for statehood in 1876)

Those fit in the grid, and there weren't many numbers to choose from. If these events had happened 6 years earlier, they would have claimed that I-70 was numbered for these events, but the network numbering would be the same.

[oscar]

Alaska 98 (only route number in the state higher than 11), for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898.

Also, New Mexico 6563, to a solar observatory, and numbered for the wavelength of a hydrogen spectral line studied by observatory scientists.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I-820 in Fort Worth was numbered after a popular local radio station, AM 820.

[Mapmikey]

NC 400 in Manteo/Roanoke Island was commissioned 400 years after the founding of the Lost Colony.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Both I-76s (PA's for 1776, CO's for statehood in 1876)

Those fit in the grid, and there weren't many numbers to choose from. If these events had happened 6 years earlier, they would have claimed that I-70 was numbered for these events, but the network numbering would be the same.

Two problems with that logic-

1. I-70 has never gone through Philadelphia.
2. I-70 was never renumbered from suffixed routes.

[sprjus4]

The future I-87 corridor between Raleigh and Norfolk, has been tied to 4 historic years for both states.

New $1 billion, 213-mile interstate planned to connect Norfolk and Raleigh

The number also is tied to four historic years, he said. The colony of Sir Walter Raleigh was lost on Roanoke Island in 1587. James Madison's 1787 Virginia Plan helped established the nation's form of government. North Carolina State University was founded in 1887. Norfolk's tallest building, Dominion Tower, was built in 1987.

The debate of whether it should be east-west vs. north-south aside, the numbering does fit the grid, with its southern terminus located between I-85 and I-95.

[noelbotevera]

Though road related, IL 38 used to be US 30A. Speaking both out loud, "thirty eight" sounds very similar to "thirty A".

[Scott5114]

There was an NM 2001 that went to the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

[briantroutman]

Both I-76s (PA's for 1776, CO's for statehood in 1876)

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

So, returning to the original question, the Rambler draws this conclusion about whether 76 was chosen because of its evocation of Independence Day, 1776: its selection was a coincidence–a lucky coincidence, perhaps–that after years of unrelated numbering changes and a a chain reaction from the addition of I-79 in western Pennsylvania, 76 was the best choice.

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana has nothing, but reading this thread makes me want to see INDOT designate Crawfordsville Road between I-465 and Georgetown Rd as IN 500.

[dlsterner]

North Carolina state route 3 is numbered as such as a tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt, the NASCAR driver whose car bore the number 3.

NC 3 was originally a short 1.5 mile route in eastern North Carolina, but in 2002 its designation was swapped with the significantly longer NC 136, which runs from Kannapolis to Mooresville.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Highway_3

[-- US 175 --]

I-820 in Fort Worth was numbered after a popular local radio station, AM 820.

For some reason, I keep hearing that was more coincidence(/happy accident) than actual fact.  IDK for sure.  It is amusing sometimes to hear traffic reports on competing stations (especially 1080 AM, 820's news rival) having to mention slow traffic or wrecks on "Loop 820" (but there would be no 1080-numbered roads in the area, so...).

[-- US 175 --]

Park Road 76 in Rusk, TX connects US 84 to the Rusk Depot on the Texas State Railroad, a popular passenger excursion train.  The depot and park road opened in 1976.

[ozarkman417]

Not 100% sure on this one, but Route AR (only Route AR in the state) near Bakersfield, MO means Arkansas, as it is a connector to AR 87.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I-820 in Fort Worth was numbered after a popular local radio station, AM 820.

For some reason, I keep hearing that was more coincidence(/happy accident) than actual fact.  IDK for sure.  It is amusing sometimes to hear traffic reports on competing stations (especially 1080 AM, 820's news rival) having to mention slow traffic or wrecks on "Loop 820" (but there would be no 1080-numbered roads in the area, so...).

The only argument I have against coincidence is that 220, 420, and 620 were all available and they went straight to 820, but you certainly could be right.

Apparently it was a TX route 820 before being upgraded to Interstate status.

[Roadrunner75]

Maybe not exactly a good example, but NJ Route 139 is a little different from just adding a digit or letter to the previous number once the route has been bypassed or otherwise rerouted.  The "3" was chosen because it was similar enough looking to an ampersand that was in the route's previous designation as Business US 1&9.  It's the only thing that came to mind for NJ, and to me 139 just means an extension of US 1&9, which is really what it is to the Holland Tunnel.

[Big John]

WI 32 is named for the 32nd Division Memorial Highway and the signs have red arrows on it.

[kurumi]

I-820 in Fort Worth was numbered after a popular local radio station, AM 820.

For some reason, I keep hearing that was more coincidence(/happy accident) than actual fact.  IDK for sure.  It is amusing sometimes to hear traffic reports on competing stations (especially 1080 AM, 820's news rival) having to mention slow traffic or wrecks on "Loop 820" (but there would be no 1080-numbered roads in the area, so...).

The only argument I have against coincidence is that 220, 420, and 620 were all available and they went straight to 820, but you certainly could be right.

Apparently it was a TX route 820 before being upgraded to Interstate status.

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ih/ih0820.htm
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0820.htm

I didn't know this until reading the designation files: apparently SH 820 was applied to what is now SH 183.

[DJ Particle]

Some County highways in Minnesota have a few significant numbers.

HENNEPIN
CSAH-42 - runs along part of 42nd st in Minneapolis
CSAH-46 - runs along parts of 46th st in Minneapolis
CSAH-88 (formerly MN-88) - former routing of US-8
CSAH-96 - former routing of MN-96
CSAH-112 - former routing of US-12
CSAH-122 (formerly MN-122) - former routing for US-12.
CSAH-152 - part of it was a former routing of US-52
CSAH-62 - runs along 62nd st (also known as Townline Ave) on the Minnetonka/Eden Prairie line (see below)

RAMSEY
CSAH-49 - former routing of MN-49

ANOKA
CSAH-10 - former routing of US-10

VARIOUS
CSAH-61 (along I-35 between Wyoming and Duluth) - former routings of US-61
CSAH-101 (Scott/Hennepin) - former routings of MN-101 (Anoka/Carver county portions are still MN-101)

Also some notable state routes, too.

EXTANT
MN-62 - (mostly) 62nd Street on the Minneapolis/Richfield line.
MN-610 - Interstate-style numbering for a partial loop south of Anoka off US-10 (I-94 and MN-101 completes a southern freeway half-loop around the city)
MN-65 - state highway continuation of US-65 (though the two no longer connect)
MN-120 - former routing of MN-100
MN-169 - state highway continuation of US-169
MN-61 - state highway continuation of US-61 (though the two no longer connect)
MN-16 - former routing of US-16
MN-55 - S Minneapolis portion was a former proposed routing of US-55 (Minnehaha Ave), before Hiawatha Ave became a thing.
MN-156 - former routing of MN-56
MN-149 - former routing of MN-49
MN-200 - part of a multistate "Highway 200"

EXTINCT
MN-88 (now CSAH-88) - see above, former routing of US-8
MN-122 (now CSAH-122) - see above, former routing of US-12
MN-312 (now US-212) - future routing of US-212
MN-110 (now MN-62) - former routing of MN-100

Also, there's a chance I-535 (instead of another odd 3di) could have been chosen because its entire length is a multiplex with US-53

[hbelkins]

Certainly none of which I am aware in Kentucky.

Someone beat me to the NC 3 reference.

[NWI_Irish96]

The OP can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that he was going for route numbers that derive their meaning from something other than another route.  Otherwise the list is endless and uninteresting.

[SectorZ]

Though road related, IL 38 used to be US 30A. Speaking both out loud, "thirty eight" sounds very similar to "thirty A".

MA 38 used to be 3B, so in a way that your example is a soundalike, Mass pulled a lookalike change on this one.