Highways you're surprised it hasn't gotten truncated/decommissioned

[silverback1065]

US 421 north of I-74 in Indiana. no reason for it to go north of that city.

[bugo]

Until US 62 was extended to become a border-to-border diagonal, US 266 extended west from Henryetta to US 66 in OKC.  It just happened to be the "straightline" route to the Arkansas River Valley between the Ozarks and Ouachitas, so it was the obvious place to locate I-40.  But it still remains a local server; renumbering it would serve little or no purpose. 

I find it interesting that if one wanted to follow the modern I-40 corridor in Oklahoma and Arkansas before it was built, they would have had to take US 66 to US 62 (after 1932) to US 266 to US 64 to US 65 to US 70. Six designations united under one corridor. This might be blasphemy to the 66 nerds, but US 66 should have ended in OKC and US 64 should have gone through OKC, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Needles and LA. The rest of what was then US 64 west of Warner could have had another US highway number. Oklahoma tried to at least unite the corridor as one version of OK 1, which lasted from 1934 to 1962, but it really should have had a single US number all the way across the state.

[kenarmy]

US 80 west of Meridian. It doesn't serve any major function in MS, LA, and TX. The portion running from Cuba to Montgomery and where it leaves its overlap with US 29 to Macon are the only parts of the route that isn't redundant. But MS doesn't have a problem with overlapping or parallel routes (51/55, 22/78, 59/11, 10/90) so I doubt they'll get rid of any routes anytime soon.

[SkyPesos]

The op already pointed it out, US 42's physical route is important in some places, but the number can easily be decommissioned and replaced. I suggested the following 2 ways in fictional highways before to replace US 42:

1) Extend US 79 on US 68 to Bowling Green, then replace US 31W from Bowling Green to Louisville, then take over all of US 42.

2) Replace US 42 with a US 25 extension in Ohio, and a US 22 extension in Kentucky.

[Flint1979]

The op already pointed it out, US 42's physical route is important in some places, but the number can easily be decommissioned and replaced. I suggested the following 2 ways in fictional highways before to replace US 42:

1) Extend US 79 on US 68 to Bowling Green, then replace US 31W from Bowling Green to Louisville, then take over all of US 42.

2) Replace US 42 with a US 25 extension in Ohio, and a US 22 extension in Kentucky.

For your #2 you could extend US-25 up US-68 north of Xenia too.

[SkyPesos]

The op already pointed it out, US 42's physical route is important in some places, but the number can easily be decommissioned and replaced. I suggested the following 2 ways in fictional highways before to replace US 42:

1) Extend US 79 on US 68 to Bowling Green, then replace US 31W from Bowling Green to Louisville, then take over all of US 42.

2) Replace US 42 with a US 25 extension in Ohio, and a US 22 extension in Kentucky.

For your #2 you could extend US-25 up US-68 north of Xenia too.

And US 68 takes over US 42 from Xenia to Cleveland? That's not a bad idea. Although I'm under the opinion that US 68 is a "wasted" number on the routing it currently is on, and it could easily work as a US 162, and 68 should be used on something like US 412.

[dvferyance]

US-266 really what is the purpose of it? It's like 40 miles long and runs close to I-40. In my state I would say WI-127 and WI-134. WI-127 is just a parallel route with WI-16 and does not serve any towns. WI-134 is a short spur to an unincorporated town that nobody cares about.

WI-127 probably continues to exist solely because the Columbia Correctional Institution (coincidentally the prison where Jeffrey Dahmer got killed at) is on the route, even though it's close to the east end.

WI 127 is a US 16 'old' road that Columbia County refused to take over.

In that light, I wonder why WI 152 exists, running northeastward from WI 21 in Wautoma to unincorporated Mount Morris.  It barely makes the grade as a county highway.

Mike

At least with WI 152 you can make the case it serves a popular ski resort town. WI 134 serves London who in the world ever goes there?

[plain]

VA 4. I get that it runs over Kerr Dam but other than that it could be downgraded to a secondary route, which it becomes when it crosses into NC anyway. That number just seems way too important for that road.

[Flint1979]

US-266 really what is the purpose of it? It's like 40 miles long and runs close to I-40. In my state I would say WI-127 and WI-134. WI-127 is just a parallel route with WI-16 and does not serve any towns. WI-134 is a short spur to an unincorporated town that nobody cares about.

WI-127 probably continues to exist solely because the Columbia Correctional Institution (coincidentally the prison where Jeffrey Dahmer got killed at) is on the route, even though it's close to the east end.

WI 127 is a US 16 'old' road that Columbia County refused to take over.

In that light, I wonder why WI 152 exists, running northeastward from WI 21 in Wautoma to unincorporated Mount Morris.  It barely makes the grade as a county highway.

Mike

At least with WI 152 you can make the case it serves a popular ski resort town. WI 134 serves London who in the world ever goes there?

With WI-134 at least extend it over County Road O to Waterloo.

[Flint1979]

The op already pointed it out, US 42's physical route is important in some places, but the number can easily be decommissioned and replaced. I suggested the following 2 ways in fictional highways before to replace US 42:

1) Extend US 79 on US 68 to Bowling Green, then replace US 31W from Bowling Green to Louisville, then take over all of US 42.

2) Replace US 42 with a US 25 extension in Ohio, and a US 22 extension in Kentucky.

For your #2 you could extend US-25 up US-68 north of Xenia too.

And US 68 takes over US 42 from Xenia to Cleveland? That's not a bad idea. Although I'm under the opinion that US 68 is a "wasted" number on the routing it currently is on, and it could easily work as a US 162, and 68 should be used on something like US 412.

I was at the western end of US-68 about a month ago and never really thought about where it went. I was more focused on US-79 in Tennessee but anyway since US-68 serves a longer route it probably would work that way. I think US-68 should be a 3 digit US highway too.

As far as US-412, my opinion on that is that it overlaps several other US highways (US-43, 56, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65). It runs parallel to US-62 and 64 in various places and intersects US-70. US-68 would probably work for US-412 but look at all the other US highways we have running concurrent or parallel with it.

The one I think is hilarious is US-400. For it's first almost 300 miles it runs concurrent with US-50 and US-54. Maybe the eastern section of it is more on it's own but there isn't even a US-0.

[Scott5114]

ODOT might continue to sign it as US 266 anyway, because they obviously don't care about AASHTO's blessing (See US 377.)

Not 100% relevant, but it turns out that the US-377 designation was written into federal law in December 1987 (in the 1988 DOT appropriations bill). ODOT posted US-377 in compliance with that law, even though AASHTO rejected the designation after President Reagan signed it. What was ODOT going to do, refuse to comply with federal law based on AASHTO's say-so?

[ftballfan]

M-188. It would be a little more useful if it ran to US-127 at Leslie instead of ending at the VFW National Home

[X99]

Interstate 190 in Rapid City. Sure, it's an Interstate grade freeway, but it's completely concurrent with US 16 and barely a mile long. Its original purpose of connecting Rapid City to I-90 is now redundant since the city built up around the interstate. It could be signed as simply a freeway segment of US 16 instead.

If the FHWA really wants to keep their westernmost 3di for I-90 in South Dakota, they could persuade SDDOT to upgrade US 16 Bypass to a freeway between I-90 and SD 79 before it gets too built up for that. In the long run, a better connection around Rapid City might also persuade Nebraska to start working on their segment of the Heartland Expressway again.

[Bruce]

WA 339 only existed to have the Vashon-Downtown Seattle passenger ferry operated by WSF in the state highway system along with the other ferry routes. But it's been operated by King County for the past 15 years, so it's clinchable (during peak hours) but not state-run.

[ilpt4u]

IL 336. Now that its "independent"  section between Macomb and Peoria is (all but officially) cancelled, the entire route is multiplexed, entirely with the IL 110 CKC designation, among others

IL isn't going to decommission the unneeded IL 110, so go ahead and decommission IL 336

[dmuzika]

US 81 through the Dakotas. It's concurrent with I-29 through most of the states, and with the small divergance in North Dakota, it could easily become a state route. Ironically, when I-29 crosses into Canada, it becomes PTH 75, taking on US 75's number which is on the other side of the Red River.

[brad2971]

I am quite surprised no move has been made by either CDOT or Nebraska DOT to get AASHTO's permission to decommission US138. Especially since the south end at Sterling has just finished being two-way rerouted onto 3rd St.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I am quite surprised no move has been made by either CDOT or Nebraska DOT to get AASHTO's permission to decommission US138. Especially since the south end at Sterling has just finished being two-way rerouted onto 3rd St.

And half the shields on the Nebraska portion are N-138s anyway.

[DandyDan]

US 81 through the Dakotas. It's concurrent with I-29 through most of the states, and with the small divergance in North Dakota, it could easily become a state route. Ironically, when I-29 crosses into Canada, it becomes PTH 75, taking on US 75's number which is on the other side of the Red River.

That one looks like it's all North Dakota, as South Dakota puts it on I-29 north of Watertown, where the two highways converge. It's similar to how US 52 hasn't been decommissioned there. US 81 and US 52 could both become North Dakota state highways without too much trouble.

[Avalanchez71]

Almost all of US 41 south of Evansville parallels an interstate and should be axed.

Not only is US 46 a short intrastate route, it also parallels an interstate as well.

US 70 could also easily be cut back on the East Coast.

US 41 is still used as a Nashville-Evansville-Chicago corridor.

US 41 is FL veers away from the Interstate well enough in FL especially the Naples to Miami corridor.  It is very useful as a signed highway going through GA as a business route for I-75.

[KCRoadFan]

US 14 in Wyoming. It really should be truncated at Greybull where it splits off US 20; west of there, it embarks on a pointless duplex with US 20 through Cody to the east entrance of Yellowstone, whereupon it simply vanishes into thin air.

On the other side of the park, at the west entrance, US 20 resumes its westward journey - all by itself - as it goes through West Yellowstone, MT and into Idaho.

Or perhaps even better yet: truncate US 14 at I-90 near Sheridan, and then turn the road from Greybull to Ranchester into a state route. (According to Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_highways_in_Wyoming], that road used to be called WY 520 - maybe change it back to that? Just a thought.)

[DandyDan]

US 14 in Wyoming. It really should be truncated at Greybull where it splits off US 20; west of there, it embarks on a pointless duplex with US 20 through Cody to the east entrance of Yellowstone, whereupon it simply vanishes into thin air.

On the other side of the park, at the west entrance, US 20 resumes its westward journey - all by itself - as it goes through West Yellowstone, MT and into Idaho.

Or perhaps even better yet: truncate US 14 at I-90 near Sheridan, and then turn the road from Greybull to Ranchester into a state route. (According to Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_highways_in_Wyoming], that road used to be called WY 520 - maybe change it back to that? Just a thought.)

I would have to actually say US 16 could be eliminated entirely. US 14 could take over the entirety of US 16's route between Moorcroft, WY and Rapid City, SD. US 14 could follow its current route west of Moorcroft and east of Rapid City. The section of current US 14 between Moorcroft and Sundance and the section of current US 16 between Worland and its intersection NE of Buffalo with US 14 can be Wyoming state highways. The Alternate US 14 in South Dakota can be South Dakota state highways. The rest already is something else and yes, US 14 should end in Greybull.

[Flint1979]

Almost all of US 41 south of Evansville parallels an interstate and should be axed.

Not only is US 46 a short intrastate route, it also parallels an interstate as well.

US 70 could also easily be cut back on the East Coast.

US 41 is still used as a Nashville-Evansville-Chicago corridor.

US 41 is FL veers away from the Interstate well enough in FL especially the Naples to Miami corridor.  It is very useful as a signed highway going through GA as a business route for I-75.

Some of it is. I think IN-63 has taken over the primary route north of Terre Haute to the northern terminus of IN-63 for one example.

[Avalanchez71]

IN 63 should be US 41A or US 41W.

[Flint1979]

IN 63 should be US 41A or US 41W.

No point in doing that.