Large universities not served by Interstate

[Rothman]

UMass Amherst was historically a little off the beaten path (I-91) until the Coolidge Bridge was widened and MA 9 four-laned through Hadley.

Even with the MA 116 freeway, most people still just drove MA 9 to University Drive to get to the Southwest dorms.

[kernals12]

Fresno State at 25k enrolled is off of CA 168 and not anywhere close to an Interstate. 

I'd put Fresno State at about 50 miles from I-5. Others in California include UC Santa Barbara (24K enrollment, about 80 miles from I-405) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (21K, about 90 miles from I-5).

Both of those are very close to US 101, and I don't see why we need to limit ourselves to the freeways that Federal Government decides are interstates. If Boston had gotten the Southwest and Northeast Expressways finished, then Route 128 wouldn't have been signed as I-95 and a whole lot of colleges would join the category of not being near an interstate.

[US 89]

Utah State University in Logan is about a half-hour from I-15, though US 91 is fully 4-laned from Logan to the interstate.

[Scott5114]

Why are we limiting this to interstates? Are non-interstate freeways just not good enough for you?

Because that's the point of the thread? Duh.

[Max Rockatansky]

Fresno State at 25k enrolled is off of CA 168 and not anywhere close to an Interstate. 

I'd put Fresno State at about 50 miles from I-5. Others in California include UC Santa Barbara (24K enrollment, about 80 miles from I-405) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (21K, about 90 miles from I-5).

Both of those are very close to US 101, and I don't see why we need to limit ourselves to the freeways that Federal Government decides are interstates. If Boston had gotten the Southwest and Northeast Expressways finished, then Route 128 wouldn't have been signed as I-95 and a whole lot of colleges would join the category of not being near an interstate.

That's not the point of the thread.  It would be pretty boring if any old freeway could be included in the criteria. 

[Rothman]

Utah State University in Logan is about a half-hour from I-15, though US 91 is fully 4-laned from Logan to the interstate.

Always felt longer than that between Brigham City and Logan.

[DandyDan]

It looks like Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University (aka Miami of Ohio), does not have a 4 lane connection to an interstate.

[GaryV]

If I recall correctly, Michigan Tech is the state school farthest from an Interstate in the entire country.  Although it would hardly qualify as "large".

Others in Michigan not on Interstates are Northern, Central and Ferris State.

[hotdogPi]

If I recall correctly, Michigan Tech is the state school farthest from an Interstate in the entire country.  Although it would hardly qualify as "large".

University of Alaska has three locations: Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. Two of these three are nowhere near an Interstate.

[US 89]

If I recall correctly, Michigan Tech is the state school farthest from an Interstate in the entire country.  Although it would hardly qualify as "large".

University of Alaska has three locations: Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. Two of these three are nowhere near an Interstate.

Just the one in Juneau...the Richardson Highway is A-2 east of Fairbanks, and that’s no more than a few miles from where the campus is located. Anchorage has both A-1 and A-3.

[Brandon]

If I recall correctly, Michigan Tech is the state school farthest from an Interstate in the entire country.  Although it would hardly qualify as "large".

Others in Michigan not on Interstates are Northern, Central and Ferris State.

I would not count Central or Ferris as they are on freeways (US-127 and US-131).  For an enrollment comparison, Tech is at 7,200 now, and Northern is at 6,700.  Both are D1 hockey schools, but neither are huge when compared to some of the other on this list.  They are big when compared to the size of the municipality each is in (Houghton: 7,700; Marquette: 21,000)

[jeffandnicole]

Why are we limiting this to interstates? Are non-interstate freeways just not good enough for you?

Because that's the point of the thread? Duh.

This tends to be an issue primarily in the east, especially the northeast. For a large portion of the country, most freeways are just interstates, and people can forget that they are freeways besides interstates.  Stockton University in Galloway, NJ, which doesn't really meet the "large university" requirement here, is within 6 miles of 2, 6 lane freeways, yet over 40 miles from one that actually has an interstate shield on it.

[Scott5114]

When you post a thread that is "xxx served by Interstates", the point is to examine the Interstate System itself and see what is served by that system.

For the same reason that it's interesting that Jefferson City, MO is not served by any Interstates. It is served by four-lane highways, but it is interesting that the flagship freeway system of the United States does not serve a state capital, which you would expect because it is the flagship freeway system of the United States.

It is not so much that transportation planners forgot to provide a four-lane facility or even a freeway there, as it is that the destination was not considered major enough by the initial Interstate planners to warrant inclusion in the Interstate System, and it hasn't ever become a priority since then, even when freeway facilities are eventually built.

Also by limiting it to Interstates you avoid the obnoxious but inevitable fights about whether something REALLY qualifies as a freeway because it has X deficient feature.

[The Nature Boy]

If I recall correctly, Michigan Tech is the state school farthest from an Interstate in the entire country.  Although it would hardly qualify as "large".

Others in Michigan not on Interstates are Northern, Central and Ferris State.

I would not count Central or Ferris as they are on freeways (US-127 and US-131).  For an enrollment comparison, Tech is at 7,200 now, and Northern is at 6,700.  Both are D1 hockey schools, but neither are huge when compared to some of the other on this list.  They are big when compared to the size of the municipality each is in (Houghton: 7,700; Marquette: 21,000)

If we're counting D1 hockey schools though then Clarkson and St. Lawrence Universities in Upstate New York can be added to the list. Both are served by US 11 but aren't remotely close to an interstate. They're both very small schools though and if you've heard of them, it's probably because of college hockey.

East Carolina University is an answer to this but that's only temporary since I-587 will soon be signed along US 264.

[jeffandnicole]

Also by limiting it to Interstates you avoid the obnoxious but inevitable fights about whether something REALLY qualifies as a freeway because it has X deficient feature.

Not for nothing, but even the OP didn't limit it to Interstates.

Though this brings up an interesting potential new thread topic: What are some large universities not served by Interstate, or even a 4 lane expressway?

And by saying "...or even a 4 lane expressway", appears to forget that there certainly are freeways that aren't interstates, unless he somehow intended to skip over an entire classification of roadways generally faster, and with more lanes, than expressways.

[SkyPesos]

While we're at it, how close to an interstate does an OSU have to be to be served by said interstate? 

I wanted to take some time to explain this topic a bit more before posting a thread, but didn't know someone beat me to the thread creation already. We could do like tiers based on distance. Columbus as a city is definitely served by interstate, unlike Ithaca (Cornell) and College Station (Texas A&M) mentioned. The closest interstate to Ohio State is I-71, about 1.3 miles east of the eastern edge of campus, which is still good. And then there's the possibility of including non-interstate freeways in. If we include that, Ohio State is served extremely well with 2 direct exits (Medical Center and Lane Ave) off OH 315.

For example, one metro area that is served by interstate or 4 lane expressway, but I think the campus isn't really, is Purdue. From what I see, there are 3 exits that is most used to get from I-65 to Purdue: 168 (IN 38) from the south, 178 (IN 43) from the north and 172 (IN 26) for either direction. From exit 168, IN 38 is a 4 lane road, but then you turn onto Veterans Memorial Pkwy, a 2-4 lane surface road for 6 miles, before turning north onto the US 231 expressway. From exit 178, there's 5 miles of 2 lane IN 43 before you arrive at West Lafayette. From exit 172, the first 2 miles of South St is a divided 4 lane, but then you go through 2 miles of a 2-4 lane city street through downtown Lafayette before crossing the bridge into West Lafayette.

And by saying "...or even a 4 lane expressway", appears to forget that there certainly are freeways that aren't interstates, unless he somehow intended to skip over an entire classification of roadways generally faster, and with more lanes, than expressways.

That was intentional, I was thinking of everything in between expressways and interstates, so non-interstate freeways definitely fit in.

And for the expressways, I'm thinking of connections to interstates outside of the university city/town as well. Like NY 13 has a freeway section in Ithaca (Cornell), but it's not connected to either I-81 or I-86/NY 17 as an expressways, so that freeway section alone wouldn't count towards being served by an expressway/freeway

[JREwing78]

If I recall correctly, Michigan Tech is the state school farthest from an Interstate in the entire country.

Distance to an Interstate highway from the Administration building on Michigan Tech's campus:
189 miles to the I-39/US-51/Hwy 29 interchange in Rothschild, WI (just south of Wausau)
204 miles to the I-41 terminus in Green Bay, WI
213 miles to the I-535 terminus in Superior, WI
(Note that ALL of the above are outside Michigan)

If you do not leave the state:
253 miles to I-75 in Dafter, MI (just south of Sault Ste. Marie)
255 miles to I-75 @ M-123 near St. Ignace, MI
259 miles to I-75 in St. Ignace, MI.

And, if we're discussing farthest distance from a non-Interstate freeway:
145 miles to the US-51 freeway bypass of Tomahawk, WI (@ US-8)
165 miles to US-51 @ Lincoln Drive outside Merrill, WI (at the point the highway becomes uninterrupted freeway to I-39)
164 miles to the beginning of the US-141 freeway bypass of Coleman and Pound, WI
188 miles to US-141 @ County E in Abrams (at the point the highway becomes uninterrupted freeway to I-41)
200 miles to the US-2/US-53 interchange in South Range, WI.

At one point, there was a 1/2 mile stretch of US-41/M-28 "freeway" in Marquette, MI. That may be charitable since it has roundabouts at each end and a speed limit of 45, but it has freeway-style vehicle restrictions (no pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles under 125cc). If we're counting that as a freeway, we're at 98 miles.

[vdeane]

Also by limiting it to Interstates you avoid the obnoxious but inevitable fights about whether something REALLY qualifies as a freeway because it has X deficient feature.

I know of at least one thread that did, in fact, have that fight concerning interstates.  Of course, the posts in question concerned Canada and border crossings... but, still (one thing I learned in that experience is that people from Ontario are obnoxiously pedantic, even by the standards of this forum).

[Konza]

For example, one metro area that is served by interstate or 4 lane expressway, but I think the campus isn't really, is Purdue. From what I see, there are 3 exits that is most used to get from I-65 to Purdue: 168 (IN 38) from the south, 178 (IN 43) from the north and 172 (IN 26) for either direction. From exit 168, IN 38 is a 4 lane road, but then you turn onto Veterans Memorial Pkwy, a 2-4 lane surface road for 6 miles, before turning north onto the US 231 expressway. From exit 178, there's 5 miles of 2 lane IN 43 before you arrive at West Lafayette.

Actually, when coming from the northwest via I-65, the best exit to reach the Purdue campus is exit 193.  There has always been a sign before the exit advising Purdue football traffic to exit there.  Granted (and it may support your point), to reach the campus, you have to first drive about 13 miles of rural 2 lane US 231, and then a few more miles of 4 lane divided US 52/231, but then you're on the new bypass west of West Lafayette which easily delivers you to West State Street.

My 1962 Rand McNally Road Atlas shows a proposed route for I-65 that would have paralleled this stretch of US 231 a couple of miles to the west, and passed by the Greater Lafayette area to the west, rejoining the route that was eventually built just north of Lebanon.  That would have constituted some serious access to the Purdue campus.  By a couple of years later, the maps depict the current route, albeit still proposed.

[jp the roadgeek]

UMass Amherst was historically a little off the beaten path (I-91) until the Coolidge Bridge was widened and MA 9 four-laned through Hadley.

Even with the MA 116 freeway, most people still just drove MA 9 to University Drive to get to the Southwest dorms.

Speaking of Amherst (and another school located there), their big rival, Williams College, is certainly far from any interstate.  It's over 30 miles to I-787 in Troy, NY or I-90 in Lee, and 40+ miles to I-91 in Greenfield.

[Rothman]

Huh.  Just thought of SUNY Potsdam, which is certainly in the middle of nowhere.

[SkyPesos]

For example, one metro area that is served by interstate or 4 lane expressway, but I think the campus isn't really, is Purdue. From what I see, there are 3 exits that is most used to get from I-65 to Purdue: 168 (IN 38) from the south, 178 (IN 43) from the north and 172 (IN 26) for either direction. From exit 168, IN 38 is a 4 lane road, but then you turn onto Veterans Memorial Pkwy, a 2-4 lane surface road for 6 miles, before turning north onto the US 231 expressway. From exit 178, there's 5 miles of 2 lane IN 43 before you arrive at West Lafayette.

My 1962 Rand McNally Road Atlas shows a proposed route for I-65 that would have paralleled this stretch of US 231 a couple of miles to the west, and passed by the Greater Lafayette area to the west, rejoining the route that was eventually built just north of Lebanon.  That would have constituted some serious access to the Purdue campus.  By a couple of years later, the maps depict the current route, albeit still proposed.

Hmm that’s interesting. But if they were to plan to build I-65 on a western alignment through Lafayette, instead of going between Lafayette and Indy via Lebanon, it only adds at most 3 miles to go through Crawfordsville and enter Indianapolis on a concurrency with I-74. Or having I-65 entirely on that new alignment via West Lafayette and Lebanon and I-74 diverted east of Crafordsville to enter Indy on an concurrency with I-65.

[Finrod]

Personally I think Lafayette/West Lafayette could use an interstate loop like Fort Wayne has, which would help with the access to Purdue.  The only number available would be I-665, which would inspire lots of "across the street from the Beast" jokes.

[SectorZ]

For Massachusetts, the biggest that is not close at all to an interstate is Bridgewater State U which is ninth in enrollment amongst Mass schools. Given it's close enough to be served by the 6-lane freeway that is MA 24, your next choices that aren't arguably served by a freeway at all are Salem State (arguable given its kinda close to I-95 and MA 128's expressway section), then the ones in Berkshire County (Berkshire CC, Williams, and Mass College of Liberal Arts).

[ilpt4u]

Personally I think Lafayette/West Lafayette could use an interstate loop like Fort Wayne has, which would help with the access to Purdue.  The only number available would be I-665, which would inspire lots of "across the street from the Beast" jokes.

INDOT could ask for an Odd x65 as a Loop if they really wanted to avoide 665 (which they supposedly did for what became 865) - I doubt AASHTO would say "no"

The Even/Odd 3di rule is more like a guideline, anyway