Gaps in state highways

[golden eagle]

Two that I know of right off in Mississippi:

Mississippi 149 runs through Simpson County. However, another leg of 149 was created a few years ago in the Delta (at least a good 90 miles apart) when the Yazoo City-to-Silver City portion of U.S. 49W was re-routed. The new route bypasses towns like Louise and Midnight. There is no signage of 149 along U.S. 49 between D'Lo and Yazoo City.

The western leg of Mississippi 18 runs from Port Gibson to I-20 in southwest Jackson. There is a 15-mile gap until 18 appears again in Brandon. Like MS 149, there is no signage along I-20. I don't know why MDOT doesn't sign 18 along I-20 since it's such a relatively short distance.   

[corco]

Wyoming has a few
WYO 89 dips out of Wyoming and into Utah, then resumes at the Utah state line many miles south without any WYO 89 signage in Utah.
WYO 230 does the same thing with Colorado.
WYO 374 is old US-30(N) and US-30S and exists in a couple segments (similar to 149, I believe, which if I'm not mistaken is an old alignment of US-49)- it heads from Green River and parallels I-80 all the way to Little America. It then ends and resumes off of US-30 just north of where 30 splits from I-80 and heads west to I-80 a few miles away.

Washington has a couple too
Washington SR 501 heads through Vancouver and dead ends north of it. It then resumes in Ridgefield and heads east to I-5. The two segments were supposed to be connected, but it never happened.
Washington SR 99 as of 2003 has a gap between the SR 518 junction north to SR 599. The city of Tukwila wanted to maintain the road so changes wouldn't constantly have to pass through WSDOT, and since Washington doesn't sign locally maintained highways as state routes, the highway now has a gap.

There's a few in Nebraska too
N-27 exists in three separate segments- one goes from N-2 at Ellsworth up to South Dakota, and one goes from US-26 near Oshkosh and heads south to the Colorado line, where the roadway continues as a county road. These two segments are on one longitudinal plane and could theoretically be connected one day. The third N-27 is down in Haigler off US-34 and is a very short spur down to K-27/Kansas State Line.

N-103 has two segments as well- one goes from I-80 south to N-4 west of Beatrice, and the other goes from US-136 west of Beatrice south to N-8. These are also on the same longitudinal plane and could theoretically be connected one day.

I'm pretty sure there's some others in Nebraska but can't remember them off the top of my head.

In Kansas, there's K-8 which goes from US-36 to Nebraska, and then from K-2 to Oklahoma.

There's too many to count in Arkansas- and then you've got states like Utah and Colorado that generally don't sign concurrencies, which leads to a lot of gaps.

There's a bunch of other gaps in Mississippi too- I'm pretty sure almost all the 1xx (xx- old US highway number) routes have multiple segments.

Those who play by the legislative definition of highway rules instead of what is actually signed in the field (I don't) would find countless gaps in Washington, California, Utah, Colorado, and several other states.

[TheStranger]

Gaps (in signage) in California:

Route 271 north of Leggett along US 101
Route 16 between Woodland and eastern Sacramento, along I-5 and US 50
Route 39 between Fullerton and Azusa
Route 193 between Auburn and Cool along I-80 and Route 49
Route 162 between Covelo and Elk Creek (along unimproved forest road)
Route 84 between Livermore and Rio Vista

Route 168 and Route 190 through the Sierras (gap not built)
Route 65 between Exter and Roseville (gap not yet built)

Route 178 through Death Valley (not built)

Route 196 through the Yurok reservation (destroyed in 1960s flood)

Not sure if Route 138 is well-signed along Route 14 between Lancaster and Palmdale.

[xonhulu]

Isn't there also a gap in WA 509, between its junction with 516 and the start of its southern segment off 99?

And in California, add CA 146, which is broken by Pinnacles Nat'l Monument.

[TheStranger]

And in California, add CA 146, which is broken by Pinnacles Nat'l Monument.

Thanks for catching that one!  (I drove on the west end of it in my US 101 trip a few months ago)

Another one: Route 47 along Seaside Boulevard in Terminal Island, not sure how well it's signed. 

Route 90 between Culver City and La Habra (unbuilt freeway that will never be constructed)

Route 1 between Gaviota and west Ventura, along US 101

[national highway 1]

How about US 422?

[agentsteel53]

Another one: Route 47 along Seaside Boulevard in Terminal Island, not sure how well it's signed. 

not well at all, but 103 is signed as 47, except where it is signed as 103.  It's a real clusterfudge.

gaps in state highways are fairly baffling.  Okay, maybe I can understand not building the Sierra crossing, but I'm still baffled by my attempt to follow CA-84 to Sacramento that one time...

[TheStranger]

Another one: Route 47 along Seaside Boulevard in Terminal Island, not sure how well it's signed. 

not well at all, but 103 is signed as 47, except where it is signed as 103.  It's a real clusterfudge.

Actually, I think this isn't quite a gap:

47's exit off of the Terminal Island Freeway is NOT signed at all for Route 47, but 47 continues northwest along Alameda Street and Henry Ford Avenue (not sure how well this is signed either), while 103 is signed as 103 for its entirety, from Route 47 northeast to Route 1.

gaps in state highways are fairly baffling.  Okay, maybe I can understand not building the Sierra crossing, but I'm still baffled by my attempt to follow CA-84 to Sacramento that one time...

I'm honestly not sure why this is considered one route at all, the north-south segment of 84 really should be given another number (as the middle segment connecting the two is unlikely to ever be signed along the existing county roads, and the routing doesn't exactly follow one unified corridor).

[Ian]

-ME 113; It dips into NH a few times, which could be considered a gap.
-NY 17; It dips into PA near Waverly, NY
-NH 153 dips into Maine also
-FL A1A is sort of in gaps, though maps suggest it follows US 1 during those gaps

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Two that I know of right off in Mississippi:

Mississippi 149 runs through Simpson County. However, another leg of 149 was created a few years ago in the Delta (at least a good 90 miles apart) when the Yazoo City-to-Silver City portion of U.S. 49W was re-routed. The new route bypasses towns like Louise and Midnight. There is no signage of 149 along U.S. 49 between D'Lo and Yazoo City.

The western leg of Mississippi 18 runs from Port Gibson to I-20 in southwest Jackson. There is a 15-mile gap until 18 appears again in Brandon. Like MS 149, there is no signage along I-20. I don't know why MDOT doesn't sign 18 along I-20 since it's such a relatively short distance.   

There's several MS 145, 149, 161, and 180 throughout Mississippi showing the former routings for US 45, 49, 61, and 80.
MS 32 breaks between Shelby and Parchman due to the Mississippi State penetentury (aka Parchman Farms)
MS 3 runs from just south of Tenn/Miss state line to Tutwiler, shows up again from Sunflower to Inverness, and lastly from Yazoo City to Redwood

[corco]

Isn't there also a gap in WA 509, between its junction with 516 and the start of its southern segment off 99?

Nope- It is coincident with 99 and 516 over that routing and is signed as such. There's two incidents where it's signed, and WSDOT route logs acknowledge a 509/99 and 509/516 coincidence. In fairness, 99 and 516 are also very poorly marked through that area. The signs weren't up yet when I was living there, so here's some SRWeb/street view pictures:  

http://images.wsdot.wa.gov/StateRoute/PictureLog/2009/NW/509/M/M/I/01/M/01742M.JPG (approaching SR 99)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=des+moines+wa&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=28.114729,86.572266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Des+Moines,+King,+Washington&ll=47.390985,-122.3118&spn=0.002927,0.010568&z=17&layer=c&cbll=47.390894,-122.311796&panoid=ovu8pFaBGxTwmkCDPuooFQ&cbp=12,35.49,,0,5 (old SR 509 approaching 509/516)


Now, if the proposed SR 509 freeway extension is ever built for southern Seatac access (proposed to run from where the 509 freeway ends on the west side of Seatac down to I-5), then there will be a legitimate gap (or some weird multiplexing) along 99 and I-5, assuming the roadway is numbered "509"

[huskeroadgeek]

There's a few in Nebraska too
N-27 exists in three separate segments- one goes from N-2 at Ellsworth up to South Dakota, and one goes from US-26 near Oshkosh and heads south to the Colorado line, where the roadway continues as a county road. These two segments are on one longitudinal plane and could theoretically be connected one day. The third N-27 is down in Haigler off US-34 and is a very short spur down to K-27/Kansas State Line.

N-103 has two segments as well- one goes from I-80 south to N-4 west of Beatrice, and the other goes from US-136 west of Beatrice south to N-8. These are also on the same longitudinal plane and could theoretically be connected one day.

I'm pretty sure there's some others in Nebraska but can't remember them off the top of my head.

NE 2, probably the most important state numbered highway in the state, has a gap itself-between I-80 Exit 318 and its junction with the US 77 freeway on the W. side of Lincoln (it formerly was continuous, mostly following US 34 between Lincoln and Grand Island).

SE Nebraska has a few other state highways with gaps-NE 62 and NE 64 have 2 separate segments and NE 66 has 3. In Northeast Nebraska, NE 57 and NE 59 have 2 separate segments and NE 121 has 3. The northernmost 2 segments of NE 121 have a gap of only about 8 miles between NE 84 and NE 12 and are connected by a paved road-I'm not sure why they have never been connected.

It's already been mentioned that Arkansas has a bunch of them-I would guess the record for the state highway with the most gaps would be AR 74, which has 8 separate sections that are not connected.

[bugo]

It's already been mentioned that Arkansas has a bunch of them-I would guess the record for the state highway with the most gaps would be AR 74, which has 8 separate sections that are not connected.

I'd list all the gaps in Arkansas state highways, but I don't have that much time.  It would likely be the longest post in aaroads.com history.  Another thing to consider is that some gaps are not verifiable until a field check is done.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky's most significant highway with gaps is KY 8. It has three separate segments.

KY 87 also has a gap where the route dives into Tennessee. You can stay on that route, make a couple of turns, and re-emerge into Kentucky on another incarnation of KY 87.

There are a couple of routes that have gaps where there is no river crossing, namely KY 57 (Licking River in northeastern KY) and KY 70 (Cumberland River in western KY).

[akotchi]

Two examples in New Jersey:

NJ 440 (NY 440 segment intervenes)
NJ 7 exists in two separate segments.

[mapman1071]

AZ64 Officially does not Exist within Grand Canyon National Park.

[agentsteel53]

this sign implies that it is signed in the Grand Canyon (or the National Park Service does not know of the word "to"). 

[agentsteel53]

speaking of Arizona... I believe Arizona 95 still unofficially ducks into California to this day.  In Needles there are several ADOT-issued signs that say "to 95", trailblazing it correctly in both directions. 

[Scott5114]

[image]

this sign implies that it is signed in the Grand Canyon (or the National Park Service does not know of the word "to"). 

It could also be saying "AZ 64 park exit", distinguishing it from other park exits.

It can also be said that the NPS does not know of the proper Arizona route marker or its coloring scheme!

[froggie]

Two that I know of right off in Mississippi:

You (and Sandor) also missed 16 (which officially has TWO gaps), 44, and 404, amongst others...

There's several MS 145, 149, 161, and 180 throughout Mississippi showing the former routings for US 45, 49, 61, and 80.

I wouldn't count these, since they're akin to business routes and were specifically created to keep old parts of the US routes (bypassed by new construction) on the state highway system.

BTW, there is no MS 180.

[Brandon]

Indiana with its grid system has many gaps in its state roads.  I or someone else can name them later.  Some routes even come in three parts.

[US71]

AR 215 stops & starts east of AR 23 (but will eventually go all the way to Oark). Part of it is Forest Service road.

AR 154 on a technicality at Petit Jean State Park (it's state maintained, but is posted as a county road (Petit Jean Mountain Road) a couple miles outside the park.

[agentsteel53]

It can also be said that the NPS does not know of the proper Arizona route marker or its coloring scheme!

at least they have the proper state outline.  I have no idea why Arizona stopped making shields that way sometime in the 1960s.

[golden eagle]

Two that I know of right off in Mississippi:

You (and Sandor) also missed 16 (which officially has TWO gaps), 44, and 404, amongst others...

I was just thinking about 16! As many times as I've been down the old 49W/new MS 149, I never saw 16 being duplexed with it.

[oscar]

AK 10 has two segments, the Edgerton Highway between Chitina and the Richardson Highway (AK 4), and the Copper River Highway between Cordova and the Million Dollar Bridge.  An abandoned railbed between Chitina and the Million Dollar Bridge, which was being slowly converted to a highway, was trashed by the 1964 Good Friday earthquake, and the project never recovered from that blow (environmental and tribal claims issues also would be obstacles). 

AK 7 has four segments (Canadian border-Haines, Juneau, Petersburg, and Ketchikan), but auto ferries connect those segments.

Hawaii dealt with its gaps by renumberings (such as HI 93 and 930 in northwest Oahu, once Hawaii DOT gave up on building a connection around Kaena Point), or transfers out of the state route system (such as with HI 31 and CR 31 in south Maui).