Weird Routes

[GaryV]

And remember, there's a Fantasy board.  Several of your posts in this thread are pure fantasy.  I'm surprised some didn't get moderated.

[Mike2357]

And remember, there's a Fantasy board.  Several of your posts in this thread are pure fantasy.  I'm surprised some didn't get moderated.

The thread started talking about weird routes in different states, not sure how it devolved into my highway extension rants. I tried to get back on top a couple times but failed miserably. Another weird route where I live is the Jackie Robinson parkway ( of all roads this should have a NUMBER lol) it leaves from the middle of nowhere brooklyn and whisks you away to the grand central parkway, so it has a purpose but it literally treks through 6-7 different cemeteries and looks like a wiggly worm. It would be more useful as a go-kart racetrack.

[andrepoiy]

In Markham, Ontario, there's is a route which I find to be rather strange.

It's Donald Cousens Parkway, formerly known as the Markham Bypass.

It's a road constructed to bypass Main Street Markham/Markham Road, which goes through the "historic downtown" of Markham. Main Street Markham also has a truck prohibition.

The problem with DCP is that it goes away far out - 4 km away from Main Street Markham. Not only that, neither end actually connects to the road it is supposed to bypass. The northern connection is slated for construction in 2026, but the southern end will never connect due to opposition by the City of Toronto.

It seems like if truck drivers actually wanted to bypass, a closer route would just be Ninth Line (which is the arterial you see that is between DCP and Main Street.


Here's a map to illustrate: blue is DCP, red it Main Street, the circled section is the historic downtown area

[Mike2357]

It looks like it is just trying to go around the perimeter, but I see what you mean it doesn't reconnect with the primary route. Most beltways connect to virtually every other thru-traffic roadway, be it a route or interstate.

[Mike2357]

I would like to add I-180 in WY to this list, can't tell if that is supposed to be a shortcut of some kind but doesn't even look limited access at all. Got this from the FritzOwl Compilation thread. The hard part is ranking these 4: 180, 381, 581, and 587

[sprjus4]

^ Where exactly is the issue with I-581?

[US 89]

Google Maps does not mislabel roads as Interstates except for a few weird edge cases involving international boundaries that have probably been fixed by now.

False - see CA 15, which is not an interstate south of I-8.

[Mike2357]

^ Where exactly is the issue with I-581?

It's just sticking out from I-81 and barely going anywhere.

[1995hoo]

^ Where exactly is the issue with I-581?

It's just sticking out from I-81 and barely going anywhere.

So what? How is I-581 different from Florida's I-195, I-395, I-175, and I-375, or Mississippi's and Florida's I-110s, or Maine's I-195, I-395, or I-495....to name but a few very short 3dis?

[Mapmikey]

^ Where exactly is the issue with I-581?

It's just sticking out from I-81 and barely going anywhere.

Where do you want interstate spurs into cities to go?  Seems like even the shortest ones mostly accomplish this.

I-581 in particular makes it all the way through central Roanoke and has 6 interchanges not counting I-81.

[RobbieL2415]

I-587 (NY) does not directly connect to any other Interstate. It's mileage ends before the Thruway entrance, which is at a rotary carrying NY 28.

[Avalanchez71]

Another one in my mind: US 68. Goes completely E-W for the westernmost third of the route, then SW-NE for the middle third, then a straight N-S in Ohio. Wasted 2dus number that could've been used on a route like US 412, and US 68 acts like, and fits better as a number like 162.

US 412 should be US 66.  It fits the grid.

[JCinSummerfield]

My top 3 weird routes - one state, one US, and one interstate:

OH-37.  Winding through the hills of SE Ohio, skirts north of Columbus, then turns north through the flat farmlands.
US-68. Does this really need to be a 2 digit route?  Does it really need to be one route?
I-94.  Should have ended in Milwaukee.  Give Detroit to Chicago I-90 or I-92.  No real reason to use one number.

[SkyPesos]

My top 3 weird routes - one state, one US, and one interstate:

OH-37.  Winding through the hills of SE Ohio, skirts north of Columbus, then turns north through the flat farmlands.
US-68. Does this really need to be a 2 digit route?  Does it really need to be one route?
I-94.  Should have ended in Milwaukee.  Give Detroit to Chicago I-90 or I-92.  No real reason to use one number.

I completely dismantled I-94 except the Lake Station-Port Huron portion in my fictional map.

[Mike2357]

OK guys , maybe not 581, but definitely 381

[Flint1979]

My top 3 weird routes - one state, one US, and one interstate:

OH-37.  Winding through the hills of SE Ohio, skirts north of Columbus, then turns north through the flat farmlands.
US-68. Does this really need to be a 2 digit route?  Does it really need to be one route?
I-94.  Should have ended in Milwaukee.  Give Detroit to Chicago I-90 or I-92.  No real reason to use one number.

You're going to use an I-x0 for a short 300 mile Detroit to Chicago route?

[CardInLex]

I've said it before but KY 620 is a spiral. With one of its endpoints, at US 25, being between two other junctions of US 25.

Can't post a direct link but if you click here set your prefix to be "KY"  and the number to be "620"  to see it highlighted.

https://maps.kytc.ky.gov/generalhighway/

[hotdogPi]

My top 3 weird routes - one state, one US, and one interstate:

OH-37.  Winding through the hills of SE Ohio, skirts north of Columbus, then turns north through the flat farmlands.
US-68. Does this really need to be a 2 digit route?  Does it really need to be one route?
I-94.  Should have ended in Milwaukee.  Give Detroit to Chicago I-90 or I-92.  No real reason to use one number.

You're going to use an I-x0 for a short 300 mile Detroit to Chicago route?

No. 90 would be Seattle to Detroit, and 92 would be Cleveland to Boston (or if that's too long, extend 86 and 88, and have 92 from Erie to Albany).

[formulanone]

I've said it before but KY 620 is a spiral. With one of its endpoints, at US 25, being between two other junctions of US 25.

Okay, that's a unique one; it's not a partial "beltway", or three-legged Y-route, but it's definitely a spiral.

[Mike2357]

I've said it before but KY 620 is a spiral. With one of its endpoints, at US 25, being between two other junctions of US 25.

Can't post a direct link but if you click here set your prefix to be "KY"  and the number to be "620"  to see it highlighted.

https://maps.kytc.ky.gov/generalhighway/

Nice, yo that is cool. That is the kind of material I want in this thread, I gotta take a trip there just to drive on that 😍

[Flint1979]

My top 3 weird routes - one state, one US, and one interstate:

OH-37.  Winding through the hills of SE Ohio, skirts north of Columbus, then turns north through the flat farmlands.
US-68. Does this really need to be a 2 digit route?  Does it really need to be one route?
I-94.  Should have ended in Milwaukee.  Give Detroit to Chicago I-90 or I-92.  No real reason to use one number.

You're going to use an I-x0 for a short 300 mile Detroit to Chicago route?

No. 90 would be Seattle to Detroit, and 92 would be Cleveland to Boston (or if that's too long, extend 86 and 88, and have 92 from Erie to Albany).

I-90 going to Boston makes the most sense though it gives it the coast to coast route. Sometimes geographical things get in the way it looks like I-94 was meant to go across the lake but of course the lake is too wide so you have to go around it. But then again I-94 on the west side of the lake lines up more with I-96 on the east side of the lake. Still though it takes a jog around the lake and possibly meant to be a Detroit-Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities route.

[Flint1979]

I've said it before but KY 620 is a spiral. With one of its endpoints, at US 25, being between two other junctions of US 25.

Can't post a direct link but if you click here set your prefix to be "KY"  and the number to be "620"  to see it highlighted.

https://maps.kytc.ky.gov/generalhighway/

Now that is one of the strangest routes I have ever seen.

And I just realized that I stayed at the Motel 6 at the I-75 exit in February of this year.

[Mike2357]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

[Flint1979]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

I know at the I-75 exit it's signed east and west.

[Mike2357]

Wonder what they label the directions?

Inward/Outward or Clockwise/CounterClockwise?

I know at the I-75 exit it's signed east and west.

And if the reason is terrain (that would explain 3/4 of a circle but not a spiral shape) then it is also going up and down and should be designated up/down. So it's actually a 3d spiral...