XY Challenge

[xonhulu]

December 21: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 7 in the tens place and the other route has a 8 in the tens place.

OR 74 and I-84, Heppner Jct, OR:



I-70 and US 89, Richfield, UT:

[wanderer2575]

December 21: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 7 in the tens place and the other route has an 8 in the tens place.

Termini of M-83 southbound and M-54 northbound at I-75 in Birch Run, MI:


I-75 northbound at OH-81 in Lima, OH:


US-78 westbound at I-285 east of Decatur, GA:

[formulanone]

I-480 At US 75 in Omaha:



Florida 80 at I-75 in Fort Meyers:



I-81 at New York 370 near Syracuse:

[Jim]

December 22: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 7 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

Connecticut 75 and I-91.  April 11, 2019.



I-90 and New York 179.  March 1, 2025.



I-70, Missouri 291, and I-470.  July 20, 2003.

[74/171FAN]

December 22: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 7 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

I-295 and NJ 73 in the Camden area.

NJ 73 NORTH AT I-295 NORTH by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[paulthemapguy]

December 22: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 7 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

I-90 at MT-78


MT-I-90X408W by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-77 at SC-97


SC-I-77X055N by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-74 at IL-97


IL-I-74X054W by Paul Across America, on Flickr

The rest of this season:
December 23: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 8 in the tens place.
December 24: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 8 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.
December 25: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 9 in the tens place.

If people don't want to post on Christmas, I welcome catch-up posts in the few days after Christmas for 8-9 and 9-9.

[formulanone]

I-97 at Maryland 178:



You get onto Massachusetts 70 for a split second to meet I-290 from MA 9 in Wooster:



Wisconsin 73 ends at I-90/39 in Edgerton:

[wanderer2575]

December 22: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 7 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

I-90 at OH-175 in Euclid, OH:


I-79 northbound a mile before PA-290 in Erie, PA:

[paulthemapguy]

With only a week and a half left of this year, I would like to take this opportunity to rehash what I'm thinking of for 2026. This will all start on January 1. If anyone has any suggestions of what we can use as criteria for deciding the digits, feel free to mention those in this thread.

SCHEDULE:

Within each two-month period, requested route types will remain consistent, and only the criteria for route numbers will change. Each two-month period, or "season" will start out at 0-0 (X=0 and Y=0), and the second digit (Y) will increase until it gets to 9. Next, we move to 1-1, and the second digit increases to 9. Then, we do 2-2 to 2-9, then 3-3 to 3-9, then 4-4 to 4-9, etc. As there are 55 possible combinations of two digits (without reversal/repetition), this will go on for 55 days.

Season 1, in January and February, 2026: I specify the ones digits, and you post the junction of any two routes in your state bordering your state with those ones digits.*
Season 2, in March and April, 2026: I specify the tens digits, and you post the junction of any two routes in your state bordering your state with those tens digits.
Season 3, in May and June, 2026: I specify the ones digits, and you post the junction of a US highway and a state highway whose numbers have those ones digits.
Season 4, in July and August, 2026: I specify the tens digits, and you post the junction of a US highway and a state highway whose numbers have those tens digits.
Season 5, in September and October, 2026: I specify the ones digits, and you post an expressway interchange where the expressway's number ends in one digit, and the exit number ends in the other digit.
Season 6, in November and December, 2026: I specify the tens digits, and you post expressway interchange where the expressway's number has one digit in the tens place, and the exit number has the other digit in the tens place.

*-The word "province" or "territory" can be substituted for the word "state" at any point in the rules. If you are in a state/province that borders fewer than 5 other states or provinces, you can post from any of the 5 states or territories whose geographical center is closest to yours.

"Expressway" is a word commonly used where I'm from, because my area is a hodge-podge of freeways and tollways. Thus, people wanted a word that included both freeways and tollways in the same category. The use of the word "expressway" is meant to indicate that any freeways and tollways are valid.

If the challenge for seasons 3 and 4 seems too easy, let me know a different idea and I'll consider replacing it. I want to keep things fairly easy to increase participation, but I don't want it to be so easy that the game isn't fun.

[xonhulu]

December 23: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 8 in the tens place.

I-84 and OR 86, Baker City, OR:



BL-84 and ID 81, Burley, ID:

[74/171FAN]

December 23: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 8 in the tens place.

PA 181 and I-83 in North York.

PA 181 NORTH AT I-83 NORTH AND SKYVIEW DR (2) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[Jim]

I-81, New York 481, and for now, I-481.  April 3, 2025.



I-80 and Wyoming 789.  August 1, 2022.




California 85 and I-280.  July 26, 2007.

[formulanone]

I-180 and US 85 in Cheyenne, Wyoming:



I-280 at California 87 in San Jose:



I-80/15 approaches US 89 near Salt Lake City:

[paulthemapguy]

December 23: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 8 in the tens place.

I-80 and Illinois 82


IL-I-80X019E by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-83 at PA-581


PA-I-83X41AW by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-84 at Oregon 86


OR-I-84X302E by Paul Across America, on Flickr

The rest of this season:
December 24: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 8 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.
December 25: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 9 in the tens place.

[xonhulu]

December 24: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 8 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

I-84 and US 197, The Dalles, OR:



I-84 and US 395, Stanfield, OR:



I-80 and US 93, Wells, NV:

[74/171FAN]

December 24: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 8 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

PA 191 and I-84 south of Hamlin.

PA 191 NORTH AT I-84 WEST by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[Jim]

I-80, Nebraska 92, and I-680.  July 19, 2015.



Wisconsin 81 and I-90.  July 29, 2010.



I-81 and Pennsylvania 492.  October 25, 2025.

[formulanone]

US 81 (I-29) at I-94 in Fargo, North Dakota:



New York 384 at I-290 near Buffalo:



I-385 at South Carolina 291 in Greenville:

[paulthemapguy]

December 24: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where one route has a 8 in the tens place and the other route has a 9 in the tens place.

I-90 at Montana 85, which can whisk you away to Serbia or the Netherlands:


MT-I-90X298W by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-280 at Illinois 92


IL-I-280X11W by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-196 at Michigan 89


MI-I-196X34N by Paul Across America, on Flickr

Tomorrow: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes involved have a number with a 9 in the tens place.

January 1: Post a junction of two numbered highways in a state or province that adjoins yours, where both routes involved end in 0.

For the May-August 2026 challenge, I was thinking of changing it to "Oops all concurrencies!" with no geographical restrictions. This would replace the "US route meets state route" challenge. What do people think of that?

[wanderer2575]

Another view of M-89 at I-196 west of Fennville:


OH-84 (with OH-193) at I-90 in Kingsville, OH:


I-94 westbound at MN-280 in St. Paul, MN:

[74/171FAN]

Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes involved have a number with a 9 in the tens place.

I-95 and VA 294 in Woodbridge.

I-95 NORTH NEAR VA 294 (EXITS 158A-B) (2) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[Jim]

New York 390, I-390, and I-490.  August 14, 2016.



I-91 and Connecticut 190.  April 23, 2005.



Maryland 295 and I-895.  July 7, 2025.

[xonhulu]

December 25: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes have a number with an 9 in the tens place.

I-90 and US 191, Livingston, MT:



I=90 and US 195, Spokane, WA:



Surprised I don't have more of these.

[formulanone]

I-90 and US 97 join near Ellensburg, Washington:



I-94 at M-199 near Albion, Michigan:



Illinois 390 at I-290 approaching Chicago O'Hare Airport:

[paulthemapguy]

December 25: Post the junction of an Interstate highway and a route of a different type, where both routes involved have a number with a 9 in the tens place.

I-94 at M-99


MI-I-94X124E by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-295 at Maine 196


ME-I-295X31N by Paul Across America, on Flickr

I-90 at ID-97


ID-I-90X22W by Paul Across America, on Flickr

That concludes Season 6! Season 7 will begin on January 1.

The next few days with a specific challenge will be:
January 1: Post the junction of two routes in a state* adjacent to yours, where both routes have numbers ending in 0.
January 2: Post the junction of two routes in a state* adjacent to yours, where one route has a number ending in 0, and the other route has a number ending in 1.
January 3: Post the junction of two routes in a state* adjacent to yours, where one route has a number ending in 0, and the other route has a number ending in 2.

*-The word "state" can be interpreted to refer to any political region that is in the broadest category of subdivisions just below the national level. A state that borders yours counts, and a province that borders yours counts, whether you yourself live in a state or province. If your state, province, or similar counterpart doesn't share a land border with more than 5 other similar political regions, you are allowed to post from the 5 closest political regions whose geographical centers are closest to your city.