Daily conversation: What is the worst possible answer?

[kphoger]

An orange light, during which drivers may purchase tamales.

LOL, in multiple waves.  Bravo!

[kkt]

A blue light, during which something is on sale cheap at K-Mart.

[freebrickproductions]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

[1995hoo]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They select the highways with the lowest amount of traffic under the reasoning that the lack of traffic means fewer tires in those roads, which in turn means those roads are the least likely to have contact with rubber.

Edited to add: In certain states with highly religious populations, however, the authorities figure out which roads have the least pleasant driving experience in terms of up- and downhill grades and smooth stops and starts. Those roads get the children because they have no rhythm.

[GaryV]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

It is a complex process that they cannot fully control. They try their best, by issuing marriage licenses and regulating adoption agencies. But Interstates will be Interstates, and sometimes they will procreate outside the bounds of state oversight.

[Max Rockatansky]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They don't decide at all.  Rather the DOTs have incentives for the Interstates to have two child routes or less.  Problem is in Interstate society male child routes are desired more than female child routes.  This has led to numerous female child routes being sent to orphanages to be adopted by State Highways.

[PColumbus73]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

Depends on the city, if an interstate stops in a city and has a good time, they may want to settle down and have a kid. If the atmosphere is off or if the city bums it out, the interstate won't bother.

For example, Phoenix, AZ is too hot and boring to set the mood for either I-10 and I-17 to have kids, meanwhile I-15 had a great time partying in Las Vegas and had two kids, with one growing up to be I-11.

[xonhulu]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They don't. It's all up to the Interstork.

[Big John]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

If the road is misdesigned so vehicles fall off the road, it would be a miscarriage and no child.

[Scott5114]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They don't decide at all.  Rather the DOTs have incentives for the Interstates to have two child routes or less.  Problem is in Interstate society male even child routes are desired more than female odd child routes.  This has led to numerous female odd child routes being sent to orphanages to be adopted by State Highways.

[kphoger]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

By coming together with other state DOTs to form the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering, as part of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.  Then, when an individual state DOT submits a request for a specific number for a child Interstate, the committee as a whole gets the opportunity to deliberate and decide that, no, actually, the child looks more like the other parent—especially the shoulders.

They don't decide at all.  Rather the DOTs have incentives for the Interstates to have two child routes or less.  Problem is in Interstate society male even child routes are desired more than female odd child routes.  This has led to numerous female odd child routes being sent to orphanages to be adopted by State Highways.

Wow!  Sometimes great minds think alike.  And, other times, so do ours.

[JayhawkCO]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They look at their credit score.

[Max Rockatansky]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They don't decide at all.  Rather the DOTs have incentives for the Interstates to have two child routes or less.  Problem is in Interstate society male even child routes are desired more than female odd child routes.  This has led to numerous female odd child routes being sent to orphanages to be adopted by State Highways.

Let me sure I got this right.

Even numbered highway = penis
Odd numbered highway = vagina

[kphoger]

Let me sure I got this right.

Even numbered highway = penis
Odd numbered highway = vagina

That's the way I learned it growing up, in junior high sex ed class back in the '90s.

And there was also some stuff about stub ramps, partial interchanges, and whether it would be possible for (an as-yet hypothetical) I-69 to have any child routes.

[hotdogPi]

Let me sure I got this right.

Even numbered highway = penis
Odd numbered highway = vagina

Diagonal like I-4 = acts androgynous but still identifies with assignment at birth
Diagonal like I-85 (which is more east-west but signed north-south) = transgender
US 202 = nonbinary (do any 2dis do this?)
A single shield error for I-95 East in Connecticut = accidental misgendering

[kurumi]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

There's a research facility in Eugene, Oregon, whose findings the states make use of. The Eugene people make sure only the best interstates are allowed to have children, and inferior interstates are not. There's a term for this ideology that's based on the city's name. (Some detractors do not see the benefit.)

[kphoger]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

The so-called "Brown Tables", as found on pages 131–185 of the AASHTO's publication Protocols for the Equitable Numbering of Interstate Sons (and Daughters), Vol. II.

By the way, the number choice for I-238 is consistent with Cycle 3, Table 1, III (on page 155).

Below is a snip from page 177:

[freebrickproductions]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

It is a complex process that they cannot fully control. They try their best, by issuing marriage licenses and regulating adoption agencies. But Interstates will be Interstates, and sometimes they will procreate outside the bounds of state oversight.

Is that where I-238 comes from?

[CoreySamson]

In Texas, the natural process of begetting interstate children has largely been made obsolete by the practice of cloning. To avoid confusion between the clones, the children get names ending in N, E, C, S, or W. They spearheaded this revolutionary practice using I-35 as a test trial, but since the practice has been made fully legal, I-69, I-14, and I-27 have applied for the procedure.

[ModernDayWarrior]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

By fathering the children themselves.

[paulthemapguy]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

Well, in order to get children, there must first be a father. In determining which Interstates get to be the father, it takes an experienced veteran, and this is why Maury Povich has been consulting with USDOT for years.

[Henry]

11-13-25:
How do state DOTs decide which Interstates should get children?

They rank the 2di's in order of importance, and usually, it's the 0s and 5s that get top priority, although it doesn't always go this way.

In Texas, the natural process of begetting interstate children has largely been made obsolete by the practice of cloning. To avoid confusion between the clones, the children get names ending in N, E, C, S, or W. They spearheaded this revolutionary practice using I-35 as a test trial, but since the practice has been made fully legal, I-69, I-14, and I-27 have applied for the procedure.

Well, MNDOT should get some credit on this as well, because they still have their own I-35 clones too.

[Scott5114]

They rank the 2di's in order of importance, and usually, it's the 0s and 5s that get top priority, although it doesn't always go this way.

Why is this the worst possible answer?

[freebrickproductions]

11-14-25:
What's the most congested interchange in the world and why?

[MikeTheActuary]

11-14-25:
What's the most congested interchange in the world and why?

The I-84 / CT72 interchange is congested much of the year because it, like most residents of the Farmington River Valley, suffers from the infamous problem of being allergic to all the pollen and mold in the air.