Strange Route Termini

[pderocco]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Among other Arizona state routes that have you asking "why does it end here" are AZ 66 (east end), AZ 77 (north end), AZ 99 (both ends), AZ 266, and AZ 288.  The common terminus of AZ 84 and AZ 387 in Casa Grande is a bit suspect; shouldn't AZ 84 continue east to meet AZ 287 at I-10?  Why isn't AZ 87's south terminus at I-10?  Why does US 191 terminate at AZ 80 but a "Business US 191", disconnected from US 191, heads south from AZ 80 to the International border in Douglas?  And what about AZ 210 in Tucson?  It doesn't connect to another route at either end or anyplace along its length.

I also have an issue with the west end of AZ 80 in Benson.  If you have to post an exit sign on I-10 that says "Business I-10 to AZ 80", why not just sign AZ 80 the extra couple of miles it would take to reach I-10?

I was thinking about AZ-288, too. But the signs say that's where state maintenance ends, so that's probably also the case with other roads, even if not so signed. My question is, why does the state maintain the southern 50 miles of AZ-288, which is mostly dirt road, but not the northern 20? It's not like the route ends at the boundary of an Indian reservation, or a county, or a National Forest. (Exciting road, though.)

[Max Rockatansky]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Among other Arizona state routes that have you asking "why does it end here" are AZ 66 (east end), AZ 77 (north end), AZ 99 (both ends), AZ 266, and AZ 288.  The common terminus of AZ 84 and AZ 387 in Casa Grande is a bit suspect; shouldn't AZ 84 continue east to meet AZ 287 at I-10?  Why isn't AZ 87's south terminus at I-10?  Why does US 191 terminate at AZ 80 but a "Business US 191", disconnected from US 191, heads south from AZ 80 to the International border in Douglas?  And what about AZ 210 in Tucson?  It doesn't connect to another route at either end or anyplace along its length.

I also have an issue with the west end of AZ 80 in Benson.  If you have to post an exit sign on I-10 that says "Business I-10 to AZ 80", why not just sign AZ 80 the extra couple of miles it would take to reach I-10?

Both terminus points of AZ 99 are disconnected from other state highways. The terminus south of Winslow becomes a Forest Service Route.  The north terminus ends at BIA 15.  With the southern terminus I believe there was once intent to continue AZ 99 all the way south to AZ 260. 

[JayhawkCO]

IMO, I think Colorado is #1 in strange termini placement. 

It's rare for CDOT to denote official ENDS of routes..even RARER to label ENDS of routes that don't really end:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/K7GU1jEd3gE3emrr9?g_st=ac

And the opposite as well, as this BEGIN US36 sign on the Boulder Highway shows.

[Max Rockatansky]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Among other Arizona state routes that have you asking "why does it end here" are AZ 66 (east end), AZ 77 (north end), AZ 99 (both ends), AZ 266, and AZ 288.  The common terminus of AZ 84 and AZ 387 in Casa Grande is a bit suspect; shouldn't AZ 84 continue east to meet AZ 287 at I-10?  Why isn't AZ 87's south terminus at I-10?  Why does US 191 terminate at AZ 80 but a "Business US 191", disconnected from US 191, heads south from AZ 80 to the International border in Douglas?  And what about AZ 210 in Tucson?  It doesn't connect to another route at either end or anyplace along its length.

I also have an issue with the west end of AZ 80 in Benson.  If you have to post an exit sign on I-10 that says "Business I-10 to AZ 80", why not just sign AZ 80 the extra couple of miles it would take to reach I-10?

I was thinking about AZ-288, too. But the signs say that's where state maintenance ends, so that's probably also the case with other roads, even if not so signed. My question is, why does the state maintain the southern 50 miles of AZ-288, which is mostly dirt road, but not the northern 20? It's not like the route ends at the boundary of an Indian reservation, or a county, or a National Forest. (Exciting road, though.)

I still find it fascinating that Young didn't get electricity until 1965.  I stayed up there a couple times before the community got Internet and cellular service.

[SkyPesos]

Not as strange as MO 85, but I'll add MO 109 in the St Louis area here

Both ends are at supplemental routes: Route CC in the north, and Routes FF/W in the south. The north end is only about 3-4 miles (depending on the routing you take around the Chesterfield Airport) to I-64/US 40, which makes more sense as a northern terminus than the current location.

[zzcarp]

Let me add a few more.

In Grayling, Michigan, there is Highway M-93. Both of its termini could be considered strange (definitely dangling). It begins at the Camp Grayling security gate southwest of town, heads north to M-72, then into downtown Grayling where it joins BL I-75. After crossing I-75 it goes about 3 miles to its terminus at a seemingly random spot north of the entrances to the Hardwick Pines State Park. The road continues as Hardwick Pines Road.

The east end of Ohio 163 is on the Marblehead peninsula in Lake Erie. Instead of ending at the ferry docks in Marblehead, the highway goes east to the end of the peninsula and then follows the shore to the south before turning west (reverse its cardinal direction) to the intersection of Bayshore Drive and Hartshorn Road. Bayshore drive continues west back towards Port Clinton, and Hartshorn Drive goes about 2 miles north from there to end at OH 163 west of Marblehead.

West of Marblehead, the north end of OH 269 is just north of the exit to East Harbor State Park.

[GaryV]

Grayling, Michigan, there is Highway M-93. //snip// it goes about 3 miles to its terminus at a seemingly random spot north of the entrances to the Hardwick Pines State Park.

That dirt track to the left is a former entrance to the park.

[bugo]

Not as strange as MO 85, but I'll add MO 109 in the St Louis area here

Both ends are at supplemental routes: Route CC in the north, and Routes FF/W in the south.

I'm looking at the August, 2011 St Louis County map from MoDOT, and it shows MO 109 ending at I-44 in Eureka and Route W heading south from that interchange.The latest St. Louis metro inset of the MoDOT official highway map is inconclusive. The signs on the I-44 offramps show MO 109 heading to the north and south, all the way back to September, 2008. Was MO 109 extended after this map was published?

[mapman1071]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Mobile use to be a rural settlement and is now a neighborhood in the city of Goodyear

[Max Rockatansky]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Mobile use to be a rural settlement and is now a neighborhood in the city of Goodyear

It never was much more than a railroad siding...

[Rothman]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Mobile use to be a rural settlement and is now a neighborhood in the city of Goodyear

It never was much more than a railroad siding...

So...it wasn't just a clever name, then?

[Max Rockatansky]

AZ 238 ends at the small community of Mobile west of Maricopa.  There is a substantial dump site but not much else in Mobile.  The road continues west of Mobile now as Maricopa County Route 238 and was only modernized this century.  It used to be a haggard and poorly maintained dirt road west to Gila Bend.

Mobile use to be a rural settlement and is now a neighborhood in the city of Goodyear

It never was much more than a railroad siding...

So...it wasn't just a clever name, then?

My understanding is that it was founded by African Americans from a railroad property easement in the 1930s.  They named it after Mobile, Alabama, but it never really took off.  I want to say that the siding (Southern Pacific) had a different name previously, but I'll have to do some digging to find it.

Edit:  Seems the siding was always called Mobile.  It appears here on a 1920 George F. Cram map between Buchan and Enid:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~350249~90117754:Arizona?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&mi=1&trs=2&qvq=q:arizona%20road%201920;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1

[Scott5114]

OK-37 randomly ends at the intersection with Sunnylane Rd on the border of Moore and Oklahoma City instead of continuing another mile to end at OK-77H (Sooner Rd).

Doesn't sound random to me.

The terminus had nothing to do with city limits; it was where it was because another state highway used to run through the intersection where it ended. That other highway was moved to be a mile farther away, but the OK-37 terminus stayed the same.

In any case, OK-37 was truncated a few years ago to I-44, so that terminus is moot. (The truncation happened when I still lived in Oklahoma but they had yet to remove the signs by the time I left.)

[SkyPesos]

Not as strange as MO 85, but I'll add MO 109 in the St Louis area here

Both ends are at supplemental routes: Route CC in the north, and Routes FF/W in the south.

I'm looking at the August, 2011 St Louis County map from MoDOT, and it shows MO 109 ending at I-44 in Eureka and Route W heading south from that interchange.The latest St. Louis metro inset of the MoDOT official highway map is inconclusive. The signs on the I-44 offramps show MO 109 heading to the north and south, all the way back to September, 2008. Was MO 109 extended after this map was published?

[img snipped]

I'm not sure about it myself either. MO 109's southern terminus used to be at I-44 as there wasn't a bridge across the Meramec River. Wiki mentioned the bridge being finished in 1974, but not when MO 109 replaced Route W across the bridge.

Side effect of the old routing was that since lettered routes can be duplicated across county lines, that means St Louis County used to have its own Route W as a direct continuation of Route W in Jefferson County.

[kphoger]

MoDOT's AADT map labels the whole thing down to FF/W as "MO 109".

[Rothman]

MoDOT's AADT map labels the whole thing down to FF/W as "MO 109".

Haven't checked it recently, but they had a strange southern terminus of I-170 about a year ago on that GIS application...

[kphoger]

Haven't checked it recently, but they had a strange southern terminus of I-170 about a year ago on that GIS application...

It shows that it ends at Eager Road—right at this [END ST. LOUIS COUNTY MAINTENANCE] sign.

[Rothman]

Haven't checked it recently, but they had a strange southern terminus of I-170 about a year ago on that GIS application...

It shows that it ends at Eager Road—right at this [END ST. LOUIS COUNTY MAINTENANCE] sign.

You'd think so, but there's other evidence that the route ends at the 1A/1B split rather than by exit 1C.  My email to MoDOT on the matter went unanswered.  Truth be told, it's all NHPP eligible, so there's little reason for them to care.

Thought that little conversation happened here on the Forum, but it may have been Facebook. I just don't have the stamina to deal with the search function today.