Pointless Termini

[agentsteel53]

I-74 has many pointless termini.  it should not show up as a route number east of Cincinnati.

[Dr Frankenstein]

A-10 abruptly ending in the middle of a multiplex with A-55 as the freeway continues as A-55 only. Why not end A-10 as it reaches A-55?

[SSOWorld]

Many state highways have pointless termini.  WIS 32 has lots of pointless multiplexes - even from Three Lakes to Michigan - along US 45 where it ends there, not in Three Lakes.  WIS-101 follows WIS 70 to US 2 where both terminate, WIS 441 has US 10 on it (though this is legit cause it's a "phantom 3Di" to US 41)

WIS 241 and WIS 24 end at each other on their north ends - at no other route.  WIS 24 ends at the Milwaukee county line but the road continues as CTH L in Waukesha county.  WIS 107's north end is at a County highway (which used to be US 51)

[SEWIGuy]

Also in Wisconsin, WI-182 and WI-47 duplex with one another the last few miles before intersecting with US-51 just south of Manitowish.

WIS 241 and WIS 24 end at each other on their north ends - at no other route. 

Yeah, but you know the history behind that.  It's not like one could logically displace the other.

[Quillz]

Has CA-164 been mentioned yet? It's an unsigned route that is wholly within CA-19, which means both its north and south termini are part of a longer route that follows the exact same path. Never quite understood the point of the route. (CA-77, an unsigned Bay Area highway, is fairly similar in that it's part of a longer Route 61 definition.)

[mightyace]

^^^

To me, an unsigned highway designation doesn't exist for all practical purposes.

[Quillz]

I would agree. But I do believe that section of highway continues to receive funding as CA-164, similar to funding for the unsigned CA-51.

[english si]

We have lots of occasions where a road will extend over another in order to end on a more major road (and in the UK, multiplexes only normally carry one number, normally with the other number being shown as "To", via the use of brackets) - my favourite is the A418 multiplexing with the A40, to end on the A40, though that's far from pointless. The A290 and A257 extending over the A2050 (old A2) to meet the A28 count as pointless in my book - it's about 50 yards in each case.

[golden eagle]

I-8 shouldn't end west of I-5 in San Diego.

[Roadgeek Adam]

PA 371 & PA 374 deserve mention here, and PennDOT's predecessor is partially to blame. PA 371 originally went from New Milford PA to its current eastern terminus on the Cochecton - Damascus Bridge over the Delaware River. (When it was designated in 1936.)  When the route was truncated back to PA 70 (current day PA 171) in Union Dale in 1954, it left the current-day alignment from Union Dale - New Milford not designated. Low and behold just seven years later, PA 374 and PA 848 are designated on the old alignments of PA 371 (PA 374 only from Lyon Street to well...). There's just one slight problem with PA 374's designation. When they instated the designation they decided that PA 374 would end at PA 171 in Union Dale (renumbered the same year from 70), at the same exact intersection where PA 371 terminates! So even now, 50 years after this really poor choice in decision-making, the routes are the exact same way.

It shouldn't be surprising since its PennDOT and PennDOH, but what can you do. Here's some photos to really hit the nail into this failure:

PA 374 side:


PA 371 side: (No end sign is present at this side of the intersection)

One was however once present: http://www.state-ends.com/paends/state/371.html
It looks like they just axed off the END 371 sign from the same post.

This could easily just be solved by extending 371 back over 374 to 374's current western terminus, or vice-versa, but because its PennDOT, you know that won't happen.

[dave19]

More PA oddities:
For many, many years, the northern terminus of PA 981 was the southern terminus of PA 156 and vice versa.

When US 219 was relocated onto the bypass of Ebensburg, the northern terminus of PA 160 was not moved. Now neither terminus of PA 160 is at a signed PA or US route.

The western terminus of PA 56 is at a bridge over the Allegheny River.

[PAHighways]

The best of the rest (excluding some of the four digit county routes which have really odd ends):

PA 27's western terminus:  SR 1001 in Meadville just blocks north of US 322 and US 6/US 19
PA 28's southern terminus:  Anderson Street in Pittsburgh even though it now connects directly to I-279
PA 39's western terminus:  SR 3009 in Lucknow where it used to end at US 22/US 322 before those were moved to the expressway
PA 114's eastern terminus:  SR 1003 at the entrance to the Capital City Airport
PA 184's eastern terminus:  Steam Mill Road in Steam Valley just feet east of US 15
PA 283's western terminus:  Eisenhower Boulevard in Highspire just feet west of I-283
PA 308's northern terminus:  SR 3013 in Pearl where it ended at PA 8 before it was moved to the expressway
PA 441's northern terminus:  Paxton Street in Harrisburg which was originally US 322/US 422
PA 443's western terminus:  SR 3009 in Fort Hunter where it ended at US 22/US 322 before those were moved to the expressway
PA 553's western terminus:  SR 4004 in Upper Strausburg
PA 910's eastern terminus:  SR 1001 in Harmerville which was PA 28 before the Allegheny Valley Expressway was built

[Quillz]

There are some other CA highways that come to mind, such as CA-91 and CA-133, that, for all intent and purposes, terminate at CA-1, except they legally don't, because a city or town will relinquish the final section of the highway. In some cases, these highways did terminate properly at another numbered highway, but then later on had their legal definition changed.

[mightyace]

The best of the rest (excluding some of the four digit county routes which have really odd ends):

PA 27's western terminus:  SR 1001 in Meadville just blocks north of US 322 and US 6/US 19
PA 28's southern terminus:  Anderson Street in Pittsburgh even though it now connects directly to I-279
PA 39's western terminus:  SR 3009 in Lucknow where it used to end at US 22/US 322 before those were moved to the expressway
PA 184's eastern terminus:  Steam Mill Road in Steam Valley just feet east of US 15
PA 283's western terminus:  Eisenhower Boulevard in Highspire just feet west of I-283
PA 308's northern terminus:  SR 3013 in Pearl where it ended at PA 8 before it was moved to the expressway
PA 441's northern terminus:  Paxton Street in Harrisburg which was originally US 322/US 422
PA 443's western terminus:  SR 3009 in Fort Hunter where it ended at US 22/US 322 before those were moved to the expressway
PA 910's eastern terminus:  SR 1001 in Harmerville which was PA 28 before the Allegheny Valley Expressway was built

At least they made sense at some time...

Anyway, how many of these are signed past their logical termini?  For example, is PA 443 still signed west of the US 22/322 expressway?

[PAHighways]

They are still indicated as such on the county and Vidlog maps as well as on Pennsylvania State Route Ends.

[OracleUsr]

How about the west end of US 264?  It's last 17 miles are mulitplexed with US 64 to I-440.  It should either end at Us 64 near Zebulon or exit to what is now 64 Business (old 64 before the Bypass opened) so they don't overlap.  The east end of 264 used to also be overlapped with 64 to go over the Sound to Manteo where they both ended at US 158 (which also ended there).  Now they cut the east end back to where they intersect west of the Virginia Dare Bridge.

Another pointless termini is US 401.  It used to end at US 1 in Norlina.  Recently it was extended north along US 1 to end at I-85 (NC Exit 233).

I've got one more, which is as much a mulitplex question as anything else.  NC 24 and 27 are mulitplexed from Charlotte all the way to near Fayetteville, over 100 miles.  Add to this, that at the east end, NC 27 ends in Benson, while NC 24 goes all the way to US 70 at Morehead City.  On the west end, 24 used to end where 24 and 27 met US 74 (while 27 continued west), but a few years ago, 24 was extended along Harriis Blvd. to end at I-77.  Could this long mulitplex be elimininated?  Why not end 24 at 27 near Fayetteville (leving only the east section), or kill 27 and renumber the existing 27 west of Charlotte to be 24.  Of course, this is now pointless since 24 was extended over Harris Blvd., but that could have been another number and still ended 24 near Fayetteville.

While we're at it, do Us 74 and 76 both have to mulitplex east into and thru Wilmington so they can terminate at opposite ends of Wrightsville Beach (74 on the north and 76 on the south).  Seems like one US route would have been enough to go over the causeway.  Oh wait, I forgot they take separate routes (74 on MLK and 76 via Oleander) through Wilmington before they meet up just before the drawbridge.

Speaking of which, anyone notice the mathematical error for the US 64/264 split in Zebulon?  The exit is Exit 436, which, as you said, is 17 miles away from US 264's terminus at the beltway...but US 64 East is Exit 19 off US 264 west...

[Henry]

They should've ended I-55 at I-90/I-94 instead of Lake Shore Drive...

[Brandon]

They should've ended I-55 at I-90/I-94 instead of Lake Shore Drive...

Why?  LSD is a very important road and a major US highway.

[Henry]

They should've ended I-55 at I-90/I-94 instead of Lake Shore Drive...

Why?  LSD is a very important road and a major US highway.

True, but the least they could've done was put up an "END I-55" sign at I-90/I-94 and sign the stub past it as "TO US 41", with an additional sign informing motorists that "I-55 ENDS AT I-90/I-94". Kind of similar to what they did with I-70 on the eastern end, once it was clear that it would not go into Baltimore, so they ended it at I-695 instead.

[TheStranger]

They should've ended I-55 at I-90/I-94 instead of Lake Shore Drive...

Why?  LSD is a very important road and a major US highway.

True, but the least they could've done was put up an "END I-55" sign at I-90/I-94 and sign the stub past it as "TO US 41", with an additional sign informing motorists that "I-55 ENDS AT I-90/I-94". Kind of similar to what they did with I-70 on the eastern end, once it was clear that it would not go into Baltimore, so they ended it at I-695 instead.

Why end I-55 a full mile from where the carriageway ends?

A counter-example to this:  in 1968, with the cancellation of the Western Freeway, I-80 was truncated from an unbuilt terminus in Golden Gate Park in SF to US 101 in the South of Market neighborhood, yet due to a quirk in the language of this change, the official Interstate designation actually began at the now-demolished Route 480 junction (and still remains there to this day).  CalTrans has since always signed the start of I-80 at US 101, even if technically the entire San Francisco Skyway segment hasn't "been an interstate" since then.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Kind of similar to what they did with I-70 on the eastern end, once it was clear that it would not go into Baltimore, so they ended it at I-695 instead.

Actually, I-70's stub end is signed as I-70 east from I-695. However, there is a "freeway ends" sign just past the I-695 interchange.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.299436,-76.742978&spn=0,0.019248&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.299796,-76.743017&panoid=7e0lczq4b5tlTCKVizgfPg&cbp=12,12.49,,0,-2.51

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.302408,-76.742527&spn=0,0.019248&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.302301,-76.742583&panoid=tCFdw_Ynn_LWuSMH5ee9zQ&cbp=12,15,,0,2.71

[mightyace]

These last few posts about where an Interstate Highway, not surprisingly, show a difference between those of us who frequent forums like this and the general motoring public.

I doubt that motorists really care whether or not a 2di Interstate ends at another interstate or not.  Many (most) odd 3di's end at a non-interstate highway and, if they even think of it at all, ending a 2di not at an interstate isn't an issue either.

So, why not end an Interstate where it makes logical sense?  Ending I-55 as Lake Shore Drive (US 41) IMHO makes much more sense than ending it at I-90/94.

This is, naturally, much more likely to occur at the ocean coasts or at the edge of the great lakes.

[Henry]

These last few posts about where an Interstate Highway, not surprisingly, show a difference between those of us who frequent forums like this and the general motoring public.

I doubt that motorists really care whether or not a 2di Interstate ends at another interstate or not.  Many (most) odd 3di's end at a non-interstate highway and, if they even think of it at all, ending a 2di not at an interstate isn't an issue either.

So, why not end an Interstate where it makes logical sense?  Ending I-55 as Lake Shore Drive (US 41) IMHO makes much more sense than ending it at I-90/94.

This is, naturally, much more likely to occur at the ocean coasts or at the edge of the great lakes.

Well, I take it all back. Glad you cleared it up.

[WNYroadgeek]

NY 14's northern "terminus" is a cul-de-sac: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Sodus+Point,+NY&aq=0&sll=43.260519,-76.973219&sspn=0.032753,0.055189&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sodus+Point,+Wayne,+New+York&ll=43.266308,-76.973423&spn=0.004094,0.006899&t=k&z=17

[agentsteel53]

one of the more idiotic terminate-in-a-cul-de-sac roads is the business "loop" of 99 through Pixley, CA:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=pixley+CA&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.323858,68.466797&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Pixley,+Tulare,+California&ll=35.974412,-119.294368&spn=0.003777,0.008358&t=h&z=17

yeah, you try getting back onto the freeway northbound there.