quote:

Originally posted by Riley:
Also, even numbered routes go east - west while odds go north - south.

Unless it is the DC Beltway, a north-south road that is I-95 on the east side of town, and I-495 on the west side of town. But it’s a circle, meaning at some points on your I-95 North trip you will actually drive east or west!!

PS. And don’t get me going on the topic of Glebe Road in Arlington.

Thinking that US-1 was started with an annex of the Flagler Railroad line.

(Of course, that is what they were saying at Flagler Beach, so...)

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
The stub that was the uncompleted I-95 route through the city became I-395 that peters out in the city

I ran across that little "stub" driving as a first time tourist in DC over 30 years ago. It abruptly ends and dumps you on New York Avenue. Let's just say back then it was anything but a tourist area and gentrification was an unknown concept. I quickly figured out how to get on I-395 southbound and vamoosed.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
The older US highway system is somewhat similarly arranged except that US Highway 1 is on the east coast and the numbers increase to the west (it looks like there is a Highway 101 in California) whereas the Interstate numbers are lowest on the west coast and increase to the east. Likewise, US highway numbers generally increase from north to south.

I always suspected reversing the order for the Interstates was deliberate.

The coastal highway in California is also known as Highway 1, although its official designation is State Route 1.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

Didn’t they also lay them out so that they could be used as emergency runways

I posted earlier about the myth of "one mile in every five" being usable as a runway.

I thought about it a bit more, and I do remember that when I first started to fly in the 1960s, there were a few primitive buy usable emergency landing strips along side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, in areas where the terrain was somewhat hostile in terms of finding a place for a forced landing.

That was well over fifty years ago. I have no idea whether these emergency facilities still exist.

The Interstate system is great, but I doubt that it’ll ever inspire a song as good as this one:

Chuck Berry, “Route 66”, 2:51 audio
https://youtu.be/tg2EbJy-9dc

Perhaps worth mentioning, the Interstate Highway System was built as a national defense project, and to this day US military traffic has absolute priority over any others.

A large military exercise involving motor transport would probably be more than any modern Karen could tolerate, and claims for compensation due to mental anguish would probably exceed the national budget.

I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus, Rollin' down highway 41.

Does that count?

My dad grew up in DC and was in high school when the beltway(495) was built and completed. He and his buddies would drag race at night on it because there was almost no traffic.

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
Louisville will really screw you up with I-264 and I-265 loops.

All this means is that you are going ‘2’ or towards I-64, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
The older US highway system is somewhat similarly arranged except that US Highway 1 is on the east coast and the numbers increase to the west (it looks like there is a Highway 101 in California) whereas the Interstate numbers are lowest on the west coast and increase to the east. Likewise, US highway numbers generally increase from north to south.

While living for 30 years in the DC area, I became a real fan of the old US Route system. Many of them parallel the Interstates, at least for part of their length. US 1 and I-95, for example. I became a fan of jumping off the Interstates for a more scenic ride on the US routes. US 11 was the old Maine to New Orleans route. It parallels I-81 in VA, and is called the Valley Pike for part of that stretch (Shenandoah Valley), and before becoming a US route it was a major route during the American Civil War, especially for Stonewall Jackson. US 15 and US 17 in VA are really nice routes to take. US 40 and US 50 were original cross country routes, from Atlantic City to San Francisco, and Ocean City to Sacramento, respectively. US 93 (on which I live) has a southern terminus in Wickenburg AZ and the northern end is the Canadian border. There is much to see along the old US routes, if you are not in a hurry.

quote:

Originally posted by M-11:

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
Louisville will really screw you up with I-264 and I-265 loops.

All this means is that you are going ‘2’ or towards I-64, etc.

Both are loops but neither actually completes a 360 due to the river. Being one digit difference confuses lots of travelers. 264 goes lots places in town and 265 is more of a sprawl bedazzled loop.
Maybe it’s mentioned but I’m sure 2xx are loops and 4xx are connectors into town.

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
Where is I29?

I see no one answered this but it starts in Kansas City and heads north to Omaha then up to Sioux City, then up the east edge of the Dakotas (through Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks etc) to the Canadian border.

quote:

Originally posted by Frenchy1004:

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
Where is I29?

I see no one answered this but it starts in Kansas City and heads north to Omaha then up to Sioux City, then up the east edge of the Dakotas (through Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks etc) to the Canadian border.

I've been on a piece of that one. Maybe I'll try and figure out how many different Interstates I've been on - short or long. Might overcome the boredom for a while.

quote:

Originally posted by Frenchy1004:

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
Where is I29?

I see no one answered this but it starts in Kansas City and heads north to Omaha then up to Sioux City, then up the east edge of the Dakotas (through Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks etc) to the Canadian border.

there is a Wikipedia article about each hiway. Where it starts, where it ends etc.

for example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_10

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
The older US highway system is somewhat similarly arranged except that US Highway 1 is on the east coast and the numbers increase to the west (it looks like there is a Highway 101 in California) whereas the Interstate numbers are lowest on the west coast and increase to the east. Likewise, US highway numbers generally increase from north to south.

I always suspected reversing the order for the Interstates was deliberate.

Interestingly, there is a Highway 1 right along the coast in CA. In places it is both Highway 1 and 101, in places 101 takes a more direct route while highway 1 follows the coastline. Perhaps this is a state Highway?

ETA: That didn’t take much of a google. Highway 1 in CA is a state route, not a US Highway.

Also, US 101 isn’t just in California, it stays near the coast from Los Angeles in southern CA, about 120 miles from the Mexican Border, through the rest of California, all of Oregon, and all of Washington to the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the water border between the US and Canada in the western part of Washington), then curls east and south and goes almost to Seattle.

It’s about 1500 miles long. I think I’ve driven most of the California part and all but about the northernmost 50 miles of the Oregon part.

It goes through some of the prettiest places I’ve ever been, but it’s not a highway make good time on. In some areas it is a limited-access divided freeway, but a whole lot of it is old-school surface highway with traffic lights (and sometimes stop signs!) and 30 mph speed limits as it winds through every little town.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
The older US highway system is somewhat similarly arranged except that US Highway 1 is on the east coast and the numbers increase to the west (it looks like there is a Highway 101 in California) whereas the Interstate numbers are lowest on the west coast and increase to the east. Likewise, US highway numbers generally increase from north to south.

I always suspected reversing the order for the Interstates was deliberate.

Interestingly, there is a Highway 1 right along the coast in CA. In places it is both Highway 1 and 101, in places 101 takes a more direct route while highway 1 follows the coastline. Perhaps this is a state Highway?

ETA: That didn’t take much of a google. Highway 1 in CA is a state route, not a US Highway.

Also, US 101 isn’t just in California, it stays near the coast from Los Angeles in southern CA, about 120 miles from the Mexican Border, through the rest of California, all of Oregon, and all of Washington to the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the water border between the US and Canada in the western part of Washington), then curls east and south and goes almost to Seattle.

It’s about 1500 miles long. I think I’ve driven most of the California part and all but about the northernmost 50 miles of the Oregon part.

It goes through some of the prettiest places I’ve ever been, but it’s not a highway make good time on. In some areas it is a limited-access divided freeway, but a whole lot of it is old-school surface highway with traffic lights (and sometimes stop signs!) and 30 mph speed limits as it winds through every little town.

Yup, I've driven on every inch of Highway 101 from the East Los Angeles Interchange all the way to the end at Tumwater.

Several schools zones that slow you to 20 MPH so don't be in a hurry if you it drive end to end, but it was honestly slower through San Jose at rush hour -- the worst part IMHO. But, You go across several cool bridges along the way

I wish that Eisenhower had counted better when he was copying the German system. They had predominantly 3 lanes on theirs, with some expanding to wider lanes, and their version of 18 wheelers were relegated to the center and right lanes only, ensuring that passing was a viable option.

Our 2 lane interstate system sucks necrotic balls when the truckers here decide to play the "10 minutes to pass" game.

Also, it was very much expected that if you were in the left lane, an auto approaching you from behind who flashed their lights at you would ensure you yielded to the faster traffic. Here, we have signs telling the mouth breathers that its a law to yield to faster traffic, and they still don't quite grasp the concept.