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The highway system of the United States is a network of interconnected state, U.S., and Interstate highways. Each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands own and maintain a part of this vast system, including U.S. and Interstate highways, which are not owned or maintained at the federal level.
Interstate Highways have the highest speed limits and the highest traffic. Interstates are numbered in a grid: even-numbered routes for east–west routes (with the lowest numbers along Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico), and odd-numbered routes are north–south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Pacific Ocean). Three-digit Interstates are, generally, either beltways or spurs of their parent Interstates (for example, Interstate 510 is a spur into the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is connected to Interstate 10).
U.S. Numbered Highways are the original interstate highways, dating back to 1926. U.S. Highways are also numbered in a grid: even numbered for east–west routes (with the lowest numbers along Canada) and odd numbered for north–south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Atlantic Ocean). Three-digit highways, also known as "child routes," are branches off their main one- or two-digit "parents" (for example, U.S. Route 202 is a branch of U.S. Route 2). However, US 101, rather than a "child" of US 1, is considered a "mainline" U.S. Route.
State highways are the next level in the hierarchy. Each state and territory has its own system for numbering highways, some more systematic than others. Each state also has its own design for its highway markers; the number in a circle is the default sign, but many choose a different design connected to the state, such as an outline of the state with the number inside. Many states also operate a system of county highways.
Scenic byways can be designated over any classification of road in the United States. There are the National Scenic Byways, National Forest Scenic Byways and Bureau of Land Management Back Country Byways at the national level. Most states have their own system for designating byways, some more systematic than others. Indian tribes may designate byways as well.
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The Bay Freeway, also referred to as the Mercer Street Connection, was a proposed elevated freeway in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, replacing 0.7 miles (1.1 km) of Mercer Street between Interstate 5 (I-5) and Aurora Avenue North at the Seattle Center. Planning for the freeway began in 1954, with the proposal for a freeway from Elliott Bay to the Central Freeway, later I-5, via Broad and Mercer streets added to the city's comprehensive plan in 1957. Funded by a bond measure passed by Seattle voters in 1960, plans for the newly christened and elevated Bay Freeway to serve a multi-purpose stadium at the Seattle Center were opposed by citizens groups at public hearings in 1967, forcing the Seattle Engineering Department to consider other designs. After determining that a cut-and-cover tunnel would not be feasible, a second series of public hearings were held in 1970, leading to widespread controversy and a civil suit launched in opposition to the freeway. The lawsuit ended in November 1971, with King County Superior Court Judge Solie M. Ringold ruling that it was a major deviation from the voter-approved 1960 plan, forcing a referendum to continue on with the project. On February 8, 1972, the Bay Freeway project was rejected by a 10,000-vote margin in a municipal referendum, alongside the repeal of the R.H. Thomson Expressway, postponing congestion relief on Mercer Street until the Mercer Corridor Project in 2012.
Recently selected: Interstate 470 (Kansas) • Interstate 8 • Minnesota State Highway 7
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Recently selected: Florida State Road 972 • Utah State Route 143 • Maryland Route 197
Did you know...
- ... that the original route of US Highway 25 between Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan followed Gratiot Avenue (pictured), named for Fort Gratiot that was built in the aftermath of the War of 1812?
- ...that state funding reserved for the canceled Bay Freeway project in Seattle was instead used to widen U.S. Route 195 to four lanes in Eastern Washington?
- ...that Park Road 1836, which serves the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site in Texas, is numbered to commemorate the year that Texas won its independence from Mexico?
- ... that the restoration of wetlands in a mitigation bank created in the path of the planned Poinciana Parkway sextupled cost estimates for the highway?
- ... that New York State Route 17M is the original surface routing of New York State Route 17 from Middletown to Harriman?
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U.S. Roads news
- April 10: A rockslide dropped a boulder the size of a house onto the westbound lanes of U.S. Route 52 in Lawrence County, Ohio, just east of the bridge over the Ohio River to Ashland, Kentucky, leading to closures and detours while cleanup took place.[1]
- April 7: Interstate 41 was officially approved for inclusion into the Interstate Highway System by the Federal Highway Administration. The new designation runs from Russell, IL, to Howard, WI, overlaying U.S. Highway 41 through much of Wisconsin.[2]
- February 24: The state of Delaware announces that it will raise the speed limit on Interstate 95 between the Maryland border and Interstate 495 from 55 to 65 mph (from 90 to 105 km/h) in summer 2015.[3]
- December 30: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signs Public Act 445 into law, giving the name Pure Michigan Byway to the former Michigan Heritage Routes.[4]
- November 18: The Indiana Department of Transportation begins replacing signs along Interstate 164 in Evansville with Interstate 69 signs.[5]
- November 7: The final section of Maryland Route 200 (Intercounty Connector) between Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1 is opened to traffic.[6]
- November 3: The widening of the New Jersey Turnpike between exit 6 (Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension) in Mansfield Township and exit 8A (Route 32) in Monroe Township to a dual-dual configuration with separate lanes for cars and cars, trucks, and buses is completed with the opening of the southbound lanes.[7] The northbound lanes opened on October 26.[8]
- September 18: The Alaska Department of Transportation releases plans for the Juneau Access Project connecting the state capital Juneau to the rest of the North American road network. The project would cost $574 million and would construct a road running 50 miles from Juneau to a ferry terminal at the Katzehin River, where ferries would travel to Haines and Skagway with connecting roads leading to the Alaska Highway in Canada.[9]
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Nominations and votes for selected articles and selected pictures are always needed. Anyone can nominate an article, and anyone can vote for an article. You can also recommend items for Did you know?. If you have news related to U.S. roads, you can add it to the news section above.
See also Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Roads/to do, Category:U.S. road articles needing attention and individual state highway project to-do lists.
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United States | Roads | Canada Roads | California Roads |
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Maryland Roads | Michigan Highways | New York Roads | Washington Roads |
Numbered highways in the United States
References and notes
- ^ "Major Rock Slide on US 52 at Ashland Bridge; Cleanup Expected to Take Days". Huntington, WV: WSAZ-TV. April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ US 41 Interstate Conversion Team (April 9, 2015). "US 41 Interstate Conversion: Wisconsin State Line–Green Bay, in Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Winnebago, Outagamie, and Brown Counties". Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015.
- ^ Montgomery, Jeff (February 25, 2015). "Coming to Delaware's I-95: 65 mph speed limit". The News Journal (Wilmington, DE). Retrieved March 1, 2015.
- ^ Wurfel, Sara & Murray, Dave (December 31, 2014). "Gov. Rick Snyder Signs Bills Focused on Creating Good Government Practices: Also Signs Memorial Highway, 'Pure Michigan Byways' Bills" (Press release). Office of the Governor. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ "I-164 Renamed to I-69 by End of Year". Indiana Department of Transportation. November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ^ "Final section of ICC to Laurel, new I-95 interchange to open this weekend". The Baltimore Sun. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Higgs, Larry (November 3, 2014). "New southbound Turnpike lanes open". The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ). Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Schaefer, Mari A. (October 27, 2014). "Expanded lanes open on New Jersey Turnpike". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Forgey, Pat (September 18, 2014). "Parnell hails DOT's new Juneau road plan; Walker calls for fiscal caution". Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, AK). Retrieved September 19, 2014.
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