New Orleans had probably the biggest freeway revolt outside of San Francisco. An off-ramp was originally planned to be IN the French Quarter. The tunnel is still there!
He said it had a good purpose, he just said that it's number should be switched with I-10 since the section of 10 that goes thru downtown is more like a spur route and 610 is more like the main cross country route
@@xp8969if it had been up to me I would have dropped I-55 down the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and then that stretch of I-10 to downtown instead of going to random ass LaPlace.
Concord is in New Hampshire, not in Connecticut. I do agree with you that I-10 needs to be rerouted to the north side of Lake Ponchatrain, and either designate current I-10 as I-610, or even I-6.
@@GeoHuman. I-69 will serve this purpose when it is completed. South of Houston, it will branch into 69W (Laredo), 69C (McAllen), and 69E (Brownsville)
@@wwsciffsww3748 69W can become the I-6 designation and there still needs to be a route south of Houston so there isn't a funnel in the already crowded I-10
I lived Concord, NH (not Connecticut) for 12 years so I have my own slant on I-393. One of the reasons NHMS has a Nascar Race is I-393 because no one in their right mind would want to deal with Loudon Road which is Concord's main commercial retail road and also has half of the State Governments Administrative offices. During rush hour let alone having people coming back from a race. One of the key components to having a spur route is to provide easier movement of traffic within a community. In this case I-393 works perfectly. The sad part is NH will not produce any new highway connecting east to west unless the Feds give a huge chunk of change.
@Evan Hodge I believe you are the one that needs to adjust your reality. Relating projects to what 21st century individuals make in a lifetime is the dumbest rationale I can think of. These projects are as much spurred by the business community that responds to ten of thousands of complaints concerning accessibility to their own products and services as anything else. Then you need to of the rationale of those who had it built in the first place, ask anyone who has lived in New Hampshire all of their lives about how difficult it is to get from The Connecticut River to the Atlantic in the southern tier. But there are not enough people still to justify any divided highway between Manchester to Keene. But in places where we have an East-West divided highway it helps tremendously.
@@tommcdonald1873 I go to UNH and have lived in MA my whole life, what you said is so true, it’s almost easier to just take I95 south down to I495 in MA to I93 north if ur trying to get from the coast to Manchester lol
I use 393 to go from my town (NW of Concord) to Portsmouth. It’s nice to have the wide open highway for a few miles but it would be nice if it stayed that wide for a ways longer, say to Durham anyway. As a native New Englander who knows the surrounding states, and Quebec, well, NH really does have excellent roads compared to the others. It would just be nice if there were some more express ways to go east/west in northern New England.
I don't know about useless, but I-787 in Albany almost completely cuts off downtown from the Hudson River waterfront, though it is a pretty big commuter road. It would be cool if you did a list of interstates that are similarly obstructive to the quality of life in the communities they serve.
I'd like to see such a video as well. Interstates are pretty good for moving traffic, well, across states, but they can be (and often are) incredibly obstructive in urban areas.
CityNerd has made a similar video: ua-cam.com/video/RK0_zh7B-H4/v-deo.html That's not limited to interstates, and it focuses on waterfront highways, but it's a similar idea.
I10 has the exact same problem in Tucson. Cuts the whole city off from the river, since it is built right next to it. And it is built elevated, so there is essentially a 20 foot wall preventing any viewing of the river either.
great comment!! Not to mention how it has absolutely destroyed the population and business of downtown. Albany doubles in population everyday because workers do not live in the city and instead, travel on 787 from near by suburbs. I'm very happy to see this comment gain such traction. Albany can be such a great city with just a few key changes to their core infrastructure.
wow it's so cool that 2 places on this list I've driven through and I've only driven through a small chunk of the US, and they are the 384 near Manchester, CT and route 11 in CT and not many people drive on it, and I use route 11 to get to New London today as well.
Great vid as usual. I love that both I-384 and CT-11 both made the list. They are both highways I grew up near and 11 in particular is an embarrassment.
384 definitely belongs on this list. It is a shame the road was never completed. It would alleviate traffic on 95 east of New Haven during the summer when New Yorkers drive up to Cape Cod. Connecticut has at times tried to get the project going again, but Rhode Island has no interest in it. Also, when you were discussing the 93 spur route, I believe you misidentified the state as Connecticut and not New Hampshire.
@@ryan225360 Because that's Bolton notch. Old US 6 and US 44 both go though the notch as I-384 ends. Another section was built further West called the Willimantic bypass and signed as Route US 6.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and remember life before I-579. That little interstate alleviated a good bit of the traffic morass right at Point State Park where I-279 and I-376 come together between the Ft Pitt and Ft Duquesne Bridges, giving traffic from the eastern suburbs and neighborhoods another way to get to the booming northern suburbs. Also I’m sure Federal money was the only way the Veterans Bridge could be built over the Allegheny River. I-579 is a critical piece of Pittsburgh infrastructure and not deserving of your derogatory label of “useless”. Just ask the thousands of hockey fans leaving PPG Paints Arena after a Penguin game, all via I-579, the only highway connection to the arena, it’s way better than the Civic Arena days pre-579, where the only highway access was via downtown streets and several stoplights.
You are right, Dave. The young man referring to this road as useless does not live here, has little experience driving here and less understanding of Pittsburgh history. I-579 not only provides an important link to PPG Paints Arena, but also to Oakland (where the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, UPMC Presbyterian, Montefiore and Magee-Womens Hospitals). I-579 provides a direct link via the Liberty Tubes and Liberty Bridge between the South Hills and I-279, I-79 and I-76 in Cranberry. Yeah, Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania is a tough place to build roads. It is worse for light rail. Southwestern Pennsylvania sits atop rock, not dirt. 579 pulls truck traffic out of the 279-376 junction as well. In so many words, 579 is not worthless and Mr. Beaver Geography is mistaken.
Agreed. The planning process for 579 did damage to the Hill District and downtown for connectivity purposes, but it's better than funneling all of the traffic to the Point.
@@tommcdonald1873 Unfortunately that then brings up doubt about the other roads. If he's wrong about a road I know a lot about, can I trust what is said about the others?
Should do a video on state highways that could be designated interstates. Like NH16 from Portsmouth NH to Rochester NH. I’m from Maine we have a terrible road network. I’ve driven 47/50 states and find it fascinating how things are done differently state by state.
NH state routes are so nice though, keep them the way they are. I am also from Maine. Where you from? I was born and raised in Caribou but moved in high school
The thing about NH-16 is could this highway at least from Portsmouth to Rochester be made Interstate complaint. I don't think so between Dover and Newington. I driven on it most of my life and it's a no brainer to be on the Interstate System if NH spent the money to make it so.
In Massachusetts, I think MA-3 south of Quincy should be signed as an extension of I-93 (the current east-west leg could become I-593 or I-595), MA-24 should become I-695, MA-57 in Southwick should become I-591, US-3 between Burlington and Manchester NH should be an extension of I-293, and US-44 between Plymouth and Middleborough should become I-193.
The Great Falls one makes me think of the unsigned I-296 in Grand Rapids, MI. It's unsigned (again) and overlaps US-131 between I-96 and I-196. Come to think of it, have you done one on unsigned Interstates yet? That would be cool if not yet.
I agree with you on the I-10/1-610, I grew up when I-610 was built in the 1970s. The DOT tore down an entire block of houses, the block immediately next to my block. It was great to be able to play on an Interstate being built.
I get why they numbered I-10 and I-12 that way since it makes sense in the numbering system. What they could do is change the control cities on the approach to emphasize I-10 goes to New Orleans and I-12 is the thru route. So instead of Hammond coming from the west, say Gulfport/Biloxi. And Houston or Lafayette coming from the east
They could renumber the current I-10 (and 610) to I-6 and then I-12 to I-10. Then the part of current I-10 that goes through downtown NOLA could be I-606
@@wwsciffsww3748 - Then you have the issue of a major route missing a city. That’s also why Interstate 95 had a gap for a long time between Philly and NYC. Remember that the NJ Turnpike south of Exit 6 isn’t numbered. Interstate 97 as a number isn’t an option since that’s used for a road in Anne Arundel County in Maryland (it’s the only 2 digit interstate in one county).
Suggestion for another unless highway, I-794 in Milwaukee. It's been improved over the last couple decades but it use to literally be a freeway to nowhere, actually just to the sewage treatment plant. It was featured in the 1980 Blues Brothers movie when they drive the car off the freeway and it does have a cool bridge (the Hoan Bridge) but is it necessarily a useful interstate spur, no.
It does connect downtown to the port but that’s the only purpose. Should have been renamed WIS 794 instead. Even 894 has no more purpose since I-41 and I-43 run concurrent the entire route.
894 was useful when it was only US-41, but since the upgrade, the only reason for a designation is as bypass, which they can keep the 894 designation, but downgrade to WIS-894
@@JeremysJourneys1 Even thought I-894 has two interstates on top of it since the I-41 addition in 2015, I don't think that it should be removed or downgraded. Staying as the primary route for a 3DI is better because it's a bypass around downtown. It also takes control over the brief wrong way North/South concurrency between the Hale and Mitchell interchanges. Keeping I-894 also helps keep exit numbering simple. It's just better to keep it IMO
I read once that when the city of Chicago was building Lake Shore Drive, they envisioned it extending all the way to Milwaukee and that supposedly they lobbied for Milwaukee to build a road for it to connect to, and that’s the origin of 794. Of course Lake Shore Drive doesn’t even make it out of Chicago, so idk if that was ever a serious plan. Still an interesting story.
Where Route 9 hits I-84. You can also see remnants of other interstate projects around the Hartford area, including where Route 2 hits I-84. North of that (Governor Street exit) was going to connect with I-91 east of the Dexter Coffin Connecticut River Bridge.
Never say never on finishing some of those stubs. US-31 in Michigan was finally completed last year after over 40 years of environmental issues and route changes. I-696 took 30 years to complete. These projects move at a glacial pace sometimes. I'm surprised you didn't mention I-180 in Illinois. It was built solely to serve an iron foundry that shut down about a year after the freeway opened. There were shady dealings involved and basically money was diverted from Tucson, AZ's freeway plan in order to build this freeway to the middle of nowhere.
As someone who takes I-384 a few times a week, it’s definitely over ambitious. At its western end, it’s a whopping 8 lanes, with at most 4 lane traffic volume. However, they did very recently change the exit numbers to match the mile markers, so maybe some form of expansion is on its way. This would be great to see, as the section of Rt 6 at the eastern end is a very dangerous 2 lane road often bottlenecked by people driving well under the speed limit.
Ever thought of doing a video on US highways, vs the Interstate system and the cool parts of the US high way such as 64 through the Smokey mountain parkway.
You totally missed the main function of I393 in Concord. It connects I93 to the New Hampshire motor speedway for the Nascar races. Also, isn't it strange they named the speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway when its in Connecticut?
Kind of pointless when CT 8 already does that job, and then extends up to US 44 in Winsted as a freeway (entering the Pioneer Valley as a 2-lane road).
In a previous video, you mentioned discussing the unsigned Interstate 194 in Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota, the state's only three digit interstate. It's actually a lot less dumb of a route than you hinted at, though being a full freeway is probably not justified. If you covered it, the six people in the state who know it's even an interstate and not just the western half of Bismarck Expressway would appreciate it! We are also proud of our extremely long Interstate 94 business loop and unsigned "Spur US 83" designation that serves the state capitol building. I would like some ridiculous banners bragging about them along their whole routes.
There are two other examples of a situation like I-10 and I-610. I think these route numbers should be also swapped here: First is I-95 and I-495 in Northern Delaware. I-495 is a bypass route in Wilmington with a higher speed limit and even being signed for thru traffic going southbound, while I-95 has less lanes and a lower speed limit and goes through the downtown Second is I-70 and I-470 in Wheeling, WV. I-470 is a bypass that is encouraged for thru traffic. It also is a mandatory route for hazmats because of the Wheeling Tunnel along I-70. I-70 also has a lower speed limit and is only one lane in each direction through the tunnel.
What's with the way I-90, I-87, and the NY Thruway intersect in Albany? Now that they've removed the toll plaza, a much better interchange could be made.
Maybe also consider the PARALLEL interstates in Maryland and Pennsylvania? On the east side of Baltimore, there's I-895 and the newer I-95. In north-central PA, there's I-476 and I-81. Then there's the peculiar way all of the interstates in western PA run., with most of I-376 running awfully close to I-79. (I realize there are mountains and other geographic difficulties there.)
I grew up near Tacoma, Washington and worked for WSDOT for 12 years. I completely agree with your comments about I-705. I never understood why it was built that way.
I live in Pittsburgh and beg to differ about I-579. If you couldn't do I-279->579->Blvd of the Allies->I-376, the only route from the North Hills to the Oakland area would be via the Ft. Duquesne Bridge, a routing which includes a ridiculously tight left-merge onto I-376 eastbound. Further, it would be near-impossible to access the Liberty Bridge, as there's no ramp direct from I-376 and no room for one; the Fort Pitt bridge and tunnel would end up jammed as a result, with the interchange between that and Route 51 (Saw Mill Blvd) completely and utterly gridlocked.
Well said and deserving of many more upvotes. The Beaver usually has well thought out commentary, but he misses the mark on I579. The highway situation of Pittsburgh cannot be appreciated by a Google satellite review and maybe driving on a particular route on a few occasions.
I-10 goes down into New Orleans because it is a major city for the area. Mainline interstate highways were built to connect cities, with spur routes bypassing them - which is why I-12 and I-610 were built, to bypass the city of New Orleans, off the main interstate I-10.
Tell that to NYC. I-95 only has a fraction going through Manhattan (what everyone considers "the city proper"), and spends most of it's NY length in The Bronx & Westchester (a separate Borough & a separate county respectively) as the New England Thruway. There is NO Interstate in Manhattan (connecting or otherwise) between that and the Hugh Carey/Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which connects to I-478/Gowanus Expressway.
@@RealGJZig Check out the book The Power Broker to see why that is - New Yorkers revolted when Robert Moses planned a bunch of freeways through Manhattan, and the projects were successfully blocked. That's a good thing - Manhattan wouldn't be Manhattan if it was full of freeways.
Eisenhower's concept of the Interstate system was not to go through the main congestion of the cities but spur into them; not the other way around. from April 8, 1960: [The President] went on to say that the matter of running Interstate routes through the congested parts of the cities was entirely against his original concept and wishes; that he never anticipated that the program would turn out this way… [He] was certainly not aware of any concept of using the program to build up an extensive intra-city route network as part of the program he sponsored.
You forgot the I-990 in Amherst NY near Buffalo. That really wasn’t a needed highway in the first place since it never was built all the way to its original planned destination in Lockport. It now ends on NY Route 263 out in nowhere.
Having grown up in Tacoma, I-705 is a much better option than the previous option to get to downtown. Prior to it being built, it took a round about way to get to downtown. The only reason it's an interstate is the city got federal funding to build it. It should have just been an extension of Washington 7, which goes from I-5 in Tacoma all the way the town of Morton and is a popular route to get to Mt. Rainier National Park.
Nice little video. Interstate oddities like this fascinate me. I-705 in Tacoma is just weird. My first drive through was enough to make me go WTF... A suggestion for a video. The I-5 section there with WA-16 and I-705 has been a multi decade project to make traffic better. I drive up from Portland it's always "What have they done this time?" Still not done either.
I-12 should be re-designated I-810 IMO since it connects to I-10 on both ends and basically is just an alternate route. (I chose 810 because other even first digits are taken in Louisiana though 410 was never really built.) Plus, I have a bit of a pet peeve about non-3DIs that are entirely within the same state. I think as much as possible any interstate entirely within one state should be a 3DI in order to free up single and double-digit numbers.
Just because a 2di is used "intrastate" does not mean it cannot be used elsewhere. I-76 (OH/NJ) and I-76 (NE/CO); I-88 (NY) and I-88 (IL) are two off the top of my head I can recall.
@@realShadowKat Yes, I know (and 84 is another), but duplicates were resorted to precisely because they ran out of numbers. I'd prefer to avoid that as well.
You think 579 is complicated? Imagine trying to funnel everyone crossing the city across the Ft. Duquesne bridge and the one lane leading to the Parkway East. Insanity.
New Orleanian who totally agrees about I-10/610/12. The worst engineering is the merge at the Metairie merge of 10/610. The lane switching for through vs. local traffic is insane. BTW, St. Tammany Sheriffs love I-12 because of the number of drug runners they bust running through the parish going to/coming from the west coast or Mexico to Florida.
True. I’ve seen St. Tammany Sheriffs park their vehicles a few miles from the Tangipahoa Parish line. They (also the state troopers) love the rest stop along that route
You could do a video on existing highways/interstates with planned expansions that never happened, like a couple in this video, plus interstates like I-710, which was planned to hit I-210 in Pasadena, but was halted due to resident opposition. You can see some clearing, but the highway just stops at Valley Blvd north of I-10.
The demise of the completion of the 710 Freeway is and always will be a disaster for the movement of commercial traffic through Southern California. The NIMBY'S in Pasadena and South Pasadena deserve the diesel truck pollution that impacts them every day.
As much of a stretch as I 579 is, it actually serves a rather decent purpose. I personally think that it's a good way of connecting the Liberty bridge/tunnel to the Parkway North. But opinions are opinions.
I-74 is supposed to hook up with its northern namesake, and I-73 was planned to go all the way to just north of Houghton Lake in Michigan. My understanding on I-87 is that it's supposed to go eventually to the Hampton Roads area and act as the southern equivalent of its northern namesake.
As someone from Connecticut I use CT11 quite a bit it’s a short cut to get to Hartford. No matter what time of day you go there’s barely any traffic on it
Tacoma resident here. I-705 does seem a bit unnecessary, but it acts more as a long on/off ramp from I-5 into downtown. If you ever get the chance to drive it you will find it has some strange land alignments that will either take you up to Schuster Parkway or dump you right into downtown.
I live in Great Falls, I-315 does serve a purpose in connecting to one of the business districts, as well as being part of the designated and signed business loop that goes through downtown. Without the exits on 315, the only way to access the particular area would be through residential streets, which would be a huge traffic clog. Other than that, though, it's basically the most over-engineered on/off ramp in the country, and you can tell why MDOT never bothered signing it.
I-12 couldn’t exist south of I-10 because it wouldn’t line up with the numbering sequence. It could be an I-6 or a discontinuous part of I-8 potentially, but not I-12.
Speaking of a highway thats “got too much going on”. Check out the I-35W/I-820 interchange in Ft Worth Texas. I’ve never seen a stack that massive with almost every direction having a direct connector to the free and the express lanes
I've lived in Manchester, about a mile off 384, and now, later on in life, I live less than a mile from I 283 in Pennsylvania, which is another very short spur, but with an obvious purpose: to give residents off the east shore of the Susquehanna River easy access to not only the Turnpike, but also Harrisburg International Airport, as well as PA 283, which intersects with its interstate parent and provides freeway access to Lancaster and US 30 and US 222. For conveniences' sake, it would be cool to extend the interstate to PA 283's current eastbound terminus into 30.
The I-84 from Hartford east to I-90 was originally I-86. when I-384 was I-84. Both were already built before protesting cancelled I-84 continuing to Providence, RI. A good video though.
It actually was supposed to be the continuation of I-485 (today's Freedom Pkwy), but the rest of the segment through Virginia Highlands, Old Fourth Ward, etc was protested so the whole idea of 485 was canceled
@@geraldga9362 imagine how different Atlanta would look if 485 had happened, also 166 through Lakewood Heights, and the Outer Perimeter. The Outer Perimeter is already being built as we speak, in a manner of speaking, though not officially designated as such, GDOT is already turning SR 20 into a 6 lane limited access road between Cumming and Canton. After that is finished they will make 20 a 4 lane, raised median route between Canton and Cartersville
Lol I used to use CT-11 a bunch. My old army national guard unit was in new London, and I drove there from the northeast. My grandparents also have a camper at a campground not too far from where the highway ends! Also I used to drive 384 every day. I worked in New Britain, CT and I lived in Willimantic, CT. I used to think about how useless it was, and it's funny to see that someone agrees!
440 caused a minor freeway revolt, too. It was “State Route 440” until recently, even though everyone knows it’s an interstate. 840 is still technically a state route, too.
I read the title and instantly thought 440. That shit is horrible. Luckily I don’t live in that part of Nashville where I have to use it often but every time I do use it,it’s absolutely atrocious
Have you ever heard of Baltimore's "Highway to Nowhere"? It's not an interstate, but was meant to connect two interstates... (and, thus, receive Interstate status) It's still very much there, and being considered for demolition.
I-569 in Kentucky is not a good idea. Since I-569 (Western Kentucky Parkway) does cover 95 miles from the junction of I-69 & I-169 near Nortonville to I-65 in Elizabethtown and it crosses 4 other interstates and they are: I-69, I-169 (Pennrile Parkway), I-165 (Natcher Parkway), and I-65. Future I-569 should be a 2-digit interstate number, like I-46, I-48, I-50, I-52, I-54, I-56, or I-58, since it is between I-40 across Tennessee and I-64 in Kentucky. Cannot use I-60 and I-62 in Kentucky since they have US-60 and US-62 and it will violates the AASHTO rules.
For interstates 10/610, a similar thing occurs in Kansas City, with I-70 taking the old route and I-670 Bypassing it, in that case it was because I-70 was built first
Able to make a video or include in a future video- Illinois Route 6? I believe it was supposed to go to Chicago but instead exists only in the Peoria area..
I-705 in Tacoma is definitely an odd one, although I appreciate that the central urban core of Tacoma isn’t really all split up by freeways the way Seattle’s urban core is.
That’s true, but I-705 still makes it pretty difficult to get to the waterfront from downtown Tacoma (at least it was easy to walk under the viaduct in Seattle). When I-705 was built people didn’t really care about that because Tacoma’s waterfront was industrial, very polluted and just generally pretty gross. Now that’s changed, but the freeway is still there. Also the few ways that do go over/under I-705 are very loud and unpleasant (although the bridge of glass is pretty cool… but still loud)
I-705 in Tacoma was originally meant to be extended down to SR512 and possibly to JBLM. You can still see the terrain work for the future ramps at 38th on SR7. But plans to extend the freeway south were cancelled and now the area is too built up to allow it to ever be built.
@@craigreichel1670 And that was just part of a larger plan WSDOT had for the Seattle - Tacoma - Everett metro. I remember reading an article that was in one of those extra little "magazines" that came with the Seattle Sunday paper that detailed how WSDOT wanted to build a much larger grid of freeways. In addition to SR-7 connecting to SR-512 and JBLM, the SR-509 freeway that connects to I-705 before becoming a surface road on the north side of Commencement Bay would've been a freeway connecting Tacoma to SeaTac and Burien, and SR-18 was originally intended to be a second loop freeway around the east side of Lake Washington like I-405, that would've continued on past Snoqualmie and eventually returned to I-5 near Everett. I don't recall the details of that particular freeway, but my best guess is that it would've been routed along SR-203 before picking up US-2 at Monroe.
@@BroadwayJoe99 some of those projects have been brought back. SR 509 is being extended south from Burien and connect with I-5 just north of Kent Des Moines Rd. Also SR 167 is being extended from Puyallup and connect with I-5 in fife and then continue directly into the port.
Your so right I remember driving from Florida to California and my Ex and I thought we must have did something wrong. Because to leave i10 to comeback to i10 as a new traveler felt so wrong. It caused our first actual fight as I said follow the gps and she wanted to stay on i10. After we both agreed that a dumbass made the route. Honestly one of the last things we agreed on. Over the course of the trip it went from I love you to who are you real quick 😂
Your ex was just trying to save you from one of those GPS errors where the device tells you to take I-610, then it becomes a narrow rutted track, and finally it's too late to reverse out and they find your bodies weeks later. (Those aerial photos in the video of unfinished interchanges and superhighways are certainly a bit evocative of that.)
guessing one of the reasons she's your ex? when I drive, I drive my way and I don't care what anyone else in the vehicle thinks, if they have problem, can take a taxi
I live in Great Falls, and that section of "freeway" is completely useless. The speed limit is 45, yet cars coming from Interstate 15 NB are usually continuing at freeway speeds. If you happen to be coming from Marketplace area, South of the highway, on that on ramp, it can be pretty dangerous to merge. Cars wanna take the onramp at 30 mph, while the cars your merging with are going 65. Then, on top of that, there is a stop light halfway through. Before continuing as a highway over the missouri river, then hitting another traffic light before turning into a "stroad".
Honestly 579 in Pittsburgh served a purposed as it connected 279 and 376 for decades until the connector ramps for 279s to 376 east were done in 2000. Now it does not make sense, but this was built decades ago
I 393 was mostly intended not to serve downtown, but as a tourist bypass of the Concord Heights business and residential district for travellers heading to the seacoast. (Rte 101 to Hampton wouldn't be complete till years later)
Heres a dumb one in reverse. Georgia has the land for an outer perimeter around Atlanta. Instead of using it, they are making a 2 lane outdated road 4 lane replacing bridges by removing them and replacing not putting side by side
Yep. Don’t get me wrong..widening Ga 20 was sorely needed but the Northern Arc is still needed as well. On the plus side, it appears that Gwinnett County still has the right of ways to build it.
I'm slightly surprised I-990 outside Buffalo wasn't on this list. It's a spur about 6 miles long that connects I-290 to the university within the first mile and then just keeps going, cutting through suburban neighborhoods for five miles before just sort of abruptly ending in the middle of nowhere. Most useless freeway I've ever seen.
Very cool video, funnily enough when I clicked on the video the first interstate that came to mind for me was 384 Connecticut, and speaking of Connecticut I really feel like state route 2 should become part of the interstate system because of the amount of traffic that you see on it every day and the poor condition it is always in
What do you think of extending I77 south into Florida? I 95 is maxed out and I 75 bottles up in Atlanta. We need a new way north, especially during hurricane evacuation.
Kinda disagree about 579, Pittsburgh has Mt Washington just across the river from downtown with only 2 tunnels for general traffic, so all traffic from the southern neighborhoods and suburbs to the central, northern and eastern sides of the metro area gets funneled onto either the 376/Ft.Pitt Tunnel/Ft.Pitt Bridge OR BYP19/Liberty Tunnel/Liberty Bridge/579. It exists as one of the only ways to easily travel from the south hills to the north hills as well as the entire east side of the city. I don't love the highway but a major route, even if not interstate designated, in that spot is a necessity. Otherwise, access between south and east is limited to a series of wonky, non-linear, traffic-clogged bridge crossings and connections between neighborhoods of different elevations since the road network around the old suburbs along the Monongahela River wasn't designed to facilitate the kind of commuting between the east and south sides of Pittsburgh that has emerged as white collar jobs have emerged in especially the eastern neighborhoods as well as the south and north suburbs. This is something that even the completion of the eastern part of the Mon-Fayette/Southern Beltway can't replace. The city has plans to build a larger cap over part of it, don't know how much has been built so far. While it did cut off downtown from the Hill District, the greater factor in the demise of the Hill District was the wholesale bulldozing of almost the entire Lower Hill District to make way for the (now demolished) Civic Arena. Pittsburgh may have too many interstates and highways, but in a way it needs them to handle the basic road connections between different 'chunks' of the city because it's built in such steep terrain the connections can't be handed totally by the surface road network. My biggest frustration is with how 279 rams straight through the northside at surface level, demolishing entire blocks, cutting it in half in a beautiful dense old part of the city center and causing the blocks around it to be noisy and polluted.
Pittsburgh does not have too many interstates. There are three in the city limits. 279, 376 and 579. Only 376 traverses the city. The Hill was cut off by the Civic Arena. It was bad before the Civic Arena was begun in 1958.
I don’t think it’s useless, but I-30 from Little Rock to Texarkana in Arkansas DESPERATELY needs to be expanded. The lanes are very narrow, and with the amount of convoys (I actually got caught in a convoy last time I was on it) that frequently leave Little Rock via I-30, it’s such a hazard for the other drivers. The interstate needs to be expanded and there needs to be more room in the lanes.
There is a really short interstate here in Washington: I-705. I wouldn't say "useless" because it does connect I-5 with downtown Tacoma but it's still kind of odd that I-5 doesn't go through downtown
I-84 was actually to end at I-95 in Downtown Providence using US 6 into the city not at I-295. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t mention I-370 in Maryland. Such a waste of an Interstate number and could’ve just as easily been MD 200.
I'll agree with you on the utility of I-393 running east off I-93, but the location is Concord NH, which is not in Connecticut, as the narration states
I would propose I-235 in Oklahoma. I get why the highway exists, but why is it designated as an interstate when it’s concurrent with US 77, and only for like 5 miles.
I-393 only serves to get to Concord’s retail location faster but is the faster way to get to route 106 which going north gets you to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Actually, I 12 should be redesignated as I 10. I 12 would go into New Orleans, and intercontinental traffic would avoid all of the greater New Orleans area.
IMO, they should have left the main 5 and 0 interstates outside of urbanized areas as much as possible and utilize the "lesser" numbers, spurs, US Highways, and state/local routes to service these areas. They'd still be still perfectly accessible, but long-distance traffic doesn't have to get bogged down with local traffic and vice versa. But, I'm just a driver not a politician, so what do I know?
I’m shocked you didn’t bring up I-180 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It’s not even an expressway at all. It starts from I-80 at a regular diamond interchange and then heads north towards downtown. It doesn’t have any exits at all, just signalized intersections. For the entirety of its designation it’s concurrent with US-85 so really it should’ve been just left as US-85. On top of all that I-25 is literally the next exit over.
New Orleans had probably the biggest freeway revolt outside of San Francisco. An off-ramp was originally planned to be IN the French Quarter. The tunnel is still there!
I feel like I-610 should be like a tunnel instead of it going thru the city park.
for the geography Louisiana is in, a elevated freeway would be the chosen option while retaining local connectivity and walkability.
The ‘French Quarter’ whose architecture is entirely Spanish..
And a few years ago the tunnel roof collapsed!
@@oppionatedindividual8256 That's because the French architecture was almost completely destroyed in a fire during Spanish rule
610 does have a purpose as the hazmat bypass around downtown
He said it had a good purpose, he just said that it's number should be switched with I-10 since the section of 10 that goes thru downtown is more like a spur route and 610 is more like the main cross country route
@@xp8969if it had been up to me I would have dropped I-55 down the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and then that stretch of I-10 to downtown instead of going to random ass LaPlace.
All hazmat that is not headed into Orleans or Jefferson Parish should be required to stay on I12. Which should be redesignated as I 10.
Concord is in New Hampshire, not in Connecticut. I do agree with you that I-10 needs to be rerouted to the north side of Lake Ponchatrain, and either designate current I-10 as I-610, or even I-6.
I-6 should be used in South Texas to connect Laredo and Corpus Christi to Houston or Beaumont
@@GeoHuman. I-69 will serve this purpose when it is completed. South of Houston, it will branch into 69W (Laredo), 69C (McAllen), and 69E (Brownsville)
@@wwsciffsww3748 69W can become the I-6 designation and there still needs to be a route south of Houston so there isn't a funnel in the already crowded I-10
How about I-8 instead?
@@edwardmiessner6502 We already have I-8
I lived Concord, NH (not Connecticut) for 12 years so I have my own slant on I-393. One of the reasons NHMS has a Nascar Race is I-393 because no one in their right mind would want to deal with Loudon Road which is Concord's main commercial retail road and also has half of the State Governments Administrative offices. During rush hour let alone having people coming back from a race. One of the key components to having a spur route is to provide easier movement of traffic within a community. In this case I-393 works perfectly. The sad part is NH will not produce any new highway connecting east to west unless the Feds give a huge chunk of change.
@Evan Hodge I believe you are the one that needs to adjust your reality. Relating projects to what 21st century individuals make in a lifetime is the dumbest rationale I can think of. These projects are as much spurred by the business community that responds to ten of thousands of complaints concerning accessibility to their own products and services as anything else. Then you need to of the rationale of those who had it built in the first place, ask anyone who has lived in New Hampshire all of their lives about how difficult it is to get from The Connecticut River to the Atlantic in the southern tier. But there are not enough people still to justify any divided highway between Manchester to Keene. But in places where we have an East-West divided highway it helps tremendously.
@@tommcdonald1873 I go to UNH and have lived in MA my whole life, what you said is so true, it’s almost easier to just take I95 south down to I495 in MA to I93 north if ur trying to get from the coast to Manchester lol
@@owenandrews73 eh, maybe to Nashua, but 101 literally goes straight from the coast to Manchester.
I use 393 to go from my town (NW of Concord) to Portsmouth. It’s nice to have the wide open highway for a few miles but it would be nice if it stayed that wide for a ways longer, say to Durham anyway. As a native New Englander who knows the surrounding states, and Quebec, well, NH really does have excellent roads compared to the others. It would just be nice if there were some more express ways to go east/west in northern New England.
I think there was a plan to extend I-393 east to Route 16 along US 4 and 202
I don't know about useless, but I-787 in Albany almost completely cuts off downtown from the Hudson River waterfront, though it is a pretty big commuter road.
It would be cool if you did a list of interstates that are similarly obstructive to the quality of life in the communities they serve.
I'd like to see such a video as well. Interstates are pretty good for moving traffic, well, across states, but they can be (and often are) incredibly obstructive in urban areas.
CityNerd has made a similar video: ua-cam.com/video/RK0_zh7B-H4/v-deo.html
That's not limited to interstates, and it focuses on waterfront highways, but it's a similar idea.
I10 has the exact same problem in Tucson. Cuts the whole city off from the river, since it is built right next to it. And it is built elevated, so there is essentially a 20 foot wall preventing any viewing of the river either.
@@Dogod2 City Beautiful has also done a few. The Alaskan Highway being a good example.
great comment!! Not to mention how it has absolutely destroyed the population and business of downtown. Albany doubles in population everyday because workers do not live in the city and instead, travel on 787 from near by suburbs. I'm very happy to see this comment gain such traction. Albany can be such a great city with just a few key changes to their core infrastructure.
The pronunciation for Pontchartrain might be the weirdest way I’ve heard it said
I said the same thing! 🤣🤣
wow it's so cool that 2 places on this list I've driven through and I've only driven through a small chunk of the US, and they are the 384 near Manchester, CT and route 11 in CT and not many people drive on it, and I use route 11 to get to New London today as well.
I’ve been on both myself! CT-11 is definitely an odd route nowadays considering its final product. State maintains it as such too.
Great vid as usual. I love that both I-384 and CT-11 both made the list. They are both highways I grew up near and 11 in particular is an embarrassment.
384 definitely belongs on this list. It is a shame the road was never completed. It would alleviate traffic on 95 east of New Haven during the summer when New Yorkers drive up to Cape Cod. Connecticut has at times tried to get the project going again, but Rhode Island has no interest in it.
Also, when you were discussing the 93 spur route, I believe you misidentified the state as Connecticut and not New Hampshire.
I always wondered why 384 terminates randomly in Bolton!
Exactly. 95 is a parking lot, especially in summer with all the people wanting to go to the beaches and up to RI and Cape Cod. It is atrocious.
Rhode Island on 🔝 💪💪
@@ryan225360 Because that's Bolton notch. Old US 6 and US 44 both go though the notch as I-384 ends. Another section was built further West called the Willimantic bypass and signed as Route US 6.
That property is probably worth so much, but maybe when boring becomes more efficient they can do it
3:55 - I lived in Pittsburgh for a number of years. I know those highways well, especially that one.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and remember life before I-579. That little interstate alleviated a good bit of the traffic morass right at Point State Park where I-279 and I-376 come together between the Ft Pitt and Ft Duquesne Bridges, giving traffic from the eastern suburbs and neighborhoods another way to get to the booming northern suburbs. Also I’m sure Federal money was the only way the Veterans Bridge could be built over the Allegheny River. I-579 is a critical piece of Pittsburgh infrastructure and not deserving of your derogatory label of “useless”. Just ask the thousands of hockey fans leaving PPG Paints Arena after a Penguin game, all via I-579, the only highway connection to the arena, it’s way better than the Civic Arena days pre-579, where the only highway access was via downtown streets and several stoplights.
You are right, Dave. The young man referring to this road as useless does not live here, has little experience driving here and less understanding of Pittsburgh history.
I-579 not only provides an important link to PPG Paints Arena, but also to Oakland (where the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, UPMC Presbyterian, Montefiore and Magee-Womens Hospitals). I-579 provides a direct link via the Liberty Tubes and Liberty Bridge between the South Hills and I-279, I-79 and I-76 in Cranberry.
Yeah, Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania is a tough place to build roads. It is worse for light rail. Southwestern Pennsylvania sits atop rock, not dirt. 579 pulls truck traffic out of the 279-376 junction as well.
In so many words, 579 is not worthless and Mr. Beaver Geography is mistaken.
@@penguinsfan251 Both of you beat me to the same comment.
Dave, national you tube vloggers sometimes fail you have knowledge of local need of a certain road.
Agreed. The planning process for 579 did damage to the Hill District and downtown for connectivity purposes, but it's better than funneling all of the traffic to the Point.
@@tommcdonald1873 Unfortunately that then brings up doubt about the other roads. If he's wrong about a road I know a lot about, can I trust what is said about the others?
Should do a video on state highways that could be designated interstates. Like NH16 from Portsmouth NH to Rochester NH. I’m from Maine we have a terrible road network. I’ve driven 47/50 states and find it fascinating how things are done differently state by state.
NH state routes are so nice though, keep them the way they are. I am also from Maine. Where you from? I was born and raised in Caribou but moved in high school
The thing about NH-16 is could this highway at least from Portsmouth to Rochester be made Interstate complaint. I don't think so between Dover and Newington. I driven on it most of my life and it's a no brainer to be on the Interstate System if NH spent the money to make it so.
In Massachusetts, I think MA-3 south of Quincy should be signed as an extension of I-93 (the current east-west leg could become I-593 or I-595), MA-24 should become I-695, MA-57 in Southwick should become I-591, US-3 between Burlington and Manchester NH should be an extension of I-293, and US-44 between Plymouth and Middleborough should become I-193.
I'm from New Orleans and totally agree with you about I-10/12/610. And we pronounce Pontchartrain pon-cha-train.
The Great Falls one makes me think of the unsigned I-296 in Grand Rapids, MI. It's unsigned (again) and overlaps US-131 between I-96 and I-196.
Come to think of it, have you done one on unsigned Interstates yet? That would be cool if not yet.
Also, I-196 could almost be it's own interstate. It's one of the longest spur routes I can think of.
Almost surprised you didn't give a dishonorable mention to I-375 in Detroit. It really sucks, but I heard they're getting rid of it soon.
I know just looking at it shows how pointless it is
I’m surprised too. Surely is a terrible and useless highway
I remember the first time I saw I-375. I asked my father where I-375 was, my dad said we already rode it.
Concord is in New Hampshire not Connecticut
Sounds like sour grapes
I agree with you on the I-10/1-610, I grew up when I-610 was built in the 1970s. The DOT tore down an entire block of houses, the block immediately next to my block. It was great to be able to play on an Interstate being built.
I get why they numbered I-10 and I-12 that way since it makes sense in the numbering system. What they could do is change the control cities on the approach to emphasize I-10 goes to New Orleans and I-12 is the thru route. So instead of Hammond coming from the west, say Gulfport/Biloxi. And Houston or Lafayette coming from the east
They could renumber the current I-10 (and 610) to I-6 and then I-12 to I-10. Then the part of current I-10 that goes through downtown NOLA could be I-606
@@wwsciffsww3748 Oh that's a good idea too
@@wwsciffsww3748 - Then you have the issue of a major route missing a city. That’s also why Interstate 95 had a gap for a long time between Philly and NYC. Remember that the NJ Turnpike south of Exit 6 isn’t numbered. Interstate 97 as a number isn’t an option since that’s used for a road in Anne Arundel County in Maryland (it’s the only 2 digit interstate in one county).
I have travelled this country from end to end. I think the Interstate is the 8th wonder of the world especially I-70 west of Denver.
You call tearing up entire neighborhoods and Downtown, to build destructive highways, a wonder of the world?
Suggestion for another unless highway, I-794 in Milwaukee. It's been improved over the last couple decades but it use to literally be a freeway to nowhere, actually just to the sewage treatment plant. It was featured in the 1980 Blues Brothers movie when they drive the car off the freeway and it does have a cool bridge (the Hoan Bridge) but is it necessarily a useful interstate spur, no.
It does connect downtown to the port but that’s the only purpose. Should have been renamed WIS 794 instead. Even 894 has no more purpose since I-41 and I-43 run concurrent the entire route.
894 was useful when it was only US-41, but since the upgrade, the only reason for a designation is as bypass, which they can keep the 894 designation, but downgrade to WIS-894
@@JeremysJourneys1 Even thought I-894 has two interstates on top of it since the I-41 addition in 2015, I don't think that it should be removed or downgraded. Staying as the primary route for a 3DI is better because it's a bypass around downtown. It also takes control over the brief wrong way North/South concurrency between the Hale and Mitchell interchanges. Keeping I-894 also helps keep exit numbering simple. It's just better to keep it IMO
I read once that when the city of Chicago was building Lake Shore Drive, they envisioned it extending all the way to Milwaukee and that supposedly they lobbied for Milwaukee to build a road for it to connect to, and that’s the origin of 794. Of course Lake Shore Drive doesn’t even make it out of Chicago, so idk if that was ever a serious plan. Still an interesting story.
@@PhyllisJerry Or check out the Amstutz Expressway.
There’s also a half abandoned freeway stack interchange in Hartford Connecticut.
Where Route 9 hits I-84. You can also see remnants of other interstate projects around the Hartford area, including where Route 2 hits I-84. North of that (Governor Street exit) was going to connect with I-91 east of the Dexter Coffin Connecticut River Bridge.
Love your content brother. Keep it up!
Never say never on finishing some of those stubs. US-31 in Michigan was finally completed last year after over 40 years of environmental issues and route changes. I-696 took 30 years to complete. These projects move at a glacial pace sometimes.
I'm surprised you didn't mention I-180 in Illinois. It was built solely to serve an iron foundry that shut down about a year after the freeway opened. There were shady dealings involved and basically money was diverted from Tucson, AZ's freeway plan in order to build this freeway to the middle of nowhere.
He mentioned I-180 in an earlier video.
As someone who takes I-384 a few times a week, it’s definitely over ambitious. At its western end, it’s a whopping 8 lanes, with at most 4 lane traffic volume. However, they did very recently change the exit numbers to match the mile markers, so maybe some form of expansion is on its way. This would be great to see, as the section of Rt 6 at the eastern end is a very dangerous 2 lane road often bottlenecked by people driving well under the speed limit.
Your voice has a touch of Randall from the "Clerks" series of movies.
Ever thought of doing a video on US highways, vs the Interstate system and the cool parts of the US high way such as 64 through the Smokey mountain parkway.
The Concord you're referring to is in NH. Matter of fact, it's the state capital....
See, I only knew that because Wacko Warner sang about the US capitals
That's like a super rookie geography mistake too
And New Hampshire’s third largest city after Manchester and Nashua.
Nobody cares about New Hampshire.
@@danielsmith7023 its the smartest state in the nation, stupid. You"re too dumb for this part of the comment section.
You totally missed the main function of I393 in Concord. It connects I93 to the New Hampshire motor speedway for the Nascar races. Also, isn't it strange they named the speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway when its in Connecticut?
It's not in Connecticut, he made a mistake
@@ishaan2711 sarcasm isnt your strength I take it?
as someone who has driven on I-579 in Pittsburgh, it is incredibly useful. It would be a mess to get across the city otherwise.
I agree. I travel to Pittsburgh often and think 579 works to make my trip through Pittsburgh much easier
Route 25 in Bridgeport CT was suppose to hook up to I 84 in Danbury and it stops in Trumbull CT
Kind of pointless when CT 8 already does that job, and then extends up to US 44 in Winsted as a freeway (entering the Pioneer Valley as a 2-lane road).
In a previous video, you mentioned discussing the unsigned Interstate 194 in Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota, the state's only three digit interstate. It's actually a lot less dumb of a route than you hinted at, though being a full freeway is probably not justified. If you covered it, the six people in the state who know it's even an interstate and not just the western half of Bismarck Expressway would appreciate it!
We are also proud of our extremely long Interstate 94 business loop and unsigned "Spur US 83" designation that serves the state capitol building. I would like some ridiculous banners bragging about them along their whole routes.
There are two other examples of a situation like I-10 and I-610. I think these route numbers should be also swapped here:
First is I-95 and I-495 in Northern Delaware. I-495 is a bypass route in Wilmington with a higher speed limit and even being signed for thru traffic going southbound, while I-95 has less lanes and a lower speed limit and goes through the downtown
Second is I-70 and I-470 in Wheeling, WV. I-470 is a bypass that is encouraged for thru traffic. It also is a mandatory route for hazmats because of the Wheeling Tunnel along I-70. I-70 also has a lower speed limit and is only one lane in each direction through the tunnel.
Another Example: I-75 and I-475 in Macon, GA. I-475 bypasses Macon, and I-75 is diverted to meet up with I-16 in downtown Macon.
What's with the way I-90, I-87, and the NY Thruway intersect in Albany? Now that they've removed the toll plaza, a much better interchange could be made.
So apparently I-93 is in Connecticut now and serves a place called Concord, CN that doesn't exist.
As someone who drives 579 all the time it's very nice to have, but it can be a lot at times, but I certainly want to have it versus not
Maybe also consider the PARALLEL interstates in Maryland and Pennsylvania? On the east side of Baltimore, there's I-895 and the newer I-95. In north-central PA, there's I-476 and I-81. Then there's the peculiar way all of the interstates in western PA run., with most of I-376 running awfully close to I-79. (I realize there are mountains and other geographic difficulties there.)
I grew up near Tacoma, Washington and worked for WSDOT for 12 years. I completely agree with your comments about I-705. I never understood why it was built that way.
Petition to get rid of that yucky shit lol
I live in Pittsburgh and beg to differ about I-579. If you couldn't do I-279->579->Blvd of the Allies->I-376, the only route from the North Hills to the Oakland area would be via the Ft. Duquesne Bridge, a routing which includes a ridiculously tight left-merge onto I-376 eastbound. Further, it would be near-impossible to access the Liberty Bridge, as there's no ramp direct from I-376 and no room for one; the Fort Pitt bridge and tunnel would end up jammed as a result, with the interchange between that and Route 51 (Saw Mill Blvd) completely and utterly gridlocked.
Well said and deserving of many more upvotes. The Beaver usually has well thought out commentary, but he misses the mark on I579. The highway situation of Pittsburgh cannot be appreciated by a Google satellite review and maybe driving on a particular route on a few occasions.
I-10 goes down into New Orleans because it is a major city for the area. Mainline interstate highways were built to connect cities, with spur routes bypassing them - which is why I-12 and I-610 were built, to bypass the city of New Orleans, off the main interstate I-10.
Yet, Pittsburgh has no mainline interstates and only has spurs,
Tell that to NYC.
I-95 only has a fraction going through Manhattan (what everyone considers "the city proper"), and spends most of it's NY length in The Bronx & Westchester (a separate Borough & a separate county respectively) as the New England Thruway. There is NO Interstate in Manhattan (connecting or otherwise) between that and the Hugh Carey/Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which connects to I-478/Gowanus Expressway.
@@RealGJZig Check out the book The Power Broker to see why that is - New Yorkers revolted when Robert Moses planned a bunch of freeways through Manhattan, and the projects were successfully blocked. That's a good thing - Manhattan wouldn't be Manhattan if it was full of freeways.
@@Dogod2 I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I feel we're too dependent on the car. We should have more rail services & other mass transit.
Eisenhower's concept of the Interstate system was not to go through the main congestion of the cities but spur into them; not the other way around.
from April 8, 1960:
[The President] went on to say that the matter of running Interstate routes through the congested parts of the cities was entirely against his original concept and wishes; that he never anticipated that the program would turn out this way… [He] was certainly not aware of any concept of using the program to build up an extensive intra-city route network as part of the program he sponsored.
You might want to look into the James White Parkway, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Not sure why that route is so massive.
'Concord, Connecticut' BEAVER LOL!!!!!
You forgot the I-990 in Amherst NY near Buffalo. That really wasn’t a needed highway in the first place since it never was built all the way to its original planned destination in Lockport. It now ends on NY Route 263 out in nowhere.
Having grown up in Tacoma, I-705 is a much better option than the previous option to get to downtown. Prior to it being built, it took a round about way to get to downtown. The only reason it's an interstate is the city got federal funding to build it. It should have just been an extension of Washington 7, which goes from I-5 in Tacoma all the way the town of Morton and is a popular route to get to Mt. Rainier National Park.
Nice little video. Interstate oddities like this fascinate me.
I-705 in Tacoma is just weird. My first drive through was enough to make me go WTF...
A suggestion for a video. The I-5 section there with WA-16 and I-705 has been a multi decade project to make traffic better. I drive up from Portland it's always "What have they done this time?" Still not done either.
Wait, they finished it! Woah. Haven't been up since the pandemic and they finished it. I got some reading to do.
@@BurleyBoar finished is a strong word
@@kylewhitt587 Good point. WDOT is done with the HOV lanes... the reason they stated to start all of this. ua-cam.com/video/bjydq1_wUG8/v-deo.html
I-12 should be re-designated I-810 IMO since it connects to I-10 on both ends and basically is just an alternate route. (I chose 810 because other even first digits are taken in Louisiana though 410 was never really built.) Plus, I have a bit of a pet peeve about non-3DIs that are entirely within the same state. I think as much as possible any interstate entirely within one state should be a 3DI in order to free up single and double-digit numbers.
Just because a 2di is used "intrastate" does not mean it cannot be used elsewhere. I-76 (OH/NJ) and I-76 (NE/CO); I-88 (NY) and I-88 (IL) are two off the top of my head I can recall.
@@realShadowKat Yes, I know (and 84 is another), but duplicates were resorted to precisely because they ran out of numbers. I'd prefer to avoid that as well.
You think 579 is complicated? Imagine trying to funnel everyone crossing the city across the Ft. Duquesne bridge and the one lane leading to the Parkway East. Insanity.
New Orleanian who totally agrees about I-10/610/12. The worst engineering is the merge at the Metairie merge of 10/610. The lane switching for through vs. local traffic is insane. BTW, St. Tammany Sheriffs love I-12 because of the number of drug runners they bust running through the parish going to/coming from the west coast or Mexico to Florida.
True. I’ve seen St. Tammany Sheriffs park their vehicles a few miles from the Tangipahoa Parish line. They (also the state troopers) love the rest stop along that route
I think almost every time I drive along I-12 in St Tammany /Livingston I see someone having been pulled over.
You could do a video on existing highways/interstates with planned expansions that never happened, like a couple in this video, plus interstates like I-710, which was planned to hit I-210 in Pasadena, but was halted due to resident opposition. You can see some clearing, but the highway just stops at Valley Blvd north of I-10.
The demise of the completion of the 710 Freeway is and always will be a disaster for the movement of commercial traffic through Southern California. The NIMBY'S in Pasadena and South Pasadena deserve the diesel truck pollution that impacts them every day.
As much of a stretch as I 579 is, it actually serves a rather decent purpose. I personally think that it's a good way of connecting the Liberty bridge/tunnel to the Parkway North. But opinions are opinions.
Don’t forget the 3 NC Vanity Interstates I-73,74 & 87
I-74 is supposed to hook up with its northern namesake, and I-73 was planned to go all the way to just north of Houghton Lake in Michigan.
My understanding on I-87 is that it's supposed to go eventually to the Hampton Roads area and act as the southern equivalent of its northern namesake.
I87 is not a waste. When completed it will be long overdue. The Research Triangle and Hampton Roads should have been connected by the 1980’s.
Liked before watching
As someone from Connecticut I use CT11 quite a bit it’s a short cut to get to Hartford. No matter what time of day you go there’s barely any traffic on it
Tacoma resident here. I-705 does seem a bit unnecessary, but it acts more as a long on/off ramp from I-5 into downtown. If you ever get the chance to drive it you will find it has some strange land alignments that will either take you up to Schuster Parkway or dump you right into downtown.
It's also a much easier connection to the port area with 509, rather than trying to fight through Fife to get on I-5 directly
5:09 you were meant to say Concord, New Hampshire and not Connecticut. I hope you can reply to this and I really hate freeways in city proper areas.
I live in Great Falls, I-315 does serve a purpose in connecting to one of the business districts, as well as being part of the designated and signed business loop that goes through downtown. Without the exits on 315, the only way to access the particular area would be through residential streets, which would be a huge traffic clog.
Other than that, though, it's basically the most over-engineered on/off ramp in the country, and you can tell why MDOT never bothered signing it.
I-12 couldn’t exist south of I-10 because it wouldn’t line up with the numbering sequence. It could be an I-6 or a discontinuous part of I-8 potentially, but not I-12.
Speaking of a highway thats “got too much going on”. Check out the I-35W/I-820 interchange in Ft Worth Texas. I’ve never seen a stack that massive with almost every direction having a direct connector to the free and the express lanes
I've lived in Manchester, about a mile off 384, and now, later on in life, I live less than a mile from I 283 in Pennsylvania, which is another very short spur, but with an obvious purpose: to give residents off the east shore of the Susquehanna River easy access to not only the Turnpike, but also Harrisburg International Airport, as well as PA 283, which intersects with its interstate parent and provides freeway access to Lancaster and US 30 and US 222. For conveniences' sake, it would be cool to extend the interstate to PA 283's current eastbound terminus into 30.
The I-84 from Hartford east to I-90 was originally I-86. when I-384 was I-84. Both were already built before protesting cancelled I-84 continuing to Providence, RI. A good video though.
at 5:12 is Concord New Hampshire, not Connecticut.
You should do a video in Ga state hwy 400 that runs north out of Atlanta. It should be an interstate
I agree…maybe call it I-785 🛣️
@@truthserum6808 the number designation would have to start with an even number lol
It actually was supposed to be the continuation of I-485 (today's Freedom Pkwy), but the rest of the segment through Virginia Highlands, Old Fourth Ward, etc was protested so the whole idea of 485 was canceled
@@geraldga9362 imagine how different Atlanta would look if 485 had happened, also 166 through Lakewood Heights, and the Outer Perimeter. The Outer Perimeter is already being built as we speak, in a manner of speaking, though not officially designated as such, GDOT is already turning SR 20 into a 6 lane limited access road between Cumming and Canton. After that is finished they will make 20 a 4 lane, raised median route between Canton and Cartersville
Lol I used to use CT-11 a bunch. My old army national guard unit was in new London, and I drove there from the northeast. My grandparents also have a camper at a campground not too far from where the highway ends! Also I used to drive 384 every day. I worked in New Britain, CT and I lived in Willimantic, CT. I used to think about how useless it was, and it's funny to see that someone agrees!
579 is similar to 440 in Nashville. Very tucked in and a lot going on it took them years to widen it
579 is a vital link in Pittsburgh.
440 caused a minor freeway revolt, too. It was “State Route 440” until recently, even though everyone knows it’s an interstate. 840 is still technically a state route, too.
I read the title and instantly thought 440. That shit is horrible. Luckily I don’t live in that part of Nashville where I have to use it often but every time I do use it,it’s absolutely atrocious
Hate to disagree, but I-579 in Pittsburgh is extremely useful. I drive this all time.
Have you ever heard of Baltimore's "Highway to Nowhere"? It's not an interstate, but was meant to connect two interstates... (and, thus, receive Interstate status) It's still very much there, and being considered for demolition.
Speaking of 315, there’s a short spur of I-81 in Bristol Virginia that’s similarly as useless.
Yep, I-381. I came to see if anyone mentioned it.
If it doesn't have an exit, it shouldn't be an interstate. Because how it is not just a ramp?
I-569 in Kentucky is not a good idea. Since I-569 (Western Kentucky Parkway) does cover 95 miles from the junction of I-69 & I-169 near Nortonville to I-65 in Elizabethtown and it crosses 4 other interstates and they are: I-69, I-169 (Pennrile Parkway), I-165 (Natcher Parkway), and I-65. Future I-569 should be a 2-digit interstate number, like I-46, I-48, I-50, I-52, I-54, I-56, or I-58, since it is between I-40 across Tennessee and I-64 in Kentucky. Cannot use I-60 and I-62 in Kentucky since they have US-60 and US-62 and it will violates the AASHTO rules.
For interstates 10/610, a similar thing occurs in Kansas City, with I-70 taking the old route and I-670 Bypassing it, in that case it was because I-70 was built first
I-10 has that route because the major interstates (95, 5, 10, etc) always go through the city center when possible
Except 5 skips all the major cities in California’s Central Valley. I guess for express traffic. I thought I heard there was a reason they did that.
How about I-180 in Central Illinois. It's a spur to Hennepin. It connected to a steel company now closed.
Able to make a video or include in a future video- Illinois Route 6? I believe it was supposed to go to Chicago but instead exists only in the Peoria area..
My understanding is that it was supposed to connect to I-180 alongside IL-29. There's also a loop plan, but that seems to have been shot down for now.
@@godozo Ah, interesting.
I-705 in Tacoma is definitely an odd one, although I appreciate that the central urban core of Tacoma isn’t really all split up by freeways the way Seattle’s urban core is.
That’s true, but I-705 still makes it pretty difficult to get to the waterfront from downtown Tacoma (at least it was easy to walk under the viaduct in Seattle). When I-705 was built people didn’t really care about that because Tacoma’s waterfront was industrial, very polluted and just generally pretty gross. Now that’s changed, but the freeway is still there. Also the few ways that do go over/under I-705 are very loud and unpleasant (although the bridge of glass is pretty cool… but still loud)
I-705 in Tacoma was originally meant to be extended down to SR512 and possibly to JBLM. You can still see the terrain work for the future ramps at 38th on SR7. But plans to extend the freeway south were cancelled and now the area is too built up to allow it to ever be built.
@@craigreichel1670 And that was just part of a larger plan WSDOT had for the Seattle - Tacoma - Everett metro. I remember reading an article that was in one of those extra little "magazines" that came with the Seattle Sunday paper that detailed how WSDOT wanted to build a much larger grid of freeways. In addition to SR-7 connecting to SR-512 and JBLM, the SR-509 freeway that connects to I-705 before becoming a surface road on the north side of Commencement Bay would've been a freeway connecting Tacoma to SeaTac and Burien, and SR-18 was originally intended to be a second loop freeway around the east side of Lake Washington like I-405, that would've continued on past Snoqualmie and eventually returned to I-5 near Everett. I don't recall the details of that particular freeway, but my best guess is that it would've been routed along SR-203 before picking up US-2 at Monroe.
@@BroadwayJoe99 some of those projects have been brought back. SR 509 is being extended south from Burien and connect with I-5 just north of Kent Des Moines Rd. Also SR 167 is being extended from Puyallup and connect with I-5 in fife and then continue directly into the port.
@@greasher926 I know about those projects. And I wonder if they'll try to resurrect the Cross-Base Highway project.
Your so right I remember driving from Florida to California and my Ex and I thought we must have did something wrong. Because to leave i10 to comeback to i10 as a new traveler felt so wrong. It caused our first actual fight as I said follow the gps and she wanted to stay on i10.
After we both agreed that a dumbass made the route. Honestly one of the last things we agreed on. Over the course of the trip it went from I love you to who are you real quick 😂
Your ex was just trying to save you from one of those GPS errors where the device tells you to take I-610, then it becomes a narrow rutted track, and finally it's too late to reverse out and they find your bodies weeks later. (Those aerial photos in the video of unfinished interchanges and superhighways are certainly a bit evocative of that.)
guessing one of the reasons she's your ex? when I drive, I drive my way and I don't care what anyone else in the vehicle thinks, if they have problem, can take a taxi
It confused me too the first time I came across it.
I-180 in Illinois is completely useless since the steel plant it was built for to provide access has since closed down.
Is your main channel Beaverman or Beaver geography?
Beaver Geography
I live in Great Falls, and that section of "freeway" is completely useless. The speed limit is 45, yet cars coming from Interstate 15 NB are usually continuing at freeway speeds. If you happen to be coming from Marketplace area, South of the highway, on that on ramp, it can be pretty dangerous to merge. Cars wanna take the onramp at 30 mph, while the cars your merging with are going 65. Then, on top of that, there is a stop light halfway through. Before continuing as a highway over the missouri river, then hitting another traffic light before turning into a "stroad".
did I just get the highway of my state and town that i use daily, but still think is useless? HELL YEAH
Honestly 579 in Pittsburgh served a purposed as it connected 279 and 376 for decades until the connector ramps for 279s to 376 east were done in 2000. Now it does not make sense, but this was built decades ago
I 393 was mostly intended not to serve downtown, but as a tourist bypass of the Concord Heights business and residential district for travellers heading to the seacoast. (Rte 101 to Hampton wouldn't be complete till years later)
Interstate 87 would have to run from Raleigh to Plattsburgh via Norfolk and Dover for it to work properly.
Heres a dumb one in reverse. Georgia has the land for an outer perimeter around Atlanta. Instead of using it, they are making a 2 lane outdated road 4 lane replacing bridges by removing them and replacing not putting side by side
People outside of Atlanta are vehemently opposed to an outer loop freeway, though most of them complain about the traffic...
@@JMccovery yep
Yep. Don’t get me wrong..widening Ga 20 was sorely needed but the Northern Arc is still needed as well. On the plus side, it appears that Gwinnett County still has the right of ways to build it.
I'm slightly surprised I-990 outside Buffalo wasn't on this list. It's a spur about 6 miles long that connects I-290 to the university within the first mile and then just keeps going, cutting through suburban neighborhoods for five miles before just sort of abruptly ending in the middle of nowhere. Most useless freeway I've ever seen.
Very cool video, funnily enough when I clicked on the video the first interstate that came to mind for me was 384 Connecticut, and speaking of Connecticut I really feel like state route 2 should become part of the interstate system because of the amount of traffic that you see on it every day and the poor condition it is always in
What do you think of extending I77 south into Florida? I 95 is maxed out and I 75 bottles up in Atlanta. We need a new way north, especially during hurricane evacuation.
I doubt it'll ever be extended south of Columbia, South Carolina and if it does it'll probably go as far as Savannah, Georgia to connect with I 95.
Somewhere in the multiverse is a variant of you wondering why I12 is south of I10 through Louisiana instead of the other way around.
Should be I-8 though NO but most likely NO and LA wanted it that way.
Beaver do you think I-293 around Manchester Nh is a useful highway?
5:11 you mean Concord, NH?
Yes, he did, but said Connecticut.
Kinda disagree about 579, Pittsburgh has Mt Washington just across the river from downtown with only 2 tunnels for general traffic, so all traffic from the southern neighborhoods and suburbs to the central, northern and eastern sides of the metro area gets funneled onto either the 376/Ft.Pitt Tunnel/Ft.Pitt Bridge OR BYP19/Liberty Tunnel/Liberty Bridge/579. It exists as one of the only ways to easily travel from the south hills to the north hills as well as the entire east side of the city. I don't love the highway but a major route, even if not interstate designated, in that spot is a necessity. Otherwise, access between south and east is limited to a series of wonky, non-linear, traffic-clogged bridge crossings and connections between neighborhoods of different elevations since the road network around the old suburbs along the Monongahela River wasn't designed to facilitate the kind of commuting between the east and south sides of Pittsburgh that has emerged as white collar jobs have emerged in especially the eastern neighborhoods as well as the south and north suburbs. This is something that even the completion of the eastern part of the Mon-Fayette/Southern Beltway can't replace. The city has plans to build a larger cap over part of it, don't know how much has been built so far. While it did cut off downtown from the Hill District, the greater factor in the demise of the Hill District was the wholesale bulldozing of almost the entire Lower Hill District to make way for the (now demolished) Civic Arena.
Pittsburgh may have too many interstates and highways, but in a way it needs them to handle the basic road connections between different 'chunks' of the city because it's built in such steep terrain the connections can't be handed totally by the surface road network. My biggest frustration is with how 279 rams straight through the northside at surface level, demolishing entire blocks, cutting it in half in a beautiful dense old part of the city center and causing the blocks around it to be noisy and polluted.
Pittsburgh does not have too many interstates. There are three in the city limits. 279, 376 and 579. Only 376 traverses the city.
The Hill was cut off by the Civic Arena. It was bad before the Civic Arena was begun in 1958.
I don’t think it’s useless, but I-30 from Little Rock to Texarkana in Arkansas DESPERATELY needs to be expanded. The lanes are very narrow, and with the amount of convoys (I actually got caught in a convoy last time I was on it) that frequently leave Little Rock via I-30, it’s such a hazard for the other drivers. The interstate needs to be expanded and there needs to be more room in the lanes.
thoughts on I-189 and VT-289 in the Burlington, VT area?
I-393 in Concord NH exists primarily to serve as access to the NH state government offices...
Can you do a video on U.S. Highway 6 at some point?
There is a really short interstate here in Washington: I-705. I wouldn't say "useless" because it does connect I-5 with downtown Tacoma but it's still kind of odd that I-5 doesn't go through downtown
I-84 was actually to end at I-95 in Downtown Providence using US 6 into the city not at I-295. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t mention I-370 in Maryland. Such a waste of an Interstate number and could’ve just as easily been MD 200.
I-370 pretty much was useless as basically an extension of the short Sam Elg Highway until the Inter-County Connector was finally built.
I'll agree with you on the utility of I-393 running east off I-93, but the location is Concord NH, which is not in Connecticut, as the narration states
5:11 you said CT, but it’s NH. No hate I love the channel I just live around there :(
I would propose I-235 in Oklahoma. I get why the highway exists, but why is it designated as an interstate when it’s concurrent with US 77, and only for like 5 miles.
I-393 only serves to get to Concord’s retail location faster but is the faster way to get to route 106 which going north gets you to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Actually, I 12 should be redesignated as I 10. I 12 would go into New Orleans, and intercontinental traffic would avoid all of the greater New Orleans area.
IMO, they should have left the main 5 and 0 interstates outside of urbanized areas as much as possible and utilize the "lesser" numbers, spurs, US Highways, and state/local routes to service these areas. They'd still be still perfectly accessible, but long-distance traffic doesn't have to get bogged down with local traffic and vice versa. But, I'm just a driver not a politician, so what do I know?
I’m shocked you didn’t bring up I-180 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It’s not even an expressway at all. It starts from I-80 at a regular diamond interchange and then heads north towards downtown. It doesn’t have any exits at all, just signalized intersections. For the entirety of its designation it’s concurrent with US-85 so really it should’ve been just left as US-85. On top of all that I-25 is literally the next exit over.