Ranking: 10 Most Valuable Major Interstate Highways, 2022

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I wonder how they parse out the "value" of I-80 and I-90 (both in the top 5) because they share the longest route concurrency of the interstate system at roughly 265 miles from just outside Cleveland to just outside Chicago. This is because the great lakes "force" I-90 to bend southward down to I-80's latitude and run with it to get around the lakes.

There's no way that can be accurately done.

I-70/80/90 basically functions as one system with three branches to connect Chicago/midwest with the east coast.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Labtec

I used to travel on I-75 frequently and going into the downtown connector in Atlanta where I-75 and I-85 combine is an unpleasant experience with so many cars.

One interesting feature of I-75 is that it passes around but not through Lexington, KY. I-64 also passes near but not through Lexington. I believe (but don't know for sure) that this is because Lexington had already established its urban growth boundary, which predated Portland's by 40 years. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Le...!4d-84.5037164

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by pj3000

There's no way that can be accurately done.

I-70/80/90 basically functions as one system with three branches to connect Chicago/midwest with the east coast.

Simple method: Just attribute the trip to the road where the trip ended. If it ends on a combined section of the road then it gets attributed to each of the designated interstates.

Complex method: Same as first method, but just account for where trip begins. Attribute a trip to all of the interstates between the beginning and end of the trip.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

I-86 through Corning, Binghamton, etc. doesn't feel like it did much to lift the economy of those places.

I-86 (Southern Tier Expressway) used to be Rt. 17. The highway was already there, just an upgrading and renaming. It’s really just a more direct way to connect NYC and Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and for eastbound travelers on I-90 to access NYC.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Simple method: Just attribute the trip to the road where the trip ended. If it ends on a combined section of the road then it gets attributed to each of the designated interstates.

Complex method: Same as first method, but just account for where trip begins. Attribute a trip to all of the interstates between the beginning and end of the trip.

Yeah... I get that... I'm probably just thinking too Chicago/Midwest to East Coast- centric, and not paying enough attention to where the trip began prior to arriving at the combined highway in Chicago.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I-70/80/90 basically functions as one system with three branches to connect Chicago/midwest with the east coast.

I-70 never dances with the other two, but the various and somewhat convoluted concurrencies between I-80/I-90/I-94 in the great lakes region really do muddle things up.

I-80 & I-90 run concurrently from just west of cleveland for ~265 miles over into NW indiana, where it junctions with I-94 coming over to chicago from detroit, at which point I-80 splits off from I-90 and then runs concurrently with I-94 for about 20 miles into the south burbs of chicago, at which point I-94 splits north to head into the city and I-80 heads west out into the cornfields of illinois and, eventually, san francisco. then in chicago, I-90 runs into I-94 and then they run concurrently for about 16 miles through the city, at which point they split and I-90 heads NW out to rockford and I-94 heads N up to milwaukee. then, just outside of madison, I-90 and I-94 re-meet and run concurrently with each other for about 90 miles up to tomah, WI (the first 25 miles of that concurrency is also shared with I-39 for a triple 2-digit concurrency!), where they finally split for good, until they meet back up way out in billings, MT where the I-94 designation ends, and I-90 alone runs out to seattle.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I-70 never dances with the other two, but the various and somewhat convoluted concurrencies between I-80/I-90/I-94 in the great lakes region really do muddle things up.

I-80 & I-90 run concurrently from just west of cleveland for ~265 miles over into NW indiana, where it junctions with I-94 coming over to chicago from detroit, at which point I-80 splits off from I-90 and then runs concurrently with I-94 for about 20 miles into the south burbs of chicago, at which point I-94 splits north to head into the city and I-80 heads west out into the cornfields of illinois and, eventually, san francisco. then in chicago, I-90 runs into I-94 and then they run concurrently for about 16 miles through the city, at which point they split and I-90 heads NW out to rockford and I-94 heads N up to milwaukee. then, just outside of madison, I-90 and I-94 re-meet and run concurrently with each other for about 90 miles up to tomah, WI (the first 25 miles of that concurrency is also shared with I-39 for a triple 2-digit concurrency!), where they finally split for good, until they meet back up way out in billings, MT where the I-94 designation ends, and I-90 alone runs out to seattle.

Right, I know 70 doesn’t intermingle with 80/90. But kinda functions rather as a southern parallel of the Midwest-to-east coast system. The trio was formed to funnel commerce back and forth between the Midwest and Bos-Wash.

I always knew I-90 ran between Boston and Seattle, but I never realized all the twists and turns and configurations it takes after Chicago, including its straight north stretch from Rockford to Madison.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I always knew I-90 ran between Boston and Seattle, but I never realized all the twists and turns and configurations it takes after Chicago, including its straight north stretch from Rockford to Madison.

if canada wasn't a thing, I-90 would've almost certainly taken a more normal route through SW ontario from buffalo over to port huron, instead of bending down south around lake erie and eventually slamming into I-80.

but there would still be Lake Michigan to deal with. at port huron I-90 could've followed I-94's current route down to detroit and then over to chicago around the bottom of the lake, or i guess it could've possibly been routed to go north with I-75 up to the mackinac bridge with a new interstate heading west across the UP. or the third option: slam it due west across michigan and then build an 80 mile long tunnel under lake michigan from muskegon to milwaukee

lake michigan's roughly 300 mile long north-south run has always been a big thorn in the side of east-west transportation in the northern tier of the nation, and a significant reason why chicago became such a major logistics center (or chokepoint if you'd rather see it that way).

[lio45]

I'm kinda skeptical of their calculations. If some very expensive piece of machinery gets on I-75 in the Detroit area and exits one exit later, it likely counts as the full value of the stuff assigned to that freeway, while in reality, no intercity trade happened, and the thing could have easily traveled through other means.

At the other end of the spectrum, since this is only value-based, 100 full trucks of China-made widgets could be dwarfed by one highly-specialized, uber-expensive industrial part. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a better metric to go with tons of goods moved instead of value.

Imagine a truck trailer full of Dodge Vipers who are taken from a Detroit-area plant to another differently-equipped plant for some close-to-finishing touch (full value of the sum of the cars assigned to I-75), then are brought back again to their location of origin for some final work (full value of the sum of the cars assigned one second time to I-75), then after they're fully finished, are again taken to the spot where they'll get shipped/distributed nationwide (full value of the sum of the cars assigned to I-75 a third time). Now, sure, you probably wouldn't shuffle cars around like that, the full assembly is pretty much always at the same factory, but it's easily conceivable that for some type of items, they could be moved around like that.

I'd be curious to see how different this list would be if we instead looked at the volume/weight of goods moved (not their value), and only counting what originates in a metro area and goes to another area.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Right, I know 70 doesn’t intermingle with 80/90. But kinda functions rather as a southern parallel of the Midwest-to-east coast system. The trio was formed to funnel commerce back and forth between the Midwest and Bos-Wash.

I always knew I-90 ran between Boston and Seattle, but I never realized all the twists and turns and configurations it takes after Chicago, including its straight north stretch from Rockford to Madison.

I-70 sort of parallels the old National Road, the first federally funded overland route into the midwest from the east coast (I think?) since that corridor developed very early. It plays second fiddle to I-80 past the rockies, though. Not even sure how it serves anywhere beyond the western slope honestly. I-70 really feels like its at its peak cold warish importance from St. Louis to Denver….tying together not the east coast with the midwest, but the midwest with the mountain west.