Freeway vs. Major Hwy vs. Minor Hwy (US)

[WeeeZer14]

I tried starting with the smaller roads, but discussion keeps bubbling up to higher and higher road types.

So lets talk about to top 3 road types here. (As they apply to the US.)

Starting with the initial framework of:

Interstates = Freeway (unless non-limited access, then Major)
US Hwy = Major Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or by-passed, then Minor)
State Hwy = Minor Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or near limited access, then Major)
County Rte = Primary St (unless limited access, then Freeway; or near limited access, then Major)

That is just a start. There will always be exceptions. I'd like to get us to the point where we have a general rule that can cover a majority of the cases and one editor following it will NOT result in another editor screaming "what were they thinking!?!?!"

NOTE: one exception already being tossed around is the 500-series county routes in NJ which basically serve as a secondary state highway system. These may in some cases be better as Minor Highways. I am sure other states may have a similar situation. (TN does not since it has primary and secondary state highways and no county system to complicate things.)

[jasonh300]

Interstates = Freeway (unless non-limited access, then Major)
US Hwy = Major Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or by-passed, then Minor)
State Hwy = Minor Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or near limited access, then Major)
County Rte = Primary St (unless limited access, then Freeway; or near limited access, then Major)

There is only one example of an Interstate that is not limited access that I'm aware of, which is in New Jersey, and we've discussed that extensively...I hope you've got that all edited and locked so nobody has to worry about it!

I would leave the State Hwys and County Rtes out of this completely because there is such regional variation.

e.g.
State Hwy = Minor Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or major artery that's a better option than a US Hwy, then Major; or residential street, then Street; or dirt road, then Dirt Road/4x4 Trail).

County Rte = Primary St (unless limited access, then Freeway; or major artery that's a better option than a US Hwy, then Major; or in Louisiana, there are no counties)

This could go on ad nauseum.

[WeeeZer14]

I was wondering if anyone would ask about non-limited access interstates and was going to reply to ask you about it

There is also a stretch of I-40 along the TN/NC border that has a few side roads connected. I believe only to the west-bound side. But that is so minor of an issue that I have left it as freeway through there.

Here are some others.

I was thinking of starting the discussion with just one road type, but each time I've done that the discussion has wandered. So I lumped all the "highways" together to start things off.

I said there would be exceptions, so I was just hoping to come up with something that would be workable until each state/area fine tunes things. I am okay with a rule that results in a non-ideal situation. I want to avoid rules that create non-workable or ridiculous situations. So unless the editors of a state come up with anything better, is State Hwy = Minor Hwy such a bad thing to default to as their starting point?

BTW, do you really have dirt roads that are state highways? Or is it like KY where there have "State Hwys" that are a few hundred feet of a road crossing under/over an interstate? It is maintained by the state because of the interstate ROW so they gave it a number. These I do NOT consider to be state highways for our purposes. (NJ has a state highway that is one single block long also and only connects to county routes at both ends.)

[MarionOaks]

What I've always done, and how I think it should be, Freeways are interstates, and limited access highways (which only access are by grade-differential exits), Major Highways are heavy traffic highways (could be SR, or County Highway, pending on traffic, number of lanes, etc.), I've also done where all county highways (as it is a "highway") are minor highways.

[MReiser4670]

There is only one example of an Interstate that is not limited access that I'm aware of, which is in New Jersey, and we've discussed that extensively...I hope you've got that all edited and locked so nobody has to worry about it!

I actually have had to map one of these in Philadelphia. I- 676 leads up to the Ben Franklin Bridge on both sides but on the PA side, the bridge approach is actually at street level and passes through several traffic lights to continue through the area: https://www.waze.com/editor/?zoom=5&lat ... 7,61956998

[jasonh300]

BTW, do you really have dirt roads that are state highways?

Yes, I found one yesterday while editing. They're usually "paved" with clamshells that they dredged out of Lake Pontchartrain in the 70s. There are Louisiana state highway designations that simply don't exist except on paper, but parts of them were cleared and covered with clamshells 20 years ago as a placeholder, but a road was never developed, and probably never will be.

[WeeeZer14]

I actually have had to map one of these in Philadelphia. I- 676 leads up to the Ben Franklin Bridge on both sides but on the PA side, the bridge approach is actually at street level and passes through several traffic lights to continue through the area: https://www.waze.com/editor/?zoom=5&lat ... 7,61956998

They should just blast through Franklin Square and fix that up

[WeeeZer14]

BTW, do you really have dirt roads that are state highways?

Yes, I found one yesterday while editing. They're usually "paved" with clamshells that they dredged out of Lake Pontchartrain in the 70s. There are Louisiana state highway designations that simply don't exist except on paper, but parts of them were cleared and covered with clamshells 20 years ago as a placeholder, but a road was never developed, and probably never will be.

Interesting. Are these roads maintained in their current state at all? Or just left to mother nature?

[MReiser4670]

I actually have had to map one of these in Philadelphia. I- 676 leads up to the Ben Franklin Bridge on both sides but on the PA side, the bridge approach is actually at street level and passes through several traffic lights to continue through the area: https://www.waze.com/editor/?zoom=5&lat ... 7,61956998

They should just blast through Franklin Square and fix that up

That was the original plan! Thankfully cooler heads prevailed (depending on your point of view I guess).

Also technically, the Ben Franklin Bridge is only US 30...I-676 is broken in two pieces. The section of I-676 in NJ is even sighed as north/south. Talk about an interstate numbering travesty!

[MReiser4670]

I tried starting with the smaller roads, but discussion keeps bubbling up to higher and higher road types.

So lets talk about to top 3 road types here. (As they apply to the US.)

Starting with the initial framework of:

Interstates = Freeway (unless non-limited access, then Major)
US Hwy = Major Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or by-passed, then Minor)
State Hwy = Minor Hwy (unless limited access, then Freeway; or near limited access, then Major)
County Rte = Primary St (unless limited access, then Freeway; or near limited access, then Major)

That is just a start. There will always be exceptions. I'd like to get us to the point where we have a general rule that can cover a majority of the cases and one editor following it will NOT result in another editor screaming "what were they thinking!?!?!"

NOTE: one exception already being tossed around is the 500-series county routes in NJ which basically serve as a secondary state highway system. These may in some cases be better as Minor Highways. I am sure other states may have a similar situation. (TN does not since it has primary and secondary state highways and no county system to complicate things.)

Sorry to get things sidetracked....this is perfectly acceptable.

Here in PA, we have numerous unsigned state highways (they numbered with a 4 digit format). I have been making them all Primary Streets in my area. In Philadelphia, they were all designated at Minor Highways, so I've been 'demoting' them to Primary Streets as well.