U. S. Highway Routes

Sign for U.S. Route 29, which runs from near Baltimore, Maryland to Pensacola, Florida.


Living as this blogger does in a town that is served by a grand total of zero Interstate Highways, but four U.S. Highways, it is always interesting to learn a bit more of the history of these numbered roads, and to learn, in particular, where your local road ends up!

The U.S. Highway System, a system of inter-state route numbers that would assist travellers in negotiating local roads, was devised by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation (AASHTO), going into effect in 1926.

Their website is: http://www.transportation.org/Pages/default.aspx

This system, though overshadowed by the later Interstate System, remains a rather important part of the American landscape and transportation network.

The highways of the system are numbered in the following manner: east-west routes bear even numbers, while north-south routes have odd route numbers.  The lower the number, the farther north or east in the country, the high the number, the farther south or west.  Spur roads that branch off the main lines have a third digit as a prefix.  Thus, U.S. Route 11 runs north-south in the eastern United States, and U.S. 211 would be a spur off of that road.

The following two websites gives some splendid information on the various U.S. Highways, the first giving particular focus to the start and end points of the roads,
http://www.usends.com/
and the other with more general information:
http://www.us-highways.com/

Happy travels!  May the road be smooth and the weather fair for your journey.

Live well!