What is the difference between route and interstate

The origins of the U. Numbered Highway System, as embodied by roads like Route 66, go back several decades further than the Interstate System — not too long after cars became an important part of life for many Americans, in fact. While they represented a step forward for the growing number of automobile drivers in the country, these routes ranged wildly in quality. Many boosters built roads in ways that would allow them to collect dues from as many businesses as possible, rather than the most direct routes.

By , the auto trail system was beginning to become unsustainable, as those booster organisations stopped performing road maintenance, and the federal government stepped in. That year, the U. Secretary of Agriculture began working with state governments to create a nationalised system from coast to coast. Route 66 was born out of this initial road-building push. Unlike many of the routes on previously existing auto trails, Route 66 was explicitly designed to reach the people of small town America, giving farmers access to a major road to move crops on.

Today, this lends Route 66 a part of its rural, off-the-beaten-path charm. Major changes came to the U. The U. This occurred because of both new immigration and as American soldiers returned from World War II and started families. While westward expansion had always been a theme in American history, suddenly the open plains and mountains near Route 66 were filled with more people than ever.

Many of these new families were joining the growing middle class and found themselves with new disposable income. Car ownership skyrocketed as a result of these factors, and many of the routes created in the s and s quickly became insufficient to handle growing traffic. New anxieties created by the reality of nuclear weapons and growing American hostilities with the Soviet Union meant that some in the military wanted a system for evacuating major cities quickly, in the event of an attack.

In , President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, establishing the construction of a new, larger system of roads, called the National System of Interstate and Defence Highways. We definitively know which routes are county in this state because most county routes begin with 5's or 6's. I've never seen it as a big deal, really. Chris Blaney. It's just as well that the routes are normally referred to by number, because when an attempt is made to be more precise, e.

I've heard "state route 50", which is actually not technically wrong, as all Ohio Interstates and US highways also carry an implicit state route of the same number, but I cringe when I hear "US 32", which I have heard on several occasions. The M-numbered highway nomenclature arises from the Michigan state highway shield, which is a white diamond with the small letter M at the top and the highway number below.

The diamond is on a black square background. In some areas of Michigan around the Detroit area, most notably, but also around Sault Ste. Marie and Traverse City, to name a few others secondary roads are often named "x Mile Road", x being some number. Wisconsin's nomenclature is the same as Minnesota's.

Jody Aho ja Most people around here just say the route number without prefix: "one-oh-four", "five-thirty-one", "three-ninety" which could be NY or I , "fifteen-A". But almost never "ninety", as that's "the Thruway". I wonder what region of the US tends to use that particular form when referring to state route numbers?

Minnesota, for one. Some roads around the Twin Cities area have their county designation as their primary and sometimes sole identity. This is especially so when the road is a major freeway interchange or a feeder route. Turns out that some of these county roads are formerly state roads, generally with the same number, and so they continue to be known as "Highway 96" for example, in the case of Ramsey County 96 on traffic reports. Where the road was never a trunk highway or had a different number as a state route Hennepin County 81 for example , they are generally called "County Road xx".

Oddly, when a former county road has been assumed by the state, it seems hard for traffic reporters to call it by its new name. Hennepin County 18 became U. Massachusetts is similar, everything is "route. Any other US nominees? The first time I heard "The xx" was not in reference. Right; outside the US there are a number of practitioners, including Ontario and the entire United Kingdom e. Even in the city, they are never referred to by name, such as the Media Freeway or the Willow Freeway or the Lakeland Freeway.

The exception is I through the center of the city which is always referred to as The Innerbelt, probably because people cannot figure out if it is I or I I have never heard anyone refer to Euclid Ave. Steve Hill Ohio Highways. In a previous article, mfa In my home state of Michigan everything is differentiated.

A great giveaway that someone is out of state is if they ever use anything besides M-xx to denote a state route. Must be some local variations, then, because in conversation in the mountains, most people just use the route number. In the media, however, its always "Interstate" or "eye", "U. S," or "Kentucky" when a route number is referred to. You rarely ever hear "state route. I also think I has some overpasses marked as "Rte.

In New Jersey, all types of numbered roads are called "Route xxx". In Maine, US and state routes are usually called "route x", and I is called When "Route" is used in New Brunswick, it rhymes with boot. Kirby -- pki There's no need to light the spark in Canada, it's already their national sport.

In Idaho most highways are referred to as their street names. Most people in Idaho figure that the only acutal highways are I and US Everything else is just a street. For instance in Moscow alot of the fast food places are on ID Also called the Pullman Highway.

No one calls it either, it's just the highway. Or "on the way to Spokane. It is 95 to New Meadows, then go through McCall. There is by no way a distinctino between US state route or Interstate. I is referred to as US is referred to as 95, etc. I always wonder if anyone would be able to tell the difference between the signs.

On highways, the speed limit is typically 55 MPH, while on the interstate, it can go up to higher speeds around 75 MPH. Furthermore, freeways are very similar to the Interstate Highway System, but, like Ponder Weasel wrote, there are small differences between the two as well.

For instance, while many freeways are part of the Interstate Highway System, like highways, not all freeways are a part of that system. Additionally, freeways tend to connect big cities together, while the Interstate Highway System obviously connects the states together. What is an interstate?