Indianapolis, crossroads of America with more diverging interstates than any other city (2015, cost)
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Indiana has had the nickname "Crossroads of America" for sometime, and it's really no surprise why. Take a look at a map of interstates in Indiana, they all cut across the state and meet square in the middle at Indianapolis. Indy by 2015 will have 9 interstates with the two newest ones connecting South Bend and Evansville to Indy. I'm not sure any other state has as many converging interstates. perhaps it's the location on Indy being central between a lot of other large metros, Louisville, Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, etc. Anyone care to jump in on this?
Also, on an afterthought, I'm a little surprised to see the lack of interstate systems in southern California compared with anything east of the Mississippi.
Yeah, I also thought Chicago had the highest number of interstates converging into one city.
As for why CA and other Western states have so few interstates, think about population growth patterns. During the 50's, when The Interstate Highway System was initiated and routed, there frankly weren't that many large, notable cities out West (especially when compared to the rest of the U.S.). What was there was spaced far apart from one-another, making it easier to use fewer "lines". Makes sense to me, anyways.
I65 to Chicago
I74 to Champaign
I65 to Louisville
I74 to Cincinnati
I69 to Fort Wayne
I70 to TerraHaute
and, as I mentioned in my opening post, by 2015 will have completed interstates connecting Evansville and South Bend to Indianapolis, bringing it up to 9 different interstate directions you can take while leaving the city. Even if Indy doesn't have the most, for a city of its size it has an AWFUL lot of connected interstates, more than most other cities.
I understand the interstates were first constructed in the 1950's, but comparing a completed interstate map in 1960 to one in 2010 would look vastly different. They have added many new interstates and continuously add them, as I mentioned Indiana is working on two right now. With the huge boom California and most the rest of the west has seen in the past 30 years, why aren't there more? Especially in the Coastal California area where it is the most densely populated? I know Los Angeles has tons of freeways and highways, but they don't have an interstate system like Chicago, a city 2/3 its size has.
I understand the interstates were first constructed in the 1950's, but comparing a completed interstate map in 1960 to one in 2010 would look vastly different. They have added many new interstates and continuously add them, as I mentioned Indiana is working on two right now. With the huge boom California and most the rest of the west has seen in the past 30 years, why aren't there more? Especially in the Coastal California area where it is the most densely populated? I know Los Angeles has tons of freeways and highways, but they don't have an interstate system like Chicago, a city 2/3 its size has.
You only need so many interstates ending at the Pacific or the Canada or Mexico borders. In parts of the Midwest you're right in the middle of the Great Lakes metros along with routes to the East Coast and South. So naturally there's going to be more routes in these hub cities.
Plus it's much more expensive to build interstate highways through the west--and since there's already interstates linking most of the large cities(with a few exceptions of places like Fresno or the fact that there's no direct interstate from Phoenix to Salt Lake)--the cost to link smaller population centers isn't worth it. Constructing an interstate highway through the Coast Range or Sierra Nevada or Cascades or Rockies is much more expensive than building a highway out in the flatlands of the Midwest or most of the East Coast or South.
Los Angeles has a lot of different interstate highways running through the city(as does the Bay Area)--though most of them are spurs or connectors of other interstate highways(the 405 or the 110 and so on). There's probably just as many as Chicago. But you only need a few long distance interstates going out of Southern California(I-10, I-5, I-15, I-8, and I-40).
Indiana has had the nickname "Crossroads of America" for sometime, and it's really no surprise why. Take a look at a map of interstates in Indiana, they all cut across the state and meet square in the middle at Indianapolis. Indy by 2015 will have 9 interstates with the two newest ones connecting South Bend and Evansville to Indy. I'm not sure any other state has as many converging interstates.
Kansas City currently has I-29, I-35, I-49, I-70, I-435, I-470 and I-635 which equals Indy.
I65 to Chicago
I74 to Champaign
I65 to Louisville
I74 to Cincinnati
I69 to Fort Wayne
I70 to TerraHaute
and, as I mentioned in my opening post, by 2015 will have completed interstates connecting Evansville and South Bend to Indianapolis, bringing it up to 9 different interstate directions you can take while leaving the city. Even if Indy doesn't have the most, for a city of its size it has an AWFUL lot of connected interstates, more than most other cities.
I understand the interstates were first constructed in the 1950's, but comparing a completed interstate map in 1960 to one in 2010 would look vastly different. They have added many new interstates and continuously add them, as I mentioned Indiana is working on two right now. With the huge boom California and most the rest of the west has seen in the past 30 years, why aren't there more? Especially in the Coastal California area where it is the most densely populated? I know Los Angeles has tons of freeways and highways, but they don't have an interstate system like Chicago, a city 2/3 its size has.
Wouldn't each highway just be listed once? 65, 70 , 74
Under this methodology I could say an awful city for highways, Philadelphia has
I76 to Pittsburgh
I76 to Atlantic City
I95 to DC
I95 to Princeton
NJTK to NYC
676 to Camden
476 to Allentown
295 to Trenton
295 to Wilmington/Baltimore
276 to Newark
55 to Vineland
etc.
But to me there is really just 95, and 76 and many spurs/iterations (maybe toss the turnpikes NJ and PA)
42 to Atlantic City
Yes, Indiana is the "Crossroads of America." Welcome to Indiana.........that area of land in between you and where you are actually going. Enjoy your stay.
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