Numbered highways in the United States

Numbered highways in the United States
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Numbered_highways_in_the_United_States".

Highways in the United States are split into at least four different types of systems.

Interstate Highways
- The Interstate Highway System is a federally funded and administered (but state-maintained) system of freeways that forms the transportation backbone of the U.S., with millions of Americans relying on it for commutes and freight transport daily. Interstate highways are all constructed to precise standards, designed to maximize high-speed travel safety and efficiency. Interstate Highways also contain auxiliary routes, which are normally assigned a three-digit route number. All Interstate Highways are part of the National Highway System, a network of highways deemed essential to the defense, economy, and mobility of the country.

U.S. Highways
- The U.S. Highway System is an older system, coordinated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and maintained by state and local governments. Because of the prominence of the Interstate System, many U.S. Routes have been downgraded to state-numbered routes over the years, most famous being the decommissioning of the well-known U.S. Route 66.

State Highways
- Each state also has a state highway system (see also: State highway#United States). State highways are of varying standards and quality. Some state highways become so heavily traveled they are built to Interstate standards; others are so lightly traveled they are roads of minimal quality.

County Highways
- The final administrative level in some states is the county-maintained county highway. County routes vary widely from well-travelled expressways to dirt access roads into remote parts of the county.

Highways are generally organized by a route number or letter. These designations are generally displayed along the route by means of a highway shield; each system has its own unique shield design that will allow quick identification to which system the route belongs. Below is a list of the different highway shields used throughout the U.S.

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1 Shield list
2 See also
3 External links

Shield list

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Interstate Highways

Interstate Highway

Shown: Interstate 95

Interstate Highway, 3-digit variant

Shown: Interstate 695

Interstate Highway, state-name variant

Shown: Interstate 80 in California

Hawaii Interstate Highway

Shown: Interstate H-1

Alaska Interstate Highway**

Shown: Interstate A-1

Puerto Rico Interstate Highway**

Shown:PRI-1

Business Loop Highway

Shown: Interstate 96 Business (Lansing, Michigan)

Business Spur Highway

Shown: Interstate 75 Business (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan)

** Note that the Alaska and Puerto Rico Interstates exist but are not signed as such - the above shields are theoretical only, and based on the real-life Hawaii Interstate Highways (H1, H2, H3, and H201), which are signed.

U.S. Numbered Highways

United States Numbered Highways

Shown: U.S. Route 30

United States Numbered Highways, California variant

Shown: U.S. Route 50 in California

United States Numbered Highways, Old Style variant

Shown: U.S. Route 66 in Arizona

Suffixed United States Numbered Highways

Shown: U.S. Route 25E

Historic United States Numbered Highways

Shown: Historic U.S. Route 66

Historic United States Numbered Highways, California variant

Shown: Historic U.S. Route 99 in California

Business Route

Shown: U.S. Route 1 Business

Bypass Route

Shown: U.S. Route 60 Bypass

Business Route, Maryland variant

Shown: U.S. Route 13 Business in Maryland

Truck Route

Shown: U.S. Route 9 Truck

Alternate Route

Shown: U.S. Route 40 Alternate

Scenic Route

Shown: U.S. Route 412 Scenic

Generic routes

Generic county route

Shown: County Route 64 in Baldwin County, Alabama

Generic county route (Alternate shield)

Shown: County Route 7 in St. Louis County, Minnesota

Generic Forest Route

Shown: Forest Route 7

Generic Indian Route

Shown: Indian Route 18

Generic U.S. Bicycle Route

Shown: U.S. Bicycle Route 76

Generic U.S. Bicycle Route (Alternate shield)

Shown: U.S. Bicycle Route 13

State highways and other similar systems

Many state highway markers are designed to suggest the geographic shape of the state or some other state symbol such as its flag. Most of the others are generically rectangular or some other neutral shape. Pennsylvania uses the unique shape of a keystone, designating "The Keystone State".