Topic: Useful things to know about the US road system
Anonymous A started this discussion 2 years ago #114,832
Apparently a lot of people even from the US don't know about this in much or any detail, but it can be pretty useful, especially if you're just visiting.
There are two major roadways: an older highway system consisting of mostly 2 lane roads and the newer interstate system consisting of divided traffic for higher speeds and capacities. There are no stop lights on the interstate, but they can sometimes be found on the highway routes which can pass directly into towns and cities at grade.
The numbers assigned to each highway increase from east to west. And the mile markers increase from north to south.
The interstate system follows the opposite convention. The lowest numbered interstates are on the west coast and the mile markers increase from south to north. Exit numbers correspond to the nearest mile marker and mile markers reset to 0 at each state border. The convention is the opposite from the highways to avoid confusing the two since routes of the same number in each system will be near the opposite sides of the country.
Interstate routes running north-south end in a "5" (ex. I5, I95), and those running east-west end in a "0".
There are two major roadways: an older highway system consisting of mostly 2 lane roads and the newer interstate system consisting of divided traffic for higher speeds and capacities. There are no stop lights on the interstate, but they can sometimes be found on the highway routes which can pass directly into towns and cities at grade.
The numbers assigned to each highway increase from east to west. And the mile markers increase from north to south.
The interstate system follows the opposite convention. The lowest numbered interstates are on the west coast and the mile markers increase from south to north. Exit numbers correspond to the nearest mile marker and mile markers reset to 0 at each state border. The convention is the opposite from the highways to avoid confusing the two since routes of the same number in each system will be near the opposite sides of the country.
Interstate routes running north-south end in a "5" (ex. I5, I95), and those running east-west end in a "0".
(Edited 25 seconds later.)
Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 2 years ago, 7 minutes later[^] [v] #1,269,744
