INDIANA STATE ROADSIndiana State Highway System Related Pages SUMMARYIndiana's first highway system was started with 51 numbered state routes that came into existence in approx. 1918. Later came the the national highway system which introduced US routes like US 31 and US 41 to the state. Finally in the 1950's and 60's a revolutionary system of superior highways known as 'interstate routes' came into being and are the primary form of motor transportation in the state. The bulk of the interstate system was completed in Indiana in the mid to late 1970's. INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS IN INDIANA
Indiana's Interstate system is the primary road transportation system in the state. It consists of 8 two-digit primary interstate highways and 6 three-digit interstate highways that loop or spur into cities. The majority of interstate system was completed in Indiana in the late 1970's with the last sections of interstate being completed through downtown Indianapolis. Currently Indiana's interstate system consists of 1169 miles of Interstate highways. currently there are plans to extend I-69 southward through Evansville into Kentucky and eventually
to Texas and Mexico. Also a new bridge crossing over the Ohio river in the Louisville metro area will close a gap in the current I-265 loop.
More information on future plans for Indiana's Interstates can be found on the Visions page. For more history
about Indiana's interstates see the History page.
Indiana's U.S. Routes were part of the first transcontinenntal interstate highway system built on the U.S. dating back to the mid 1920's. They were and still are today an integral part of statewide transportation. The states most important U.S. Routes are US-41, US-31 and US-40, and they connect a large number of communities. US Routes serve a different purpose now in the state, once the primary method of transportation throughout the state, they now connect communities to the interstate highway system. Currently Indiana's U.S highway system consists of 19 differently numbered U.S. highways, but previously there were as many as 23 different numbered routes in the past. Indiana's US highway system also consists of several "bannered" U.S. Routes as well such as SPUR and Business routes. Those routes are primarily a thing of the past since business routes have been mostly desommissioned. currently there are plans to upgrade Many US Routes throughout the state as part of ongoing plans and studies to address growing traffic volume. The most prominent upgrade is the US 31 upgrades planned between South Bend and Indianapolis. More information on future plans for Indiana's U.S. highways can be found on the Visions page.
Some IS route numbers have also been decommissioned or truncated or reassigned state road numbers. For
more history about Indiana's U.S. highways see the History page.
Indiana's state road system has been in existence since highways were first numbered back in the late 1910's. The state road system was renumbered in 1926 when US routes were introduced to the state. Since then many state roads have been signed and some since have been deleted as well. Indiana's state roads are crucial to statewide transportation. They connect the majority of Indiana's cities and communities to each other and to the national highway systems as well. Many state highways play a more localized role connecting small communities. However there are many state highways that provide a more inter-regional and statewide role such as state road 37 and state road 29. Currently Indiana's State highway system consists of 164 differently numbered state highways, some of them are segmented routes that exist in different parts of the state, such as, route 101, which has three separated segments. The numbering scheme for state roads in Indiana follows the same principles as the national system. North-south and diagonal routes are typically given odd route numbers, and east-west routes are given even numbers. Highways are numbered lowest to highest from north to south and from west to east. There are a few exceptions to these rules due to some of the highways that run diagonally thru the state. State road numbers are allowed to be duplicated with Interstate Highway numbers but are not allowed to duplicate US Highway numbers. For instance, state road 6, and state road 31 would not be allowed, because those numbers are being used by US-6 and US-31, however there is a state road 65 and a state road 70 even though those numbers are used for Interstate highways as well. Indiana's highways are constantly being upgraded and widened, especially in high traffic locations. There are plans to upgrade several state roads in Indiana, Including Upgrades and extensions to state road 62 (Lloyd Expressway) in Evansville, and SH-37 in Noblesville. More information on future plans for Indiana's state highways can be found on the Visions page, or for more history about Indiana's state roads see the History page. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
