Future Interstate Highways

Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
Interstate Highways in the 48 contiguous states
System information
Formed:	June 29, 1956
Highway names
Interstates:	Interstate X (I-X)
System links
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business

Future Interstate Highways include various proposals to expand the Interstate Highway System in the United States. This does not include the numerous auxiliary Interstate Highways that are in various stages of planning and construction.

Congressionally designated future Interstates

Several Congressional High Priority Corridors have been designated as future parts of the Interstate System by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and amendments. By law, they will become interstates when built to Interstate standards and connected to other interstates.

Interstate 9

Interstate 9
Location:	Wheeler Ridge – Stockton, CA

Main article: California State Route 99

Interstate 9 has been proposed by Caltrans for State Route 99 in central California. It would go from the split with I-5 at Wheeler Ridge (Wheeler Ridge Interchange) north through Fresno to Stockton, where the proposed route turns west via the State Route 4 freeway to a terminus at I-5 in the central part of that city. An alternate proposed terminus is located at the I-5/US 50/Capital City Freeway junction in Sacramento, where the future interstate, after continuing north from Stockton along Route 99, can turn west along the Capital City Freeway, already an Interstate route (unsigned I-305), to connect with I-5, which extends north toward the city of Redding. This also serves as a connector to the existing northern portion of Highway 99. The future Interstate's prospects for development to appropriate standards are tied to the Caltrans "Route 99 Corridor Enhancement Master Plan", which outlines improvements to that route, including capacity and physical improvements; this document posits that when and if Interstate status is conferred, the route will be designated I-7 or I-9. In August 2005, with the passage of that year's SAFETEA-LU federal transportation legislation, SR 99 from Wheeler Ridge to Stockton and beyond to Sacramento was designated as High Priority Corridor 54, the California Farm-to-Market Corridor; this legislation also designated that corridor as a future segment of the Interstate System.

Interstate 11

Interstate 11
Location:	Tucson, AZ - Phoenix, AZ – Las Vegas, NV

Main article: Interstate 11

Interstate 11 is the congressionally-designated route number for an interstate connecting Phoenix, Arizona, to Las Vegas. This concept was first explored in the contractor-trade publication "Roads and Bridges" in June 1997; the article outlining the I-11 route and rationale was titled "Interstate 2000: Improvement for the Next Millennium", written by Wendell Cox and Jean Love. Their rationale was that the Phoenix and Las Vegas metro areas were two of the largest (and, circa 1997, growing) urban regions in adjacent states not featuring direct Interstate connection. The corridor would be approximately 285 miles in length and would most likely subsume the existing I-515 freeway facility in the Las Vegas area. Plans to connect I-11 to the existing Interstate network in the Phoenix region have yet to be determined, but the most likely routing would extend west and southwest of the Phoenix metro complex via the proposed "Hassayampa" corridor. The proposed routing for I-11 is part of the Canamex high-priority corridor. The projects contained within this portion of the overall Canamex corridor include the recently completed Hoover Dam Bypass project. Note that there are not currently official plans to upgrade the highway to full freeway status between these cities, although the US 93 corridor is being presently upgraded to divided expressway status; along with a planned freeway bypass of the town of Wickenburg at the junction of US 60 and US 93. Extensions into the Tucson area where the road will meet with Interstate 19 are already in planning.

In July 2009, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada passed a resolution, coinciding with recent resolutions from the City of Las Vegas, and several Arizona transportation agencies, to support a future Interstate 11. The Boulder City bypass on US 93 will be built to interstate standards and is currently in the planning stages. Presently the text of the 2012 two-year highway reauthorization bill as passed by the Senate (S. 1813) includes a section that authorizes the sections of High Priority Corridor 26, the "Canamex" corridor, between Phoenix and Las Vegas as a future Interstate and further specifies the designation of I-11 to that routing.

The language of the 2-year transportation bill as passed by both House and Senate as of June 28, 2012 retained the addition of the Canamex corridor as Future Interstate 11, including its actual numerical designation; this will write Interstate 11 into law with the expected signature of the President. In March 2014, interim/future I-11 signage was applied along the nascent corridor in locations such as the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge (adjacent to Hoover Dam) and its approaches, and a brief segment of US 93 north of Kingman, AZ at the Arizona State Route 68 junction; these are the only portions of the corridor, aside from extant I-515, presently meeting Interstate standards.

Interstate 41

Main article: Interstate 41

Interstate 41
Location:	Russell, IL – Green Bay, WI
Length:	175 mi (282 km)

Interstate 41 is the designation proposed for assignment by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) to portions of the present U.S. Highway 41 (I-894, US 45 and I-94). The route is to be signed between the Wisconsin–Illinois border and Green Bay, Wisconsin. The I-41 designation will replace the present US 41 freeway designation north of Milwaukee.

The freeway portion of US 41 and US 45 from Milwaukee through the Fox Valley to Green Bay was proposed and designated as an Interstate Highway as part of the 2005 highway funding bill. I-41 will begin at the I-94/US 41 interchange in Russell, Illinois, located 0.9 miles (1.4 km) south of the Wisconsin–Illinois border at the end of the Tri-State Tollway. The highway continues north along a slightly adjusted alignment of US 41 to its termination in Green Bay, where it will end at the I-43 interchange. The Interstate will be approximately 175 miles (282 km) long and located almost entirely within the state of Wisconsin.

The route was initially suggested to be I-41, which correlates with the US Highway it would be replacing and also complies with AASHTO's Interstate naming guidelines. However, in 2009, Green Bay officials began a campaign to have US 41 designated as a northern extension of I-55 from its current termination in Chicago, with the alternative being the road as a spur of I-43. At the end of October 2012, WisDOT submitted I-41 to AASHTO for consideration at their fall Special Committee meeting, where it was conditionally approved on November 16, 2012, pending FHWA concurrence. Pending a waiver of current Interstate Highway weight limits for large trucks by the U.S. Congress, the upgrade and signing of I-41 could be complete by the latter half of 2014.

Others

Proposed routes:

• Extensions of Interstate 49 from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Pineville, Missouri, and from Lafayette to New Orleans, Louisiana. This upgrade, completed in portions in both Arkansas and Missouri (but only the Missouri portion is signed as I-49 from Pineville to Kansas City), is being completed under the auspices of both the 1991 ISTEA legislation, which designated the corridor as "High Priority Corridor 1" and the subsequent 2005 SAFETEA-LU legislation, which reiterated the designation as High Priority Corridor 72 and, in the language of the following year's highway funding authorization bill, added language making HPC 72 an northern extension of Louisiana's I-49. In 2010 Missouri initiated the idea of converting US 71 between I-44 south of Carthage and I-435 south of Kansas City to a northerly section of I-49, which would involve converting several at-grade crossings to bridges and/or interchanges.
• Extension of Interstate 66 westward, through West Virginia, southern Kentucky, southern Missouri, and southeastern Kansas to Wichita.
• Interstate 73, established in 1997, currently routes from Ellerbe to Greensboro, in North Carolina. When completed, it will route from the South Carolina Grand Strand area to Grayling, Michigan. The completed route is to be Myrtle Beach to Hamlet, North Carolina; following I-74 to Greensboro; north to Roanoke, Virginia; following I-81 to Christiansburg; via Blacksburg to I-77 to Huntingdon; following I-74 to Piketon, Ohio; north to Columbus and Toledo; northwest to Jackson, Michigan; and north to Lansing before finally joining with I-75 south of Grayling.
• Extension of Interstate 74 from Cincinnati, Ohio to the South Carolina Grand Strand area. I-74 currently runs from Davenport, Iowa to Cincinnati. Work is progressing on the part running through the Winston-Salem and Greensboro areas of North Carolina as far as I-95. However there is little progress on the central section from Cincinnati to I-77 and the final southern extension from I-95 to south of Myrtle Beach.
• Interstate 99 from Bedford, Pennsylvania, to Corning, New York, and Bedford to Cumberland, Maryland (partially complete). This is part of High Priority Corridor #9 and, through the efforts of former area congressman Bud Shuster, was designated in the 1995 NHS legislation as I-99. The portion from I-70/76 (PA Turnpike) near Bedford to I-80 is substantially complete (pending upgrades of the I-80/I-99 interchange), while the portion from I-80 north to I-86 west of Corning, NY is being steadily upgraded to Interstate standards and is sporadically signed as "Future I-99".

Other proposals

Interstate 3

Interstate 3
Location:	Savannah, GA – Knoxville, TN

Main article: Interstate 3

The 3rd Infantry Division Highway was proposed in the 2005 highway funding bill (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users) to run from Savannah, Georgia, north via Augusta, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Although the corridor has not been designated by law or any official body as a proposed Interstate, Interstate 3 is its popular name. This number does not fit into the Interstate Highway numbering system, but matches the name chosen to honor the US Army Third Infantry Division.

Interstate 14

Interstate 14
Location:	Alexandria, LA – Augusta, GA or Natchez, MS – Augusta, GA

Main article: Interstate 14

The 14th Amendment Highway was proposed in the 2005 highway funding bill (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users) to run from Augusta, Georgia, through Macon, Columbus, Montgomery, Meridian, Jackson, to end in Natchez, Mississippi, or Alexandria, Louisiana. Although the corridor has not been designated by law or any official body as a proposed Interstate, Interstate 14 is its popular name. This number fits into the Interstate Highway numbering system, and matches the name chosen to honor the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Interstate 44

Interstate 44
Location:	Raleigh, NC – Norfolk, VA
Length:	192 mi (309 km)

Interstate 44 (although some sources mention Interstate 50 as a possibility) is the designation proposed for assignment by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to portions of the present I-495 and U.S. Route 64 in North Carolina and U.S. Route 17 in North Carolina and Virginia. The route would connect two of the largest US metro areas lacking an interstate connection: the Research Triangle area around Raleigh, North Carolina, with the Hampton Roads metro area centered on Norfolk, Virginia. In November 2012, NCDOT requested the addition of the corridor to the Interstate Highway System through administrative options with the Federal Highway Administration as I-44. Congressman G. K. Butterfield introduced legislation in June 2014 to add the corridor to the Interstate Highway System through Congressional authority. An NCDOT policy paper said they were "seeking language in the reauthorization of surface transportation programs legislation to enhance the description of the Raleigh–Norfolk Corridor to include the route via Rocky Mount/ Elizabeth City for clarity, and to designate the entire route from Raleigh to Norfolk as a future part of the Interstate system as Interstate 44 or 50." This would be a separate interstate not attached to the existing Interstate 44 in the western part of the United States.

The proposed route would take the Interstate along the recently-designated I-495 corridor east of Raleigh then along the US 64 corridor further east to I-95 near Rocky Mount. The route would continue eastward to Williamston where it would turn north to follow US 17 through Elizabeth City and into Virginia, crossing into the Norfolk suburb of Chesapeake and likely terminating at the existing I-64/I-464/SR 168 junction, though the exact end has not been specified.

Interstate 61

Interstate 61
Location:	Gulfport–Jackson, Mississippi

Interstate 61 is a planned Interstate set to run from Gulfport to Jackson, Mississippi. This highway would follow the route of US Highway 49. The southern end of this highway would be at Interstate 10 close to the Cowan–Lorraine Road exit (exit 38) near the Biloxi–Gulfport line (the northern end is currently unknown. Interstate 61 from Gulfport to Wiggins was expected to be completed in 2011.

Interstate 63

Interstate 63
Location:	Mobile–Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Interstate 63 is a planned Interstate set to run from Mobile (near Creola) to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, or possibly into Tennessee.

Interstate 67

Interstate 67
Location:	Indianapolis, IN – Grand Rapids, MI; South Bend, IN –Kalamazoo, MI; Bowling Green, KY – Crane, IN

Main article: U.S. Route 31 in Indiana

Interstate 67 is a proposed number for at least three highways.

The first proposal would be an upgrade of US 31 in Indiana between Indianapolis and South Bend, continuing northward via the US 31 freeway north to Benton Harbor, Michigan, and going northward from there along existing Interstate 196. The Indiana Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for federal funding for this proposal. Meanwhile Indiana is expediting the upgrade of US-31 between Indianapolis and South Bend using funds received through the 2006 Major Moves deal (see U.S. Route 31 in Indiana). Such a proposal would put I-67 in the proper place in the grid (it is the only number available for that route). This number in fact was officially proposed by the Michigan State Highway Department, but denied by AASHO, to follow what became Interstate 196 in 1963 as part of the switch with Interstate 96 west of their junction near Grand Rapids.

Interstate 67 was also the designation given to a never-built highway connecting Kalamazoo, Michigan, to the east side of Elkhart, Indiana, in the original Interstate numbering plan. A planning map shows a freeway along this routing intersecting the Indiana Toll Road just west of the State Road 19 interchange.

A third, much shorter, likely proposal involves building a highway parallel to US 231 from Crane, Indiana, to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Much of the proposed route already exists and is close to Interstate grade. Only the northern third from Dale, Indiana, to Crane as remains unfinished. It would use the Natcher Bridge to cross the Ohio River and Kentucky's Interstate-grade Natcher Parkway and Indiana's Interstate-grade Lincoln Parkway. It would go around the cities of Jasper, Indiana, Huntingburg, Indiana, Owensboro, Kentucky, Hartford, Kentucky, Morgantown, Kentucky and end at Bowling Green, Kentucky. It could also be linked to the first proposal by overlapping I-67 with the currently under construction I-69 from Indianapolis to Crane.

Interstate 92

Interstate 92
Location:	Albany, NY – Portsmouth, NH or Glens Falls, NY – Calais, ME

Main article: East–West Highway (New England)

Interstate 92 is a proposed number for at least two highways.

Low population and natural barriers like the White Mountains have impeded economic development in northern New England. In the early 1970s, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York proposed two new Interstate Highway corridors:

• From Albany, New York, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, incorporating the current route whose easternmost segment is New Hampshire Route 101.
• From Glens Falls, New York, to Calais, Maine (designated as I-92), tracing US Route 4 eastward through Vermont and New Hampshire.

The Federal Highway Administration ultimately did not approve these plans.

Northern New England is served by three north–south freeways radiating from Boston, and by Interstate 91, which follows the Connecticut River. However, the northernmost complete east–west freeway in the region, Interstate 90 in Massachusetts, does not enter northern New England. East–west travel through northern New England is facilitated by three freeway segments:

• Interstate 89 between Montpelier, Vermont and Burlington.
• US 4 west of Rutland, Vermont.
• New Hampshire Route 101 from Manchester, New Hampshire eastward to the ocean.

Maine Senator Olympia Snowe said in 2004 that the region is disadvantaged by the fact that it was the only region in the US for which a federal High Priority Corridor was not designated in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. In 2012, the east–west highway was again proposed, this time as a privately financed toll road.

Current backers of the highway propose an east–west axis through northern and central Maine. One portion of the new highway would run from Interstate 395 in Brewer, Maine, to the Canada-U.S. border near Calais, with a direct link to New Brunswick Route 1, a major transportation corridor serving the Maritimes. A second would travel northwest from Interstate 95 near Waterville, Maine, to the Canada-U.S. border at Coburn Gore, with a connection to a proposed extension of Quebec Autoroute 10 toward Montreal. A third would travel due west from I-95 near Waterville, following the U.S. Route 2 corridor through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and northern New York.

Interstate 98

Interstate 98
Location:	Adams–Champlain, NY

Main article: U.S. Route 11 in New York

As originally proposed by the Michigan State Highway Department in 1958, I-696 would have been numbered I-98. Since then, another highway in Upstate New York has been linked to the number. Plans for the Rooftop Highway, a proposed limited-access highway that would extend for 175 miles (282 km) from Watertown to Champlain, first surfaced in the 1950s. If built, the highway would likely follow the US 11 corridor across the northern part of North Country, connecting I-81 to I-87. The project is expected to create more than 27,000 jobs throughout the North Country and is expected to take as many as 15 years to complete.

A study called the North Country Transportation Study Action Plan and Final Technical Report suggests that the road would likely be built to Interstate Highway standards in order to improve constrained transit systems due to a lack of infrastructure throughout the area. Backers of the project have called for the highway to be designated as I-98; however, this designation has not been recognized by any government agencies, such as NYSDOT or the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The number does fit into AASHTO's numbering system, though, as the highest even numbers are designated for highways running along the Canada–United States border, such as the proposed highway.

The Northern Corridor Transportation Group (NCTG) was formed in December 2008 as a means of refocusing the fifty-year discussion on the project. Since that time, more than 100 municipal and civic resolutions from the five northern counties of New York have been passed in support of the construction of the project. On July 16, 2009, the NCTG submitted a request to U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to direct $800 million toward the project as part of the reauthorization of a federal highway transportation bill. In a historic move, the six northern legislators representing the North Country in the New York State Legislature (Senators Aubertine, Griffo and Little and Assembly Members Scozzafava, Russell and Duprey) signed an official letter of request to the same end.

Interstate 99 or 101

See also: Delaware State Route 1, U.S. Route 13, U.S. Route 17 and South Carolina Highway 31

Interstate 99
Location:	Charleston, SC–Wilmington, DE

Interstate 101
Location:	Raleigh, NC-Philadelphia, PA

Although Interstate 99 already exists in central Pennsylvania, an alternate corridor, designated "Interstate 99" by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), was under study in the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina in the mid-2000s. Such a corridor would follow the U.S. Route 17 (US 17) and US 13 corridors, from Charleston, South Carolina, through the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metro area and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel complex, up the Delmarva Peninsula to Wilmington, Delaware. If the proposal were to be constructed and approved, it is unclear as to whether it would receive the "I-99" designation.

However after commissioning a study in 2006, VDOT dismissed the proposal for several reasons. VDOT indicated that expenses in upgrading the Chesapeake Bay tunnels would be about $5 billion. Also cited were the location of new highway alignments, doubt as to whether other states, particularly South Carolina, would commit to the endeavor.

Although much of the highway mileage along the corridor would need to be upgraded to be eligible for Interstate status, portions of highway along the corridor have already been upgraded. In the 1990s, Delaware constructed a limited access facility on Delaware Route 1, paralleling US 13 from Dover to Wilmington. Additionally, Delaware has considered upgrading the US 113 corridor south of Dover, though, this deviates from the path suggested by VDOT. In Maryland, a portion of US 13 is routed along a limited-access bypass around Salisbury.

The corridor has also sometimes been described as a potential Interstate 101 along the same coastal corridor, including crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel complex. I-101 would run from I-95, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to I-85, near Raleigh, North Carolina instead.

A portion of both routes would be covered by the newer proposal for I-44 as noted above.

External links

• Future Interstates and Potential Interstate Corridors at Interstate-Guide.com