Talk:Interstate 40/Archive 1

Untitled
Information added re I-440 in Oklahoma. Wd40 22:19:00, 2005-08-09 (UTC)

I-40 doesn't actually go through Ft Smith, Arkansas or Little Rock, Arkansas. It passes through Van Buren, AR and North Little Rock, Arkansas 69.152.216.10 17:52, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

I changed the info to reflect that I-40 goes through Van Buren and North Little Rock US 71 03:50, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

I-35 shared alignment belongs to 35, correct?
I know that I-85 "owns" the shared alignment with I-40. What about I-35 in Oklahoma City? Mapquest suggests that it belongs to I-35; does anybody see information to the contrary? C.Fred 01:02, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
 * It definitely belongs to I-40. I-35 northbound merges onto I-40 eastbound via a one-lane ramp, and the mainline there becomes I-235 (the Centennial Expy). Scott5114 19:07, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
 * So the exit number sequence keeps I-40 numbering rather than I-35 during the duplex? C.Fred 20:17, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Okay, this is weird. It's I-40's mainline, but is signed with I-35 milemarkers. Then again, in Oklahoma I have seen stranger stuff... Scott5114 23:25, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

FHWA assigns it to I-35 (for the sake of mileage and contract labels). --SPUI (talk - don't use sorted stub templates! ) 07:40, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

At grade crossing picture
There is currently some controversy regarding the exact location of the image of I-40's at grade crossing. The Texas and New Mexico DOT's have been contacted to settle the matter. Please do not remove either location from the caption until the matter is settled. Rt66lt 21:52, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

At Talk:At-grade intersection is a copy of an e-mail I received from the Texas Department of Transportation. At-grade crossings do exist for 20 miles east of the New Mexico state line to serve ranches in the area.Rt66lt 14:42, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

At Talk:At-grade intersection is the e-mail I received from the New Mexico Department of Transportation. It's not theirs, they believe it's in Texas. Rt66lt 23:24, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

1007 miles sign
The statement that this sign is located near Tucumcari is based on (search that page for "1,007"), which probably is not a good link to cite as a reference, and hence was taken off by this edit. So I would like to cite the source at least in the talk page. BTW that link was the maximum info. I could get while searching the net for photos of/info. about this mileage sign. No roadgeeks interested in this sign? -- Paddu 14:34, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

A sign exists with the user Kniwt on http://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4416.0. He claims to have a poloroid SX70 print from Spring 1983. However, the sign was taken down between January and July 2005 User:Valedc03ls.

Blue Star Memorial Highway
Just pointing out that Interstate 40 is a Blue Star Memorial Highway at least in California, according to this PDF. Can someone research if any other portion along the route is a Blue Star Memorial Highway as well? --Geopgeop 09:23, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Eastern Terminus
US 117 runs parallel to I-40 and intersects it where the latter ends. US 117 apparently was rerouted over NC 132/N College Road. See google map and nearby areas.

In, search for "Eastern Terminus" to get to the point where it discusses the current situation. Specifically it has the text:

"At the eastern terminus of Interstate 40, Gordon Road runs east-west, crossing under the Interstate 40 mainline.....and the road that carries North Carolina 132 and the new U.S. 117 effectively ends at Gordon Road at a traffic light."

These references confirm the assertion in the earlier infobox that the eastern terminus is at US 117 so I brought that back. -- Paddu 20:58, 11 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Here's another reference to US 117 being routed via NC 132, specifically in 2002 -- . -- Paddu 21:17, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok, it is now obvious US 117 shares NC 132 through Wilmington. I've rewritten the NC 132 article to comply. Since 117 travels to Shipyard Blvd, a few miles north of NC 132's southern terminus, the rerouting has nearly made NC 132 obsolute. Since 117 appears to end at the Cape Fear River on Shipyard Blvd, the approximate location of the future Cape Fear Skyway (Interstate 140), I believe US 117 will play an essential role in the terminus of I-140 and may be rerouted again. --Gooday.1 02:05, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Benson a major city?
I would not consider Benson a major city. The most recent census figures have it at about 3,000 people, which is more of a town. While it is a major Interstate crossroads of I-40 and I-95, it is very small. I would like to take it off unless anyone has objections.--Asulca593 18:07, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Benson is listed not as a major city but as a control city. Because it sits at the crossroads of 40 and 95, it's the control city as you head east out of Raleigh. Because it's a control city, it should stay. —C.Fred (talk) 22:17, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Ah OK, I guess didn't really understand fully the meaning behind a control city. I had only seen it under the section labeled "Major Cities" and didn't really think of Benson as one, sort of the reasoning behind my previous comment.  Thanks for the input.--Asulca593 00:13, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I-40 in North Carolina Page
A page already exists for Interstate 40 in North Carolina. Perhaps the exit lists should be migrated over there instead. DanTD 09:24, 18 October 2006 (EST)

Exits in The Triangle
Somebody fix this, I'm still an amateur at HTML code.--Jnelson09 00:00, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Some fixing done. The column between the "Destination" and "Notes" is for the city that the exit is in. (See above.) 65.64.77.91 03:55, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * You know, there's alread a collection of pages for each state Interstate 95 runs through:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_95#See_also

These exist lists would be best suited for a new page for I-40 in North Carolina, and if anybody can whip them up for other states, that would be a good idea too.DanTD 18:45, 3 August 2006 (EST)


 * I just moved them over to Talk:Interstate 40 in North Carolina. —C.Fred (talk) 00:55, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Interstate 40 from Knoxville, TN to Asheville, NC
This last weekend, I made the mistake of driving I40 from Knoxville to Ashville at night and it almost got me killed. I'm from Illinois and I'm used to long, smooth, straight, flat highways. I had no idea what was in store for me and had I known I would have not driven that stretch of highway.

The road is full of semi trucks negotiating sharp turns at high speeds. I would advise anyone traveling the area to try to avoid this route and NOT to drive there at night under any circumstances. I believe this road is not up to US highway standards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.113.162.17 (talk) 02:26, 22 November, 2006 (UTC)
 * Do you know a better way across the mountains? I would dare say basically any Interstate through a mountain range is like that. Case in point, I-80 at CA/NV line or I-77. As for Interstate standards, I don't know if it's up to it or not. The point is, there's probably not an easier route, unless you just want to go out of your way to avoid trucks. I think it's a fun drive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gooday.1 (talk • contribs) 04:47, 22 November, 2006 (UTC)

If you dislike I-40 that much, the newer I-26 might be better. --NE2 09:06, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Numerous(?) At-Grade Crossings in New Mexico
The statement that there are "numerous" at-grade intersections on the 40 in New Mexico is a little misleading, it seems to me. I recently drove across the entire state on Interstate 40, and although I remember a couple at-grades near the Texas state line, there were certainly none west of Tucumcari. However, there were a few of what you might call "ad hoc interchanges", or exit ramps with no possible purpose but to visit a particular business or enter private property. Some of these "interchanges" are quite substandard, providing little or no provision for acceleration or deceleration, and thus they might be thought of as being much the same as an at-grade, but since they do at least include ramps I think they constitute something distinct.

Also, it would seem appropriate to include some sort of description, perhaps including a photograph, of the many bridges crossing over the 40 in New Mexico which have been painted to complement the topography of the area. Some are even decorated with Southwestern artwork and designs, and often feature a "Historic Route 66" shield marker painted at the top of the bridges' middle pillars. Berberry (talk) 04:11, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Completion on West Coast?
This may or may not have been brought up before, but it appears that four lane divided highway construction is growing from Barstow to Bakersfield along California State Route 58 lately. Is there any confirmation that the highway will extend once these new sections are complete? -- Riffsyphon1024 08:28, 28 December 2006 (UTC)


 * There has been talk of extending I-40 westward from Barstow through Bakersfield to Interstate 5 in the past, but nothing definite. I do know they have been working on 4-laning the stretches of 58 that were two-laned between Barstow and Bakersfield in recent years, mainly between Edwards AFB and Barstow....they've completed the bypass around Mojave. - --Bdj95 05:42, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

In practice, the formal extension of an Interstate route is now usually delayed until the extension is fully converted to a highway meeting Interstate standards. The highway as a rule is first designated as a State or US route while it has segments not up to Interstate standards. (See New York State Highway 17 or U.S. Highway 78, the latter between Memphis and Birmingham, as examples). This is very different from the pattern normal from the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, when segments of the Interstate system were built almost piecemeal.

Between CA-99 on the west side of Bakersfield and Mojave, most of CA-58 has been up to Interstate standards. One blatant exception exists in which CA-58 has two at-grade road crossings in the mountains roughly halfway between Bakersfield and Mojave. That segment would have to be upgraded by building overcrossings or undercrossings of CA-58.

California has been seeking funds for an interstate highway from Bakersfield to Needles since at least the 1950s -- when the highway was US 466, and when it expected CA 99 (then US 99) to be the general corridor of Interstate 5 and the State has been rebuffed often. It has continued to upgrade CA 58 east of Bakersfield on a piecemeal basis for several decades. The segment between the Mojave Bypass and the Barstow bypass is mostly at-grade highway, so until such segments not up to Interstate standard are rebuilt or built anew to Interstate standards, CA-58 will remain CA-58.

No less significantly, Interstate 40 makes little sense as a designation until it has an Interstate-standard connection to another Interstate, to wit Interstate 5, from Interstate 15. Some question exists on whether that connection would follow CA-58 west of Bakersfield or a combination of CA-46 and CA-99 from Bakersfield to I-5. So far, the current trend remains to not extend mainline Interstate highways as spurs, at least in California.

It's no great tragedy that a highway up to Interstate standards is not "raised" to an Interstate highway. What is tragic is that people see Interstate shields, even if the shields have "temporary" designations, and drive on highways full of at-grade intersections or undivided as if such highways were Interstates and get killed in collisions due to speeds or complacency unsuited to such non-Interstate roads. I can't predict when CA-58 will be fully-upgraded to Interstate status, if ever.

By the way -- nothing says that any extension of Interstate 40 is a certainty. We may have seen (in 2008) the peak use of the automobile should petroleum prices continue to rise wildly without abatement.Paul from Michigan (talk) 23:10, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Burke County NC crash?
I deleted the following text from the article today:


 * At Burke County, North Carolina, a tanker truck loaded with 9000 gallons of gasoline crashes and explodes, causing a overpass to collapse and closing the highway for 4 weeks. The truck driver dies in the crash.

A Google search turned up nothing on the crash. Does anybody have a source? —C.Fred (talk) 21:28, 21 March 2009 (UTC)


 * It was 7/24/1998. Here is a link for a video of the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiI1HqXNQj0 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.203.123.100 (talk • contribs) 17:18, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Primary North-South Interstates?
In the top section of this article, it says (in part): "I-40 intersects with eight of the 10 primary north–south interstates (all except I-5 and I-45)". Is I-45 really considered one of 10 primary N-S interstates? I just looked it up, and it's an entirely Texas-based interstate that just runs from Galveston to Houston. I would never consider that one of America's primary, top 10 North-South interstates. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.239.65.11 (talk) 15:15, 17 February 2012 (UTC)


 * It's primary based on its name: all the north-south routes ending in 5 and east-west routes ending in 0 are primary per the numbering system. —C.Fred (talk) 15:31, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

Movie Section
I fixed a typo in the Movies section-- presumably I-40 is seen in the beginning of the movie, not the begging. However, the section itself is problematic. There is one factoid thingy, which is unverified. Furthermore, if it is kept, it should be moved to above the "See Also" section-- its current placement makes no sense. Since I don't know the history of this article, or if there's been any fighting over this, and because this isn't my usual editing area, I mentioned it here. I'm not that likely to be back, Perhaps a consensus can develop on it or a regular editor can move or fix it? Wabbott9  Tell me about it....  01:33, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it's trivia. Junked it. —Scott5114↗ [EXACT CHANGE ONLY] 01:41, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Length of Interstate 40
On the article, three lengths for I-40 are given. The first is 2555.1 miles (from the USDOT). The second is 2554 miles (from the signs at the ends of I-40. The third is 2559.25 miles in the sum of mileage table.  Which is the most correct? 66.26.253.145 (talk) 20:22, 15 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Since the signs are not at the absolute ends of the highways, the USDOT mileage and the signs would seem to tie together. —C.Fred (talk) 21:54, 15 November 2014 (UTC)

Oklahoma Project Complete
This article references an ongoing project to relocate the downtown OKC section of I-40. This project is complete in terms of the new highway being open. The old highway is mostly dismantled. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_40_in_Oklahoma#Oklahoma_City_Crosstown_realignment

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:392A:320:81A7:3B63:2CE3:C9AB (talk) 15:20, 17 May 2015 (UTC)