How did this come to be?

[Sluggo]

If our country started in the East and grew Westward, how did the Highway numbering system wind up with lower numbers West and Larger numbers East? I-5 in California, and I-95 in Florida.

For instance zip codes seem to make sense, lower numbers East and higher West, considering the way America grew from its beginning.

Any good theories?

 

[Argo]

Ahh, the infamous I95. Passes not far from where I live, in Western Connecticut.

 

[pulpp]

hmm........ good question

 

[Mikal]

They had a commission get together and figure all that out and then they implemented it.

 

[Capn]

i-95 passes through my town in MA, in fact I biked over it twice this evening.

 

[Sophia]

I would venture because roads were made first and systematically renamed at a later date.

The procedure for naming the routes is systematic. Major routes are designated by single- or two-digit numbers. If a route runs north and south, it is given an odd number, and if a route runs east and west, an even number.

For north-south routes, numbering conventions begin in the south; for east-west routes, numbers begin in the west. Thus, Route 5 runs north and south along the West Coast.

Major routes usually traverse cities and are the shortest and most direct line of travel. Connecting interstate routes that ordinarily travel around a city carry three-digit numbers.

Linky

 

[thraashman]

Well I know here in Ga we have I-85, I-75, and I-20.
Then there's my favorite I-285 which is a big circle that doesn't travle out of state and yet has the "I" prefix. It's not an interstate though.

 

[RU482]

I live off I-69...what I would have given to have had one of those signs on my dorm room wall, back in the day

 

[Subversal]

I see I95 everyday off my roofdeck... aslo see the Ben Franklin Bridge and Del River... great view.

 

[iamfried]

My .02
If you look at a map of the US, it is logical to go from left to right, hence, numbers on the left coast are lower. OTOH, if you look at a map of the US, it is logical to go from top to bottom, so...
Where was I going with this?