An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway . They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state and county route systems. Alternate routes were created as a means of connecting a town (or towns) desired to be on a route that had been routed differently to put another important town or city on the route, or, in the case of the U.S. Highway system, as a means to eliminate divided routes .
8-508: King's Highway 17A , commonly referred to as Highway 17A or as the Kenora By-Pass , is an alternate route of Highway 17 around the city of Kenora , in the Canadian province of Ontario . It was built along a former Canadian Pacific Railway right-of-way , and has two westbound passing lanes in separate parts, and one eastbound passing lane . Although it is not an official part of
16-408: A route which starts at a point where it branches off from the main numbered route, may pass through certain cities and towns, and then connect back with the regular route some miles distant. Since it is the purpose of the U.S. numbered system to mark the best and shortest route available, an alternate route should be designated only where both routes are needed to accommodate the traffic demand, and when
24-527: Is located in Kenora District . Alternate route The term "optional route" has also been used. In some cases, an additional business route exists as a third alignment, as with former U.S. Route 71 Alternate , which bypassed Joplin, Missouri . AASHTO defines and specifies that alternate routes of the US Route system shall have the following behavior: An "Alternate Route" shall be considered
32-615: The Trans-Canada Highway , Highway 17A is designated as the through route when travelling into Kenora on the Trans-Canada. The road also provides access to Kenora Airport , but otherwise avoids the built-up areas of the city. The highway passes through a heavily forested area dominated by large granite rock outcroppings, geography typical of the Canadian Shield . On an average day approximately 3,200–5,200 vehicles travel along
40-614: The Winnipeg River bridge. The section between Highway 596 and Highway 658 opened several years later in the autumn of 1988. The final section, linking Highway 658 with Highway 17, was opened on November 16, 1990, at which point the Kenora Bypass was designated Highway 17A. The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 17A, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario . The entire route
48-463: The alternate route has substantially the same geometric and structural design standards of the main marked routing. It is recommended that in case an alternate route is marked, that the shorter and better constructed route be given the regular number and the other section designated as the "Alternate Route". It is further recommended that the Highway Department erect signs at the junction points of
56-659: The regular and alternate routes giving the distance between the cities or points concerned... In no instance should an alternate routing be used for the purpose of keeping an obsolete section on the U.S. numbered system after a new routing has been constructed and available to traffic. In at least one case, the banner "Optional Route" was retained when a second alternate route existed. One example occurred in Kansas City, Missouri , with U.S. Route 40 , which had an alternate and an optional route simultaneously. In some US states, an alternate route will be designated by adding an "A" after
64-483: The road, varying by season. Construction of Highway 17A began in 1981 in response to traffic congestion within the city of Kenora, which created a severe bottleneck for cross-national traffic. The bypass opened in stages as it was constructed from west to east. The first 8.4 kilometres (5.2 mi), from Highway 17 to Highway 596 opened in September 1983. Following this, contracts were tendered for construction of
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