INTERSTATE 30: THE SIXTH INTERSTATE THE DOT SHOULD BUILD

When a 2-digit east/west interstate route ends in a zero it implies a major route designed to go cross-country.
That cannot be said to be the case with Interstate 30 which connects Dallas to Little Rock, about 400mi in length in total. And even so some of that route is misaligned, specifically the Arkansas route east of Texarkana.
This is why the route should be extended and realigned in both directions. Some folks think that extending the I-30 northeast, and thus north of the I-30, makes sense.
But the reason that route is totally warped is it does not adequately connect enough areas let alone along a heavily used corridor.
And this is where the US82 corridor from Little Rock to Birmingham comes in.
In the first graphic to the left, just below, we see a better corridor that serves more communities and more people.




In the centre we can see the westward extension through Texas and the Rockies, including a branch off the current I-30 near Greenville to the northeast of Dallas and thus the route skirts the DFW area then connects to Wichita Falls, Lubbock, Clovis, Socorro, Show Low, and Prescott before connecting to the I-40 near Kingman. After following the I-40 to Barstow the I-15 carries the I-30 to Victorville (right panel) and then skirts the Angeles Crest area north of Los Angeles to cross the I-9 (coming later) (current CA14) and then connect to the I-5 at Castaic at the current CA126 which would then become the I-30 to Ventura.
Which would then give the sprawling populace of Ventura and Oxnard an interstate route and the prospect for a couple of 3dis not to mention interstate commerce to connect straight to the southeast.
Speaking of which, the I-30 need not stop in Birmingham when the route could continue further east to Atlanta and maybe even Athens in Georgia. An extended I-24 southeast of Chattanooga could connect to Augusta as well.
Such a rerouting would easily improve connectivity and transit for the Sunbelt and even continue to bolster agriculture and commerce...as well as help the military in the event they need to send more troops for possible missions along the Mexican border. In addition, it would provide for an extension of the I-57 from Sikeston south along the US49 corridor southwest through Arkanss to the capital, Little Rock. I'll pick up on that in my next installment in this series.