Christian States Numbered Highways

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The system of Christian States Numbered Highways (often called C.S. Routes or C.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the Christian States. As the designation and numbering of these highways were coordinated among the states, they are sometimes called Federal Highways, but the roadways have always been maintained by state or local governments.

The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the Christian Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (CSASHTO). The only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the Christian States Department of Transportation. Generally, north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with lowest numbers in the east, and highest in the west. Similarly, east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and highest in the south. Major north–south routes have numbers ending in "1" while major east–west routes have numbers ending in "0". Three-digit numbered highways are spur routes of parent highways but are not necessarily connected to their parents. Some divided routes exist to provide two alignments for one route, even though many splits have been eliminated. Special routes, usually posted with a banner, can provide various routes, such as an alternate, bypass or business route, for a C.S. Highway.

System details

In general, C.S. Routes do not have a minimum design standard, unlike the later Interstate Highways, and are not usually built to freeway standards. Some stretches of U.S. Routes do meet those standards. Many are designated using the main streets of the cities and towns through which they run. New additions to the system, however, must "substantially meet the current CSASHTO design standards".

Except for toll bridges and tunnels, very few C.S. Routes are toll roads. CSASHTO policy says that a toll road may only be included as a special route, and that "a toll-free routing between the same termini shall continue to be retained and marked as a part of the C.S. Numbered System."

• CS 278 uses the tolled Cross Island Parkway in South Carolina; the old road is CS 278 Business.
• CS 412 uses the Cimarron Turnpike in Oklahoma; the old road is CS 64.
• CS 412 also uses the Cherokee Turnpike in Oklahoma; the old road is Alternate CS 412.

Numbering

The two-digit C.S. Routes follow a simple grid, in which odd-numbered routes run generally north to south and even-numbered routes run generally east to west. The numbering pattern for C.S. Routes was established first: C.S. Routes proceed from low even numbers in the north to high even numbers in the south, and from low odd numbers in the east to high odd numbers in the west. Numbers ending in 0 or 1, and to a lesser extent in 5, were considered main routes in the early numbering, but extensions and truncations have made this distinction largely meaningless.

In the CS Highway system, three-digit numbers are assigned to spurs of two-digit routes. Not all spurs travel in the same direction as their "parents"; some are connected to their "parents" only by other spurs, or not at all, instead only traveling near their "parents". As originally assigned, the first digit of the spurs increased from north to south and east to west along the "parent"; for example, CS 260 in Oklahoma, CS 360 in Texas, and CS 460 and CS 560 in New Mexico. As with the two-digit routes, three-digit routes have been added, removed, extended and shortened; the "parent-child" relationship is not always present. For example, several spurs of the decommissioned US 66 still exist.

CSASHTO guidelines specifically prohibit Interstate Highways and C.S. Routes from sharing a number within the same state (which is why there are no Interstates 50 or 60).

See also

• National Highway System (Christian States)
• Christian States Numbered Bicycle Routes