(09-25-2015 02:53 PM)Wedge Wrote: (09-25-2015 01:49 PM)mufanatehc Wrote: (09-25-2015 01:00 PM)Wedge Wrote: (09-25-2015 12:48 PM)dbackjon Wrote: There is a vehicle ferry that crosses from Hickman, Kentucky to Dorena, Missouri.
Of course I am probably the only person posting on here that has traveled on it...
And using the US 60/62 bridges, you are only in Illinois for about two miles crossing from KY to MO.
U.S. 62 must be the only road in the U.S. that crosses over both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
I-64 crosses the Ohio at Louisville and the Mississippi at St. Louis
I-70 crosses the Ohio at Wheeling WV and the Mississippi at St. Louis
US 50 crosses the Ohio at Parkersburg WV and the Mississippi at St. Louis.
US 52 crosses the Ohio at Huntington WV and the Mississippi at Savanna IL
... Yes I'm bored
Now I know who to call if I'm ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and they ask me a question about midwestern geography.
Just for ish and giggles, not only is US 62 not the only to cross both, it is not even the only highway to cross both on that bridge. US 60, which is really the more major highway, runs concurrent to US 62 across both bridges, and thru a good portion of Missouri. Side note, I live on US 60 (in Louisville, KY).
Also I am pretty sure the roads were routed away from Missouri and thru Illinois, due to cost. There was already a highway going up thru Illinois from there (US 51, another major highway that goes from LA to Wisconsin), and the cost to build a second bridge across the Ohio from Illinois would be far cheaper, then building one directly across the Mississippi just below the confluence of the Ohio River.
It is less about being "meaningless" then being cheap or cost efficient, depending on which side of the coin you are on. The irony that the OP calls it meaningless because the bridge between the states goes through Illinois, then ignores the road is in Illinois for less than a mile, which is quite a bit more meaningless.
All of that said, the OP's line "it's the only border between any two states such that there isn't a single road allowing a person to drive from the main body of one state to the main body of the bordering state" is not really accurate. He will argue it is, but it is not. Because you can drive across US 62/US60 from Kentucky and get to Missouri, by going thru Illinois (the word "direct" was not listed). But more importantly, there is a couple of small parts of Kentucky that are west of the Mississippi, that have a few roads that go into Missouri. They are not highways, but they exist. Or, if we are using "main body" part of the state as a the descriptor, then Michigan/Wisconsin also fits the bill. since you cannot drive directly from the main body of each state to the other. But that's just boring trivia for a Friday.
Side note: whomever settled on drawing the borders between Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee was clearly drunk. It's like they were trying to draw a straight line down the middle of the Mississippi River, then get distracted and just let the pen wander.