 
Interstate 580 - Reno, Nevada
Interstate 580 is an unsigned Interstate highway from Neil Road (Del Monte Lane) (3/4 mile south of South Virginia Street, Business U.S. 395) north to Interstate 80 Exit #15 via the U.S. 395 freeway. This information comes from the 2001 Official Nevada Map of State Maintained Highways, which is equivalent to a route log and finder list.
Interstate 580 currently runs from Nevada 667 (Del Monte Boulevard) north to Interstate 80. Plans from Nevada DOT indicate that the extension from Del Monte Boulevard south to the freeway section near Washoe Lake are planned as Interstate, but have not yet been designated as such (sort of like California 905, which will not become Interstate until after the freeway has been completed). Field reports indicate that there are no green Interstate mileposts along Interstate 580.
Interstate 580 has been on the planning books since 1957. This leads me to believe that Interstate 580 has been part of Nevada's Interstate highway mileage just after the Interstate Highway System was designated in 1956. The first sections of the highway were opened in 1964 as part of U.S. 395; other segments followed in the early 1970s. Planning for other sections of the highway persisted through the 1960s and early 1970s; after several protests and lawsuits, more sections of the Interstate were constructed through the 1980s. Today, the only section of Interstate 580 to be constructed is between Winters Ranch (Bowers Mansion Cutoff) and Mount Rose Junction (Nevada 341 and 431).
The Mystery of Interstate 580 Signage
The first evidence I have seen of Interstate 580 in Reno was on a California State Automobile Association (CSAA) map of Reno in 1982. On that map, Interstate 580 was shown as marked as such along the U.S. 395 freeway between South Virginia Street and Interstate 80. Maps showed Interstate 580 as a marked, signed route for three or four years, including the 1985 Rand McNally map of Reno.
On September 16, 2002, Robert Herron wrote, "As for Interstate 580 signing in the past, there was signage briefly in the early 1980s for about one year. It was not co-signed with U.S. 395 on the freeway itself, just the approaches at the intersections. Signage at the Interstate 80 intersection and on the freeway never existed. Also it was on quite a few maps, up until the late 1980s. After one year, the approach signs had green blanks installed covering the Interstate 580 shields, leaving only U.S. 395 visible. I seem to remember a TV news story at the time that said that the rationale was that since Interstate 580 was only the section of freeway south of Interstate 80, and it was co-signed with U.S. 395 its entire length that it would lead to confusion. There is probably some truth to that because Interstate 515 is causing quite a bit of confusion in Southern Nevada. ... With the great source of pride this new freeway extension will be, and [since] NDOT always refers to the freeway as Interstate 580 in any media releases and internally (and politics), it appears Interstate 580 will be signed upon full completion in 2007-2008."
In addition, Jeff Royston wrote on August 17, 1998, "I know for a fact that Interstate 580 was signed as Interstate 580 Nevada. These signs were only on the approaches and not on the right of way. They were from S. Virginia Street to Mill Street. All Freeway Entrances had the Interstate 580 shield. If you go to the Mill Street overpass heading westbound, you will see a U.S. 395 green sign on the right and the Interstate 580 shield covered up with green sheeting. If you took off that green sheeting, you will probably find the Interstate 580 sign without "Nevada" on it. Another place that you can tell that they had an Interstate 580 sign is on Terminal Way, by the Airport. They have directional signs to US-395 and have blank spaces where the old Interstate 580 signs were."
So, by 1987, most maps ceased to show Interstate 580. The freeway was signed solely as U.S. 395. Many assumed that Interstate 580 had suffered the same fate as Interstate 580 in Omaha: deleted from the Interstate highway system. However, the Interstate 580 designation in Reno is alive and well, only hidden. Interstate 580 was the official designation of U.S. 395 from Neil Road (Del Monte Lane) north to Interstate 80. The only way a lay person would know that Interstate 580 still existed was by the white postmile markers, which show "IR 580."
Interstate 124 in Chattanooga is similar, with respect to U.S. 27. Ironically, these hidden Interstates are the opposite of hidden U.S. routes that run coincidentally with Interstates, such as U.S. 50 and U.S. 6 in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. In the case of a short spur such as Interstate 705 in Tacoma, the highway does not carry more than one numbered route, so it would be posted as such.
In most cases, Interstate routes are owned by state governments. Whether or not an Interstate marker is posted, the state still gets Interstate funding. Different states seem to handle dual Interstate/U.S. number posting differently. AASHTO's policy on Interstate marking systems states that, "the U.S. Route numbers may be used in conjunction with Interstate Route markers where the U.S. Route leads into the Interstate Route, follows it for a 'reasonable distance,' and then departs again from the Interstate route."
Ed Wilson, Nevada DOT Customer Services Representative, adds that the "general public remains more comfortable with the '395' moniker. Actually the proper designation seems to be important only to the FHWA, NDOT, land use planners, a few highway buffs, and such. Mr. and Mrs. America seem to just get confused with all the different letters and numbers, so we try to keep life simple for them."
This means that the shield shown at the top of the page is only a rendition of how a Nevada Interstate 580 shield would look, but it is not posted as such along the currently designated portions of Interstate 580.
Of course this begs the question: why is Interstate 515 signed from downtown Las Vegas all the way to Boulder City when it is concurrently signed with U.S. 93 and 95?
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