By: Dayna Roselli
I received an email from a 10 year resident of Las Vegas. She wanted to know why the I-95 is referred to as Northbound and Southbound…. when it clearly goes Westbound and Eastbound in some parts. So, I have an explanation.
First…. I’m surprised a 10 year resident is calling it I-95. It’s actually a U.S. Highway… so it’s called U.S. 95. That’s okay… common mistake. 
Did you know… odd numbered highways are Northbound and Southbound and even numbered highways are Westbound and Eastbound? That is WHY we use the descriptions that we do.
U.S. 95, for the most part, runs Northbound & Southbound… but form Rainbow Blvd. to Charleston Blvd… it appears to run Westbound and Eastbound. That’s where the confusion comes in!
Read this. I found it helpful. If you good the highway numbering system, there are many articles you can read and learn from.
Wait… there’s more… here’s some information I found on the numbering system as a whole. I found it very enlightening!
Fascinating - I’ve driven in California for the last 20 years and I never knew that odd numbers were N-S…
Thank you Dayna and thank you to the 10yr old for educating this 42 yr old!
Comment by driving course — March 5, 2008 @ 4:34 am
Go to the above website for details on three digit interstates. In Clark County we have the 515 and the 215. Odd digit “3-di’s” are spurs or radials–they begin at an interstate and end away from an interstate. Even digit “3-di’s” are beltways or bypasses. They begin or end at interstates. Another city with nice examples of these is Washington DC. It has the beltway (I-495), and I-395, which runs from the beltway into downtown DC.
Comment by highwayman (Brian Hoeft) — March 6, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
Your last sentence in the article is kind of funky … “If you good the highway numbering system, there are many articles you can read and learn from.” Are you saying “If you go to…” or possibly, you were trying to say “If you visit the Guide to the Highway Numbering System,…” FYI.
Comment by Christopher — March 17, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
An interesting twist to the odd numbered highways going N - S is Us 101. It starts by Olympia, WA goes North near the Hood Canal and then turns West along for appx 150 miles along the Strait of San Juan De Fuca before it turns south to stay fairly close to the coastline all the way into Calif. In that section where it goes East & West along the Strait of San Juan De Fuca the Highway signs actually say East and West
Comment by Ron — April 1, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
The info about hiway numbering is correct odd is north/south, even is east/west. But our numbskull NDOT even messes it up by posting highway signs giving directions to “Westbound US95″ and “Eastbound US95″ in the areas of Decatur, Jones, Valley View, and Rancho.
And for the record, US95 even does the east/west thing for about 40 miles north of Tonopah, as it shares the highway with US 6, an east/west highway up there, then it returns to north bound to go near, but not to Reno. So now you can wonder why our signs down here all say “US 95 North to Reno” or “South to Henderson”.
Comment by Jeff` — May 19, 2008 @ 5:04 pm