Most out-of-the-way routes between major metro areas?

[Buffaboy]

I made a post under Fictional Highways about Buffalo and Washington being somewhat out of the way, by a freeway.

What other cities/regions would fit this criteria, within reason?

To clarify, if a US/state route is in expressway format, like US 19 in WV, then that doesn't count as out of the way.

[jp the roadgeek]

St. Louis and the Twin Cities: For an all freeway link, one would have to take I-55 North to I-39 North  to I-90 West to I-94 West, or backtrack to Kansas City on I-70 West and take I-35 North.  A third option is I-55 North to I-155 North to I-74 West to I-80 West to I-380 North to US 20 West to I-35 North. You would think there would be a more direct higher speed link than US 61 since both lie on the shores of the same river.

[corco]

Boise (or Salt Lake)-Phoenix

The all-freeway route would be I-84 to I-15 to I-10, via Los Angeles

[sparker]

Salt Lake to Albuquerque -- east on I-80, south on I-25 -- but you have to make that big backtracking loop north (compass east) of Santa Fe, as well as the jog north into Wyoming on I-80. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Las Vegas-Bay Area, where the all-freeway option is to go south to LA and north from there.

[plain]

Little Rock to Jackson or Mobile

[cpzilliacus]

Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas to Denver, Colorado, a trip length of about 775 miles one-way.

The  most direct path from Google is via U.S. 287 (mostly arterial, about 315 miles); then about 215 more miles via U.S. 87. 

Balance of the trip is by Interstate highway, mostly I-25 with a short section of I-40 near Amarilo, Texas.

All-Interstate route is I-35 to I-135 to I-70, which is about 860 miles one-way.

[Roadgeekteen]

Las Vegas-Bay Area, where the all-freeway option is to go south to LA and north from there.

You can bypass la with ca 58.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Las Vegas-Bay Area, where the all-freeway option is to go south to LA and north from there.

You can bypass la with ca 58.

You can, but CA 58 isn't a freeway for its entire length (yet, anyway).

[US 89]

Boise (or Salt Lake)-Phoenix

The all-freeway route would be I-84 to I-15 to I-10, via Los Angeles

You could also go only to Barstow, then east on I-40 to Flagstaff, then south on I-17.

[epzik8]

Starting in Baltimore, take Route 2 to I-895 and then follow the 895 Spur to I-97. 97 all the way to U.S. 50 instead of exiting at Route 3 to go through Crofton, and then follow U.S. 50 through Bowie (including passing the other end of MD-3, which is also the U.S. 301 split) and the other P.G. County suburbs and into Washington, DC.

[Charles2]

Birmingham to St. Louis.  The logical routes would either be I-22/U.S. 78 to Memphis, I-240 around Memphis, then I-55; or, I-65 to Nashville, then I-24 to I-57, then I-64.  The "scenic" or out of the way route would be I-65 to Louisville, then west on I-64 across Indiana and Illinois.

[Roadgeekteen]

Birmingham to St. Louis.  The logical routes would either be I-22/U.S. 78 to Memphis, I-240 around Memphis, then I-55; or, I-65 to Nashville, then I-24 to I-57, then I-64.  The "scenic" or out of the way route would be I-65 to Louisville, then west on I-64 across Indiana and Illinois.

Or 65-24-57-64.

[sparker]

There's a reason why at least part of I-69 makes perfect sense: Houston to anywhere in the Great Lakes portion of the Midwest.  If one were to limit travel to freeways, that city to, say, Chicago -- you'd still need to do an acute-angle trip through Dallas (N 45 to E 30) or the right-angle boogie (E 10/12 to N 55) via Baton Rouge.  It's more than likely that truckers in general are itching to get 69 (& 369, for that matter) done to Shreveport and/or Texarkana just for that purpose.  And if & when the I-57 extension is completed from Little Rock to Sikeston, that'll just be icing on the cake!

[hbelkins]

St. Louis and the Twin Cities: For an all freeway link, one would have to take I-55 North to I-39 North  to I-90 West to I-94 West, or backtrack to Kansas City on I-70 West and take I-35 North.  A third option is I-55 North to I-155 North to I-74 West to I-80 West to I-380 North to US 20 West to I-35 North. You would think there would be a more direct higher speed link than US 61 since both lie on the shores of the same river.

Nope. The OP indicated if there's an expressway connecting them, it doesn't count. I offer the Avenue of the Saints as the route that exempts this combination from consideration.

However, there's Cincinnati to Huntington or Charleston, but the latter will be alleviated when US 35 is completed in West Virginia.

[michravera]

Boise (or Salt Lake)-Phoenix

The all-freeway route would be I-84 to I-15 to I-10, via Los Angeles

You could also go only to Barstow, then east on I-40 to Flagstaff, then south on I-17.

I don't know if you can even get from San Luis Obispo, Monterey/Salinas, or Santa Cruz/Watsonville, California to *any* other major metro area by any all freeway route, even in principle. This is despite all of the metro areas having at least one, if not two, freeways that go right through each of them. You can't even get from Monterey to Santa Cruz (about 50 km) via an all freeway route. I believe that the same is true with many Mexican and Central American megalopolises as well. It is also likely true of most of the major Canadian plains cities, too.

[Roadgeekteen]

Boise (or Salt Lake)-Phoenix

The all-freeway route would be I-84 to I-15 to I-10, via Los Angeles

You could also go only to Barstow, then east on I-40 to Flagstaff, then south on I-17.

I don't know if you can even get from San Luis Obispo, Monterey/Salinas, or Santa Cruz/Watsonville, California to *any* other major metro area by any all freeway route, even in principle. This is despite all of the metro areas having at least one, if not two, freeways that go right through each of them. You can't even get from Monterey to Santa Cruz (about 50 km) via an all freeway route. I believe that the same is true with many Mexican and Central American megalopolises as well. It is also likely true of most of the major Canadian plains cities, too.

And many african cities.

[sharkyfour]

Hartford to Providence.  Have to either go north via Worcester, south via New Haven & New London, or take US 6 which badly needs to be upgraded to a freeway but probably never will be.  Of course, I may be a little biased living in the Willimantic area with no interstate access after the original I-84 route got changed.  :-)

[The Nature Boy]

Can we count Augusta, Maine to Burlington, VT?

You have to take I-295 to I-95 to NH 101 to I-93 to I-89.

[hotdogPi]

Can we count Augusta, Maine to Burlington, VT?

You have to take I-295 to I-95 to NH 101 to I-93 to I-89.

Bangor is larger and even further out of the way.

[KEVIN_224]

Hartford to Providence.  Have to either go north via Worcester, south via New Haven & New London, or take US 6 which badly needs to be upgraded to a freeway but probably never will be.  Of course, I may be a little biased living in the Willimantic area with no interstate access after the original I-84 route got changed.  :-)

From New Britain, CT, I've had friends drive CT 9 South to it's end in Old Saybrook, then take I-95 North into Rhode Island.

From Hartford, you could either travel:

Option A --- I-91 S>CT 9 S>I-95 N
Option B --- CT 2 E>I-395 S>CT 85 S>I-95 N

[bzakharin]

Many peninsulas are like this, but if you're going from Wilmington, Delaware to Cape May, you have to go ~30 miles Northbound on I-295, then ~44 miles Southeast via NJ 42 and Atlantic City Expressway, then take the Garden State Parkway South for 38 more miles. That's 112 miles by freeway. Google's suggested route, which involves only short pieces of freeway (I-295, NJ 55, Garden State Parkway) in addition to non-freeway US 40 and NJ 47, is 90 miles. It would be 65 miles as the crow flies.

[US 89]

Many peninsulas are like this, but if you're going from Wilmington, Delaware to Cape May, you have to go ~30 miles Northbound on I-295, then ~44 miles Southeast via NJ 42 and Atlantic City Expressway, then take the Garden State Parkway South for 38 more miles. That's 112 miles by freeway. Google's suggested route, which involves only short pieces of freeway (I-295, NJ 55, Garden State Parkway) in addition to non-freeway US 40 and NJ 47, is 90 miles. It would be 65 miles as the crow flies.

What about the US 9 ferry across Delaware Bay?

[bzakharin]

Many peninsulas are like this, but if you're going from Wilmington, Delaware to Cape May, you have to go ~30 miles Northbound on I-295, then ~44 miles Southeast via NJ 42 and Atlantic City Expressway, then take the Garden State Parkway South for 38 more miles. That's 112 miles by freeway. Google's suggested route, which involves only short pieces of freeway (I-295, NJ 55, Garden State Parkway) in addition to non-freeway US 40 and NJ 47, is 90 miles. It would be 65 miles as the crow flies.

What about the US 9 ferry across Delaware Bay?

That is 110 mostly non-freeway miles from Wilmington. Remember that Delmarva is itself a Peninsula. Thee Cape May - Lewis Ferry is well out of the way of the I-95 corridor.

[dvferyance]

I don't know if this counts as a major city but there is no direct connection by interstate between Roanoke and Hampton Roads. You have to go north on I-81 then take I-64 east which goes southeast. The most direct way is US 460 which is an ok road west of Petersburg but it's horrible east of there.