While driving through the roadwork on I-15 north of St. George UT, I started trying to think of the longest continuous climbing lanes. With the work currently in progress, the northbound climbing lane on I-15 will be about 26 miles long, roughly from MP18 to MP44. (The elevation gain is significant but not extreme: only from about 3,000 feet up to 5,000 feet.)
Are there any other continuous, signed climbing lanes that are longer? The ground rules I came up with are:
- Must be specifically signed as a "climbing" or "truck" lane.
- The lane must be added at the start and must go away at the end.
- Must be more uphill lanes than downhill lanes. (This would rule out I-15 north out of Baker CA, but I don't think it's as long anyway.)
Go for it.
Does the I-78 climbing lane outside Easton count?
It's definitely not a contender for longest overall, but I think it's the longest I've seen:
I-90/MassPike westbound climbing the Berkshires - 7 miles long
I-70/76/PA Turnpike eastbound has a climbing lane from approx. MM 83-101, which is due to be extended another nine miles or so to the Somerset interchange. However that will also involve a new lane westbound as well, so for the purposes of this topic that wouldn't count.
I-70 EB has a 7.2 mile climbing lane from the Silverthorne onramp to the western approach of the Johnson Tunnel (about 2000' elevation gain). There is also a corresponding descending lane on the westbound side.
I want to say that New York's longest climbing lane is I-88 WB from the east end to the Sheldon Road overpass, roughly 12 miles, or over 10% of the length of the road. I-88 only climbs about 800 feet. The EB side has an extended acceleration lane at Exit 24, but I don't think that it should discount from the continuous WB climbing lane.
Quote from: deathtopumpkins on September 04, 2019, 11:12:06 AM
It's definitely not a contender for longest overall, but I think it's the longest I've seen:
I-90/MassPike westbound climbing the Berkshires - 7 miles long
Noteworthy not so much for its length, but for the fact the lane becomes an exit ramp for a service plaza at the end.
Quote from: Crown Victoria on September 12, 2019, 04:19:27 PM
I-70/76/PA Turnpike eastbound has a climbing lane from approx. MM 83-101, which is due to be extended another nine miles or so to the Somerset interchange. However that will also involve a new lane westbound as well, so for the purposes of this topic that wouldn't count.
Also, it's not always climbing. Once it gets to the top of Chestnut Ridge, it's sort of up-and-down rolling hills from a mile or 2 before Donegal, to when it starts (right before the PA-381 overpass) a more dedicated ascent to the top of Laurel Ridge
Quote from: Mr_Northside on September 25, 2019, 12:30:47 PM
Quote from: Crown Victoria on September 12, 2019, 04:19:27 PM
I-70/76/PA Turnpike eastbound has a climbing lane from approx. MM 83-101, which is due to be extended another nine miles or so to the Somerset interchange. However that will also involve a new lane westbound as well, so for the purposes of this topic that wouldn't count.
Also, it's not always climbing. Once it gets to the top of Chestnut Ridge, it's sort of up-and-down rolling hills from a mile or 2 before Donegal, to when it starts (right before the PA-381 overpass) a more dedicated ascent to the top of Laurel Ridge
Yes that is true. But, from end-to-end, the overall trend is uphill. There are plenty of climbing lanes that don't continuously climb...one I can think of offhand is I-81 southbound between Ironto and Christiansburg, VA. Guess it all depends on whether this is interpreted as continuously climbing or as a continuous, generally uphill lane.
Missouri has several materials with continuous passing lanes like US 63 and MO 5 . They are at least 20 miles. They would have many more if they had the money.
Quote from: Crown Victoria on September 28, 2019, 05:02:55 AM
Quote from: Mr_Northside on September 25, 2019, 12:30:47 PM
Quote from: Crown Victoria on September 12, 2019, 04:19:27 PM
I-70/76/PA Turnpike eastbound has a climbing lane from approx. MM 83-101, which is due to be extended another nine miles or so to the Somerset interchange. However that will also involve a new lane westbound as well, so for the purposes of this topic that wouldn't count.
Also, it's not always climbing. Once it gets to the top of Chestnut Ridge, it's sort of up-and-down rolling hills from a mile or 2 before Donegal, to when it starts (right before the PA-381 overpass) a more dedicated ascent to the top of Laurel Ridge
Yes that is true. But, from end-to-end, the overall trend is uphill. There are plenty of climbing lanes that don't continuously climb...one I can think of offhand is I-81 southbound between Ironto and Christiansburg, VA. Guess it all depends on whether this is interpreted as continuously climbing or as a continuous, generally uphill lane.
Stealth 3rd lane widening projects.
That is my take on them.
Same with the 7 miles of I-81 from US-11 north of Lexington northward, NBL widened from 2 lanes to 3 lanes in 2012.
Quote from: Beltway on September 28, 2019, 11:24:31 AM
Stealth 3rd lane widening projects.
That is my take on them.
Same with the 7 miles of I-81 from US-11 north of Lexington northward, NBL widened from 2 lanes to 3 lanes in 2012.
I look at them similarly, they were built to bring immediate relief to the problem of a narrow roadway and slow trucks blocking the right, or even both lanes, but was definitely designed as a proper 3-lane one-way roadway, intended to be incorporated into a fully completed 6-lane I-81, with full left and right shoulders, and removed the issues that existed before through Christiansburg Mountain.
Now, northbound, that's a different story. Still a narrow 2-lane one-way roadway with trucks being a persistent issue, and a lot of accidents in that stretch. I've thankfully never been involved / witnessed an accident here (knock on wood), but I've certainly witnessed reckless trucks & drivers that have nearly caused a few major ones, and also snarl up traffic for miles "micro-passing" in both lanes, and around some of those curves, again, nearly cause major accidents. Southbound on the other hand has never been an issue since the roadway was expanded. Though, IIRC, the $2.2 billion I-81 Improvement Project is to expand this to 3-lane to match the southbound roadway in the next few years.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned this one..
I-15 from just east of Baker CA to some arbitrary point near Nipton, CA... It's just over 19 miles and the climb lane is actually restricted to slow moving vehicles and trucks only by black and white (regulation backed) signage. I found that drive to be insanely tedious because Californian's have the worst lane discipline ever and despite light traffic late at night it required many many lane changes to even maintain the 70 MPH speed limit passing people mostly on the right. But that truck lane is pretty cool. You can see on google maps that it has a solid white line separating it from the main lanes which is a detail I've not seen in many other places.