The Most Boring Stretches of Highway

[kphoger]

I-57 isnt' that bad in Southern IL; however, it is bad in Central and Northern IL.  It is just weird in MO.

I agree with that description perfectly, although I can't quite put my finger about what I find "weird" about it in Missouri.  Maybe it's just that I've hardly even driven it without road construction.

It's pretty boring in Missouri. Nothing weird about it. Just mostly flat.

I enjoyed the drive. You're not in the state for all that long before you hit the pretty bridge, and then you have really long, forested straightaways for the first 50 or so miles in IL.

Yes, I-57 from the state line up to about Mount Vernon is a pleasant drive.  It's not that it's terrible on the Missouri side, it's just....different, somehow, and I can't put my finger on it.

[signalman]

Yes, I-57 from the state line up to about Mount Vernon is a pleasant drive.  It's not that it's terrible on the Missouri side, it's just....different, somehow, and I can't put my finger on it.

Sure it's different.  It's a different state 

[Brandon]

I-57 isnt' that bad in Southern IL; however, it is bad in Central and Northern IL.  It is just weird in MO.

I agree with that description perfectly, although I can't quite put my finger about what I find "weird" about it in Missouri.  Maybe it's just that I've hardly even driven it without road construction.

It's pretty boring in Missouri. Nothing weird about it. Just mostly flat.

I enjoyed the drive. You're not in the state for all that long before you hit the pretty bridge, and then you have really long, forested straightaways for the first 50 or so miles in IL.

Yes, I-57 from the state line up to about Mount Vernon is a pleasant drive.  It's not that it's terrible on the Missouri side, it's just....different, somehow, and I can't put my finger on it.

It's on the bottomlands west of the river there, the Mississippi Embayment.  After leaving the Shawnee Hills of southern Illinois, and coming off the bluff on the east side of the river before IL-3, the bottomlands are different due to their flatness and lowness.  IIRC, you're on the bottomlands all the way to Sikeston at I-55, and then on I-55 south to the bluffs on the east side of the river at Memphis.

[kphoger]

Well, yeah, obviously the terrain is different.  But the roadway itself has a different feel to it; now that I think about it, it's similar in feel to I-55 between STL and Sikeston, so maybe it shouldn't be all that surprising to me.

[TheKnightoftheInterstate]

I can't honestly say there has ever been a stretch of highway I found "boring"

Riding US 322 from Harrisburg to State College in one of those small yellow bus was exasperating. (Couldn't see anything out the windows). I thought I had grown tired of that stretch but to my relief when on a college visit a few weeks later I still enjoyed that stretch of road. It probably didn't help the bus driver drove for Satan and I was tired from FBLA.

The drive on I-95 in North Carolina was always made in the dead of night  on my family trips to Florida so to a kid who was interested in the blue logo signs and who recorded those signs, the night made an otherwise filled Interstate "boring". My dad who could drive with his knees going 90, towing a fifth wheel, petting the dogs, and reaching for a Twizzler couldn't drive with the lights on in the truck. I would joke that I never saw NC in the light, we always drove through during the night.

I-95 in Florida seems really long to a kid eager to see Mickey Mouse. When you are a child and you reach you think WDW is just around the next exit. I vividly recall my dad telling me we still had about 3 more hours to go. Honestly after Jacksonville it seems like all the exits until the I-4 turnoff are the same.  Logo signs with the Food and Gas packed on and every exit required a bridge to go over. Plus, none of those exits looked like they had space for a RV to fit for gas so we would always stop at Exit 1 in Georgia. Cheaper anyways     But I still love I-95 in FL anyways. Free orange juice 

If I had to choose one route as "boring" it would be Route 22 from Ebensburg to Pittsburgh nothing but construction and adult video stores all the way to Pittsburgh.

[Alps]

I can't honestly say there has ever been a stretch of highway I found "boring"

Riding US 322 from Harrisburg to State College in one of those small yellow bus was exasperating. (Couldn't see anything out the windows). I thought I had grown tired of that stretch but to my relief when on a college visit a few weeks later I still enjoyed that stretch of road. It probably didn't help the bus driver drove for Satan and I was tired from FBLA.

The drive on I-95 in North Carolina was always made in the dead of night  on my family trips to Florida so to a kid who was interested in the blue logo signs and who recorded those signs, the night made an otherwise filled Interstate "boring". My dad who could drive with his knees going 90, towing a fifth wheel, petting the dogs, and reaching for a Twizzler couldn't drive with the lights on in the truck. I would joke that I never saw NC in the light, we always drove through during the night.

I-95 in Florida seems really long to a kid eager to see Mickey Mouse. When you are a child and you reach you think WDW is just around the next exit. I vividly recall my dad telling me we still had about 3 more hours to go. Honestly after Jacksonville it seems like all the exits until the I-4 turnoff are the same.  Logo signs with the Food and Gas packed on and every exit required a bridge to go over. Plus, none of those exits looked like they had space for a RV to fit for gas so we would always stop at Exit 1 in Georgia. Cheaper anyways     But I still love I-95 in FL anyways. Free orange juice 

If I had to choose one route as "boring" it would be Route 22 from Ebensburg to Pittsburgh nothing but construction and adult video stores all the way to Pittsburgh.

I fail to see how you find US 22 bad. (US 322 is also cool, but you attributed that to your bus driver, so okay.) It's a very straight road, but it has some killer vistas on it (think that 3-mile long downhill near US 119), and now that it's all 4 lanes, it's a very nice, modern drive with some good mountain scenery on either side. The 2-lane road was a bitch to fight my way through, but it was far from boring. (I also tend to find the most boring roads are the ones with no traffic to keep me awake - so I-90 in MT is worse than I-80 in OH, unless I have button copy to find.)

[Lytton]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

Its just plain boring desert. Of course, I've saw a few Joshua trees and a town called Baker which is the gateway to Death Valley. Also, the abandoned water park, Rock-A-Hoopla. Otherwise, its just a boring old stretch, and you have to put the air conditioner to almost high levels of cold air.

Primm is also nice, and lets you know that the boring stretch is finally over and that you're in Nevada.

[NE2]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

Doesn't even have any significant stretches of old alignment (unless you go the long way via 66-95).

[thenetwork]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

I have to agree, though the swaths of (lack of exciting) scenery quickly get put on the back burner since you need to concentrate on running with the "traffic" pack at speeds over 90 MPH and planning your lane changes like a game of chess -- one wrong calculation and you're stuck either going much faster than you'd like (in the left lane) or too slow (in the right lane). Northbound gets exciting one you hit Zzyzx Road, though.

[TheKnightoftheInterstate]

I can't honestly say there has ever been a stretch of highway I found "boring"

Riding US 322 from Harrisburg to State College in one of those small yellow bus was exasperating. (Couldn't see anything out the windows). I thought I had grown tired of that stretch but to my relief when on a college visit a few weeks later I still enjoyed that stretch of road. It probably didn't help the bus driver drove for Satan and I was tired from FBLA.

The drive on I-95 in North Carolina was always made in the dead of night  on my family trips to Florida so to a kid who was interested in the blue logo signs and who recorded those signs, the night made an otherwise filled Interstate "boring". My dad who could drive with his knees going 90, towing a fifth wheel, petting the dogs, and reaching for a Twizzler couldn't drive with the lights on in the truck. I would joke that I never saw NC in the light, we always drove through during the night.

I-95 in Florida seems really long to a kid eager to see Mickey Mouse. When you are a child and you reach you think WDW is just around the next exit. I vividly recall my dad telling me we still had about 3 more hours to go. Honestly after Jacksonville it seems like all the exits until the I-4 turnoff are the same.  Logo signs with the Food and Gas packed on and every exit required a bridge to go over. Plus, none of those exits looked like they had space for a RV to fit for gas so we would always stop at Exit 1 in Georgia. Cheaper anyways     But I still love I-95 in FL anyways. Free orange juice 

If I had to choose one route as "boring" it would be Route 22 from Ebensburg to Pittsburgh nothing but construction and adult video stores all the way to Pittsburgh.

I fail to see how you find US 22 bad. (US 322 is also cool, but you attributed that to your bus driver, so okay.) It's a very straight road, but it has some killer vistas on it (think that 3-mile long downhill near US 119), and now that it's all 4 lanes, it's a very nice, modern drive with some good mountain scenery on either side. The 2-lane road was a bitch to fight my way through, but it was far from boring. (I also tend to find the most boring roads are the ones with no traffic to keep me awake - so I-90 in MT is worse than I-80 in OH, unless I have button copy to find.)

Honestly, looking back it might be my anticipation for the Pirates games blinding me. Oh well, different roads for different folks. US 322 is beautiful when you can see it. Hard to from the seat of a small bus.

[Avalanchez71]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

Doesn't even have any significant stretches of old alignment (unless you go the long way via 66-95).

What kinda of a drive is the old 66/95?  Is it winding, slow, or what?

[formulanone]

I-95 in Florida seems really long to a kid eager to see Mickey Mouse. When you are a child and you reach you think WDW is just around the next exit. I vividly recall my dad telling me we still had about 3 more hours to go...

If you live in the southern end of the state, seeing the "Welcome to Florida" sign is both welcome (yay, nearly home!) and loathsome (great, five more hours to go!)...I imagine Texans on opposite ends of I-10 think the same way.

[Brandon]

I-95 in Florida seems really long to a kid eager to see Mickey Mouse. When you are a child and you reach you think WDW is just around the next exit. I vividly recall my dad telling me we still had about 3 more hours to go...

If you live in the southern end of the state, seeing the "Welcome to Florida" sign is both welcome (yay, nearly home!) and loathsome (great, five more hours to go!)...I imagine Texans on opposite ends of I-10 think the same way.

Try entering Illinois at Cairo destined for near Chicago (about 5-6 hours), or entering Michigan at Luna Pier destined for Copper Harbor (a mere 6-7 hours away, 8-9 in bad weather).

[mgk920]

I-95 in Florida seems really long to a kid eager to see Mickey Mouse. When you are a child and you reach you think WDW is just around the next exit. I vividly recall my dad telling me we still had about 3 more hours to go...

If you live in the southern end of the state, seeing the "Welcome to Florida" sign is both welcome (yay, nearly home!) and loathsome (great, five more hours to go!)...I imagine Texans on opposite ends of I-10 think the same way.

Try entering Illinois at Cairo destined for near Chicago (about 5-6 hours), or entering Michigan at Luna Pier destined for Copper Harbor (a mere 6-7 hours away, 8-9 in bad weather).

Or Michigan via US 2 at Ironwood, destined for metro Detroit - you'll likely even have to leave the state for a bit while on your way, too!

Mike

[kphoger]

Try entering Illinois at Cairo destined for near Chicago (about 5-6 hours).

The part of that drive that always tricked my memory was:  "There's Champaign, so it's just a little bit more to go...wait, what, it's over 100 miles to the Tri-state?"  For some reason, I always thought Champaign was closer to Chicago than that.  Going southbound, I had an easier time of keeping up with reality.

[formulanone]

Try entering Illinois at Cairo destined for near Chicago (about 5-6 hours)...

Since it's Cairo, so you're probably comforted by the subsequent long drive after driving through it...

[JCinSummerfield]

entering Michigan at Luna Pier destined for Copper Harbor (a mere 6-7 hours away, 8-9 in bad weather).

Anybody who thinks they can get from Luna Pier to Copper Harbor in 7 hours is smoking something!  It's at least 5 hours to Mackinaw City from Luna Pier.

[signalman]

entering Michigan at Luna Pier destined for Copper Harbor (a mere 6-7 hours away, 8-9 in bad weather).

Anybody who thinks they can get from Luna Pier to Copper Harbor in 7 hours is smoking something!  It's at least 5 hours to Mackinaw City from Luna Pier.

Perhaps they're smoking tires all the way there

[tdindy88]

Copper Harbor to Luna Pier is a good 10 hours, 20 minutes according to Google.

[thenetwork]

And if you cut over to US-23 from Luna Pier, or Toledo for that matter, you save some time, but not that much.

[thefro]

The most boring stretch of highway in Indiana was US 31 between Carmel and South Bend as of several years ago.  Completely flat and there's essentially nothing on the road besides Kokomo.

I'm not sure if the upgrades on that road and the continuing sprawl northward of Carmel has changed that.  I would guess it would probably be worse at first once the Kokomo bypass opens.

[agentsteel53]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

you must have forgotten your two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, salt shaker half full of cocaine, whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers, quart of tequila, quart of rum, case of Budweiser, pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.

[agentsteel53]

What kinda of a drive is the old 66/95?  Is it winding, slow, or what?

95 has a few speed traps in Nevada.  old 66, when it really gets away from 40, is pretty abandoned.  you can probably do about 100 mph the whole way.

[djsinco]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

blotter acid

"Blotter Acid," now, that takes me straight back to 1973!

[Alps]

The most boring stretch I've ever been on was Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

you must have forgotten your two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, salt shaker half full of cocaine, whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers, quart of tequila, quart of rum, case of Budweiser, pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.

... you and i need to do a road trip