Routes that are difficult to clinch

Started by sbeaver44, May 14, 2017, 11:23:21 AM

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sbeaver44

Like 1's easy to clinch thread, list roads that have things like seasonal or governmental restrictions, or just even poor to nonexistent signage, that make it difficult to clinch a road.

I'll start with WA 20 - seasonal closure over the Cascades

Nexus 6P



froggie

Until it's turned back (future turnback candidate), part of MN 289 is inside a prison complex.

NJ 68 begins inside the gate at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

VT 108 has a winter closure over Smuggler's Notch.

Several cities across the country that have poor signage.  In particular are cities in Tennessee and Virginia.

jeffandnicole


sbeaver44

Quote from: froggie on May 14, 2017, 11:27:32 AM
Until it's turned back (future turnback candidate), part of MN 289 is inside a prison complex.

NJ 68 begins inside the gate at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

VT 108 has a winter closure over Smuggler's Notch.

Several cities across the country that have poor signage.  In particular are cities in Tennessee and Virginia.
NJ 68 was the one I was thinking of when I started this thread but I couldn't remember which road it was

Nexus 6P


jp the roadgeek

CT 148 & CT 160 (seasonal ferries)

US 10 (seasonal ferry)

NY 114 (2 ferries)
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

davewiecking


Rothman

I-185.  They have removed the turnaround at the old in-the-median visitor center and therefore you end up at the gate for Fort Benning...

...as I found out last year.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: Rothman on May 14, 2017, 12:09:16 PM
I-185.  They have removed the turnaround at the old in-the-median visitor center and therefore you end up at the gate for Fort Benning...

...as I found out last year.

Similar fate for I-781 and Fort Drum, I'd imagine
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

michravera

#8
Quote from: sbeaver44 on May 14, 2017, 11:23:21 AM
Like 1's easy to clinch thread, list roads that have things like seasonal or governmental restrictions, or just even poor to nonexistent signage, that make it difficult to clinch a road.

I'll start with WA 20 - seasonal closure over the Cascades

Nexus 6P

I started to write this as a contrary example in the "by accident" thread.

I will confine my comments to routes of 500 km or less. In California, for instance, clinching CASR-1 or US-101 requires a lot of effort both due to their length and the illogic of traversing the entire route.

There are a lot of routes in California whose individual segments make sense and the adjoining ones all make perfect sense, but which traversing the entire length is either illogical or difficult due to discontinuities.
The prime offender is CASR-65. It was intended to be a 500 km long route to parallel CASR-99. What exists today is 2 100 km long segments separated by a 300 km route that is currently undefined and unconstructed.
I believe that it is CASR-178 that poses similar problems (but the unconstructed portion is short and really inconvenient to get from one part to the other).
CASR-41's segments make plenty of individual sense, but no one really goes from Morro Bay to Yosemite. Fresno to Morro Bay? Abosolutely! Fresno to Yosemite? Of course.
CASR-16 is discontinuous and illogical as an end-to-end route. You'd have to make a concerted effort to clinch it.
CASR-4, CASR-84, and CASR-160 are perfectly logical in segments, but don't make as much sense as end-to-end routes.
I could say the same thing about CASR-12 and CASR-33.

A lot of California's East-West state highways (like CASR-41) tend to have a logical center point and logical end points but no obvious reason to go between the two end points. CASR-180, -198, -152, -156, -299, -20, -46 all fit the bill.

... and all of that without introducing any technicallities such as the easternmost 3 meters of the route's being blocked off by a gate or a bridge that has been out for 15 years or that the westernmost 100 meters requiring a ferry that only operates two months of the year or the like.




sparker

Quote from: michravera on May 14, 2017, 01:57:04 PM
Quote from: sbeaver44 on May 14, 2017, 11:23:21 AM
Like 1's easy to clinch thread, list roads that have things like seasonal or governmental restrictions, or just even poor to nonexistent signage, that make it difficult to clinch a road.

I'll start with WA 20 - seasonal closure over the Cascades

Nexus 6P

I started to write this as a contrary example in the "by accident" thread.

I will confine my comments to routes of 500 km or less. In California, for instance, clinching CASR-1 or US-101 requires a lot of effort both due to their length and the illogic of traversing the entire route.

There are a lot of routes in California whose individual segments make sense and the adjoining ones all make perfect sense, but which traversing the entire length is either illogical or difficult due to discontinuities.
The prime offender is CASR-65. It was intended to be a 500 km long route to parallel CASR-99. What exists today is 2 100 km long segments separated by a 300 km route that is currently undefined and unconstructed.
I believe that it is CASR-178 that poses similar problems (but the unconstructed portion is short and really inconvenient to get from one part to the other).
CASR-41's segments make plenty of individual sense, but no one really goes from Morro Bay to Yosemite. Fresno to Morro Bay? Abosolutely! Fresno to Yosemite? Of course.
CASR-16 is discontinuous and illogical as an end-to-end route. You'd have to make a concerted effort to clinch it.
CASR-4, CASR-84, and CASR-160 are perfectly logical in segments, but don't make as much sense as end-to-end routes.
I could say the same thing about CASR-12 and CASR-33.

A lot of California's East-West state highways (like CASR-41) tend to have a logical center point and logical end points but no obvious reason to go between the two end points. CASR-180, -198, -152, -156, -299, -20, -46 all fit the bill.

... and all of that without introducing any technicallities such as the easternmost 3 meters of the route's being blocked off by a gate or a bridge that has been out for 15 years or that the westernmost 100 meters requiring a ferry that only operates two months of the year or the like.





Agree on most of these points regarding CA's disconnected segments; the shorter or secondary segments need to be renumbered:  the north CA 65, CA 84 from Rio Vista to W. Sacramento, the North Sac stub-end of CA 160, and the east portion of CA 16.  There's a lot of previously deleted designations between 1 and 200 that could be applied to these segments; it would simply take a legislative act (and some signage cost) to do so.

Regarding the longer routes such as CA 41 and CA 33 -- they've got real historical significance, so leaving them alone would likely be the best option -- just consider the sections as SIU's.  BTW, I've done CA 46 fully east to west in order to get from the high desert to the Big Sur area without dealing with L.A. and environs (and I'll wager I'm not alone here). 

bassoon1986

Texas State Highway 87 because it's missing a chunk in the middle. It requires some backtracking to snag it from the Port Arthur side.

To me, busy parallel highways to interstates are hard to clinch. US 190 in Louisiana is 2 laned for much of it's trek next to I-12 and is so clogged and built up through Mandeville, Covington and Hammond I feel like I can never get it all. It's rare that I just use the parallel highway over the interstate because it takes so much longer. I usually snag a 2-exit piece at a time and resume my trip on the interstate


iPhone

Beltway

Quote from: sbeaver44 on May 14, 2017, 11:23:21 AM
Like 1's easy to clinch thread, list roads that have things like seasonal or governmental restrictions, or just even poor to nonexistent signage, that make it difficult to clinch a road.

I'll start with WA 20 - seasonal closure over the Cascades
Nexus 6P

I've lived in Virginia for 34 years and I believe that there is still one section of mainline Interstate that I have not driven -- I-81 between I-77 at Fort Chiswell, and Pulaski.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

vdeane

Any route that ends at a border, depending on how strict one is.  Special mention to US 11, which has the customs post a mile from the actual border.  Another special mention to NY 189, which is de facto one-way at the northern end since Canada closed their customs post there.

NY 431 and Prospect Veterans Memorial Highway both have seasonal closures.  Better bring a vehicle that can be deliberately downshifted; NY 431 has steep grades along its entire length, even the part that isn't climbing a mountain; Prospect can only be clinched by walking, with a motorcycle, riding their bus, or in an official NY state vehicle - other vehicles are not allowed past the parking area.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Mapmikey

Virginia has several unposted state routes so those require some insider knowledge but posted ones that are difficult:

VA 337:  From the Jordan Bridge until Brambleton Ave there are 7 turns required with only 2 posted EB and none posted WB
VA 125: missing bridge in the middle and it is not convenient to go get both sides
US 1: does not have a 55 mph speed limit the northernmost 45 miles or so and is a slog for half its length

Ones that are harder to drive for mountain/alignment reasons:
VA 16, VA 56, US 250, VA 80, VA 63, VA 40, VA 70, US 58


Ones from N Carolina that come to mind:
NC 615, NC 12, NC 150, NC 903, NC 80, US 19W, NC 143, NC 194.

South Carolina doesn't have many I would call difficult - maybe SC 9 and SC 28 because of their lengths.  SC 125 used to be hard when Savannah River Site had guard posts at each end.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 14, 2017, 06:31:50 PM
US 1: does not have a 55 mph speed limit the northernmost 45 miles or so and is a slog for half its length

US 1 is difficult to clinch because it's over 2,000 miles long; not because it's a slow route for several miles in Virginia.

Max Rockatansky

A lot of the US Routes on the east coast since many travel through urban cores.

Mapmikey

Quote from: jeffandnicole on May 14, 2017, 07:40:43 PM
Quote from: Mapmikey on May 14, 2017, 06:31:50 PM
US 1: does not have a 55 mph speed limit the northernmost 45 miles or so and is a slog for half its length

US 1 is difficult to clinch because it's over 2,000 miles long; not because it's a slow route for several miles in Virginia.

I was speaking to clinching within Virginia but you are correct.  I have driven all of it except for right in Portland ME and from Ellesworth ME northward.

I drove New Brunswick NJ to Providence RI in one sitting and it took 7 hours...Connecticut's portion of US 1 is the absolute pits to drive...

Darkchylde


roadman65

I-94 in Port Huron, MI as you must possess a passport to drive it to its endpoint past the last US exit.  Ditto for I-75 as I had to take the last US exit when I drove it cause I had a rental car and no passport, so unless you have that or a Nexus and your own vehicle its 99.9 percent of these routes.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

froggie

Quote from: RothmanI-185.  They have removed the turnaround at the old in-the-median visitor center and therefore you end up at the gate for Fort Benning...

...as I found out last year.

I was under the impression that I-185 ended at the US 27 interchange, and south of there was an Army-maintained freeway.  GDOT maps and FHWA sources seem to confirm this.

Quote from: DarkchyldeMS 607. Stennis is in the way.

It may seem that way, but per MDOT, there's a gap in MS 607 from I-10 to Texas Flat Rd (the east-west road north of Stennis).  Both segments of MS 607 are easily accessible.

plain

Given bad weather and ferries and such I would have to say NC 12
Newark born, Richmond bred

formulanone

#21
Quote from: jeffandnicole on May 14, 2017, 07:40:43 PM
Quote from: Mapmikey on May 14, 2017, 06:31:50 PM
US 1: does not have a 55 mph speed limit the northernmost 45 miles or so and is a slog for half its length

US 1 is difficult to clinch because it's over 2,000 miles long; not because it's a slow route for several miles in Virginia.

Not to mention, it's probably very easy to miss a turn here or there in some town, and wind up off by a block or two in some direction thanks to:
- construction
- similar bannered route
- missing sign
- fatigue


roadman65

Quote from: jeffandnicole on May 14, 2017, 07:40:43 PM
Quote from: Mapmikey on May 14, 2017, 06:31:50 PM
US 1: does not have a 55 mph speed limit the northernmost 45 miles or so and is a slog for half its length

US 1 is difficult to clinch because it's over 2,000 miles long; not because it's a slow route for several miles in Virginia.
I have clinched US 1 through Virginia. Though very long north of Stafford and extremely urban pretty much most of the way to Gundpowder Falls in MD, I can assure you it can be done.  Timing is important as in 1996 the first year I done it, I left Titusville, FL at around 2 PM, stayed the night at Waycross, GA.  Left the next day and made it to Hendersonville, NC to lodge there, and left and made it through the Richmond, Washignton, Baltimore, and Philadelphia areas to rest at Red Roof Inn in Lawrenceville, NJ.

I tried to copy it verbatim years after, but failed as I would reach Baltimore by dark as the first try it was at Philly the sun set.  Either I left Hendersonville at 8AM that first trip or from 1996 to 1998 traffic volumes increased or both, as I tried to make sure I left at 9 AM but never got past Baltimore in the daylight.

Overall it took three days to go from Florida to NJ opposed to only 24 hours straight driving on I-95 to make the same trip.  Of course the latter I spend a few hours in two rest areas, but just to show the variance overall.  Even one year driving in 1997, I took I-195 to I-295 to I-95 from the Jersey Shore in the evening, spent a few most of the night at the NC Welcome Center, got driving at dawn and even clinched all of US 301 from Santee, SC to US 1 in Folkston to end up clinching western I-295 in Jacksonville and made it to a Long John Silvers in St. Augustine at nightfall.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

hbelkins

Kentucky has several discontinuous state routes that require some backtracking to clinch, KY 70, KY 72 and KY 92 come to mind.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

roadman65

US 9?  Being in theory that it crosses Great Egg Harbor on a bridge that no longer exists you could only clinch if you own a boat. :bigass:
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe



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