"Dead end" exits

[hotdogPi]

There are some exits that you have to get back on at the same exit. One example is Exit 21 northbound on MA 128 (not the I-95 section).

Are there any other exits from freeways (or other roads that have interchanges) that are dead ends?

EDIT: Exit 5 on NH 16 north also seems to qualify.

[vtk]

OH 104 at Haul Rd (just south of downtown Columbus)

Used to be there just for some quarry-type industries, but now Impound Lot Rd branches off from Haul Rd.  That's where the city's new impound lot is.  There's no other way in or out, and I'm pretty sure bikes and pedestrians are prohibited on that part of 104.  I don't think COTA serves Haul Rd or Impound Lot Rd, either.  So the only way to get to the impound lot is by car, which might be a problem if your car has been impounded.

[briantroutman]

Perhaps the ultimate such example: US 101 at Rodeo Ave. in Sausalito, CA. (https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8607077,-122.5035387,18z)

I understand this would have been sort of an A2 parclo with a curved overpass carrying Rodeo Ave. above 101 to connect with the orphaned ramps on the southbound side. As it stands, the offramp dead-ends, and your only option is to make a U-turn and take the on-ramp. And yet it's still signed as a normal exit with only a subtle disclaimer: NOT A THRU ROAD.

The history of this exit is inexorably intertwined with a Marincello, a huge suburban development planned in the '60s to cover much of the Marin Headlands. Such a thing is unimaginable today given how untouched the Headlands are today and Marin County's virulent, venom-spittingly anti-development stance, although Marincello was probably the impetus for much of that overzealousness.

[Revive 755]

Technically, I-44 at Lewis Road just east of Eureka, MO, is a dead end exit. Map

What would appear to be a through south outer road is actually a private road for a quarry, with a gate on the eastern end. (Streetview of gate

The Boeing Exit off of I-170 in the St. Louis area could also count, but doesn't have any dead end public roads, just a cul-de-sac before a gate.  Google Aerial

Might also be able to count the quarry access off of US 67 in the St. Louis area on the south end of the Missouri River crossing/Lewis Bridge. 

[triplemultiplex]

There are numerous places like this along western interstates, particularly in steep valley areas.
I've encountered them in Utah, New Mexico, Oregon and Montana.  But I'm sure there are situations like this in every state west of the prairie.

Generally, they are places where the predecessor US highway was dualized on location (or effectively as such), and there's an exit for a campground or ranch access or a small cluster of homes or something like that.

There are also going to be places where a freeway (or near-freeway) passes over a large body of water via an island and provides the only access to that island.  Kind of like Treasure Island in the SF Bay.

[Alex]

Have we had this discussion before?



Anyway, three off of the top of my head:

Exit 5B - Hone Island Swamp on I-59 in Louisiana

Exit 11 - Pearl River Turnaround on I-59 in Louisiana

Exit 880 - Sabine River Turnaround on I-10 in Texas

[roadman65]

Exit 20 off of FL 528 used to be that way, until International Corporate Park Boulevard was connected to the Orange County, FL road system with Innovention Way.  Before the homes, the Orange County Juvenile Detention Center all had to be reached via FL 528 paying a toll.  International Corporate Park Boulevard dead ended in both directions of FL 528 for decades with no connections to other roadways.

In New Jersey you have a diamond interchange east of the PA State Line that serves as a u turn access that connects to no other roads.  Part of the old US 611 that allowed crossovers being it never had median breaks along its NJ stint is still with I-80 today.

Even when Sea World Orlando first opened in 1973, it was a dead end from FL 528 as International Drive was not yet completed.  I Drive headed south from its folded diamond interchange with FL 528 as far as Sea Harbor Drive where you had to turn onto it.  Then Sea Harbor ended at the Sea World Parking Lot.  So I Drive/ Sea Harbor were both a dead end from the freeway.

[vdeane]

Exit 40 on A-40 in Montreal

[wriddle082]

Vail, CO is a dead end city that can only be accessed by exits from I-70 and I'm assuming an airport.

[US81]

There used to be one of these near Ft. Worth on I-35W/US 81 just south of where I-20 intersected. It was called Highland Terrace for the large (for the time) apartment complex that was all that was accessed by this exit. It bothered my small child road-geek self because it didn't seem right to have an exit without an intersecting road. Later a surface street was extended eastward (Alta Mere) so that the intersection is not a "dead-end" anymore.

I can't remember the state of the otherwise ubiquitous service/frontage/access road at that time and place; I suppose they might have disqualified this exit from being a true dead-end.

[bzakharin]

NJ 138 has a U-Turn only jughande in both directions between the Garden State Parkway and NJ 18. I assume they are there to access the properties on either side that don't have left turn access.

[hbelkins]

How about the "Cattle Pens" exit on the Kansas Turnpike?

[CrystalWalrein]

NJ 138 has a U-Turn only jughande in both directions between the Garden State Parkway and NJ 18. I assume they are there to access the properties on either side that don't have left turn access.

They probably are, and they're all over the state. US 30 has two in succession between Absecon and Atlantic City, with one near the Delilah Road flyover presumably to allow patrols from either city to stay within said city. Another exists near Atlantic Cape Community College on US 322.

[PurdueBill]

Does the Ramada hotel/conference center exit off the Maine Turnpike NB count?  No legal way out but the onramp accompanying that offramp.

[getemngo]

Vail, CO is a dead end city that can only be accessed by exits from I-70 and I'm assuming an airport.

Although Wikipedia agrees with you, as would most sane people, it appears you can take Red Sandstone Road north out of Vail and, after a very long while, reach SH 131. Most of it looks like average quality gravel road.

[thenetwork]

Most "dead end" exits in Colorado at least have some real names attached to them (Shoshone, Officer's Gulch,...even "No Name").  Except for "Exit 218" along I-70.

I have also noted that I-70 in eastern Utah is slowly replacing some of the generic "Ranch Exits" with actual names as well.  I wonder how they determine the official title of the renamed exits?

[hbelkins]

OK, my pictures didn't show up. Flickr must have screwed around with hotlinking again.

[TheStranger]

Exit 201 off I-80 in Farad, California - the final exit before the freeway crosses the state line into Nevada - leads to basically a cul-de-sac.  (Former US 40 alignment?)

[roadfro]

Exit 201 off I-80 in Farad, California - the final exit before the freeway crosses the state line into Nevada - leads to basically a cul-de-sac.  (Former US 40 alignment?)

I think I-80 in this area was built completely on top of the old US 40, as there's not really any contiguous off-Interstate road between any of the last few California I-80 exits. From satellite images, it looks like the Farad exit leads to what looks like a water pump station.

[agentsteel53]

Most "dead end" exits in Colorado at least have some real names attached to them (Shoshone, Officer's Gulch,...even "No Name").  Except for "Exit 218" along I-70.

I have also noted that I-70 in eastern Utah is slowly replacing some of the generic "Ranch Exits" with actual names as well.  I wonder how they determine the official title of the renamed exits?

ask the rancher?

exit 187 off I-80 in Utah is apparently just some ranch/fishing access.

[jakeroot]

Exit 444 off the Redwood Highway (the 101) north of San Fran.

It was (apparently) built to handle a housing estate but construction never proceeded.

[Alex4897]

Exit 444 off the Redwood Highway (the 101) north of San Fran.

It was (apparently) built to handle a housing estate but construction never proceeded.

[image snipped]

briantroutman already mentioned that one. 

[jakeroot]

Exit 444 off the Redwood Highway (the 101) north of San Fran.

It was (apparently) built to handle a housing estate but construction never proceeded.

[image snipped]

briantroutman already mentioned that one. 

[jakeroot]

So attempt number 2 for a non-mentioned dead end exit:

I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass has quite a few Forest Service road interchanges. For the general public, many of these exits are dead-ends.

[roadman65]

The Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ is only freeway accessible from the Garden State Parkway.  There may be service roads connected to the street system of Holmdel, but not open to the GP.  So Exit 116 on the GSP serves no other function, but to access the Arts Center, the commuter lots, the Vietnam Memorial, and Telegraph Hill Park.