Longest distances between freeway exits

[golden eagle]

I guess you can call it a freeway, but the longest I can think of is the causeway over Lake Ponchatrain. The bridge itself is about 24 miles, but I'm not sure how far the two closest exits on either side of the bridge are from the end of the bridge. I guess you can say it's 26 miles total, give or take a little.

[Jim]

The Mass Pike (I-90) between Exits 2 and 3 tops that.  It's about 29 miles.

[TheStranger]

I guess you can call it a freeway, but the longest I can think of is the causeway over Lake Ponchatrain. The bridge itself is about 24 miles, but I'm not sure how far the two closest exits on either side of the bridge are from the end of the bridge. I guess you can say it's 26 miles total, give or take a little.

On an interstate, the longest distance between exits is 37 miles (Exits 4 and 41) on Interstate 80 in western Utah...

The 51 mile distance between today's exits 193 and 244 on the Florida's Turnpike is often cited, but there is a service plaza at milepost 230 (and a new exit 240 recently added to narrow the gap a bit as well).

[agentsteel53]

I could've sworn we've had this topic before, but when I attempted to find it (to merge the two together), I did not.

[triplemultiplex]

Looks like the best Wisconsin can do is the ~14 miles between exits 92 (US 12) & 106 (WI 33) on I-90/94 between Portage & The Dells.

[akotchi]

I could've sworn we've had this topic before, but when I attempted to find it (to merge the two together), I did not.

I recall discussing this before, too, but perhaps as a tangent of something else. . .

[topay]

Virginia doesn't have any longer than 10 miles, and we barely get that.  That would be the 10-mile gap on I-81 between Exits 118 (Christiansburg) and 128 (Ironto).

[Duke87]

I could've sworn we've had this topic before, but when I attempted to find it (to merge the two together), I did not.

I recall discussing this before, too, but perhaps as a tangent of something else. . .

Found it!

Service-free sections of interstate

[TheStranger]

Duke87: Thanks!  Amazingly, I don't think that thread quite answers the question here, if only because the long service-free stretch mentioned (from Exits 61 to 260 on I-90 in South Dakota) isn't necessarily as long as noted (due to Wall Drug at Exit 109) and still involves other exits between the three listed.

The oft-referenced Florida's Turnpike example is tricky since while it is true there is a (now) 47 mile stretch between exit points, the service plaza makes it only a 37 mile gap between ramps (equalling that of I-80 in western Utah).

[agentsteel53]

I don't think that thread quite answers the question here

indeed, I was thinking of a different thread that explicitly addressed the distance between exits.  Wonder where it went.  Well, knowing how this board operates, it was probably a tangential discussion inside a completely unrelated thread.

[xcellntbuy]

Virginia doesn't have any longer than 10 miles, and we barely get that.  That would be the 10-mile gap on I-81 between Exits 118 (Christiansburg) and 128 (Ironto).

And, one of the most beautiful sections of Interstate 81 to travel through, I may add.

[Brandon]

If we're doing this by state, then the longest distance in Illinois is 22 miles on I-88 between Exits 54 and 76 (Dixon and Rochelle).  The ISTHA has a few other competing stretchs of 17 and 13 miles or so.  IDOT usually doesn't have much longer than 12 miles.

[roadfro]

The longest distance between freeway exits in Nevada is on I-80 between Exit 48 (Fernley east) and Exit 65 (Nightingale Hot Springs), a mere 17 miles--this distance will decrease in the future with the completion of a new interchange near Fernley, which is under construction about a mile or two east of Exit 48.

[cjk374]

I think Utah may win this contest.  I think it's on I-80 between exits 2 and 64 thru the Bonneville salt flats (I have no map in front of me, but I remember looking at it in a road atlas).

[Bickendan]

Nope. The gap on I-80 is 37 miles, from exit 4 to 41.

BC97C has an approximate 20 mile gap from its eastern end to its next exit.

[D-Dey65]

9/11 Conspiracy Freak guru Alex Jones thinks toll road interchanges are specifically placed 50 miles apart.

   

Perhaps he should tell that to the people who've driven on the New York State Thruway and New Jersey Turnpike.

 

[njroadhorse]

The longest distance between interchanges in New Jersey is a measly 13.3 between Exits 2 and 3 on the New Jersey Turnpike.  While not continuous over both directions, there is a 14 mile gap between Exit 38 and Exit 50 on the Parkway North.

[roadfro]

BUMP!

Saw this USA Today article posted to the Yahoo Roadgeek list.
Top 16 longest gaps between Interstate exits

It's been noted in that group that the I-70 in Colorado entry is incorrect, as there is an exit 62 serving the town of De Beque.

It is interesting in that only the top 6 longest distances are over 30 miles. I just assumed there would be more long distances out there.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

http://www.roadfan.com/mtrfaq.html#a362

Q: What is the longest distance between interchanges?

A: In the U.S., there are 51 miles southbound and 49 miles northbound between Exit 193 (US-441/FL-60) and Exits 242/244 (US-192/441), and 41 miles between Exit 152 (FL-70) and Exit 193, on Florida's Turnpike. There are 37 miles between Exit 4 (Bonneville Speedway) and Exit 41 (Knolls) on I-80 in western Utah, the longest stretch on both a free highway and a publicly-numbered highway (Florida's Turnpike is officially FL-91 but there are no references to that in the field). There are also no services between these two I-80 exits, just a pair of rest areas (the two Florida's Turnpike stretches listed above both have a median service area along them). See Question 6.10 for the longest stretch between services on an Interstate and Question 6.10.1 for the longest stretch on an Interstate between other Interstates. Jun 10, 2005

[jemacedo9]

In the USA Today article, it lists I-70 as two separate lines.  First:  that's the PA Turnpike, which is I-70 AND I-76...and second:  a Brotherton Rd ramp?  Is that relatively new or an error in the article?

[ftballfan]

Longest in Michigan: Likely 14 miles between Exit 359 and Exit 373 along I-75 in the eastern Upper Peninsula.

[Lightning Strike]

I find it ironic that Western Texas, for as big and desolate in some places it can be there are not too many big gaps on I-10

[agentsteel53]

I find it ironic that Western Texas, for as big and desolate in some places it can be there are not too many big gaps on I-10

the gaps get even smaller when you factor in the at-grade crossings for ranches.  not that you will find any services at a lot of them, but opportunities to leave the freeway occur every 8-10 miles at most.

[v35322]

It looks like the longest gaps in Colorado are:

I-70 - the 13 miles on either side of De Beque, and also the 13 miles (according to Rand McNally) between Burlington and the Kansas state line.

I-25 - 7 miles in three different places (42-49, 174-181 and 271-278).

I-76 - 13 miles (102-115).

[thenetwork]

It looks like the longest gaps in Colorado are:

I-70 - the 13 miles on either side of De Beque,

And those 13-mile segments are endangered as there are definite plans for a new exit about 2 miles west of Parachute's Exit 75, as part of a northwest truck bypass of Parachute, and (I believe) a study on another new interchange -- this time a couple of miles west of DeBeque's Exit 62 to serve a new truck hauling company's HQ along the northern Frontage Road.

As far as the new DeBeque interchange being considered, it would make a lot of sense to make it at least a partial-diamond interchange (EB off/WB on) at the point where the North Frontage Road/Old US 6 and the South Frontage Road dead end, save for the "U-Turn Overpass" which connects the ends of the frontage roads.