Pan American Highway

[roadman65]

When I traveled to Texas, I used I-35 to go from Laredo to San Antonio as well as between OK and Denton along with I-35W into Fort Worth.  I noticed no shields for the highway that is supposed to be the longest motor road in the world.  In fact OK, KS, and MO also do not sign it on their parts of I-35 as well.  I am guessing its an implied route only and though real not so real in signing especially in the US.

[MantyMadTown]

Yeah there are so many routes linking Canada, Mexico, and the United States it's hard to define a single route as the Pan-American Highway. I think all of the major routes linking the three countries have separate names, like I-15 and the roads linking Las Vegas and Tuscon as part of the CANAMEX Corridor and the future I-69 as the NAFTA Superhighway.

[roadman65]

I am surprised that I-5 is not it.  I-35, is way off for trade.  I-25 could be one as it would line better with some of the major mid Canada cities.

[Road Hog]

I-69 could be it, but not the entire route as proposed. It'll be the route that most closely connects the population centers of Eastern Canada with Mexico directly under a single shield, but that wandering boondoggle between Memphis and Shreveport is a dealbreaker. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Isn't I-25 part of the Canusa Highway or something?

[MantyMadTown]

Isn't I-25 part of the Canusa Highway or something?

It looks like it follows I-25 until you get to Cheyenne. Then it follows US 85 until you reach the Canadian border.

[NE2]

There has never been an official PAH through the US.

[Roadsguy]

I think it'd be pretty cool to see the Pan-American Highway fully signed on BGSes and trailblazers like any other route.

But you'd need to actually get the states to agree on where it goes and actually sign it.

[MCRoads]

It's not the longest motorable road, there is a 100 mile stretch that has never, and probably will never get paved (due to local opposition including drug lords with guns, and Mother Nature).

[MantyMadTown]

It's not the longest motorable road, there is a 100 mile stretch that has never, and probably will never get paved (due to local opposition including drug lords with guns, and Mother Nature).

Yeah it's called the Darién Gap. There's no point in building a road through there because doing so would destroy swampland and rainforest, not to mention destroying the livelihood of the indigenous people living there. Building a road there would also spread tropical diseases to North America which they haven't seen in decades.

[Rothman]

One road would destroy the livelihoods of indigenous peoples?  Someone has seen Medicine Man too many times.

I am more persuaded by the terrain and crime as real deterrents.

[MantyMadTown]

One road would destroy the livelihoods of indigenous peoples?  Someone has seen Medicine Man too many times.

I am more persuaded by the terrain and crime as real deterrents.

That's just what I read on Wikipedia. I'm guessing it's because of the environment being destroyed that would displace all the people living there that wouldn't be able to find another place to live.

[Beltway]

Wikipedia is only as good as its most recent editor, and I am not persuaded by the local human impact reasons.

The gap is about 65 miles, and half of that is swampland and half of that is very mountainous rain forest.  The main problem is that construction would be extremely expensive, and the traffic needs are not high enough to warrant the cost.

[english si]

I am surprised that I-5 is not it.

Err, have a look beyond the US borders...

At the Mexican end, it is aimed down the massive cul-de-sac of the Baja California peninsular. At the Canadian end, it's the wrong side of the Rockies.

There has never been an official PAH through the US.

Operative word being 'an', given the whole Interstate network is officially part of it.

[MantyMadTown]

There has never been an official PAH through the US.

Operative word being 'an', given the whole Interstate network is officially part of it.

Yeah that just sounds like a sad excuse to not designate an actual highway for it.

[english si]

^^ Indeed!

Not that Canada put in any effort...