AARoads Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

The AARoads Wiki is live! Come check it out!

Author Topic: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"  (Read 6068 times)

webny99

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 13326
  • Age: 24
  • Location: Monroe County, NY
  • Last Login: Today at 12:57:15 AM
Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« on: April 16, 2022, 01:50:28 PM »

You know the feeling: you have been on a road trip and good, bad or indifferent, you get to a certain point in the trip and you are just ready to be home. What are your favorite and least favorite "home stretches" (let's say the last 2-3 hours of your trip) for where you live now and/or in the past?

My favorite for returning to Rochester is easily coming in from the south from Williamsport on US 15/I-99, I-86 and I-390. Very high quality road the whole way, with a 70 mph speed limit on much of the US 15 portion, and enough curves and hills to keep it from getting too boring but not such that you can't use cruise control. And there's generally very little traffic or speed enforcement especially late at night, so you can do the 175 mile stretch in under 2.5 hours.

I don't really have a least favorite - coming in from the east and west on I-90 are equally boring, although at least coming in from the west you have the section through Buffalo to break things up a little. Coming from the east, nothing feels fast enough once you get past Amsterdam, and Syracuse/Utica hardly count as waypoints given you can cruise right past both.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2022, 01:53:26 PM by webny99 »
Logged

Max Rockatansky

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 24921
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Route 9, Sector 26
  • Last Login: Today at 12:44:16 AM
    • Gribblenation
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2022, 02:01:38 PM »

CA 99 between Bakersfield and Fresno is an absolute slog.  Sometimes I take CA 43 just to change it up even though it takes longer.  Conversely coming back the Central Valley on CA 198 (Diablo Range and Sierra Nevada Mountains) is an absolute joyful stretch of mountain roads and obscure freeways. 
« Last Edit: April 16, 2022, 02:03:58 PM by Max Rockatansky »
Logged

NWI_Irish96

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 7675
  • Age: 50
  • Location: Munster, IN
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 06:28:49 PM
    • Travel Mapping
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2022, 02:21:52 PM »

Coming from the south, I can't stand I-65 from IN 32 to IN 2.
Logged
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 59%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

7/8

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 5949
  • Civil Engineer

  • Age: 28
  • Location: The K in KW (Kitchener, ON)
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 10:17:48 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2022, 02:35:50 PM »

My main routes home from longer road trips:
- 402 > 401 from Sarnia: The 402 is especially boring (flat and straight). The 401 at least has some more turns and small hills, but still not much to look at. I find the final stretch after Woodstock feels long.
- 401 from Windsor: Similar comments to above, the 401 west of London is flat and boring like the 402.
- QEW > 403 > Highway 6 > 401 from Niagara: The Niagara Escarpment and occasional views of Lake Ontario gives a bit more scenery. Highway 6 from the 403 to 401 not being a freeway breaks the monotony. However, the QEW and 6 traffic can be annoying depending on the time of day. One plus I like with the QEW is it seems to have the most out-of-province plates (being the main route between Niagara Falls and Toronto makes it a tourist hotspot).
- 400 > 407 > 401 from Barrie: Despite being very straight, the hilliness of the 400 makes for a fun drive (unless you're stuck in cottage country traffic!). The brief section of the 407 is always nice, since it's too expensive to have any traffic. The 401 from the 407 to Milton often sucks with traffic, but afterwards gets better. A small highlight is the view of Rattlesnake Point and Glen Eden ski hill on the west side of Milton.
- 401/407 from east of Toronto: The 407 scenery is pretty boring, but it's nice for lack of traffic. If we're on the 401, the joy directly correlates with the traffic. If the traffic's okay, it's actually pretty fun to drive through the city on one of the widest freeways, but it's usually a gamble how busy it'll be.

If I had to pick a favourite, I'd go with the QEW/Highway 6. I think the scenery is overall the best and it reminds me of childhood trips to the States.

Bruce

  • [citation needed]
  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 5612
  • Stuck on I-5

  • Age: 26
  • Location: Snohomish County, WA
  • Last Login: Today at 02:16:41 AM
    • Wikipedia
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2022, 03:06:13 PM »

Coming back across Stevens Pass on US 2 is a lot of fun, especially if I can avoid hitting the weekend crowds. It's got enough passing zones but isn't too congested.

I-5 from Northgate to Everett is a slog due to high volume, unpredictable drivers, and idiots in semi trucks. Just yesterday I had to dodge multiple people who were drifting into my lane as I was passing them.
Logged

Hobart

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 465
  • I think this is needed.

  • Age: 22
  • Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Last Login: March 17, 2024, 05:05:39 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2022, 03:08:56 PM »

My least favorite home stretches are I-80/94, I-294, and I-355.

I-80/94 by Chicago is very close to my house, but carries a ton of truck traffic, and is seemingly always busy or under construction. It's also the only way to come in from the east without using side streets.

On I-294 and I-355, everybody drives really fast and often like morons. Getting onto either at their northern terminus creates a false sense of being "almost home" for me, but in reality there's 30 more miles to go in the Chicago suburbs, because I live in the south suburbs. They are my least favorite due to their deceptive nature, followed by I-80/94. They're also tollways, which I don't like (because I'm very cheap).

My favorite is Interstate 57 from the south, mainly because of childhood nostalgia. I live closest to the 167th Street exit, and I will always remember taking the loop ramp to head west on that street after a week long trip to like, Florida or Disney World or something crazy. Same with I-80 from the west, getting onto northbound Harlem Avenue. It just always stuck with me, entering my hometown after taking an extremely long trip.
Logged
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Ned Weasel

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 1999
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Kansas
  • Last Login: January 07, 2024, 09:21:23 PM
    • My Instagram
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2022, 03:39:01 PM »

I have never been glad about getting closer to home.  Even on a road trip where I had to have my windshield replaced, a huge wave of depression hit me as I was about three hours from home (on I-70 just west of Wentzville, MO, to be specific).
Logged
"I was raised by a cup of coffee." - Strong Bad imitating Homsar

Disclaimer: Views I express are my own and don't reflect any employer or associated entity.

CoreySamson

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 2571
  • ORU Class of '26

  • Age: 20
  • Location: Houston, TX/Tulsa, OK
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 10:21:16 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2022, 05:32:09 PM »

The example that comes readily to mind for me is when I take road trips to Memphis. On the way back, I usually get pooped out between Lufkin and Livingston on US 59. There's a whole lot of trees out there and not much else. But as soon as I go past Houston area development in New Casey and Humble, the drive suddenly takes on a whole new vigor. Then once I pass Beltway 8 on the south side of town, the pooped-out feeling returns.
Logged
Buc-ee's and QuikTrip fanboy. Clincher of FM roads. Proponent of the TX U-turn.

My Route Log
My Clinches

Now on mobrule and Travel Mapping!

Scott5114

  • *
  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 19829
  • Nit picker of unprecedented pedantry

  • Age: 34
  • Location: Las Vegas, NV
  • Last Login: Today at 02:20:41 AM
    • Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2022, 06:22:43 PM »

I-35 between Wichita and Oklahoma City is a lot more boring and tedious on the way home than on the way out.
Logged
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

kphoger

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 29128
  • My 2 Achilles' heels: sarcasm & snark

  • Location: Wichita, KS
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 09:31:10 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2022, 06:59:44 PM »

I hated the "home stretch" when I lived in Chicagoland.  When the "home stretch" involves the speed limit going down, traffic becoming thick, and the number of idiot drivers increasing exponentially, it doesn't really promote that happy feeling.

When I get back into Wichita from Mexico, though, getting off the Turnpike and onto the Canal Route feels awesome, even if it is 15 mph slower.  Wichita traffic ain't Chicago traffic, though...
Logged
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. Dick
If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

webny99

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 13326
  • Age: 24
  • Location: Monroe County, NY
  • Last Login: Today at 12:57:15 AM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2022, 07:03:15 PM »

- QEW > 403 > Highway 6 > 401 from Niagara: The Niagara Escarpment and occasional views of Lake Ontario gives a bit more scenery. Highway 6 from the 403 to 401 not being a freeway breaks the monotony. However, the QEW and 6 traffic can be annoying depending on the time of day. One plus I like with the QEW is it seems to have the most out-of-province plates (being the main route between Niagara Falls and Toronto makes it a tourist hotspot).
...

If I had to pick a favourite, I'd go with the QEW/Highway 6. I think the scenery is overall the best and it reminds me of childhood trips to the States.

Good choice! That route also has the Garden City and Burlington Bay Skyways, which is a nice bonus.

Highway 6 is a really nice road even though it's not a freeway - one of the better non-divided roadways I've been on. It's a much better road than Highways 5/8 which are both two-lane slogs. Highway 5 in particular seems to move very slowly with constant platoons of cars in both directions.

Some friends of mine commute on that stretch of the QEW and I do not envy them at all - it's always busy which keeps it interesting, and the 110 km/h limit is nice, but it's also not a road I would want to drive every day. It's really starting to need 8 lanes, especially between the Red Hill Valley Pkwy and Grimsby.
Logged

webny99

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 13326
  • Age: 24
  • Location: Monroe County, NY
  • Last Login: Today at 12:57:15 AM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2022, 07:28:04 PM »

I hated the "home stretch" when I lived in Chicagoland.  When the "home stretch" involves the speed limit going down, traffic becoming thick, and the number of idiot drivers increasing exponentially, it doesn't really promote that happy feeling.

That reminds me of coming in to the Rochester area from the (south)east on I-490. You finally get 6 lanes on the Thruway for a bit, and then you're fooled into thinking I-490 is a really nice road for the first few miles, but then you've got an 8 mile slog where you can almost never drive a consistent speed: first on the four-lane, 75K AADT section, and then as heavy traffic enters from exits 23-25 and  cars jockey for positioning approaching the 590 split.

Coming in from the south on I-390 is much better - the 390/590 ramps aren't as tight or congested and you can usually keep the cruise set all the way to our exit.
Logged

BlueOutback7

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 2689
  • I-5 to Finland or bust!

  • Age: 22
  • Location: Massachusetts
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 10:11:24 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2022, 07:58:49 PM »

I’ve always thought that the trip from Eastern Pennsylvania back to Massachusetts is usually ok except the home stretch is always I-95 around Boston. Traffic is always a slog. Depending on traffic, we will sometimes use I-495, which I prefer over the other way because it comes closer to my house.
Logged
Decommission 128 south of Peabody!

Lowest untraveled number: 56

Rothman

  • *
  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 15108
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 11:52:13 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2022, 08:02:49 PM »

I-90 from Buffalo to Syracuse is the worst.  All others are better.
Logged
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

74/171FAN

  • *
  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 5354
  • Age: 32
  • Location: Harrisburg, PA
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 10:01:22 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2022, 08:28:41 PM »

I guess I am too used to I-78 and I-83 to be annoyed by them at this point. 
Logged
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

paulthemapguy

  • *
  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 7289
  • nobody asked me

  • Age: 34
  • Location: Illinois
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 09:49:08 AM
    • Paul Across America
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #15 on: April 17, 2022, 12:03:00 AM »

Indiana
Logged
Avatar is the last interesting highway I clinched.
My website! http://www.paulacrossamerica.com Now w/Ohio!
My USA Shield Gallery https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHwJRZk
TM Clinches https://bit.ly/2UwRs4O

National collection status: 361/425. Only 64 route markers remain

JayhawkCO

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 9086
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Aurora, CO
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 11:00:22 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2022, 12:24:44 AM »

Coming back from anywhere in the mountains isn't so bad when you get to drive through more mountains to get home. Unless the traffic on I-70 sucks, then it's the worst home stretch ever.

sprjus4

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 8829
  • Location: Hampton Roads, VA
  • Last Login: Today at 01:46:42 AM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2022, 12:51:26 AM »

Any route coming into Hampton Roads, besides I-64 (if you're coming in at night when traffic is light), just feels like a slog due to the artificially low speed limits.

Coming from the south, you're traveling on either I-95 or I-85 with a 70 mph speed limit traveling 80+ mph the whole way for hours, then you enter Virginia for 11-12 miles, then have to exit for US-58 to slog for the last 60-100 miles (either from I-95 or I-85) at a boring 55-60 mph on open road that can easily be traversed at 75 or 80 mph. And once you get into Hampton Roads, all the freeways are 55 or 60 mph max, there's no final short 65 mph or 70 mph stretch you can just open up on. And it does not help that the few rural limited access freeway segments along the route between I-95 / I-85 and Hampton Roads are still only 60 mph even though they are legally permitted to be increased up to 70 mph, and could safely handle such.

Same with US-13 / US-113 down the hundred+ mile Eastern Shore once departing DE-1 near Dover, and US-460 south of Petersburg / I-295. All 55 mph max.

US-17 from the south can feel sloggish, but at least there's 70 mph freeway segments in various segments throughout to break the monotony of 55 mph, and the final segment going into Virginia is 60 mph. The worst part is the final segment in Chesapeake, VA where it's 55 mph on rural limited access highway for 17 miles. Overall, US-17 is still a slog throughout.

I-64 at least lets you keep 65 mph (with the wide open segment through Newport News often seeing at least one car going 80-90+ mph) all the way to near the I-664 interchange in Newport News, and while it's 60 mph south of there along I-664, there's enough traffic moving 70+ mph it's generally safe to set cruise at around 70 mph without risking a ticket. And if you time it right, you can cross the HRBT on I-64 and travel in the reversible lanes with a 65 mph speed limit through Norfolk.

My overall favorite on I-64 being more specific, is where it now opens to up to 6 lanes near Williamsburg. Often I-64 between Richmond and Williamsburg can be a bottleneck with traffic barely even hitting the 70 mph speed limit, but as soon as you reach Williamsburg, a third lane opens up to the left, and you can just hit it at 80+ mph (speed limit is still 70 mph in this area) and pass the lines of 65 mph side-by-side cars in the other two lanes with large gaps in front of them.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2022, 12:58:50 AM by sprjus4 »
Logged

achilles765

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 443
  • Interstate 14 should connect Austin and Houston

  • Age: 38
  • Location: Houston, TX
  • Last Login: Today at 04:10:18 AM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #18 on: April 17, 2022, 01:18:02 AM »

Least favorite when I used to live in Baton Rouge, I hated any stretch leading there...
Here in Houston, I really like coming back in from the east (Louisiana on I-10)...its all boring rural and flat pretty much all the way from Beaumont until Exit 800...then you start slowly getting into the city, until before long you can see downtown like in the bottom left of your vision, then we get to the stuff that means I'm almost home...I-69/US 59, I 45, downtown...I live on the east side of downtown so I usually hop onto 45, then curl up and exit Scott street.  Just so I can skirt downtown on the way home. 
Logged
I love freeways and roads in any state but Texas will always be first in my heart

kkt

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 7887
  • Location: Seattle, Washington
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 10:59:29 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #19 on: April 17, 2022, 01:41:07 AM »

I-5 from Everett to Seattle, especially when the express lanes are open the other direction.
Logged

zachary_amaryllis

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 1241
  • Stop pouring stuff on my town.

  • Age: 53
  • Location: colorado
  • Last Login: March 15, 2024, 04:29:23 PM
    • Blog of random weirdness
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #20 on: April 17, 2022, 01:53:11 AM »

if i'm returning home from the east, then it's the mile or two of co-14 before you hit the cattle guard. we've always held that the cattle guard is the 'official' beginning of the canyon, even though said cattle guard in fact guards no cattle...

from the west, i start feeling home once i pass the mishawaka.
Logged
clinched:
I-64, I-80, I-76 (west), *64s in hampton roads, 225,270,180 (co, wy)

SkyPesos

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 5086
  • I-80E to NYC, not Clarion, Dubois, Bloomsburg, etc

  • Age: 21
  • Location: Cincinnati
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 08:49:30 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #21 on: April 17, 2022, 02:32:26 AM »

I-71/75 NB in KY is my favorite and least favorite at the same time. Favorite for the view of the Cincinnati skyline, least favorite because it seems like shit happens on the Brent Spence Bridge so frequently now that I sometimes cross the river on I-471 or I-275 instead.

As for the others, I-71 SB, I-75 SB and I-74/275 EB are pretty uneventful most of the time, so no opinions on those. I really dislike OH 32 WB between Batavia and I-275 though. Lots of traffic signals with long lines that it’s common to not make it through some of them within 2 cycles.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2022, 02:36:43 AM by SkyPesos »
Logged

epzik8

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 1938
  • Clincher of roadways

  • Age: 28
  • Location: Maryland, USA
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 08:46:29 PM
    • The Epzik8 Webpage
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #22 on: April 17, 2022, 07:52:33 AM »

I love I-95 from Baltimore northward or from Wilmington southward. Can't think of one I hate.
Logged
From the land of red, white, yellow and black.
____________________________

My clinched highways: http://tm.teresco.org/user/?u=epzik8
My clinched counties: http://mob-rule.com/user-gifs/USA/epzik8.gif

Flint1979

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 9017
  • Age: 44
  • Location: Michigan
  • Last Login: March 18, 2024, 09:48:12 PM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #23 on: April 17, 2022, 09:37:08 AM »

My least favorite has become I-75. It's the best way home from many points but I'm tired of it. I've seen everything along it for a long stretch and it just doesn't interest me anymore. It's like one of those highways that you know where it goes and you know where you're at pretty much the whole time. I'd like a challenge better and take a route I rarely ever take or have never taken. US-23 between Toledo and Flint does this to me too.
Logged

thspfc

  • *
  • Offline Offline

  • Posts: 4253
  • Age: 1
  • Last Login: Today at 12:25:00 AM
Re: Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"
« Reply #24 on: April 17, 2022, 09:54:04 AM »

I-39/90/94 between Portage and Madison is my favorite. US-151 between Fond du Lac and Madison is my least favorite.
Logged

 


Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.