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Author Topic: Other reasons to shun a highway  (Read 4314 times)

kphoger

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Other reasons to shun a highway
« on: April 26, 2022, 12:57:50 PM »

Obviously, shunpiking is usually done to avoid paying tolls.  But what other reasons do you have for shunning a particular highway?

For me, I'd rather spend an extra half-hour driving if it means less of a headache from thick traffic.  This is why I shun I-35 in Texas whenever possible.
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abefroman329

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2022, 01:01:48 PM »

When I drove from my mother-in-law's house to Cincinnati, I shunned I-65 and took US-30 east to US-31 south, because I hate that stretch of I-65.

When we drove from DC to Cincinnati earlier this month, we shunned I-70 west of I-68 and I-71 in its entirety, because I-68 to I-79 to US-50 is more scenic.

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abefroman329

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2022, 01:03:41 PM »

If I ever have the opportunity to shun I-45, I will, because of you-know-who.
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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2022, 01:04:39 PM »

  • If someone close recently died in a car accident at a specific location
  • If you've crashed or had several close calls at a specific location, or maybe were a target of crime
  • Avoid Andover, MA at all costs if your inspection and/or registration is expired
  • One-lane bridge
  • A whole bunch of [insert candidate sign or flag here] on a street, or maybe a particularly huge one
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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2022, 01:08:38 PM »

Obviously, shunpiking is usually done to avoid paying tolls.  But what other reasons do you have for shunning a particular highway?

For me, I'd rather spend an extra half-hour driving if it means less of a headache from thick traffic.  This is why I shun I-35 in Texas whenever possible.

I avoid I-65 in Indiana for the same reason.
Locally, I avoid the busiest intersection in my town due to a high traffic volume and accident rate.
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kphoger

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2022, 01:13:23 PM »

In most large cities, I choose to take the bypass rather than the route through downtown–just in case the downtown traffic is stop-and-go.

Examples:  I-410 around the southeast side of San Antonio and I-470 around the north side of Saint Louis.

Counterexamples are where I can be reasonably sure the through-route will be better–such as Monclova (Coahuila), whose bypass is full of potholes and trucks.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2022, 01:15:57 PM by kphoger »
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MikieTimT

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2022, 01:30:30 PM »

I try to shun all highways with high concentrations of Texans.  Like I-49 in NWA.
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kphoger

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2022, 02:17:08 PM »

If I ever have the opportunity to shun I-45, I will, because of you-know-who.

Julius Schepps? 
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Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Quote from: Philip K. Dick
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abefroman329

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2022, 02:18:03 PM »

If I ever have the opportunity to shun I-45, I will, because of you-know-who.

Julius Schepps? 
Good guess, but no.
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kphoger

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2022, 02:19:56 PM »

I give up, then.
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SkyPesos

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2022, 02:21:06 PM »

Generally, I attempt to shun highways that I'm bored of from driving it many times. Doesn't really go as I planned sometimes, as my parents don't care about a change of scenery as much as I do and just want to get from Point A to B the quickest way.

I-470 around the north side of Saint Louis.
Did you mean "I-270" or "south side of Wheeling"?

kphoger

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2022, 02:22:45 PM »


I-470 around the north side of Saint Louis.

Did you mean "I-270" or "south side of Wheeling"?

I-270.    Wow.  X-(
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Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Quote from: Philip K. Dick
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Bruce

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2022, 02:28:38 PM »

I avoid certain stretches of I-5 and I-405 at certain hours because of traffic and extremely dumb drivers. The other day I managed to save a good deal of time by taking the backroads from my home to Seattle instead of fighting tulipmania traffic on the freeway.

Another common one is to use SR 99 or a side street to avoid SB I-5 when the express lanes are switched north in the afternoon.
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kphoger

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2022, 02:33:16 PM »

I do the opposite of shunpiking in northern Mexico:  I elect to take the toll road between Allende and Nueva Rosita (Coahuila) instead of the free road, which is a decision primarily driven by the area's reputation for heavy drug cartel presence.
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Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. Dick
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CtrlAltDel

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #14 on: April 26, 2022, 02:53:25 PM »

If I ever have the opportunity to shun I-45, I will, because of you-know-who.

Julius Schepps? 
Good guess, but no.

Voldemort?
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State Interstates clinched: I-26 (TN), I-75 (GA), I-75 (KY), I-75 (TN), I-81 (WV), I-95 (NH)

Max Rockatansky

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #15 on: April 26, 2022, 02:55:24 PM »

I hate doubling back and even more so boring highways.  It isn’t uncommon for me to find alternative to a main highway if there are lesser/different routes available.  Most commonly I do this to avoid much of CA 99, some of my favored alternates would be CA 43 and CA 49 depending on my direction of travel.
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BlueOutback7

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #16 on: April 26, 2022, 03:08:52 PM »

Sometimes I will shun a highway because there is a route I want to clinch that happens to be on the way to where I’m going.
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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #17 on: April 26, 2022, 03:18:46 PM »

Minimize pedestrian encounters (usually near college campuses). Avoid 270 degree cloverleaf loop ramps in congested areas (looking at you I-69)
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Max Rockatansky

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #18 on: April 26, 2022, 03:20:55 PM »

  • If someone close recently died in a car accident at a specific location
  • If you've crashed or had several close calls at a specific location, or maybe were a target of crime
  • Avoid Andover, MA at all costs if your inspection and/or registration is expired
  • One-lane bridge
  • A whole bunch of [insert candidate sign or flag here] on a street, or maybe a particularly huge one

Amusingly I would probably make a substantial detour down some hazardous roads just to get to a one lane bridge. 
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skluth

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #19 on: April 26, 2022, 03:39:07 PM »

Like Bruce, I tend to shun LA freeways pretty frequently. I'm retired so I'm rarely in that big a hurry and I find the other roads far more interesting and often move almost as fast. The LA area is filled with a lot of huge boulevards that run for miles so it's easy to shun the freeways most places. Yesterday, I visited the LA Natural History Museum. I took the freeways there, but rush hour was just starting when I left so I used mostly Valley Blvd and Riverside Drive before hopping on CA 60 to I-10. Valley Blvd, Mission Blvd, Foothill Blvd, and Arrow Highway are among my favorite roads connecting LA to the Inland Empire when I drive back to PS.
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Max Rockatansky

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #20 on: April 26, 2022, 03:47:40 PM »

Like Bruce, I tend to shun LA freeways pretty frequently. I'm retired so I'm rarely in that big a hurry and I find the other roads far more interesting and often move almost as fast. The LA area is filled with a lot of huge boulevards that run for miles so it's easy to shun the freeways most places. Yesterday, I visited the LA Natural History Museum. I took the freeways there, but rush hour was just starting when I left so I used mostly Valley Blvd and Riverside Drive before hopping on CA 60 to I-10. Valley Blvd, Mission Blvd, Foothill Blvd, and Arrow Highway are among my favorite roads connecting LA to the Inland Empire when I drive back to PS.

Arrow Highway is seemingly always in the conversation as a favored Los Angeles area shun-pike.
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Dirt Roads

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #21 on: April 26, 2022, 05:15:16 PM »

Back in the 1980s, I used to shun I-95 in South Carolina and Georgia because of all of the crazies that would pass at 90 MPH using the rough shoulder or the grass median.  It finally settled down somewhat after the NMSL days.  But even still, we saw that happen in Georgia as recently as 2013.
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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #22 on: April 26, 2022, 06:50:53 PM »

I always avoid US 321 going to Johnson City from Boone, even though it's technically the quickest and most direct route (and the most fuel-efficient). The problem is that it's extremely curvy, so people not familiar with the route love to go ridiculously slow.

Trucks take the route for whatever reason and end up having to go 10 mph around all the curves while continuously bleeding into the oncoming lane. I would always get stuck behind one on that road. There's barely any opportunities to pass as well. They really need to ban trucks from that road and establish a US 321 Truck along US 421 and TN SR 67. I nearly hit a trailer going around a curve because it was halfway into the oncoming lane and I couldn't see the truck as it came around the curve. Not fun.

Because of this I always take NC 105 to NC 184 to NC 194 to US 19E to TN SR 361 to TN SR 362. It's far less direct but it saves so many headaches caused by US 321 and only adds a few minutes to the trip time, not to mention there's plenty of passing opportunities.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2022, 10:31:44 PM by index »
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hobsini2

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #23 on: April 26, 2022, 08:10:49 PM »

I wouldn't necessarily call it a true "shunning" of a single highway but I hardly ever went to my Grandmother's in Central Wisconsin the way my parents did mostly because I liked finding different ways to get to Princeton from Bolingbrook. My parents would almost always take Route 59 to I-90 West to Madison then US 51 North to Wis 22 North to Montello and finally Wis 23 East to Princeton for the last 11 miles.

Depending on if I was in a hurry or the time of day, I preferred taking I-94 to Milwaukee, using the 894 Bypass to US 41. I would then exit at Wis 33 to Hwy A to Hwy AW to Wis 73 North or Wis 49 to Hwy AW to Wis 73. Or the "scenic route" was usually I-355/Route 53 to US 12 West to Wis 26 North to Hwy A to Hwy AW to Wis 73.

I just hated dealing with I-90 being 2 lanes between Elgin and Madison before the widening.
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Dirt Roads

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Re: Other reasons to shun a highway
« Reply #24 on: April 26, 2022, 08:14:12 PM »

I always avoid US 321 going to Johnson City from Boone, even though it's technically the quickest and most direct route (and the most fuel-efficient). The problem is that it's extremely curvy, so people not familiar with the route love to go ridiculously slow.

Trucks take the route for whatever reason and end up having to go 10 mph around all the curves while continuously bleeding into the oncoming lane. I would always get stuck behind one on that road. There's barely any opportunities to pass as well. They really need to ban trucks from that road and establish a US 321 Truck along US 421 and TN SR 67. I nearly hit a trailer going around a curve because it was halfway into the oncoming lane and I couldn't see it well around the curve. Not fun.

Because of this I always take NC 105 to NC 184 to NC 194 to US 19E to TN SR 361 to TN SR 362. It's far less direct but it saves so many headaches caused by US 321 and only adds a few minutes to the trip time, not to mention there's plenty of passing opportunities.

They don't call it Mountain City for nothing.  I like that route as well, except I stay on NC-105 to US-221/NC-181 to NC-194.  Unfortunately, I bypass all of the fun stuff in Banner Elk along the way.  Plus, I generally stay on US-19E to Elizabethton since I have friends there.  On the other hand, US-321 still takes less time even riding behind all of those trucks.  There's certainly not as many trucks on NC-105 that brave going up Grandfather Mountain, which is a smooth ride but will wear out your brakes in one trip (if you don't have a Jake brake).
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