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Author Topic: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?  (Read 4341 times)

J N Winkler

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #25 on: May 07, 2022, 04:49:02 PM »

I guess I didn't even think about these possibilities when creating this thread.  I will amend with this:  lanes added specifically for a safety reason will not count, because usually they are added for that specific geography in that specific direction of travel.  Example being a climbing lane.  Since the opposite direction is a downhill, the third lane is not needed.  There are sometimes a climbing lane is stripped differently than the other two lanes to alert drivers that this is not a usual lane and will end as soon as we get to the pass.  Lanes created between an entrance ramp and an exit ramp that are closely spaced, and their main purpose is to ease weaving also don't count because the geography in the opposite direction is usually not the same so that stretch of freeway is technically 5 lanes.  Now there can be some debate on length of a weave lane making it count or not count toward a widened freeway.

Mainly I am looking for Interstates that are rural for long stretches and even when they go through a small town, retain their 4 lane properties for the most part. (see I-10 in Lordsburg, NM).

I think it would be interesting to see what answers we get with and without counting different types of break in four basic through lanes:  climbing lanes, weaving lanes, and lanes gained and dropped between consecutive interchanges.

Personally, I think the last-listed should be counted as breaks because they do not lend themselves to the same operational characteristics as four through lanes with no gains or drops at exits, and are usually found in urban areas with a significant traffic burden (which does not always track with population, as in the case of Rapid City and Onalaska).
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ethanhopkin14

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #26 on: May 07, 2022, 05:06:14 PM »

I guess I didn't even think about these possibilities when creating this thread.  I will amend with this:  lanes added specifically for a safety reason will not count, because usually they are added for that specific geography in that specific direction of travel.  Example being a climbing lane.  Since the opposite direction is a downhill, the third lane is not needed.  There are sometimes a climbing lane is stripped differently than the other two lanes to alert drivers that this is not a usual lane and will end as soon as we get to the pass.  Lanes created between an entrance ramp and an exit ramp that are closely spaced, and their main purpose is to ease weaving also don't count because the geography in the opposite direction is usually not the same so that stretch of freeway is technically 5 lanes.  Now there can be some debate on length of a weave lane making it count or not count toward a widened freeway.

Mainly I am looking for Interstates that are rural for long stretches and even when they go through a small town, retain their 4 lane properties for the most part. (see I-10 in Lordsburg, NM).

I think it would be interesting to see what answers we get with and without counting different types of break in four basic through lanes:  climbing lanes, weaving lanes, and lanes gained and dropped between consecutive interchanges.

Personally, I think the last-listed should be counted as breaks because they do not lend themselves to the same operational characteristics as four through lanes with no gains or drops at exits, and are usually found in urban areas with a significant traffic burden (which does not always track with population, as in the case of Rapid City and Onalaska).

I agree. Maybe subcategories.  One that doesn't count climbing lanes are weaving lanes at intersections as breaks in rural/basic 4-lane continuity and one that does count that as to get an accurate count of the longest stretch of purely rural freeway. 
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WestDakota

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #27 on: May 08, 2022, 01:44:41 AM »

I-94 from its western terminus in Billings to just past I-29 in Fargo is all two lanes at a little over 600 miles.

Similar to the mentions about I-90 Rapid City and Sioux Falls, there is a six lane section between exits 155 and 156 in Mandan, ND, helping traffic go between Mandan and unsigned I-194 (Bismarck Expressway).  Since there is debate about how to count something like that I just wanted to make sure that fact is known.
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Scott5114

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #28 on: May 08, 2022, 03:19:22 AM »

There's six-lane stretches of I-90 in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
An auxiliary lane between two closely spaced interchanges is hardly a “six lane stretch” .

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes. Any other definition is boring. "How long between any two 6-lane stretches? Oh, but not that one. Not that one either." Snoooooore.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2022, 03:24:24 AM by Scott5114 »
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MikeTheActuary

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #29 on: May 08, 2022, 07:58:03 AM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

I think for purposes of having a different piece of trivia, this question could be more precisely described as "longest stretch of interstate with only four lanes (excluding acceleration/deceleration lanes at exits, and auxiliary lanes that are/should only be marked with lane drop striping".

In other words, a perpendicular line drawn across the interstate should encounter two sets of standard lane dash stripes (assuming modern markings).
« Last Edit: May 08, 2022, 08:02:51 AM by MikeTheActuary »
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nsw

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #30 on: May 08, 2022, 09:17:55 AM »

pretty sure 70 is 4-lanes through pa, but thats only ~160 miles
i would say just about most of 76 (oh-nj), but its 6 lanes between exits 67 and 75 and possibly for the entire 70 concurrency
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SkyPesos

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #31 on: May 08, 2022, 10:54:12 AM »

pretty sure 70 is 4-lanes through pa, but thats only ~160 miles
Concurrency with I-79 got widened to 6 lanes a few years ago.
Also, the PA turnpike have various 6 lane sections here and there.

Scott5114

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #32 on: May 08, 2022, 04:52:14 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all. There are plenty of places, especially outside of cities, where an on-ramp does not add or remove a lane, especially if you don't count accel/decel lanes. But "auxiliary lane" is such a nebulous concept that by disqualifying them, you instantly turn the question from "here's a fun piece of trivia" to "let's rules-lawyer every single possible answer to the question so it stops being fun". Hell, there's a post upthread where someone thinks an auxiliary lane can be 3 miles long. That's ridiculous–at one point Oklahoma had left-side lanes that started and ended faster than that.
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MikeTheActuary

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #33 on: May 08, 2022, 06:43:43 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".

Using lane-drop striping would provide an objective way to exclude exit/entrance/auxiliary lanes....except for some DOTs not being on top of implementing that part of the MUTCD.

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davewiecking

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #34 on: May 08, 2022, 07:02:16 PM »

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".

Using lane-drop striping would provide an objective way to exclude exit/entrance/auxiliary lanes....except for some DOTs not being on top of implementing that part of the MUTCD.
In which case the objective standard should be places where the MUTCD says lane-drop stripes SHOULD be used. I personally don’t know what that is, however…
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SEWIGuy

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #35 on: May 08, 2022, 08:29:20 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".



Oh FFS, everyone knew what he meant.  The pedants really make this group difficult to enjoy at times.
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thspfc

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #36 on: May 08, 2022, 10:09:27 PM »

There's six-lane stretches of I-90 in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
An auxiliary lane between two closely spaced interchanges is hardly a “six lane stretch” .

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes. Any other definition is boring. "How long between any two 6-lane stretches? Oh, but not that one. Not that one either." Snoooooore.
So by your logic, there’s six lane stretches at every interchange along any four lane freeway. Fun thread.
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thspfc

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #37 on: May 08, 2022, 10:16:28 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".



Oh FFS, everyone knew what he meant.  The pedants really make this group difficult to enjoy at times.
No, not everyone knew what he meant. Because for someone who is known on the forum for being an objective nitpicker himself, it’s odd that he would completely contradict his own statements (”˜four dotted lines across is a six lane freeway’ and then ”˜four dotted lines across is not always a six lane freeway’).
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SEWIGuy

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #38 on: May 09, 2022, 08:47:05 AM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".

Oh FFS, everyone knew what he meant.  The pedants really make this group difficult to enjoy at times.

No, not everyone knew what he meant.

Nah, I am pretty sure the vast majority did.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2022, 09:02:40 AM by SEWIGuy »
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ethanhopkin14

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #39 on: May 09, 2022, 12:04:21 PM »

 :popcorn:
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thspfc

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #40 on: May 09, 2022, 12:23:09 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".

Oh FFS, everyone knew what he meant.  The pedants really make this group difficult to enjoy at times.

No, not everyone knew what he meant.

Nah, I am pretty sure the vast majority did.
As evidenced by the fact that . . . no one except you came to his defense?
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SEWIGuy

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #41 on: May 09, 2022, 01:10:45 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".

Oh FFS, everyone knew what he meant.  The pedants really make this group difficult to enjoy at times.

No, not everyone knew what he meant.

Nah, I am pretty sure the vast majority did.
As evidenced by the fact that . . . no one except you came to his defense?

No, I just have faith that the dear contributors of this message board aren't idiots. 
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Rothman

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #42 on: May 09, 2022, 01:11:23 PM »

If you put a line 90° to the centerline and it intersects 4 sets of white stripes, it means it has 6 lanes.

So, in your mind, the question devolves to "what's the longest stretch of interstate between two exits?"

Not at all.

However, if you go by the stripe-counting standard you proposed, that would cause acceleration/deceleration lanes (which are supposed to be separated with lane-drop stripes) to "count".

Oh FFS, everyone knew what he meant.  The pedants really make this group difficult to enjoy at times.

No, not everyone knew what he meant.

Nah, I am pretty sure the vast majority did.
As evidenced by the fact that . . . no one except you came to his defense?

No, I just have faith that the dear contributors of this message board aren't idiots.
We're all idiots.  Anyone who says differently is selling something.
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Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Declan127

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #43 on: May 14, 2022, 09:23:30 PM »

I-85 is 4 lanes from I believe around US1 in northern NC and its northern terminus, and also 4 lanes from said interchange to the Durham county limits IIRC
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Ryctor2018

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Re: What's the Longest Stretch of Interstate at 4-Lanes?
« Reply #44 on: May 15, 2022, 10:00:08 PM »

I-75 is an unusual one for this topic. It is 2 lanes (except aux lanes and climbing lanes) from Bay City up to the Soo, approx 230 miles. But, only northbound. Southbound you pick up a third lane from Grayling (the sb Biz 75 entrance) to the I-75/US-127 split. You could say this is an auxiliary lane. However, this is a long distance, plus their is an exit in-between, 4-mile Road. So, southbound I-75 has about a 5 mile gap, but not northbound.
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