Walking on Active Interstates

[kharvey10]

I-64 near Mt. Vernon back about 8 years ago, trying to get my car fire extinguisher to the scene of a church bus fire but it didn't help so I called for emergency help instead

[Bickendan]

I-84/US 30 just inside the Gilliam County line heading back toward Portland. My girlfriend at the time and I were driving back from Boise when the timing belt died. Having a cell phone was a good thing -- after we got towed into Arlington, my dad borrowed my neighbor's truck, picked up a tow dolly from U-Haul and hauled us back to Portland.

I-10 somewhere in west Texas. Got pulled over for doing 90 in the 80. The trooper had us wait outside of the car as he did a search of my friend's car (as he was moving to Portland from Vermont -- we took the scenic route). Spilled my slushie on the seat, gave me a warning instead of a ticket. Fair trade.

I've biked down the length of I-405 and back across the Willamette on I-5, but the Stadium's southbound lanes and the Eastbank's northbound lanes were closed for the Bridge Pedal, so it doesn't count for the purposes of this thread. Still

[thenetwork]

Friday, December 13th, 1985 (IIRC):  The Ohio Turnpike several miles east of then Exit 7/US-250 "going up the big hill" by Berlin Hts.

The Turnpike was the worst I had ever seen it, due to some nasty snows and I was averaging 35 MPH.  As I was going up the "big hill", I saw a car in the ditch off the left side of the Eastbound lanes.  As I passed the car, I happened to see the 2 occupants standing outside next to their car -- it just so happened to be by dorm room neighbors from 2-doors down from the University of Toledo -- about 60 miles away.

I pulled and parked on the far right (truck) lane, since it wasn't plowed nor was there much traffic.  We wound up talking in the middle of the westbound lanes since there was a jackknifed truck several miles to the east, and the entire westbound direction was blocked. 

Not only did we stand in the middle of the westbound lanes of I-80/I-90/Ohio Turnpike, but I also took a leak in the middle of the westbound lanes.   


On a sidenote, a few years later, I was watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and during the "Edge of Wetness" sketch (in which they would randomly put a camera on an unsuspecting audience member naming them a character in the soap opera), one of those 2 was chosen as a "character"!

Needless to say, I was never that good of friends with either of them, but the odds to see either of them randomly on the Turnpike or on a late night show or both was next to impossible.  I wish my lottery odds would be that good. 

[agentsteel53]

I-10 somewhere in west Texas. Got pulled over for doing 90 in the 80. The trooper had us wait outside of the car as he did a search of my friend's car (as he was moving to Portland from Vermont -- we took the scenic route).

please tell me this was from Portland, ME to Vermont - going via Texas would be an awesomely scenic deviation!

[Bickendan]

Stowe to Portland, Oregon -- via Burlington (VT), Albany (NY), Buffalo, Toronto, Paris, London, Sarnia, Flint, St Ignace, Marquette, Gay, Ironwood, Duluth, Bemidji, Brainerd, Mineapolis/St Paul, Des Moines, Kansas City, Neosho, Ft Smith, Texarkana, Shreveport, Monroe, Jackson, Slidel, New Orleans, Baton Rougue, Lake Charles, Houston, San Antonio, Ft Stockton, El Paso, Las Cruces, Tucson, Phoenix, Blythe, Moreno Valley, Pomona, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Madera, Tracy, Oakland, San Francisco, Cupertino, Vacaville, Redding, Medford, and Grants Pass.

[ftballfan]

Stowe to Portland, Oregon -- via Burlington (VT), Albany (NY), Buffalo, Toronto, Paris, London, Sarnia, Flint, St Ignace, Marquette, Gay, Ironwood, Duluth, Bemidji, Brainerd, Mineapolis/St Paul, Des Moines, Kansas City, Neosho, Ft Smith, Texarkana, Shreveport, Monroe, Jackson, Slidel, New Orleans, Baton Rougue, Lake Charles, Houston, San Antonio, Ft Stockton, El Paso, Las Cruces, Tucson, Phoenix, Blythe, Moreno Valley, Pomona, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Madera, Tracy, Oakland, San Francisco, Cupertino, Vacaville, Redding, Medford, and Grants Pass.

So the states/provinces traveled through looked like this: VT NY ON MI WI MN IA MO AR LA MS LA TX NM AZ CA OR.

[roadfro]

I walked all around I-15 near Primm back in summer 2003. At the time, I was interning with Nevada DOT, and was assisting with an overnight asphalt overlay job. Granted, where I was walking was coned off and not open to traffic at that exact time, but was reopened by the next morning...

[Bickendan]

Stowe to Portland, Oregon -- via Burlington (VT), Albany (NY), Buffalo, Toronto, Paris, London, Sarnia, Flint, St Ignace, Marquette, Gay, Ironwood, Duluth, Bemidji, Brainerd, Mineapolis/St Paul, Des Moines, Kansas City, Neosho, Ft Smith, Texarkana, Shreveport, Monroe, Jackson, Slidel, New Orleans, Baton Rougue, Lake Charles, Houston, San Antonio, Ft Stockton, El Paso, Las Cruces, Tucson, Phoenix, Blythe, Moreno Valley, Pomona, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Madera, Tracy, Oakland, San Francisco, Cupertino, Vacaville, Redding, Medford, and Grants Pass.

So the states/provinces traveled through looked like this: NY CT MA VT NH VT NY ON MI WI MN IA MO KS MO AR LA MS LA TX NM AZ CA OR.

With the added states, yes. I flew into NYC and took Amtrak to Waterbury, VT; we also hit the KS side of KC.

[mightyace]

Okay, it's a bump, but it's on topic.

I once walked about a mile from where my car stalled out on I-80 just west of the Buckhorn exit #232.  (Old exit 34)  This was in the days before cell phones were common, so I couldn't call from my car.  I went to a truck stop and called AAA and my parents.

A couple of years ago, I walked up and down I-65 northbound side between Cool Springs Blvd. (Exit 68) and Moores Lane (Exit 69) when I had a tire blowout and I was looking for my hubcap.  (I never found it.)

[Takumi]

I once walked on I-95 when the lanes were blocked. Also walked on the shoulder of I-295 when I had a flat tire.

[Kacie Jane]

Obviously the lanes were closed at the time, so this may not count as active, but the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon route includes the I-90 express lanes across the western half of Lake Washington (as well as the Alaskan Way viaduct and the rest of SR 99 up to Fremont).  I attempted it in 2009, but cramped up around mile 11, right at the end of the I-90 portion.

Note to self: It helps to reread the original post sometimes. "What doesn't count: Planned Closures-special events, parades, marches etc." Oops.

[formulanone]

Crashed on I-95 in the rain many years ago: got out of the car, stood on top of the median (it was a few feet thick and raised about three feet high) and under an overpass, since it was raining at night. I then waited for a tow truck and a cop car, but thankfully the rain stopped after a few minutes, and both vehicles showed up shortly afterward.

[Brian556]

When I worked or TxDot, we did plenty of work on interstates. When I started working for them in 2001, the traffic on I-35W south of Denton was so light that, when we were picking up road debris, we frequently stopped on the right side and walked across to he left side, and drug truck tire treads back across to our truck. The traffic is now so heavy that you probably cannot do this anymore.

[mgk920]

During a roadtrip in 2004, I got out, stretched, walked around a bit to chat with other drivers, etc, on mainline I-285 under the Tom Moreland Interchange in the Atlanta, GA area when the anti-clockwise side was blocked for about an hour by a wreck.

Otherwise, it was a few scattered instances of the more normal breakdown stuff.

Also, many rural western interstates are open to use by pedestrians and bicycles.  Ditto the I-79 Ohio River bridge near Pittsburgh, PA.

Mike

[kphoger]

As a kid, I walked around to do some license plate spotting during a traffic jam in Glenwood Canyon on I-70 in Colorado.  This, BTW, is probably the most beautiful spot on the interstate highway system to find yourself walking.

I briefly walked up to the mainline of I-57 in Tuscola, IL, because I wasn't catching any rides hitchhiking from the foot of the on-ramp.  I only stood on the shoulder for a couple of minutes before heading back but a guy saw me folding up my sign, pulled over, and drove halfway down the on-ramp in reverse to pick me up.

Though this is not the U.S. interstate highway system, I've stopped along the brand-new roll road from Monterrey to Saltillo in México.  I mention this because it was probably the trickiest place I've had to get out.  As you can see in the picture (link below), the shoulder is very narrow, bounded by a steep down-slope.  We were eight people in two vehicles; those on the passenger side had to step down directly onto the drainage slope (including a blind guy), while those on the driver's side had to get out in the lane of traffic.  The reason we stopped is that my then-three-year-old son told us he had to go to the bathroom right at that point exiting Monterrey where the next gas station I knew of was more than 100 km away.  I've learned not to argue when a three-year-old mentions Number Two......
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=25.68924,-100.638049&spn=0.000039,0.019205&t=m&z=16&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=25.689242,-100.642139&panoid=ocu1JZecPMvJNKDe-m3FGw&cbp=12,261.36,,1,10.05

[Henry]

On I-405 in L.A., when my first car (1988 Olds Calais) broke down on the way home.  Shortly after that, I replaced it with the Tahoe.

[vdeane]

As a kid, I walked around to do some license plate spotting during a traffic jam in Glenwood Canyon on I-70 in Colorado.  This, BTW, is probably the most beautiful spot on the interstate highway system to find yourself walking.

I briefly walked up to the mainline of I-57 in Tuscola, IL, because I wasn't catching any rides hitchhiking from the foot of the on-ramp.  I only stood on the shoulder for a couple of minutes before heading back but a guy saw me folding up my sign, pulled over, and drove halfway down the on-ramp in reverse to pick me up.

Though this is not the U.S. interstate highway system, I've stopped along the brand-new roll road from Monterrey to Saltillo in México.  I mention this because it was probably the trickiest place I've had to get out.  As you can see in the picture (link below), the shoulder is very narrow, bounded by a steep down-slope.  We were eight people in two vehicles; those on the passenger side had to step down directly onto the drainage slope (including a blind guy), while those on the driver's side had to get out in the lane of traffic.  The reason we stopped is that my then-three-year-old son told us he had to go to the bathroom right at that point exiting Monterrey where the next gas station I knew of was more than 100 km away.  I've learned not to argue when a three-year-old mentions Number Two......
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=25.68924,-100.638049&spn=0.000039,0.019205&t=m&z=16&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=25.689242,-100.642139&panoid=ocu1JZecPMvJNKDe-m3FGw&cbp=12,261.36,,1,10.05

If only the three year old had to go, why did everyone get out?

[kphoger]

The scenery is fantastic right there!  Plus, we'd been on the road for the last day and a half, a.k.a. 900+ miles.  As I recall, a couple folks did stay in the car.

[J N Winkler]

As you can see in the picture (link below), the shoulder is very narrow, bounded by a steep down-slope.  We were eight people in two vehicles; those on the passenger side had to step down directly onto the drainage slope (including a blind guy), while those on the driver's side had to get out in the lane of traffic.

The "drainage slope" is called a cuneta in Spanish.  Cunetas are actually a Hispanophone thing--Spain has them too, not just Mexico--but the Spanish don't typically put theirs right at the back of the shoulder or edge stripe.  Here is an example of where a cuneta makes it completely impossible to pull out of the traveled way:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&t=m&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=29.513404,-104.757394&panoid=RS5YjbaBMnnZl7rdSMEYdA&cbp=12,27.51,,0,14.49&ie=UTF8&ll=29.512525,-104.757385&spn=0.077682,0.154324&z=13

[formulanone]

]If only the three year old had to go, why did everyone get out?

Families sometimes need to provide a human shield for the little ones.

[kphoger]

Actually, it was only by scaling the rocks and getting away from everyone else that he was able to go.  That was the first time he'd had to go outside; I ended up having him use a concrete beam as a toilet seat. 

Walking along an active insterstate highway wouldn't be too dangerous in most places.  However, I've never felt too safe about stopping a car, standing, walking, or cycling between a guardrail and a high-speed road; there just isn't any wiggle room.

[jwolfer]

Has anyone ever walked on an active interstate for any reason. Car collision, broken down, etc.

Active Interstate means that it is normally opened for vehicle traffic.

What doesn't count:
-Opening Celebrations
-Planned Closures-special events, parades, marches etc.
-Abandoned Interstates

-----
I have once, because of a semi collision that blocked the whole interstate.

When I was a kid we were stuck on the Florida Turnpike between Ft Pierce and Orlando for over 2 hours because of a wreck.  We were walking around, getting to know our neighbors.  My grandparents were in their car next to us.  It was sort of fun.  There was a flashback scene on "Walking Dead" this season that reminded me of that

[formulanone]

^ Same experience for us in late-2010 on our way to Disney World: a car fire in the northbound lane stopped everything for 45-60 minutes, while a bad rubberneck accident southbound tied up the other side. Got out, stretched my legs and said howdy...at least the weather was nice.

[Scott5114]

I walked down the mainline back to my car from the I-40 dedication ceremonies after the Secretary of Transportation said "I declare this highway open"–that counts, right?

[Laura]

Hahaha, the interstates are my playground.

About a year or so ago, I was at a friend-of-a-now-ex-bf's apartment near the I-495/I-66 interchange in northern VA. I noticed that the door in the soundwall was cracked open, and needless to say convinced the ex to follow me onto 495. We played on the guardrails and steel, took pictures of the construction, and made out to the applause of car horns.

Also, on another day in broad daylight, I "preserved" a shield from I-95 that was in a gigantic pile of construction debris.