Most Boring Drive Between Two Major Cities?

Started by webny99, July 30, 2024, 10:47:53 PM

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webny99

Quote from: epzik8 on July 31, 2024, 03:40:56 PMBaltimore-Washington, on every single corridor between the two.

I think there are many people who would use a few other choice words besides "boring" to describe that corridor.  :D


JayhawkCO

Figured I'd do my top 5 greater than 200 miles.

1) Mobile to Jacksonville on I-10
2) Chicago to Cleveland on I-80/90
3) Billings to Fargo on I-94
4) Denver to Kansas City on I-70
5) Albuquerque to Oklahoma City on I-40

roadman65

In Florida you have I-75 from Naples to the suburbs of Fort Lauderdale.

You also have Florida's Turnpike from Fort Pierce to Saint Cloud.

Then you have US 19/98/ Alternate 27 from Cross City to Perry that's most boring. Even the straightaways north of Perry are less boring or the 23 mile straightaway in Levy County south of Chiefland is more interesting to drive than that ugly stretch.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: bugo on July 31, 2024, 02:21:34 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 30, 2024, 10:53:51 PMI-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

It is, but it is desert you really can't interact with.  I always preferred CA 62, AZ 95T, AZ 72, US 60 and I-17 at least from Phoenix-Palm Springs.

OCGuy81

Quote from: ZLoth on July 31, 2024, 12:27:53 PMThree candidates that I have driven come to my mind:

  • Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Sacramento.
  • Interstate 10 from El Paso to the I-10/I-20 split, followed by I-20 to Fort Worth
  • US-95 between Winnemucca, NV and Marsang, ID aka ION highway.

I'm sure that I-10 from El Paso to San Antonio qualifies, but I haven't driven it. You have to be somewhat prepared when driving these roads, especially the lack of gas stations and cell phone service on the ION highway.

Aw, you beat me to it!  That stretch of the 5 from Sacramento to LA is 300-ish miles of Hell.

fillup420

Quote from: Flint1979 on July 30, 2024, 11:52:59 PMLouisville to St. Louis.

I have found every route out of St Louis to be boring. I-44 west at least has a bit of terrain, but especially eastbound from STL is depressing for miles.

TheHighwayMan3561

Chicago-Minneapolis is pretty dull. You stay well clear of any of the cities along the way, a few hills here and there through Wisconsin, then nothing but flat south of Madison.
I make Poiponen look smart

Terry Shea


pianocello

Evansville to Indianapolis, especially the part south of Bloomington. While it's lacking in scenery, it's also lacking in traffic.

...but I appreciate that it was built.
Davenport, IA -> Valparaiso, IN -> Ames, IA -> Orlando, FL -> Gainesville, FL -> Evansville, IN

roadman65

Tupelo to Birmingham on Interstate 22/ US 78 is boring.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Flint1979

Quote from: Terry Shea on July 31, 2024, 06:11:59 PMGrand Rapids to Lansing.
Especially the part between about Whitneyville and Portland, it seems like that is the Lower Peninsula's version of the Seney Stretch. That thing is straight except for a little curve around M-50's western terminus for like 20 miles. Speaking of that stretch I never understood the reason for the wider median with those curves around mile marker 57 although that could have something to do with Little Creek being right there.

thspfc

Quote from: TheHighwayMan3561 on July 31, 2024, 05:50:43 PMChicago-Minneapolis is pretty dull. You stay well clear of any of the cities along the way, a few hills here and there through Wisconsin, then nothing but flat south of Madison.
Chicago-St. Louis is much worse.

webny99

Quote from: bugo on July 31, 2024, 02:21:34 PMIt's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

Not even just the Deep South... the Carolinas and Virginia too. Few highways can compete with I-64 between Williamsburg and Richmond for boredom, but it'll get a bit better when the widening projects eliminate most/all of the treed median.

SilverMustang2011

I'm not saying I-10 between Jacksonville and Mobile is fun, but there's at least some hills in the Panhandle between the time zone shift and Tallahassee that gives it something.

I would say the most boring drive in Florida is I-75 from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa. South of Tampa it's flat, generally not chaotic enough to make you pay attention, goes through the suburbs of the cities, and the scenery doesn't change much. I've almost fallen asleep between Fort Myers and Port Charlotte, and Alligator Alley is a beeline minus two curves.

The Turnpike between Fort Pierce and St Cloud can turn into a NASCAR race with how people drive, so I can't quite call that boring either, at least during the day. I wouldn't want to drive that on a quiet night.

pderocco

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 31, 2024, 05:06:43 PM
Quote from: bugo on July 31, 2024, 02:21:34 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 30, 2024, 10:53:51 PMI-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

It is, but it is desert you really can't interact with.  I always preferred CA 62, AZ 95T, AZ 72, US 60 and I-17 at least from Phoenix-Palm Springs.
I think that's well-put, and I agree with your preferences. But the biggest source of boredom for me is flatness, and at least that desert has small mountains scattered all over the place, so it can be rather pretty, especially on a day when there are puffy clouds casting shadows on it. So I wouldn't rate it as "most boring", like so many of the routes people are mentioning.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: pderocco on July 31, 2024, 09:08:18 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 31, 2024, 05:06:43 PM
Quote from: bugo on July 31, 2024, 02:21:34 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 30, 2024, 10:53:51 PMI-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

It is, but it is desert you really can't interact with.  I always preferred CA 62, AZ 95T, AZ 72, US 60 and I-17 at least from Phoenix-Palm Springs.
I think that's well-put, and I agree with your preferences. But the biggest source of boredom for me is flatness, and at least that desert has small mountains scattered all over the place, so it can be rather pretty, especially on a day when there are puffy clouds casting shadows on it. So I wouldn't rate it as "most boring", like so many of the routes people are mentioning.

I'm not helped by the fact that I've driven it probably well over one hundred times.  The segment east of US 60 in particular is brutally dull.

TheCatalyst31

I haven't done it in one go, but Chicago to Memphis looks pretty boring. You get the endless cornfields of I-57 in Illinois followed by a fairly dull stretch of I-55 between Sikeston and Memphis. At least the bit of I-57 that goes through the Shawnee National Forest in the southern tip of Illinois is nice.

Henry

Another boring drive is Seattle to Spokane.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

JayhawkCO


webny99

Quote from: Henry on July 31, 2024, 09:49:32 PMAnother boring drive is Seattle to Spokane.

I don't think you're going to find much agreement on that from anyone east of the Mississippi. The eastern half may be boring, but the western half is among the more scenic interstates in the entire country.

vdeane

Quote from: webny99 on July 31, 2024, 03:42:53 PMInteresting. I agree that I-90 in Ohio is exceptionally boring, but Buffalo to the PA line doesn't seem as boring to me as Buffalo to Syracuse. Neither are exactly scenic, but at least the stretch west of Buffalo has Angola, the Seneca Nation, some visible development near Fredonia, and occasional visibility of the Allegany foothills. The stretch through PA is kind of a wash, but considering Erie is very near the 100k threshold, if I were to use Erie to break it in three it would be:

Most boring: Cleveland to Erie
Less boring: Buffalo to Syracuse
Least boring: Erie to Buffalo
Huh.  Personally, I find that the Buffalo-Erie section just goes on and on and on, especially west of the Seneca Nation.  It's deceptively long.  You get to Dunkirk and think you're almost done, but actually, you're only half way!  I blame the concentration of exits on the eastern end, along with there being no service area west of Angola.  Doesn't help that the terrain is as flat as Illinois for the entire Thruway west of Batavia, or that I only know the milemarkers for what used to be the mainline ticket system and not the Erie ticket system (aside from the PA line being 496).  Doesn't help that I get reception really far west on Classic Hits 104.1 (almost to Erie; IIRC my only presets that match or exceed it in range are CKOI and Star 92.9), so heading east you feel "almost to Buffalo!" even when you're not even close.

For Buffalo-Syracuse, I have the following landmarks (in addition to exits and service areas):
-Canton Street (cute little hamlet with flashing beacon)
-Smiley face silo/Snoopy (sadly now only barely visible due to trees, if you don't know it's there, you won't see it)
-Cow pattern silo
-Tree farm at the Onondaga/Cayuga County line
-Port Byron
-Old Erie Canal lock
-Cayuga/Seneca Canal
-Montezuma (Bald Eagle sculpture)
-Del Lago
-Finger Lakes Premium Outlets
-"False Geneva" (the significant hill with the creek to the west; I used to get it confused with the actual Geneva hill when going to college)
-The nice bridges east of exit 44
-The NY 64 bridge
-Henrietta
-The swap between the Thruway and NY 33 and CSX, which is also the last hill heading west
-Batavia
-Buffalo exurbs and quarry

In contrast, the Erie stretch has:
-Wegmans (only WB, hardly left Buffalo yet)
-Seneca Nation
-Dunkirk
-Correctional facility sign
-Some views of Lake Erie on one side and the hills on the other (but you're nearly to PA, and they don't last long)

So not a lot going on, and almost all of it east of or in Dunkirk.  Combine that with going through a seemingly desolate area and being flat with nothing but trees... yeah, it's boring.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

webny99

Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 31, 2024, 03:49:48 PM2) Chicago to Cleveland on I-80/90

Agreed with this one overall, but it is worth noting that heading east out of Cleveland towards Erie is much more boring than heading west towards Toledo... and it's not particularly close IMO.

vdeane

Quote from: webny99 on July 31, 2024, 10:17:05 PM
Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 31, 2024, 03:49:48 PM2) Chicago to Cleveland on I-80/90

Agreed with this one overall, but it is worth noting that heading east out of Cleveland towards Erie is much more boring than heading west towards Toledo... and it's not particularly close IMO.

Not to mention that I've found the Indiana Toll Road to be more interesting than I'd expect both times I've driven it.  The lack of pervasive tree walls west of Cleveland makes all the difference in the world.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Rothman

Quote from: webny99 on July 31, 2024, 10:17:05 PM
Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 31, 2024, 03:49:48 PM2) Chicago to Cleveland on I-80/90

Agreed with this one overall, but it is worth noting that heading east out of Cleveland towards Erie is much more boring than heading west towards Toledo... and it's not particularly close IMO.


I don't know about that.  I think it's the opposite.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Flint1979

Quote from: thspfc on July 31, 2024, 08:38:52 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan3561 on July 31, 2024, 05:50:43 PMChicago-Minneapolis is pretty dull. You stay well clear of any of the cities along the way, a few hills here and there through Wisconsin, then nothing but flat south of Madison.
Chicago-St. Louis is much worse.
That drive is horrid. I drove that last about 10 years ago and when I finally made it to Chicago I was pleased.



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