Clinching Ramps

[signalman]

Last evening I was hanging out with Alps and we began discussing about how in our immediate area that we have nothing left to clinch (signed routes).  So, instead, we have resorted to clinching ramps to/from freeways.  There are plenty that one would not ever have need to use in normal day-to-day activities and travels.  There are many that the only reason I ever used the ramp was to clinch it, otherwise it was either inconvenient or impractical for me to use it.

Does anyone else actively do this?  What ramps/interchanges have you clinched?  How many consecutive interchanges have you clinched?

Edited to add my own list (sorry for the delay, I initially was going to provide a much larger list, but that proved to be way too time consuming to compile.  Instead, I've chosen freeways or segments of that I use most frequently (at least 12 times per year--once a month average) some smaller segments I use almost daily)

I-80 between its eastern terminus and I-380 in PA:
I-95 (unnumbered): All ramps clinched except EB local to 95 SB Clinched 4/14/19
Exits 67-65: All ramps clinched
Exit 64: Missing Exit 64B (WB only ramp), all other ramps clinched
Exits 63-61: All ramps clinched
Exit 60: Missing WB exit and 20 NB to 80 EB
Exit 59 (WB only exit): Clinched
Exit 58: Missing WB exits and EB entrance
Exit 57: Missing 57C (WB only exit) Clinched 4/14/19
Exit 56: Missing EB entrance
Exit 55: Missing 55A (WB only exit) and missing NB Union Ave to 80 EB
Exits 54-19: All ramps clinched, including all local and express ramps at 47 (I-280)
Exit 12: Missing CR521 SB to 80 WB
Exits 4-NJ/PA border: All ramps clinched
Exit 310: Missing EB exit
Exits 309-298: All ramps clinched
Exit 293 (I-380): Missing WB entrance

I-280: I had all ramps clinched, but need to drive the reconfigured ramps at NJ 21

NJ 15 freeway section: All ramps clinched

NJ 24: All ramps clinched except 9B (EB exit) and 9A (WB exit)

I-287 between NJ 23 and I-95/NJ Turnpike:

Exit 52 (NJ 23): Missing NB 23 to NB 287 and SB 287 to 23 SB
Exit 47: Missing NB entrance
Exit 45: Missing NB entrance Clinched 4/15/19 with Alps driving
Exits 44-22: All ramps clinched
Exit 21: Missing 78 EB to 287 NB and 78 WB to 287 NB
Exit 17: All ramps clinched
Exit 14: Missing both SB entrances
Exit 13: Missing all NB exits and SB entrances
Exits 12-10: All ramps clinched
Exit 9: Never used
Exit 8: Missing NB exit and SB entrance
Exits 7 & 6: Never used
Exit 5: Only NB entrance clinched
Exits 4-2: Never used
Exit 1: All ramps clinched
I-95/ NJ Turnpike (unnumbered): Missing SB Turnpike exits and NB entrances

[hotdogPi]

I keep track of each interchange, but not each individual ramp.

[webny99]

I have clinched most of the ramps in my area by default, but I don't keep track. Passing through the interchange is good enough for me, and I finished doing that on Rochester's freeways ages ago.

[Flint1979]

I have several in my area clinched but don't keep track.

[NE2]

Clinch bus routes. By car if you must.

[Flint1979]

Clinch bus routes. By car if you must.

I do that sometimes. I know all of my cities bus routes by heart and every street they go down. There are ten routes it's kind of fun and clinches your city pretty much.

[vdeane]

I've used every, or at least nearly every, interchange in Region 1 (I may be missing one in Schenectady depending on how you count exit 3), and most of the ones in Region 4 (as well as most of the Thruway main ticket system).  I've also clinched all the ramps on Northway exits 1-7 (Albany County).

[Bickendan]

I actually think I have most if not all the ramps on the Oregon side of the Portland area.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

All the ramps in the Duluth/Superior metro, including the easy-to-miss flyover from Michigan Street to northbound I-35 (which incidentally this is the final northbound access point on the route, not the Lake Avenue interchange). There are actually quite a few exits I've never used in the Twin Cities, much less clinching all the individual ramps.

[Rothman]

What makes the flyover easy to miss?  Is it not well-signed on Michigan St?

[1995hoo]

The only time I've ever thought about ramps was during the Springfield Interchange reconstruction, including the I-95/Route 644 interchange just south of the Beltway that was rebuilt as part of the same project. I suppose if some other interchange were to be rebuilt in an elaborate fashion the same notion might occur to me there (the planned further modification of the Beltway/I-66 interchange as part of the I-66 HO/T project comes to mind, as does the planned rebuild of the I-66/VA-28 interchange as part of the same project), but in general I don't find most interchanges to merit attention in this manner.

I will, however, take note in the sense of "it feels weird to go this way" if I use a ramp I don't use very often at an interchange I do use frequently–for example, my parents live off VA-236 a few miles west of the Beltway, and have lived there since before I was old enough to drive, so I've almost never used either of the ramps from the Beltway to eastbound 236 towards Annandale (the opposite direction from where they live). The times I have used either one, it felt like I was going the wrong way. I edited this post to add "at an interchange I do use frequently" because the same principle wouldn't apply if it's not somewhere I drive often enough to make a certain route feel ingrained as the normal way to go.

[hotdogPi]

I have used every interchange on MA 213 (pretty easy) and the Lowell Connector (even though I've never taken Exit 2, the interchange configuration means it still counts).

I have also been on every interchange on I-495 (MA) from Exit 34 to its north end (unsigned exit 56) and I-93 from Exit 30 (MA) to Exit 4 (NH).

[inkyatari]

I'm not too interested in clinching ramps, unless its for a major new interchange, or one that just looks weird. 

[sparker]

With the local price of gas kicking upwards as it has been over the last several weeks, I for one don't have much incentive -- much less spare time -- to go out and clinch ramps that I'm not actually in a position to use during normal driving.  Clinching all the regional state highways plus the county numbered/signed expressways is more than adequate and was accomplished years ago.   Anything further is, IMO, impractical and/or gratuitous!   

[epzik8]

I don't, but I could.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

What makes the flyover easy to miss?  Is it not well-signed on Michigan St?

It's not that easy to get to and it just doesn't fit most local drivers' traffic patterns.

[Kulerage]

One could simultaneously clinch every ramp and the highway itself, if you count exiting and then reentering from the same interchange to be staying on the highway.

[kphoger]

The loop ramps at a cloverleaf are easy to clinch in one shot, but the directional ramps are much more difficult.

[Bruce]

Clinch bus routes. By car if you must.

Sometimes clinching all the ramps requires hopping on a bus.

Alternatively, one could clinch bike routes and trails. In addition to off-street trails and on-street cycletracks, some cities have marked "greenways" (with unique signage).

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Does anyone else actively do this?  What ramps/interchanges have you clinched?  How many consecutive interchanges have you clinched?  I will provide my own list later on when I have more time to think about my own accomplishments.  For now, the salt mines are calling me.

Not yet, and I hope I never do.
(Though I felt the same way about clinching state routes before Travel Mapping came into being)

[Bickendan]

Does anyone else actively do this?  What ramps/interchanges have you clinched?  How many consecutive interchanges have you clinched?  I will provide my own list later on when I have more time to think about my own accomplishments.  For now, the salt mines are calling me.

Not yet, and I hope I never do.
(Though I felt the same way about clinching state routes before Travel Mapping came into being)

Next up: Ramps going up in Travel Mapping.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Does anyone else actively do this?  What ramps/interchanges have you clinched?  How many consecutive interchanges have you clinched?  I will provide my own list later on when I have more time to think about my own accomplishments.  For now, the salt mines are calling me.

Not yet, and I hope I never do.
(Though I felt the same way about clinching state routes before Travel Mapping came into being)

Next up: Ramps going up in Travel Mapping.

There is already debates about adding the connector roads between trumpet interchanges, mainly with toll roads, because we need to see how many angels we can squeeze on a pinhead, err, have the exact routing of highways, to 1/1760th of a mile on Travel mapping.

[inkyatari]

Hmm Bike trails might be a thing.  I've just about clinched the Fox River Trail in Illinois (I have about 5 miles of connecting trails to do)  Last year for my birthday I rode the mainline from Oswego, IL to its end in Algonquin IL and back.. 81 miles.

[CtrlAltDel]

Hello,

I've clinched a number of ramps here and there, although never by design. The one exception is this one, near my parents' house, which I clinched in one fell swoop one evening for reasons I don't quite remember, although it is through this interchange that I begin or end all long distance trips there.

[mrsman]

One thing else that you may want to clinch are some of the longer, unsigned, streets in your area.

In Los Angeles, I remember that I made a point of actually driving all of Olympic Blvd*.  This is one of the main streets in the area and goes from Montebello to Santa Monica.  There are some discontinuous segments in the eastern part of Downtown LA (use 9th street) and around the 10 Fwy

* I was too young to drive at the time, my mother drove me on this excursion but she didn't want to do this for all of L.A.'s streets.