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Longest, Straightest Highways

Started by OCGuy81, November 11, 2017, 10:41:53 AM

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OCGuy81

What stretch of highway is the longest straightaway?

I'd say maybe I 80 west of Salt Lake City.

Maybe I 94 in North Dakota?


TheHighwayMan3561

I'll throw in the 40+ miles of MN 1 between MN 89 and Thief River Falls.

Up in the UP you have the famed Seney Stretch on M-28, which I think is about 25 miles.
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Big John

I-41/94 in Racine and Kenosha counties - 24 miles

froggie

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394I'll throw in the 40+ miles of MN 1 between MN 89 and Thief River Falls.

Technically, because of survey errors and whatnot, you have a few slight bends in Pennington County, but I'd count 34 miles along MN 1 before such bends become noticeable.

slorydn1

All the above definitely beats the straightest stretch I have been on, US-1 between Homestead and Key Largo. From the curve just south of Card Sound Rd to that slight bend just south of SeaHunter Marina it clocks in at 14.0 miles.
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keithvh

I-80 in Nebraska between Lincoln and Grand Island.  That's about a 60-mile long straightaway.  Ugh.

Takumi

NV 160 has an 11-mile straight section that Koenigsegg recently used to break the fastest production car record.
http://www.pvtimes.com/sports/swedish-car-company-coming-pahrump-break-speed-record
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Jmiles32

Obviously these don't compare to some of the ones out west, but in Virginia some that come to mind are:
1. US-50 between Lenah and I-66(14 miles)
2. A couple of 10-mile stretches on US-460 between I-295 and US-58
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briantroutman

#8
Again, this is no comparison to any of the West/Midwest examples above, but the Pennsylvania Turnpike has a pair of straightaways (roughly 6 + 12 twelve miles) west of Carlisle with only a slight bend connecting the two. It was an image of this section that was used on a Goodrich tire ad with the caption: "You have to slow down to 90 for the curves."



My impression is that this was an example of the Turnpike designers taking a new concept ("the highway that stops for nothing" ) and taking it to its logical extreme. Kind of like the GM Futurama models that depict arrow straight an freeway bridging over a deep valley and then plowing straight into the side of mountain–as if the highway was a bullet trajectory.

I suspect that if the Turnpike was designed a decade or two later, this straightaways wouldn't exist.

OCGuy81

Left out I 5 from south of Tracy to the Grapevine. Pretty straight, and boring.

capt.ron

I-40 east of Cline's Corners to just west of Santa Rosa, in particular from mile marker 230 to 263.

roadman65

US 19 & 27 in Taylor County, FL. 
US 1 in St. John's and Duval County from St. Augustine to the area around the Avenues Mall is 25 miles with only one curve.
FL 710 from Riveria Beach, FL to Okeechobee, FL is 50 miles straight hence the name Beeline Highway.
Alligator Alley is a mention as its pretty much straight.
US 27 south of South Bay in Florida.
FL 80 & US 98 for several miles in Palm Beach County even with 23 mile bend.
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MNHighwayMan

Quote from: froggie on November 11, 2017, 12:44:03 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 11, 2017, 10:48:10 AMI'll throw in the 40+ miles of MN 1 between MN 89 and Thief River Falls.

Technically, because of survey errors and whatnot, you have a few slight bends in Pennington County, but I'd count 34 miles along MN 1 before such bends become noticeable.

Well, if we're going to be technical, there is no perfectly straight highway due to the curvature of the Earth. :spin:

tdindy88

Not sure how perfect the straightness is but US 31 north of Indianapolis has a roughly 20-mile long stretch between SR 38 and SR 931 that is a pretty straight north-south routing. I want to say that there is a part north of Peru and US 24 that's also straight for at least a few miles.

I can also think of US 40 east of Indianapolis as being pretty straight. Straight in Downtown Indy the road that is Washington Street and later US 40 seems pretty straight all the way eastward across Hancock County to Knightstown. Hell with the exception of crossings over waterways most of that highway east to Richmond is straight.

Bickendan

Quote from: OCGuy81 on November 11, 2017, 02:22:41 PM
Left out I 5 from south of Tracy to the Grapevine. Pretty straight, and boring.
Not straight. Longest segment is about 20 miles.
I-5 between Coburg and Albany is the straightest segment of the highway at 35.

US 89

Quote from: OCGuy81 on November 11, 2017, 10:41:53 AM
I'd say maybe I 80 west of Salt Lake City.

First place I thought of. According to Google, it's 43 miles (from exit 4 to a few miles past exit 41). It's so straight it gets boring fast, and there are even lots of signs with stuff like "Drowsy Drivers Pull Over" . That said, it's a drive I think everyone has to do at least once in their lives.

Terry Shea

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on November 11, 2017, 08:57:03 PM
Quote from: froggie on November 11, 2017, 12:44:03 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 11, 2017, 10:48:10 AMI'll throw in the 40+ miles of MN 1 between MN 89 and Thief River Falls.

Technically, because of survey errors and whatnot, you have a few slight bends in Pennington County, but I'd count 34 miles along MN 1 before such bends become noticeable.

Well, if we're going to be technical, there is no perfectly straight highway due to the curvature of the Earth. :spin:
But the earth is flat according to several NBA stars. ;)

epzik8

A portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Cumberland County, while hilly, is also pretty straight without curves. This is in between Blue Mountain and Carlisle.
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cjk374

I-40 in New Mexico (ex-US 66) has a stretch that goes down into a valley then out again, about 20 miles long.
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michravera

Quote from: Bickendan on November 11, 2017, 09:40:56 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on November 11, 2017, 02:22:41 PM
Left out I 5 from south of Tracy to the Grapevine. Pretty straight, and boring.
Not straight. Longest segment is about 20 miles.
I-5 between Coburg and Albany is the straightest segment of the highway at 35.


.. but I-5 from CASR-99 to the junction with I-580 (something like 400+ km) has no turns with advisory speeds below the 70 MPH two-axle limit. That would be one definition of straightness.

As far as true tangent lines are concerned, I believe that there is a public road in Germany with no posted speed limit that has a 10 km arrow-straight pancake-flat stretch on which a professional driver managed to get to over 400 km/h (but JUST over like 408). I think that is was early on a Sunday morning before trucks were allowed on the road (I don't know if trucks are allowed on autobahnen on Sundays at all).

There is a section of I-15 in eastern California that has a fair downgrade with almost 100 km line of sight (all of the way into Nevada) and is nearly straight. If you want to know how fast your car can go or how fast you are willing to drive, wait for the CHP and the Southern California traffic all to get stopped or occupied by an accident further west and head out there. When it happened to me, I was getting passed at 150 km/h.

Flint1979

I know the Seney stretch of M-28 is Michigan's longest straight highway, it's about 25 miles but seems longer. I think it's one of the longest straight stretches east of the Mississippi.

sparker

There's a stretch of US 97 in Oregon between Kirk, north of Chiloquin, and the OR 138 junction, that is dead-straight and just under 24 miles long.  It's a bit eerie driving through there because it's bounded by forests on both sides (pine logging "plantations")that have been cut back to give about a 100-foot wide easement, with the highway down the middle.  One needs to watch their speed through there; it's easy to top 80-85 on that segment of road without realizing you're going that fast (unless you come up on a log truck, which is a not uncommon occurrence).  Northbound it looks as if the road goes on forever; SB the hills at the end of the tangent can be seen.  Always a fun drive!

kphoger

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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kphoger

Quote from: keithvh on November 11, 2017, 01:14:03 PM
I-80 in Nebraska between Lincoln and Grand Island.  That's about a 60-mile long straightaway.  Ugh.

Almost but not quite straight.  https://goo.gl/maps/vRyQxZBqpyA2
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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chays

#24


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