Shortest highway you've been on without clinching

[webny99]

I was sure we had a thread about the highways you've come closest to clinching without actually clinching. I remember I-476 coming up because of the designation extending south to US 11, resulting in anyone who exited at I-81 not clinching. Now I can't find the thread, but anyways, I'm posting this here as well because it fits here too...

Apparently I-395 (ME) extends for about 1/4 mile west of I-95, so I haven't clinched it despite it only being under 5 miles in total length.

(EDIT: I found the other thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30069.0)

[1995hoo]

I was sure we had a thread about the highways you've come closest to clinching without actually clinching. I remember I-476 coming up because of the designation extending south to US 11, resulting in anyone who exited at I-81 not clinching. Now I can't find the thread, but anyways, I'm posting this here as well because it fits here too...

Apparently I-395 (ME) extends for about 1/4 mile west of I-95, so I haven't clinched it despite it only being under 5 miles in total length.

(EDIT: I found the other thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30069.0)

That was in the "Interstate you are closest to clinching?" thread and the discussion was prompted by my comment (in the linked post) about how I've travelled all of I-476 except for that tiny piece you reference here. It led to a debate about whether to count that piece as part of the road. You were the first person to respond, incidentally, and your vote was in the "close enough" column.

[webny99]

I was sure we had a thread about the highways you've come closest to clinching without actually clinching. I remember I-476 coming up because of the designation extending south to US 11, resulting in anyone who exited at I-81 not clinching. Now I can't find the thread, but anyways, I'm posting this here as well because it fits here too...

Apparently I-395 (ME) extends for about 1/4 mile west of I-95, so I haven't clinched it despite it only being under 5 miles in total length.

(EDIT: I found the other thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30069.0)

That was in the "Interstate you are closest to clinching?" thread and the discussion was prompted by my comment (in the linked post) about how I've travelled all of I-476 except for that tiny piece you reference here. It led to a debate about whether to count that piece as part of the road. You were the first person to respond, incidentally, and your vote was in the "close enough" column.

Ironically my view has kind of changed now that I'm actually using travel mapping.

If I've been on any part of a given road segment, I'll generally call that segment clinched, especially if it's the only segment of a given route that I've been on - otherwise how would I be able to track/remember/identify that I've been on that route? This has come up quite a bit with gas and rest stops - say if the first segment adjacent to the interstate according to travel mapping is 1-2 miles in length, but I've only been on a very short piece of that segment, I'll still take the whole segment.

However, as to segments that I haven't been on any part of, I generally haven't been calling those clinched, no matter how short they are. So even though I might still say in casual conversation that I've driven the length of I-476, I acknowledge that technically I haven't, and that the technicality will exist in my logged travels until I actually clinch that segment.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

For non-bannered routes it looks like WIS 157, an auxiliary route in La Crosse (1.7 of 2.5 miles)

[Rothman]

I was sure we had a thread about the highways you've come closest to clinching without actually clinching. I remember I-476 coming up because of the designation extending south to US 11, resulting in anyone who exited at I-81 not clinching. Now I can't find the thread, but anyways, I'm posting this here as well because it fits here too...

Apparently I-395 (ME) extends for about 1/4 mile west of I-95, so I haven't clinched it despite it only being under 5 miles in total length.

(EDIT: I found the other thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30069.0)

That was in the "Interstate you are closest to clinching?" thread and the discussion was prompted by my comment (in the linked post) about how I've travelled all of I-476 except for that tiny piece you reference here. It led to a debate about whether to count that piece as part of the road. You were the first person to respond, incidentally, and your vote was in the "close enough" column.

Ironically my view has kind of changed now that I'm actually using travel mapping.

If I've been on any part of a given road segment, I'll generally call that segment clinched, especially if it's the only segment of a given route that I've been on - otherwise how would I be able to track/remember/identify that I've been on that route? This has come up quite a bit with gas and rest stops - say if the first segment adjacent to the interstate according to travel mapping is 1-2 miles in length, but I've only been on a very short piece of that segment, I'll still take the whole segment.

However, as to segments that I haven't been on any part of, I generally haven't been calling those clinched, no matter how short they are. So even though I might still say in casual conversation that I've driven the length of I-476, I acknowledge that technically I haven't, and that the technicality will exist in my logged travels until I actually clinch that segment.

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

I am also picky when it comes to ensuring I clinch an entire interstate.  Ends can be tricky, where some may mistake a final split as the end, when the route is actually designated beyond.  Get off too early?  No clinch.

So, no asterixes with my clinches, except for the big one -- No, I don't clinch both directions .

[webny99]

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

So for a road like the Thruway, you could end up with 25-30 miles showing unclinched on TM because of a few hundred feet that you've probably effectively sight-clinched.

That seems like it's less reflective of your travels than just logging those segments. Plus I just couldn't get that technical, I get enough of a headache figuring out if I've been on any of a particular segment.

[DandyDan]

For non-bannered routes it looks like WIS 157, an auxiliary route in La Crosse (1.7 of 2.5 miles)

That one may be mine as well, but there may be a link or spur route in Nebraska that is shorter I have not clinched.

[JayhawkCO]

Looks like my shortest is PA715 Truck in Tannersville.

They route it over I-80 for a portion of it, so I've only been on the concurrency.

1.9 miles.

This has changed.  I haven't been on 1 mile of 1.1 mile long AR363 in Pottsville, AR.

[Rothman]

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

So for a road like the Thruway, you could end up with 25-30 miles showing unclinched on TM because of a few hundred feet that you've probably effectively sight-clinched.

That seems like it's less reflective of your travels than just logging those segments. Plus I just couldn't get that technical, I get enough of a headache figuring out if I've been on any of a particular segment.

Yep.  It's about clinching, not general travels.

Protip:  If you can't figure it out, consider it unclinched and go clinch it.

[US 89]

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

So for a road like the Thruway, you could end up with 25-30 miles showing unclinched on TM because of a few hundred feet that you've probably effectively sight-clinched.

That seems like it's less reflective of your travels than just logging those segments. Plus I just couldn't get that technical, I get enough of a headache figuring out if I've been on any of a particular segment.

Yep.  It's about clinching, not general travels.

Protip:  If you can't figure it out, consider it unclinched and go clinch it.

Yes, but some of us prefer to have a little fun with it instead of spending 30 minutes of our lives backtracking all for a little bit of road that you can literally see from the onramp. I personally consider route clinching, like county collecting, as just another way to quantify the "where have I been" question.

That's the fun part about route clinching though, is you make it what you want it to be. You can be as anal about it as you like. Some people have to be the driver, some people feel it has to be during the day, some people have to clinch the whole route in one direction...the list goes on. If you feel like you're cheating yourself by skipping out on the 100 feet of I-80 between a RIRO exit and entrance in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, then don't count it. I personally don't feel the need to get caught up in nitpickery to that level - because then it's not fun for me anymore.

[webny99]

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

So for a road like the Thruway, you could end up with 25-30 miles showing unclinched on TM because of a few hundred feet that you've probably effectively sight-clinched.

That seems like it's less reflective of your travels than just logging those segments. Plus I just couldn't get that technical, I get enough of a headache figuring out if I've been on any of a particular segment.

Yep.  It's about clinching, not general travels.

Protip:  If you can't figure it out, consider it unclinched and go clinch it.

Yes, but some of us prefer to have a little fun with it instead of spending 30 minutes of our lives backtracking all for a little bit of road that you can literally see from the onramp. I personally consider route clinching, like county collecting, as just another way to quantify the "where have I been" question.

That's the fun part about route clinching though, is you make it what you want it to be. You can be as anal about it as you like. Some people have to be the driver, some people feel it has to be during the day, some people have to clinch the whole route in one direction...the list goes on. If you feel like you're cheating yourself by skipping out on the 100 feet of I-80 between a RIRO exit and entrance in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, then don't count it. I personally don't feel the need to get caught up in nitpickery to that level - because then it's not fun for me anymore.

Of course. Totally agree as to making it whatever works for you. I see it similarly in the sense of being a more general travel thing than have I fully clinched this particular segment, but I don't have an issue with others seeing it differently.

To me the fact that TM has just occasional waypoints rather than one at every possible access point to a roadway, just goes to show that it's really impossible to get it perfect anyways, so I'm not going to stress that much about an individual segment - if I'm 100% sure I've traveled on at least part of that segment, I'll count it.

[1995hoo]

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

So for a road like the Thruway, you could end up with 25-30 miles showing unclinched on TM because of a few hundred feet that you've probably effectively sight-clinched.

That seems like it's less reflective of your travels than just logging those segments. Plus I just couldn't get that technical, I get enough of a headache figuring out if I've been on any of a particular segment.

Depending on how picky one is, one could raise a further issue. Going back to the discussion of the Northeast Extension at Clarks Summit, as we know the road ends in a trumpet at US-11. The last milepost appears on the part of the trumpet leading to southbound US-11 (see to the left in this GSV image). I would not be so picky as to conclude that one must use the ramps to or from southbound US-11 in order to clinch the Northeast Extension/I-476. But it sounds like Rothman might. That's his prerogative for his purposes and I'm not about to say it's "wrong," but I would not be that picky.

[abefroman329]

Definitely I-195 north of I-95, and honestly, I don't remember for sure if I've been on I-195 north of the BW Parkway.

[ftballfan]

Going off what's TM-mappable and at its limited resolution, my leader is FL 470.  I've claimed just the part east of I-75, for a little less than half of its less than half a mile length.  It's certainly possible on some trip I stopped at one of the businesses on the west side and got a bit more, but it seems doubtful that I've gone "all the way" to its transition to CR 470 toward Lake Panasoffkee.

I think it would be the same for me

[Rothman]

In terms of gas/rest stops, I know there are others out there that say they count the segment between the ramps as clinched as long as it's part of the same interchange.

Not me.  I'll cut TM off at the previous and subsequent exits.  If I haven't been on the entire segment, then it's not clinched.  I do nutty things like driving past an intended exit and turning around at the next to make sure I have a continuous stretch of clinch.

So for a road like the Thruway, you could end up with 25-30 miles showing unclinched on TM because of a few hundred feet that you've probably effectively sight-clinched.

That seems like it's less reflective of your travels than just logging those segments. Plus I just couldn't get that technical, I get enough of a headache figuring out if I've been on any of a particular segment.

Depending on how picky one is, one could raise a further issue. Going back to the discussion of the Northeast Extension at Clarks Summit, as we know the road ends in a trumpet at US-11. The last milepost appears on the part of the trumpet leading to southbound US-11 (see to the left in this GSV image). I would not be so picky as to conclude that one must use the ramps to or from southbound US-11 in order to clinch the Northeast Extension/I-476. But it sounds like Rothman might. That's his prerogative for his purposes and I'm not about to say it's "wrong," but I would not be that picky.

Be better; be picky.

[dlsterner]

Iceland Route 206 with 0.66 out of 1.43 traveled.  It is a stub road off the Ring Road in southern Iceland near Kirkjubæjarklaustur.  My motel one night - Hunkubakkar - was off that road.

Staying in the United States - two very close:

NJ 154 - 0.15 out of 1.77 miles.  Cherry Hill, NJ.  Kind of a variation of a jug-handle.

MD 725 - 1.20 out of 1.78 miles.  Upper Marlboro, MD.

A few others whose total length < 2.0

[webny99]

I think I might have just found the best one yet: MN 292 is only 0.48 miles in length, but I've only been on the portion between US 61/63 and E 7th St, which TM lists as just 0.02 miles.

[DandyDan]

If unsigned highways count, then Iowa 946 in Dubuque is it. I've been on the section going north of US 20 to US 61/US 151, but not south. IA 946 is 0.927 miles long.

[DJDBVT]

VT 253. I'm missing the northernmost 2000 feet or so of the 2-mile route.

[Flint1979]

For Michigan I know it's M-294. I have only got off of I-94 at the exit where M-294 starts and have never driven any further north on it. It's only a mile and a half long and ends at M-96 just outside of Battle Creek's city limits. It's only been a state highway for about 25 years too. The highway lies entirely within Emmett Township and only carries about 6,000 VPD at the most.

[I-55]

I-359