Many different routes in one straight drive

[PurdueBill]

Starting down I-77 south from Cleveland, staying on the "thru" route and not turning off to stay on would put you on I-76 EB, then I-80 EB, and I think that the way the I-80/I-95 interchange is laid out, onto I-95 NB.  After that, someone more expert with the NYC expressways would have to double-check what's "thru" or "straight"--if you stay with the named roadway, 95 on the Cross Bronx would then put you on 295 across the Throgs Neck Bridge and to the Clearview--but then the party ends at the Grand Central Parkway where not exiting takes you to the end at Hillside Avenue.  Still not too bad at almost 500 miles of staying on the thru road and not exiting to stay with a number.

[corco]

In Nebraska, starting in Chadron:

US 385 South
US 385 South/N-2 East
US 385 South
US 26 East
US 26/N-92 East
US 26 East
N-61 North

[hbelkins]

Starting west of Somerset in Pulaski County and ending near the community of Dawkins in Johnson County:

KY 80 - Hal Rogers Parkway - KY 80 - KY 302 - KY 3127.

[roadman65]

Starting down I-77 south from Cleveland, staying on the "thru" route and not turning off to stay on would put you on I-76 EB, then I-80 EB, and I think that the way the I-80/I-95 interchange is laid out, onto I-95 NB.  After that, someone more expert with the NYC expressways would have to double-check what's "thru" or "straight"--if you stay with the named roadway, 95 on the Cross Bronx would then put you on 295 across the Throgs Neck Bridge and to the Clearview--but then the party ends at the Grand Central Parkway where not exiting takes you to the end at Hillside Avenue.  Still not too bad at almost 500 miles of staying on the thru road and not exiting to stay with a number.

Yes you are correct about I-95 and the NJ Turnpike interchange  being EB 80 to NB 95 as main body.  Being that the Express Local configuration goes between I-80 from the West to I-95 to the North (East) and I-95 south of there becoming one road (the NB inner and SB outer are elongated ramps from I-80 to and from the toll road) but the through I-95 lanes from both the express and local do come back together just south of the I-80 diverge. Incidentally, I-80 Express lanes exit from the I-95 express lanes inside along with the I-80 EB Express to I-95 North merge from the left parallel to its counterpart.

As far as the lower level GWB, whether I-95 has the main body is questionable as the split for left exit NY 9A and US 9 continues straight ahead while through I-95 and US 1 sort of zig zag to climb a ramp.  However, the upper level has I-95 and US 1 travel straight through. 

I-295 keeps the I-95 lanes at the Bruckner Interchange while I-95 NB exits on the left to change freeway alignments.  Even the other way is all well, and the Lower Level approach from SB I-95 defaults into the Lower Level roadway and NY 9A merges from one lane only from the left even though a straight through road.

[hobsini2]

Wisconsin seems to like doing this (if I am understanding the topic).

Starting at Wis 23 east of Princeton, Wis 73 South meets Wis 44 North in the uninc town of Manchester. The road itself curves east as it exits town. About a mile later, 73 turns right to continue south while 44 goes straight into Markesan and Fairwater before 44 turns right.

In Sun Prairie on Bus 151 Main St at US 151.  Bus  151 heads east on Main. At Bristol St, Bus 151 turns north and Main now becomes Wis 19. 19 continues east to Waterloo. In Waterloo, 19 East angles northeast and straight now becomes Wis 89 South. The road continues south to US 12-18 south of Lake Mills.

On the outskirts of Reedsburg, Evergreen Rd at Wis 33 becomes Wis 23 East heads north. The road curves in a stairstep east and north to Lake Delton. At Wis Dells Pkwy, 23 turns north and straight becomes US 12 East. 12 heads to Baraboo, Sauk City, and Madison. It becomes the Beltline. The road continues east to Cambridge and Ft Atkinson. In Ft Atkinson, 12 turns south on Main St.  Straight becomes Bus 26 on 3rd St. a couple blocks later, Bus 26 turns on to High St. 3rd St continues east a couple blocks before ending.

[bzakharin]

The Black Horse Pike in NJ is 322/40, then US 322 alone, then NJ 42 (the non-freeway portion) then NJ 168 then you end up on surface roads in Camden.

Speaking of 42, I-76 becomes NJ 42 (freeway portion) which becomes the Atlantic City Expressway, which ends in Atlantic city on surface streets.

[mrsman]

I-5 to US-101 to CA-170 to I-5 to US-99

I thought about several examples like this, but does it really count when a route merges into a through route (i.e., CA-170 to I-5)?

In any case, you could continue this route from CA-99 to CA-51 (Bus 80) to I-80 to points east.

Some other California examples:
Route 92 from Half Moon Bay to Hayward -> Route 238 to I-580 -> I-580/MacArthur Freeway to Macarthur Maze -> I-80 to US 101 -> US 101 to the Hollywood Split -> Route 134 east to Pasadena -> I-210/Route 210 to Redlands

I don't know about 238 to 580...to me the straight drive stays on Foothill Boulevard...you're taking a ramp to get onto 580.

For drives not involving freeways I thought of Mission Blvd./14th Street/International Blvd., which has CA-262, CA-238 and CA-185.

When I was in elementary school as a young budding roadgeek many of my friends would ask me how many freeways to get from here to there.  But how do you define when you change freeways?

The 101/170/134 example was always present in my mind since it was one of the closest interchanges to where I grew up.  If you go from Sherman Oaks to Hollywood on the 101, are you staying on one freeway, or are you switching from the Ventura to the Hollywood?  How about going from Sherman Oaks to Glendale?  For most people changing numbers, changes freeway.  But for purposes of this post, we need to consider:


A lot of this discussion is really based on how many freeways one needs to travel to get from one place to another, but define when one changes freeway:

When the route changes,
When the name changes,
When the general travel direction changes,
When you exit to the right as opposed to exit to the left,
Historical routings (where the old freeway was before the new roads were added in)

I've always considered, even under the old configuration, 170 merging onto I-5 from the left as being the end of 170, not the continuation of the Hollywood Fwy through the north.

In my view, you have to look at all the factors, in a wise way.  Certainly different ways to look at this issue.

So in the CA:

I-5 from Mexico continues as the Santa Ana Freeway, which becomes US 101 (Santa Ana Freeway changing to Hollywood Freeway), becoming 170 and stopping at I-5 in Sun Valley.

I-5 Golden State Freeway begins in East LA, continues as CA-99 north of the Grapevine which then takes over the routing of CA-51 and then I-80 all the way to ... (probably Salt Lake City!!)

From the beginning of the Freeway at Market/Octavia in SF, the US 101 freeway is one road all the way as the Ventura Freeway in Studio City.  The routing continues as the 134, which then continues as the 210 all the way to Redlands.

CA 91 freeway continues as the 215 freeway in Riverside and that continues as the main I-15 routing into Utah

I-280 and I-680 are one freeway

CA 17- I-880- I-80 to US 50

I-205 - I-580 - I-238

I-580 (from 238/580)-I-80 (Bay Bridge)

CA-163, I-15, I-215, dead ending at CA-60 in Riverside

I-980-CA24

[TheStranger]

I've always considered, even under the old configuration, 170 merging onto I-5 from the left as being the end of 170, not the continuation of the Hollywood Fwy through the north.

Wonder how this perception would have differed had the original plan to route US 6 along 170 (when 6 used to run along 99/5 between 14 and 110) been signed in the field...

In my view, you have to look at all the factors, in a wise way.  Certainly different ways to look at this issue.

So in the CA:

I-5 from Mexico continues as the Santa Ana Freeway, which becomes US 101 (Santa Ana Freeway changing to Hollywood Freeway), becoming 170 and stopping at I-5 in Sun Valley.

Given that 5 actually exits off itself at the north 805/5 split...

805 (entirety) -> I-5 (Sorrento Valley to East Los Angeles Interchange, especially with the removal of the old left-exit ramp for Route 42 in Downey) -> US 101 (to Hollywood Split) -> Route 170 to end.  Previously when 170 merged to the left, this would continue to your 5-99-51 examplke...

I-5 Golden State Freeway begins in East LA, continues as CA-99 north of the Grapevine which then takes over the routing of CA-51 and then I-80 all the way to ... (probably Salt Lake City!!)

Business 80 merges to the right of I-80 (what was 880 until 1982) so it stops in the Sacramento suburb of Foothill Farms.  When the Roseville Freeway was first built as US 40/99E, there was a left exit at Riverside Avenue, too.

From the beginning of the Freeway at Market/Octavia in SF, the US 101 freeway is one road all the way as the Ventura Freeway in Studio City.  The routing continues as the 134, which then continues as the 210 all the way to Redlands.

The left ramp from 280 south to 101 south at the Alemany Maze enters the Bayshore Freeway on the left (not to mention that 101 south on the Central Freeway merges to the right of traffic coming in from 80 west).  So I was thinking it might be more this:

1. 580 west to the MacArthur Maze -> 80 west to the Central Freeway -> 101 south to 280 near Paul Avenue
2. 280 south from the ballpark to the Alemany Maze -> US 101 from Paul Avenue to the Hollywood Split -> 134 east in its entirety -> 210 east in its entirety

CA 91 freeway continues as the 215 freeway in Riverside and that continues as the main I-15 routing into Utah

And then continues further on as 84 west to its junction with 86.

I-280 and I-680 are one freeway

From 19th Avenue/Junipero Serra Boulevard in San Francisco, one could continue on the left lane along the following: Route 1 south to 280 -> 280 south to San Jose -> 680 north to the Benicia Bridge -> 780 west to Vallejo.

CA 17- I-880- I-80 to US 50

This used to be way more the case pre-1989, but maybe less so now with north 880 to east 80/west 580 now exiting as a single-lane ramp at first (while the mainline continues to a ramp near the Bay Bridge toll plaza).

CA-163, I-15, I-215, dead ending at CA-60 in Riverside

215 north exits from the right in Temecula though.  But there is one possible one going northbound:

215 north to Moreno Valley -> 60 west to the East Los Angeles Interchange -> 10 west to Santa Monica -> 1 north through Malibu to Oxnard (including the reroute on Rice Avenue) -> Santa Clara Avenue/future 232? to Route 118 -> Route 118 east to Route 23

[PHLBOS]

Chicago, IL (at I-90/94 East split) to Mansfield, NJ:

Route numbers: I-90/80/76 (& 70)/276/Future 95

Highway/toll road names (for the above): Chicago Skyway/Indiana (East-West) Toll Road/Ohio Turnpike/Pennsylvania Turnpike/New Jersey Turnpike - Penn Connection

[Joe The Dragon]

Main flow I-355 I-290 IL-53 Future I-XXX?

[Doctor Whom]

I-270, US 40, US 15 and 40; US 15.

[dgolub]

This one may be a little bit lame, but how about Mamaroneck Avenue in Westchester County, NY?  It's CR 8, CR 8A, CR 8B, CR 8C, and CR 8D.  All five designations are unsigned, since Westchester doesn't sign its county routes.

[NWI_Irish96]

If you drive north on Michigan Road out of Indianapolis, it become US 421 north of I-65. 
Between Kirklin and Michigantown, US 421 turns west and the road becomes IN 29.
Just south of Logansport, IN 29 ends and the road becomes IN 25.
In downtown Logansport, IN 25 turns east and the road becomes IN 17. [The actual 'Michigan Road' also turns here, but you can continue straight ahead on IN 17.]

So that's four routes for one road, non including a few E-W routes that have duplexes on the road for a couple miles each.