Roads that smell like food

[Zeffy]

The New Jersey Turnpike from Exit 12 to Exit 14 smells like the kitchen in the school cafeterias when I was a kid. 

Last Sunday it smelled like BABY POO.  It is fascinating how the heat and wind mold and grow new aromas from the raw ingredients. 

Car and Driver once memorably, and quite aptly, described it as "miles and miles of universal fart."

Thirteen years ago today (6 July 2001), my brother gave me a lift to Brooklyn so I could bring home some furniture my relatives were giving me (I'd just moved into the house where I still live the previous weekend). As much as I appreciated the ride and the help, I still grouse about his idiotic insistence on keeping the windows down even over the Goethals Bridge instead of using the AC. We got stuck in stopped traffic on the bridge. Aside from a time in my 20s when being drunk did me in, I've never come so close to puking out the car window. The stench of North Jersey that day was overwhelming. It made a chemical outhouse smell like a gourmet restaurant!

Okay, I've been on the Turnpike to Exit 13 one time when the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island was closed. I didn't smell anything. What is everyone smelling?? More importantly, what is making that smell?

[Brandon]

Car and Driver once memorably, and quite aptly, described it as "miles and miles of universal fart."

Sounds like I-55 through Chicagoland.  You have the refinery and chemical plants down by Channahon, the food processing by Bolingbrook, and finally the sewage treatment plants by Stickney.

You don't want to be stuck without air conditioning on a very hot day with little air movement on I-55 between Exits 279 and 282.  All of Chicago's (and many suburbs') sewage goes there to be treated, on both sides of the expressway.

[Legodinodoctor]

When ever I pass through a landfill, it smells like a fart.

[UNDSIOUX]

Smells I have noticed in my travels-

Beloit along I-39/90 has the Frito Lay plant- I don't know what exactly they make there (Fritos?), but it smells less than desirable and more like someone broke wind.  Always know where the winds are coming from depending on when I smell that stank on the way to work.

Grand Forks, ND US-2- JR Simplot in northwest Grand Forks is a potato processing plant (I had heard they process a majority of McDonald's french fries there), but it is one of the most disgusting smells I can remember from my time at school.  A mix between potatoes and vomit.  And when a east wind blows, you are lucky enough to smell sugar beet processing from Crystal Sugar in East Grand Forks.  Again, while the final products may taste delicious, this is a smell that I couldn't stand when I lived there.  To be honest, I avoid buying any sugar from sugar beet just because of that smell- I buy Hawaiian sugar cane instead.  I don't know if these smells reach I-29, but it is not doing the GFK tourism department any favors.

Milwaukee- I-94- the yeast smell (for beer) east of Miller Park to downtown in the Menomonee Valley.  Distinctive smell, not too bad.  Definitely a reminder I am back in Milwaukee.  Been smelling that for years and I am sure it is a better scent than the tannery smells that used to eminate from near the High Rise bridge.

Burlington, WI- Nestle chocolate factory along WI-83- a pleasant smell of chocolate, but I am sure it gets old.  I am warned by residents that it really sucks when they burn a batch though.

Rockford- US20- with strong south winds, you can smell the dumps that exist west of I-39 and along IL-251.  A lot of Chicago-area garbage is sent here and there are plans for expansion in the near future.  I just realize in about 50 years, Rockford is going to have some of the best ski hills in the upper Midwest and in Illinois of all places!!!  Ski Rockford baby....

[algorerhythms]

Thinking of roads that smell like crap... MD 135 through Luke, Maryland, passes by a paper mill.

[Pete from Boston]

The New Jersey Turnpike from Exit 12 to Exit 14 smells like the kitchen in the school cafeterias when I was a kid. 

Last Sunday it smelled like BABY POO.  It is fascinating how the heat and wind mold and grow new aromas from the raw ingredients. 

Car and Driver once memorably, and quite aptly, described it as "miles and miles of universal fart."

Thirteen years ago today (6 July 2001), my brother gave me a lift to Brooklyn so I could bring home some furniture my relatives were giving me (I'd just moved into the house where I still live the previous weekend). As much as I appreciated the ride and the help, I still grouse about his idiotic insistence on keeping the windows down even over the Goethals Bridge instead of using the AC. We got stuck in stopped traffic on the bridge. Aside from a time in my 20s when being drunk did me in, I've never come so close to puking out the car window. The stench of North Jersey that day was overwhelming. It made a chemical outhouse smell like a gourmet restaurant!

Okay, I've never been on the Turnpike to Exit 13 one time when the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island was closed. I didn't smell anything. What is everyone smelling?? More importantly, what is making that smell?

The first part of what you posted is hard to make sense of, but as for what the smells are, there are several answers.

First, there's the industrial part.  This area has a large petrochemical industry, including the Bayway refinery, and there are lots of stinks to be had from it.  In the "NJ Turnpike Tour" section of New Jersey: A Guide to the State, Barbara Westergard says the primary culprits are mercaptans that are by-products of refining (they are also the stuff added to natural gas so you can  smell it).

There are "sanitary landfills" (garbage dumps) along a lot of this corridor, all closed and capped.  Vents dug into the piles let out potentially explosive methane, which may be the smell described as fart-like.

Then there are tons and tons of vehicle exhaust.  Airplanes, cars, trucks, locomotives, and cargo ships all exist here in abundance in a narrow corridor.

Finally, and not insignificantly, the entire area from Exit 9 to Exit 18 is either in the midst of or at the edge of an estuarine environment rife with salt marsh, standing water, and untold tons of rotting plant and animal matter.  Even with no industry and no turnpike, this would stink on a hot day.  I don't know how much water and ground pollution adds to its foulness, but all that industry sure does leave a lot of both behind. 

Add one part each, mix well in heat and humidity, and take a deep breath. 

[Zeffy]

The first part of what you posted is hard to make sense of, but as for what the smells are, there are several answers.

  Okay, when I was first writing my post, I thought I hadn't used the Turnpike in those areas before... well I was wrong, because one day heading into New York City the Outerbridge Crossing was closed, so we took the NJTP instead. We used Exit 13, which apparently is the source of all that is nasty. I didn't really smell anything, but the windows were closed, so eh.

[SectorZ]

MA 31 on the west side of Fitchburg smells like poo, but that's where all my city's sewage goes. On rare occasion the smell can blow south to MA 2. MA 110 in Lowell near the junction with MA 38 as well for the same reason. The one in Lowell for some reason smells much worse than Fitchburg's.

[1995hoo]

Since we're now talking about foul smells, I-295 in DC qualifies. The southern portion between DC's Exit 1 and the Maryland line passes the Blue Plains sewage treatment facility. During the summer it smells horrible, even on days when it's not too hot (we passed it Friday on our way home from a Nationals game and I regretted forgetting to hit the "recirculate" button on the climate control before we neared that area). I won't drive my convertible with the top down on I-295 if I think there's any chance of getting stuck in traffic because I don't want to get stuck near Blue Plains.

[6a]

I-270, and depending on the wind, I-71 on the north side of Columbus smell like the ingredients of liquid bread (Budweiser). I-670 near Cleveland Ave smells like bread (or cinnamon rolls on a good day) from the Kroger bakery.

[Alps]

Near the east end of MA 2A in Cambridge, it used to smell like chocolate on Thursdays and generic candy on a couple of other days. This was before the Necco factory closed.

US 54 in NW Texas smells like cows, but not beef.

[agentsteel53]

I-5, Harris Ranch.  dozens of square miles of solid cow ass.

[Scott5114]

dozens of square miles of solid cow ass.

if someone wanted me to summarize this forum in one quote, it would be this one, probably

[ET21]

When the Wonder Bread factory was working full steam, you can smell freshly made bread with a NE wind on I-294 along the Mile Long Bridge. South wind would take that smell up to I-55 and LaGrange Road (US 12/20/45).

Cicero Avenue (IL-50) between 79th and Marquette gives you the lovely smell of Tootsie Rolls from the Tootsie Roll Factory.

Finally, Archer Ave (IL-171) gives you corn smell, as an ethanol plant is located at Archer and Roberts Road in Summit

[Pete from Boston]

Near the east end of MA 2A in Cambridge, it used to smell like chocolate on Thursdays and generic candy on a couple of other days. This was before the Necco factory closed.

You sure the chocolate wasn't from Cambridge Brands (Tootsie Roll) a block away?

US 54 in NW Texas smells like cows, but not beef.

I lived up the road from a dairy in college.  Cow manure is fine, but the constant smell of spoiled milk is worse than the smell of Midtown Gravy (we all know this grey NY puddle) on a hot day.

[talfonso]

The New Jersey Turnpike from Exit 12 to Exit 14 smells like the kitchen in the school cafeterias when I was a kid. 

ROFL! Surprised that NJ's Route 208 isn't mentioned! The cookie fragrance from the Nabisco bakery is a welcoming scent from the typical Turnpike stink. (Not to mention that it tempts you to cheat on your diet!)

[hbelkins]

Sometimes the smell of steak cooking at the Winchester, Ky. Golden Corral can overwhelm traffic on the adjacent KY 1958.

[Takumi]

US 60 on the east side of Williamsburg smells like beer due to the Anheuser-Busch brewery nearby.

I-95 between exits 69 and 73 in Richmond often smells like poo.

[jcroyer80]

I-89 by Exit 10 in Waterbury, VT always smells like fresh coffee from the Green Mountain Coffee roasting facility (which you get a good view of from 89 southbound).

[US71]

Sometimes on Lake Shore Dr in Chicago, especially in Summer, you can smell the Alewives in Lake Michigan

[Brandon]

Sometimes on Lake Shore Dr in Chicago, especially in Summer, you can smell the Alewives in Lake Michigan

And here I thought you could smell the green if your mind is feeling fine. 

[Guysdrive780]

I think On the Kansas Turnpike, It smells like French Fries near Rest Areas

[DAL764]

Back when I lived in Hamburg, if the wind was coming from the right direction, the whole neighborhood smell like chocolate thanks to the nearby Nestle factory, which used to be quite a nice thing.

Of course, if the wind came from the wrong direction, the whole neighborhood would reek of yeast factory that was also nearby. That wasn't nearly as enjoyable, especially on hot summer days.

[Dr Frankenstein]

R-138 entering Montreal and sometimes A-530 in Valleyfield smell like fermenting alcohol. Interestingly enough, I loathe how 138 smells, but I love the smell of A-530.

[jbnv]

Many a Popeye's location infuses nearby drives with the scent of fried food. For some reason Popeye's consistently manages to be more fragrant than other restaurants nearby. I think they may do that intentionally.

As for less pleasant aromas: You don't want to pass through here after a hurricane has come through.