What is YOUR definition of a clinched route?

[SSOWorld]

To the guy who said:

3) Must be behind the wheel.

Yes, you Corco
to quote "Tom from Ohio": DUAAFAFO. I agree with NE2. Being a passenger in a car allows for clinching IMO since you get to see it.  I don't have all the money in the world to spend driving around the country and I have enough work to do otherwise.  On the way home from NYC in 2014, I lost pretty much all my interst in long-distance driving.  This pretty much was the result of 3 long distance trips over two years - one of them being, yes, quite long. back to the subject -- The only exception I feel is if you were too young to remember, and even that is subjective (define "too young").

Most of my mileage in North America was with me behind the wheel, but I claim a few miles as a passenger, including during road meets, the southernmost < 1 mi. of I-5 which I traveled only riding a school bus on a high school Spanish class field trip to a high school in Tijuana (this was more than 40 years ago), and also part of US 10 in Minnesota as a little boy on trips between home in Fergus Falls and an aunt in Minneapolis (back when US 10 was the only plausible route -- I-94 hadn't been built yet). Also, all my mileage in Italy was riding a cab from one of Milan's airports and a bus to the other. In the United Kingdom, most of my mileage was with me behind the wheel, but I include a little walking on the sidewalks of A-routes in central London (ditto for a few miles in North America), and also short rides on shuttle buses to and from Heathrow airport.

I won't cross the Mexican border for two reasons: If driving, Mexican roads suck!  In general, the volatility caused by the US of A's insistence that everyone cooperate with the anti-drug campaign has caused tensions along said border.  Canada I'll cross into since it's friendlier, but usually I want to have more than a hop into as a reason.

I'm reluctant to drive into Mexico mainly because I have to purchase Mexican auto insurance for such occasions, which is costly and adds hassle. I've done that twice, but next time I might park on the U.S. side and do a "walking clinch" the rest of the way across the border. Canada is easier, though not enough to make casual "hop intos" practical. At the very least, you want to contrive some better reason than "hop into", to satisfy the border agents on both sides of the border.

Easy ones are "circling a great lake" (or more than one if you have the $$$ and time) or going to Alaska

Not being built - justifiable.  When I had been I-70 back in 1980(?), much of it in UT/CO was (obviously) not constructed.  Hence, I considered it not clinched, while I had considered its predecessor, US-6 (and 50) clinched, but when both states marked the new I-70 with the US routes, that made the interstate "clinched" on paper, but in reality, I considered it necessary to drive the routes again to see the finished results.  Enter 2013 - I-70 from KC to I-15 - nice medley of scenery and officially clinched.

[bugo]

You must drive the mainline in both directions, drive all ramps to and from the highway, and all frontage roads in all directions and other associated roadways.

[bugo]

The first entry in the poll seems simple, and I think is what most people more or less follow. But what about bridge replacements, which will often make it impossible for people who don't regularly travel a route to maintain the "clinch" if you want to be fussy about it? Or other minor realignments? I usually disregard both if the new alignment is within the old alignment's right of way, or at least close enough to see one from the other.

I consider it a clinch if you drove the road as it was routed at the time you drove it. If the road has been extended or majorly rerouted, you must drive the new parts. A slight rerouting such as a bridge replacement or a bypass or a detour route means the road is still clinched.

[bugo]

I disagree with Jake regarding detours.  If you're off the route for 5 miles, you're off the route for 5 miles and it doesn't count.  In-between half interchanges doesn't count if they're considered separate interchange points.  But I'll generally follow something similar to Scott if you have what's considered a single interchange point and/or a route that officially ends at the interchange.

If it is a signed detour ("Detour US XX") then it counts. In 2000 I decided to drive the entire length of US 73. There was a detour onto Parallel Parkway in KCK that was signed "Detour US 73". I consider it a clinch. US 73 was eventually rerouted to follow K-7 to end at I-70 and I drove that stretch of highway when it was just K-7. The detour route IS the mainline route when the regular route is closed.

[kkt]

I don't see why you'd have to be driving (or in control of the vehicle).  I generally get a lot better view of the scenery and surroundings when I'm the passenger and don't have to worry about whether that parked car is about to pull out in front of me.

[Henry]

You must drive the mainline in both directions, drive all ramps to and from the highway, and all frontage roads in all directions and other associated roadways.

I find this somewhat impossible to do, because the typical driver will certainly not use every exit along the way.

As for clinching, I think going the whole way in at least one direction is sufficient, though doing it in the other direction would be an added bonus.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Good Lord, you guys can get anal about this topic (though I'm pretty sure Bugo is being uncharacteristically facetious). I'm pretty liberal; I count portions of routes that weren't designated as the route in question at the time I drove them (example: U.S. 550 in New Mexico while it was NM-44, since the alignment of the road hasn't changed). Now, I suppose that (if it happens during my lifetime) I-2 is constructed around towns between Laredo and McAllen, I'll have to de-clinch that route.

[Mapmikey]

My clinched list is titled, "Routes that I have Driven."  This is largely because I was on 4 cross-country trips as a child but only have a memory of the last (age 14), so while I can accurately document that last trip (which in the 31 years since I have driven about half of anyway), I have no way to do so on the others which happened in the 1969-73 timeframe when many interstate segments weren't completed yet.  I do cut myself a break for England where I am unlikely to ever drive but have been on a bus tour out into the countryside.

Detours do not require a reclinch for me as long as I get the road up to both ends of the detour and that I can SEE one end of the detour from the other - so for example a block of US 13 in Phila was closed by crane operations; a bridge over a creek on US 209 in a city where I literally drove everything but the very small bridge.  When US 4 had a signed detour of about 12 miles, it bypassed several miles of US 4 and the detour itself involved other NY primary routes.  So I get credit for parts of NY 32 and NY 197 but not US 4.  So I later took a ride to go get that segment of US 4.

I also say (to myself anyway) that I have driven a route through a state if I have a continuous path that includes a Business route where I don't have the bypass.  For example I have driven US 401 through NC because I have the 401 Business through Rolesville while I have not yet gone to drive its bypass.

It doesn't matter to me if it is day or night.  I am clinching the road, not the scenery.

I also don't require a route be all in the same direction.  I've driven way too many places to even contemplate trying to track that aspect of it.

Mapmikey

[hbelkins]

In driving I-81, I turned around at the last exit before Canada, then drove over to where I could see the border checkpoint. I consider it clinched.

In driving US 131, a bridge was out for replacement. I drove up to either end of the bridge, as far as I could physically go (which involved driving around a couple of barricades). I consider it clinched.

[bugo]

You must drive the mainline in both directions, drive all ramps to and from the highway, and all frontage roads in all directions and other associated roadways.

I find this somewhat impossible to do, because the typical driver will certainly not use every exit along the way.

How is it impossible?

[Bickendan]

You must drive the mainline in both directions, drive all ramps to and from the highway, and all frontage roads in all directions and other associated roadways.

I find this somewhat impossible to do, because the typical driver will certainly not use every exit along the way.

How is it impossible?

Maybe no impossible, but very improbable. Take every single offramp and onramp, including HOV ramps, on I-5 in California, for example.

[roadman65]

Only if it creates extreme hardships like the road is thousands of miles away from home and you do not have the luxury of traveling frequently, it is impossible.

However, if you have easy access to a road you can easily do the ones with many ramps, carriageways, and frontage roads. 

Lets just say complete clinch is for all of the above, but if you, lets say, covered one interstate in one direction from end to end, but still got off for gas and food or even used the rest areas along the way, it is just a clinch.  Remember, most interchanges are diamonds and even folded ones have a short 100 to 200 feet of freeway not used.  Plus rest areas are usually built with the ramps on both ends of the facility taking you away from the main lanes for over 2/ 10's of a mile, so you are not going to back up out the in ramp and continue where you left off (well maybe NE 2 might if he drove, but the rest of us would not) just to say you did it all.

[formulanone]

3) Must be behind the wheel.

Fuck you. I plan to clinch SR 535 by bike.

Technically, you're placed behind at least one wheel...

Clinched = seen it by some ground-level vehicle or by foot in any manner of directions.

Exit is a single-point; you can "see" up towards the overpass and onwards, good enough. Anything else is typically being pedantic.

Construction is a bit of a non-issue. Up to the one who's "completed" it to decide.

Old alignments...just for bonus points, but considered a totally different route by many jurisdictions.

Sleeping - I dunno, just don't do it while you're driving.

Closed to the public - I guess obeying the law is paramount.

If my highlighter slips somewhat past its destination on my map, oh well...

[vdeane]

You must drive the mainline in both directions, drive all ramps to and from the highway, and all frontage roads in all directions and other associated roadways.

Too permissive.  One must also drive the complete distance of every lane in every carriageway, ramp, etc. as well as make every possible legal turning maneuver.  Only then will one have obtained the complete roadway experience.

[Bruce]

By most definitions, I've clinched 0 miles of highway.

I should probably sign up for Clinched Highway Mapping once it comes back online.

[rickmastfan67]

You must drive the mainline in both directions, drive all ramps to and from the highway, and all frontage roads in all directions and other associated roadways.

Too permissive.  One must also drive the complete distance of every lane in every carriageway, ramp, etc. as well as make every possible legal turning maneuver.  Only then will one have obtained the complete roadway experience.

That's easy when the highway is as short as I-579 here in Pittsburgh. lol.  My only 'bugo' requirement's clinch. haha.

Anyways, I personally consider 'Business Routes' clinched if I traveled on them when they were the mainline route before it was re-routed onto a new bypass.  One case example for me would be US-219 in Myersdale, PA.  Clinched US-219 there before the bypass, so, I clinched the Business Route when the new bypass opened (and yes, I've since clinched the bypass itself).

[oscar]

By most definitions, I've clinched 0 miles of highway.

I should probably sign up for Clinched Highway Mapping once it comes back online.

One nice thing about CHM and its possible replacement is that you get to use your own (reasonable) definition of "clinched", with nobody forcing you to swear on a stack of Bibles that you've followed a particular definition or set of rules. There are some nudges in favor of particular rules (such as separate waypoints for the last freeway exit before a border and the border crossing itself, or the lack of separate waypoints for different ramps within most interchanges), but otherwise it's "roll your own and smoke it".

[Pete from Boston]

A while back I posted a topic called "What is the allure of clinching?"  I never got around to responding because I was so fascinated by the other responses that streamed in.  They painted quite a picture of what makes this hobby appealing to people.

To the extent that I feel at all strongly about this, I could skip a mile and not feel the need to go back.  What I'm interested in is what the character and role of the road is.  Covering each inch of pavement is not relevant for me–I just want to know what the whole road is about, more or less.

[Duke87]

If you're awake and actively seeing it (i.e. you can remember it), I feel like it can count towards a clinch. I say "behind the wheel" to remove any ambiguity- I don't feel good counting a clinch from a roadtrip my parents took when I was 4 or when I was a passenger of adult age sleeping as I rode across I-80 in Nebraska. If I'm behind the wheel, I'm awake and aware of my surroundings.

I personally would say if I've been on the road then whether I actually remember it or was paying attention is irrelevant.

Of course, this is not a conundrum I really face due to my own personal circumstances making it a non-issue. The number of roads I have been on as a young child but not postpubescently is very very short - we never drove very far when I was little. And even then I have memories of what roads we drove on as far back as I have memories of anything. There are a couple roads in Pennsylvania that I was on only once on a trip when I was 4 years old, but I have no qualms counting them since I remember the exact route we took - including that my father missed his exit off the PA turnpike and had to pull out the map to figure out how to correct for that.

As for sleeping, it is generally quite difficult for me to sleep in a moving vehicle since the thought of waking up in a different location from where I fell asleep freaks me the fuck out, especially if I'm not intimately familiar with where we're traveling. So there are exactly zero miles of road I have only been on while asleep.


Anyways, I'm in the camp of clinches sticking to alignments rather than to route numbers. If the route significantly moves onto a new alignment, I have to reclinch that section of it. On the other hand, if a road is redesignated and changes numbers, I can claim the new route number on that segment without getting up off my couch. I've already driven the road and a few signs having changed doesn't take that away.

[bulldog1979]

My rules are fairly simple: to clinch it, you need to be drive/walk/ride the full length of the highway, in any necessary number of segments, in either or both directions at some point. Road construction detours negate any clinch, so if you had to follow I-675 around Saginaw, you did not clinch I-75 in Michigan. I would grant the sight exception for those who travel up to both ends of closed bridge. Exiting and then reentry at the same interchange would not negate a clinch. A new bypass negates a clinch, but if the former alignment becomes a signed business route, then that business route is automatically clinched in whole or part depending on whether there are connector roads that were added to connect it to the mainline.

"Certified" to me means that you have as many witnesses as necessary to verify that you were on the necessary segments to make the clinch. Bidirectional travel is not "certification".

Now, one could talk about clinching an individual interchange as using every possible movement through it, but that's a different beast than clinching a highway.

[bugo]

The term "certified" is fucking lame and was probably coined by Poolog himself.