Loneliest Highway In Your State.

[cbeach40]

Compared to Northern Ontario, it doesn't qualify as remote. But compared to the rest of Southern Ontario, and most of the US east of the Mississippi, it feels very remote.

Really, it's pretty well the same as any other rural freeway in an area like that. And that's not even getting into turnpikes/thruways that are deliberately routed away from populated areas.

Here's one segment. I've driven it probably eight times and never seen services visible from any of the interchanges.

Well, that's funny how you just happened to cherry pick a spot with trees along both sides. Could do the same in a lot of places and make it look just as isolated. If you did look, say 2 minutes back up the road, there's an interchange there with a truck stop right there and a town at the first crossroad south, spitting distance away.

I drive it about 8 times or so a month, and while you may not have been looking very well, I can tell you that of the 9 interchanges between London and Sarnia, only three of them don't have some kind of services.

There are plenty of highways that don't have structures constantly in sight, are free of light pollution, and have zero cell phone coverage. Those are lonely highways.

But you're not even going to look for those on the Chicago - Toronto corridor. As I alluded to earlier, this corridor feels remote despite its strategic location, not because of its location.

Well, you say you alluded to that, but what you explicitly said:

However, up in Canada, ON 402 strikes me as lonely. Absolutely nothing between Sarnia and London, almost to the point of being eerie (no pun intended), especially in the winter. Not even services or buildings or anything, just vast swaths of undeveloped nothingness. Low traffic volumes, too.

And that's pretty well the opposite. But, as has been stated, there is development along the highway. Not dense development, and somewhat sporadic but that's exactly what happens in rural areas. It's no different than the density you get on similar roads like the rural sections of Interstates 69 or 94.

[webny99]

Listen, I'm through arguing about ON 402. I think it has a lonely atmosphere - no superlative needed.

I didnt cherry pick (just picked a spot at random), and what I was alluding to was from reply 66, not what you quoted. But anyways, lets move on and let the thread continue with all the "real" contenders, lol.

[Rothman]

Plus the count was taken in early May and the AADT numbers would not include the weekend when I imagine most of the tourists would be there.

Speaking of NY 344, NYSDOT put shields up as if it was a Y?  Looks like both forks from NY 22 have NY 344 shields.  I take it only the north fork is the official route?

[vdeane]

Yep.  South side is a reference route.  Oddly enough, NY 343 gets the same treatment, despite overlapping NY 22 instead of ending there.

[The High Plains Traveler]

US 50 through Nevada is billed as The Loneliest Highway in the US...What highway in your state would you nominate as your loneliest?

I say this after driving CO-141 in Colorado from Whitewater (Grand Junction) to Dove Creek, and especially between Naturita and Dove Creek.  on a recent Friday afternoon, I would say that if I passed 15 cars in an 80-mile stretch that would be pushing it.   

Not to mention that CO-141 winds its way through Disappointment Valley, a name that fits the route well.

CO-71 between Limon and Ordway, or CO-96 between Ordway and Eads are lonely. Also, cell reception is nonexistent unless you have Viaero, who builds very tall towers and puts their name on them.

[cl94]

Plus the count was taken in early May and the AADT numbers would not include the weekend when I imagine most of the tourists would be there.

Speaking of NY 344, NYSDOT put shields up as if it was a Y?  Looks like both forks from NY 22 have NY 344 shields.  I take it only the north fork is the official route?

Yep.  South side is a reference route.  Oddly enough, NY 343 gets the same treatment, despite overlapping NY 22 instead of ending there.

Same for NY 71. Only the south fork is actually NY 71. North one is NY 980E. From what I can tell, this is a Region 8 oddity, as it also occurs with the NY 52 craziness in Ellenville (that's officially a one-way pair on two-way streets, but both directions on both streets are signed as NY 52).

[hotdogPi]

Plus the count was taken in early May and the AADT numbers would not include the weekend when I imagine most of the tourists would be there.

Speaking of NY 344, NYSDOT put shields up as if it was a Y?  Looks like both forks from NY 22 have NY 344 shields.  I take it only the north fork is the official route?

Yep.  South side is a reference route.  Oddly enough, NY 343 gets the same treatment, despite overlapping NY 22 instead of ending there.

Same for NY 71. Only the south fork is actually NY 71. North one is NY 980E. From what I can tell, this is a Region 8 oddity, as it also occurs with the NY 52 craziness in Ellenville (that's officially a one-way pair on two-way streets, but both directions on both streets are signed as NY 52).

And the NY 71, 343, and 344 duplications are ALL with NY 22...

[vdeane]

Wyes aren't exactly uncommon, and having one leg be a reference route is the standard NYSDOT way to handle them, though NY 71/NY 22 is larger than is typical.  I wouldn't call NY 343 or NY 344 wyes though.

[sbeaver44]

In PA (going from personal experience, not AADT, so these could be debated):

Interstate: I-86 in the far NW corner of the state
US:  US 6 in the northern tier, I'd say west of Wellsboro and east of Warren
PA:  PA 44 north of Jersey Shore and south of Coudersport is wonderfully lonely and scenic.  There are other routes I've been on that way that I'd say are equally lonely, but not quite as scenic; for example, PA 872, PA 146, PA 284, PA 154, PA 414, etc. I'm not familiar at all with roads in far SW PA, though.

I'd agree especially with your PA routes.  I love that area of the state.  I'd add PA 144 North of I-80 as well. 

Nexus 6P

[paulthemapguy]

In Illinois, the lowest AADT I could find on a state highway was 225 for a stretch of IL-100 south of Pearl, Illinois in Pike County, although there may be a stretch of state highway in Illinois with a lower AADT that I've not been able to find.

Hmm.  I like this idea.  I could easily seeing the roads in Calhoun County qualify for the loneliest, as Calhoun County, isolated between two great rivers, is often one of the last Illinois counties a person will visit in their lifetime.  I could see IL-100 in Calhoun County being one of Illinois's loneliest roads.  There are a couple other state highways that go to total nowhere like IL-155 that I could see making the list, or the western stub of IL-156.