Most Exciting/Most Embarrassing Ends Of A Single Interstate

[thenetwork]

I was driving quite a bit the last couple of days in Central Utah for work and it got me to thinking...

What are the most exciting ends to a single interstate and what are the most embarrassing? 

I'd have to nominate I-80 as the most exciting -- connecting/ending at or near 2 of America's most famous bridges:  The SF/Oakland Bay Bridge and the George Washington Bridge

As far as most embarrassing (not necessarily the LEAST exciting), I would have to nominate I-70:  Little fanfare on WB I-70 approaching I-15 and the original east end permanently ending at a u-ey in a Park N Ride in Baltimore.

Others?

[SkyPesos]

As far as most embarrassing (not necessarily the LEAST exciting), I would have to nominate I-70:  Little fanfare on WB I-70 approaching I-15 and the original east end permanently ending at a u-ey in a Park N Ride in Baltimore.

Reminder that I-70 doesn't go to Baltimore, and that the park & ride doesn't count

[Dirt Roads]

How about the left hand onramp from the end of I-66 dumping into the fast lane of southbound I-81 near Strasburg, Virginia?  Would this be exciting or embarrassing?

[froggie]

^ Neither, because you'll be too busy concentrating to avoid getting creamed by the truck next to you on 81.

[Hobart]

Interstate 180 in Illinois (which most people agree shouldn't really be an interstate as far as I know) starts at a trumpet interchange in the middle of nowhere, west of La Salle and Peru.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4003243,-89.384376,3a,75y,11.83h,93.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1scIRKMFue0BFWMjyUG3k_oQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DcIRKMFue0BFWMjyUG3k_oQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D15.325121%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

It ends after a diamond interchange in Hannibal, a town of 700. It goes through the interchange and just suddenly loses two lanes, reverting back to a two lane road.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2569159,-89.3196326,3a,24.9y,270.35h,92.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spXghjWTVLuVoEFjW8pKqlA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

In my opinion, it is remarkably dull, or embarrassingly boring, depending on how you look at it.

[gonealookin]

There's not a heck of a lot going on in Henderson, NV, but at its other end I-11 ends at the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge just downstream from Hoover Dam.

[Max Rockatansky]

The view of I-280 approaching its end in downtown San Francisco is pretty spectacular:

https://flic.kr/p/TewE9N

[MATraveler128]

The other I-180 in Wyoming is certainly embarrassing at both ends. It's just a boulevard into Downtown Cheyenne with a fancy shield. What a joke of an Interstate.

But I-55's northern end is exciting in the sense that you have a nice view of Lake Michigan.

[CardInLex]

The I-71 ending in Louisville always strikes me as beautiful especially as the sun is setting and the stadium and bridge lights are lit, the sun is shining through the buildings.

This Streetview does not do it justice. https://goo.gl/maps/JR9QXxnKXuuFcRyN7

[webny99]

How about the left hand onramp from the end of I-66 dumping into the fast lane of southbound I-81 near Strasburg, Virginia?  Would this be exciting or embarrassing?

^ Neither, because you'll be too busy concentrating to avoid getting creamed by the truck next to you on 81.

Isn't that more like both exciting and embarassing than neither? 

[silverback1065]

I-65 just kind of dies at US12/20 in Gary.

[hobsini2]

I don't know about the southern end but I absolutely agree with Blue Outback on I-55's northern end at US 41 Desable Lake Shore Dr (especially the North LSD ramp) on the doorstep of Grant Park and McCormick Place.

[MATraveler128]

I personally really like the western terminus of the eastern I-84 in Scranton because it has an amazing view of the Poconos. It felt like a nice reward for clinching it.

[JayhawkCO]

I-90 is pretty cool on the western side getting a cool view of the Seattle skyline, both stadia, and Puget Sound.  On the eastern side, views of downtown Boston before you head into the tunnels to get to Logan.

I-8 is boring on both ends.  A stoplight past San Diego and then the middle of nowhere in Casa Grande.

I-20 also boring on both ends.  Middle of nowhere Texas to middle of nowhere South Carolina.

[cockroachking]

I-587 ends at roundabouts at both termini. That could be subjectively either exciting or embarrassing.

[HighwayStar]

As far as most embarrassing (not necessarily the LEAST exciting), I would have to nominate I-70:  Little fanfare on WB I-70 approaching I-15 and the original east end permanently ending at a u-ey in a Park N Ride in Baltimore.

Reminder that I-70 doesn't go to Baltimore, and that the park & ride doesn't count

Doing the Lord's work I see!

[jmacswimmer]

How about I-476's northern end?  Probably a combination of both...a bridge soaring 150' over Clarks Summit below, followed by a hairpin turn, followed by a toll plaza, followed by a tight trumpet that leads to another tight trumpet regardless of which ramp you take.

How about the left hand onramp from the end of I-66 dumping into the fast lane of southbound I-81 near Strasburg, Virginia?  Would this be exciting or embarrassing?

Similarly, I-78 dumping into I-81 from the left at its western end.  (Though unlike I-66, I think more traffic is coming off I-78 here than coming down I-81 from the north.)

As far as most embarrassing (not necessarily the LEAST exciting), I would have to nominate I-70:  Little fanfare on WB I-70 approaching I-15 and the original east end permanently ending at a u-ey in a Park N Ride in Baltimore.

Reminder that I-70 doesn't go to Baltimore, and that the park & ride doesn't count

Just to split a few more hairs: I think AASHTO had approved officially truncating I-70 to I-695 in anticipation of the Baltimore Red Line project that later wound up cancelled.  So if you count the 4-level symmetrical stack as the terminus, that's at least a bit more exciting than embarrassing 

[webny99]

How about I-476's northern end?  Probably a combination of both...a bridge soaring 150' over Clarks Summit below, followed by a hairpin turn, followed by a toll plaza, followed by a tight trumpet that leads to another tight trumpet regardless of which ramp you take.

Yes, that's definitely one I'd consider both exciting and embarrassing in about equal measure.   

[jaehak]

I don't know about the southern end but I absolutely agree with Blue Outback on I-55's northern end at US 41 Desable Lake Shore Dr (especially the North LSD ramp) on the doorstep of Grant Park and McCormick Place.

This would be my pick too. Bonus points for it appearing in the opening credits of Married With Children.

[Henry]

I don't know about the southern end but I absolutely agree with Blue Outback on I-55's northern end at US 41 Desable Lake Shore Dr (especially the North LSD ramp) on the doorstep of Grant Park and McCormick Place.

This would be my pick too. Bonus points for it appearing in the opening credits of Married With Children.

And also, the original National Lampoon's Vacation.

I-95 is sort of a mixed bag because there's nothing special on the northern end other than crossing into Canada on another highway 95, but on the southern end there's the glitz and glamour that is Miami.

Same thing with I-10: Jacksonville (FL's ugly stepchild of a city) on the eastern end, the Pacific Ocean (in Santa Monica) on the western end (and bonus, Route 66 used to end there too).

[hotdogPi]

I-89's southern end is also known as a shunpike.

[US20IL64]

Northern end of I-35 in Duluth MN, suddenly turns into an underground street, and then nothing.

[SkyPesos]

I-71:

Northern end at I-90: Oh come on, you get a little glimpse of the skyline when it's about to enter downtown, and suddenly it turns into another interstate to continue the routing into downtown???
Southern end at I-64/65: Oh come on, you get a little glimpse of the skyline when it's about to enter downtown, and suddenly it turns into another interstate to continue the routing into downtown???

[JayhawkCO]

I-494/I-694.  Just turn into the other for no good reason?

[Rothman]

Northern end of I-35 in Duluth MN, suddenly turns into an underground street, and then nothing.

Well, a traffic light.

I like the drive through the depressed section.  I think they did a good job on it.