Similar to other 'Furthest Distance Between X' topics, I thought I'd give this one a try because I've been curious about it for a while. What's the longest distance you can drive on either a freeway or a divided expressway (at least four lanes wide) between dedicated overhead sign assemblies? For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to say that BGS's mounted directly onto bridges don't count... the sign(s) have to have a dedicated gantry or sign bridge.
Some of my nominations from Minnesota:
Northbound I-35 from Exit 132 (https://www.google.com/maps/@45.2865381,-93.0028721,3a,75y,4.96h,107.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swjEbojr9hi3C9bxfB87OFA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192) in Forest Lake to Exit 237 (https://www.google.com/maps/@46.6844381,-92.4597595,3a,75y,22.04h,94.69t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s35jMJDgu5otQHJjbrqcdoA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D35jMJDgu5otQHJjbrqcdoA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D146.71194%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656) near Cloquet. 105 Miles.
Southbound I-35 from Exit 250 (https://www.google.com/maps/@46.7325146,-92.2010949,3a,48.7y,229.32h,97.64t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s8IcNlhVIRVZVFlQ2rMu5PQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D8IcNlhVIRVZVFlQ2rMu5PQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D50.738895%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192) in Duluth to, again, Forest Lake. 119 Miles.
Westbound I-94 from Exit 156 (https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5982147,-94.3827845,3a,42.4y,307.38h,96.49t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sbHBeBQ1oYVdnGzgm5YbKKQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DbHBeBQ1oYVdnGzgm5YbKKQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D34.140553%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656) near Saint Cloud to MM2 (https://www.google.com/maps/@46.8472697,-96.7579244,3a,75y,272.79h,95.04t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sdLXKZA2RVDzjcS80SM-baA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DdLXKZA2RVDzjcS80SM-baA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D18.12848%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192) in Moorhead. 154 Miles.
Eastbound is pretty much the same in both directions, with no overheads from Exit 2A in Moorhead to MM157 near Saint Cloud. That also comes in at roughly 154 or 155 miles.
Interestingly you would think that I-90 would win this for Minnesota, but there are a surprising number of overhead gantries at rural interchanges spaced out so that there aren't any gaps of more than 50 miles or so.
:hmmm:There's three in Indiana I can think of easily.
I-69 has no overhead signs/gantries from Exit 19 to Exit 114, a total of 95 miles
I-65 has no overhead signs/gantries from Exit 141 in Lebanon to Exit 247 (for southbound traffic) in Crown Point and Exit 253 in Merrillville (for northbound traffic.) This would be 112 miles for northbound I-65 and 106 miles for southbound I-65.
I-74 eastbound goes from the Illinois State Line to Exit 73 for 73 miles of no gantries, westbound I-74 goes 66 miles from Exit 66 back to Illinois.
The first one I thought of in Texas was east from where I-20 splits from I-10, exit 187. I checked the aerial imagery and didn't see another one until exit 523 to US 87 in Comfort. That's 336 miles.
It's possible that I missed one in between, but I checked each significant town and isolated US Highway interchange, so I'm pretty sure this is correct.
Quote from: wxfree on August 10, 2020, 06:10:36 PM
The first one I thought of in Texas was east from where I-20 splits from I-10, exit 187. I checked the aerial imagery and didn't see another one until exit 523 to US 87 in Comfort. That's 336 miles.
It's possible that I missed one in between, but I checked each significant town and isolated US Highway interchange, so I'm pretty sure this is correct.
What about following I-20? Would Odessa/Midland have them? I feel sure Abilene would.
iPhone
A section that I had a hunch about but didn't have a chance to verify until just now: I-94 WB from Mandan, ND to a mile prior to its end at I-90 outside of Billings (eastbound is the same give or take a couple miles). 403 miles (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/46.8254294,-100.8505455/45.8378225,-108.3826775/@49.9337817,-112.2984013,1654432m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0) without a single overhead gantry. Possibly the longest stretch in the nation? I'd be surprised if any other route beat that.
Quote from: bassoon1986 on August 10, 2020, 10:35:05 PM
Quote from: wxfree on August 10, 2020, 06:10:36 PM
The first one I thought of in Texas was east from where I-20 splits from I-10, exit 187. I checked the aerial imagery and didn't see another one until exit 523 to US 87 in Comfort. That's 336 miles.
It's possible that I missed one in between, but I checked each significant town and isolated US Highway interchange, so I'm pretty sure this is correct.
What about following I-20? Would Odessa/Midland have them? I feel sure Abilene would.
iPhone
I know Abilene does. I've been there enough times to remember. I don't know farther west that well. There's one in the westbound direction at the exit to Business 20 in Midland. There is not one eastbound in Odessa. There is one eastbound at the Business 20 exit in Pecos, which surprised me. That's at exit 37.
Quote from: wxfree on August 10, 2020, 06:10:36 PM
The first one I thought of in Texas was east from where I-20 splits from I-10, exit 187. I checked the aerial imagery and didn't see another one until exit 523 to US 87 in Comfort. That's 336 miles.
It's possible that I missed one in between, but I checked each significant town and isolated US Highway interchange, so I'm pretty sure this is correct.
There's an EB overhead for 290 to Fredericksburg/Austin. Much closer to the I-20 split is an EB overhead for BL-10 and US 285, and a WB overhead for BL-10 and US 385 in Ft. Stockton.
Quote from: EpicRoadways on August 10, 2020, 11:23:07 PM
A section that I had a hunch about but didn't have a chance to verify until just now: I-94 WB from Mandan, ND to a mile prior to its end at I-90 outside of Billings (eastbound is the same give or take a couple miles). 403 miles (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/46.8254294,-100.8505455/45.8378225,-108.3826775/@49.9337817,-112.2984013,1654432m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0) without a single overhead gantry. Possibly the longest stretch in the nation? I'd be surprised if any other route beat that.
I was going to point out that. I did all of it in Street View a while ago, and I don't recall seeing any overhead sign for almost 650 km. This strikes someone who lives in a country where
every exit has at least one overhead sign (thus meaning no more than 52 km, 32 miles, between two of them as that is the largest gap between exits in Spain).